kjw83

Go to guest service during the cruise with your card. I've done it that way once and it was fine.

You can decide or change upon checking in at the terminal.  Adding or changing a card while checking in adds about a minute to the check in experience and requires signing a paper contract but it is pretty quick.

I take a shawl for the evening on deck. Then I leave it in the bar or the dining room.  Then my husband has to go back and ask for it. Then I have to go to the customer service desk and see if it has been turned in. Then my husband tells me not to bring a shawl again because all I do is lose it. It's all part of the cruise experience for us.?

You should be fine. I usually don''t include my middle name or initial on my booking and I have never had any issues.

I really comes down to the excursion(s) you book. If you are booking an all inclusive, you will most certainly have changing facilities. If you plan on going to the beach at any point, it's a good idea to wear swimming clothes under your street clothes, or some people just wear their swimming clothes with a wrap or cover up. You will see all kinds.
If you know your excursions already, list them, and I am sure you will get some helpful tips.

Most of the time we do not carry a change of clothing with us.  If we go to the beach, we wear our bathing suits there and my wife and kids do have a cover up or pair of shorts/shirt to put on.  Ultimately we go this route to reduce the amount of stuff we need to transport.

You're golden, then.  Don't worry about it. ENJOY!

Yes!

Those are only the shows that they recommend you have reservations for. The other shows that don't require reservations won't be listed in the Cruise Planner.
You can look at the above link "Cruise Compass" and read through some of them to find a similar itinerary that you are taking and read about all of the other activities/shows on board for a given week.

That is Royal's policy, yes. The policy is actually that if you are on an excursion booked through Royal, the ship doesn't leave until you get back. As opposed to the excursion gets back before the ship leaves.

Labadee is RC's private island.  Is basically a beach day.  Just a couple of straw markets and vendors, that's about it.
Falmouth has a whole shopping area right at the port.  It is enclosed in a gated area.  It's mainly local shops.  I would not wander outside of the gated area unless you are on a guided excursion.
Cozumel is one of my favourite shopping ports!  Depending on where the ship stops, either you are right downtown Cozumel or a short cab ride from downtown.  There is tons of shopping, local vendors and international brands.
When we sail this itinerary, we do not book excursions.  We walk around the ports on our own.

Yes, you can call and have it noted.  I have had two times where I requested the configuration be two twins only to find a king when I got in the cabin.  The steward will always introduce him or herself before the muster drill.  If the configuration of the beds, or anything else in the cabin, hasn't met my needs, I just ask them then and the issue has always been taken care of by the time we were done with dinner.

Ships shops and casino close in virtually all ports because a ship is subject to local laws while within the territorial waters of any given country. 
Some countries ban gambling while others require a gaming license, or the local casinos don't want the competition so it becomes unattractive for a ship to operate it's casino while in port.  In some ports there are exceptions in the evenings when land casinos have closed for the day and only then may a ship operate it's casino while in port.
To avoid having to pay local taxes and be subject to other retail laws the shops on board the ship will typically be closed while in port.  Shops will typically have open hours when the ship is in international water only.  
Entertainment isn't 'closed' in port, but in many cases entertainment is scheduled by the ship for when all guests would be on board.  Entertainment isn't typically subject to local laws in port, it just doesn't make sense to offer entertainment when guests won't be on board to enjoy it.  
Activities such as water slides, zip lines, flowriders, etc. will be open at certain times again reflecting that operating these activities when few guests are on board doesn't make sense so they tend to be open at specific times closer to when some guests are beginning to return to the ship such as mid-afternoon.
Cruise compasses from past guests will give you an idea of what to expect in terms of when the shops and casino may be open or closed.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass?ship=1071
 
 

Just to follow up with your specific question about the spa -- the ship's spa typically is open while in port, at least for a part of the day, and you can indeed get some good deals on spa services those days (but typically just during the morning hours, when most people have left the ship). The spa is run by a separate contractor who basically sets up shop on board, so I guess unlike Royal, that third-party provider has made the necessary arrangements for either payment of, or exemption from, any local taxes that the other venues on the ship close down to avoid dealing with.

Just ask for them to check for a lower price due to the recent sale.  Or, you can just go to Royal's website, do a mock booking, and try it yourself to see if it's lower.  If you used a travel agent, just give them a call and they will do the work for you. 

@kjw83 Buy it now and you can cancel later if it drops for below what you've paid. That's as low as I've seen it go.

You can cancel and re-book if you see a better price.  $11.99 is a good price.  I booked mine as well for April 2019

I have never seen it below $11.99 a day. I would grab it now and just monitor the price in case it goes down further, but I doubt it will. I just purchased it at that price on my upcoming cruises in April and July 

I just purchased VOOM for my cruise that's 383 days out! ? That's a fluke if I've ever seen one...11.99 per day...better check your cruises out.

I got $10.79 for the President's Cruise and $11.99 for a T/A.  Both were purchased on the same sale.  Pretty safe bet to buy now.

I got it for $10.79 a day too for Same time frame (Feb 14th cruise.

The issue with winging it is you leave yourself open to the "Oh geez, I wish I knew about that!" moment.  
Here's a good starting point for learning about what your ship offers: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/08/10/7-ways-learn-everything-you-can-about-your-royal-caribbean-cruise

Start booking as soon as you can.  You can always cancel or reschedule . Also watch for sales on : Excursions, Drinks, Spa, Specialty Dinners;  especially on Black Friday.    Booking early allows you do those things as they sell out quite fast or shows are all reserved.  You are prepaying now and not hit with a large Folio tab  at the end of the cruise which  helps with the budget and gives you  a nice piece of mind.    Welcome to the blog and enjoy your first cruise of hopefully more to come.   P.S. we miss Chicago.

Welcome to cruising and the Blog. I agree with other comments listed. my two(or three) cents: On the bigger ships, book as much as possible for activities on the ship on the daily planner, you can always cancel it out. For a first timer, I would just stick to main dining room so you can get a feel for the regular menu options, then on future cruises you can decide on whether you want to pay extra for dining/special event. For port excursions, if for nothing else but piece of mind, I would do excursions thru RC and reserve ahead. I agree to excursions that do port city overviews maybe that also leave time to walk in the port areas. Last, check out ship layout ahead of time and once on board walk around to find key areas of interest to you, theater locations, dining area, different pool spots, etc.  Added thought, arrive a day or two before cruise to enjoy the embarkment city and need not worry about making ship due to delays. Relax and have a great time.

What WhiteSoxFan said is correct. On the larger ships they have reservations for the shows a month or more before sailing and they book fast. I usually make my reservations online because you have to stand in line and the seating can be pretty bad. Since I am a long time cruiser, I believe in booking excursions way before the cruise, but I also like to book private excursions not offered by the ships. You have to be very careful doing this and I wouldn't recommend it for a first time cruiser. My first time in any port I usually do an excursion that introduces me to the port city and the culture, after that I venture into other excursions. BTW, the specialty restaurants offer reservations online, so if you want to book any meals at one of these restaurants, I highly advise to do it before getting onboard. On my last cruise in March on the Liberty, every specialty restaurant was booked full before we sailed and the ship was not taking any new reservations.
Candie