blackshirt

57 minutes ago, Peteymil said:

So if I have the complimentary elite minutes, those will be used first before the surf all included benefits begin?.

My guess is you will have separate accounts for the all included benefit and the elite minutes, so your choice when you use the elite minutes.

Apparently the Silhouette is currently on the CDC’s list of cruise ships under investigation. I sure hope whatever is going on is corrected by the time we sail on her in June.

14 minutes ago, markeb said:

People are confusing two different issues. The 6-month requirement is for entry into a foreign country, not return to the United States. If Guatemala in this case (the only country on itinerary that has a 6-month requirement) enforces that requirement on cruise ship passengers, then the OP needs 6 months remaining on their passports. If the Celebrity check-in is saying "required", I would assume that's why. If that requirement shows up when you arrive at the ship and you don't meet it, you're missing the ship. Celebrity "may" flag your online check in record, but that's historically not been consistent.

Spot on. As I noted earlier, it’s only an issue if Celebrity makes it an issue and as you note, if it is an issue, Celebrity will deny boarding. If Celebrity allows the OP to board, there will be no issue.

26 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

When we sailed in the past, our son and I could share text as we both had iPhones but to text with our daughter, his sister, we had to use the 'What's App" as she was an android user. 

 

Which would indicate your iPhones were not connected to your carrier via WiFi calling. You were sending iMessages between iPhones but to send an SMS text to an android phone, that requires being connected to your mobile carrier either via WiFi calling or a cell tower, not just connected to WiFi. You can be on WiFi but not connected to WiFi calling which is basically the subject of this thread, will the basic surf internet support WiFi calling.

11 hours ago, jelayne said:

I may be mistaken but I thought the Elite minutes were stream not surf.

I though the elite minutes were surf but apparently not. I do know the Diamond/Diamond + free minutes you get on Royal are surf and my WiFi calling (on an iPhone) has worked on Royal’s surf only internet, even from the South Pacific on a New Zealand cruise, so I would expect it to work on Celebrity’s surf also. I guess I’ll find out in June, will be sailing out of Southampton.

3 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

I think what they are suggesting is that as it is strongly recommended (though not required) that we have at least 6 months remaining on our passports before expiration date, that it may just be prudent to not take any chances.

Well, that’s the subject of the entire thread and no, I don’t think they were just suggesting it would be prudent. Actually, I think they misunderstood an earlier post and thought my comment was about cruising with no passport. Sure, it would be prudent to follow the recommendation but unless Celebrity makes it an issue, my belief is it won’t be, even if they have to leave the cruise and fly home from one of those countries that does require 6 months. Why do I say that? Because they would already be in that country. The 6 month requirement is for entry into the country, which would not be an issue because they were already in country and trying to leave.

32 minutes ago, CILCIANRQTS said:

All U.S. citizens must show a passport to reenter the country by air.

So, yes, it IS an issue.

Of course the passport is needed to re-enter the US but why would it be an issue if the passport expires in 5 months? It wouldn’t be. Why do you think it would be?

WiFi calling has worked for me using the free Elite minutes which is the basic service.

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

It could be an issue if an emergency arises mid-cruise and you need to fly home.

Why? Who would make it an issue? Do you think the country you were in wouldn’t let you leave? Certainly its not an issue once you arrive back in the US.

2 minutes ago, Denny01 said:

Here is a list of countries that require a 6-month Passport validity:

 

https://www.us-passport-service-guide.com/countries-that-require-six-months-validity-in-a-passport.html 

 

Guatemala is on it. But not sure if this is required if you fly in and stay, or if a one-day cruise call is also part of the required. Check with your TA or whatever, but this is what is on the internet…which is, as we all know, always correct!

 

den

That would be for entering the country through customs which you do not do on a port stop.

38 minutes ago, labdoggomom said:

Airline is telling me they can't because I am not ticketed. BUT I have paid for the airfare with Flights by Celebrity.

Call and tell them you aren’t ticketed yet. I had the same thing happen recently. Final payment was made March 13 and a week later the airline was still showing not ticketed. Was told the system hadn’t requested the flights get ticketed, so the Flights by Celebrity agent put the request in manually. Within an hour the flights were ticketed. 

1 minute ago, stavy said:

Will our benefits be applied to their rooms?

No. It doesn’t matter who pays, benefits are based on each cruiser’s level, not who paid.

52 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

If you are using standard SMS texting, then your wifi will not help you. 

Not true. You can do standard SMS texting via WiFi calling. You can only use your phone for SMS or MMS texts via the internet if you have WiFi calling activated. I also have ATT and have an iPhone with WiFi calling activated. I’m able to use the ship’s internet to send or receive “regular” texts via WiFi calling.

4 hours ago, wacruiselover said:

When are we permitted to cash out - do we have to lose all of the $25 or can we play some and get the balance in OBC?

You just need to spin until you have gambled $25. If there is anything left after that, that is yours to cash out and keep if you want or continue playing. You don’t get OBC, you get cash. I do not know if they will put that on your onboard account, my guess is no.

3 hours ago, jstewartgt said:

I believe the answer to this is only if you (and the other party onboard) have and internet package and leave it connected

Not quite true. The recipient will get any sent iMessage when they connect, they don’t have to be constantly connected.

On 7/6/2021 at 8:45 PM, LGW59 said:

Yes you did, you conveniently left out Houston and Dallas, unless they have no homeless or crime there?

Seriously? You know another requirement for being a port city is having a port. Where are Houston’s and Dallas’s ports?

4 hours ago, wannagonow123 said:

Will I do the "Check-in" (where you put your passport info) on my computer? How far in advance can I do it?

Online check-in, either on your computer or through the app should be open now.

I used FCC from two cancelled cruises last year to book two cruises this year which in turn got cancelled by Celebrity, not by me. The original FCC from last year’s cruises automatically got reinstated with new book by date of 04/30/22 and Sail by date 09/30/22. I would presume the same thing would happen regardless whether it’s you cancelling or Celebrity.

11 hours ago, kjwinston2019 said:

Now here is the kicker, if you go through a third party and they over sell the flight, you could be bumped.

Never been bumped but itinerary changes are pretty common.

9 minutes ago, drowelf said:

For example, my flights in January are on United, and using the record locator for the flights, I was able to pick my seats via the United Site.

Are you saying United let’s you select seats before you are ticketed, in other words before final payment? I’ve never had an issue selecting seats through American using the record locator but not until ticketed.

1 hour ago, RTR 21-0 said:

I think the only drawback from what I’ve read is not being able to choose seats until closer to flight date or at time of final payment.

You can, of course, opt to pay sooner so that you get ticketed and are able to choose seats. You don’t have to wait to final payment to pay.

4 hours ago, drowelf said:

And last of all. Keep going back and checking on better itinerary and prices. On the mentioned BA flight above, I've already changed it 3 times to take advantage of both a better itinerary and price. 

If you do see better prices or itineraries, are those changes you can complete yourself online or is a call required? I’m coming up on my 330 day window next month. I’ve always heard the best time to book international flights is about 6 months out but based on multiple recommendations on this thread and the ability to make changes, booking as soon as possible sounds like the right thing to do.

48 minutes ago, Ride-The-Waves said:

FYI - I served in uniform for 30 years in various theaters in various conflicts.  Your use of the "thank you for your service" is extremely demeaning as applied to adherence to one cruise line.

I served in uniform 22 years and though I found the “thank you for your service” reference to be odd, I did not take it as demeaning. 

11 hours ago, Reijo said:

I realize no one probably has an answer to this but wanted to check anyway.

Answer to what? When your August cruise be cancelled? June cruises got cancelled a little over a week ago. May cruises were cancelled about a month prior. Based on previous cancellations, they likely won’t cancel August cruises until early June.

2 hours ago, Pinboy said:

LOL----We used to watch LIBERACE , not Liberchi almost ( ?? ) every Sunday night on the Ed Solomon show.

Ed Solomon? That would Ed Sullivan. After dinging them for Liberace, not sure if that’s on purpose or an ironic twist.