The Fun Researcher

Man I hope this isn’t becoming prevalent. I have not smelled pot on any of our cruises to date. Hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself.

15 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

He’ll be bored to tears in there..I hope he likes snoring..I’m 60 and can’t take it for long. 

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 

13 minutes ago, raineyo said:

Oh please tell me this isn’t going to happen. 😭 At this point the ADULT ONLY Solarium is one of the main reasons we pick Celebrity over other lines.  Please no to family hour Celebrity.  

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

18 minutes ago, saffy12 said:

Does anyone know how much the whale tail costs?  Or even the wave next to it - those both might be a good souvenir of our upcoming Antartica trip!

 

I was on Equinox 10 years ago and was fascinated watching the shows.  I'm disappointed to have to pay to do it now, but still thinking that will be my souvenir from the trip.   

 

By all the pics people have posted, I'm assuming they travel ok?  

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

48 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

Great fun. Here are some of my pieces I've made.

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.

33 minutes ago, janabelle61 said:

On Summit now. Over 16 except for Family hours 5 - 7.

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 (knowing the app can be out of date)?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.)

On 11/25/2023 at 7:54 AM, OhioTony said:

So if I am on the classic package, and I wanted a Red Bull and Vodka. 

I would be charged the difference for any upgrade in vodka plus tip, and be charged for the whole can of red bull plus tip?

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.

14 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

Good. I cannot stand the smell.

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

2 hours ago, not-enough-cruising said:

Anyone with an ounce of decorum would never mention a dollar amount that they have tipped in a public forum.

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

58 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

If you have any concerns that there could be an outside possibility that Andy could be denied boarding, I would suggest as a precaution, that that he carry on his luggage (rather than dropping it off with a porter), as it could take hours for the luggage to be located and returned to a denied passenger. Having to wait in the terminal get your luggage back after being denied is just extra heartbreak.

 

I also noticed under your signature that y'all took an Alaska cruise last summer (RCI Quantum).  So glad that that cruise wasn't the one he was invited to join the family, as without a Canadian Visa, he would have been denied.

 

You did mention that his F-1 Visa date in his passport has expired, so I would have him bring any and all paperwork that proves he has a Visa extension, or that he has applied for an extension.

 

Good luck, and thanks for keeping us updated.

 

 

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...

10 minutes ago, Candocruises said:

Just finished Thanksgiving cruise and for the first time traveled with extended family to include children, ages 11-16. We paid full gratuities for each one.  Probably opening a can of worms on a subject that has been previously discussed but do you all pay full gratuities for children.  BTW the program for the kids was poorly staffed and almost nonexistent. Thanks

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

6 hours ago, steveru621 said:

 

You want to blame the big evil corporation.

 

I didn't skew the numbers; again, you are convinced RCI is out to screw their employees.  You have no proof, I stated fact in annual numbers.

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.

30 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

Royal skims nothing.  Stop with this nonsense.

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?  

6 minutes ago, steveru621 said:

 

This is the 4th one I've seen,  All with a different breakdown.

 

So $4.55 x 2 passengers x 7 days x 20 cabins x 52 weeks = an annual salary of $66,248.

$4.55 x 2 passengers x 7 days x 25 cabins x 52 weeks = an annual salary of $82,810.

 

Plus additional cash gratuity of $20/cabin (20) /week + $20,800

Plus additional cash gratuity of $50/cabin (20) /week + $52,000 + $82,810 = $134,810

Tell me again that they are underpaid.

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

7 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

we use rover.com. Sometimes you find a gem, and sometimes you don't.

 

a ton of Chinese citizens go on Caribbean cruises. Surely, Andy will not be Celebrity's first Chinese citizen. 🙂

 

Signed, a former F-1 student.

Thank you for this.  💝

4 minutes ago, Ferry_Watcher said:

 

Having a 'letter' from corporate doesn't matter when it comes to citizenship documents.  The decision to accept documents, or deny boarding is made at the pier, and the final say (yay/nay) comes from the Ship's Documentation Officer.  If a citizenship documentation mistake is made, it is a &10K fine against the ship.  This why those of us who deal with checking in passengers are so careful and diligent when it comes to passports, visas, and other documents.

 

As for your room/guest configuration, assuming that you really have a connecting room, and that you are all checking in at the same time, it shouldn't be a problem.  If it was, the Pier Coordinator and/or the ship could administratively swap an adult and a child to make it more compliant.  I wouldn't worry about your stateroom.

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.

43 minutes ago, RedIguana said:

Dear daughter,

 

Your mom and I are going on a cruise. Would you please feed the cats while we are gone?

 

Signed,

Your loving father

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.

9 minutes ago, sanger727 said:

I think mentioning the Chinese citizen fact has confused the issue on what you are asking. You already feel knowledgeable and comfortable with the Chinese citizen part. Your questions is just if three people under the age of 21 can share a cabin that connects to yours. 

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. 

9 minutes ago, ETHTrader said:

@thefunresearcher

 

I just want to say, it's amazing how much time and effort you are putting into this for your daughter's boyfriend. You are a great parent and your daughter is lucky to have you as her parent

Thank you for this.  💝