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Oh no! I hope you two fully recover quickly!

Have you found a cruise line that consistently offers FCC or OBC in situations like this that are beyond the control of the cruise line? I haven't. Have you found any cruise lines that offer the same exact itinerary and the same exact experience for the same exact price? I haven't. They all have their pros and cons and different price points and even different itineraries. Personally, whether a cruise line gives me something for situations beyond their control when they don't have to isn't very high on my list of criteria when I'm choosing a cruise. But maybe it's higher for others.

Makes complete sense. I think you will be fine the way you have it but I completely get why you would feel more comfortable hearing from someone who has done it before.

The Cruise Contract @cruisestitch posted a screenshot of clearly defines a minor as someone under 18. So he isn't considered a minor by Celebrity. I don't see how the requirement for a notarized letter would apply here. He just can't stay in a cabin without someone 21 years or older and he can't drink. So if you are truly concerned, why not book him in your cabin (I imagine you are over 21) and then just go to Guest Services when you board to get him access to the other room where he will sleep. Since you are the actual parent of the other two, the connecting room shouldn't be an issue for them.

To be fair, chipped paint and cosmetic issues are all issues fully within Celebrity's control to prevent/maintain. A war in Israel is not.

The war broke out in the middle of OP’s cruise so they couldn’t actually do the same for OP (allow them to cancel or move the cruise date).

It is always really nice when the cruise line offers some sort of goodwill gesture when things like this happen. And I get that you were hoping for something and disappointed in the ports you missed. But Celebrity didn’t start the war in Israel. You were on the ship when it broke out requiring a lot of last minute shifting to keep you all safe. They didn’t create the unrest that happens at times in Egypt. Why should they be held financially responsible when things like that happen? I completely understand the disappointment but I struggle with what we truly should be expecting from the cruise line when things happen beyond their control.

We tried it once with a stateroom attendant and had some of the worst service ever so regretted the pre-tip. In my experience, good stewards and butlers will provide good service regift when you tip and the rare bad one will provide bad service regardless. So I don’t know how much it matters. Do what feels comfortable to you.

Since my post an hour ago, my refund has shown up in my account (6 days since I made the cancellation). I agree that the length of time it takes to show up is very dependent on your credit card issuer. Some are a lot faster to post refunds than others.

I cancelled and re-booked a shore excursion after business hours on 11/21 and don't have the credit yet on my credit card. Based on past experience, I expect to see it here in the next couple days.

I'm surprised this thread is still going. I've bought cheap watches and nice watches and ones in between. As long as your eyes are open to what you are buying, people should buy what they like and will wear. I'm not an Invicta fan personally, but the variety in people's preferences is what makes life colorful. And I wouldn't discount so quickly that a young person might want an actual watch. There are still some that enjoy them. Obviously, with anyone of any age, you need to know the individual when buying a gift. To the actual question, I used to find better deals for watches on cruise ships when you consider the tax savings but I haven't lately (and the selection has gotten to be pretty poor). I wouldn't count on the ship being the best place to buy a watch.

Internet packages are assigned to a specific person for a total number of devices. That doesn't mean devices can't be shared but the login will be associated with just one person. It's not a per cabin type of package. Look closely at the options and prices. In the past, it has been cheaper to upgrade each person individually with a 1 device plan if you already have the AI included wi-fi. I don't have a current cruise with the included wi-fi to check myself. (This is different than if you had no wi-fi package to begin with. In those cases, it is usually cheaper to buy a 2 or 4 device plan and share.)

Each move-up bid is treated separately so there is no way to guarantee both get an upgrade if one does.

I think the answer really depends on what you value about the Retreat. All ships have Luminae and a Retreat Lounge (or Michael's Club). And they all offer the same services in the Retreat. If the Retreat sundeck or a more modern feel is important to you, then you will want to look at Edge Class ships and those that have been fully revolutionized. The non-revolutionized M and S class ships have some beautiful dark woods in Michael's Club that I really enjoy. All M and S class ships have the advantage of Luminae's kitchen being close to other dining room kitchens making it easier to order off other menus if you don't like what is being served in Luminae on a particular night.

I have these in three different colors and really like them. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BRFJZJ8Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

We brought shoes with very good tread for the long walks which worked great. Unless you really like your hiking boots I’m not sure they are necessary. For wet landings, we each had a pair of closed toed Keen sandals which we usually would just continue to wear for shorter walks. My husband had tennis shoes he wore around the ship. I had casual sandals (with a back strap that still had some grip) for around the ship. I wish I had brought a second pair of these sandals because they worked well for the zodiac ride for snorkeling and on the short beach walks but would then be wet for wearing around the ship. Yes, it is easy to use and makes use of my existing cell phone which has a decent camera. I would set it up in my cabin before any snorkeling excursion to make sure there was a good seal. I had tried it out a few times in Mexico and Hawaii before this trip so I was comfortable with it. It is expensive though and it raises questions at airport security almost every single time. I have learned to just plan time to have that bag searched.

The week before we were in the mid to upper 70s most days. Many wore long sleeves for sun protection, my husband included to avoid having to put on much sunscreen. I personally wore tank tops and shorts most days but did use a lot of sunscreen. You are at the equator so they really warned us about the strength of the sun.

Glass bottles which included Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, sparkling water, and two types of beer (I believe both from Ecuador).

Any one of these would be infrequent enough that they are keeping up with treating them when they see them. Thousands of people turnover every sailing. Cruise ships and hotels can't prevent people from bringing bed bugs in. All they can do is monitor and treat them as soon as seen so they don't spread. You take a risk of bed bugs anytime you travel or stay anywhere. And from what I'm reading bed bug reports all over are up so that risk may be increasing some. So to me, an isolated report like this one is a "nothing to see here" kind of report.

I really enjoyed meeting Cristina. She is just a wealth of knowledge and so personable. I would go to her regularly with my bird photos for help with identification.

With getting back on after snorkeling, I found it worked best to skip the very highest step. That step swings out when you step on it which can disturb your balance a bit. So unless your legs are too short to accomplish it, try to swing your leg over while you are still firmly on the second to highest step. Another tip, if you have a camera strapped to your arm, take it off and hand it to the naturalist or driver before taking your fins off or trying to climb out. The first time or two, I thought mine would be just fine dangling from my arm as I climbed but it got caught on the ladder, the clip for the strap came loose, and ended up at the bottom of the ocean. Fortunately, we weren't too deep and a guide was able to retrieve it for me.

Gorgeous sunset photos of Kicker Rock! They timed that circumnavigation right!

We sailed in 11706 which has a portion of the balcony that is forward facing and really enjoyed the views. Wind occasionally was a problem but surprisingly not as often as I had assumed. I believe your balcony will be half protected with glass which will give you wind protection on a portion of your balcony. Your balcony railing will not be see through so you will likely have to stand up to see out.

Japan is definitely on our list of cruises to do. I also suggest looking at Alaska and maybe even combining it with a repositioning cruise between Hawaii and Vancouver (or all the way from Sydney, if you have the time).

We have made it home safely. It's hard to believe it is all over. It was a trip that exceeded my expectations. To wrap up our last day in Quito, we had booked an all day birding tour with a guide to take us to the Mashpi Amagusa Reserve with an afternoon stop to see the Andean ***** of the Rock, a very unique species that although it exists in many South American countries, it is very shy and hard to see. Our guide picked us up at 4:30 a.m. at the hotel. We had purchased a box breakfast along with the tour and the tour guide contracted with the JW Marriott to provide that breakfast. At the preserve, we managed to see so many amazing tanagers, hummingbirds, warblers, and more. It is a preserve run by a small family who knows their forests well and has set up natural settings to attract the various species. The Glistening Green Tanager was one we hoped to see here and we did. I still have a lot of photos to go through (I took almost 800 on this day alone) but here are just a couple in case anyone else is interested in birding. Glistening Green Tanager Moss backed Tanager His wife runs a small restaurant on the property where we had a delicious lunch. We then continued to see the Andean ***** of the Rock on another small family run preserve. They didn't come quite as close as we hoped and we didn't have a lot of time because we had to get back to the hotel to check out and get ready for our flight. But I still got a few great photos and videos. Here is one short video clip just to give you an idea of how unique of a bird this is. This is a male. The females I understand look quite a bit different but they were sitting on the nests and didn't come up where I could see them. RMK_6322.mov We returned to the hotel a little after 6. We had arranged to keep our room at the JW Marriott until 7:00 p.m. for $45 plus tax for a total of $54.90. We were able to access the Executive Lounge before checking out where they had hot and cold appetizers which was enough for dinner. Our pickup time was 9:00 p.m. and so we made ourselves comfortable in the lobby in some chairs near an outlet so we could charge our phones and portable charger after the heavy use they got this day. Gabriela with Celebrity came looking for us about 10 minutes before 9:00. We loaded our luggage and selves on a bus with one other couple and drove the 45 minutes to the airport. At the airport Gabriela, helped us check our luggage and walked us to security where she said goodbye. I really felt Celebrity made everything so seamless for this trip. We were never wondering where to go next and every detail was really taken care of. After security, we went through migration where we got another stamp in our passport. There were plenty more shopping opportunities at the airport if you had a last minute souvenir need. Our plane was full, left on time, served us "dinner" at 1:00 a.m. (which seemed a bit strange), and arrived in Atlanta about 20 minutes early although we had to wait a few minutes for a gate. In Atlanta, we had to go through customs, collect our checked luggage, and re-check it before going on to our next gate for our final flight. With a three hour layover we had lots of time to get through customs, find breakfast, and get to our gate with lots of time to spare. Thanks so much for all of you who followed along. This was quite the amazing adventure and something that will stick with me for a very long time.