nanowerx

As the saying goes, they don't make things like they use to!

Not just the soda cups, but even the specialized drink cups you can get at some bars really are low quality. I have had around a dozen of them and only one remains to this day. Amazing enough, the one that survived was from my Honeymoon cruise back in 2012, almost 7 years ago, even the lights on the cup still work!

I have seen close to the sail date where a room can accommodate X amount of people, but if the ship is getting full to the point it's reaching its capacity for lifeboats, then the room capacity is superseded by the ship's safety and ability to handle passengers in the case of an emergency. 

We booked through Expedia Cruise Center after reading a lot of information on this blog and Matt's videos on Youtube about using a travel agent rather than booking with the cruise line directly.
Our agent at Expedia has been great and got us a great deal.  We were able to use the cruise planner once she sent back the conformation from RCCL. 
We have booked some excursions, Ultimate Dining Package, and Deluxe Drink Package on the cruise planner.  So you have access the same as if you booked directly with the cruise line.
Also, when you inquire with Expedia they will direct your inquiry to someone near you not a call center somewhere overseas.  That was my experience here in Canada and I was directed to a Local Expedia Cruise Center and have had many conversations and emails with my local agent.
 

I don't think this is something that would really take off considering that in Florida you have all the theme parks. What could RCCL offer in a theme park that Universal, Seaworld or Disney can't?

Perhaps 75k but $10m is a pipe dream unless the bungee snapped and he bounced off the trampoline & through one of the holes in the giant ball and THEN flew off the ship and hit his head on the hull before impacting the water below. 

In St. Marteen, you can walk to take a water taxi ($7 r/t) to Great Bay Beach.  You will see the beach from the cruise ship pier.  Rent a beach chairs for $20 for 2.  Lots of places to eat lunch and if you are a Star Wars fan walk to the Yoda Guy's shop.  That can be a very inexpensive and easy day.  

Looks like they have it back under control but man, that looks like a rough day. 

Fresh off Navigator in March 2019 here is the latest version of the drink menu found on many ships. 
It's largely unchanged from 2017 but prices have been updated.

Oasis lagoon is included.  Future wave pools will require fees I think.

NCL still has to tender into their private island here...neener neener.

Waivers sound like you're signing away all rights due to the risk but they really only cover your own actions and stupidity.  Any accident due to equipment malfunction or incompetence by the zip line staff and the waiver won't save the company from a lawsuit.  (I've talked about this with the staff at my rock climbing gym.  Their insurance is very expensive because they know the waivers are pretty weak.)
I don't see how Royal Caribbean is at any fault though.  You'd have to be pretty dense to believe RCI was running the zip line.  I assume they are only getting sued because they have deeper pockets than the zip line company and the lady thinks there's some chance they'll just pay the $1 million to avoid more bad publicity.

I personally enjoy the ease of prepaying gratuities, however, the premise of fixed gratuities is greatly flawed as the definition of a gratuity is 'something given voluntarily or beyond obligation'. I find it amusing that they chose to continue to use the term gratuity rather than call it a service charge or something like that.

Ask any bartender at a bar that has the blenders what they can make.  It really depends on what cartons of the mix they have on hand.  The standards are usually there (pina colada, strawberry daquiri, miami vice, mudslides) but sometimes they have different mixes or can make other creations for you.  Frozen mojito is a tasty choice.

There used to be really great drink menus that had lots of frozen options listed. However now the menus are very limited only like 2 or 3 frozen drinks are listed. So you kind of have to know what you want to order and hopefully they will have it. But they are good ?

If he wants to limit consumption, he should cancel the drink package. They are diametrically opposed. ?

So he wants to track even though he is on the drink package?  
Might I suggest one of these:

 

...you mean like the ones that the Epic sank a couple of weeks ago ?
?

You'll be amazed at how few crowds there are. Certainly there are things that most will be doing at the same time - eating at the windjammer at noon, trying to find a pool deck chair around 11am - but RC has an uncanny ability to make it feel like there aren't more than a couple hundred people on board. Of the things to be worried about for your first cruise experience, this is pretty low on the list. Just relax and have a great time!

We are 57 days out from out TA May 4-19.
Deluxe beverage dropped = $44 yesterday
Deluxe bev + Voom surf and stream =$53 

You buy it for the duration and by the night, which is what your cruise is sold as anyway.  You can purchase it on the ship after a day or two and save those days, but since you will almost certainly find it at a discount online before the cruise you will rarely save money by skipping a day or two on the ship and buying at full price (exception is if you are Diamond level and get a discount when purchasing onboard).
Don't look at it as days or anything else, just calculate your total cost for the package.  Then figure out whether you would get any other package if you don't get the Deluxe package and deduct the cost of that (example: if I don't get the Deluxe then I would get the Soda, so I would figure out how much more I'm spending and use that figure in the next part).  Then figure out if you would get enough alcoholic beverages/premium coffee/fresh squeezed OJ/bottled water, etc over your entire cruise to make that worth it.  Typically it comes out to 3-4 mixed drinks with nothing else, but beer is usually cheaper than that but then also non-alcoholic drinks do add up.  For my wife and I on any given day we would often get enough OJ, coffee, and bottled water alone to make it nearly worth it, and then enough alcoholic drinks to also make it worth it by themselves.  So for us on a 5-day cruise without the child it was no question a good purchase.
That said, on a longer cruise drink fatigue is a real consideration.  As is a port extensive itinerary (sea days and private island visits are catch-up days).  For me having our child with us would decrease the drinking a bit at least, so something to consider.  Start with the most basic math and figure out how many drinks over the entire cruise would make the package "worth it" and go from there.  The fixed cost and the ability to try new things without paying extra is also worth something to many people, so even if you don't know if you will come out ahead you might find it worthwhile in other ways.
Finally, you can get plenty of use out of the package on embarkation day and I got a coffee on debarkation day morning.  If you want to get a dozen coffees before going through customs you can, but they might wonder why you seem so nervous and pick you for enhanced screening ?

I'm sorry if I'm a bit dense on this one as I'm new to the cruise forum world. I would like to avoid this other place. Are we talking about the CRUISE site with all the CRITICS on it?

Thanks all for the kind words, but the key word here is "community".  I can only do so much and it's thanks to all of you and your helpful assistance (and occasional sense of humor) that truly set the tone for what we do here.  Thank you all for making this such a great spot to chat Royal Caribbean!

@Matt really runs a class act here.  People here are wonderful and welcoming.  We dont care if there are 450 questions about the drinks package, or shore excursions or the Royal Up program.  We dont care if newbies to cruising ask what ships to avoid, or which ship is the "good one".  People here are so kind and opening.  I've never felt the need to go to the "other" place when all I need really is right here.  

I keep my card right in my wallet like I would a credit card. For me that works best because I don't go anywhere without my Wallet and phone.