Alakegirl

The OP is not booking through Celebrity Shore Excursions so ought to be able to customize the tour to avoid tourist traps and junk shops 

Txtechmk, You don’t say which port, but it is highly unlikely that the ship will prepare such a meal for you.  Pack a candy bar or a granola bar, have a big breakfast, and don’t take a chance on breaking local laws

Ummm….thank you but I don’ think it answers the OP’s question

What Richyak wrote is Highly likely.  But whether or not some of what was given to the waiter and assistant waiter made its way to the supervisor, the fact that the Maitre D was, for all intents and purposes “invisible” meant that they were busy elsewhere and that your table was not in need of their oversight.  Seeing the supervisor often might just mean that things are not going well and they must stay nearby to keep a watchful eye on that section.

1 hour ago, Baggy178 said:

 

I've already paid for their services.

And I'm happy to reward those who offer exceptional service - that is, after all, the whole meaning of the term gratuity.

Adding another 27% to my bill because Celebrity refuse to pay their staff a decent wage is not my problem - their automatic gratuities are already amongst the highest in the industry.

However I'd like to reward the staff who I do interact with something if they're not allowed to keep cash tips.

10% is what I normally tip a cab driver so that seems more appropriate in this case.

$150 seems far more reasonable than $400 - about 11 bucks a day plus a 20% automatic service charge on drinks.

That's plenty.

 

 

 

 

So you only want to tip the staff you personally interact with.

I guarantee that if the staff you don’t interact with weren’t there and weren’t doing their jobs, you would have a miserable cruise on a dirty ship …….

6 hours ago, Baggy178 said:

 

 

Apologies - I meant $18 a day pp.

There's no way I'm going to pay gratuities of $400 which adds another 27% to the cost of the cruise - I'll be paying the 20% on drinks at the bar.

Quite happy to explain my reasons to Guest Srevices too - particularly as I will leave something for the housekeeper.

Has anyone any experiences of having gratuities removed ?

What about the waiters? The assistant waiters? Will you leave “something” for them? They won’t be allowed to keep it, you know,  not unless you have paid the auto-tip service charge.  

While there is no separate dress code for children and teens, I have seen babies in shorts, in strollers and booster seats in the main dining room.  Older children and teenagers, no.  They followed the dress code when accompanying their parents to dinner.
 

By a December anything can happen

4 hours ago, BrewJack said:

As for the staff being put in an awkward position, it sounds like shorts in the dining room is a pretty regular occurrence at this point.  I doubt it is unique or awkward for the staff.  In fact, my guess is that the staff cares much more about dealing with customers who are friendly and polite than whether or not guys have their calves covered up.

It is not a regular occurrence. It’s an occasional aberration by those who don’t believe that they need to follow the dress code.  In other worded, passengers who are not polite.

it is inconsiderate of both the staff who are put in the position of dealing with it, and of the vast majority of passengers who do pay attention,

just like abiding by “ no children in the solarium pool outside of family hours” “ no children in the front rows of the theater” “ no children in the gym” and all the other rules in the code of conduct, there are always some few, (poor role models all), who choose to ignore them.  

brewJack, I’m confused. You say they will wear shorts until they are told not to, so that tells me that you are bringing some alternative long pants for them, perhaps chinos or khakis, since they don’t like jeans.  So why not wear them in the first place rather than being sent away from Bleu to go back to their stateroom to change?  

Since they kicked the zenith guests out of the retreat due to “overcrowding “I can’t see them letting every suite passenger bring guests there

The website is like a camel—- a horse created by a committee

What is the current link?

What shape are you inquiring about ?  The only ships with any sort of a library are S class ships.

there may be some kids books in the kids club area, but there really aren’t any in the libraries for the most part

Stockjock, you must have felt unsure of the information the Celebrity agents were imparting, or you would not have come here. Sorry you din’t like the answers you are getting here, but the truth is that there are too many new telephone agents who haven’t received all the training they should have.  They look up “answers’ in their train g manuals, but don’t realize that there are specific features of the PVSA which must be taken into account.

if you ask the general question “can I leave the cruise before it is over,” the manual provides general answers about downline disembarkation.  But in this specific case, the downline disembarkation violates the PVSA, and the telephone agent may not know enough to look further into the question.

See post #23

11 hours ago, Welly09 said:

Thanks so much everyone! I’m traveling with my four year old and I’m not sure it’s even a good idea. But I’ll certainly keep an eye out for my invite! Thank you! 

It is definitely NOT a good idea,  😐

5 hours ago, med2cruise said:

It is my understanding that each person over the age of 18, can bring on 2 bottles each.

Out of the US it’s 21, not 18

4 hours ago, mickey89 said:

Are you sure?  How do you know?  Someone told you, can you believe?

Gratuities are steeped in mystery, is it another revenue stream for the cruise line?

NO ONE really knows..... its just hearsay !

If the waitstaff were not happy with the way the gratuities were allocated, they would find work elsewhere.  That’s good enough for us.

22 minutes ago, jagger16 said:

I don’t think there’s a corkage fee for the bottles you bring on as part of your allowance.

That is only the case IF you have a drinks package.  Without a package your bottles are subject to corkage

Perhaps you missed the answer after you posted in the other thread?

You can always ask at guest relations, but don’t be surprised if you see a sign posted there that the ship is full and no upgrades are available

27 minutes ago, debsjc said:

Surely there must be some brand of fizzy mineral water (not soda water) included? It's really bad if not.

I believe there is not on the classic package, but there is on the premium

No limit on how many drinks you order during the 5 to 7 time period.  And you can take bottles of water back to your state room.

I have heard of it happening. Sometimes it’s because of some problem with the previous room. Other times it’s because of families with Linked reservations needing to be adjacent to each other.