twangster

Must be a UK thing ?
I'm about to head to the airport for a flight to Florida but have uploaded the several hundred images from this Alaska cruise to the new server.  That uploading is tough to do over Voom so now that they are in the cloud I'll try to get them added back to this blog over the next few days from Indy.  

The Key is group under "Internet and more" so maybe the re-direct meant to take there but didn't take you all the way there.
Besides, I see very little value in The Key on Vision or Radiance class for that matter.  Full suite?  No way I'd get The Key.

Typically JR is not considered a specialty restaurant and therefore is ineligible for the UDP.   Having said that someone may very well post they've had success going there with it.  So it's one of those YMMV since it can vary by ship.
I've not tried to use the UDP at Sabor when it's open at 3pm.  By that time I've broken down and eaten elsewhere and besides, when you have the UDP you eat so much food that eating lunch at 3pm would render dinner useless.  I know there is temptation to try to maximize the value of the UDP but it is so... much... food.   Usually by a sea day past mid-cruise I raise the white flag of surrender and skip lunch or grab a small salad in the WJ so that I can actually eat my dinner. 

My money is on RCCL better aligning the loyalty programs between Royal and Celebrity.  Perhaps even earning points in a combined program when sailing either line.  Then Royal can focus on the mass family market with big ships while Celebrity can service routes with their smaller fleet.  With tighter integration between loyalty programs there will be less incentive to leave the family.  

The other factor to consider is efficiency.  By their own claim for example, Symphony is 25% more efficient compared to Oasis. 
Compared to older ships, gains in efficiency will start to play into the equation.  At some point the ongoing operating costs as well as maintenance costs will make older vessels less appealing to keep in the fleet.  
If it costs $1,000 per 10 nm to carry 2,000 pax vs, $1,000 per 10 nm to carry 4,000 pax in the super thin margin cruise industry that's one thing.  As fuel prices rise (as they will again) in the long term there is motivation beyond appearing to be green to operate efficiently for no other reason than to save money and therefore make more money.   
You might be able to keep an old vessel operating but it's very difficult to change it's operational efficiency.  Changing some light bulbs to LED helps but most ships are built around the engines.  It's very difficult to replace the power plants in a ship.  Cheaper to sell them off and build new.  
Ships with very small fleets such as Disney can be effectively taken out of this conversation.  Running four ships is very different to running 20 or 30 in a fleet and even more with sister companies.  Boutique lines such as Disney or Silverseas and Virgin with just one projected ship have a very targeted market focus but aren't competitors in the mass cruise market where every dollar spent per passenger mile is critical to financial success.  
 

They haven't closed CocoCay.  Its taking ships business as usual.  
The confusion here is because they had planned on taking two ships on certain days.  Two Vision class ships.  When the pier didn't complete on time they couldn't accept two ships on the same day.  One ship was given a new alternate port.  One ship visited CocoCay as planned.
They never closed CocoCay to work on Perfect Day. 

The only reason to stand in line at guest services upon boarding would be to add some cash to an onboard account.
Some people don't have or don't like to use a credit card and prefer to keep everything cash based.  Others, like myself add a credit during the online check in process up to 90 days away from sailing.  You can also provide a credit card or change it when you arrive in the terminal before boarding.
Charges on board are typically all in $ USD and for cruises out of the US region that might mean foreign transaction fees and exchange conversion for non-US residents.  That might be another reason why some cruisers would prefer to keep it cash based.

Awesome!  I really hate dealing with phone calls.   But actually I checked my spreadsheet when I got home and it turns out this sale of Deluxe/voom at $56 is actually a dollar more than when I bought it on Black Friday
 

They haven't closed CocoCay.  Its taking ships business as usual.  
The confusion here is because they had planned on taking two ships on certain days.  Two Vision class ships.  When the pier didn't complete on time they couldn't accept two ships on the same day.  One ship was given a new alternate port.  One ship visited CocoCay as planned.
They never closed CocoCay to work on Perfect Day. 

Dining packages are offered at a discount compared to pre-booking each restaurant individually.  The compromise you must accept is not being to make specific reservations ahead of time.  You get it cheaper but have to have some flexibility. 
In many cases if you make it a priority upon boarding you can get very close to your ideal times and venues.  If you wait upon boarding and deal with it in the evening or on day 2 you are less likely to get the times and venues you want.  
If there are specific restaurants, day and time you "must have" then you are better to book them individually and accept the higher price.  

21°C?  That's not so bad...

Here is a tip - On the first day drop by the SeaPlex and take a picture of the weekly schedule of SeaPlex activities presented on the display monitors.  The cruise compass is great but you only get it the night before and it only shows you things for the next day, one day at a time.  Depending on your schedule you may have other things planned for 3 or 4 days away.  
By taking a picture of the schedule you can make sure to plan around SeaPlex activities over the whole cruise.

Goes to show you never get the same answer twice.  In 2018 I had the no-show scenario three times, the last in November with a WS Suite Guarantee.  In all cases I called C&A after the cruise and they had my account adjusted for double (non-suite) and triple (suite) after verifying I did indeed cruise solo.  

This scenario has occurred a few time for me, simply because I cruise a lot and while I hope my cruise buddies can go, sometimes for one reason or another they can't at the last minute.  I've always received double points but like any solo cruise they don't always post correctly and a quick phone call to C&A fixes that.  
If you have pre-paid items for them I'd suggest cancelling those but do not remove them from the booking.  There generally is no advantage to remove them.  Taxes and port fees will be refunded.  
All other items prepaid items *should* be refunded.  I'd cancel them off any excursions now, you can do that yourself through the cruise planner unless the cruise is tomorrow.  For prepaid gratuity and drink package I'd drop by guest services upon boarding and have them work on those items for you.    

Here is a tip - On the first day drop by the SeaPlex and take a picture of the weekly schedule of SeaPlex activities presented on the display monitors.  The cruise compass is great but you only get it the night before and it only shows you things for the next day, one day at a time.  Depending on your schedule you may have other things planned for 3 or 4 days away.  
By taking a picture of the schedule you can make sure to plan around SeaPlex activities over the whole cruise.

@twangster and @WAAAYTOOO, ever since the both of you talked about side to side cruises I wanted to do one. I am going to connect this free cruise to another one. 

This thread took an unexpected turn....

That's the beauty of departing from San Juan - it's a port of call all unto itself so it's like getting an extra 'free' port on your itinerary.  

From Apple Maps:

This thread took an unexpected turn....

This thread took an unexpected turn....

21°C?  That's not so bad...

People abuse the system all the time.  A former neighbor claimed support animal so he wouldn't have to pay pet rent.  I drove him to pick up his puppy from the breeder.  It wasn't trained at anything, it was a ten week old puppy.   Sure enough though, he didn't have to pay pet fees.  With the talk of more restrictions coming, a year later he signed up for a 4 hour session that provided a whimsical certificate so that he could argue the dog had received professional support animal training.  It was basically a play session with other dogs or so he told me as he encouraged me to follow suit.
There have been many incidents reported on trains, planes and ships where a claimed 'service' or 'support' animal bit someone or otherwise behaved inconsistent with a properly trained service animal.  I imagine there is potential liability if another guest is injured by a fake service animal.   Even if the risk of legal action against Royal is low (or the chance of winning a suit is low), it certainly will create a negative experience for a guest to be impacted and have their vacation ruined by a misbehaving fake service or support animal.
Seeing someone else getting away with it may tempt more to try it.  "Why not bring Fluffy?, they did".
If Royal needs to lean on the ADA to support this change in policy, I'm all for it.  
 

I last sailed her about a year ago.  She was fine then. 
She's scheduled for the Royal Amplified program in 2020.  During that time it will receive new venues such as Playmakers and new activities such as water slides.
If you have your heart set on the latest new features she won't get them until 2020 however that doesn't mean she is run down or in need of care.
I sailed Independence the month before she went in for her most recent refresh and was pleasantly surprised how much she didn't look like she needed it.  She received new features like a Skypad and water slides but lately they aren't updating cabins at all so I'd expect the same with Freedom.  
If water slides are a must then I don't think anything home based out of San Juan offers that at the moment.  This blog has a group cruise on Freedom over the holidays in December 2019 and @Matt wouldn't plan that for a ship that wasn't capable of offering a great time even if it won't yet have the absolute latest and greatest.  

Maybe they are buying in bulk as they spruce up the M class ?