Todd

I agree Royal on the surface did nothing wrong. But you know the press first report a passenger, then crew and people on here or read half the story so it cannot play as a positive for Royal. 
 
Then as I said you need to consider the passengers wanting to leave and delayed, and the new cruisers wanting to get on and delayed.  I believe the police would have stop boarding of the ship or at least limited it. 
 
So yes the real story is not bad for Royal but once people hear half the story and tell another and they here half the story the news spread could be negative.

I see both sides of this and could make the case for either side.
 
Case: It my vacation and can dress the way I want to.  
 
Since the main dinning room is the standard included restaurant choice for the cruise you should not be required to dress for a formal night. In many parts of the World suits are not standard and not worn, or very limited use. Royal has extra charge dinning options that are not included and those are the places dress codes should be.  On vacation I want to enjoy myself and my clothes do not affect the other passengers. 
 
Case: Royal should enforce dress codes and formal nights. 
 
Only a few nights on the cruise are set as formal. The norm is two on a seven day cruise. Notice has been given and many travelers want these formal nights. If you do not want to dress for formal night you have several other included dinning options. Many guest want formal pictures and these pictures done in the dinning rooms since other guest are also in the dinning rooms a dress code is need as these people appear in the background.  Formal night pictures are not formal with t shirts in the background.  Suits or even jackets are not required, it takes no extra effort to pack a dress shirt to go with the slacks you already have. Royal is free to set any policy they want passengers are free to follow the rule or not cruise with Royal. Land restaurants enforce rules and dress codes, even included food locations, so the practice is within normal standards.  It is not fair to the people who booked and wanted formal nights to have other passengers stop them from enjoying these parties they have paid for. Formal nights bring back the golden era of cruising. 
 
The only thing I know 100% for sure.... never will everyone on the cruise be happy with the dress codes or lack of them.

I have not cruise the Caribbean for a few years but in other parts of the World they collect your passport upon booking. Royal hands all the stuff with your passport in the ports and you do not see it again until the last port stop is completed. When you think about it really no other way to do it. Royal brings a ship with 4000 plus passengers into a small port that has 3 passport officers and you must stand in line to be cleared. Even at only one minute per passport the three only would clear 180 passports per hour if a 1000 passengers wanted off the ship it would take over 5 hours. And when you returned another 5 hours. If a port call is 8 hours many passengers could not even get off the ship.
 
So how can they clear several thousand passengers? Royal pays to bring the inspectors on board  at the port before the stop, gives them a cabin and they work all day or night while the ships travels port to port clearing the passports. This is the only way you can clear a large ship for a short port call. As I said maybe the trips started in the US are handled in a different way.

Correct, mini bar or room service

I think this thread was posted as a joke. For several reasons. First the OP made the post and his questions were answered but he still added posting asking the same thing. Also the OP said  about passports " but we just opted not to get them this time around because of scheduling". And then several posts later said the cruise is not until May 1st which is over 8 weeks away.  So this information is not added for the OP but for others who really are interested in knowing the facts. Please review the United States State Department link for Passport processing times here:
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/information/processing-times.html
 
The basics:
 
You can apply for a passport through USPS or through a Passport Processing Agency
 
Standard Passport processing is quoted as 6 weeks, with a approval or decline notice within 3 weeks.
 
Expedited Passport Processing is quoted as 3 weeks total door to door service.
 
But if you have already applied for a Passport and you need for travel within two weeks they have a process to speed things up and get your passport done.
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/contact-us.html
 
Also another link for travelers  who have passage booked within two weeks and have not applied. 
 
https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/passports/information/where-to-apply/agencies.html
 
While the State Department has stopped in person passport services for normal cases, in these rush cases (you will be traveling within two weeks) they have a full plan and process in place to get you your passport. They will set a appointment and have you appear at a US Government Office to process.  No one can really say they do not have enough time to get a passport, you can only say some are to lazy to follow through and do it. 
 
This information is for first time new passports applied for within the Untied States. If you are located outside the United States the US Embassy in any country can process new passports or renewals. And the time periods are shorter for passports processed through a Embassy. The last time I renewed my passport it was 2 weeks door to door service.    

This information may be helpful if you have not already seen it.  From Royal
 
"Royal Caribbean International was named by Autism on the Seas Foundation as the first certified Autism Friendly Cruise Line in February 2014. Autism Friendly Certification is awarded to cruise lines for their efforts to ensure their products and services are accessible for inclusion and participation by the autism and developmental disability community."
 
 Detailed Information   On the Royal Website
 
Autism on the Seas Foundation 
 
 
While I have no direct information these links should be able to put you in touch with the people who do. Have a great trip.

Free Drinks in the Casinos is like when the airlines offer free airfare. Somehow in the end when the extras and associated charges are added free always seems to have a big cost.... and not look free.

You should look at it both ways. Also call Royal custom service direct as they have family cabins that are much larger than a normal cabins. These do not always show in the online inventory. Reynaline and I took her younger sister with us on the last trip and were able to book on of these rooms on Mariner of the seas. It had two separated bedrooms (1 Large King Bed, 1 Bunk Beds) , and a living room that also had fold out. But it was priced the same as a standard cabin.
 
We had cabin 8200 which was over 300 square feet and three port windows, since the Explorers layout is very close I'm sure they have these same family cabins. Since cabins open and close even after you are booked keep looking as new cabins and better deals can pop up, just call and re book at that point.

They dock at Crown Bay Center   so it really is not a walk most would want to make as it is on the far side of the harbor from Ride The View. I found this great picture on the Crown Bay website.  The picture was taken of Oasis of the Seas making her first St Thomas port call on December 12, 2009. Look at the side difference next to that other smaller cruise ship.  If you look across the harbor off the stern you will see three other cruise ships docked in a row, that is where Ride The View is located.
 

 
 That is one really great photo of a very impressive ship. Just think about this Royal has three of these giant ships and a fourth under construction. No other cruise line in the World has even a single ship the comes near this size let alone four of them.

If you really want to be scared try a water slide in a third world country with little or no oversight and inspection. Now that is really a adventure. Water slides are not for everyone, like so many other things and can involve some risk. Just traveling on the trip has some risk but the level for most people is acceptable. I love being on small boats with swells and waves, this makes many people sea sick, so each person should do what they believe is best for them.
 
As for water slides on Royal ships one thing is for sure. They are among the best design, maintain, and inspected in the World. Not only passing every safety inspection that slides on land have but also the USCG Inspections. So if you want to ride a water slide the slides on Royal Ships are the ones to pick.

If you really want to be scared try a water slide in a third world country with little or no oversight and inspection. Now that is really a adventure. Water slides are not for everyone, like so many other things and can involve some risk. Just traveling on the trip has some risk but the level for most people is acceptable. I love being on small boats with swells and waves, this makes many people sea sick, so each person should do what they believe is best for them.
 
As for water slides on Royal ships one thing is for sure. They are among the best design, maintain, and inspected in the World. Not only passing every safety inspection that slides on land have but also the USCG Inspections. So if you want to ride a water slide the slides on Royal Ships are the ones to pick.

Agree with Todd. You now almost need a calculator to really know how much a cruise costs, and make comparisons. With all the added drink packages, OBC, dining packages, etc., it's like buying a car.
 
Everybody seems to be caught up in the big "SALE" game, but evidently it works for their marketing dept. I am glad I have the time and now some experience to sift through the hype to see what the cruise fare is. Then we can start adding on with gratuities, port taxes, etc., etc........did I mention it's like buying a car?

Here is the link you wanted I believe:
 
http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2016/03/05/tidal-wave-slide-royal-caribbeans-liberty-of-the-seas-remains-closed

I did this excursion on my last visit to St Thomas, which you read the review of here: http://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2015/08/05/excursion-focus-st-thomas-sky-ride-paradise-point
 
There is simply a ticket and you can easily walk from the ship to the skyway. Even with our stroller, we made it there in 10 minutes.  It's very close by.

With all the reality shows on TV it may not be as hard as you think. It seems people today want to watch shows about everything; Tiny Houses, Tree Top Living, Mountain Men, Brush People, etc. Are you willing to be filmed 24/7, or how about Survivor Royal? You start out all in crew cabin doing the worst jobs on the ship, each week someone voted off to a lifeboat, and in the end one Survivor in a Owners Suite? Mark Burnett you can send my Royalty check to.... my next cruise account.

The Throwing of the life preservers is standard under SOLAS (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea). It is not only in hopes of the person seeing them but allows for the tracking of movement due to winds and currents. As the vest spread out it shows a pattern and aids with the area to search. You need to remember even if the Captain was standing on the bridge and watch it happen, the ship was moving along at cruising speed. It takes a couple of miles to stop a cruise ship underway,  to stop and to turn around even without other ship traffic takes time and distance. As soon as the bridge knew this happen the bridge would have marked the ships position and time. And throw markers overboard, which can later be used to track drift rates and current. 
 
The crew can get the ship back to the same spot were the passenger went over (or where it was when notified).  But the current winds and tide will have moved the lost soul to another location. I have tied to recover a baseball cap that went overboard on a small pleasure boat during the day. Even in a small boat that can turn around in less than a minute if you lose sight of that cap when you get back to the spot you will not be able to find it most of the time. Now change it to a supersized cruise ship, at night, in traffic, and with weather, etc, under these circumstances the result is almost always the same.

As I posted no problems from Guest Services. If a cruise ship did allow such lists I know a few lawyers who would love to see those list and introduced that cruise line to the class action law suit. I do not believe Royal would ever put itself into that position because of the risk involved. It would be a public relations nightmare. Again I'm not against tipping for service. I am against pooled tipping and Royal or any company saying part of my tip should go to a dishwasher, or to a cabin house keeping manger. I want my tips to go directly to the people that provide direct face to face service.

Nice Beach very close to the Cruise Terminal.
 

Matt, sorry I was not clear in my post. I'm not talking about just sending a bottle through X Ray. What I am saying is purchase a bottle in a metal case or a metal tube. The X Ray Scanner Machine then just see a metal box, or metal tube. Back in the 35 & 120 mm film days I would carry my cameras inside zero metal cases. If the scanner see these do you really believe they would stop and catch them?

Nice Beach very close to the Cruise Terminal.
 

With all the reality shows on TV it may not be as hard as you think. It seems people today want to watch shows about everything; Tiny Houses, Tree Top Living, Mountain Men, Brush People, etc. Are you willing to be filmed 24/7, or how about Survivor Royal? You start out all in crew cabin doing the worst jobs on the ship, each week someone voted off to a lifeboat, and in the end one Survivor in a Owners Suite? Mark Burnett you can send my Royalty check to.... my next cruise account.

With all the reality shows on TV it may not be as hard as you think. It seems people today want to watch shows about everything; Tiny Houses, Tree Top Living, Mountain Men, Brush People, etc. Are you willing to be filmed 24/7, or how about Survivor Royal? You start out all in crew cabin doing the worst jobs on the ship, each week someone voted off to a lifeboat, and in the end one Survivor in a Owners Suite? Mark Burnett you can send my Royalty check to.... my next cruise account.

In the X-Ray machine, they will see a bottle and flag your bag and then require you to go down and retrieve the luggage, after opening it up.
 
When bringing wine aboard, you should bring it in your carry-on so you can avoid that exact scenario.

My guess is the issue with extending beyond Oasis and Quantum classes is being able to provide enough support for the level of service this new Royal Suite Class promises.

While I cannot help you with your question, I do appreciate the kind words about this blog.  
 
Part of why you are likely not finding much info about Oceania is that it is not a mass market cruise line, like RC is, so you have a smaller audience of possible enthusiasts.  
 
To answer your first question, I almost exclusively cruise Royal Caribbean these days. I really love the product and my family enjoys the experience, so it makes the most sense for us to continue to cruise with RC because we have become "loyal to Royal".