nyold

Last year my cruise in February had the lowest prices on Black Friday. It was a great sale for me!

Yes!

Are they included with the refreshment package? (technically they're non-alcoholic ?)

Thank you for the heads up as well. The Refreshment package is $20 (it was $26 last week), Adventure sailing in December. I snatched it for everyone! ?
The Voom Surf package is also cheap. I got 4 devices for $43, that's a really good deal imo. 

$20 is crazy cheap to me, so I got it for me and DW ?. Agreed if it goes lower than that we can always refund and buy again. With $20 a day for sure we will break even or more...

Regular price is usually $26. The only time I have ever seen lower than $20 was on Black Friday ($17) and you are sailing before that. I say grab it now. If by some chance they do offer it at a lower price, it is very easy to cancel and rebuy. If you get it now, at least you know you cannot end up paying even more.

I know this is a bit older, but curious what if any benefits your received?

Don't know what the VIP status is, must be something she/he gets being exec. I'm sure you will be treated like royalty.  But while you're chit-chatting with her/him, can you ask her/him to set my crown and anchor status to pinnacle?

I also find it easy to "Get your Moneys worth" if you are literally comparing the price of the drinks with the package price.  This is EXACTLY what RCL wants you to do.  The real question is whether you would buy all those drinks if you didn't have the package.  A lot of people say this and I know it to be true, often with the package i find myself just getting a drink because I can.  The reason why the packages became available is exactly that reason, not enough people were  spending 350.00 per person on drinks each but we all know what happens when we have a ALL YOU CAN EAT / DRINK package, we make sure we are doing the math to get our moneys worth.
 

On my last 3 cruises, MDR breakfast has had both served dishes and a buffet section in the centre. The buffet is a lot smaller than in the WJ but generally contains the fundamental breakfast items. It's proportional to the size of the ship, though, so we found it perfectly adequate on Harmony and Navigator but disappointing on Serenade.
No dressing up is required for breakfast. Shorts and t-shirts are fine.
I like having breakfast in the MDR because I find it a much more relaxing experience than the frenzy of the WJ. I like being escorted to a seat and not having to hunt for an open table and I like that DH and I can both go and get our food at the same time, rather than one of us having to stay at the table to make sure another guest doesn't think it's free and take it while we're away.
The only problem is that the MDR opening hours are not very long for breakfast so on sea days, when we like to sleep in a bit, we usually miss it. 

Welcome to the forum, there is a wealth of information here that can improve your cruise experience.  One thing I'd suggest is to check out the many videos of your particular ship and study the deck plans to get an idea of what to do and where things are.  You can also check out the Cruise Compasses to get an idea what is happening day to day on the ship. 
MDR has a made to order breakfast and a small buffet, you can have one or both.  I prefer MDR for breakfast as it's more relaxing.  You just walk up and they will seat you, they will ask you if you want to be seated with others or by yourself.  The made to order is your typical breakfast items, one thing I didn't realize till my second cruise is that i could ask for a small size of grits, oatmeal and such.  

Hi @nyold, welcome to the forums!
A key thing to know about the MDR breakfast is that it's only served on sea days. And as @FionaMG noted, the hours are not very long and this makes it somewhat difficult to make it on a day when you may want to be sleeping in.
There are a couple of items on the MDR breakfast menu you won't find at the Windjammer -- things like eggs Benedict, or a bagel with smoked salmon (although you may be able to assemble one yourself in the WJ). For the most part, though, it's the same as what you'll find in the WJ.
The main reason I have for dining in the MDR at breakfast is to meet people and have some morning conversation. I will go there and request a shared table, and take my chances with who my table-mates will end up being. This worked wonderfully on my cruise on Freedom last year, and I met a number of really nice people who made breakfast really enjoyable and not just an exercise in filling my stomach. I only had one bad match-up, where my wife and I were sat with a pair of much older ladies who clearly didn't want to talk with anyone but each other.
I will note that this works best on ships with a traditional-style main dining room that has large tables. My wife and I tried this once on Anthem last year and we'll never do that again. They don't have large tables in the MDR used for breakfast (American Icon Grill), and the room itself is very crowded and hectic.
If I had to give a situation for each venue, I'd say:
MDR for a breakfast at a relaxed pace, where you have nothing specific to rush off to in the morning, and for a chance to meet some new people and have engaging conversation with your meal WJ for when you don't care about eating with anyone besides your family / travel-mates, want to be able to sit down and eat at a somewhat relaxed pace, but don't want to wait for servers to take your orders and bring the food out Smaller venues like Park Cafe, Cafe Two70 (Quantum class ships only), Cafe Promenade, etc. when you only feel like a quick bite / aren't especially hungry / need to quickly grab and go for an excursion Room service when you want a really relaxed breakfast to enjoy on your balcony with just your signifiant other / family members, or alternatively, when you need to eat super-early to get off the ship as soon as it's docked and you don't want to deal with the WJ crowds. EDIT -- Want to modify my classification of Cafe Two70 a bit. Yes, it's good for getting a quick bite away from the WJ, but it's also a really good venue for a relaxed meal in a quiet space, where you can just gaze out the massive windows and watch the ship wake, maybe see the sunrise depending on what time you get down there.

I definitely think you'd have more luck asking the TA to honor their current promotion than getting RC to match it. It doesn't hurt to ask before transferring. I was able to secure a pretty sweet incentive that I didn't even know existed when I transferred over mine to MEI - and they offered it up, said I qualified, and applied it to my booking. 

Every TA has different incentives for using them.  RC will not match them in fact many times RC will tell you to book and transfer to a TA for added benefits.  
Once it is transferred to an agent, you will no longer be able to make payments or changes to your reservation without the agent doing it for you.  Some people find that hard to handle, but for clients that transfer to us, we are working on offer days to check your reservation to see if the new promotion will benefit you (RC will not do this for you).  We do not charge a fee - some do - so Royal is paying us, not you.
Your booking being a GTY will not change whether you are booked direct or with the agent.
 
Hope this helps

When I first started using a travel agent, I was interested in just the benefits they could provide (i.e. onboard credit).
In the years since, I've learned the real value of a good travel agent is the service they provide you.  Essentially, they make my life easier and simplify the booking process, as well as being my advocate to Royal Caribbean if/when an issue arises.