whenismynextcruise

The first night is really casual, pretty much a free-for-all. Throw a few things into a backpack to change into just in case your luggage doesn't make it before dinner. I've found backpacks are easier to carry than totes, especially at the airport for "hands free". From airport to hotel to ship, a backpack is one of the best things I've ever bought. 

On our last cruise we all went to dinner in what we wore at boarding - all in shorts and a sleeveless top for one member of the party.

Very good point.  ...and be aware that the luggage handlers at Bayonne are Longshoremen and they can be grumpy.  ?

Not a fan of the Gift. Spectre on the other hand does change some depending on the cast or some other factors I am not privy too. On our trip at Thanksgiving on Anthem it was a new cast/lead and it was very good. We Will Rock You is decent but I dont find it a show that I have wanted to see more than 2 times.
I do think that RCL needs to look into rotating some of the shows around though. I get the expense and all (its been discussed here before). Personally I would rather see them bring in new talent with new shows a little more often. 

Yeah, even after paying attention at the start and getting the gist of the plot, I still left less than halfway through. For me, even understanding that key plot point, I just found the show too disjointed. The song transitions were jarring since it's just a mish-mash of popular songs from the time the show was created, and there's no discernible progression in terms of theme, rhythm, emotion, etc. For me, it felt like the music was picked solely for its use to support the choreography, with no consideration of how it also affects the show. And for me at least, the music is probably one of the biggest factors in how much I like or dislike a show.
I'm probably an outlier with that, though. I spent a lot of my time between grade school and early college learning and studying music (tried to double major in music and biology; music lost); Music just matters a lot to me in a show. I totally get other people's argument when they say that Spectra feels disjointed to them, since the acts don't have any real connection to each other and there isn't even the hint of a plot that The Gift has. But for me, Spectra is a much better show because the music very clearly "fits" into and augments each of the performances, and there's a spoken intro to each that lays out what the idea of each bit is and establishes, "OK, we're making another change now."

Now I'm curious which ship you were on!  I thought the only JS without walk in closets were Majesty and Empress because all the cabins are smaller and on those ships the JS is basically what every other ship calls a balcony.

It should really be noted here that some things that are mentioned here are not the same for all ships. As example we have only traveled JS for the past 5 cruises and have never had a walk in closet. The "free" deliveries to your room also depend on the ship AND the room steward you have. As @WAAAYTOOO mentioned Coastal Kitchen access is nice but its not on all ships. I may have missed what ship the OP was looking at but I would probably be more specific about which ship you are looking at so people that have actually traveled on that ship in a JS can give you specific perk info.

Sorry but if I'm awaken at that time of the morning and GS did not answer the phone, I would have been standing in front of their counter, and they would have known I was there.

I am sorry that you had to deal with such an issue on your cruise.
I would not have put up with that behavior for an entire cruise or being put on indefinite hold with Guest Services.  First night of the cruise - ok - I remember my first beer too.  From the 2nd night on - GS or Security better be at the neighbor's door to deal with it.  I would also be noting the names of everyone who I interacted with at that point.  If the neighbors are waking you up, your cruise has already been negatively affected.  Standing in line at GS to discuss with Management is a small (additional) price to pay to get it resolved.  I know for a fact that the line at GS in very short at 3am.
If the issue wasn't resolved onboard, but you had names of everyone you spoke with - mentioning it on the survey or an email to Miami would have had more weight.  Once you are off the ship there is nothing to be done.  
I don't know what day you spoke with the father, however, I would have mentioned to GS that you knew a father of one of the young men was onboard.
From the Guest Conduct Policy:
Parental and Guardian Responsibility For purposes of this Guest Conduct Policy, a minor is defined as anyone under the age of 18. A young adult is defined as anyone ages 18, 19 or 20. Parents and guardians are responsible for the behavior and appropriate supervision of their accompanying minor(s) and young adult(s) throughout their vacation. This obligation applies during transfers to and from ships, inside terminals, while onboard, at our ports of call, during shore excursions and at our private destinations. This responsibility applies at all times, regardless of whether the parents and guardians are physically in the company of their minor(s) and young adult(s). Under no circumstances should the parent or guardian of a minor debark the ship without their accompanying minor(s) or without having made arrangements for the accompanying minor(s) appropriate supervision on the ship during their absence.

It should really be noted here that some things that are mentioned here are not the same for all ships. As example we have only traveled JS for the past 5 cruises and have never had a walk in closet. The "free" deliveries to your room also depend on the ship AND the room steward you have. As @WAAAYTOOO mentioned Coastal Kitchen access is nice but its not on all ships. I may have missed what ship the OP was looking at but I would probably be more specific about which ship you are looking at so people that have actually traveled on that ship in a JS can give you specific perk info.

I forgot........ SPACE and MORE  SPACE!
 
We have only stayed in a Grand Suite once. We were married on the cruise, so we splurged. The extra space is amazing! That said, we didn't use any of the extra services so it isn't worth the extra expense for us to do any time in the near future. We love the Junior Suites. The extra space and double C&A points justify the cost for us.

Just for comparison sake I looked at WaterCountry for the price of admission. $62.99 for a day. That is an entire waterpark. I realize that ECL will continue to charge what the consumer will pay but I thought it worth pointing out.

Thank you @Jill - we paid $79 onboard at Thanksgiving and I have to say it was OK for a bit but the stairs are killer and really after you ride the slides a few times we were done. Not worth the money for us really.  Forget about the cabanas. As far as I am concerned RCL has out priced itself already on them. 

If you are driving down from Foxboro you are really looking at a 3.5 hour drive straight through. We drive from just north of boston, have done this trip many many times on the day the ship leaves, parked at the super convenient garage directly next to the port and have never had any problems. We, of course, watch the weather and such up to the point of departure and if there looks to be a storm then we could easily drive down the day/night before and stay in a hotel if needed. Obviously I am not sure what your reasons for wanting to travel the day before are, many here will tell you they never travel same day, but it is such a short drive you can really save on the money you will spend on the hotel with the 100% convenience of driving yourself, parking at the port and not worrying about a Lyft/Uber or shuttle where you have to schlep luggage around. Leaving the ship is even easier because you are not waiting for a ride and if you walk off the ship you can be home in Foxboro by 10:30 AM.

I've been on several cruises during spring break and honestly the rowdiest people have been the 40 somethings, not the college crowd. 

Spend 40K on cruises to get a free $15 towel. Makes sense.

Spend 40K on cruises to get a free $15 towel. Makes sense.

Good point. As long as enough people pay, they will keep rising the price.  We hit out threshold. Will see when others stop too.

It’s tough to pay the high water park price when they have multiple slides on the ship we are going on already. 

I agree, prices are quite high for things on Coco Cay. When I was there in September we got lucky and booked a chill island cabana for a reasonable cost. A few weeks later they were 1000usd. Everything else went up too. A few weeks prior to the cruise, prices dropped dramatically. 
I am on the Odyssey Inaugural sailing and prices are high for everything. Interestingly, water park cabanas are 1/2 the cost of all the other cabanas right now. Coco Beach club cabanas are insane money. 
I think as long as people actually pay these prices Royal will keep them there. Prices will drop when people stop paying them (though, I doubt people will stop)

Cape Liberty is an awesome terminal (much better than years prior), having checked in via app it was a quick check, through security and into seating area. Easy. There is also a parking garage on-site for a reasonable fee. Don't know much about the hotels in the area.

Not sure what the hotel package offers or how convenient it is but just parking at the port for our cruise for thanksgiving week (Sat-Sun) was $176USD or $22 per day

I was in a hump balcony cabin on Freedom last year, with my kids in the connecting cabin next door. While it's true that with effort you or others can lean over and peek around the partitions, we never had a problem with that from any of our neighbors. Also never had any issues with noise from either side; only real noise problem we had was from our kids' cabin, as we could hear them clearly through the connecting door if they got to arguing.
That said, on one of our two Anthem sailings, we'd sometimes hear our next-door neighbors talking if they were out on their balcony. Not loud or obnoxious, it's just quiet enough outside that you can easily hear people talking at normal volumes without trying.
But having that view of the cobalt blue water when you're in the deep ocean makes any problems you might have worthwhile. I love those moments when I'm on a ship, now.

If you've got neighbors that are a little more talkative, while you're wanting to enjoy the view more peacefully, a good set of headphones is great for balcony relaxation. ?

I am sure that you will enjoy your balcony. We never sail without one now. Even with everything that you have read here it is still a great space to be able to go outside and get fresh air or look at the views and normally noise etc are not a problem at all. most people are pretty respectful. We especially love the balcony because we keep the door open some at night. The ocean waves sounds and the breeze are fantastic for sleeping :)
Enjoy!!!