Marc

My husband and I have adopted healthier eating habits over the years and find that we eat much less in quantity than we used to. Remember when they taught that 3 ounces of beef was a full serving? Well, I'm actually closer to satisfied at that point now.
Anyway, one of the problems we often face is that we'll order a modest amount of food, and we may very well leave some food leftover on the plate. We'll likely skip dessert, too. The servers' protestations suggest that this contrary to their expectations of Americans dining.
We don't want the servers to feel concerned that we didn't like our meals, so we do what we can to explain that we just don't eat that much, but they almost seem to have a look in their eye like we're going to have a word with their manager. I would imagine that others may have had similar experiences, so I'm curious whether there are any good ways to smooth over these moments. (I think that, as someone who currently weighs in the mid-200s, people may get an incorrect initial impression of me.)

When you do that, it gives you the ability to lock in a time, but when you use the BOGO they will refund the original price to your onboard account as a refundable credit.  They then charge you the onboard price and use you BOGO 
 
Then some ships my do it differently

My husband and I have been sailing in junior suites at least on ships with Coastal Kitchen, so we'd opted-out of the main dining room. Thus, we chose MTD so as not to take a table from anyone else. We'd typically have dinner no later than 6 PM, usually 5:30-5:45.
My problem is that in my older years, I've turned into a full-grown adult who used to stay up until 2 AM into an even-more-grown adult who's now up by 5AM and I really don't want to be eating a full meal somewhat close to my somewhat early bedtime. So, I've called RCI to request that my upcoming cruise on Independence of the Seas be waitlisted for early dining. I'm probably more likely just to rely on Windjammer, though, since I'm sailing solo.

I discovered a while back that if your email address is on multiple Crown & Anchor accounts, you won’t receive promotional emails from Royal Caribbean. In my case, casino offers dried up. When I got them to remove my email address from others’ profiles, including some woman who lives in Australia — who knows why she had my address on her profile — then the offer emails started again. 

I’ve only been on Liberty and Freedom, but based on that, we’d choose Freedom if departure port and itinerary were similar.  Playmakers, El Loco Fresh, and the updated pool deck are some of the reasons why. 
 
Something to take note of if it’s important to you…Liberty does not have Coca Cola Freestyle machines. 

Having just cruised on a non-Royal line, I definitely noticed a difference.  Trying to skip dessert on Royal is kind of a battle.  The waiters always seem so hurt.  They try to encourage you.  On the other line, they'd ask if you wanted dessert, and if you said no, they said "thank you" and moved along.  I really liked this.  Granted, it was one of the only things I liked better, but it was nice to not have the "battle".  But, at least with Royal if you have too much food but would like to just take some back to your room for later, they'll allow it.  The other line would not allow it at all.  So basically you have to adopt @Pattycruise's wise advice - just do you and let the matter slide.  But enjoy!

My husband had the bypass surgery and can’t eat a lot.  We tried explaining it, not worth the effort.  It’s the same old, they don’t take a moment to listen and digest information, they just prattle on.  

Independence of the Seas is coming out of drydock, so she'll be refreshed (to some degree anyway). That's a slight benefit to her.

Nope -  they usually have me book the 2nd dinner first night I use the BOGO (nite 1 or 2) if I go to a cheaper restaurant and book a more expensive one for the 2nd use, even if they let me do it later in the cruise, they have always charged for the more expensive one the first night. 
Nice try though, you might get to pull one over on a more inexperienced host, have neve tried booking the 2nd night later then changing it before i use it, that could possibley work or backfire completely and you end up paying for 2 dinners at full price.

I'll support your motion if you'll agree to accept my amendment for a somewhat larger glass of wine.
 

It is a deal but since the restart specialty dining has been in high demand and they have raised prices for everyone including BOGO users.  
If solo it can be used to pay full on board rates for one dinner and then a second dinner on another night is free.  They literally will present a zero bill for the 2nd dinner.
If you are a couple presumably you are both D+ so you can use it like a solo person would and get two nights of specialty dining or you can pay for one and the second person is the BOGO at that one dinner.  
Some ships are very strict about the rule it must be purchased and used on nights 1 and 2.  Other ships are more flexible as long as it's purchased on nights 1 or 2.  Ask on day one so you know how that ship handles it.  

I'll support your motion if you'll agree to accept my amendment for a somewhat larger glass of wine.
 

I'll support your motion if you'll agree to accept my amendment for a somewhat larger glass of wine.
 

I'll support your motion if you'll agree to accept my amendment for a somewhat larger glass of wine.
 

I'll support your motion if you'll agree to accept my amendment for a somewhat larger glass of wine.
 

I wonder whether it's 110 kg which is about 243 pounds. They're way more metric onboard than we imperialists. 🙂
Huh… Coincidentally, my last weigh-in was just under that (down 90 pounds from peak — finally fit into the one-size-fits-all bathrobe on December's cruise). Interesting. 🤔

I wonder whether it's 110 kg which is about 243 pounds. They're way more metric onboard than we imperialists. 🙂
Huh… Coincidentally, my last weigh-in was just under that (down 90 pounds from peak — finally fit into the one-size-fits-all bathrobe on December's cruise). Interesting. 🤔

Except that RC clearly states "CBD Oil / CBD Products" are prohibited.
https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/prohibited-items-onboard-policy

I'm not sure  whether @WAAAYTOOO was referring to the points-per-cruise earning or the Club Royale tiers. I think she meant the points earned during a cruise. You may be interested to know that 2,500 points would also qualify you for Prime status which would also earn you one free cruise per year. Other than that, since she seems to have completely answered your question, I thought I'd offer a mathematical aside from a slots perspective since that was my game of choice. I hope y'all will forgive this tangent.
 
Slots players earn 1 point per $5 wagered through the machine. What then matters is how many times the bankroll can be replayed given the house advantage, and that is determined by the slot machines' payback rate. I have no insight into this, but I do believe that Las Vegas casinos tend to be in the 90-ish% range, and the belief is that cruise ship casinos have little incentive to be that high. Still, I assume the casino wants people to win enough to keep playing, so I'll estimate the payback rate at 80%.
I ran some numbers through a spreadsheet, and a $7,000 bankroll, given an 80% payback rate, would ultimately play $35,000 through the machine, thus earning (coincidently for this exercise) 7,000 points. From that, one can look on the various tables to see what one would qualify for since it's just down to the numbers when playing on machines. I think that would that should get a comped balcony cruise, maybe a junior suite, but I've not paid attention to the charts they have listed in the casino lately.
Other rates:
85% – $46,663 or 9,332 points 87% – $53,843 or 10,768 points 90% – $70,000 or 14,000 points So, somewhere between 7,000 and 14,000 points for slots players, maybe?

While onboard my last cruise, the app didn't even reflect reality in terms of scheduling of bars' open hours. The app had one time, the (online) Cruise Compass said something else [that was taken as accurate by the crew, who were surprised to see that the app said that the bar wasn't open yet]. On the other hand, the Cruise Compass on Anthem of the Seas didn't even list the Music Hall as one of its bars & lounges at all.
By the way, lest anyone think I might be kidding about the Music Hall not being listed, here's the days 5-6 combination Cruise Compass. 🤦🏻‍♂️ In this one on day 5, I remember the app saying that Two70 opened at 5pm, but here it shows 3pm and, indeed, it was open when I happened across the bar being open at 3:30.
cruisecompass56.pdf

I'm not sure  whether @WAAAYTOOO was referring to the points-per-cruise earning or the Club Royale tiers. I think she meant the points earned during a cruise. You may be interested to know that 2,500 points would also qualify you for Prime status which would also earn you one free cruise per year. Other than that, since she seems to have completely answered your question, I thought I'd offer a mathematical aside from a slots perspective since that was my game of choice. I hope y'all will forgive this tangent.
 
Slots players earn 1 point per $5 wagered through the machine. What then matters is how many times the bankroll can be replayed given the house advantage, and that is determined by the slot machines' payback rate. I have no insight into this, but I do believe that Las Vegas casinos tend to be in the 90-ish% range, and the belief is that cruise ship casinos have little incentive to be that high. Still, I assume the casino wants people to win enough to keep playing, so I'll estimate the payback rate at 80%.
I ran some numbers through a spreadsheet, and a $7,000 bankroll, given an 80% payback rate, would ultimately play $35,000 through the machine, thus earning (coincidently for this exercise) 7,000 points. From that, one can look on the various tables to see what one would qualify for since it's just down to the numbers when playing on machines. I think that would that should get a comped balcony cruise, maybe a junior suite, but I've not paid attention to the charts they have listed in the casino lately.
Other rates:
85% – $46,663 or 9,332 points 87% – $53,843 or 10,768 points 90% – $70,000 or 14,000 points So, somewhere between 7,000 and 14,000 points for slots players, maybe?

While onboard my last cruise, the app didn't even reflect reality in terms of scheduling of bars' open hours. The app had one time, the (online) Cruise Compass said something else [that was taken as accurate by the crew, who were surprised to see that the app said that the bar wasn't open yet]. On the other hand, the Cruise Compass on Anthem of the Seas didn't even list the Music Hall as one of its bars & lounges at all.
By the way, lest anyone think I might be kidding about the Music Hall not being listed, here's the days 5-6 combination Cruise Compass. 🤦🏻‍♂️ In this one on day 5, I remember the app saying that Two70 opened at 5pm, but here it shows 3pm and, indeed, it was open when I happened across the bar being open at 3:30.
cruisecompass56.pdf

I'm not sure  whether @WAAAYTOOO was referring to the points-per-cruise earning or the Club Royale tiers. I think she meant the points earned during a cruise. You may be interested to know that 2,500 points would also qualify you for Prime status which would also earn you one free cruise per year. Other than that, since she seems to have completely answered your question, I thought I'd offer a mathematical aside from a slots perspective since that was my game of choice. I hope y'all will forgive this tangent.
 
Slots players earn 1 point per $5 wagered through the machine. What then matters is how many times the bankroll can be replayed given the house advantage, and that is determined by the slot machines' payback rate. I have no insight into this, but I do believe that Las Vegas casinos tend to be in the 90-ish% range, and the belief is that cruise ship casinos have little incentive to be that high. Still, I assume the casino wants people to win enough to keep playing, so I'll estimate the payback rate at 80%.
I ran some numbers through a spreadsheet, and a $7,000 bankroll, given an 80% payback rate, would ultimately play $35,000 through the machine, thus earning (coincidently for this exercise) 7,000 points. From that, one can look on the various tables to see what one would qualify for since it's just down to the numbers when playing on machines. I think that would that should get a comped balcony cruise, maybe a junior suite, but I've not paid attention to the charts they have listed in the casino lately.
Other rates:
85% – $46,663 or 9,332 points 87% – $53,843 or 10,768 points 90% – $70,000 or 14,000 points So, somewhere between 7,000 and 14,000 points for slots players, maybe?

Well, I guess the ship name is right because I have to wonder why they wouldn't at least try to present a more premium experience than that on one of the newest cruise ships in the world.

While onboard my last cruise, the app didn't even reflect reality in terms of scheduling of bars' open hours. The app had one time, the (online) Cruise Compass said something else [that was taken as accurate by the crew, who were surprised to see that the app said that the bar wasn't open yet]. On the other hand, the Cruise Compass on Anthem of the Seas didn't even list the Music Hall as one of its bars & lounges at all.
By the way, lest anyone think I might be kidding about the Music Hall not being listed, here's the days 5-6 combination Cruise Compass. 🤦🏻‍♂️ In this one on day 5, I remember the app saying that Two70 opened at 5pm, but here it shows 3pm and, indeed, it was open when I happened across the bar being open at 3:30.
cruisecompass56.pdf