ThyriC

Get to know your crew.  Say hello, make small talk (it fascinates me hearing about their home countries), it might not get you anything extra, but it cant hurt.  If you're alcohol inclined or even mocktail inclined, get to know your bartender.  Be kind to your bartender.  Keeping these in mind may not get you anything extra as well, but, they potentially can get you something nice (like an extra shot in your drink, a drink magically not appearing on your bill, etc)  I like asking my bartender to make me their favourite drink.  I almost always get an amazing story out of how they came to love their particular drink.  On one of the last days I also like asking my bartender for a recipe for one of the signature drinks.  Most have recipe cards or they'll even write it down on a cocktail napkin for you.  
 
Get to know your ship!  Time to put on those walking shoes and explore.  Allow yourself to get lost!  
Speaking of walking shoes.  BREAK IN YOUR SHOES BEFORE YOU CRUISE.  Do not, I repeat DO NOT wear brand new shoes on your cruise.  Your feet will curse your existence if you wear brand new shoes on your cruise.  From blisters to raw spots to just general foot pain, break in your shoes ahead of time.  Noone's going to care if you wear your old grubby sneakers, or a pair of well worn pumps.  Your feet will care if you wear a pair of brand new stiletto heels.  Speaking of high heels.  Especially if new to cruising.  Explore the wonderful world of "dress sandals" or "dress flats".  You're on a ship.  Ships move.  If you're not accustomed to walking on a moving, rocking, pitching vehicle in sky high heels, just leave your Jimmy Choos at home.  
And speaking of walking.  If you're not accustomed to a fair bit of walking, start getting accustomed early.  Walk a mile a day and then start increasing your distance until you're up to about 5 miles a day.  A fitbit can help keep track of distance walked.  That way your feet (and body!) arent screaming at you after your first day of going from your cabin to the pool deck to the MDR, to a stroll along central park, back to the pool deck, back to your cabin, off to the MDR.... yah you're going to put in some walking.  Might as well not walk in agony!
Create a nice folder for your cruise documents.  Have any checklists you want to use to keep yourself organized (I'd be lost without checklists) and include copies of your credit cards you plan to bring with you, copy of your passports (yes another tip, get a passport, you "can" use a birth certificate and drivers license for most caribbean destinations but the passport just makes your life so much easier) copy of your itinerary, copy of your cruise tickets, copy of any purchased in advance items (beverage package, shore excursions, etc) copy of any medical documentation for controlled substances (note, medical cannabis is NOT allowed, even with a valid prescription) just in case of customs, copy of emergency contact information.  Once you have these copies, make copies of them.  And keep them in 2 separate locations.  So your original documents go in a folder with you.  The copy folder goes with your travelling companion or spouse, the third copy goes in your carryon luggage (because of the sensitive information associated with travel docs, dont put it in checked luggage)  If you're a solo traveler, you keep the originals and the first set of copies, the other copy goes in your carryon.  Want to be super neurotic like me?  Have a 4th set of copies, but digital and stored in an encrypted cloud storage solution (again I'm neurotic about security, so I dont trust just slamming something into dropbox, I live for encryption).    Kids can also take a part in the decorating of the cruise document folder with stickers and drawings!
Watch a lot of cruise videos.  Matt does an amazing podcast and videos where he answers common questions as well as additional questions.  They can really help with packing tips, shore excursion tips, stuff to do on the ship tips, tips about the ultimate dining package and deluxe beverage packages, travelling with kiddos, travelling without kiddos, etc.  
Ask questions.  The cruising community here is absolutely delightful and its like having an extended family you can ask questions of.  Ask more questions.  No question is too stupid and noone gets horribly offended or upset that there are 20 questions about travel documents or the beverage packages.  Ask even more questions.  We wont get sick of hearing from you.  
To echo the sentiment of many.  Take things easy and be flexible.  If you book shore excursions and onboard activities and meals all on top of each other, you're going to need a vacation from your vacation.  Not to mention if you book back to back to back like that, if anything winds up running long or off schedule, it has a domino effect.  I like to list things in terms of "NEED to do, WANT to do, and 'it would be nice' to do"  Have one need to do taken care of every day.  Then fill in with the wants, and then fill in further with the "it would be nices".  This leaves you flexible to just crash by the pool or in your cabin if you want to or if something goes off schedule, then you can shift accordingly.  Or if a NEED appears at random, you can do that and flex the wants and nices away from the NEED.  
Do not book flights on embarkation or disembarkation days.  Book a hotel at both ends of your cruise.  1, this extends your vacation!  And gets you some much needed sleep before flights.  It also allows for travel delays, cancellations, and just general weird stuff.  It keeps you flexible and relaxed in case of fog delay, rough weather delay, customs delays, cancelled flights, delayed flights, etc etc etc.  
Remember to remain flexible.  If the ship needs to change its itinerary due to weather or port issues this is for your safety and security.  Can it be disappointing to miss a really wanted to visit port?  Sure!  But if you're staring down a Category 4 hurricane, I think you'd be much happier being safe and secure, rather than barrelling straight into a hurricane.  Same with delays or itinerary changes due to someone needing to be evacuated from the ship for medical reasons.  Be compassionate to the person who is in such a dangerous condition that they have to be airlifted from the ship because their condition couldnt wait for them to reach the shore.  
Get travel insurance.  Stuff happens.  And medical care onboard a ship or being airlifted off of the ship is likely not covered by your standard healthcare.  Bags can get lost.  Travel delays and cancellations can happen.  Yes it can be pricey.  But so can the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars associated with an emergency at sea.  So can the cost of the cruise that had to be cancelled after your final payment date due to illness, family emergencies, and in some travel insurance cases, work!  Often times we book our cruises years in advance, and job situations can change, health can change.  And you dont want to be "that guy" who boards a ship hacking up a lung because he didnt get travel insurance and doesnt want to lose thousands of dollars potentially by cancelling the cruise despite being so sick that he'd call out of work.  Dont be that guy.  Get travel insurance.  Another cruise can always happen, infecting an entire ship and you not being able to even enjoy your own vacation due to illness is just foolish.  

I have to concur with @JLMoran  the corkage fee isnt a "removing a cork" fee.  It covers them storing your wine in their wine cellar, serving it to you instead of their wine thus losing their profit on wine service (you cant bring your own alcoholic beverages of any other sort, just wine, so they dont lose profit if you want beer with your meal), it covers them being able to not just serve you wine from the MDR but from a specialty restaurant as well.  
Most restaurants charge a corkage fee if you choose to bring in your own wine
The wine I like to enjoy they dont serve this onboard (I cant expect a cruise line to carry some obscure Napa wine, especially a pricey one).  They serve the same kind of wine, but this one particular one I just like. So for me letting them store the wine and then serve it, its well worth it for me rather than having to buy a bottle of a wine that I dont know I'd even like.... at the cost of about 70-80 dollars for their wine.  Not to mention if something were to happen to the wine (they manage to cork the wine, drop the wine, etc) its on them rather than being in my stateroom, if the seas are rough, and the wine took a tumble.  
 
End of story, expect the corkage fee, be delighted if they dont charge you.  

I have to concur with @JLMoran  the corkage fee isnt a "removing a cork" fee.  It covers them storing your wine in their wine cellar, serving it to you instead of their wine thus losing their profit on wine service (you cant bring your own alcoholic beverages of any other sort, just wine, so they dont lose profit if you want beer with your meal), it covers them being able to not just serve you wine from the MDR but from a specialty restaurant as well.  
Most restaurants charge a corkage fee if you choose to bring in your own wine
The wine I like to enjoy they dont serve this onboard (I cant expect a cruise line to carry some obscure Napa wine, especially a pricey one).  They serve the same kind of wine, but this one particular one I just like. So for me letting them store the wine and then serve it, its well worth it for me rather than having to buy a bottle of a wine that I dont know I'd even like.... at the cost of about 70-80 dollars for their wine.  Not to mention if something were to happen to the wine (they manage to cork the wine, drop the wine, etc) its on them rather than being in my stateroom, if the seas are rough, and the wine took a tumble.  
 
End of story, expect the corkage fee, be delighted if they dont charge you.  

Get to know your crew.  Say hello, make small talk (it fascinates me hearing about their home countries), it might not get you anything extra, but it cant hurt.  If you're alcohol inclined or even mocktail inclined, get to know your bartender.  Be kind to your bartender.  Keeping these in mind may not get you anything extra as well, but, they potentially can get you something nice (like an extra shot in your drink, a drink magically not appearing on your bill, etc)  I like asking my bartender to make me their favourite drink.  I almost always get an amazing story out of how they came to love their particular drink.  On one of the last days I also like asking my bartender for a recipe for one of the signature drinks.  Most have recipe cards or they'll even write it down on a cocktail napkin for you.  
 
Get to know your ship!  Time to put on those walking shoes and explore.  Allow yourself to get lost!  
Speaking of walking shoes.  BREAK IN YOUR SHOES BEFORE YOU CRUISE.  Do not, I repeat DO NOT wear brand new shoes on your cruise.  Your feet will curse your existence if you wear brand new shoes on your cruise.  From blisters to raw spots to just general foot pain, break in your shoes ahead of time.  Noone's going to care if you wear your old grubby sneakers, or a pair of well worn pumps.  Your feet will care if you wear a pair of brand new stiletto heels.  Speaking of high heels.  Especially if new to cruising.  Explore the wonderful world of "dress sandals" or "dress flats".  You're on a ship.  Ships move.  If you're not accustomed to walking on a moving, rocking, pitching vehicle in sky high heels, just leave your Jimmy Choos at home.  
And speaking of walking.  If you're not accustomed to a fair bit of walking, start getting accustomed early.  Walk a mile a day and then start increasing your distance until you're up to about 5 miles a day.  A fitbit can help keep track of distance walked.  That way your feet (and body!) arent screaming at you after your first day of going from your cabin to the pool deck to the MDR, to a stroll along central park, back to the pool deck, back to your cabin, off to the MDR.... yah you're going to put in some walking.  Might as well not walk in agony!
Create a nice folder for your cruise documents.  Have any checklists you want to use to keep yourself organized (I'd be lost without checklists) and include copies of your credit cards you plan to bring with you, copy of your passports (yes another tip, get a passport, you "can" use a birth certificate and drivers license for most caribbean destinations but the passport just makes your life so much easier) copy of your itinerary, copy of your cruise tickets, copy of any purchased in advance items (beverage package, shore excursions, etc) copy of any medical documentation for controlled substances (note, medical cannabis is NOT allowed, even with a valid prescription) just in case of customs, copy of emergency contact information.  Once you have these copies, make copies of them.  And keep them in 2 separate locations.  So your original documents go in a folder with you.  The copy folder goes with your travelling companion or spouse, the third copy goes in your carryon luggage (because of the sensitive information associated with travel docs, dont put it in checked luggage)  If you're a solo traveler, you keep the originals and the first set of copies, the other copy goes in your carryon.  Want to be super neurotic like me?  Have a 4th set of copies, but digital and stored in an encrypted cloud storage solution (again I'm neurotic about security, so I dont trust just slamming something into dropbox, I live for encryption).    Kids can also take a part in the decorating of the cruise document folder with stickers and drawings!
Watch a lot of cruise videos.  Matt does an amazing podcast and videos where he answers common questions as well as additional questions.  They can really help with packing tips, shore excursion tips, stuff to do on the ship tips, tips about the ultimate dining package and deluxe beverage packages, travelling with kiddos, travelling without kiddos, etc.  
Ask questions.  The cruising community here is absolutely delightful and its like having an extended family you can ask questions of.  Ask more questions.  No question is too stupid and noone gets horribly offended or upset that there are 20 questions about travel documents or the beverage packages.  Ask even more questions.  We wont get sick of hearing from you.  
To echo the sentiment of many.  Take things easy and be flexible.  If you book shore excursions and onboard activities and meals all on top of each other, you're going to need a vacation from your vacation.  Not to mention if you book back to back to back like that, if anything winds up running long or off schedule, it has a domino effect.  I like to list things in terms of "NEED to do, WANT to do, and 'it would be nice' to do"  Have one need to do taken care of every day.  Then fill in with the wants, and then fill in further with the "it would be nices".  This leaves you flexible to just crash by the pool or in your cabin if you want to or if something goes off schedule, then you can shift accordingly.  Or if a NEED appears at random, you can do that and flex the wants and nices away from the NEED.  
Do not book flights on embarkation or disembarkation days.  Book a hotel at both ends of your cruise.  1, this extends your vacation!  And gets you some much needed sleep before flights.  It also allows for travel delays, cancellations, and just general weird stuff.  It keeps you flexible and relaxed in case of fog delay, rough weather delay, customs delays, cancelled flights, delayed flights, etc etc etc.  
Remember to remain flexible.  If the ship needs to change its itinerary due to weather or port issues this is for your safety and security.  Can it be disappointing to miss a really wanted to visit port?  Sure!  But if you're staring down a Category 4 hurricane, I think you'd be much happier being safe and secure, rather than barrelling straight into a hurricane.  Same with delays or itinerary changes due to someone needing to be evacuated from the ship for medical reasons.  Be compassionate to the person who is in such a dangerous condition that they have to be airlifted from the ship because their condition couldnt wait for them to reach the shore.  
Get travel insurance.  Stuff happens.  And medical care onboard a ship or being airlifted off of the ship is likely not covered by your standard healthcare.  Bags can get lost.  Travel delays and cancellations can happen.  Yes it can be pricey.  But so can the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars associated with an emergency at sea.  So can the cost of the cruise that had to be cancelled after your final payment date due to illness, family emergencies, and in some travel insurance cases, work!  Often times we book our cruises years in advance, and job situations can change, health can change.  And you dont want to be "that guy" who boards a ship hacking up a lung because he didnt get travel insurance and doesnt want to lose thousands of dollars potentially by cancelling the cruise despite being so sick that he'd call out of work.  Dont be that guy.  Get travel insurance.  Another cruise can always happen, infecting an entire ship and you not being able to even enjoy your own vacation due to illness is just foolish.  

Get to know your crew.  Say hello, make small talk (it fascinates me hearing about their home countries), it might not get you anything extra, but it cant hurt.  If you're alcohol inclined or even mocktail inclined, get to know your bartender.  Be kind to your bartender.  Keeping these in mind may not get you anything extra as well, but, they potentially can get you something nice (like an extra shot in your drink, a drink magically not appearing on your bill, etc)  I like asking my bartender to make me their favourite drink.  I almost always get an amazing story out of how they came to love their particular drink.  On one of the last days I also like asking my bartender for a recipe for one of the signature drinks.  Most have recipe cards or they'll even write it down on a cocktail napkin for you.  
 
Get to know your ship!  Time to put on those walking shoes and explore.  Allow yourself to get lost!  
Speaking of walking shoes.  BREAK IN YOUR SHOES BEFORE YOU CRUISE.  Do not, I repeat DO NOT wear brand new shoes on your cruise.  Your feet will curse your existence if you wear brand new shoes on your cruise.  From blisters to raw spots to just general foot pain, break in your shoes ahead of time.  Noone's going to care if you wear your old grubby sneakers, or a pair of well worn pumps.  Your feet will care if you wear a pair of brand new stiletto heels.  Speaking of high heels.  Especially if new to cruising.  Explore the wonderful world of "dress sandals" or "dress flats".  You're on a ship.  Ships move.  If you're not accustomed to walking on a moving, rocking, pitching vehicle in sky high heels, just leave your Jimmy Choos at home.  
And speaking of walking.  If you're not accustomed to a fair bit of walking, start getting accustomed early.  Walk a mile a day and then start increasing your distance until you're up to about 5 miles a day.  A fitbit can help keep track of distance walked.  That way your feet (and body!) arent screaming at you after your first day of going from your cabin to the pool deck to the MDR, to a stroll along central park, back to the pool deck, back to your cabin, off to the MDR.... yah you're going to put in some walking.  Might as well not walk in agony!
Create a nice folder for your cruise documents.  Have any checklists you want to use to keep yourself organized (I'd be lost without checklists) and include copies of your credit cards you plan to bring with you, copy of your passports (yes another tip, get a passport, you "can" use a birth certificate and drivers license for most caribbean destinations but the passport just makes your life so much easier) copy of your itinerary, copy of your cruise tickets, copy of any purchased in advance items (beverage package, shore excursions, etc) copy of any medical documentation for controlled substances (note, medical cannabis is NOT allowed, even with a valid prescription) just in case of customs, copy of emergency contact information.  Once you have these copies, make copies of them.  And keep them in 2 separate locations.  So your original documents go in a folder with you.  The copy folder goes with your travelling companion or spouse, the third copy goes in your carryon luggage (because of the sensitive information associated with travel docs, dont put it in checked luggage)  If you're a solo traveler, you keep the originals and the first set of copies, the other copy goes in your carryon.  Want to be super neurotic like me?  Have a 4th set of copies, but digital and stored in an encrypted cloud storage solution (again I'm neurotic about security, so I dont trust just slamming something into dropbox, I live for encryption).    Kids can also take a part in the decorating of the cruise document folder with stickers and drawings!
Watch a lot of cruise videos.  Matt does an amazing podcast and videos where he answers common questions as well as additional questions.  They can really help with packing tips, shore excursion tips, stuff to do on the ship tips, tips about the ultimate dining package and deluxe beverage packages, travelling with kiddos, travelling without kiddos, etc.  
Ask questions.  The cruising community here is absolutely delightful and its like having an extended family you can ask questions of.  Ask more questions.  No question is too stupid and noone gets horribly offended or upset that there are 20 questions about travel documents or the beverage packages.  Ask even more questions.  We wont get sick of hearing from you.  
To echo the sentiment of many.  Take things easy and be flexible.  If you book shore excursions and onboard activities and meals all on top of each other, you're going to need a vacation from your vacation.  Not to mention if you book back to back to back like that, if anything winds up running long or off schedule, it has a domino effect.  I like to list things in terms of "NEED to do, WANT to do, and 'it would be nice' to do"  Have one need to do taken care of every day.  Then fill in with the wants, and then fill in further with the "it would be nices".  This leaves you flexible to just crash by the pool or in your cabin if you want to or if something goes off schedule, then you can shift accordingly.  Or if a NEED appears at random, you can do that and flex the wants and nices away from the NEED.  
Do not book flights on embarkation or disembarkation days.  Book a hotel at both ends of your cruise.  1, this extends your vacation!  And gets you some much needed sleep before flights.  It also allows for travel delays, cancellations, and just general weird stuff.  It keeps you flexible and relaxed in case of fog delay, rough weather delay, customs delays, cancelled flights, delayed flights, etc etc etc.  
Remember to remain flexible.  If the ship needs to change its itinerary due to weather or port issues this is for your safety and security.  Can it be disappointing to miss a really wanted to visit port?  Sure!  But if you're staring down a Category 4 hurricane, I think you'd be much happier being safe and secure, rather than barrelling straight into a hurricane.  Same with delays or itinerary changes due to someone needing to be evacuated from the ship for medical reasons.  Be compassionate to the person who is in such a dangerous condition that they have to be airlifted from the ship because their condition couldnt wait for them to reach the shore.  
Get travel insurance.  Stuff happens.  And medical care onboard a ship or being airlifted off of the ship is likely not covered by your standard healthcare.  Bags can get lost.  Travel delays and cancellations can happen.  Yes it can be pricey.  But so can the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars associated with an emergency at sea.  So can the cost of the cruise that had to be cancelled after your final payment date due to illness, family emergencies, and in some travel insurance cases, work!  Often times we book our cruises years in advance, and job situations can change, health can change.  And you dont want to be "that guy" who boards a ship hacking up a lung because he didnt get travel insurance and doesnt want to lose thousands of dollars potentially by cancelling the cruise despite being so sick that he'd call out of work.  Dont be that guy.  Get travel insurance.  Another cruise can always happen, infecting an entire ship and you not being able to even enjoy your own vacation due to illness is just foolish.  

Get to know your crew.  Say hello, make small talk (it fascinates me hearing about their home countries), it might not get you anything extra, but it cant hurt.  If you're alcohol inclined or even mocktail inclined, get to know your bartender.  Be kind to your bartender.  Keeping these in mind may not get you anything extra as well, but, they potentially can get you something nice (like an extra shot in your drink, a drink magically not appearing on your bill, etc)  I like asking my bartender to make me their favourite drink.  I almost always get an amazing story out of how they came to love their particular drink.  On one of the last days I also like asking my bartender for a recipe for one of the signature drinks.  Most have recipe cards or they'll even write it down on a cocktail napkin for you.  
 
Get to know your ship!  Time to put on those walking shoes and explore.  Allow yourself to get lost!  
Speaking of walking shoes.  BREAK IN YOUR SHOES BEFORE YOU CRUISE.  Do not, I repeat DO NOT wear brand new shoes on your cruise.  Your feet will curse your existence if you wear brand new shoes on your cruise.  From blisters to raw spots to just general foot pain, break in your shoes ahead of time.  Noone's going to care if you wear your old grubby sneakers, or a pair of well worn pumps.  Your feet will care if you wear a pair of brand new stiletto heels.  Speaking of high heels.  Especially if new to cruising.  Explore the wonderful world of "dress sandals" or "dress flats".  You're on a ship.  Ships move.  If you're not accustomed to walking on a moving, rocking, pitching vehicle in sky high heels, just leave your Jimmy Choos at home.  
And speaking of walking.  If you're not accustomed to a fair bit of walking, start getting accustomed early.  Walk a mile a day and then start increasing your distance until you're up to about 5 miles a day.  A fitbit can help keep track of distance walked.  That way your feet (and body!) arent screaming at you after your first day of going from your cabin to the pool deck to the MDR, to a stroll along central park, back to the pool deck, back to your cabin, off to the MDR.... yah you're going to put in some walking.  Might as well not walk in agony!
Create a nice folder for your cruise documents.  Have any checklists you want to use to keep yourself organized (I'd be lost without checklists) and include copies of your credit cards you plan to bring with you, copy of your passports (yes another tip, get a passport, you "can" use a birth certificate and drivers license for most caribbean destinations but the passport just makes your life so much easier) copy of your itinerary, copy of your cruise tickets, copy of any purchased in advance items (beverage package, shore excursions, etc) copy of any medical documentation for controlled substances (note, medical cannabis is NOT allowed, even with a valid prescription) just in case of customs, copy of emergency contact information.  Once you have these copies, make copies of them.  And keep them in 2 separate locations.  So your original documents go in a folder with you.  The copy folder goes with your travelling companion or spouse, the third copy goes in your carryon luggage (because of the sensitive information associated with travel docs, dont put it in checked luggage)  If you're a solo traveler, you keep the originals and the first set of copies, the other copy goes in your carryon.  Want to be super neurotic like me?  Have a 4th set of copies, but digital and stored in an encrypted cloud storage solution (again I'm neurotic about security, so I dont trust just slamming something into dropbox, I live for encryption).    Kids can also take a part in the decorating of the cruise document folder with stickers and drawings!
Watch a lot of cruise videos.  Matt does an amazing podcast and videos where he answers common questions as well as additional questions.  They can really help with packing tips, shore excursion tips, stuff to do on the ship tips, tips about the ultimate dining package and deluxe beverage packages, travelling with kiddos, travelling without kiddos, etc.  
Ask questions.  The cruising community here is absolutely delightful and its like having an extended family you can ask questions of.  Ask more questions.  No question is too stupid and noone gets horribly offended or upset that there are 20 questions about travel documents or the beverage packages.  Ask even more questions.  We wont get sick of hearing from you.  
To echo the sentiment of many.  Take things easy and be flexible.  If you book shore excursions and onboard activities and meals all on top of each other, you're going to need a vacation from your vacation.  Not to mention if you book back to back to back like that, if anything winds up running long or off schedule, it has a domino effect.  I like to list things in terms of "NEED to do, WANT to do, and 'it would be nice' to do"  Have one need to do taken care of every day.  Then fill in with the wants, and then fill in further with the "it would be nices".  This leaves you flexible to just crash by the pool or in your cabin if you want to or if something goes off schedule, then you can shift accordingly.  Or if a NEED appears at random, you can do that and flex the wants and nices away from the NEED.  
Do not book flights on embarkation or disembarkation days.  Book a hotel at both ends of your cruise.  1, this extends your vacation!  And gets you some much needed sleep before flights.  It also allows for travel delays, cancellations, and just general weird stuff.  It keeps you flexible and relaxed in case of fog delay, rough weather delay, customs delays, cancelled flights, delayed flights, etc etc etc.  
Remember to remain flexible.  If the ship needs to change its itinerary due to weather or port issues this is for your safety and security.  Can it be disappointing to miss a really wanted to visit port?  Sure!  But if you're staring down a Category 4 hurricane, I think you'd be much happier being safe and secure, rather than barrelling straight into a hurricane.  Same with delays or itinerary changes due to someone needing to be evacuated from the ship for medical reasons.  Be compassionate to the person who is in such a dangerous condition that they have to be airlifted from the ship because their condition couldnt wait for them to reach the shore.  
Get travel insurance.  Stuff happens.  And medical care onboard a ship or being airlifted off of the ship is likely not covered by your standard healthcare.  Bags can get lost.  Travel delays and cancellations can happen.  Yes it can be pricey.  But so can the tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars associated with an emergency at sea.  So can the cost of the cruise that had to be cancelled after your final payment date due to illness, family emergencies, and in some travel insurance cases, work!  Often times we book our cruises years in advance, and job situations can change, health can change.  And you dont want to be "that guy" who boards a ship hacking up a lung because he didnt get travel insurance and doesnt want to lose thousands of dollars potentially by cancelling the cruise despite being so sick that he'd call out of work.  Dont be that guy.  Get travel insurance.  Another cruise can always happen, infecting an entire ship and you not being able to even enjoy your own vacation due to illness is just foolish.  

You can also see if Guest Services can limit the spend on each child's seapass card, just so you dont get surprised with a massive kid influenced bill at the end of the cruise.

I'd skip the art auction personally.  I'm not in the market for fine art and if I was, I'm not sure a cruise ship would be where I'd want to purchase the art.  I like looking at the gallery, that's fun.  But the art auction, not even the free champagne can get me to be interested in buying art.  
Skip the spa tour unless you're honestly interested in getting spa services.  This goes for the "complimentary" 5 minute massages as well.  The spa tour in my opinion is too pushy, and this is across almost every cruise line out there.  This goes for the free acupuncture consultations, free collagen under eye treatments, free tooth whitening consultations, free hair consultations, etc.  In my experience they've all been high pressure to sell products not even the services.  Because their biggest profit margin isnt on the spa services themselves, but on the addon products.  Also dont do tooth whitening on a cruise.  1.  your teeth after a whitening are super sensitive, I dont like associating pain with margaritas!  2. After whitening teeth tend to stain quicker (just from my experience, I'm no dentist) so foods and drinks that are highly colored (more fun beverage restrictions!) will stain your freshly whitened teeth.  3.  Its ungodly expensive for something that costs far less even from your dentist, much less some crest whitestrips.  
Skip the jewelry and purses and watches events.  These are sales pitches.  Unless you want to buy jewelry, watches and purses on a cruise, you can always browse the shop on your own time without someone trying to make a hard sell pitch at you.  I'd do the same with the "liquor tasting".  This is more sales.  Unless you're planning on buying duty free booze, give this one a pass as well.  They claim there are free samples but you're not walking away from these events buzzed, drunk, or even mildly amused.  
You'll see the most of these sales pitches on embarkation and your first sea day.  That's when you have the most money and free time.  They know this.  If you have the disposable income or its in your budget to buy a purse or booze (that you cant drink on the ship) or overpriced skincare, by all means, attend.  But if you have no intention on buying these items on land, just dont bother going.  
 
Instead, head to the pool deck or solarium and enjoy a tasty cocktail (even if its 14 bucks, its less than you'd spend on skincare and teeth whitening)

I'd skip the art auction personally.  I'm not in the market for fine art and if I was, I'm not sure a cruise ship would be where I'd want to purchase the art.  I like looking at the gallery, that's fun.  But the art auction, not even the free champagne can get me to be interested in buying art.  
Skip the spa tour unless you're honestly interested in getting spa services.  This goes for the "complimentary" 5 minute massages as well.  The spa tour in my opinion is too pushy, and this is across almost every cruise line out there.  This goes for the free acupuncture consultations, free collagen under eye treatments, free tooth whitening consultations, free hair consultations, etc.  In my experience they've all been high pressure to sell products not even the services.  Because their biggest profit margin isnt on the spa services themselves, but on the addon products.  Also dont do tooth whitening on a cruise.  1.  your teeth after a whitening are super sensitive, I dont like associating pain with margaritas!  2. After whitening teeth tend to stain quicker (just from my experience, I'm no dentist) so foods and drinks that are highly colored (more fun beverage restrictions!) will stain your freshly whitened teeth.  3.  Its ungodly expensive for something that costs far less even from your dentist, much less some crest whitestrips.  
Skip the jewelry and purses and watches events.  These are sales pitches.  Unless you want to buy jewelry, watches and purses on a cruise, you can always browse the shop on your own time without someone trying to make a hard sell pitch at you.  I'd do the same with the "liquor tasting".  This is more sales.  Unless you're planning on buying duty free booze, give this one a pass as well.  They claim there are free samples but you're not walking away from these events buzzed, drunk, or even mildly amused.  
You'll see the most of these sales pitches on embarkation and your first sea day.  That's when you have the most money and free time.  They know this.  If you have the disposable income or its in your budget to buy a purse or booze (that you cant drink on the ship) or overpriced skincare, by all means, attend.  But if you have no intention on buying these items on land, just dont bother going.  
 
Instead, head to the pool deck or solarium and enjoy a tasty cocktail (even if its 14 bucks, its less than you'd spend on skincare and teeth whitening)

I'd skip the art auction personally.  I'm not in the market for fine art and if I was, I'm not sure a cruise ship would be where I'd want to purchase the art.  I like looking at the gallery, that's fun.  But the art auction, not even the free champagne can get me to be interested in buying art.  
Skip the spa tour unless you're honestly interested in getting spa services.  This goes for the "complimentary" 5 minute massages as well.  The spa tour in my opinion is too pushy, and this is across almost every cruise line out there.  This goes for the free acupuncture consultations, free collagen under eye treatments, free tooth whitening consultations, free hair consultations, etc.  In my experience they've all been high pressure to sell products not even the services.  Because their biggest profit margin isnt on the spa services themselves, but on the addon products.  Also dont do tooth whitening on a cruise.  1.  your teeth after a whitening are super sensitive, I dont like associating pain with margaritas!  2. After whitening teeth tend to stain quicker (just from my experience, I'm no dentist) so foods and drinks that are highly colored (more fun beverage restrictions!) will stain your freshly whitened teeth.  3.  Its ungodly expensive for something that costs far less even from your dentist, much less some crest whitestrips.  
Skip the jewelry and purses and watches events.  These are sales pitches.  Unless you want to buy jewelry, watches and purses on a cruise, you can always browse the shop on your own time without someone trying to make a hard sell pitch at you.  I'd do the same with the "liquor tasting".  This is more sales.  Unless you're planning on buying duty free booze, give this one a pass as well.  They claim there are free samples but you're not walking away from these events buzzed, drunk, or even mildly amused.  
You'll see the most of these sales pitches on embarkation and your first sea day.  That's when you have the most money and free time.  They know this.  If you have the disposable income or its in your budget to buy a purse or booze (that you cant drink on the ship) or overpriced skincare, by all means, attend.  But if you have no intention on buying these items on land, just dont bother going.  
 
Instead, head to the pool deck or solarium and enjoy a tasty cocktail (even if its 14 bucks, its less than you'd spend on skincare and teeth whitening)

I'd skip the art auction personally.  I'm not in the market for fine art and if I was, I'm not sure a cruise ship would be where I'd want to purchase the art.  I like looking at the gallery, that's fun.  But the art auction, not even the free champagne can get me to be interested in buying art.  
Skip the spa tour unless you're honestly interested in getting spa services.  This goes for the "complimentary" 5 minute massages as well.  The spa tour in my opinion is too pushy, and this is across almost every cruise line out there.  This goes for the free acupuncture consultations, free collagen under eye treatments, free tooth whitening consultations, free hair consultations, etc.  In my experience they've all been high pressure to sell products not even the services.  Because their biggest profit margin isnt on the spa services themselves, but on the addon products.  Also dont do tooth whitening on a cruise.  1.  your teeth after a whitening are super sensitive, I dont like associating pain with margaritas!  2. After whitening teeth tend to stain quicker (just from my experience, I'm no dentist) so foods and drinks that are highly colored (more fun beverage restrictions!) will stain your freshly whitened teeth.  3.  Its ungodly expensive for something that costs far less even from your dentist, much less some crest whitestrips.  
Skip the jewelry and purses and watches events.  These are sales pitches.  Unless you want to buy jewelry, watches and purses on a cruise, you can always browse the shop on your own time without someone trying to make a hard sell pitch at you.  I'd do the same with the "liquor tasting".  This is more sales.  Unless you're planning on buying duty free booze, give this one a pass as well.  They claim there are free samples but you're not walking away from these events buzzed, drunk, or even mildly amused.  
You'll see the most of these sales pitches on embarkation and your first sea day.  That's when you have the most money and free time.  They know this.  If you have the disposable income or its in your budget to buy a purse or booze (that you cant drink on the ship) or overpriced skincare, by all means, attend.  But if you have no intention on buying these items on land, just dont bother going.  
 
Instead, head to the pool deck or solarium and enjoy a tasty cocktail (even if its 14 bucks, its less than you'd spend on skincare and teeth whitening)

I'd skip the art auction personally.  I'm not in the market for fine art and if I was, I'm not sure a cruise ship would be where I'd want to purchase the art.  I like looking at the gallery, that's fun.  But the art auction, not even the free champagne can get me to be interested in buying art.  
Skip the spa tour unless you're honestly interested in getting spa services.  This goes for the "complimentary" 5 minute massages as well.  The spa tour in my opinion is too pushy, and this is across almost every cruise line out there.  This goes for the free acupuncture consultations, free collagen under eye treatments, free tooth whitening consultations, free hair consultations, etc.  In my experience they've all been high pressure to sell products not even the services.  Because their biggest profit margin isnt on the spa services themselves, but on the addon products.  Also dont do tooth whitening on a cruise.  1.  your teeth after a whitening are super sensitive, I dont like associating pain with margaritas!  2. After whitening teeth tend to stain quicker (just from my experience, I'm no dentist) so foods and drinks that are highly colored (more fun beverage restrictions!) will stain your freshly whitened teeth.  3.  Its ungodly expensive for something that costs far less even from your dentist, much less some crest whitestrips.  
Skip the jewelry and purses and watches events.  These are sales pitches.  Unless you want to buy jewelry, watches and purses on a cruise, you can always browse the shop on your own time without someone trying to make a hard sell pitch at you.  I'd do the same with the "liquor tasting".  This is more sales.  Unless you're planning on buying duty free booze, give this one a pass as well.  They claim there are free samples but you're not walking away from these events buzzed, drunk, or even mildly amused.  
You'll see the most of these sales pitches on embarkation and your first sea day.  That's when you have the most money and free time.  They know this.  If you have the disposable income or its in your budget to buy a purse or booze (that you cant drink on the ship) or overpriced skincare, by all means, attend.  But if you have no intention on buying these items on land, just dont bother going.  
 
Instead, head to the pool deck or solarium and enjoy a tasty cocktail (even if its 14 bucks, its less than you'd spend on skincare and teeth whitening)

I'd skip the art auction personally.  I'm not in the market for fine art and if I was, I'm not sure a cruise ship would be where I'd want to purchase the art.  I like looking at the gallery, that's fun.  But the art auction, not even the free champagne can get me to be interested in buying art.  
Skip the spa tour unless you're honestly interested in getting spa services.  This goes for the "complimentary" 5 minute massages as well.  The spa tour in my opinion is too pushy, and this is across almost every cruise line out there.  This goes for the free acupuncture consultations, free collagen under eye treatments, free tooth whitening consultations, free hair consultations, etc.  In my experience they've all been high pressure to sell products not even the services.  Because their biggest profit margin isnt on the spa services themselves, but on the addon products.  Also dont do tooth whitening on a cruise.  1.  your teeth after a whitening are super sensitive, I dont like associating pain with margaritas!  2. After whitening teeth tend to stain quicker (just from my experience, I'm no dentist) so foods and drinks that are highly colored (more fun beverage restrictions!) will stain your freshly whitened teeth.  3.  Its ungodly expensive for something that costs far less even from your dentist, much less some crest whitestrips.  
Skip the jewelry and purses and watches events.  These are sales pitches.  Unless you want to buy jewelry, watches and purses on a cruise, you can always browse the shop on your own time without someone trying to make a hard sell pitch at you.  I'd do the same with the "liquor tasting".  This is more sales.  Unless you're planning on buying duty free booze, give this one a pass as well.  They claim there are free samples but you're not walking away from these events buzzed, drunk, or even mildly amused.  
You'll see the most of these sales pitches on embarkation and your first sea day.  That's when you have the most money and free time.  They know this.  If you have the disposable income or its in your budget to buy a purse or booze (that you cant drink on the ship) or overpriced skincare, by all means, attend.  But if you have no intention on buying these items on land, just dont bother going.  
 
Instead, head to the pool deck or solarium and enjoy a tasty cocktail (even if its 14 bucks, its less than you'd spend on skincare and teeth whitening)

Welcome to the forums!  There are never too many questions!  I'm sure you'll have many more and the people here will be more than happy to answer.  
Radiance isnt an old/bad ship.  I like the older ships personally.  I like the smaller ship feel and the personal feel of the smaller ships.  I wont discount an Oasis class ship because that's an experience in of itself, but Radiance is a wonderful ship.  Look for reviews or stories about Brilliance of the Seas, its Radiance's sister ship.  She was refreshed in 2016 with many upgrades and another refresh in 2012 that added a lot of the onboard restaurants.  You're going to have an amazing time on Radiance.  
 
I get my lanyards off of Ebay, Etsy, or Amazon.  Sometimes I'm feeling particularly bright and loud and want a lanyard to reflect that, sometimes I want to go super nautical, and sometimes I just want something to hook my danged seapass on.
As for room service, you may order room service at any time.  However lunch and dinner and late night usually come with a 7.95 charge per order (not per plate, but per order) as well as a charge for drinks (even with a drink package, it does NOT include room service so prepare for extra charges if you want a glass of late night wine, or late night soda) Continental breakfast is included, there are other breakfast options as well, but they may come with the service charge of 7.95,
The most important thing is... You're Going On a CRUISE!  This is AWESOME!  You're going to have an amazing time on Radiance.  You're definitely doing right by asking your questions now and preparing so all you'll need to do on your cruise, is relax

You can also see if Guest Services can limit the spend on each child's seapass card, just so you dont get surprised with a massive kid influenced bill at the end of the cruise.

One of us... one of us... one of us

One of us... one of us... one of us

Beat that!!!!  Lost track of drink count and Muster hasn't happen.

We've done it guys!  We've converted another one!

I think there should be more kilt wearin'  ... just saying.

For me I like wearing a formal dress, but not trying to reenact my senior prom (good gods that was the 80s, and noone wants to see me try to squeeze into a prom dress)   I have a "nice" black full length dress with some lace and beads on it.  Its not a ball gown, (tulle makes me itchy) but its nice.  I'm dressing hub in a black suit with black tie.  Not a tuxedo but something nice.  I certainly wont fault anyone for not going as formal as I do, but I do feel a little.... judgemental, when I see someone in a ball cap and a muscle shirt and ripped shorts and mandals (sure lets put our fashion challenged in some black knee socks too) strolling into the MDR on formal night.  It doesnt "ruin my cruise" or anything like that but yah I'm secretly judging that person.  Any other night other than formal night, I'm not judging anyone.  But on formal night.... yah I get a little judgey for the extreme cases.  It doesnt take much to get me out of judgemental zone on formal night.  A clean (non logo tee) shirt and some long pants on the guys (or bermuda shorts... or kilt...)  and honestly the same for the ladies and I'm 100% fine with what you have on.  But if you look like you crawled out of the weight room or out from under a moving car... yah I'm judging you on formal night.  I might not say anything, but I'm judging you.  

In American ports, your phones will work fairly reliably.  However when in foreign ports or at sea, you'll be roaming.  And you could incur some VERY significant charges on your phones just from having them on if they're not in airplane mode.  Not to mention your service may be spotty at best which happens when roaming anyway.   So stay in airplane mode to stop from roaming.  If you have the ability to, ask your cell company to turn off international roaming if at all possible.  Some allow this, some dont.  With my xfinity phone I actually have to enable international roaming.    The big part isnt going to be the phone calls on your phone, the big part would be roaming data.  Apps like updating automatically, the phone likes updating automatically, even if the day before you departed you updated all of your apps just in case.  If you have voom, what I recommend is turning on the airplane mode, and then go wifi only.  If your phone allows for wifi calling it'll let you call out if you really must make phone calls, and your apps can update off of the voom.  
 
If you choose to do Voom, I consider it a good value because I like doing the instagram/twitter/facebooking while on vacation.  Its fairly quick with the stream and surf one.  (dont bother with the surf one, its painfully slow, even for emailing its pretty slow)  As for the devices, the voom 1 device, is one device at a time.  So if you have a laptop, a phone and a tablet, you go on the phone and check twitter, then disconnect from the voom, then get on the laptop and instagram your amazing pictures, then disconnect on the laptop and then get on the tablet and you're on facebook adding a "wish you were here" status.  That's all one device as long as only one is connected at a time.  So your question of you disconnecting and then letting hub connect would work perfectly.
I think 10 bucks a day for average to heavy soda drinkers is a good value.  Think about how much a soda costs at a restaurant.  Usually around 2 bucks.  And that's for each soda.  5 sodas a day and you've broke even.  So 2 sodas at lunch, 2 at dinner, and just 1 soda midday or in the evening, you've broken even to land standards, much less to ship standards if a soda is 4 bucks a soda.  3 sodas and you've broken even on soda.  So good value to me.   If you dont like the freesyle machines, you can always go to a bar and get a fountain soda.    The price for the soda package almost never goes down on the site.  I think people on these forums have seen the soda only package go down like.... once.  In several years.   Across multiple ships and sailings.  The soda package likely does go up onboard the ship, so its almost always a wise decision to prepurchase the soda package, if the only benefit you get is being able to charge the soda package to a different credit card, maybe pay off the soda package before your cruise so you dont have to worry about it.  

T Minus 1 day and counting.
 
We made it to Miami this morning. 6:01 am non stop filght from San Antonio to Miami went of without a hitch. 
We  Rent a car from budget rent a car because they had the best prices. Obviously because it was an hour long wine to requisition our vehicle. They gave us a Dodge Charger with a hemi engine. Needless to say I'm having a little fun with .
Sticking with the rock and roll v
Thene vacation, we went to a restaurant CO owned by the drummer of Iron Maiden. Rock and Roll Ribs in Coral Springs. Fantastic ribs fantastic beer.
We finally make our way to our hotel the Regency near Miami airport. Come the find out that there is a group ofvairline employees occupying a block of rooms that will not check out till 8:00 p.m.. We are some of the unlucky she'll that had to wait till they leave at 8:00 p.m. and turn around the rooms. Considering my wife got 0 sleep last night we are in the lobby and she is napping on the sofa.
By now I am 7 drinks in and working on the $60 food and beverage credit the hotel gave us. They are also discounting our Room for the night also.
But at the Magic City Casino there is a concert going on the reason we are for going the concert because my wife isn't feeling well and I just don't wanna go.

In American ports, your phones will work fairly reliably.  However when in foreign ports or at sea, you'll be roaming.  And you could incur some VERY significant charges on your phones just from having them on if they're not in airplane mode.  Not to mention your service may be spotty at best which happens when roaming anyway.   So stay in airplane mode to stop from roaming.  If you have the ability to, ask your cell company to turn off international roaming if at all possible.  Some allow this, some dont.  With my xfinity phone I actually have to enable international roaming.    The big part isnt going to be the phone calls on your phone, the big part would be roaming data.  Apps like updating automatically, the phone likes updating automatically, even if the day before you departed you updated all of your apps just in case.  If you have voom, what I recommend is turning on the airplane mode, and then go wifi only.  If your phone allows for wifi calling it'll let you call out if you really must make phone calls, and your apps can update off of the voom.  
 
If you choose to do Voom, I consider it a good value because I like doing the instagram/twitter/facebooking while on vacation.  Its fairly quick with the stream and surf one.  (dont bother with the surf one, its painfully slow, even for emailing its pretty slow)  As for the devices, the voom 1 device, is one device at a time.  So if you have a laptop, a phone and a tablet, you go on the phone and check twitter, then disconnect from the voom, then get on the laptop and instagram your amazing pictures, then disconnect on the laptop and then get on the tablet and you're on facebook adding a "wish you were here" status.  That's all one device as long as only one is connected at a time.  So your question of you disconnecting and then letting hub connect would work perfectly.
I think 10 bucks a day for average to heavy soda drinkers is a good value.  Think about how much a soda costs at a restaurant.  Usually around 2 bucks.  And that's for each soda.  5 sodas a day and you've broke even.  So 2 sodas at lunch, 2 at dinner, and just 1 soda midday or in the evening, you've broken even to land standards, much less to ship standards if a soda is 4 bucks a soda.  3 sodas and you've broken even on soda.  So good value to me.   If you dont like the freesyle machines, you can always go to a bar and get a fountain soda.    The price for the soda package almost never goes down on the site.  I think people on these forums have seen the soda only package go down like.... once.  In several years.   Across multiple ships and sailings.  The soda package likely does go up onboard the ship, so its almost always a wise decision to prepurchase the soda package, if the only benefit you get is being able to charge the soda package to a different credit card, maybe pay off the soda package before your cruise so you dont have to worry about it.  

I think it depends on how many sea days you have and your destinations.  You'll likely be many miles away from land in international waters and even farther from the closest radio tower.  When in port you may have a limited number of selections as well because ports usually arent in the middle of where residences and local businesses are (which is who the advertisers are selling to)
Instead if you dont have a smartphone or tablet to load up with what he prefers to listen to, you can get an ipod usually pretty cheap, and a small portable speaker for it, and load that up with his favourite listens.  Maybe even create playlists for specific destinations or events for the ship  (embarkation day, sea day, island music, new england music, all canadian playlist) Or if he prefers spoken word radio, you can load up the device with podcasts (like Matt's!)