AshleyDillo

Always look at the cost to upgrade before bidding. It's not really a "win" if your RoyalUp cost more than what it would have been to directly purchase the upgrade.
Understand the room category that you are bidding on and all the possible locations are for rooms in those categories. Make sure you would be okay with any of those room locations on the ship before bidding.  
Understand that RoyalUp will not maintain connecting rooms.  If you paid for connecting rooms and want to keep connecting rooms, do not participate in RoyalUp bidding.
Perks are only for whomever is booked in the room that wins the bid. You can't combine two smaller rooms into one large room if you win the bid.
You can't go by current inventory to judge if you will win a bid. RoyalUp can leverage last minute cancelations. 

Always look at the cost to upgrade before bidding. It's not really a "win" if your RoyalUp cost more than what it would have been to directly purchase the upgrade.
Understand the room category that you are bidding on and all the possible locations are for rooms in those categories. Make sure you would be okay with any of those room locations on the ship before bidding.  
Understand that RoyalUp will not maintain connecting rooms.  If you paid for connecting rooms and want to keep connecting rooms, do not participate in RoyalUp bidding.
Perks are only for whomever is booked in the room that wins the bid. You can't combine two smaller rooms into one large room if you win the bid.
You can't go by current inventory to judge if you will win a bid. RoyalUp can leverage last minute cancelations. 

In my experience it does, but you may get lucky. I always book for 2 even when planning on going solo just in case someone does end up joining to avoid the reprice. 

Some bookings don't qualify for RoyalUp. Travel Agencies can opt-out. I think Costco does, for example.  
Available inventory doesn't have anything to do with it. They can still make money on last minute cancellations by taking bids for room categories that are fully booked.

Some bookings don't qualify for RoyalUp. Travel Agencies can opt-out. I think Costco does, for example.  
Available inventory doesn't have anything to do with it. They can still make money on last minute cancellations by taking bids for room categories that are fully booked.

Thank you for the information, I appreciate it!

$72.99/day for Wonder in Dec, but Josh Crothers will be on there so I had to bite the bullet.
There may be some drankin' goin' on.  Hoping for a better sale to come along.  You'd think
that the dearth of high-end liquor aboard would make the price go down.

Yes..you are only selecting the name it will be reserved under through the Cruise Planner.

No..more because it's far away from the rest of the Star Class rooms on Deck 17. The rooms themselves don't have the WOW factor of the other Star Class rooms. The balcony is amazing though..and they're my favorite Star Class rooms personally because of that.

Wow, a lot of mean spirited replies. The OP obviously had a bad experience. 
There is no reason to attack them or call them fat and a liar.
 

They have different recipes. 
Giovanni's Table has a more upscale dining feel -- white tablecloth type of environment. They have a great filet option for folks who aren't looking to go the pasta route and they have an excellent eggplant parmesan dish.
Jamie's is more casual italian dining -- checkerboard tablecloth type of environment. They really shine in their pasta dishes.  If you like truffles, they have a creamy truffle pasta dish that is great.
Giovanni's Kitchen is the newest Royal Italian concept and it is more casual like Jamie's but has a pizza oven.  Their pizzas are fantastic and they have a lot of great appetizers, plus everyone gets a complimentary shot of limoncello at the end of the mail!

You can make reservations for lunch in the app just like you can for dinner.
Yes, brunch is included. You SHOULD make reservations for brunch. Mason Jar is the newbie and seems to have the largest demand, so that's the one I'd make sure to grab a reservation for brunch and dinner at as soon as you board.  
Izumi you get a $35 allowance per VISIT. You get $20 for Playmakers per VISIT.
If you're talking about the small food menu, Mason Jar late night bar menu was included. I'd assume it has the $20 ala carte limit with the package. I'm not sure about the Giovanni's Wine Bar food menu. I know on other ships that have the tapas menu in Vintages, that's not included. There's no harm in asking, so if you do report back what they tell you!
Nope. Oasis class ships do not have food in the Pub.

That list was likely last updated pre-Wonder. They do have the Freestyle machines on Wonder.

If the number of beer cans on the table is a sign of what's to come.

If the number of beer cans on the table is a sign of what's to come.

Paging @SpeedNoodles. She did the bike trip 🙂

Paging @SpeedNoodles. She did the bike trip 🙂

Yes you are thinking correctly. There's a little area to drop bags in while you ride.  You then have to walk up to the entrance to retrieve any bags you left there since the exit is before the coaster returns to the entrance.  If you can just leave stuff at your umbrella and lounger before you go off to the coaster it probably will be a bit easier.

I know the Port of Seattle used to have luggage valet available. I'm not sure up and running currently with COVID or not.  I know it hasn't returned to the Florida ports yet, but the Seattle tourism websites don't seem to indicate that the service was suspended.  If it is available you may want to consider that.  You sign up and when you leave you luggage out on the last night of the cruise they take it to the airport and check it in for you.  Of course this only works if you are checking your bags when you fly and not packing anything you'll need while exploring Seattle.
Otherwise they do have luggage storage at the airport that you can pay for at Smarte Carte.  You'd have to get from the port to the airport to do this, of course, and then go out and explore.  It's very easy to use the light rail to get to the Seattle attractions from the airport once you've dumped your luggage.

You may also want to consider not looking for connecting rooms and go with neighboring rooms or something like an interior across from an oceanview. I'm not sure what the maturity level of your teens are, but if there isn't a necessity to have the connecting door between the rooms, you often can find the rooms at cheaper prices.
Keep in mind that cruising out of Galveston is going to have the added cost of getting from Houston to Galveston.  It's 45 mins to an hour depending on which airport in Houston you are flying into.  It's a much more expensive Uber ride than flying into Miami or Ft. Lauderdale or even San Juan.
The San Juan itinerary is great.  I think that alone is engaging enough to make up for the smaller ship.  Plus leaving from San Juan is almost like having another port to explore for your pre- or post-cruise stay.  That being said, you have already experienced an Oasis class ship with the Allure.  It's the same ship with the same activities you had on Allure but add in slides (water slides and a dry slide) and some different dining and shows to experience.

We did have a Genie for our Wonder cruise, so we were able to experience it all.  Fortunately with a TA, you'll at leave have more days to hopefully get a chance to try everything. One tip for Mason Jar is that they will let you order food from the full menu at the bar during dining hours, so if you can't get a reservation you can still have a chance to try it.  Also there are some spiked milkshake dessert drinks that the Deluxe Beverage Package covers that are fun to try. A lot of folks miss out on those because they're on the dessert menu so you don't really see or think about them until after you are stuffed full of food!

Yes you are thinking correctly. There's a little area to drop bags in while you ride.  You then have to walk up to the entrance to retrieve any bags you left there since the exit is before the coaster returns to the entrance.  If you can just leave stuff at your umbrella and lounger before you go off to the coaster it probably will be a bit easier.

You need to have a positive PCR test dated at least 11 days before boarding.  The Certificate of Recovery has to reference this positive PCR test.

You need to have a positive PCR test dated at least 11 days before boarding.  The Certificate of Recovery has to reference this positive PCR test.

They have different recipes. 
Giovanni's Table has a more upscale dining feel -- white tablecloth type of environment. They have a great filet option for folks who aren't looking to go the pasta route and they have an excellent eggplant parmesan dish.
Jamie's is more casual italian dining -- checkerboard tablecloth type of environment. They really shine in their pasta dishes.  If you like truffles, they have a creamy truffle pasta dish that is great.
Giovanni's Kitchen is the newest Royal Italian concept and it is more casual like Jamie's but has a pizza oven.  Their pizzas are fantastic and they have a lot of great appetizers, plus everyone gets a complimentary shot of limoncello at the end of the mail!