Bob_KY

That is correct as of May 2016 when I had it. What I did was make a payment on line. When the payment processed I called and asked them to make sure the insurance became effective immediately and to email a new invoice/confirmation, which they did.
 

Jack Daniels is the McDonald's of booze - it's ubiquitous, it's reasonably priced, it tastes fine, but nothing to write home about, and it's got brand recognition. Thus, every bar carries it, just like they all carry Johnny Black and Smirnoff and Bacardi. Unfortunately, it's not the bars' fault - it is the fault of the uneducated consumer. Hence, I drink Jack when they have nothing else available, and Smirnoff and Bacardi - NEVER JWB!!! Yuck!

I couldn't decide to start a new thread our add too another thread, but decided on a new thread.
It has to do with the new pricing strategy, refundable, non-refundable, etc, etc., and a lot of you may already know this, I had not seen it on RCCL web site yet so I wanted to post this information.
I was researching a cruise that I want to take in either 2019 or 2020 (I know 2020 are not out yet, OCD ring a bell), so I was looking at the 2019 12 night South Pacific-Fiji cruise out of Sydney, so I picked the 3-17-19 cruise, clicked "Book now", number of cabins, number of people, type of cabin (Suite), (This is the new part), do I want refundable or non-refundable deposit? I pick refundable, because there is only $67pp difference between the two, go to the next page to select what type of suite, I'm only given the choice of Ocean View Panoramic or a Junior, well I really want a Grand or Owners, so I go back and pick non-refundable, I'm presented with Panoramic, Junior, Grand and Owners. Besides the differences of them limiting what room types you see there was also a difference of non-refundable having an instant $100 OBC, they both offered the current BOGO offer and the discounts for them looked similar, i didn't actually calculate them out, so not 100% confident that they were the same. I did use the Junior as a comparison since it was on both and the non-refundable was cheaper on the base rate by $71, the categories all looked the same they were both offering J3 and J4.
I know a lot of you use TA, and so do I, I was just doing a little research and was surprised by the web page hiding room types depending on Refundable vs non-refundable. Now this is a pretty specific example and I didn't do this comparison for any other cruise destinations, IE. Caribbean, Alaska etc..
Please fill me in if I missed something...

Bourbon..  Woodford Reserve or Bookers - neat. Higher end bourbons (like Scotch lovers point out their favorites ) are in short supply.  

The next one. :D

This doesn't bother me very much.  I don't decide to book a cruise or not based on the deposit.
I'm always going to book refundable, so I can get my deposit back.  And you end up paying the same total at the end.
Sure, it ties up a few more bucks.  But I don't tend to worry about that very much. I know others aren't in the same situation.

I don't think there is a limit on what you can have laundered....but as others have suggested, I limit my laundry to cotton items that have no particular emotional or financial value.
Just a note....they use the most obnoxious stick'ems [tags] on your laundry items.  Not sure what they are exactly, I just know that they attach them to your clothes (presumably for identification purposes) and in some cases, they're nearly impossible to detach !  ...and they will poke and chafe you relentlessly if you cannot remove them.
I've never had anything lost of damaged.

On allure a few years ago our muster station was in studio B. It was about 55 degrees in there lol. Luckily we were a few drinks in already so it was nice.

If we are going to take over, we will need......

 
 "One million bloggers!"

Although it really should. Someone on a 14 European cruise really should be allowed more wine than someone on a 3/4/7 day cruise. 

Thanks DocLC!  Matt's post was very helpful.

Ensure your passports are valid for at least 6 months after your departure date
Travel insurance (if you so choose) 
Set a reminder to keep checking the site in the event of a target promotion (such as the 20% off bev packages some have seen)
Notify CC companies and/or banks that you'll be traveling when/where
Stop your mail, newspaper, etc (may have to wait until 90 days out)

I will defend your right to smoke, as long as it doesn't infringe on my rights not to inhale second hand smoke. Truth be told, I wouldn't cruise on a ship that allowed karaoke through out the ship! I don't do that either. 

Here's what I decided to use for our 12 night cruise and a few pre and post days: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M62ENQR/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_hifF1UZUv8tWf
On cruises longer than a week, I just plan on using the laundry bag option for socks, underwear, and t shirts. I figure $25-$30 is worth it. 
 

Pack for a week and wear everything twice. That works for me, but I'm a guy, if you couldn't tell.

Tony, you definitely will not have to pay for room service from the MDR.  That much I know for sure.  As long as the food is delivered to your suite you can get as much as you want from the MDR during hours that the MDR is operating.
As for access to the CK/Suites Lounge, I'm not really sure what to suggest to you.  There are 2 Concierges - one in the D Club and 1 on the Suites Lounge but from my experience, there are numerous people at or near the doors of both the CK and the SL so "seeing" the Concierge might not really help you.  It can't hurt to try.  I'm sure that the correct answer is that only suites guests are allowed in the Suites Lounge but I also know that having them go to dinner with you in the CK should be easy to arrange.  The lounge is definitely more problematic than the restaurant.  I would just ask and see what happens but then you're alerting them to the fact that your parents are NOT suites guests so if the answer is not the one you want, then they will know for sure that your parents aren't eligible to be there.
I was in a similar situation last Feb. on Harmony and, in the end, we ended up just not inviting our non-suite guest friends to the lounge b/c we didn't want to make them feel bad that they weren't allowed in and we didn't want to put the Concierge in an uncomfortable position to have to deny them entrance.
One thing I will say....we were in a Star Class suite and our Genie made sure that our [non-suite] friends were always included in any activities that the Genie arranged for us.  They were presented with a bill for specialty dining (we were not) but they were never excluded and they always had reserved seats with us when we went to the theater or the ice show.  I was very grateful to him (our Genie)  for that.
 

SHHH! 
Actually, I'm a consultant for a company that makes software for software developers and write custom code/do training/consulting on configuration/a whole bunch of really exciting stuff. I'm still fairly young for what I do so my vacation time is a little short so all of the cruises I've taken have been 3-5 days... so it sounds like more than it is.

I was the sweet spot --- now I guess I'm the "Age Spot" ---

I hate trying to get a good spot by the pool on sea days.  The chair saving is ridiculous.

The travel getting to the cruise. For European cruises, it takes us about 24 hours from the stateroom door the the door of our house. And for domestic cruises, it always requires a hotel stay the night before since Royal doesn't offer much on the left coast. 

Of eight RC cruises, consistently,  our best service experiences have been with our stateroom service.  This one service category could be a distractor - but had always been an "enhancer."  
Like mom2mybugs, one Radiance OTS bartender remembered my fav drink, greeted me by name, and was always upbeat.

Its minor and silly,  but i had a pool waiter that learned my name,  constantly came to my deck chair to check on me (during a busy sea day), and let me run a drink pkg tab until the very last drink (i didn't have to keep signing every drink).  It was just a nice day that he made nicer!   Jane

Didn't try specialty dining. Since it was our first cruise on RC, I wanted to try all 5 nts in the main dining to evaluate variety of the menu, etc. 
"One more question"  you stated it exactly, didn't think another cruiseline could match up and being a Disney Vacation Club member, I have never really been disappointed in my experience with them. Over 20 years of vacationing in Disney and DCL, if I've ever mentioned a problem at the resorts or anywhere else I have been reimbursed financially very well for any inconvenience.
I didn't want to spend $2000 to be disappointed in any way on another cruiseline. However leaving out of NJ, and the ability to skip flying, plus not wanting to be a person who wouldn't try another cruiseline push me in this direction. Leaving out of Bayonne and going under the Veranzano Bridge was really cool. Then cruising north, dcl doesn't do that much and when they do it, like twice a year or so, they can charge a bundle, so this worked for us.
 
Rebooking a cruise next year for 7 nts to Bermuda and a stop at Boston, was perfect for us. The rebook was easy. The price dropped about $150 and i made a call to RC and they credited me right away. 
Calling RC to make changes and adjustments over the last year or so, is always easy. Hardly wait. They are very helpful. So in a way, the entire experience surprised me. 
Getting a balcony for the same price as a dcl inside room, is also a plus. .....It's the men's bathroom that needs to be addressed. Really no excuse for that.
After the trip I know sometimes things go wrong, like I tried to do early walk off on disembarkment day, wow that was a mess. But people we ate w/ just walked off at the time they were suppose to, so I'll do that next time. Tendering to Bar Harbor was also a huge pain, but I decided not to focus on the negative, which is weird for me. Too many surprisingly nice things happened for us.  

I've read some people who have complained about all the hand sanitizer stations they have aboard cruise ships. That some how that's a sign that they are dirty and unclean and that's why there are "outbreaks" of illness on board. How about the fact that those germs are being brought onboard by passengers and that's the reason for all the stations. If everybody used them, at least for the first few days on board, it would benefit everyone. It only takes one person to infect everyone.

1. What exactly does priority disembarkation get you? Do you get to walk off the ship and bypass all lines on the last day? Special meeting place and departure access
2. What is Priority Dining reservations? Certain amount of seats held for Suite guest. Specialty restaurants, MTD, I would still make reservations, see Concierge below.
3. What seats do they reserve for you at shows? Front? Middle? And do they reserve a set number for all suite guests or as requested? Usually close to the stage, get their early or they will be made available to the general public.
4. How do you make reservations to CK? It's not on my cruise planner. Do we have to wait till we get there? See below, let your Concierge know.
All guests booked in a Sky suite will receive:
8 days after booking: a welcome email 7 days prior to sailing: an email reminder. Additionally, Sky guests will receive an introductory email from an onboard Concierge.