The Fun Researcher

Yeah I get it. 👍🏼. It’s just in case it’s cold outside and he wants to hang out with others in our group if we go in there. If the weather is nice we like the outdoor pool vibes much better

It's already been happening. Look at the screenshot I posted just above your post. They list family hours from 5:30-6:30. That's a pretty narrow window though, and probably a REALLY unpopular time as most are getting ready for dinner at that time I would guess

It's still free to watch the shows. These are special sessions for cruise guests to make blown glass items

Love those jellyfish! Beautiful stuff you've made!

Just asking because the app shows this

I really miss a lot of the rolls. Not liking the thin dry bread slices.

Thank you. Do you mean 16+? (so it includes 16 year olds?)

The app still shows 16+ for the Solarium on our Equinox sailing in a couple of weeks. Is this still true? (knowing the app can be out of date)? Our son is 16 (well behaved and quiet 🙂 ), and want to make sure he can hang with my Wife and I and our 19 and 22 year old daughters

So what is the age requirement currently for the solariums on Celebrity ships? 16 and older or 18 and older? (I’m not referring to family times moreso the general time.)

Great question. I'm guessing that's how it would work if they let you leave with the rest of the can of Red Bull. Then it's basically like ordering a vodka on the rocks and a can of Red Bull. The brand of Vodka will determine if there is an upcharge or not... i.e. Tito's no, Cîroc, yes. Just my guess though.

You could check if your credit card has travel insurance. I doubt this reason would be a valid one though. Hoping for a speedy recovery for your dog.

Same. I wouldn’t care nearly as much if it weren’t for the terrible smell. I don’t know if I’m hyper sensitive or not but I just can’t stand it

Oh man, this gave me a good chuckle. Love it.

1) Great point about the luggage!! Thank you. Knowing him he'll probably have just a carry-on so that should be easy to accommodate. 2) Correct, he was not on the Alaska cruise this summer. However if he was, I think we would have looked into those requirement ahead of time and and gotten that Canadian Visa beforehand. That Alaskan cruise was truly amazing. (With my siblings and their families, 14 of us total) 3) Regarding the expired F-1 Visa, that's what he's asking the Visa service or Consulate this week. Our understanding at this point is that he can leave and return to the US, even though his Visa is expired, under this special rule: From the ice.gov website: I wish to travel to Canada, Mexico, or one of the islands adjacent to the United States (insert: which includes the Bahamas). Can I return if my visa is expired? Yes, in most cases. You can usually revalidate an expired visa automatically when returning from a visit of less than thirty days to Canada, Mexico, or one of the islands adjacent to the United States provided that you have a valid Form I-20 and a valid unexpired Form I-94. This process is known as automatic visa revalidation. Link to ice.gov website

FWIW, I regret using the word "skims" earlier in this thread, "Who knows how much Royal skims?" as it sort of conveys malicious intent on Royal's part. That's not what I was going for with that question. I'm simply wondering if the total $18 per person per day goes fully to the workers. Any sane person knows the answer to the question "Who knows how much Royal skims" could be ZERO. Could be more than zero. I'm not convinced either way that Royal does or does no distribute the full gratuity breakdown amount on those paper slips to the employees. For now I'll keep doing the auto grats as I've done for 10+ years and tip extra cash as I see fit. Regardless, I'm not o.k. with a category of "other hotel services" on that gratuity list. Roll that into the cruise cost and only have two categories, Stateroom Attendant and Dining Room. At least we interact with them and they provide service directly to us. That change alone would drop the auto grats to around $12 per person per day. Yes, you would pay more in the base cruise fare to make up the difference, but I think that's a better way of handling that category. My $0.02

OP I might be interpreting your post wrong but Equinox is an S class not M class. Was not sure if you had them switched or if you were just saying that you have been on M class ships before

Prayers and well wishes to all those that needed this medical attention.

Thank you @wrk2cruise for the contacts to the Executive offices at Celebrity. Not sure which of the two contacts made it through but I did hear back today. 1) Regarding the cabin situation (which I describe in my first post) they did reply that we are good to go. No need for a parental consent form. 2) For those that may run into a situation where you want to bring a foreign citizen with you, be aware that Celebrity can only advise US and Canadian residents as to proper travel documents they may need. Any other citizens need to verify their requirements on their own with appropriate Embassies/Consulates or Visa services. This isn't a big surprise I guess. It is good to know for certain that this is how it is handled. At least we know. With that being said, Andy will be contacting Visa services to insure that we have "all our ducks in a row" regarding his required travel documents. I'm pretty certain we are good, but we'll verify. Thanks again to all for the help, suggestions, well wishes, and humor. -Dan Here was the reply from Celebrity's Executive office... "Thank you for taking the time to contact the Executive Offices at Celebrity Cruises. As previously advised , Mr. ---- does not need to fill out the form as he is of age and will be in a connecting room. With regards with travel documents, please know that Celebrity is only able to advise US and Canadian residents. All other guests should review the visas and passport requirements for each country on their sailing itinerary with their Embassy/Consulate or a Visa service of their choice. Anyone at your consulate will be able to answer your inquiries."

Yes, we paid full gratuities for our kids when they were younger and still do now that they are grown. Never really considered it. My thoughts... They still take up a bed each, and are just as much work or more for the room steward. Depending on the kid they can also be just as much work or more for the wait staff. Just my $0.02

You seem to know more about how I feel about Royal than I do. 😂. You have no idea what I think. I have nothing against Royal. I have always prepaid my gratuities and tipped additional cash on top of that to the stateroom attendant, wait staff, bar, staff, etc. You might do yourself a favor by not assuming things about people. I did not say that Royal skims, I said, how do we know that they don’t? Too very different things. How do you know with absolute certainty that they don’t? Your calculations are misleading. Why base the numbers on 52 weeks when you know dang well that they work in nine month intervals. At best, your numbers are 33% inflated versus reality.

You skew the numbers suggesting they work 52 weeks a year, and you want to tell me to stop the nonsense? …and how do we know that the workers get 100% of the $18 per person per day gratuity?

Thanks for running the numbers. A few questions... Are they working 52 weeks a year? What's the normal contract? Are they up to 20 cabins each now? Also, even though it says so, we can't assume the stateroom attendant gets 100% of the gratuity for that category. Who knows how much Royal skims

Thank you for this. 💝 This is great info, specifically the fact that they do indeed have a dedicated documentation officer. This actually makes me feel better, knowing if this goes beyond the knowledge of the check-in person, it can get raised to someone that is dedicated to stuff like this. ...yeah, definitely connecting rooms. Equinox Prime Veranda's deck 7 on the bump out near the rear elevators. Useless added info, but all prime veranda cabins in that bump out area from deck 6 - 9 are connecting. 🙂 Thanks again.

Good stuff. Made me laugh out loud. 🤣 Speaking of that, it was a whole 'nother ordeal. We have a cat and a small dog, and our older daughter also has a mid size dog. All three need to be watched while we're gone and I can't tell you how hard it is to find someone to watch them at this time of year (week before/of Christmas). We called too late for boarding (which is a last resort anyway). We settled on our 16 year old neighbor girl. Hopefully it goes well. I'm trying to help de-risk by ordering AirTags for all three animals to go on their collars in case they got loose for some reason. You may be right. I only mention it because I'm not sure how they handle the customs/visa stuff upon check-in. I think this is our 13th cruise (unlucky? 🤣) We've never had to deal with it and I just don't want a surprise at the pier. I have heard that if you don't have the correct visa's for ports of call upon check-in that they will deny boarding. I want to make sure Celebrity agrees with what we have determined regarding Andy's I-20, I-94, visa requirements and visa status. One things for sure, after this we will have a much better grasp of what is needed next time. Thank you for this. 💝

Thank you! I've sent the email to Jennifer as well. Worst case he can't go but that would be a bummer after all this effort. I know for certain if we were travelling on our own, we have the correct customs info for him to leave the US, visit Cozumel and Bahamas, and return from the countries to enter the US. I just need Celebrity to confirm as well so we don't have issues at the pier. Also need to have in writing that they are o.k. with our cabin setup. Doesn't seem that it should be this difficult to reach the right people.