bokx2

How does one join the poker tournaments on board the ship? I can only see the "final" on the cruise compass.

You get the letter on the ship.  There is a summary of benefits at CAS website.  I haven't seen changes by itinerary, just CAS level.  I attached a diamond letter as an example.
At this link you will find member benefits by level.https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cas/
Diamond Benefits.pdf

I had to go to the Loyalty Desk while on Harmony to see what onboard offers/benefits I had. For Gold status, most of them didn't interest me so I don't remember them very well:
Buy one get one free - Johnny Rockets Milkshake Buy one get one free - glass of wine / beer/ coffee (not valid at stand-alone Starbucks) (had to be ordered at the same time) 8x10 photo discount of some sort Discount on bottles of wine Maybe a discount on laundry bag service? Sorry for the vagueness. Like I said, I just scanned the paper for ones I might use (only ended up using the milkshake one ? )

I've attached the Diamond+ offers and Emerald offers sheet that I got on Allure on 9/4/19.
Diamond D+ Offers.pdf Emerald Offers.pdf

Standard across the fleet from what I can tell.

I suggest also looking at other options like Mr. Sanchos or Nachi Cocum for a beach break. We will be trying Mr. Sanchos for the first time in November. We did the dolphin encounter last time and they were significantly cheaper than other ports. 

On Oasis there will be lots of photo ops on the ship especially during formal nights. There will be different options of backdrops at the Royal Promenade area, as well as a spot on the grand stairs. There is also a photo op at the classic car in the Royal Promenade. There are photographers who go around dinner time and take photos of your tables. There is also a couple of photo ops in Central Park, however, I do not remember if there is any photo ops at the Boardwalk. At embarkation/checkin, there are a couple of photo ops before entering the ship. Photographers will be around during some of the other activities on the ship as well. Back when there were Dreamworks Characters on board there were also photo ops with the characters such as Po and Tigress from Kungfu Panda, Trolls, Madagascar and Penguins, etc. There are also photo ops at all the ports by the gangways during arrival and sail away. We are planning to get the digital photo package for our cruise in November. One of the tips given was to take a few minutes every night to check the photos that were taken either that day or the day before - since sometimes what you may remember that a photo was taken, it may not show up or someone else's photo shows up in your gallery. One of the technologies they use is face recognition which is not always reliable-hence the missing and additional photos. Let the crew at the photo center know right away that there is a photo of people not in your party or if there was a photo you expected to see but its not there. If you are super intentional, you should be able to get at least 150 digital photos for the week as a couple which is worth it vs paying the prices for prints on board.  

On Oasis there will be lots of photo ops on the ship especially during formal nights. There will be different options of backdrops at the Royal Promenade area, as well as a spot on the grand stairs. There is also a photo op at the classic car in the Royal Promenade. There are photographers who go around dinner time and take photos of your tables. There is also a couple of photo ops in Central Park, however, I do not remember if there is any photo ops at the Boardwalk. At embarkation/checkin, there are a couple of photo ops before entering the ship. Photographers will be around during some of the other activities on the ship as well. Back when there were Dreamworks Characters on board there were also photo ops with the characters such as Po and Tigress from Kungfu Panda, Trolls, Madagascar and Penguins, etc. There are also photo ops at all the ports by the gangways during arrival and sail away. We are planning to get the digital photo package for our cruise in November. One of the tips given was to take a few minutes every night to check the photos that were taken either that day or the day before - since sometimes what you may remember that a photo was taken, it may not show up or someone else's photo shows up in your gallery. One of the technologies they use is face recognition which is not always reliable-hence the missing and additional photos. Let the crew at the photo center know right away that there is a photo of people not in your party or if there was a photo you expected to see but its not there. If you are super intentional, you should be able to get at least 150 digital photos for the week as a couple which is worth it vs paying the prices for prints on board.  

I believe with the refreshment package the bottled water is also included. That may be an option.

I don't think RCI has any interest in that. One of the cruise industry's foundation is being able to avoid local labor laws in most countries to capitalize on cheap labor. Having hotels in the departure ports i.e. US, Europe, Australia, goes against that. I don't know if any other major cruise lines that have a hotel line attached other than Disney, which is a class by itself. The Ritz launched a Yacht collection recently. RCI does not even have "preferred" hotel partners that I know of that give passengers any RCI perks while staying there before or after cruising.  However, I could be wrong.

Also, make sure to be specific with the liquor - name the rum, the gin, whiskey, etc you want. I like BBCs as well while in the caribbean. You can ask the bartenders to make you a surprise drink by giving them the flavor profiles you like. 

My first cruise was 12 nights. You will have a great time. If you are going with family and your balcony rooms are next to each other, you can ask the stateroom attendant make the rooms and/or the balcony for part or the whole time. Definitely research the ports and possible excursions. As with traveling with family, set some time to have a few date nights with just you and your wife, maybe hit up a specialty restaurant.  Check out an old cruise compass on this site for your ship/itinerary to get a sense of that happens day to day.
I second people's suggestion to fly/drive in at least a day prior to embarkation. 
With an 11night cruise you will get to know your stateroom attendant and main dining room waiters well, tip them well.