Charles4515

Geostationary satelites orbit at the equator. So the farther north the coverage gets worse We sailed to the North Cape which is far north as you can go. There are also mountains. You need a line of sight to aim the antenna at the satelite. I also read about the poor servicein advance on Cruise Critic. Starlink is putting up thousands of low orbit satelites in different orbits. I expect Starlink to get better. Expectations may be too high now. Time will tell about the future. You can have the satelite coverage but you also have to have the bandwidth. So the backend is important.

You never know the future but they are not going to spring it on me as a surprise requirement. If the cruise line tells me I need the paper card I would bring it.

I knew there was going to be poor service in the Norwegian Fjords as it is very north for the satellites they were usings coverage, geostatioary satellites, and the geography, there was no alternative then. They also warned us in the Celebrity Today. It wqs unuasable at times but I did not complain as we were expecting that.

I always go to the iLounge first if there is a problem.

Where I was vaccinated would be 1200 miles away for me to try and get a replacement paper card.

Yes. I don’t expect it to be perfect but if there are major issues I go to guest services. I don’t just accept it.

I didn’t have any vaccinations or boosters at Walgreens. My vaccinations were not at a pharmacy. They were done 1200 miles from where I live now and no way to get a replacement paper card. Lot of people used mass vaccination locations. I did my boosters at pharmacies, two different ones near where I live now, neither a Walgreens. All the locations did enter the vaccinations into Commonhealth so I have verified digital records. No reason to have a fetish on the CDC printed cards. Considering the general tech level many probably only have the paper cards and don’t have a clue how to get the digital records so they think they must have the paper card.

Only you should have to pay since you seem to be willing to accept and pay for any crap that the cruise lines shovel at you. When I have had crappy internet onboard I have negotiated the charges down or removed.

I thought everyone negotiated with car dealers. At least before covid anyway. I made them remove stuff I did not want. It had a roof rack for example. A few other things they had added I did not need. They knocked the price of that stuff off. They didn't actually remove them as they wanted to move the car on their lot but they took the invoice price off for those options. I sure did not pay sticker price.

You will be docked in the center of Hamilton and since St. George is small everything ithere is pretty close to the dock. I have done your Hamilton/ St. George's Itinerary a bunch of times and prefer it to the Royal Naval Dockyard that the large ships have to do do. George's is the quaint village. Hamilton is a busness center but it has some historical stuff like Fort Hamilton. Bermuda has beautiful beaches on the South Shore. I don't know if Southern Shores has something to do with that. Do you like to snorkel? If so the catamaran snorkel would be good. I would skip the glass bottom boat. Those are usually disappointing. Sunset sails seem to get good reviews. A lot of information can be found on the Bermuda Tourism website. https://www.gotobermuda.com

I don't expect to pay high prices for trash. I don't know if it is trash as I have not experienced the Starlink service but the old service was overpriced for what we got. Since they have a monopoly on the service if we want internet we have to pay. Compare that $35 a day service to the 1 gigabyte service I get at home which costs me $49 a month. or my mobile service which is unlimited 5G speeds which is under $100 a month. And as I mentioned they have charged $80 a week on RCCL versus $240 on Celebrity.

Well they try to charge everyone with their all inclusive pricing. I always try to find a way to book without all inclusive pricing because I don't drink much, (average beverage bill $40) .

Before I give my opinion are those excursions included or do you have to pay extra? Bermuda is a great do it yourself destination but since Regent is a very premium line perhaps excursions are included?. How long will you be in Bermuda 2 or 3 days? and which port is the ship calling at.Royal Dockyard? Hamilton and or St. George? I would guess since you are on Regent you will dock at both Hamilton and St.George's.

Celebrity was charging about $35 a day for premium internet before Starlink. Are they charging more than that for Starlink?

I alluded to this in a previous post. Beyond being newer is likely to have greater. bandwidth. Even with upgraded satellites the backend has not been upgraded on older vessels. I always had better internet on Solstace class ships than Millenium Class even after they switched to lower orbit satellites.Backend infrastucture effects bandwidth. The routers may be on an older standard. Does Celebrity buy more bandwidth, maybe. I don't know about currenty but premium internet packages when I used to sail a lot Royal for were about 1/3 the price of Celebrity packages. I would say pay $80 for a week on Royal and $240 a week on Celebrity before my loyalty discounts lowered the price. So maybe you get what you pay for?

Again it is not just the speeds it is the bandwith. Beyond is new so the backend is likely the newest and latest. They probably have not done any upgrade of the backend on Oasis and my experience with Royal/Celebrity is that they have not upgraded the backends. They will still advertise it as Voom or Xcelerate and charge the same prices for lower quality service.

Why would they want to see your vaccination status? You can get Covid whether vaccinated or not. The paper card would not fit in my wallet. If it were required at a travel destination I would carry it in my passport case. The only times I take it from home is if required. Or when I was getting my boosters and I wanted them added. I have them in my digital wallet. Those are verified. Anyone could fake a paper copy. Seems like a lot of OCD people here. I check the port and cruise line requirements. Some I guess don’t want to bother.

The problems described are not from the speed they being are caused by congestion.

Paper is easily damaged and unlike a passport or GE card there is no way I can get the paper card replaced. So far none has convinced me I should bring the paper card with me on cruises where vaccination is not required. I have photos of the card and digital records with QR codes in my Apple Wallet but I doubt anyone will ask to to see those either. My paper card will stay at home.

It is income but there is no federal income tax on an inheritnnce. It does not get reported to the IRS. If it is more than 12 million there may be estate tax.

My answer was what I do. I have had four shots but I am not takng the original if it is not required. I think everyone else should do what they feel comfortable doing. I keep all my vacicintion records, not only Covid on my iPhone in the health app. I find that helpful to keep up to date.

I still have the records on my phone from when proof might have been required to enter some venue or busness (never had to though) but I never carried the actual card. I am not taking the actual card on a cruise when vaccination is not required by the cruise line. If some country or busness adds that after I embark and the digital record is not enough .............well I will take that risk.

My experience has been about $50. They knocked that off the price of the cabin I booked, it was not actual move.

Why would anyone ask if it is not required?

I won't bring them if not required.