KLA

One bid showing as pending but removing the option to modify the bid is usually a really strong indicator that you are likely to win the bid, but not a guarantee. Best of luck to both of you! 

My wife had the soda package and the unlimited dining package.
#1 - You can get a drink at most bars with your Soda package, I was redirected only once to another bar. I think they prefer using Soda cans and bottles for individuals and payments.
#2 - I had requested Club Soda at 3 different locations without issue. I also had a bottle of sparkling water almost every night for dinner at no cost. But I can't tell if that was because of the Soda or the dinner package.
There is also Dasani Sparkling water (with lime or neutral taste) in the soda machines.
Markus

Yeah, I keep going back and forth. I don't drink at all so a Deluxe definitely wouldn't be worth it - but still worried I'll be tallying drinks in my mind if I go with soda only or will be making frequent hikes back to the Freestyle machines. Might just splurge on the Refresh anyway - it'll be my birthday cruise after all! 

Yes to 1, 3 and 4.
YMMV on 2. Some bars that have bottled soda might have tonic and no club soda. If they have the nozzle, then a maybe. Some bars said that club soda isn't included with the soda package, others will give to you no problem. 

I can only answer your first question. 
 
I had the soda package for the first time on Freedom back in November.   Most of the time, the Freestyle machines on the Promenade were broken and the ones in the Windjammer closed.   Most of the time I left my cup in the cabin and just got a soda at the closest bar.   I even did that at Cococay.
The bartenders all told me I could use the cup at any of the bars but were happy to just give me a plastic cup.  I never felt awkward asking for a soda at any of the bars. 
 
Bars seem to have a very limited variety of soda….pretty much just the basics… coke, sprite, Diet Coke, ginger ale, and occasionally Fanta orange.  

Already rescheduled the cancelled sailing to Symphony over my birthday. Here’s hoping this variant is as short lived as speculated! 

Already rescheduled the cancelled sailing to Symphony over my birthday. Here’s hoping this variant is as short lived as speculated! 

Already rescheduled the cancelled sailing to Symphony over my birthday. Here’s hoping this variant is as short lived as speculated! 

What a bummer! 
Trying to take this and get myself in to a suite over my birthday in May instead. 🙂 

Already rescheduled the cancelled sailing to Symphony over my birthday. Here’s hoping this variant is as short lived as speculated! 

I was on 1/29 Jewel which was Labadee, San Juan, St. Maarten, and Antigua - 8  night. 

Oh No!  We only had 17 days until our Vision sailing!  Even had our eDocs and luggage tags printed!
Also, spent $180 on 6 eMed Abbott Binax Covid tests. 
And this was L&S'd from last year.  We've had so many cruises cancelled, I've lost count.

Prices can vary wildly sailing to sailing and ship to ship with a lot of factors going in to play and sales happen often.
I grabbed the Refreshment Package for $17/day over Black Friday (I think) and I haven't seen it go below $23/day since. 
$88/day definitely seems high for the Deluxe package though. 

Have a wonderful day in port! We're scheduled on the Hike and Beach excursion there at the beginning of February. 
It's also pretty easy to grab a taxi there and head towards one of the beaches - very pretty island! 

Ah, bummer. We loved CK on our Odyssey Cruise (Junior Suite) and they let us make as many reservations as we wanted for dinner - granted, the ship was fairly low capacity at the time, too. Really loved the CK crew on that ship (not that we have much CK experience to compare to!)
We'll make CK our first stop on Allure in October and just see what they say. 

Ditto, only I'm on Oasis in February. At this point I suppose they could be holding out to announce changes until just before sailing, simply because there's so much volatility.

This likely isn't necessarily the case - a lot of changes are being made very last minute because of how quickly they are changing and the volume of port changes need to be made due to protocol changes. You still could miss these ports. 
My sailing at the end of the month is scheduled to visit Labadee (which no ship has visited since the restart) and San Juan (which has been turning ships away) and I still don't expect to see either of those. Cruising now requires a lot of flexibility. 
Also, hello fellow Cincinnatian! 

The Coco Beach Club is definitely something worth considering for days where Coco Cay has multiple ships in port. 

If they're booked through the cruise line you'll get refunded, but off cruise line might be best to have a plan for when you get in to port but keep it changeable. I'm sure excursion operators understand that things are pretty all over right now, and will work with you. Even in non-Covid times, there are usually clauses that will adjust non-cruise line excursions to missed port days (at least from what I've seen in my experience). 

Even if ports of call are being cancelled now, things are changing quickly enough that the situation by the 29th could be completely different at the end of the month (more or less closures or other cruise changing events). We're also cruising on the 29th (Jewel OTS) and keeping an eye on things, but still plan to go. We have two ports we believe will be changed or dropped (Labadee, San Juan). 
As has been said here many times, just need to be willing to be flexible. Even during normal cruise times, ports can be missed or changed for many reasons. 

As someone who was also on that cruise, the comedians were pretty funny after those announcements. Something about how they would be taking over doing the CATS performances and the ice skating shows as they were the only entertainers left 😄
Even with those cancellations, still had a fantastic time!

On Anthem of the Seas now, St. Thomas refused us permission to dock last night due to 44 COVID/quarantined crew members. Captain took us to our next port St. Maarten and was able to add a new port St. Kitts for tomorrow. 12/31 Anthem of the Seas sailing was supposed to have 3 ports of call San Juan PR, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. Before we set sail Puerto Rico changed their rules and mandated that all visitors have a negative COVID test 24hrs before arrival, we received notification 2 days before sailing that San Juan would not be a port of call anymore. Out of the 3 planned port of calls we have so far only been to one. Overall the cruise is going really well, service is excellent and guest services has been really good with changes to the tours at the port of calls especially with arriving at St Maarten a full day earlier then planned and adding a completely different island to our itinerary.
Like others have said, flexibility is key when cruising especially now.

We always do this as well.  Although we never bother putting them in the fridgenotafridge.

Another drink tip...my wife and I often ask for bottles of Pellegrino and Red Bull as we head back to to our room even if we don't want them that moment so we can stock our fridge. It's nice to always have a small supply in your room fridge at the ready.

Unfortunately I feel this issue is negatively impacting folks with a valid medical reason because we have doctors that are willing to write notes for a small fee waiving mask requirements due to their political beliefs and greed.
This is an issue in Florida with mask requirements in school systems.  There are doctors who for $50 will write a note without ever seeing a patient, declaring the student has a medical reason to not wear a mask.  
Given how ridiculously easy it is to obtain a doctor's handwritten note it places companies like cruise lines in a very difficult position and it impacts the small number of people with a valid medical reason due to the fakers. 
Much like bogus service animal certificates impact valid service animals, bogus mask exemptions are impacting valid mask exemptions.