Allen2

Had similar issues with MEI: unresponsive, incorrect information.   Migrated to another agency and am thrilled.  

I certainly don't want anything to be priced like airline tickets.  The CP watching isn't something I have to do on other cruise lines.
Don't love it, it's not a deal breaker but it is a factor on close decisions.

We have rushed over, and eased over, and have always been able to find good seating.  We did head back early last January to watch the Bengals-Bills playoff game by the pool.  Watching a snowy football game when it is 80 on the pool deck is a great experience.  While not many people there, there were enough to make the one poor guy behind the pool bar a busy man, and a long line was the result until staff started coming back on the ship.  

Before you try to pick your room, go to cruisedeckplans.com.  It will give you an easy-to-use overview of every deck and a visual of cabins, including U-Tube links.  Before deciding further, click on "cabin check" to get additional insight about the proposed cabin(s).  A little effort might save cruise-long issues with noise and problems. All you need is on the free portion of the website.

You can bring back as much as you want. It's what you can bring back duty free that's the question.

https://help.cbp.gov/s/article/Article-544?language=en_US

It’s never too late to upgrade your room.  Even if it’s past final payment you can still pay to upgrade but it might be pricey.  If you used a travel agent, ask him/her to check out the cost to upgrade your room.  If you booked direct with Royal, you will have to call them to determine the cost.

Depends if you are inside or outside of the final payment date. If you have not hit the final payment date, then yes you can still BUT you will have to pay the current fare not the fare you already paid for. not only will you have to pay the current and probably higher fare, you will also have to pay an increase to also be able to choose your cabin. You got a discount already for NOT choosing your own cabin. I would suggest doing a mock booking and see if the total difference in price is worth it to you. 

I think that would only be possible if you were to cruise Cunard on one of the legs.  The Queen Mary 2 does several Transatlantic crossings so next April we are on RC transatlantic ending in Southampton.  We then spend almost a week in London and are returning on Cunard.

We disembarked from a RCCL Greek Isles cruise August 13, 2023.  Our luggage was placed outside our stateroom the night prior to disembarking, as instructed by cruise line .  
We had 4 suitcases tagged outside the room, and upon leaving the ship at our final destination, only 2 suitcases had made it off the ship by the time we needed to catch our transfer bus to the airport.  
Cruise staff assured us that we would be contacted after completing a Lost Personal Property report, and that was 6 weeks ago.  
Royal Caribbean not only did not reach out to us, but after multiple attempts to get a status update of our luggage and several emails we were told to contact RCCL guest services for help. It was obvious to us early on in this process that we might not get our luggage back, as each time we called or emailed RCCL,  we spoke with a new representative that wasn’t fully aware of our situation. 
The process has been extremely frustrating, we feel like we are getting nowhere. 

At least they aren’t telling you that they’re skipping one of your ports of call to “enhance your onboard experience “.

When a ship skips a port, there usually is a credit for return of port changes/taxes.  If not given: ask!

We will be returning from London in May and after looking at airfare costs we are cruising home on Cunard instead.  It ended up $2600 (inside room) for both of us and hopefully a relaxing week enjoying great food. A week of cruising or 14 hours of flying and 2 legs to get home, so the cruise won out in the end.

Just a caveat to be careful with something like this. Very careful. If you're booking separate tickets, you are not protected. Example - you want to fly Denver to London, but it's cheaper to fly Chicago to London. No problem, let me just book a separate, cheaper ticket on, say, Southwest or Frontier from Denver to Chicago, and then United/BA/AA from Chicago to London. 
Well, you're now on two separate origin/destination tickets - Denver to Chicago, and Chicago to London. Southwest/Frontier is only responsible to get you from Denver to Chicago; United/BA/AA is only responsible to get you from Chicago to London. If your DEN-CHI (be it MDW or ORD) is delayed, and you miss the ORD-LHR flight, you're in trouble and will probably have to buy a new, last-minute ticket to get yourself to London...and and subsequent flights on that registration are likely to be cancelled as you're now a no-show. 
So, if you do decide to book positioning flights, be smart and book BIG layovers (preferably overnight), and make sure it's really worth it (factoring in things like hotels, meals, ground transportation if needed (such as between Midway and O'Hare in my example), cost of your time, etc. etc.) 

Most people are looking for some secret handshake/book at 2:52 am on a Tuesday kind-of-trick to save money on airfare in a way that involves minimal action, but if someone is actually willing to try to help themselves, good standard advice for overseas travel is to search all available international airports, and then as-needed book a positioning flight to get there. And be as flexible as you can with your dates and times, because the logic is very linear; convenience = demand = higher cost.  
Real world example:
We live in a major city and from our local airport can fly nonstop to most of the developed world.  When traveling to Rome for our cruise earlier this year, we actually flew out of a major Canadian city (but direct home at the end) and that alone saved us something like 2x more than we paid for the cruise itself.  And that savings more than paid for the flight from here to Canada and an overnight at an airport hotel, plus it sort of added an extra destination to our trip.  
Play around on Google Flights and see how you shake out. 
It's a pain in the rump, but it is easier to save money than make money.  

The whole "COVID" explanation is just an excuse.  Inflation is real so that certainly factors in but it is mostly just price gauging....with all things, including cruising (JMO).

Be aware that RCL will NOT automatically adjust downward - it is up to you and/or travel agent to periodically track pricing and request adjustment if price drops before final payment.

WRONG!!!!!! Service dogs CAN and ARE in strollers, laps, or anywhere they need to ve to do their job!!!!! I have a small dog and I am diabetic. My dog is trained to let me know when my blood sugar is low and since he is small, he often rides in a stroller so he is closer to my face. How is he to do his job from the floor when I am 5 feet above him!!!! I am so sick of people judging others because the THINK  they can tell a real service dog from a fake. It is obvious you CAN NOT and SHOULD NOT be telling people these lies!!!!! My dog is in my medical chart and I travel with a doctors note even though it is not needed all because people like you spreading lies that if a dog is in a stroller , they are not true service dogs! You should be ashamed!!!!!

The ADA doesn't stop private citizens from reminding owners that all service dogs are trained to have "four on the floor" at all times.
They do not sit in shopping carts.
They do not ride in strollers.
They are not lap dogs unless they need to jump on the owner's lap to wake them up or check on them.
If I see a dog on a cruise ship in a stroller, I will be happy to ask the owner why the dog isn't obeying its four-on-the-floor training?
On land, I won't bug, but on a cruise ship?  I'm here to make you uncomfortable after you make me uncomfortable.  And I'm happy to repeat it.
 

Shorts don't pee, poop, bark or shed. Though you may trip over them.

Pets are by their very nature after thousands of years of breeding are emotional support animals. But leave Fluffy at home. All this does it make it harder for those with afflictions that require properly trained service animals. 

If someone needs to push a small dog around in a stroller to feel safe and comfortable (the person, not the dog) then I do see that as emotional support. Maybe not specifically defined by any organization, but just by me. How anyone can not see that as an emotional need is beyond me. Not talking laws, rules, etc. Just as a person looking at the need of the person with the animal. If it's that important and someone is willing to go to that much work, then who am I to care. My only concern is the safety of the animal. But overall it's like shorts in the MDR. Do your thing, I'll do mine. Life goes on.

When I decided to try slots, as opposed to my tables, I sat at a machine that was a “set of 4 of the same machine”. I asked the lady next to me what I needed to know and she was very kind.  When I hit the feature I had to make a decision  on which bonus to play and she told me what she usually did.  So I did it.  She was super sweet.  Most slot players will tell you what they know about the machine.  I will say my hand accidentally touched max bet, thankfully I won $700🤣. So be careful about which buttons you push,
Some slot machines will say you need to be playing max bet to get the jackpots shown, its in small print on the screen. 
Press the menu button and it will show you the payout situations.
Be sure you are on 1 penny  on your bet unless you wanted to play more money
2 cent machines are double the cost of the button you push so if you are  playing a 2 cent machine bet at 50 credits a spin if will he $1.00 per spin not 50 cents like s 1 cent machine would be

Do it! Just make sure to give yourself time for travel, possible delays & TSA. 
Wouldn't recommend booking an 11:00 AM flight from PBI, if cruising out of FLL or MIA. (You never know when there will be customs clearance delays for your ship)
 
You can try the Brightline Train. Trains run about every hour.
Now Running from MCO - MIA (with stops in West Palm, and Fort Lauderdale. Eventually to add a connection to Tampa.)
MCO to MIA is about 3 hours & 30 minutes,  MCO to FLL is about 3 Hours,  MCO to PBI  ~2hr 16 mins,  FLL to PBI 45 mins,  MIA to PBI 1hr 20 mins. 
https://www.gobrightline.com/
 
Notes:
Brightline station is connected to the MCO (Orlando) Airport.  All other stations are not connected to the airport & will require separate transportation (uber/lyft) to get from the station to the airport.
The premium train tickets include a free Uber ride within a 5-mile radius of the train station, but the fare price difference isn't worth it in my opinion. Cheaper to buy a SMART train seat & pay for Uber separately.
 
We are using the train in December from MIA > FLL  & FLL > MCO. Train tickets booked in groups of 4 give a 25% fare discount. 

We have not done it yet but we will be for our cruise for Thanksgiving week leaving from Miami.  We are going to take the Tri Rail from West Palm Beach to Miami.  There is a $15 discount from tri rail to take an uber from PBI to the tri rail station.   Our hotel is than just a short 5 minute walk from the tri rail station in miami.  Flying into PBI was significantly cheaper and get us into Miami 8 hours sooner.

Oh they read them. There's more than enough anecdotal data of someone putting something in survey and getting a followup later (not always, but it happens).
Moreover, crew talk about how impactful surveys are on their career.
Whether or not your survey has a meaningful impact on changing policy is another matter, but they definitely do read them.