NS8VN

Out of curiosity I wanted to look up the other major players in the North American cruise market to see how they stacked up:
Carnival: If one adult in a cabin purchases the package all adults over 21 must also purchase it
Celebrity: Does not require everyone in room to purchase package
Disney: No drink package offered
Holland: If one adult in a cabin purchases the package all adults over 21 must also purchase it
Norwegian: All passengers sharing a cabin OR using the same payment method must purchase the beverage package INCLUDING guests under 21 (only charged for soda package)
Princess: Does not require everyone in room to purchase package but is only available on 7 night or longer cruises
So I was incorrect saying RCL is the only line currently allowing only one person in the room to get a package, but you do have to move up a tier price-wise to find it elsewhere.

RCL is the only line that has a drink package and doesn't currently require all adults in a room to purchase it together, so I'm thinking that if there was anything unlawful about it they would have been called on that long ago.  Nobody that chooses not to drink is being forced to drink, and nobody is being forced to purchase the package.  If this is happening (a single anonymous source on Cruise Critic is not enough to convince me) they are being informed before handing any money over, so I'm not sure where anything illegal could even be considered to be happening.  Anybody has the option of purchasing drinks individually without the package.
Not to say I'm a fan of the possible change, though it won't affect my wife and I as we will both be getting the package I know others this would negatively affect.  But I firmly place ALL of the blame on the people abusing the system.  Yes, there might be bartenders who are letting people get away with it, but those people are still knowingly abusing the system.  If someone walks up to the bar with the intent to get a free drink for someone who does not have a package then they are the problem, whether a bartender wants to cause a fuss or not.

To be fair, we don't know what dish it is, if it is a kids dish, or if they asked for it to be served like that. 

1: Don't get the package and friend can pay for drinks out of pocket
2: Get the package and enjoy as many lattes, sodas, and fresh squeezed juices as you can handle
3: Vote with your wallet and go to another line that has a drink package that doesn't require every adult in the room to buy in to.  When you find one please let us know

RCL is the only line that has a drink package and doesn't currently require all adults in a room to purchase it together, so I'm thinking that if there was anything unlawful about it they would have been called on that long ago.  Nobody that chooses not to drink is being forced to drink, and nobody is being forced to purchase the package.  If this is happening (a single anonymous source on Cruise Critic is not enough to convince me) they are being informed before handing any money over, so I'm not sure where anything illegal could even be considered to be happening.  Anybody has the option of purchasing drinks individually without the package.
Not to say I'm a fan of the possible change, though it won't affect my wife and I as we will both be getting the package I know others this would negatively affect.  But I firmly place ALL of the blame on the people abusing the system.  Yes, there might be bartenders who are letting people get away with it, but those people are still knowingly abusing the system.  If someone walks up to the bar with the intent to get a free drink for someone who does not have a package then they are the problem, whether a bartender wants to cause a fuss or not.

1: Don't get the package and friend can pay for drinks out of pocket
2: Get the package and enjoy as many lattes, sodas, and fresh squeezed juices as you can handle
3: Vote with your wallet and go to another line that has a drink package that doesn't require every adult in the room to buy in to.  When you find one please let us know

That's the one that i'm talking about........I haven't seen it either 

Everything you experienced is normal.  The people at the post office do this often so they know what is likely to cause delays or problems with applications, so listen to their advice.  That's also why I'm glad we got our photos there, because they see the people coming back in to reapply because their photo was rejected so they immediately noticed slight problems with our photos before printing them out.  Yes, they make their own photocopies and, like you said, there are payments going to the Dept of State and then other payments going to the place you applied at.  I was ok with that since we were able to put the USPS's fee on a card and get some miles out of it.  They also do send in the original birth certificates, you get them back in a separate mailing from your passports.
Personal opinion, even if you are only getting them to cruise I would have (and did) still gotten the books.  Being able to board the ship without your birth certificate is one perk of having a passport, but a bigger one is the ability to fly back to the US from a foreign country in case of emergency.  You can't do that with the card so if you had a medical emergency or missed the boat you will still be knocking at the consulate door for emergency passports.  Plus, I don't know if I might decide in 8 years to do a Trans-Atlantic and need to fly back from Europe, but I know that is an option.

Welcome to our little family.  So glad to have a "new addition".

Welcome to the boards @NS8VN! So glad you decided to say hello

Hi!
Introductions... Not my strong suit.  Well I have been reading and listening to RCBlog content for the past few months, ever since we decided to start looking for our first Royal Caribbean cruise.  So I decided to finally sign up and officially join the group.  We will finally board our first RCL ship in November 2018, and while we intend to try other lines in the future (so far we have only been on one other line, DCL) we are hopeful to become regulars "of the seas".  (Too corny?  It's ok, you can tell me)
Looking forward to being a part of what seems like a great community.