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Royl Genie Tipping


Groucho
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We're going to be sailing in a Star Class cabin (our first time) in a few weeks. Can anyone give me an idea what an appropriate range is for tipping the Genie? We know that tipping is personal and based on service provided by the Genie.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Bob

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We're going to be sailing in a Star Class cabin (our first time) in a few weeks. Can anyone give me an idea what an appropriate range is for tipping the Genie? We know that tipping is personal and based on service provided by the Genie.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Bob

 

:confused::confused: a Genie? Man if Royal game me a real Genie I'd tip them A HUGE AMOUNT $$$$$

If they had Genie Bouchard giving tennis lessons I'd tip a whole lot too.:D

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  • 4 months later...

We tipped our genie $400 ($100 per person) the first time. We were new and did not really ask for much. Our second cruise we tipped him $700 because he did several special things we had asked for. When we were first looking to see what to tip a genie (our first time in 2016) people said about $100 per person for the cruise. Although we will be on the Anthem instead of Oasis this year, again with a genie, we have a good idea of what we want in way of a schedule and will tip according to how well the genie does.

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We're going to be sailing in a Star Class cabin (our first time) in a few weeks. Can anyone give me an idea what an appropriate range is for tipping the Genie? We know that tipping is personal and based on service provided by the Genie.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

Bob

My family ad I were on the Anthem last year, I mean last year today! We tipped out Genie $1000 for a 9 day cruise.

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I am sorry your genie did nothing for you. Did he make any reservations for speciality restaurants, save seats at the shows, or anything else? When we checked on genies the first time we had one we learned they are like a private person with no salary from the cruise line so whatever they make each week is their pay. I hope if you ever have another genie it is a better experience for you.

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I am sorry your genie did nothing for you. Did he make any reservations for speciality restaurants, save seats at the shows, or anything else? When we checked on genies the first time we had one we learned they are like a private person with no salary from the cruise line so whatever they make each week is their pay. I hope if you ever have another genie it is a better experience for you.

 

Interesting, but when the program was rolled out, we were told that they do have a salary and tips are optional. More than likely, the price of the suites help to pay their salary.

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When we checked on genies the first time we had one we learned they are like a private person with no salary from the cruise line so whatever they make each week is their pay.

 

 

Where did you get that idea from?

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We sailed in the Sky Loft 4 months after the genie program was started. We had talked to Royal several times because we had orginally booked what we thought was a 2 bedroom Aqua Theater suite but it was an A3 and after several phone calls we ended up in the Sky Loft. So my information about the genies was given at the same time they tried to tell us the A3 was a 2 bedroom suite. At the time I thought they better be good if their pay was tips, maybe I was mistaken and in any case if they are salary and get the tips they do I would not mind being a genie for a little while.

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I am sorry your genie did nothing for you. Did he make any reservations for speciality restaurants, save seats at the shows, or anything else? When we checked on genies the first time we had one we learned they are like a private person with no salary from the cruise line so whatever they make each week is their pay. I hope if you ever have another genie it is a better experience for you.

 

This is interesting. I don't usually get wrapped up in what people get paid but if they rely mainly on tips then this has a big bearing on how much we should tip. Clearly nobody should be expected to provide a service for free.

 

I believe it would be useful for RC to provide guidance on how much to tip the genie as they used to for other staff. At least it sets a norm and we can tip extra depending on services provided.

 

I have never been in a Star Class suite so this is very educational for me. Staying in a Star Class suite is on my wish list so hopefully will be in a position to book one soon.

 

Based on information on this thread, looks like $100 per night is a reasonable base amount, plus more depending on requests and overall service.

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This might just be conjecture but I have a feeling that the genies don't necessarily keep all the tips. Instead they probably share out a proportion to other staff who have supported them in providing the service.

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I am finding this thread to be interesting as I had no idea the amount of tipping for genies was so high. Can someone tell me how many cabins one genie handles for the week?

 

I am certainly not opposed to tipping but I am scratching my head trying to figure out what a genie would do for me that would be worth an additional $700 or more for the week. I’ve been on many cruises, and rarely even ask the concierge to do anything for us. We generally pick up the phone and make our own reservations for whatever we need. At times the concierge has helped with an issue, but thankfully that is few and far between. We don’t need/want extra food delivered (what we already receive from RCCL generally goes untouched)

 

Honestly, I have no way of knowing if the topping comments/amounts are typical, or the few that posted are above the norm. More importantly, how is the expected tipping structure communicated to those who sail in accommodations that provide a genie? Overall, few cruisers read CC.

 

 

Thx m

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I am certainly not opposed to tipping but I am scratching my head trying to figure out what a genie would do for me that would be worth an additional $700 or more for the week.

 

This is what I'm thinking. I tip, I just don't pay peoples salaries. Happy Sailing!!!!

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I am certainly not opposed to tipping but I am scratching my head trying to figure out what a genie would do for me that would be worth an additional $700 or more for the week.

 

 

I am very similar. Not into hosting parties or having a million things to do. However, if I booked a Star Class suite and received a first class VIP experience then I would happily pay $700 if not more.

 

For me that means a warm welcome in the terminal and escorted through security with minimum hassle. Bags delivered to suite at same time. Any problems quickly taken care of. During the cruise, what if genie made sure that extra effort was made to ensure my wife who is a vegetarian had a first class dinning experience without the mishaps that happen from time to time. What if the speciality dinning venues that often refuse to make something special for my wife are persuaded by the genie to prepare something amazing? At ports, it would be good if I can avoid the rush if I want to be one of the first to get off. On disembarkation it would be nice for this to be as smooth and stress free as possible.

 

For me it isn't about the fine detail of what the genie has done but whether he or she has taken ownership to deliver a first class experience. If the answer is yes then the $100 per day is definitely worth it.

 

As I have said in another post, I have a feeling they don't keep all the tips for themselves. I could be wrong.

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The biggest advantage of a genie is debarkation day. Instead of waiting in line with 6000 other people you go to the front and are off the ship in minutes. Otherwise, they are in contact with you before the cruise and find out what you would like to do and what shows you would like to see. They then schedule the shows at the time you want and make sure you have a seat where you want (front, back, middle) of the theater. On the Oasis the ice show has a part where they pick 4 kids from the audience and the genie got her the seat where they pick the kids. They can make all your speciality restaurant reservations, which are all included. In most cases they will escort you off the ship. Somethime during the trip you will receive gifts that usually pertain to a questionnaire you filled out about 2 weeks prior to sailing. My granddaughter received 2 statues of Jeff Dunham's puppets and acouple of other items the first year and last year received several Scooby Doo things. Our genie last year, on Oasis, touched base with us every day, sometimes bringing chocolate covered strawberries, to see if there was anything we needed or wanted. This year on the Anthem we are looking at the North Star and Ifly and I know they are pretty booked up but we are thinking the genies will have time slots set aside for the day of departure, especially for North Star. We will have him book those things for us. So I guess they do not do anything you could not do your self but they will do it and you can enjoy everything with no worries. The amount to give them, for us, has always depended on how much they help and how friendly they are. The Oasis had 3-4 genies and each genie was responsible for 3 or 4 rooms. When we looked at what they were tipped by some people we felt cheap just doing the $400 for a cruise. It would be nice to hear from more people who had genies, their experiences and how much they tipped.

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Interesting thread.....while I have never booked a "Genie" cabin,I was thinking $1000 for a cabin,I paid over 10K for.......Just my thought.

 

I think it is awful some paid him/her NOTHING...........wow........cheap.

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