Pro24

We were at Disney 2 days before our Christmas cruise on Indy, it was fine and even got on Rise of Resistance!
Should have stayed at Disney the rest of the week, the cruise was the pits! Rough waters and lies.
Next time go to Disney!
 

Travel light.
My amazing wife will pack all kinds of crazy things. besides being at 49.9 Lb with her checked luggage she'll have a 40 Lb carry-on and a massive "personal Item". books, chargers, blankets, cross stitch, snacks, vitamins......ETC!
She'll do the same on excursions!!!  Me I don't want to carry ANYTHING! I am a photographer and won't carry around a camera anymore. Your phone should be good enough for snapshots.

Depends...is that an invitation? ?

As long as one of the kids in that separate cabin is one of your minor kids, they can be included in your single room photo package.  Just go the "photo gallery" desk once on the ship, and give them the room number of your minor child, and they will happily like their room to yours for the photo package.  I've done this three times without issue on my prior cruises, as I always put my kids in a separate nearby/adjacent room.  Do this as soon as you can once onboard, so pictures begin to be linked to your package from the beginning.  Also instruct your kids to give the photographer YOUR room number, not the kids' room to help make sure pictures are linked to you properly.
One other bit of advice is to check your photos for your portfolio once a day or so (and definitely the last night) to make sure 1)  that you aren't missing photos you were expecting (our embarkation photos were missing from ours until they I told them and they were able to add them in), and 2)  that the pictures in your portfolio are all of your group.  We frequently would get another family's pictures mixed into ours.  It was a very simple task to delete specific photos from your portfolio.
We always purchased the photo package (all-digital) BEFORE the cruise using the cruise planner.  I always checked package pricing they advertised on board, and have never seen it cheaper that pre-cruise pricing.  After the cruise (it was only 2-3 days), I got a link via email to login and download all of my photos in one big ZIP file. I downloaded over 150 pictures from our last cruise, all in one big file (it was 200MB+ if I recall)!

We bought the Photo Package on our two Mariner cruises this year and really liked it.  On the first cruise we took home (digitally) over 100 pictures and on the recent three night adventure 90 photos.  We made a point of stopping at each and every photo opportunity.  We thought the quality of the pictures was very good to excellent.  Usually you can see the pictures within an hour on board through the link they share with you and just the other day RCCL sent me a zip file with all of the pictures from this month's cruise.  I usually send the ones we like best to Walmart for printing and to put in a small memento photo album.  And the digital pics can be shared easily on social media and shared with family and friends.
Discounts are always available on embarkation and the first day or two of the cruise.  And when you get the package you also recieve some accessories.  In our case we got a small album and a 5x7 RCCL frame.

I was on the Serenade in July,  also with an inside cabin on deck 3. It was lovely! Spacious and very tidy and good location.  Unless you plan to spend a lot of time in your cabin (we hardly did with port intensive itinerary and good activities) I would say save your money for other activities or dining. 

Problem is, like everything else in life, if people keep buying it - its only going to go higher. Economics 101. A few out way the many. My baseball team will not make the playoffs, but they still sell out every game. Prices go up every year, and because they sell out, they will go up again next year. If people keep buying the product, why not increase the cost? The rich just keep getting richer.

Thank you for your service.
I was AF, but my wife had it a lot harder than I ever did.  
People always forget to thank the spouses.
 
 

I got this package on our 7-day cruise and it was great.  At least one person from your cabin has to be in the pictures.  You can get your pictures taken any time they have a photographer around.  We got 135 pictures taken.  We got them on a CD with the release to print them ourselves.  We wanted new family pictures so it was well worth the price and quality.

Just because I'm a math nerd, I've discovered that by just trying everything recommended so far on this thread, I've paid for almost 1/2 of my drink package. And I haven't even added in my morning Bourbon Mint Mocha. This is going to be fun!!! ???? 

In cruise planner, they had offered an All-Printed package for the same price as All-digital package and both packages combined for an extra $80.

To answer your questions:
1.  The price on board is usually around $60-$80 more if purchased onboard. 
2.  The price is per cabin so in cruise planner, you just need select one person in your cabin.  It doesn't matter who as there is no "head" person
3.  You get all pictures (either digital, printed, or both depending on what you choose) taken of the people in the stateroom and any children of yours under the age of 21; even if they are staying in separate cabins.     
4.  Totally worth it if you can take as many pictures a possible.  Individual pictures run $20 each.
I managed to get 97 pictures in our short 4 day voyage.  It would have been more but we were already rushed because of Dorian with the crew trying to squeeze in shows and everything else in that short time.  We were like non stop from 3:00pm-Midnight pretty much everyday.

We purchased the All Digital Photo Package for our sailing earlier this month. It was a 7 day sailing, and listed originally at $249. The sale price just before the cruise was $235. We had pictures made in the terminal twice (two different backdrops) before ever setting foot on the ship, once at sail away, 3 nights during dinner, both formal nights outside of the dinning room, and both times we got off at port stops. We wound up with 105 total photos, and we could have also had additional photos taken at the one port where we did not leave the ship, other nights outside of the dinning room, and at other locations around the ship.
Were all of them good? No, of course not, but there are at least 15 really good ones that I will share with family and have prints made of. It was worth the $235 to me because that's cheaper than it would cost to have photos made where I live. I went down to the photo area the last night and asked how I would receive my photos. I was told I would be emailed a link or I could download them right then. I HAD TO HAVE INTERNET to download the photos right then. I didn't think this was the case, and the guy helping me thought it was odd too. Fortunately about half way through our sailing we bought internet for the remainder of our cruise. I downloaded all 105 photos to my phone and then was able to easily transfer them to my laptop when we got home. I also received the email link a few days after we got back.

Now .... cruise early check in means fruity drinks by the pool sooner..  ?

Hi, all!  I’d booked the Spectrum of the Sea in Dec.  Now just 90 days to go.  Are there any benefits for early check-in right now?  (Not yet paid the remaining balance) or actually no differences to do so in Nov?
 Sorry as I’m a new cruiser, maybe this is a silly question. 
Thanks in advance!?

So that's not really the bad thing...they can end any promo they want anytime. I get it.
 
Apparently, for those that have it booked..they are losing ALL the perks and getting a$50 OBC......are you kidding me? What a slap in the face from Royal.
 
I get it Royal..you aren't making enough from the package..or losing too much. But at least honor those who have booked it and many who have probably paid extra or booked those cabins to get the deal. Real cheap and low blow from Royal IMHO.

It's the one thing about the US that is kinda annoying... + Gratuity + Tax.... just advertise the final price already! Arghhh!! ?
 

The price that is posted on the website is the “base” price for the UDP. On top of that you must prepay the 18% gratuity.  Once you pay the full price (base + gratuity) you are fully paid. If you purchase drinks one at a time (no package) you will pay the cost of the drink + 18% gratuity.

They seem to be recouping the $18.00 mistake by raising the upcoming cruises. Just a thought......

Frozen options:
  Frozen mojitos are good if you can handle lime..
  Strawberry/mango/banana daquiris...
  BBC/mudslides on the milk-based side of the spectrum.
Royal has a Tokyo Tea which is a long island iced tea they they replace the Coke with Midori, so it gives it a fun, green hue.
Rum swizzle uses grapefruit juice. 
Dark and stormy is rum and ginger beer.

I'm a big fan of pretty much any "tiki drink".  So your Painkillers, Zombies, Scorpions, Mai Tais etc.  They just scream "vacation!" to me.  
One of the fun things you can try with the DDP is, try a new beverage!  You say you're not a fan of vodka, but dont let that limit you.  Maybe there's a cocktail with vodka but its a secondary ingredient or its made with a combination of juices that overpower the peppery vodka taste.  Give it a go!  I'm not a big whiskey fan, but I use the DDP to try whiskey or gin cocktails that I wouldnt normally try at a bar only to not like them.  And dont be afraid to try something you've never heard of before.  Never tried a Dark and Stormy?  What better time to try one than with your DDP!  Use it to sample cocktails, and you can ask for them in a smaller glass if you're concerned about wasting.  
Another thing you can do with your cocktails that you DO know you like is amp them up with your favourite spirit.  So you say you like gin.  Ok so maybe have that tom collins made with bombay sapphire or other fave gin.  Like the lava flow with Kraken rum (its a game changer I swear there's something magical about Kraken rum)
Afraid of getting a little too buzzed?  Dont feel the alcohol pressure all the time and ask for a non alcoholic version of your favourite poolside frozen drinks.  Virgin daiquiri, pina colada, lava flow, etc.  
Dont forget the water!  A good strategy to prevent hangovers and getting too intoxicated with the DDP is make a rule for yourself.  1 bottle of water per drink.  It will slow you down and will keep you hydrated while drinking.  It also tends to fill you up as well so you dont overindulge in the alcohol.  Helps prevent DDP fatigue as well.  

Oh! If you want a rum drink, try a Dark & Stormy. Official drink of Bermuda but made everywhere nowadays. Just make sure it's made with Black Seal spiced rum and (if at all possible) ginger beer rather than ginger ale.

Hi @Amygs1, welcome to the forums (if you weren't already welcomed)!
You definitely have to try a Kraken Lava Flow if you're a rum person, it's way better than the regular kind (which is probably made with Captain Morgan's). If you're also into gin, you may want to check out the Collins menu in the Schooner bar; they offer a variety of Collins drinks there as specialties of that bar. Can't comment on those as I'm not into gin, but other specialty drinks I've gotten on board have all been great.

I’m on Indy now.  Here is the posted info for the slides:
 
 

And Skypad info: