tonyfsu21

It’s just “limited access”. All this means is you will actually have a nice window seat during sail away and a very attentive suite concierge + drink serving staff thats finally able to cater to you. Often the lounge was so jam packed with suite guests and friends of suite guests and randoms that you simply couldn’t get a nice seat or a drink (in a timely manner). Enjoy the experience because this situation may not last long. IMHO sailing in a suite on RC reduced capacity is now up to par service wise with high end companies like Regent.

I have to say, it’s really nice having 1+ crew per person as far as service goes. I really don’t mind the lack of crowds at all. I would think that this is going to have a major impact on RC bottom line and my concern would be the overall elimination of the cruise industry as we know it. I suppose it’s better to have 500 people sailing then 0.

Thank you so much for this excellent information. I am 100% going to ask for an ice chest for lots & lots of beer!

“If” we win an upgrade from Crown Loft to Star Class Aquatheatre 2BR for our next sailing I am imagining our introduction to the Genie will be last minute. Normally our CC gets charged about 2-3 days before which would mean it’s pretty much a quick shift from sky class to star class. Are there any issues getting the most out of the planning and pre work from this service? We are sailing with multiple parties and would like to set up a dinner party in the suite from giovannis (pizzas exc) for the kids and then something else for the adults. How do they work around the fact that technically only 4 of us would be star class? Would they actually charge extra to the people not in star class? What about beverages stocked in the suite? Can we get the place stocked with enough alcohol and soda for up to 12 people? Thanks in advance.

If you win a bid to upgrade from standard balcony to suite class do you still get the full points benefit? example: 3 night sailing in an owners suite should be 3+3+3 (or 3+3+6 possibly) but I noticed I received only 6 points.

I whole heartedly dislike a pressure situation involving tipping and it’s an automatic red flag for me personally. In many of the islands it’s literally nonstop discussion of tipping, everyone is reminding you to tip. I get it, there’s all walks of life coming off the ships and many different cultures to contend with so the locals have to reemphasize to an uncomfortable degree. This causes me personally to hold back a little and not necessarily be so generous. Onboard the ship, the envelopes are ok but IMHO what’s not ok is the maitre d accepting tips. I personally think in this elevated position they should be adequately compensated by salary and leaving the tips for the service staff. I just don’t see the added value there and quite frankly don’t really even know what they do?? Coordinate the dining staff? Do we tip the captain for driving the ship or the hotel director for the stateroom attendant staff? Maybe indirectly as part of a tip pooling system but I don’t see the point in direct tip compensation of any department head. Just a tip rant while I’m thinking about it.

I forgot that there was the mystery tip box located somewhere in guest services where some people put the envelopes. To be clear, we put cash in the envelope and personally hand it to the recipient.

My family of 4 always adds money to the envelope even after paying the standard gratuities. My kids make a mess though. I think from what I understand, RC uses the gratuity charge to essentially pay the staff a guarantee tip wage per voyage and anything placed in an envelope should technically go directly to that individual (I hope). I only tip extra via envelope to stateroom attendant and suite concierge (and Genie). Speciality dining I always tip around 25.00-$50 per meal depending on service. I also feel really bad for these crew members being away from their families and I get joy out of compensating them.

Sorry, my intention was not for this to morph into a “what have you done to deserve a tip thread”. I really just wanted to get a base line for the Genie knowing they are not part of the tip pool on the ship and their income directly correlates to their ability to provide a level of service that is rewarded by a tip. I think I now have a pretty good idea. Thank you.

Always

My kids will turn the aqua theatre suite upside down so I’m kind of thinking the same dollar figure.

Excellent information. Thank you!

Out of curiosity, what do you tip a genie for 7 nights of star class service these days? I am thinking the following: Average experience: $500 Above average experience: $700 Obviously everyone has a different definition regarding level of genie experience and I would like to get a range of opinions so I don’t under or over shoot the norm. On another note, if you book a suite during the double point promotion do you get double/double? Thanks in advance.

What if you have a suite, is there a set arrival time?

The mask mandate really makes cruising more of a hassle but the pros outweigh the cons. IMHO this will never go away and as much as I want to tape the mouth shut of the next person that says “the new norm” it’s seems to be a true statement. Thankfully we live in Florida….. and yeah.

I really think it’s a great thing! Most of the time it was seamless and they saw I had a diamond beverage and used it. The only issue I had was at the Coco Beach Club they charged me w/o looking to see that I had available drinks.

Confirmed, Nadia

So the vaccinated need to pass through the unvaccinated pool area to get to the lime & coconut or the ice cream machine? This is madness.

Makes zero sense. The pool area is totally fine to take your mask off and not social distance get the AT is off limits? You have to wonder who is the final person that puts that pen to paper and signs off on this? Did they even read it??? What an absolute mess.

You should certainly wait this out. I’ve seen the rules change 10 times in the past few months. There has to be some way around this issue.

What am I missing here? Masks are already required indoors on RC. You can only take them off while dining, outdoors on in your stateroom.

I can’t think of a good enough reason to put anything in this tip box other then maybe it’s a person who is difficult to get to? Meaning that maybe someone wants to tip the crew member that was at the flow rider because they had a great time and for some reason this person was off shift and couldn’t be located? I suppose if you had the crew members name you could put some tip money in an envelope with a name on it and drop it in this box? I still don’t trust it but we normally tip the bartenders and service at speciality dining via the bill or leave an envelope in the stateroom for the cabin steward. When we sail in a suite I personally hand the concierge or genie the envelope which almost certainly guarantees they get to keep the money. I suppose this is a good question to ask the gentlemen “Chris” who works on Odyssey and posts on this forum. I wonder if all tip money regardless of where it comes from must be pooled and split within the department? If this is the case, I do t think that’s right at all.

Always pack extra clothes (hurricane or no hurricane) it’s just a good practice just in case. Recall the CCL ship that was drifting for days off the Yucatán many years ago? With that being said, after almost 45 years in SoFL I would say if we make it through August unscathed then Sept is normally more mild in regards to major Hurricanes so I wouldn’t be too concerned.

Yep, I remember the review box at guest services. Not familiar at all with a tip box though.

This is the first I’ve heard of this box. We get the tip envelopes in the room and put cash in them and then hand them directly to the recipient. I personally don’t think I would trust that anything put in this box actually makes it directly to the employee w/o being filtered through some kind of group collection system before being dispersed across an entire dept.