SuperStarian

This forum has been great, the information everyone is posting is very helpful, very much appreciated! Any body else going on Symphony of the Seas April 6th - 13th??  There is going to be 10+ people in our group (big family). 

April 6, 2019: Symphony of the Seas
1st Cruise!!!!!!

SeaPass cards do not contain the full cabin number.  Last three digits typically.  When the crew swipe your Wow band they see your picture and full name just like your SeaPass card.  

I've done non-Royal tours and saved a lot of cash over the years.  Missing the ship is low probability, but severe effect - especially where there will be some sea days after your excursion.
If the problem is a traffic jam , chances are that the Royal excursion contractors will be  sitting in traffic also (the odds of this decrease if your excursion isn't also offered by Royal).
But 2 years ago some friends had an experience that makes me lean toward paying the "Royal Tax" and booking through the ship.  We were on a T/A that made stops in the Caribbean before the leg to Southampton.  Our last port before a string of sea days was St. Maarten.  Friends took the double decker bus tour around the island.  They were returning to the ship and saw police and an ambulance responding in the other direction.  A couple of minutes later, more police and fire equipment.  Then the bus slowed to a stop and sat there.  Yes, it had leaked out all the oil onto the roadway and caused a string of traffic collisions before seizing up.  It took over three hours before the tour company could get buses out to return the folks on tour (partly because they were located behind the crashes and ensuing traffic jam).
The ship patiently waited.  Friends might have spent an extra $25 a person, but spending at least one night on the island, missing the rest of the cruise, and paying walk-up rates for  1 way international tickets home would run more than that. (Though travel insurance might have helped out).
If you take private tours, be sure to take your passport, credit card and local port contact # for the ship.  And if you buy travel insurance, check the policy before buying to see how it handles this situation.

Had breakfast at JR on Oasis, I had a scramble with eggs, sausage, and hash browns, and have to say that it was pretty darned good!  I would gladly eat there for breakfast again!  What made it even better was that it was not crowded at ALL!  I was there during the prime breakfast hours and there was maybe 15 people already seated at the most! 

I have not used one yet but am looking forward to being able to use one, I know that it will be waiting in our room on Anthem in March and can not wait!   I have been on several cruises that I forget to put my sea pass card in my opposite pocket from my cell phone and it gets wiped clean.  I also do not like wearing a lanyard certain times such as when I am wearing a suit or in the pool, or hot tub.  I know that I will enjoy the convenience of it and look forward to more ships in the fleet having them! There will be times that I may just decide to carry the sea pass card, and there may be times that I exclusively wear the WOW band, it is just nice to have the option to use whatever I am in the mood for. 

Muster Drill

Picking up kids from AO.

It only works during the time of sailing. If you select a current itinerary, it will allow you to add it the calendar.

Saw this one before Christmas and thought, yea I'm using this

We dined in 150 Central Park on Symphony in November and felt it was one of the best meals we'd had on RCI.  I'd say there are Jamie's have been our favorites. 
This is where I should be able to chime in and tell you what we ate - but I have zero recollection.  What I do recall is that when we told them we were vegetarian they offered up several options, asked if they'd be okay/needed any adjustment, and we let them roll with it.  We have several different things (as like on land, Larissa and I tend to order different things and then split them so we can enjoy a wider variety).  She's out and about right now but I'll see if she can recall any of what we had.  I remember one dish was a cauliflower base (which is think is on the standard menu), but there were others and/or items they'd adjusted to be vegetarian for us. 
The key is though, while food is very subjective, we both really enjoyed our meal there and will certainly go back next time we're on an Oasis class ship.  Beyond the food, I also liked the atmosphere.  Candidly (and at risk of sounding like a jerk), I often find that some cruise lines work hard to create an experience that people find ticks some mystical boxes to make it "fancy", in the process, to me, comes off as fake.  I was really pleased with the overall feel of 150 Central Park though.  The decor, music, and service were all nice without feeling at all like I was worried, and while I don't remember what we had - I do remember having several vegetarian options and enjoying our food.

I dined in Wonderland on Harmony last year.  Was there plenty to eat?  Absolutely.  If I recall they essentially mixed up a few things from the two (if I recall) menus to create a vegetarian meal.  I adjusted mine further as I really don't like peanuts, and if I recall one of the dessert options had peanut butter.  
I don't think that being a vegetarian changed the value prop one way or the other.  As I said, most of what I had were items already on the menu that they put together and made some slight adjustments to in the case of a course or two.  Was it worth the cost?  To try once, sure.  The food wasn't bad but it really didn't impress me either, and I don't know that's their goal - Wonderland is about the experience more than the food, and it is a novel experience.  I'm glad I went once.  I'd probably not go again (at least not unless they changed something in a big way to make it a new experience to me), but I will be going again on Symphony next month just so my spouse can experience it (she wasn't with me on Harmony).  Others of course think the food is great - it's obviously subjective.  
@CruiseHabit Ric and I actually discussed my take on Wonderland on the latest episode of our podcast if you want to give that a listen, though much like my above notes, it wasn't about the vegetarian experience, as that didn't seem to way heavily in my experience (which isn't a bad thing).
 
TL;DR - Being vegetarian didn't change the value prop.  Neat experience, but it didn't blow me away.  Would recommend doing once.

I'm a tea snob, so I always pack my own tea.  But here is sample of the tea in the Diamond Lounge from our last cruise.  I have never seen anything other than this variety.

Personally, I prefer to bring my own tea bags as I'm a bit picky.  Even with a drink package, I've never been able to figure out the premium teas.  My last cruise I was sent to the tea bags that were already out for anyone to use.  I don't drink juice so I'm not sure what is available beyond the freshly squeezed OJ.