Torfamm

Thanks for the fantastic review and hope the rest of your trip goes smoothly!

If Celebrity wants to institute a policy requiring all adoptive parents to present proof of adoption at check-in, they could I suppose. The problem is that they have no such requirement and port agents asked for documents that are not required nor even something that people would normally travel with.

I absolutely agree that what you experienced was dead wrong. Unfortunately, I’m not sure how much control Celebrity (or any cruise line) has over this sort of issue with employees of the Port Authority. I hope you have also complained to the Port Authorities.

I’ve seen them at 7:30 and 9:30 on most sailings but 8:00 and 10:00 in the Mediterranean

Happy New Year to you @mahdnc Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

This is the simplest issue for Celebrity to address. No such requirement to present adoption papers when traveling on a Celebrity cruise with a child who shares your last name exists. There is no excuse for telling you they were needed. What constitutes a red flag for trafficking is much more complex and involves the port authority and all cruise lines operating out of the port.

There is no requirement to carry adoption papers to travel on a cruise ship with a child who has the same last name as the parents. The problem here is that rules were not followed and neither the staff nor two supervisors seemed to understand the rules. I can remember being stopped at a checkpoint heading back to school in Miami during the Mariel boat lift and having an official ask a friend for his citizenship papers after we’d all been asked where we were born and he answered Cuba. There’s no way any normal person would carry that document with them for a day at the beach or even that a student would have in with them at college. This situation was just as absurd.

I think the demise of formal nights was the disappearance of the option to rent a tuxedo onboard. Less than half of American men own a suit of any kind much less a tuxedo. The odds of everyone complying with the requested dress of dark suit or tuxedo on formal nights is pretty low, especially on sailings from North America.

I did a Princess Lodges rail tour that was completely separate from my cruise and loved it. There was no bus travel nor were there lots of organized group excursions or planned meals. We could pick the excursions we wanted at each lodge or book something on our own. To me it was the best of all worlds - hotels, train tickets and transfers arranged, leave luggage outside your door each departure morning and find it in your room at the next destination but spend each day as you wish. To me, traveling every leg by train was way better than doing half by bus on a land tour. https://www.princesslodges.com/alaska-rail-tours/learn/ I chose this unescorted 6 night tour from Fairbanks to Anchorage and would highly recommend it. https://www.princesslodges.com/alaska-tours/itinerary-3ts/?from_search_query=dG91clR5cGU9ZXhwbG9yZXImc2VhcmNoT25seT0w#3TS

It could be a problem. One possibility is different meeting and return points that make it tricky to make it in time. We also once had a morning excursion where the departure was so delayed that we knew we would miss the afternoon excursion. Luckily both were ship excursions and we were able to cancel the afternoon excursion and get a refund. On the other hand, we had it work perfectly with an hour break in Skagway where we did a raft trip in the morning and the White Pass Railway in the afternoon. We even had time to grab a bowl of crab chowder in between.

Yes, it is usually easy to be seated at a larger shared table. If you meet people you like and want to eat together again, that is also possible. You can either agree to meet and do walk up or ask for a reservation

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. We are doing a back to back on the Solstice starting in Singapore on January 15 and it’s been very helpful. I am grateful for the heads up on the tender situation in particular!

In the interest of our planning, I noticed people wearing shorts and short skirts. Are there no issues with not covering knees and shoulders in the temple there as there are in Thailand?

Same for me with cash.

We bring a rechargeable nightlight with a dimmer and leave it on the counter in the bathroom with the door cracked The blindingly bright lights in the cabins are way too much for me https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01EOI3RO4?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

I use an old gift card

What was the exchange rate?

When using USD gift cards to purchase shore excursions or OBC pre cruise, the exchange rate is 1:1. I’ve heard that it’s the same onboard but have no firsthand experience.

It’s the deposit that they credit back once you board. I believe they consider it more like cruise fare than OBC. The cruise fare would change if they didn’t refund the full amount

I saw a clever idea that I might try so it’s not dark there when I’m up. Someone put two magnetic hooks on the ceiling on either side of the light and hooked a mask in front of the sensor at night

I would approach it by 1. Setting up auto payment or online payment for all bills. 2. Forward mail to a trusted friend or relative who lives nearby for me to pickup when I return. 3. Sign up for USPS informed delivery so you can see what’s in your mail daily and also for alerts from UPS. 4. I’d arrange for someone to check on my house probably once a week. You might need to think about how to compensate that person. If you have a house cleaner for example, they might be an option. 5. If you must drive, renting a car will probably be cheaper than paying for parking. 6. Pets probably need to be boarded somewhere in my opinion, not left in the house to be checked on for that period of time. A lot depends on the pet though. Options are very different for a gerbil than a dog or cat, or fish in an 80 gallon tank. Anything that only eats live food is especially challenging.

This is a confusing topic. Shareholders credit is not converted, it is given in AUD in the amount stated on for the period covered by the benefit agreement. There is no exchange rate.You can see the full document here https://www.carnivalcorp.com/static-files/bc1b7f04-a3e8-4176-91ac-a529290fe45d USD gift cards used to purchase shore excursions or OBC pre-cruise are exchanged 1:1 for AUD, which is a terrible exchange rate. OBC available in USD from the $200 pp deposit for casino cruises however, is converted to AUD at the current exchange rate, it ended up being about 300 AUD in September and October.

I’m looking forward to hearing about your cruise!

Unless the ship is sailing to New Zealand, it will be like a normal port day for you. In transit guests can choose to leave the ship and return when they like. If the ship is sailing to New Zealand, all in transit passengers must disembark and go through customs to reboard. Once you go back onboard, you can’t disembark again to spend time in Melbourne that day. You’re considered to have left Australia once you board the ship.

I tried one once and she was horrible. For some reason she was determined to talk me into a guarantee cabin instead of just booking the one I asked for. She actually said several times, “Book a guarantee instead, you’ll get an upgrade”. I’m still not sure if she was stupid or thought I was. No CVP can promise that. Finally convinced her that I didn’t want the guarantee and she said “Fine, we’ll book your choice.” I gave her the credit card number and she said confirmation would be emailed. Guess what - she booked the guarantee anyway. Getting rid of her has been impossible no matter how many requests I make. She called for a long time but finally stopped. It’s been years and she still somehow has her name pop up on reservations I book online or with the casino department. I just called again about a week ago to say I don’t want do have any involvement with her.