Anthem royal suite class with genie review

We are just off the Anthem of the Seas (Sept. 6-15). This is for anyone who is interested in what a genie can do for you. This was not the first genie we have had, it was the 3rd. We were given to Derick Martis and after 2 other genies you have an idea of when they should contact you and how they should set up your dining and activities schedule, at least we thought we knew it all. We were contacted about 2 weeks out and given a dining schedule which we did change some and then told it would only be a couple days before the cruise when we would receive the show schedule. This was different because I am sure we received all that information earlier from the Oasis genies, then again maybe not. I had told Derick that we were flying into Newark on a red eye flight from Reno and would be at the cruise port by 8:30 on day of embarkation. We arrived at the port and this is where Derick took over and amazed us. I think we were the first Star Class group to arrive and when Derick came down to meet us, at about 8:45, he said he saw the luggage and figured it would be us. We talked a few minutes and it came out that we had not had any breakfast that morning. Derick told us he would finish up with the last groups he had taken care of for the ending cruise and then he would come get us and show us our suite. A few minutes later someone brought a bag of 4 different kinds of pastries and 4 bottles of water, from Derick, and then we found out there was no food allowed in the building but since it was from a genie it was allowed. That was the start of a wonderful vacation. Derick had our days planned out. We were in the North Star every port day to see the city, he made sure we had a chance to ride the bumper cars and when my granddaughter had such a great time he made sure she could get on a couple more times when they were scheduled. He scheduled the ifly for us and when my son and husband decided it was their favorite pastime he scheduled them several times a day. He also scheduled the Escape Room, the trapeze, and roller skating. He was at each event to make sure everything was as planned and expected. For dinners at the specialty restaurants he met us there and made sure we had a great table. Shows were the same thing, he arrived early and saved the seats we wanted, made sure we had a drink if we wished and was ready to enjoy the entertainment. When some people complained because we were put ahead of them he was very diplomatic about letting them know we were Star Class and this was an included part of the experience by saying that it is no different than going first class on an airline. You are on board first, you have your beverage of choice and are relaxing in those nice wide comfortable seats when the main cabin passengers are allowed to board. The first class passengers paid for that seat and that is no different than how it is with Star Class. It was fun to see my granddaughter enjoy both Derick and the fun things he helped her experience. The best part for me was the note every evening with the next day's activities planned, with the time and location included. This note also included the weather conditions for the day. I found after the first day I just needed my note from him and I was ready to face the day. Of course, if we decided we wanted to add to or delete from the schedule it was done. We had booked a second Anthem cruise for April 2019 months ago, in the same Star Class suite, and after the amazing time we also booked, on board, an Anthem cruise for Nov. 2019. We checked with Derick and he said he would be on board both cruises and would be happy to be our genie again. Soooo, if you book Star Class on Anthem of the Seas and are lucky enough to get Derick for your genie you are in for a treat. I am sure I have forgotten some things he did to make our vacation exceptional but I am happy to answer any questions anyone might have.

We have Star Class on Anthem booked for thanksgiving 2019. Our first Star Class will be on a Oasis 2018. Pretty sure Derek will be a long shot at that point, but can’t wait!!!!

Thank you for your review!

Actually he will be there during that time. You can request him when you get the survey from RCCL.

Thanks so much for your review. We are on the Anthem next June, and I was questioning whether the genie added much value - And it sure sounds like it! Just the info I needed.

Thanks for this review. I am surprised he knows his schedule that far in advance. There seems to be a lot of movement among Genies of late. Or maybe that is just on the OA class ships?

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Almost scared to ask.... how much is a reasonable amount of tipping a genie, and how much did you end up tipping him?

That seems to be all ships but Derick has been on the Anthem since the program was started and he told us he would stay on the Anthem until March or April when it goes into dry dock and then overseas. The value the genie adds to our cruise is the ability to not worry about booking shows or specialty restaurants. The best part is the debarkation when you just walk past all the people in line to leave, which sounds awful but that is one of the perkes that is included. You can pay your genie what you feel they are worth, most people pay around $200-$400 depending on how many people and what you ask them to do for you. For us we had more requests than normal, we felt, because of the ifly (over a dozen times for my son and husband) and bumper cars (2 days for 7 times) and the line for the bumper cars wraps around the basketball court. We paid Derick $650 and felt good about paying that much. We will probably not go that high in April since it is a shorter cruise.

That seems to be all ships but Derick has been on the Anthem since the program was started and he told us he would stay on the Anthem until March or April when it goes into dry dock and then overseas. The value the genie adds to our cruise is the ability to not worry about booking shows or specialty restaurants. The best part is the debarkation when you just walk past all the people in line to leave, which sounds awful but that is one of the perkes that is included. You can pay your genie what you feel they are worth, most people pay around $200-$400 depending on how many people and what you ask them to do for you. For us we had more requests than normal, we felt, because of the ifly (over a dozen times for my son and husband) and bumper cars (2 days for 7 times) and the line for the bumper cars wraps around the basketball court. We paid Derick $650 and felt good about paying that much. We will probably not go that high in April since it is a shorter cruise.

Thank you lovescats5. Just trying to get a data point, and budget in the genie's tip for the overall cost of a star class cruise.

I understand that. If it would help the other 2 couples Derick took care of gave him $300 and $400. They were couples and did not ask for as much as we did and there were 4 of us.

Wow, that all sounds fabulous.

The odd Grand Suite is our limit at the moment but hopefully one day we can travel Star Class.

Thank you for the review

Thanks for the great review! We will be sailing Star Class over Halloween 2018 and are happy to hear that they are doing such a good job. Fair winds and following seas! Honey & Dwayne