The Fun Researcher

So... He has a valid passport, He has a valid I-20 with approval to travel. He has his I-94 record. His F-1 visa expired since he's been in the US for so long without leaving. However, there is a provision for this regarding travel to Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean Islands (including the Bahamas). It's called Automatic Visa Re-Validation. See below. So complicated. I have an email in with Celebrity about the basic question if he is able to sail with us based on age, connecting rooms, valid passport, and proper documentation. Even if they say it's o.k. it looks like I'll have to get into the nitty gritty with this Automatic Visa Re-Validation question as well. Want to make sure we have ALL the t's crossed and i's dotted. Don't want him denied at port. Automatic Visa Re-Validation Returning from Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean Islands You usually must have a valid visa to return to the U.S. from abroad. However, there is a special provision called Automatic Visa Revalidation that applies to some travel. If you are in F-1 status and your F-1 visa is expired, you may still return to the U.S. from a trip to Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean Islands even with an expired visa, if you meet all of these conditions: your passport is valid you have a valid I-20 with a valid travel signature (if you are on OPT, the signature must be signed within the last six months) you have your EAD (OPT) card (if you have graduated and have applied for OPT) you have an expired F-1 visa you only go to Canada, Mexico, and/or the Caribbean islands (except Cuba) and do not stay outside the U.S. for more than 30 days you do not apply for a new U.S. visa while abroad (otherwise you have to wait for it to be approved and use it to reenter) you keep your I-94 card or record (print this at the Customs & Border Protection website) when you depart the U.S. (i.e., don’t give it up) you are not a citizen of Iran, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Sudan, North Korea, or Cuba

In many cases we've done just that with Royal Caribbean, however it didn't work for this cruise. When we originally booked, my wife and I wanted the "all in" package, and the kids not. This meant she and I in one cabin and kids in connecting cabin. It wasn't until later that that we decided to allow our daughter's boyfriend to join. So, we booked our 22 year old daughter solo in her own cabin, since that's allowed. We then replaced our 22 year old in the connecting cabin with daughter's boyfriend. No red flags were flown when we adjusted the occupants in the connecting cabin. He does not need a Visa for the ports we are stopping at, Cozumel and Nassau. That we have confirmed, however we are checking now on his i20 and getting the appropriate signatures for departure and reentry to the US. I have to say this is WAY more complicated than I expected, and I'm typically a big planner. 🙂 Hopefully we can get this sorted before our cruise in a few weeks, but if not, it's not the end of the world. He just won't be able to go (which is a bummer) and we'll be out some cost for his portion of the cruise but that's life. Excellent suggestion, having the written confirmation to have on hand at the cruise port. Thank you!

Thanks for asking. We are checking on it.

This is not defining an adult as someone 21 years or older.

Thanks for the suggestion. My wife and I have the "all in" package for our room including the drink package, Wi-Fi and gratuities, so I can't transfer a minor into our cabin. The connecting room does not have the all-in plan since it would have added a significant cost and mainly gone unused. We have sailed many times with our kids (when they were minors) in the connecting cabin. An adult didn't need to be booked in the kids cabin since the rooms are connecting.

Yeah, I just threw in the part about him being a good kid. Didn't mean to suggest anything having to do with the travel requirements. 🙂 Celebrity does not consider him a minor. A minor is under 18. This I verified with Celebrity. In the same way, Celebrity doesn't wait until someone is 21 to consider them an adult. A minor is a minor (<18) and an adult is an adult (18+). Celebrity just makes their own rules on the documentation requirements and ability to cruise alone based on age segments. The problem is the 18-20 category is more nebulous. In the case of a minor, the requirements are very clear and does have to do with the text you highlighted. However, he is in an adult, just not able to sail in his own cabin. Celebrity needs to be more clear for those ages 18-20, hence the whole discussion. Celebrity says I'm good to go when I asked specifically about this (because he's 18+ and in a connecting cabin.) I should believe them but the representative and her supervisor just didn't exude confidence to me. 🙂 Hence just seeing if anyone has experience. I just don't want to get to the cruise terminal and have a surprise.

Thank you. That’s exactly why it gets so confusing. He’s in that middle zone 18-20 years old. Not a minor but not able to sail alone. Do 19 year olds need a guardian? Doesn’t he make his own medical decisions now that he’s 19? I know cruise lines make their own rules which is the only reason I’m asking. His parents are in China so it’s not super easy to get something signed. He’s a super kid. Been dating our daughter for four years. Very “Americanized” by now 😂. We finally caved and allowed him to start coming along on some of our vacations. It’s nice for him to experience some of the wonderful things we get to see and do on our vacations

Difference is, there is a lot more flexibility last minute if you have a flight or hotel overbooked. Much easier finding an alternate flight or hotel than a cruise. There is NO option for a cruise last minute. I agree that it shouldn't happen in any case.

Sorry if this post seems excessive, but I just want to feel sure of our plans... I just called Celebrity and they said that we are good to go, but... I just don't want any surprises when we arrive to the port. They said the fact that he's 19, and in a connecting cabin to ours, solves any issues. We have (what I consider) and pretty unique situation and just want to ask you experts. I trust Celebrity, but want to verify if any of you have had a similar situation. My daughter's boyfriend has been in the US as a student since since 2018. He is 19 years old and a citizen of China. He has a valid Chinese passport good through 2033. Our cruise next month is to Cozumel Mexico and Nassau Bahamas, leaving from Ft. Lauderdale. We have verified that no visa's are required for him. He is booked in the connecting cabin to my wife and I. He (19), my daughter (19) and son (16) are in one cabin connected with my wife and I. Do 19 year old's in connecting cabins require any sort of notarized signature from the parents? I know there are requirements for minors... but he's 19. It just never occurred to me that we may have an issue. I just wanted to run it by you good folks to confirm what the Celebrity rep told me that we're good.

Seems to be gone now, hopefully it stays that way. I'm using Chrome BTW.

Essentially, nothing.

Signed out and back in, cleared my browser history, cookies, etc... and I'm still getting this annoying popup every time I click into and out of a thread! Anyone else seeing this:?

Seems worth the $100 to me especially if it includes the beer and 2 apps. When Navigator was first Amped spring of 2019 we used that space a lot but it was after Football season. It was first come first serve and free. Had a huge Jenga set on the table. Only downside is that the Jenga set scared the crap out of everyone every time it toppled because it was so loud. 🤣 Loved the wings, games, and TV's in that section of Playmakers!! Regarding Rogers... IMO you are better off without him. We was a cancer to the organization, with an ego that has become unbearable. Just my opinion of course.

For sure. Royal put those 11 cabins worth of people through a lot of undue stress, frustration, and loss of this vacation. It far outweighs Royals revenue of filling a few rooms IMO. Royal dropped the ball. Like you said, they could have handled this much earlier. Unacceptable really.

Pathetic! . We've never sailed with a GTY cabin and this makes it even more unlikely we'll ever do so.

You both have me jealous. I look forward to unique cruises like those. Gives me something to dream about in retirement, God willing.

I would wager you are more of the exception than the rule, but who knows. Out of curiosity, what itineraries are now peaking your interest? I can see the Caribbean becoming repetitive. (nice first world problem to have though 🙂 )

Good stuff. My best friend is getting addicted to cruising so there is hope!

$89? Hard Pass. Sad, because it's something I know our family would like.

My guess... They might be thinking of the old way of MTD, where you were required to pre-pay gratuities if you chose MTD. However that requirement has been gone now for quite some time.

I’m still amazed at how many Pinnacle members there are on Royal Caribbean. Does anyone know roughly the total number of pinnacles? I mean, it took us over 10 years to get the 80 points required for Diamond and we are the people that cruise the most out of anyone we know.

I have never heard of those jobs being tipped positions in any industry. (dishwasher, folding laundry) If Royal is in fact doing that, it's on them. I agree, and also don't want to stiff anyone on the ship, but I also feel that it's Royal's fault if they are making these tipped positions when they really shouldn't be. I would rather get rid of the auto gratuities altogether and just roll that into the cruise fare... but that's been discussed ad nauseam already too.

Yes, but at a restaurant those tips first go to the waiter/waitress. It then gets divvied up according the protocol of that restaurant. In the same way, I would expect the "Dining Room" category would take care of dining staff, those that bus tables, etc... if that's what Royal chooses to do. Having some "other" category doesn't sit well with me. I personally would like the tips to go to those that I directly interact with, but that's just me. I am reconsidering the whole auto gratuity thing.

What bothers me is the "Other Hotel Services" category. Why am I tipping someone that doesn't directly interact with me?

Agreed, Celebrity isn't all inclusive. You are not forced into all inclusive, it's just an option. You can choose just the base cruise like Royal. The "all inclusive" version from Celebrity can be very expensive. It's not necessarily a bargain. Don't get me wrong, we love Celebrity and have a cruise the week before this Christmas. We did purchase the all inclusive version for our cabin since it was a great price when we booked a year ago. We did no for the kids. Didn't make sense. I think going forward the all inclusive with Celebrity isn't even going to include gratuities, just drinks and Wi-Fi.