VirtKitty

Those kind of shops aren't necessarily bad.  Just, like those low cost airlines, you have to know what you're getting into. And, also like those low cost airlines, if something goes wrong (granted, it rarely does, but when it does you want ample assistance), you may find yourself in a struggle.

First off, THANK YOU to every single person that responded. This has been IMMENSELY helpful in my discussions with the travel agent and Royal.
@cruisellama and @deep1 hit the nail on the head (as I just learned today)
LONG UPDATE WARNING (grab your coffee, popcorn, wine, whatever it is you need):
I called Royal today, knowing full well that they would tell me nothing since the reservation was booked through a travel agent.
I got to chatting with this Royal agent, and I managed to get them to say what price my travel agent paid and I almost got them to send me an invoice.
There was an audible shift in their voice when they told me the amount that was paid and revealing that the cruise was fully paid (like a "I shouldn't have disclosed that" tone).
So, here's what I got from the call (using fake numbers): they said the travel agency paid $2,500 for the cruise. The travel agency charged me $2,800. The royal agent then revealed that the rate that they charged was a non-commission rate, so I now know the agency is charging the amount above $2,500 as a commission. 
I then said if Royal cancels the cruise or issues a credit, will it only be of the $2,500 since they didn't charge the travel agency's $2,800, and they said yes: we will only issue credits or refunds based on the $2,500. The $300 agency commission is not insured and is between me and them. I asked them if I could request a direct Royal invoice from the travel agent, and they said yes.
With all of this knowledge, I call the agent, and she said 1.) Royal should not have disclosed any of what they did, 2.) They cannot send me the Royal invoice because of their special pricing and info on the invoice (press X to doubt), and 3.) that they were charging the remaining amount as their commission (which tracked with what Royal said). The agent felt awful for the stress I have undergone trying to figure this all out, AND they said if the cruise were to cancel or be credited, it would be on the full $2,800, not just the $2,500. They reassured me of that several times, and I have it in writing. The only thing they said is that Royal will not issue future cruise credits, so that will not apply to me, because that apparently stopped after Covid.
At the end of the day, the rate was cheaper than what Royal had, the cruise is paid for, and the cruise is insured for $2,800 (plus excursions). 
So, will we proceed with the cruise and make the final payment? Yes. But, wow has this been an adventure. 
The travel agent reassured us several times, and apologized, and said they've been in business 30 years, and that if anything goes wrong, they'll take care of us. And, that they were going to call Royal to talk to them about what was disclosed (that's on them, not me), but I knew the price from Royal and was able to calculate it on my own anyway by determining what was charged to RoyalCarribean vs them directly.
I express again my appreciation to you all for all of your comments, and I hope this will be useful to others in the future, and reaffirming to those that have been in this situation as I learned above.
I will continue to monitor this thread.
Happy Friday?

Actually, the solution is use a true TA, not a high volume discount shop.

You can get manually written tags at the port, but why not just have those without printers just email luggage tags to someone with a printer in the group

Yes, book it with any 3rd guest and then switch those guests to your new child.  They would need to be 6 months old by cruise date to be allowed.

I believe you can check in on the app with the birth certificate,  but then use your passport at the terminal if it shows up in time.

Welcome to the boards! eDocs are issued at 30 days prior.

Not at all. The only thing in the edocs worthy of printing is your luggage tags.

It also has a "sleep" button which is useful if you like to fall asleep to background sound but don't want the TV to be on when somebody wakes up in the middle of the night.

Just got married on the Harmony of the Seas with an embarkation day ceremony so we could include non-sailing guests. We had a total 100 (30 sailing & 70 non-sailing) 
Working with the wedding department can be frustrating due to their lack of communication, and there was some issues with our wedding including not getting everything we paid for in terms of photography. But, it was all around worth it in the end for us. You definitely have to be go with the flow, I wasn't able to confirm all of my choices until 1-2 weeks before the wedding. 
Basically you purchase a package (ours was $5,600 base for embarkation), but I believe they start at $2000. Then, you choose your add-ons like open bar, food, photography, DJ, sound tech, etc. We chose to do premium open bar for 3 hours, $25/per person/per hour & tier 3 canapes ($17 per person), platinum package photography and we did a DJ for 3 hours. 
We all got on the boat at 11am, ceremony at 12pm, non-sailing guests left at 2:30pm & we had dinner with sailing guests in MDR that night. Here's our wedding video to give you an idea of how it went! 
 

None were available when we would have been awarded.  They said they'd mail it to us.  3-months later it was in our mailbox.

Keep in mind there have been supply issues and my blocks weren't available on the cruise and were shipped to my house.
I did check with the loyalty ambassador while on the ship to make the arrangements. 

Actually, they only allow a certain number of seats to be booked on the app/CP. So, when you board there will be an option to book. Second another poster recommended joining the standby line 10min before show time. Do not take their advice. The suites/Pinnacle/Key reserved seats are released to the general public 15min before show time, but you want to get in the standby line asap. I have seen people on standby in line at 6:15 for a show that starts at 7pm; if you arrive at 6:50 there may be 100 people in front of you and 85 seats. 

I’ll share some personal experience with entry to Canada and American citizens with a past DUI conviction.   My US conviction was in 1997. I finally bit the bullet and applied for a pardon in 2012. My wife and I married in 1999 and she has dual US/Canadian citizenship, so we go there frequently.  Luckily, when I finally applied for a pardon, there was a Canadian Immigration officer at the Calais, ME/St Stephens, NB port of entry who was willing to take the time to walk me through everything.  

I was never asked for any documentation when we cruised to Canada last fall, but I damn sure had it with me.
Disclaimer: My information was current as of 2012.   I would be surprised it it’s gotten any easier.  
 
Imagine getting ready to disembark at a Canadian port for your shore excursion and dealing with this:
On the surface, an American citizen with DUI conviction is prohibited from entering Canada. 
 
If you go to a border crossing with the intent of entering Canada and are not asked, you do not have to volunteer the information, and can go on your merry way.  If asked, and you lie, and the Canadian Immigration does a background check, you will be 100% banned from ever entering, no chance at a waiver or pardon.  If you tell the truth, it’s up to the Immigration officer at the port you are entering at to decide if you should be granted a waiver for that trip only .  I forget what the cost was, but an on the spot waiver will cost you.  If you cross at a port of entry where the Canadian Immigration office is closed, you’re sol.  (Many times we drove a longer distance when going to my in-laws so we would be crossing at a port with 24 hour immigration staff in case I was questioned). 
 
You can petition the Canadian government (federal, not provincial) for a pardon. As I recall, it was $500 Canadian, but I’m not 100% sure as it was a while ago.   The pardon is not guaranteed, and it’s not fast in coming if granted.  It’s quite a process.  

I saw this. It arrives in Lisbon but leaves from a different port. You normally don't see a round-trip TA this close together, normally they sail from North America to Europe in the spring and return back to North America in the late fall.
It would be perfect if you wanted to spend some time in Europe between the sailings.
It's like a super-long land tour! What an interesting six-week trip!
 

My work VPN access doesn't allow me work from an international IP so I'm at the mercy of whatever server the Starlink connection is using. Messed up my plans last week when it connected to a Mexico City server when we got closer to instead of the Atlanta one it was using in the Bahamas.  

Try Turo. It's like Airbnb for people who rent out their personal cars, often for less than conventional car rental companies. You may find that there is a van available close to you.

Oh man, thank you all for this. 2.5 hour phone call with AMEX travel and a hefty af credit card charge later, we’re rebooked for the afternoon 😅

Way too early! Most flights require you be at the gate 45 min to an hour in advance. Plus security, plus travel traffic etc. Just too early.

I think that's too early.   If your flight leaves at 9:19,  you'll want to be at the airport at least (at LEAST) an hour before boarding.  Miami is not an efficient airport (i.e. it really sucks).  In my opinion, if there's any delay getting people off of the ship, you'll run it too tight.  

His is 60 NZD (New Zealand).  Conversion is like .612 per USD so it converts 60*.612=36.72
It's 34.99 USD for both of my upcoming cruises.

You can actually book it yourself and transfer it to a travel agent if you want the best of both worlds.  TA's should not charge anything extra - definitely a red flag if they are doing this.

My last travel agent charged a per person "service fee" and an additional fee if they were able to reprice a cruise. After spending some time on these message boards and finding out that that was absolutely NOT the norm (and a couple of other reasons too), I changed travel agents.

I've never had a travel agent charge more than the price on the website.  I'd find a different travel agent.

How can Matt keep getting away with this?!