Carlos A.

I'd guess WOW bands are zero cost to RC in terms of its physical production.  Either the guest pays $5 for them, or they are in a suite, in which case there is a fair amount of profit built into the suite cost itself.

Glad to hear this since I have very fond memories of Cancun and would love to get back there at some point, but also sad for the loss of life occurring. 
As @twangster said, definitely seems like local cartels targeting one another specifically and not targeting tourism. 

Leaving tomorrow to Cancún, would let you know how it went. ?If anyone is planning a trip to Cancun you shouldn't be worried about this.
This news as bad as they sound doesn't affect tourist at all. This events tend to happen in other areas very distant from the Hotel and touristic Zone of Cancún. 
Clearly the note states: "None of the killings occurred in the city’s beach-side hotel zone", "...in remote areas of Cancun eight bodies were discovered Tuesday."

Leaving tomorrow to Cancún, would let you know how it went. ?If anyone is planning a trip to Cancun you shouldn't be worried about this.
This news as bad as they sound doesn't affect tourist at all. This events tend to happen in other areas very distant from the Hotel and touristic Zone of Cancún. 
Clearly the note states: "None of the killings occurred in the city’s beach-side hotel zone", "...in remote areas of Cancun eight bodies were discovered Tuesday."

Upper members of the CAS expect everything for free, especially if it denotes status.  An RFID enabled Pinnacle badge?  

Not really, it can have the potential to create revenue (outside of "accessory" sales). Placing readers throughout the ship they could gather various metrics of guests. Get better insight who they might be spending time with. How much time they are spending in various areas.
Yes, I know this can also be done with wireless device tracking.
 
Now on the subject of accessory sales. I'm sure you could find upper tier members of the CAS willing to buy a premium version of a WOW band that might indicate status.

Likely local cartels interacting with each other.

Share the account name so we can report it. 

Havent had the opportunity to try Royal's WOW bands yet but I have used the Disney Magicbands extensively and bought the MSC version for our cruise on Seaside earlier this year.
For $5 I thought it was great value to not have to dig out my card all the time, worry about where to put the card when I jumped in the pool or on the water slide, etc.
My wife wasn't interested in having one .. probably because she is carrying a bag anyway ?
For a good implementation of WOW band I wouldn't have any issue with paying a few bucks for one (assuming I knew it was an add-on fee ahead of time).

Share the account name so we can report it. 

Perfect!!  This is exactly what we are planning on doing.  I guess I just needed confirmation we were doing the right thing!

All because a helium balloon ride didn't open on time?    Cococay will be open, a particular excursion such as the water park may slip.  
They've already provided a schedule when they estimate each attraction becoming available but if those slip you'll still visit Cococay.   You'll still have the beach that you have today.  

I was watching LovetoCruise’s scope for Coco Cay and she said that she was surprised how small it appeared. Made me wonder which is bigger.  So here are two screenshots from Google Maps that are at the same scale. 
Coco Cay

Labadie

 
Coco Cay is significantly bigger then Labadie in physical area but the developed area is slightly smaller. This is part of the reason I loved Coco Cay.  If you kept walking you would eventually leave the rest of the visitors behind and have your own little slice of paradise. Once the “Perfect Day” expansion is complete, the developed area on Coco Cay will be significantly larger than Labadie 
So why does Coco Cay seem smaller.  It is an optical illusion. Coco Cay is an island and flat while Labadie is a peninsula and has more varied geography. 
While I know I will love the new Coco Cay in its own way, part of me is going to miss the undeveloped nature of what it used to be.

I emailed her and pointed out her inaccuracies.  She updated the article, changed the headline, removed the references to Carnival having the largest ship in Galveston and that Vista is Carnival's largest ship.  Someone has to fact check the Chron...

One of the huge hidden pollutants of the sea is noise pollution. https://www.sonicsea.org/film

That being said, I'll be the guy on the pool deck selling black market plastic straws for $1 a piece. #ultimatestrawpackage

Not what I said nor implied. I am simply using peoples justification for banning straws here, and  applying the same reasoning to cruising. ......
Here's some info on Harmony of the Seas :(one of the worlds "cleanest" cruise ships)
-burns as much as 66,000 gallons of the most polluting diesel fuel a day
-emits more sulfur than 2 million cars
-more particulate emissions than thousands of city busses
 
Air pollution from shipping(all kinds) accounts for about 50,000 premature deaths in Europe alone........so yeah, tell me again about how banning those straws on your next cruise is really helping the environment....doesn't anyone else see the irony of this??! It shouldn't be even a discussion or debated.
 
I rest my case....point made!
 

Reduce, reuse, recycle.  Recycle is the last option and a far from perfect option.  Tremendous energy is required to recycle plastics.
If you want to call doing the right thing being PC, fine.  It's very PC.  

If you can get the Refreshment package at $18/day, it is well worth it.  Between the bottles of water, specialty coffee, and non-alcoholic drinks, it does not take a whole lot to break even.

QM2 is 150,000 gross tons,  236' high total (keel to top of funnel) minus 33' draught = 203' above the waterline.  
OA class is ~225,000+ gross tons,  236' from the waterline plus 31' draught for a total of 267' (keel to top of funnel)
The bridge clearance (from the waterline ) is 215ft.  
Definitely no myth OA can't go there.

Oh my, racking my memory now...   We also visited Santorini on Splendour in 2015 and had a great day on Santorini with Kostas as our guide (do a search on TripAdvisor for more info).  He took us to Oia before the crowds arrived and we had a great time.  Be forewarned, the line for the tram back down to the tenders in Fira at the end of your excursion can get extremely long.  We chose to walk down the path dodging donkeys and donkey poop.  Consider it a part of the adventure.

Gorgeous. you were better off just doing the ferry.

Here are some scopes from this cruise:
Havana Arrival
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1RDxlWoVOwMJL?t=3s
Havana Departure
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1RDxlWoVOwMJL?t=3s
Havana Excursion and Walking around:
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1BRJjeVNkWQGw?t=3s
Walking around CocoCay:
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1BdGYogazLZxX?t=2s
Empress Sunset
https://www.pscp.tv/w/1eaJbVlqARQJX?t=16s
 
Cruise Compass has been scanned and sent to Matt.  It should appear shortly on the Cruise Compass page:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compass
 

In St Thomas you could take a ferry to St John. The beaches there are stunning. 
Here is some info http://www.vinow.com/stjohn/getting_there/

I agree, I believe is better if you take the ferry and explore without an excursion. 
Here is one of the beaches you could visit. I took this pic on my last trip to St John's. I was going to book the tour you took but it was sold out so I only book the ferry round trip. 
?

I agree, I believe is better if you take the ferry and explore without an excursion. 
Here is one of the beaches you could visit. I took this pic on my last trip to St John's. I was going to book the tour you took but it was sold out so I only book the ferry round trip. 
?