Charles4515

Thank you for your report. Sometimes because of the renewal back log some might have to resort to a birth certificate and drivers license. By the way Real ID is not required.

When the balcony bans began Holland America kept allowing it. They were the last of the mainstream lines to ban it. I remember that smokers would post on Cruise Critic that Holland America would never ban smoking on their balconies.

Bar Harbor is a tender port but you can easily make the 10:00 time if you want to do the 4 hour tour. Oli's picks up near the tender dock. I took an early tender and had time to walk around the town.

No.

Good for cruise ship info but MarineTraffic shows other traffic that I do care about. The public ferries in Bermuda and the NCL ferry in Bermuda specifically. It shows their names and location. I know that is esoteric to most but questions come up from time to time about them.

I use the MarineTraffic App to see the ships location. I like that app because it shows the positions of other ships nearby.

Most of the time I book direct with a local tour operator. I avoid ship excursions like the plauge as they are usually crowded and a bad value. I won't say never though as there have been a few times that it was a good idea. Traveling a very long distance from the ship for example. Or to use up onboard credit. I have most often regreted it though. I never use Viator as it is a middleman too. If I see a Viator or ship excursion description that looks interesting I just cut and paste the description into google and voila the actual local tour operator can be found. Of course a lot of ports are DIY walk off the ship and walk around or do hop on and hop off buses.

Real ID has been postponed until May 2025. Given past history I would not bet on it. As for cruises a Real ID has never been stipulated as a future requirement.

The ferries take either 20 minutes or 30 minutes to Hamilton depending on the ferry boat used. I suspect it is a typo. The previous version had 9:30.

I don't see passengers on Celebrity wearing shorts in the MDR but one poster insists that since they saw passengers on Royal Caribbean wearing shorts in the MDR at dinner that Celebrity would be almost the same. Then they posted they will do a survey. I have cruised many times on both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and know they are not almost the same. I don't need a survey to know that the dress in the MDR is different on the two lines and that passengers are generally not wearing shorts in the MDR on Celebrity.

Check out Island Tour Centre. Your tours through NCL will probably be listed. https://www.islandtourcentre.com

Yes there is. Book with the Island Tour Centre. Online it is under Thrill Seekers. They also have an office at the Dockyard near the ship berths. https://www.islandtourcentre.com

The number of Samsung phones is immensely larger than the number of phones with the Tile app but the problem with that methodology is that it really just works with an app. That does not mean it is on. On the Apple devices Find My works by default. It can be turned off but most users won't. A future Android version and Google tag will probably work the same way. I read on rumor sites. There are enough Tile trackers that while not as large a network as Apple's they do work.

I would apply a year out. Restaurant staffing seems to have improved. Workers are retuning here. My plumber came out the next day and replaced my garbage disposal. I don’t know if the passport office is short of workers. It has been reported that travel has surged since people are no longer Covid shy and so demand for passports has surged. Everyone wants to travel again at the same time.

I didn’t think this was about the six months but when there is a three month backlog of passport renewals that has made it tougher. Many plan more than one international trip a year. A bunch of people have been caught short.

You have missed the point. There is no reason to hold passports on a Bermuda cruise that starts and ends in the same US port and has no other ports.

On that cruise you had to clear immigration after Ensenada to renter the US and SF was not the final port. So collecting passports to facilitate makes sense. OP asked about a Bermuda cruise. If it is a Bermuda plus other ports cruise say New York to Bermuda, Boston and New York as a hypothetical then possibly passports might be collected. But a New York, Bermuda, New York like I did they won’t be collected. Immigration will be in New York. Not sure why it matters to OP unless they plan to miss the ship in Bermuda…..

The airline app is only good for luggage on a plane though. It won’t track that your bag is on the ship. In addition to luggage I use AirTags to track my keys, my wallet, my backpacks, my automobile. I have eight AirTags now with six in use. Two in reserve. There are trackers that work on Android,Tile is one widely used but you need an app. AirTags do not need an app only an iPhone or iPad. Google is developing an Android tracker that works like AirTags. Built in to Android devices but the have not announced their tag product yet.

Often the heavy perfume is worn to hide the stench of cigarette smoke. I had two coworkers who applied heavy perfume and they were both smokers. I am pretty sure it was to hide the cigarette smell on their clothes. They were heavy smokers. Personally I would rather smell perfume than cigarette stench. I can smell a stinky smoker many feet away. I don't want to be exposed to vape but it definitely is a lessor evil than cigarette oder.

AirTags do work with iPads.

AirTags won’t work with your phone but they do work with iPads.

They didn’t collect mine on my Bermuda cruise but why does it matter? I have a US passport. I have been on several cruise to other destinations where they have and no big deal. They usually collected them so immigration could stamp them without us standing in lines at a port. Bermuda does not stamp passports so there would be no point for passports to be held.

I have been on over 15 Bermuda cruises and many more Caribbean cruises and I never packed any jeans. Not because of dress codes but because jeans are not comfortable in those climates. I do pack shorts but I don’t wear them to dinner on Celebrity ships because I don’t see fellow passengers wearing shorts. If they were wearing them I might wear them. On Royal Caribbean where passengers do wear shorts to diner in the MDR I sometimes do wear them to dinner. I don’t really care if kids or adults are wearing shorts on Celebrity despite the dress request not to wear shorts. That is not my problem and it does not bother me if passengers are wearing shorts. I don’t recall seeing shorts on Celebrity in the MDR but I was not doing a “survey”. I don’t care though about the results of any “survey’. I have been on many Celebrity sailings, many to Bermuda, enough to be Elite Plus so I will go with my gut feeling that shorts in the MDR is not happening much on Celebrity Bermuda sailings.

He can be a no show. As for the air the question would be are other adults flying on the same flight. A question would be is the mother on the booking? Both the cruise and air? If the kids are still to go who who is their guardian? The mother or another adult?

Celebrity is in the mass market category. You have fallen for their marketing if you think otherwise. Their brand identity is more upscale than Royal Caribbean, has less flash and appeals to a generally older demographic but it has been and will remain mass market. It does seem there already has been a split personality before the new CEO with the Edge class ships almost like a different brand. I think the new CEO’s changes indicate she is a bean counter and that is what the changes are about.