Charles4515

I think that is correct. The documentation. We had a problem with an airline. I needed proof that a flight was canceled for insurance. They had handed us a paper with that on it at the gate but took it from us when they handed out hotel vouchers. I had a prepaid hotel booked at the destination and needed documentation that the flight was delayed to claim one night. The airline had a webpage and email address to get documentation but no matter how many email and calls I made they never sent the documentation. In hindsight I should have taken a photo of the what they gave me at the gate.

There are no ATM fees in Europe. Your bank may charge an out of network or foreign transaction fee. Ergo use a bank that does not charge those fees. .I don't get charged any fees for withdrawing cash from an ATM. My checking account debit card is Captal One 360. Also beware. Some will banks and merchants will offer to do currency conversion in US currency. . That confuses some Americans. Say no. There is a fee for that. Pay in the local currency.

It should be obvious but I have read a bunch of people posting the last few years on CC who seem to think all that is needed is the app and who do't seem to understand that they have to be connected to the internet.

You can buy transportation passes good on both the buses and ferries at the Visitor Information Centre near the ferry dock. One day or two day passes, maybe the 3 day pass too. In the morning before they open the VIC they have kiosks at the ship dock that sell the passes and sell tokens. If you are going to Hamilton you can take a bus #7 south shore road or #8 middle road or a ferry. Ferry is faster.

My experience with disputing charges which is very limited is that I won both disputes by carefully explaining why I was disputing the charge. In neither case did the vendor reply so I won by default. The vendor would not reply to me when I tried to resolve the issue not did they reply to the Credit Card company. I think if the charge is not explained by Royal explaining what the charge is for even if it was a valid charge the OP would win the dispute. The charge would be valid if OP violated PVSA but really the question is did Royal gat a waiver from the CBP. It would not be surprising if Royal got a waiver and it would not be surprising if Royal did not bother asking for a waiver. With large comanys like Royal there is often incompetence. That is why they have not gotten any reply. So all they can do is dispute the charges and see what happens.

Some VPN’s offer obfuscated servers which hide that you are using a VPN. Try one of those. I have had luck with using that feature on Nord VPN.

It is not okay for OP and they can connect but without some security features.

You took a risk having the payment go to the TA payment system. Generally not recommended. I know you wanted to save $250 but if Celebrity does not receive your payment have you no recourse with Celebrity. (my TA here in the US sends my CC info to Celebrity and there are no extra charges for using a CC.)

I have not been there recently but the fish sandwich there has been getting very good reviews. The service though is getting bad reviews because of long wait times.of 45 minutes. Maybe going there has become too popular?

You don’t need any excursions on your itinerary. St. George/Hamilton is the best Bermuda itinerary. For beaches while you are docked in St. George you can taxi to Tobacco Bay or Clearwater Beach/Coopers Island. While docked in Hamilton you can take a taxi or a Bus to Horseshoe Bay.

You want them to laugh at you?

It takes about 30 minutes travel time. As the rides are per person the taxi won’t leave until it is full. That might take 10 minutes so have to factor that into the time.

I believe you want to try and catch the 8:30 ferry from Red Hook. The ferry’s from Cruz Bay back run on the hour. You would want the 1:00 back.

You were told wrong. I would not have commented had you not posted that misinformation. You didn’t mention how much the excursion cost. Personally I prefer not to do spend more for excursions through the ship when the same excursion can be done for less independently but to each their own,

You are misinformed. There are plenty of buses on the island both private and public. You can also do taxi tours on your own in taxi vans at a lower cost than an excursion booked through Royal Caribbean.

About my third or fourth time visiting I had brought some friends and they wanted a tour so I went with them and thought I would not get much out of it. I was wrong. A local guide tells you things you would not get from a guidebook or walking around on your own. We were also taken to places we would not have known about to see without a local guide.

I suggest skipping St John if you want time to do something else. Last two times at St. Thomas we went to Lindquist Beach. It is a state park and it is beautiful. There is a lifeguard and bathrooms. There were no chair rentals as of 4 years ago but Royal had an excursion that was a steal in my opinion. Check and see if they still have it. The excursion operator brought chairs. So transportation and chairs included. He took us on a small bus so the number who could take it was limited. The excursion has a vague name. Secret Sands. You will have time after to do some shopping downtown.

They are in port 7 to 3. That is 8 hours. It is not difficult to make that timing work DIY. If they get the 1:00 ferry back, the Red Hook ferry takes 15 minutes, plenty of safe time. As I mentioned I have been there DIY and watched the cruise line excursions arrive after we got there and leave before we had to leave to catch the Red Hook ferry. I didn’t time the but it seemed like the excursions were only there a hour. The cruise lines use a ferry near Crown Bay that takes 45 minutes.

Does the ship excursion on your own let you decide when to leave? We used to take the earliest possible ferry, while we were there thecruise excursions would arrive and stay an hour and leave. We would have 3 hours

None of the ship excursions always go to Trunk Bay on my own not with a cruise line excursion. Taxi to Red Hook. Ferry to Cruz Bay, Taxi to Trunk Bay. Same back.

So that adds up to ten minutes! It is cheesy however long they do it. Do you still have go through metal detectors when leaving the onboard shops?

Go there the first or second day. You don’t need to do a cruise line excursion for chairs and lunch. They rent chairs and umbrellas. They sell food. $5 for a ferry and $20 overall for a taxi each way. Your cost is going to be a lot less than $500 going there on your own. We spent under $100 overall for transportation, chair rental. We didn’t buy food but beach type food, hot dogs and hamburgers, fries is available at typical beach prices.

In 2009 when the rules were changed to require passports an exception was carved out for closed loop cruises. The logic used was that there was no or little risk if passengers left from and returned to the same US port. That is what was stated in the regulation rule making. CBP said that. Some cynics think that the cruise lines lobbied for the exception since only. about half of US citizens had passports.

It is a US document requirement not an RCI requirement. You have been in enough of these discussions that I would think you would understand the US closed loop exception that allows US citizens to use a birth certificate..

Closed loop cruises don't require a passport if from one US port and returning to the same US port.They don't require a passport. A birth certificate can be used. A cruise that leaves from a US port and does not return to the same US port requires a passport.whether it ends in the US or Canada That is not a ship rule that is a US rule enforced by CBP.