mom says

You will enter Canada, so you will need a passport. Or a passport card. Or a NEXUS card.

Look to the luxury lines.

I believe you are hunting unicorns. Most cruise lines (aside from the frequent Cunard run from Southampton to New York) only do their transatlantic cruises to reposition in the fall for the winter Caribbean season. You could certainly book your mother on one of those, and then the next sailing in the Caribbean (a back to back booking.) And then book yourself on that second cruise. You will have to research which lines have fly and sail packages. I believe P&O does to and from Barbados. You might find more info that is tailored to UK fly/sail packages on the UK cruising forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/543-uk-cruising/

The Carnival forum is here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/

The Princess cruises forum is here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/119-princess-cruises/

Other sources classify it as temperate, subtropical.

I suggest asking your question on the NCL board if you are asking about ship excursions.

No idea about Norwegian ships, but Churchill's cigar lounge will have cigarette smokers there as well.

Or at least it isn't ALWAYS the best type of vacation. It depends on what you want from your vacation. Cruising is Travel the lazy way. Relax. Make few decisions each day of any importance. Spend a few hours ashore and kid yourself that you have "seen" or experienced that place in any meaningful way. If that is all you want out of your vacation, then a cruise is likely your ideal vacation. We relegate cruises a ways down our preference list, to those cruises sailing itineraries to various ports difficult to do by other means, or in lieu of a resort vacation if it's cheaper.

How were the gate agents negligent? The woman had gate checked the bag. Meaning it had been tagged with the proper flight number and destination and sent to the aircraft. You can't retrieve a bag that has already been checked. The flight delay was entirely the fault of the noncompliant passenger, which necessitated the aircraft's return to the terminal and her removal, and that of her luggage from the hold. Need i point out that since her luggage was in the hold, it obviously hadn't been left at the original gate.

According to Google Images, there does appear to be a helipad on the bow of the Beyond. How any medivac is handled depends on many factors. Most important, the severity of the patient's condition. Distance and time to sail to to port. Availability of Coast Guard ship or helicopter. Size and type of available helicopter. Time of day. Sea conditions. Weather conditions. If by helicopter, final decision is the helicopter captain's.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Without knowing the type of excursions you might find interesting or enjoyable, how could anyone give meaningful advice? I suggest looking at the relevant ports in the Ports of Call forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/456-caribbean/

Love it when an OP gives little details like what kind of plantation experience he's looking for, and in what part of the world. Saw an awesome mixed fruit plantation near Goa from theConnie a few years ago. Also saw a sugar cane/rum plantation in Barbados from either Eclipse or Equinox. Can't remember which. No idea if any of those ships currently have those places on their itinerary. OP can easily find out by a quick web search.

If you want answers from someone who has done this EXACT excursion, then I suggest you ask (with full details given) on the Carnival forum. https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/

How can you leave feedback? Perhaps the same way you've managed to read and reply to these posts? Or get your grandkids to do it for you.