Cez

Wow - respect !
I can barely remember name of the ship from my last cruise (in May)....

Wow - respect !
I can barely remember name of the ship from my last cruise (in May)....

There were 8 of us - lots of bags - and he was awesome - loaded all bags on 1 cart that got split between 2 cars. May have been slightly excessive but when we bypassed 100's in line at customs I felt a little generous. Large group, lots of bags and in the car and out of there in record time!

Thank you Ken !
This is very useful info !

@Cez you might want to check out the Plugshare app or website. 
If you do not mind parking away from the port, but close by, there are a few options around Newark Airport.  At one of the Hilton's by the airport, they have a few electrical outlets in their garage, and you can usually find online coupons for parking way under $10 per day.  And just take a 15-20 minute Uber to the port.  I have parked there for airport trip, and the place seems safe (but did not try and charge).
Another possible option, if you want to park at the port, and are not in a huge rush after your cruise (and your car won't totally drain the battery during your cruise) is to go to the Liberty Science Center museum after your cruise.  This is a great stop if you have kids, to visit.  They have a bunch (maybe 12) free L2 J-1772's, but do have to pay for parking when there.  This is a great place for kids.
If you drive a Tesla, there are a couple of Superchargers close to Cape Liberty.  There are two in Jersey City (one at a mall) about 9 miles north from the port.  As well as another Supercharger in Kearny, about 12 miles NW.

I have never had a problem with Prime walking up to the bar and grabbing a drink or beer to go. I too have found that wait staff appreciates the tips and will learn your drink of choice and always ask you if you need one when they see you. 

For the Prime Casino drinks, I guess the last few cruises I tipped so well, the Casino drink waiters would ask me to get a drink when they see me even when I'm just walking through the Casino and not there to play.

Prime Free Drinks in Casino are Great ... but only when Casino is open and only available at the Casino bar and tables/slot area .. sure you can leave after getting the drinks .. but found it painful to have to  crown into the always crowded Casino bar area for a drink .... enjoy your cruise ...

@mom2mybugs has a great point on the not wanting a huge bill at the end of the trip...that is one reason some buy the DBP anyways, even if it doesn't add up to the math.  It really comes down to what you want to drink (alcoholic or not) and how you want to get it.  You can also get bottles of water at ports but of course that is less convenient than getting them as you walk off the ship.

I bet the drink card shows on the longer cruises because fewer people buy the deluxe drink pkg.  We went back and forth and finally got the drink pkg for our 12 day trip.  I know drink fatigue and ports will be an issue but I didn't want a huge bill at the end of the trip.  With the crazy temps I know the bottled water and iced coffees will being us closer, as will the sea days.
I know I've read before that people buy drinks the the casino with that and then leave but I've not every been in the casino enough to be hugely reliable on that.  Jane

Agree about longer cruises, the value ins't there for me when DX cost approaches the cost of a cruise.  DX sales stop mid cruise but it varies ship to ship.  I always ask upon boarding.
Not prime so can't comment on casino drinks.

I agree with @twangster in the longer the cruise, the harder it is to find the value in a DBP.  I'm not prime either so I cannot answer the question about that but I would assume that those drinks can only be purchased in the casino.  I personally have ordered a DBP (so not prime) from the casino and walked out with them and also walked in with drinks from other bars.  If I were you and the prime is true, I'd just use that and skip the DBP.  If you are REALLY lucky, though it seems more rare than ever, you will see a sale for a beverage card offered for purchase (like you pay a set amount of money for a 10-15 drink punch card).  The only evidence I have heard of this in the last few years was on a recent Majesty of the Seas sailing that was one of the first ones with an itinerary change due to the Cuba ban.

I just want to Clarify that's the list for free interior room.. Free Balcony rooms often have a different list. 

lol - Jan 30 2019. I've got the message in the morning, five hours and $ 200 US later (without any spelling mistakes) I was seating on the airplane to Montreal with connection at JFK. When talking to my TE she confirmed that it was a fair price but nothing extraordinarily cheap.
Ironically, instead of watching airplanes from Maho beach I was in one of them ?
I have to give kudos to Royal - they refunded unused portion of my drinking package, internet and excursions. Very professional and helpful throughout entire process.
 
 

Sure, but they're probably family members and by now you know that they can't be trusted. It's strangers on the internet that you can count on to come to the rescue when the need arises.?

Thanks @Fuzzywuzzy I'll add you to the list of my car's volunteer babysitters ?
 

Are there CONS to boarding early??!....
 
The earlier the better...for every and any reason!

If it's a Tesla I'll take care of it while you're gone and pick you up when you get back. No charge. (pun)

I'm not aware of any, but I could be wrong.

lol - Jan 30 2019. I've got the message in the morning, five hours and $ 200 US later (without any spelling mistakes) I was seating on the airplane to Montreal with connection at JFK. When talking to my TE she confirmed that it was a fair price but nothing extraordinarily cheap.
Ironically, instead of watching airplanes from Maho beach I was in one of them ?
I have to give kudos to Royal - they refunded unused portion of my drinking package, internet and excursions. Very professional and helpful throughout entire process.
 
 

Can’t. It was suggested to me by someone. It sounds delicious so I put it on the list so I can try it in 45 days!!

Yes. You won't get a refund for the no-show, but you will get the double points.

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.    

I read today on another thread that the one remaining passenger WILL get double points (although I had not believed this to be true before...learn something new every day !!) but I do not FOR SURE that you should NOT cancel the second person under any circumstances.  Just let them be a no-show. You're not going to get any money back either way (except for port fees and taxes on the no-show) so do not give them any excuse to mess with you.  Leave the reservation as-is and let the second person be a no-show.