Phillo

If he only drinks sodas.... then he can do basically whatever he wants! ?
I was on a cruise recently (not a RC) and there was a "kid" on there who turned 18 ON THE SHIP..... he was at the front desk asking for a new cruise card at 12:01am!!!  (it was an Australian based cruise, so he could drink once the card came through). he was damned excited! ha!

If he only drinks sodas.... then he can do basically whatever he wants! ?
I was on a cruise recently (not a RC) and there was a "kid" on there who turned 18 ON THE SHIP..... he was at the front desk asking for a new cruise card at 12:01am!!!  (it was an Australian based cruise, so he could drink once the card came through). he was damned excited! ha!

You can opt for expedited passport processing and get it back in just a couple weeks. 
My opinion is the cost of the passport is well worth the simplicity it affords. They last for 10 years. 

Royal ships often don't restock mid-cruise, they've built their cold storage to keep enough for most voyages.
During hurricane season in the Caribbean they maintain over two weeks of cold storage food on the ship.  Fresh fruit and perishables don't last over two weeks so those turn over on a different timeframe.
If a hurricane forces a diversion they can sail for over two weeks and not run out of food although fresh fruit may be replaced with canned varieties.  This occurs on transatlantics and transpacific crossings sometimes.  Try ordering a Mojito on day 13 and you may be told no fresh mint available.   
I was sailing in the Caribbean out of Florida when a sister ship pulled up beside us in St Maarten arriving on a crossing from Europe.  The ship's traded supplies.  Our ship took several boxes of paper in exchange for some of our fresh fruit so guests on that ship could once again enjoy fresh fruit and mint in the Mojitos before their arrival two days later in Miami.

When I did a galley tour on Navigator a couple months ago (right after refresh) they explained how the menu was created.  It varies by ship and sometimes even sail date.  
The food and beverage manager sits down with the head chef and they plan the menu.  They have a budget, such as $100,000 for a 9 night sailing.  Historically they know how much lobster will be consumed on the 2nd formal night so that consumes so much of the budget.  So many nights will have a steak entree so that consumes more of the budget.  Historically they know for each and every entree -  chicken, lamb, beef, etc. how much will be consumed so each offering is calculated how much of the budget is consumed.  
As the cruise progresses they track their estimates versus actual budget dollars consumed for that sailing.  If near the end there is surplus budget they may alter a menu and add something they know will be popular and consume more of the surplus budget.  They might even place lobster and other seafood in the Windjammer on the final night if the budget allows it.
It's all tracked against the budget so they are constantly fine tuning the menu to stay within the budget as seasonal and regional or cultural differences trends change over time.
Consequently they don't publish the menu in advance and the menu in the app doesn't always match what is actually offered on any given night of the cruise.

I would agree with that.
Since we booked our cruise for this November (booked in January) i have been checking the cruise planner a couple of times a week.
To my great surprise, the drinks package became available for $57 (Australian Dollars) including the service charge.  (for those playing at home - it works out to around $39.5 USD)
Needless to say I jumped on it! 
I would suggest in my case passengers were a bit gun shy at purchasing.  Our cruise is a 14 night cruise and the drinks package becomes quite expensive - so some people are possibly just holding out till closer to the cruise.
Royal Caribbean win because they get the $$ now and can use it as they wish prior to the cruise.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in their analytics department though to see how they make these decisions.

That's the dining package team.  Dx team does pricing on "bring your kids to work and let them do your job" day.

I think i have finally figured out how they price their DX packages. 

I would agree with that.
Since we booked our cruise for this November (booked in January) i have been checking the cruise planner a couple of times a week.
To my great surprise, the drinks package became available for $57 (Australian Dollars) including the service charge.  (for those playing at home - it works out to around $39.5 USD)
Needless to say I jumped on it! 
I would suggest in my case passengers were a bit gun shy at purchasing.  Our cruise is a 14 night cruise and the drinks package becomes quite expensive - so some people are possibly just holding out till closer to the cruise.
Royal Caribbean win because they get the $$ now and can use it as they wish prior to the cruise.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in their analytics department though to see how they make these decisions.

I would agree with that.
Since we booked our cruise for this November (booked in January) i have been checking the cruise planner a couple of times a week.
To my great surprise, the drinks package became available for $57 (Australian Dollars) including the service charge.  (for those playing at home - it works out to around $39.5 USD)
Needless to say I jumped on it! 
I would suggest in my case passengers were a bit gun shy at purchasing.  Our cruise is a 14 night cruise and the drinks package becomes quite expensive - so some people are possibly just holding out till closer to the cruise.
Royal Caribbean win because they get the $$ now and can use it as they wish prior to the cruise.
I would love to be a fly on the wall in their analytics department though to see how they make these decisions.

Sorry for resurrecting the topic. ?
On top of the obvious concerns mentioned above (fauna and size of the ship in ports), I would have also thought one of the concerns would be the size of the ships in relation to its itineries out of Australia.
Other than a few cruises that often do 3 or 4 day sailings to no where, most of the destination cruises are at least 3 days sailing away from major ports. As a result, most cruises to a destination would need to be a minimum of 7 days.   Thats a lot of beds to fill.
Royal Caribbean would probably better off having additional smaller ships operating out of Australia and then bring greater diversity to the itineraries and home ports. I would love to see a Royal Ship home ported in Melbourne for the summer season and do itineries OTHER than New Zealand. (btw... i love new zealand, but i want other experiences too).

Just a friendly reminder photocopies of a passport are as useful as photocopies of cash. 
FWIW, I always bring my passport and show it in that building at the port prior to walking down the pier to return to the ship.

Sorry for resurrecting the topic. ?
On top of the obvious concerns mentioned above (fauna and size of the ship in ports), I would have also thought one of the concerns would be the size of the ships in relation to its itineries out of Australia.
Other than a few cruises that often do 3 or 4 day sailings to no where, most of the destination cruises are at least 3 days sailing away from major ports. As a result, most cruises to a destination would need to be a minimum of 7 days.   Thats a lot of beds to fill.
Royal Caribbean would probably better off having additional smaller ships operating out of Australia and then bring greater diversity to the itineraries and home ports. I would love to see a Royal Ship home ported in Melbourne for the summer season and do itineries OTHER than New Zealand. (btw... i love new zealand, but i want other experiences too).

Unless we are going to/from an airport, I never carry my passport when in a destination.
In our room I lock our passports, any currency we dont need immediately and we leave my wife's credit cards and my "spare" debit card as well.  Therefore if we lose our stuff out and about, we have immediate access to funds and ID at the hotel/ship.
I also keep a copy of all documents and itinerary on dropbox AND cloud email.
The only time I would take a passport with me is if I have specifically been told to do so and thats never happened.
I should add, I have a travel wallet specifically for passports that also has my Frequent Flyer cards, sim cards (if travelling overseas) and hidden pockets for cash.

Sorry for resurrecting the topic. ?
On top of the obvious concerns mentioned above (fauna and size of the ship in ports), I would have also thought one of the concerns would be the size of the ships in relation to its itineries out of Australia.
Other than a few cruises that often do 3 or 4 day sailings to no where, most of the destination cruises are at least 3 days sailing away from major ports. As a result, most cruises to a destination would need to be a minimum of 7 days.   Thats a lot of beds to fill.
Royal Caribbean would probably better off having additional smaller ships operating out of Australia and then bring greater diversity to the itineraries and home ports. I would love to see a Royal Ship home ported in Melbourne for the summer season and do itineries OTHER than New Zealand. (btw... i love new zealand, but i want other experiences too).

once i get to destination ie hotel or ship they are left in safe until we are leaving....i never carry proper documents about with me, doesn't matter where i am, you lose them and you are screwed, i have photograph copies of passport in secure folder on mobile just in case