karl_nj

Yeah... but they are in a sealed envelope with your name written on it...
I think the response from the customer "service" desk is the *really* crazy part of the story.

That story about the family in your cabin is so crazy!
You said parking was an issue too?  Are they still having people park in a lot and not in the garage?
 

I think after all of this you are allowed to vent a little...
Yeah, after all of that I wouldn't have wanted to scoot over to the main C&A desk either (the one next door to Guest Relations).
My recommendation would be to stop by the Diamond Lounge tomorrow morning or this afternoon.  Play with the fancy coffee machine if you like coffee, and say hi to the Diamond Concierge.  They will usually have office hours at various points during the day.  It's listed on one of those sheets you didn't get because of the people that stole your room.  Then you can sit down at his desk and give the quick version of your story, mention how you didn't get any of the papers you should have, etc.  At minimum he should be able to give you the papers you missed.  Often the pin comes later on during the cruise anyway, but he can confirm that.  He can also make sure that C&A knows what room you are in, so you will get any more treats they may send to the room, etc.  Since you missed your boarding day cookies and the can of water.
On Wonder the office hours for the Diamond Concierge were 8am-11:30pm and 4:30pm to 8pm.  Morning might be less busy than the afternoon.

Yes, but not every drink costs $14, so one may calculate the "break even" based on a $14 drink, that might not be reality if someone is paying a la carte.  Have beer prices also gone up $1?  What is the price for a more "boring"/"off menu" drink, like a G&T now?  Has that also gone up?  If not, it makes the "math" even more murky.
 

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like there was a choice.  Just trying to say there may be a bright side to the situation—quicker disembarkation for all back in NJ.

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it seem like there was a choice.  Just trying to say there may be a bright side to the situation—quicker disembarkation for all back in NJ.

Is Miami the last port?  If so, you may not need to do Immigration when you get back to NJ.  Not that it's a big deal in Port Liberty anymore, since they use the facial scanners there these days.
 

I'm not Jewish, so hopefully someone will correct me if I'm wrong.  My understanding is that pre-packaged kosher meals are generally available all cruise lines.  You need to request this before the sailing.  These are prepared in a kosher facility off the ship, frozen, heated while still in the packaging, and brought to the table all wrapped up.  Sealed paper plates and plastic cutlery are provided.   So even compared to MDR mass cooked banquet food, it's not exactly fine dining.  More like food you would get on an airplane.
This doesn't sound super appealing.  Being Lutheran, I don't claim to know anything about the details of keeping kosher, but some people I have talked to are OK with just sticking to the vegetarian/vegan menu on the ship.  Not everyone is OK with this solution, either because they want to be able to eat meat or because they don't feel it's OK from a religious POV (or both).
The appeal of these special sailings mentioned earlier is around getting fresh cooked kosher food.  In the past I've heard about full/partial ship charters where kosher food is available, so it's interesting that RCL has figured out a way to basically create their own version of this.
 

I checked again and you are correct.  I'm going to edit my post to avoid confusion

I don’t believe that has any factor on if duty is due on return to the US.  Buying in a duty free shop just avoids paying any taxes in the country where you buy the product. 

Perhaps in the future, instead of scrapping Vision class ships, maybe they can just repurpose them as a tender for Icon class ships...

D, D+ and Pinnacle on Royal will all match to Elite on Celebrity (which roughly equivalent to Diamond on Royal, but with different benefits)
Also, Elite, Elite Plus, and Zenith on Celebrity all match to Diamond on Royal.
 
 

All excellent points, I've also had trouble making "deluxe bev package math" work. 
We like to have wine with dinner, and I've found that I enjoy some of the cheaper bottles they have onboard.  A bottle of their Chilean Sauvignon Blanc is $37.  There are 5 glasses of wine in a bottle, so that comes to $7.40 a glass.  Using $14/drink as a baseline doesn't really work there.
Even if you go a bit more expensive, maybe to the Robert Mondavi Merlot, where they charge $12/glass.   That is only $45/bottle, which is $9 a glass when you buy "in bulk"
 

Well, not Tampa.

Perhaps in the future, instead of scrapping Vision class ships, maybe they can just repurpose them as a tender for Icon class ships...

Perhaps in the future, instead of scrapping Vision class ships, maybe they can just repurpose them as a tender for Icon class ships...

On Celebrity Edge, the answer is no.  I would assume the same for Icon of the Seas.

Perhaps in the future, instead of scrapping Vision class ships, maybe they can just repurpose them as a tender for Icon class ships...

Icon has 9% more guests then Wonder at max capacity, but is also 6% larger then Wonder.  So I wouldn't expect the ship to be much more crowded than Oasis class ships.
But yes if you can't deal with Oasis class crowds, Icon probably isn't your ship.

Perhaps in the future, instead of scrapping Vision class ships, maybe they can just repurpose them as a tender for Icon class ships...

All good points.  In addition, some ships have a deck 13, and others don't.  And the height of a 'deck' isn't necessary the same when you compare different ships.  The high of each deck can be different even on the same ship (e.g. passenger cabin only decks often have lower ceiling heights.  same thing for the deck holding the kids club on Disney Dream/Fantasy.)  The distance between decks can also differ.
It's the same reason "number of floors" in a building on land isn't really a good way to compare buildings.  Distance between floors on a residential high rise building is going to be less than an office building, especially once you factor in raised floors and/or dropped ceilings.  Different numbers of mechanical floors are going to pop up in between occupied floors at different rates between buildings, etc.
 

Perhaps in the future, instead of scrapping Vision class ships, maybe they can just repurpose them as a tender for Icon class ships...

Well, not Tampa.

Perhaps in the future, instead of scrapping Vision class ships, maybe they can just repurpose them as a tender for Icon class ships...

Perhaps in the future, instead of scrapping Vision class ships, maybe they can just repurpose them as a tender for Icon class ships...