Peter D

It further complicates the break even when you figure in free drinks.  Adding 4, 5, or 6 drinks for D, D+, and Pinnacle, brings these numbers up in the 10-16 drink range.  Honestly if Royal offered C&A members free drink value (say $40-60/person/day) to the onboard savings, buying a drink plan would look a lot more appealing over just 4-6 free drinks.

And you forgot about us casino rats.  We get free drinks in the casino with prime status which further increases the number of drinks needed per day to make it worthwhile if you hang out in the casino.  I think my liver would revolt if I tried to take advantage of a drink package, vouchers, and casino drinks.

Maybe contact the Agency rather than the agent?

8 still for me, but being under 10 is a win!!

Maybe contact the Agency rather than the agent?

Hi Lisa! congrats on booking your first cruise!
To make it simple - no you do not HAVE to purchase anything extra. It is entirely possible to pay nothing additional when on a cruise and have a fantastic time.
Free (aka included food) is available in:
the Main Dining Room Buffet Cafe Promenade (a cafe with small bites) the Pizza place(Sorrentos) and other ship-specific places like el loco fresh, mini bites, boardwalk dogs Free beverages are going to be at these places as well and generally include:
water lemonade hot tea iced tea various from-concentrate juices basic coffee  
There are additional For Charge restaurants and attendance at these are completely optional. These tend to include the steak house, mexican, sushi, Italian places onboard. If you are interested in trying but want to save money, all of them offer lunch menus that are significantly cheaper than the dinners.
Beverages that will cost you extra are, obviously, any alcohol or mocktails, and any starbucks or specialty coffee (lattes, mochas, etc), and the Soda. Yes, the soda requires at bare minimum the Classic Soda Package (between $8-10/day online and $15/day onboard) because the soda machine requires a chip in the bottom of the package cup to work. No package - no cup - no soda. BUT you CAN bring on your OWN soda! "12 standard (17 oz.) cans, bottles or cartons per stateroom."
You can also bring on your own wine or champagne - 1 bottle per adult per room.

Maybe contact the Agency rather than the agent?

Maybe contact the Agency rather than the agent?

GTY suites look like the best value at the moment.  

Pros
 - Aqua 80
 - Portside BBQ
 - it has been 'amped'
Cons
 - Cats
 - Cats
 - Cats

@Vancity Cruiser is 100% correct
Portside and Playmakers are top notched. Aqua 80s is the best aqua show. 

I would not bring kids. 

If I was a kid I also wouldn’t want to go.
wine is a big part of event. I have done without wine and enjoyed. 

Royal is still doing the tribute bands on the ships, but it is difficult to determine if one will be on any given sailing.  They are definitely not on every sailing.  You can keep an eye on the websites of the usual suspects to see if they mention any upcoming sailings.
Journey  https://dsbband.com/
Led Zeppelin  https://noquarterlegacyband.com/no-quarter-international-led-zeppelin-tribute  and  https://www.zepagain.com/
Aerosmith  https://www.aeromyth.com/    (recently on Oasis out of Bayonne in June)
Bon Jovi  https://slipperywhenwetband.com/
Van Halen https://fanhalen.com/
There are probably others that I cannot recall, but these are the ones I keep an eye on.  If any can think of others, perhaps we can keep a 'definitive list' 😀

As a fan website, any answers you get here need to be taken with grain of salt.  I recommend consulting the Royal Caribbean website for this topic.
Travel Documents | International & Domestic | Royal Caribbean Intl.
and
Travel Documents & Requirements | Royal Caribbean Cruises
Under the 'Unacceptable forms of identification" it states 
A temporary driver's license (paperwork without a photo I.D.) If your interim Ohio ID has a photo on it, it may work, but there is a risk.  I would also not expect a college ID to work.
As you did not mention when your cruise is, maybe you still could receive your official drivers license.
Finally, make sure your birth certificate meets the requirements listed here:
Can you use a birth certificate for a cruise? | Royal Caribbean Cruises 
 
Good luck, hope it all works out for you. 

Hope this helps.  On Cruisedeckplans.com cabin 12260 pictures show the bed is near the balcony so one would think that cabin 12258 bed near bath, 12256 bed near balcony & 12254 bed near bath.

As a fan website, any answers you get here need to be taken with grain of salt.  I recommend consulting the Royal Caribbean website for this topic.
Travel Documents | International & Domestic | Royal Caribbean Intl.
and
Travel Documents & Requirements | Royal Caribbean Cruises
Under the 'Unacceptable forms of identification" it states 
A temporary driver's license (paperwork without a photo I.D.) If your interim Ohio ID has a photo on it, it may work, but there is a risk.  I would also not expect a college ID to work.
As you did not mention when your cruise is, maybe you still could receive your official drivers license.
Finally, make sure your birth certificate meets the requirements listed here:
Can you use a birth certificate for a cruise? | Royal Caribbean Cruises 
 
Good luck, hope it all works out for you. 

Journey band, DSB, is scheduled to be on Ovation of the Seas sailing starting today (21Sep2023).

Complimentary. If you do the wine with it there is a $25 charge. 

If you're referring to sales in 2020, 2021, or even 2022, those were pandemic years and Royal was indeed offering deep discounts to keep the cash flow going.
That's not the case this year in that demand is sky high. In short, they don't need to offer a lucrative sale.
This is also a generally good reminder never to try to time a sale, or wait for a sale.
 

Companies have learned to spread their "best" sales across multiple days and weeks because they can capture more customers.  There's a limit to how many things I can shop for on a single day (whether in person or online).  Thus a Black Friday sale is now a multi-week sale followed by a multi-week Cyber Monday sale.  It doesn't matter what the sale is called, just look to see if there are good deals.  That's true any day of the year.

I am not asking for additional savings.  That sale starting 11/9 was listed as 'pre Black Friday early access'.  I read that as preview of things to come, but the prices during that first weekend were the lowest they have been during the whole early access when it ended on Wednesday at midnight.  Then the actual Black Friday sale starts today and the prices are higher than ever.  My point is Black Friday used to mean something, and in year's past there have been some very good deals.  One should be able to expect early access pricing is just a preview of things to come.  That is not the case, so much for the "Biggest Sale of the Year- Black Friday". But good news, they just kicked off the new "Biggest Sale of the Year- Cyber Monday".  

Just checked and I had the same experience - I booked the day it open and was charged $400 even for my wife and I do go on our upcoming cruise ... I just went to do a "mock" booking to see and it did have the $72 included
 
So not sure if they just decided to add it after or we will get charged later or we just got lucky

Interesting.  I booked it as soon as it was announced (as placeholder TBD) for two different nights on my October 2024 sailing, and the charge was only $400 for each night.  This $72 gratuity is a new addition.  Seems they either planned for the gratuity to be included or they forgot to add it originally.

Leave your husband home and get inside cabin 😛
If you factor in the loss of deposits into the cost of a different sailing date/ship, then you will see the true cost of changing.  If it were me and I saw a different sailing/ship, this is how I would rationalize it.
As a side note, downgrading may allow you to pick a room at the same price.  Staying in the same room for a back to back 3 and 4 night cruise is nice, and the GTY balcony almost certainly will not be the same room.  

Be wary of the Sky Junior suite on Harmony from suite perk perspective.  If you look at the details it claims Sky Class Exclusives but only lists Sea Class perks.  Not sure if that is mistake or not.
Sky Junior Suite
An incredible intimate suite with a great view, plus added suite benefits.
Size Stateroom: 287 sq. ft. Balcony: 80 sq. ft Beds Two twin beds that convert to a Royal King bed One double sofa bed in staterooms with up to 4 and 5 guests One Pullman bed in staterooms with up to 5 guests Occupancy Up to 5 guests Sky Class Exclusives Dinner at Coastal Kitchen, based on availability* Royal Caribbean Classic Bathrobes for Use Onboard Luxury Pillow Top Mattress Luxury Bathroom Amenities *Reservations are required. Beverages are not included.