markeb

That's interesting. I'd assume they'd share in the pool for the drink tab. And probably have to share in the pool for the drink tab...

Not in this thread, but in the past folks have posted they did this and were thanked by their waiter/butler/cabin attendant as soon as the next day. It would appear the system notifies them, and quickly. Not the case if you do it the last night, but you're doing it to thank them, not to be thanked for tipping them... Interestingly, the form allows you to designate an individual by name. That may be the only way to be sure your additional gratuity goes to that individual. I just assume cash is pooled like it would be on land.

Pretty sure the duty free products belong to the duty free contractor, not Celebrity. Probably the same folks who run airport duty free. I've been on ships where they've had a decent match between duty free retail and bar inventory, but it's not the same source, and frequently different products. We'll see what they have in the Retreat and the WCB in 3 weeks...

I'm going to be honest (and probably unpopular). If you want some small bills for room service and excursions, do that. You can get an additional gratuity form at guest services to designate an additional gratuity to your cabin attendant and waiter which will get paid out of OBC if you have any. That solves the excess cash question, and the conversion is on your credit card with your other on board charges. People still love to carry cash, but it's all but unnecessary, and if the USD isn't your home currency, it's just a sunk cost that you likely won't recover. I think I still have SG$60 or more of the SG$100 I withdrew in Singapore two weeks ago. Didn't even drop any at duty free leaving the airport. In this day and age I certainly wouldn't pull more than that for any foreign travel...

I'm assuming Disney has stocks because they have deeper pockets and ordered bourbon even when they weren't sailing. Or they're able to divert product for export to their theme parks. I just looked and for the first time in months our local Virginia ABC store shows good stocks of Woodford Reserve. It's been hit and miss for months. After the last big "where's the bourbon" discussion on the board, I did a little extra searching and the cruise lines are able to bypass the three-tier distribution model. They order direct from the maker (probably Brown-Forman for Woodford) and the product is delivered "for export", so they apparently don't have to go through a Florida distributor. That was a bit of a surprise, and I don't remember where I found the information, but it makes sense. Whether someone like Disney is able to float their order between domestic (using a distributor) and export (distributor not required) is an interesting question. I have to assume most cruise lines dramatically reduced their orders while shut down and they're now competing with outlets who maintained demand. And for the rarer Buffalo Trace products like all the Van Winkles, you just keep buying because if you ever stop, you'll never get in line again.

We're not big Champagne drinkers, so we're OK with whatever they have (in general). I'd probably rather have a good Cava for the money anyway... And Chandon Brut isn't a "Champagne" but a California sparkling wine made in the Méthode champenoise.

The potty training is probably the issue, not the cruise line. It limits opportunities (like the pools), regardless of cruise line. There are always children on Celebrity cruises. Not as many as Royal Caribbean, but I'm doubting he'll be the only child on the ship. And their children's program usually gets rave reviews around here.

At least for my cruise on Equinox at the end of the month, it's Cattier. Or that's what's listed... $15 + gratuity.

Uber. (or Lyft) Stay off the meter...

Uber has killed taxis and limo services for non-business (and a lot of business) trips. And you may well get one of the car services' drivers making the Uber trip. BTW, Google maps will show you an estimate for today for Lyft in their app. Uber won't be much different.