Va4fam

Lots of guests dress for the season. The main atrium will have a tree often seasonal music is played.
Many guest decorate their cabin door. Some more elaborate than others.
 

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2020/12/19/how-royal-caribbean-celebrates-christmas-and-new-years-holidays-its-cruise-ships

You have it exactly right.  The only question you will have to have answered onboard is whether you can use one of the BOGO on a night other than night #1 or night #2.  Chances are that you will have to pay for the second BOGO at the same time that you pay for the first one, but then when you go to the second restaurant there will be a $0 bill.
it is definitely a rule violation to try and apply a Cruise Planner purchase as one of you BOGO even though some have been successful in doing that….but it’s cheating and that is never ok. 

Wow seems everyone here is partial to the opposite of what I am doing!  I’ve never done a transatlantic cruise but recently booked the April 27-May 11, 2025 on Odyssey.    Leaving from Bayonne (so driving and working with our TA to figure out best parking choice) and ending in Rome.  We will stay in Italy an extra 5 days once off the ship, touring Rome and Venice, and fly back to Newark from Venice.  I do hope we made the right decision on which way to sail…East to West.  Like @Dad2Cue we booked our balcony rooms on starboard side for the sunshine!  
In the meantime, I look forward to any transatlantic live blogs!

Yes ... no need to buy Chops+1 on the cruise planner like we used to do.  You just have to make your reservations onboard and not the cruise planner.  

Go to any specialty dining restaurant or the kiosk on the Promenade when you board. If you are using the BOGO for nights 1 & 2 then you just remind them when you go to the restaurant at your dining time. If you're trying to use the 2nd meal on a different night than 1 or 2, you need to verify that they allow it ahead of time.

Just don't buy one on the cruise planner and expect to get your guest that shows up with you for free.  That was too confusing so I will never do that again.  Somehow the one I bought on cruise planner vanished even though it was supposed to be refunded to the original form of payment.

Yes.  I just used it last week on Freedom.  Whether or not you can use it beyond night #2 is ship-specific but I have only been turned down once, when I wanted to use my BOGO beyond night #2 and that was on Wonder.  All of the other ships have accommodated a BOGO on either night #1 or night #2 and then the second BOGO some time later in the cruise.

Yes. 

No, you can get the internet on 2day cruises. The 5 days is for laundry. 

Suites

May weather can vary a lot. We can have like 6 degrees and rain, or 16 degrees and sun... 
Western Norway has more rain and wind than we do here south, so I would prepare for rain, but hope for sun. 
May 17th is our constitution day, which is a BIG thing in Norway (parades,national costumes,fireworks), so if you are in Norway that day you are in for a treat! 
Added a picture of historical weather in May in Bergen, so you can get an idea! 

Great responses folks.
The beauty of my story/epiphany this week is there is no right or wrong answer. 
Just sometimes advertising and reading stories from others can combine to make us think we want or need more than we actually do.
In the end I celebrate everyone's choices. Just had a moment of clarity when I saved a thousand bucks and felt making a list of $$$ Vs Want Vs Need was such an eye opener, I had to share it. 
It's so cool (and rare) to have a day/moment when you step out of yourself and see things from a different perspective. Just had to pass it on.
#No Regrets. 
#Feeling Good. 
#Just Grateful To Be Going.
#Always Do You.

Even though it's nearly two years away,  I am so incredibly excited to have booked our first Star Class suite, a Spacious 2 bdrm Aqua Theatre suite, on Harmony, for October 2025.  This will be for mine and my wife's 20th anniversary.    Unless we book an additional cruise between now and then, we should also hit Diamond on that cruise.
Now, just need to figure out how to make October of '25 get here faster!

Usually, yes

I was on the inaugural sailing of Quantum back in December, 2014.  When we booked it, we actually didn't know it was the inaugural.  We booked it while on Allure 15 months earlier and picked it for the itinerary (I was not too savvy about ships and classes back then).  Our travel agent was surprised that we were able to book a cabin given the demand for the new ship, but we were in the right place at the right time.
Given that it was an entirely new class of ship, there were definitely bugs to work out.  The wait staff were given iPads to take orders in the dining rooms and they quickly ditched them for pen and paper as there were continuous issues with connectivity and the app was full of bugs.  The NorthStar was shutdown frequently due to maintenance issues.  The wrist bands were giving folks some issues and we found them annoying, we ended up just putting them in our pocket/purse.  In general, just shakedown issues with the technology.  Those were relatively minor.
The biggest thing was the sheer volume of high end tier people and we were amused by the complaints they had (we were Platinum at the time).  The exclusive lounges and top tier events were bursting at the seams and the angst was thick in the air.  Lots of pushback on the new dining concept of different themed restaurants, the old-timers just hated it (TBH, we were underwhelmed by the concept).  The number of motorized scooters was impressive, there were staff that acted as valets to find places to put them while the owners went into the various venues.
I can't say that the differences were noticeable other than the volume of D+ and Pinnacle folks.  There was no special swag or celebrations, just felt like a normal sail.

It definitely would be fun. I would try it if I had the chance. 

i don’t know if this has happened recently (barring covid).
certainly they must build in extra time for delays/hiccups.
i imagine whatever their hard launch/public date is buffered by the ACTUAL date (being some time earlier) to prevent this from happening, as it would create a domino effect of epic proportions — trying to get them rescheduled etc. 
the only thing that would have unforeseeable/unavoidable consequences would be another pandemic — but that would likely have repercussions across the entire fleet and not just a single ship. 

Thanks @Matt for the link.   Lot of good information in your blog post.  
Curious if the ships get the "water cannon" treatment when they depart their home port?
What happens to everyone that  booked the ship if it gets delayed? 
 

Thanks @Ryan79.......it might be fun to do at least once (YOLO!).   
Curious if they do anything special for the first cruise....champagne, mementos, etc?
 
 

I wrote a blog post about the pros and cons of going on an inaugural sailing https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/07/19/book-brand-new-cruise-ship

We did the inaugural of Oasis. It was a while ago, 2009, but I remember there were some celebrations on the ship, sail away had a lot of fanfare both on the ship and on land, they gave out swag (my favourite part), but the most important thing for me personally, is that it was the inaugural of a brand new class of ship.
 
We were supposed to do the original inaugural of Odyssey, but covid cancelled that. We are booked on the inaugural of Icon. We couldn’t pass it up mainly because it’s again, a brand new class of ship, there are a ton of friends from the cruise community going, and as a teacher, I have non-negotiable, non-flexible weeks that I can cruise. It is rare that I can catch an inaugural sailing. I just happened to be off this year and that’s why Hubby said we have to do it. 

my parents did the inaugural symphony - they got some cool swag (part of which was a hat and maybe sunglasses if i am remembering correctly?) — and i THINK there was also a special fireworks show for the sailing as they left miami. 💚

sometimes you get swag.  I got a really nice picture book of all the Art on Wonder of the seas, plus ball cap etc.

Could not resist, got the Inky plushy and blanket for my granddaughter at $17.