TheHobbys Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 Our first SC experience was in 2017 on the Oasis. I'm working up a small blog about our experience, so more to come on that. Our genie 'Allen' was amazing! Now, in 2019 we are going for our second SC experience on Anthem. This question comes more as to what we can bring as a thank-you gift. We did leave a really nice tip, but want to take it a bit further and bring something unique or cool. I feel bad that we didn't really have anything to give Allen in 2017, especially since on the last day he had gotten all of us a little nice gift. For me, a really nice new wallet - which I'm still using today. What, if anything, have other cruisers in the SC brought as a thank-you gift for their genies? What about thoughts on a price range of the gift? SweetPea 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 I'm sure you read Sabrina's recent SC blog and saw the lovely gifts that her family gave their Genie. That was extremely special and I applaud her for being both generous and thoughtful. The important thing to remember is that all crew have extremely limited space so you want to keep that in mind. On our last SC cruise(s) we gave Yen a pashmina wrap and interestingly enough, her gifts to me were both scarves ! I cannot recall what she gave Dan (how self-centered can I be !). We have given our male Genies ball caps from sports teams, sports team jerseys and a commemorative White House Christmas ornament (I'm not ashamed to admit that this was a re-gift, as it was a duplicate, but it should also be noted that this gift received the greatest appreciation of any that we have given !). I know it's a tired cliche, but it really is the thought that counts. We have only had 1 repeat Genie (we've had Reyno twice) so until you meet the person it's hard to know what they might like...so you just have to kinda guess. Lovetocruise2002, SweetPea and The Cruise Junkie 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 First and foremost, they don't have much space. So think either something that can be packed away nicely or consumed quickly. Some people like to bring a bag of treats from their hometown. I think @tiny260 and his wife did this. Some, like @CGTLH and @AshleyDillo gave small gifts that they bought at port. They can explain more. We knew who our Genie was going to be way ahead of time, so we had time to make her something. And I know people who knew her, so I was able to get things in her favourite colour etc. Obviously, that won't always be the case. I have pics in my blog from HM last month of the bag we put together for Araceli. The best gift is still going to be the tip. But I agree, small things are a nice addition. And by the way, Allan is now on Harmony. He was on Anthem for a bit after leaving Oasis but his last few contracts have been on Harmony. He just got back on board recently. The Cruise Junkie and SweetPea 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheHobbys Posted April 19, 2019 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 Thanks for all the notes. I didn't think about space, but wasn't going to try and bring anything to space-consuming - just wanted to find something a little special. We should find out who our genie will be in the new few weeks. That is cool to know Allan is on Harmony. We have a grand suite 2-br for next year, but it isn't SC. I have our TA looking to see if we can upgrade to the SC. If so, it would be so cool to see if we can get him again (as long as he's still on Harmony for our May 2020 trip) - he was excellent on Oasis when we cruised in 2017. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AshleyDillo Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 On our first Star Class we brought back food from each port...cannolis in Boston, doughnuts in Portland and then in Bar Harbor, ME we brought back an empty lobster box and put a water bottle in it (for weight) and a little lobster keychain just to be funny. For our next Star Class cruise we didn't plan on giving gifts, but our cabin steward was admiring @CGTLH's USB hub charger and had asked where he got it from, so we just gave it to him at the end of the cruise with his tip. Our Genie had also mentioned that she burned herself by sitting on her curling iron one day and we had a laugh about that. My mother brings these silicone mats that she lays her hair appliances on, so she gave that to the Genie at the end of the cruise. Cash is always, always king..but it's nice to be able to able to do something that shows you were paying attention. I'd like to think the Genie gifts to passengers express the same sentiment. I know @CGTLH got a set of nautical themed whiskey rocks as a gift from the Genie..and I know that bar bill of his showed plenty of Gentleman Jack SweetPea and The Cruise Junkie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew72681 Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 As the job involves lots of detail and lots of writing, one of the things we were thinking about was Custom Moleskine notebooks, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted April 19, 2019 Report Share Posted April 19, 2019 1 hour ago, Lovetocruise2002 said: First and foremost, they don't have much space. So think either something that can be packed away nicely or consumed quickly. Some people like to bring a bag of treats from their hometown. I think @tiny260 and his wife did this. Some, like @CGTLH and @AshleyDillo gave small gifts that they bought at port. They can explain more. We knew who our Genie was going to be way ahead of time, so we had time to make her something. And I know people who knew her, so I was able to get things in her favourite colour etc. Obviously, that won't always be the case. I have pics in my blog from HM last month of the bag we put together for Araceli. The best gift is still going to be the tip. But I agree, small things are a nice addition. And by the way, Allan is now on Harmony. He was on Anthem for a bit after leaving Oasis but his last few contracts have been on Harmony. He just got back on board recently. We felt like something that supported our local economy and would remind Charlie (Our Genie) where we were from would be a nice touch, like @Lovetocruise2002 said, they don't have much room so they were relatively small gift, IE., I think one was a pencile, lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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