Charles4515

Thanks for the history but I don't see any reason to be bothered by the attention to Captain Kate. I don't book cruises based on the Captain or the cruise director. I accidentally booked one with her on Summit years ago her first year. She was fun to have as the Captain but I don't expect Captains to be like that. A boring Captain is fine with me too. A don't follow her Instagram account. I only read about the cat on Cruise Critic.

I have never used a lanyard because I have pockets. I get why that some don't have pockets but I do. The card can be in my pocket loose as I wear 5 pocket pants or shorts. I often carry a wallet too. A cheap one for cash. Since I get some free drinks on Celebrity because of CC status I carry about 10 one dollar bills for tips. I always tip the server of the free drinks. I have an Apple Wallet to attach to my iPhone and could put it in that but never have because I am accustomed to the old cards that would get demagnetized. The NFC tap cards are great if the ship uses them. Apple Mag Safe wallet is omething I might do in the future. I would still have to remove the card in many instances.

It might be worth their while to become a TA as they do 4 or 5 cruises a year for 4 or 5 people but what OP needs to consider is that there will be work and time involved and that taxes will have to be paid. OP should also research what commissions will be. My TA who I was good friends sent me a few invoices that showed her commission and it was pretty low. Possibly more than 20 cruises a year would be needed to make it a worthwhile proposition. What I would do is try to find a TA who would give them discounts for guaranteeing a certain number of bookings. If the TA knew that they would get a certain minimum number of bookings they might be willing to discount.

They don’t need to do that. They shouldn’t. They have a valid passport. Neither Bermuda or the US requires six months. They don’t even need a passport for that itinerary.

The problem with your thinking is that you are not going to be the one tapping. They will be taking your card to a reader and tapping.

The cruise lines have been late to hiring female Captains. Can you name one before Captain Kate? So I don’t see your point or why you are bothered. Certainly Celebrity is making PR out of something they should have done many years ago but she is a pioneer on cruise ships. The women you mentioned are pioneers but this is a cruise forum.

Newer ships use NFC Seapass cards which is TAP. You have to take it out and tap. Tap is not RFID. RFID is dated tech, not secure. Your tap credit cards use NFC.

All you need is a valid unexpired passport for this itinerary. If you are stressed out by Celberity's unhelpful wording since...... it is a closed loop cruise where a birth certificate and DL are also good. Take your official Birth Certificates as back up.

Find a TA who is willing to give you a better deal. If you bok 4-6 suites on 4-5 cruises a year that should be doable. I suggest finding a TA who is in a consortium that books a large amount a group space.

You can only use a birth certificate on a closed loop cruise and yes if it is closed loop, which means round trip from a US port, you can get off in Canada with only a BC. What you can’t do if the ship calls at Skagway is take some runs of the White Pass railway that cross into Canada by land.

If you decide to go to Clearwater/Coopers from Hamilton personably I would take a taxi direct from Hamilton. Unless you want to stopover in St. George’s or the Dockyard buses and or ferries will take more time, complications and probably only save $10.

Taxi from Hamilton probably about $40.

iOS 16 is still supported. I have apps on my 15 Pro Max that is running iOS 17 that support iOS 13 and still get updates like FB. Maybe earlier as I just sampled a few apps. Celebrity is just being short sighted or lazy in my opinion. My sister and one of my nieces have iPhone 12s which are still good phones. They are like you they prefer hand me downs to new.

It is next to Alexandra Battery. You can find Alexandra Battery on maps of St. George. As I recall it is not a big trash pile of glass like the one near the Dockyard. The same as the glass beach near the Dockyard taking sea glass is not allowed.

Lifeguards are not on duty until May 1. This happened in late March. One man drowned who was a passenger on NCL Getaway trying to help a child. It is only the last few years that many cruise ships visited out of season. NCL is doing those visits. There really should be lifeguards there for those days. Since NCL is the cruise line doing most of the out of season ships perhaps they could pay for lifeguards on those port days. They do have excursions there. Or else warn passengers there no lifeguards until May. https://www.royalgazette.com/general/news/article/20240420/horseshoe-beach-rescuer-describes-scene-of-tragedy/

It is the port, Bermuda, that is searching onboard ships that are docked in their post. They are checking for narcotics. Every cruise season there are articles in Bermudas media, the Royal Gazette about them finding drugs and fining passengers. I usually post about one of the bunch every cruise season to make cruise passengers aware because some think because weed is legal in their state or that they are using it for medicinal reasons that it is okay. The article I linked to provided more detail than usual. I don’t have any idea if those caught were informed on or not. It does not really matter. The dogs have great noses and they can detect from the hallway. I don’t know if they enter cabins and do checks without some indication.

OP has an older phone, iPhone 8, but it is not a relic. (It is not on Apple’s vintage list) Celebrity does not seem to have made a tech decision but a business decision.

I beg to differ. I had her as Captain one sailing and she has charisma. It is not necessary for a Captain to have charisma but she has it.

Bermuda has fined passengers caught bringing edibles.

We have posted in the past that Bermuda authorities have drug dogs sniff cruise ships docked in Bermuda. Some have doubted this and some believe a drug dog can’t sniff a small amount of cannabis. A Joy passenger with a small amount in his cabin was detected by a sniffer dog and fined this week. https://www.royalgazette.com/court/news/article/20240419/cruise-passenger-fined-for-cannabis-in-cabin/

Just a reminder that those drug sniffing dogs can detect small amounts and cannabis. Is not legal even if it is legal in your home state. https://www.royalgazette.com/court/news/article/20240419/cruise-passenger-fined-for-cannabis-in-cabin/

I take my Drivers License. Passport Card may make you feel better but that is just an illusion. It is not better than any other government ID in a port.

They really can’t board that open loop itinerary with just a license. Better to ask if the would board with unexpired passports with less than six months left.

Yes that nonsense is another case of new Celebrity lunacy. I have an iPhone, iPad and Mac. On the iPhone, iPad and Mac in settings Mail I changed Privacy Protection to Block all remote content and Hide IP address. That stops it. An additional positive to those settings is that you will be protected from malicious code imbedded in images. The negatives are that if you want to see images you will have to click “load images” in the particular email and those settings will be for all your email not just from Celebrity. The only other alternative I know is not to open Celebrity emails. If you have Android there are possibly similar settings.

You have to go back up the same stairs you went down. There is no other exit.