Because Toronto is my home airport, while it frustrates me to wait for luggage, at least I am home and there is nothing else that I need to do; no connections, no train to catch, so it doesn’t bother me too much.
The reason they say A4 is that they want the bar code to be full size on a printout. You will also frequently find it when you print out things like train tickets. The difference between A4 and letter size as you noted is miniscule. They don't want you to print on smaller paper because the bar codes get blurry. Note that A4 is an ISO standard size, so we North Americans are the outliers.
No, but I would assume so. The kitchen would be even smaller on them. (As an aside, I have been on 2 bike and barge trips - different from a barge cruise - and on one we had a small buffet every night with a couple of choices, on the other you were served a prepared plate.)
North America uses letter size (and legal size). Letter is 8½ inches by 11 inches. A4 is a metric measure. Even we Canadians who have otherwise gone metric stick to these sizes.
One other drawback for some on CroisiEurope is that there is (technically) no choice at dinner. The meal is announced, and if you can't eat it for any reason you have to let them know in advance. For me that makes it a non-starter.
I think that I missed that we were discussing specifically expedition cruising. There was a mention that all ships might supply it.
I definitely understand that if you are in protected waters that the ingredients are important.
I know that it says that, but I don't think it is true. I have done walking directions when offline. Try it out by downloading a map of your area, put your phone into airplane mode, and test it out.