YellowBrickRoad

FYI - I just did a check it for Symphony of the sea sailed from Cape Liberty for May 31 cruise.  They do have 10 to 10:30am.  I got the time I wanted.

Nj was the easiest on/off I've done. 

I think Royal has loaded some of the more “distant” sailings with package prices but no individual restaurant prices but as far as I know, they have not ceased selling individual restaurants.  My guess is that they will load individual restaurant prices later.  The package prices have increased !
One interesting datapoint.  For one of our upcoming cruises, they are offering a 3 night dining package for a 5 night sailing which I haven’t seen in many years.  Normally the 3 night packages are only available for cruises 7 nights or longer in length. 
Yes, they are still making a courtesy reservation on either night #1 or #2 when you purchase a package, but those place holder reservations can easily be changed once you board.

I usually purchase the 3 night package on a seven day cruise. The only issue I have is I can’t  make reservations before boarding day. Then, after boarding, I go directly to any restaurant host desk and make all my reservations for the week. The one reservation made for you is just a place holder. Just change after you board.
With these new protocols, I decided not to purchase the package. I’d rather spend a little more and just make my individual specialty reservations in the cruise planner prior to sailing day. This way I’m guaranteed the times I want. Less pre-boarding stress.

https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2023/12/14/wonder-of-the-seas-vs-symphony-of-the-seas

1.  Yes
2.  Yes
3. No

Since we almost always have a couple of specialty meals stuck into the itin. somewhere, I suspect we will stick with MTD.  I don’t want to take up a “fixed” seat when chances are I’m going to be somewhere else more than half the time.
I guess we have been extremely lucky with MTD.  We’ve never really had a bad experience.  As long as it continues to work for us, we will continue to use it.

Any time it goes into pending mode, it cannot be modified or cancelled, regardless of the outcome.

Oh boy...I am most confused now. I think you guys are all correct, it is full Sky on Utopia, Icon, Star.
My conclusion? I will not be booking a Sky Junior on any ship. Forget the shady "is it full Sky" "is it not" nonsense, I don't even want to be on Deck 6! lol

Definitely a full show tonite.  It is possible that they are missing a female diver but it didn’t impact the show at all.  Excellent show as always.  

We have reservations for tonite’s show.  Hopefully all is well.

I’m with @FionaMG…risk tolerance: ZILCH!  That timing is just too close for comfort.  Of course, it could be just fine BUT there are too many possibilities that could delay your perfect timing from ship to airport.  IMO, it’s better to be safe than sorry…those 4 hours are worth peace of mind and perhaps a few extra $$$!

I have done the Castia a couple of times on Oasis and will be doing it on the Symphony in August. 
Go the first day you get on ship (16) to see where they are located and choose what works best for you  They will write your name on a sheet with your location. If not sold out on the day you want, you can change. With the sun changing, I ended up switching on the day with getting sun only a few hours. On Oasis there was none with ocean view. 
There are some together, and there are some near stairs. We choose close to bar area and stairs. There was a button to press for staff but we have never needed to use it as they could always see us and were very attentive so we enjoyed being closer to bar.
We did  get an unexpected fruit platter while there both times we have used it. There is water on ice for your enjoyment as well. We enjoy it. I purchase when it’s on sale. For us not a necessity but nice not to have to look for seats and we use it for many hours and about the whole time.
It seats two so we usually get a chair next to us that is outside the Casita for my son if he comes  
 

I have done the Castia a couple of times on Oasis and will be doing it on the Symphony in August. 
Go the first day you get on ship (16) to see where they are located and choose what works best for you  They will write your name on a sheet with your location. If not sold out on the day you want, you can change. With the sun changing, I ended up switching on the day with getting sun only a few hours. On Oasis there was none with ocean view. 
There are some together, and there are some near stairs. We choose close to bar area and stairs. There was a button to press for staff but we have never needed to use it as they could always see us and were very attentive so we enjoyed being closer to bar.
We did  get an unexpected fruit platter while there both times we have used it. There is water on ice for your enjoyment as well. We enjoy it. I purchase when it’s on sale. For us not a necessity but nice not to have to look for seats and we use it for many hours and about the whole time.
It seats two so we usually get a chair next to us that is outside the Casita for my son if he comes  
 

There are 3 ways to get a “free “ cruise in the casino.
1.  Earn at least 1500 points on any cruise.  This is called an “Instant” reward.  These are the cruises listed in the QR codes found in the casino.  The level of the offer depends on your level of play and your losses.  You can earn an instant reward every time you cruise if you earn the points required.  Certificates earned on the same cruise can be combined (see @Pattycruise comment above).

2.  Earn 2500 points over a 1-year period from 1 April of one year through 31 March of the following year.  This is a tier level (Prime) reward.  You can claim this free cruise any time after ~15 April…or when the new casino year starts. Each tier level player gets 1 of these per casino year.  
3.  A random offer that comes through the mail, email or on clubroyaleoffers.com. These rewards are called “Monthlies”.  Monthly offers are based solely on the level of play and losses from your most recent cruise.

#1 also has some bizarre sub-categories that can be very confusing.  For instance, if you earn  a certificate for less than 1500  points, sometimes there is a complimentary offer associated with it but in order to use it for a complimentary cruise, you must have purchased a Next Cruise Open Booking.  Without the NCOB you will only receive the $$$off associated with the certificate.
Also, ANY instant reward comp cruise, regardless of its value, requires a NCOB in order to receive the “free play” bonus associated with it.  No NCOB, no free play.
Clear as mud ?  Yea, me too.

There are no poolside casitas; they are all on the deck above the pool.
The vast majority do face the pool but some are set farther back and if I remember right only a couple are set a bit closer to the overlook.
You need to go to the Mast Bar on deck 16, which is where the casitas are located, to select the one you want. I would suggest going up there as soon as you board to see which ones suit you best and then heading to the Mast Bar as soon as it opens to ask about selecting. I have read that you don't have to wait till the day of your actual booking to do this but don't have first-hand experience so can't say if it's correct.
Also, just FYI, the sides of the casitas are slatted so they do let in the wind and the amount of shade they provide varies over the course of the day depending on the position of both the sun and the ship. The padded loungers looked very comfy.

No reason not to share. I’ve seen those Diamond & above sales maybe twice ever but only noticed things like CocoCay cabanas (I don’t buy drink packages or much of anything for that matter).
Letting people know about a sale you see has no downside, IMO. Either it will help someone or thy will just ignore it.

Interesting to hear that the 10 drink package was available onboard.  It has been rare, lately.  You do realize that it is not always available ?  In fact, it's fairly rare.  

Last year, on Oasis, we ended up changing ours so we can be protected by sun. It would have been  beating down on us for too long. Same location and place the year prior, we had shade so you never know.  Only reason we could switch and try time the sun location was because we had it on a port day and some were available.  The sun chairs where available if you wanted sun but again, it was a port day so made the difference with availability. 

i have stopped getting mail offers from Royal and Celebrity but when I go to clubroyaleoffers.com i always have new offers available. 

I've shown similar examples before...
My Wife just got off Oasis yesterday.  And in the week she was away, we've received all these offers in the mail.

 
I don't know how the cruise ship advertising industry works.  Does Royal/Casino Royale pay for all this advertising, or allow an advertising agency to foot the expense, with the agency keeping a portion of the sales?  And if so, just maybe we are on the easy-sell list.
 
 
 

We just go off an 8 night cruise this past Sunday on Symphony and my husband got one instant offer onboard and he also got monthly certificate in the mail and they both were for either a balcony or JS for multiple cruises including Utopia in September of this year. He gambles but not that much and usually his offers are for either an ocean view or balcony which we will usually take the cash offer and apply it to an existing cruise we all booked.  He's never gotten an offer instant or monthly for a free junior suite and at first we thought it was a mistake.  Long story short the offer was real and we booked a B2B in a junior suite on Utopia this September using his Casino Royal offers. 
Now we have to find a different cruise to take in January of 2025 as we were booked (not for free) on Utopia on a B2B.  However, there was no way we were passing up a free JS and his certificates were only valid for 1 month so they don't give you a whole lot of time to find a cruise.  But his offers had nearly every US based ship except for Icon, from the 3/4 night Caribbean cruises to 7 night Alaskan cruises although the Alaskan cruises were for balconies only. 
Also we were told by a Casino Royal agent on the phone when we called if you get an certificate for a free JS redeem it immediately, because revenue management only give Casino Royal so many JS's and once that allotment is gone that is it even if there are JS open for sale to the public they can't give you the JS once they given away their allotment.  This is why the offer is for either a balcony or a JS, once they give away the fee allotment they can upgrade you into a JS from a balcony but you have to pay for the upgrade which defeats the purpose of a free cruise. 

Just in case anyone is curious, you can look up the current (and previous) instant reward certificates to see what's available for yourself.
http://clubroyaleoffers.com/CertificateOfferCodeLookUp.asp
The code format for instants certs is: (2 digit year) (2 digit month) ("A" - 5 or less night cruise, "C" - 6+ night cruise) (07 - 1200 points, 06 - 1500 points, 05 - 2000 points, 04 - 3000 points, 03A - 4000 points, 03 - 6500 points, 02A - 9000 points, 02 - 15000 points, 01 - 25000 points).
So for example, if you want to look up the 1500 point for short sailings ending in Feb '24, the code would be 2402a06.  If you want to look up the 4000 point long sailings ending Jan '24, the code would be 2401c03a.