Orange Crush

We used parkportcanaveral a couple weeks ago. Its just a mile or so from the bridge. It was like 6.99 a day. Worked out pretty well but dealing with the shuttles is always a pain but if you have 30 minutes to spare its well worth the savings. I think its roughly 15 per day to park in the parking deck at the port but it's very convenient. We were on the extended Oasis cruise and cars made it through the hurricane with no damage. Just salt spray and sea weed lol.

If you need to transfer data from a phone to a thumb drive then I would suggest purchasing one with both a USB A and micro USB (or Apple lightning) connectors.  Then you can just plug the drive straight in to the phone.

Theoretically, I suppose one should always have their passport with them when travelling ashore primarily in case you are left behind and need to make your own arrangements home. However, this would be hard to do and nearly impossible from one of the private islands and I've never read of anyone being left behind outside of the ship needing to leave early because of a storm (only once that I know of) and then returned.

To be fair, we don't know what dish it is, if it is a kids dish, or if they asked for it to be served like that. 

Very rarely have I found a better price if I booked a year or more out. I also think that this leads to happier customers as nothing is more annoying than seeing a massive price drop after final payment and feeling like you got screwed. I saw this happen on my Princess cruise where prices dropped about $300 per person as they tried to fill empty cabins. 

I like the idea of the earliest price being the best price and knowing I don't have to keep checking up until final payment date.  I'd also get mad if a price significantly dropped after I got locked in.  But they should be filling all of their balconies and suites.  If any of those are going to sail empty, upgrade the C&A customers from lower berths.

Slots are easy, since the machine always knows what you're betting, but table games are still a mystery to me.  I have seen pit bosses walking around scanning tables with tablets in hand--maybe they're taking note of what the players have on the table at the time and the system figures out an average based on those samples.
I know some Vegas casinos are using machine vision in the cameras over the tables and RFID tags embedded in the chips (chips in the chips...) but I doubt Royal's that fancy.

LOL!  I never made that connection until you pointed it out.  My old cable company got bought out by them too, and for all the old company's flaws, I miss them compared to Spectrum.
NEW SPECIALTY DINING DEAL --- ONLY $29.95/each when bundled!

There's a dollar to be made !  What else ?

Same here. Our only rule was "be home when the street lights come on".  Other than that, we were long gone every day.  No helicopter parents in those days !  ...and guess what ?  We all survived !  AND we learned how to entertain ourselves.  Kids don't even leave the house these days unless mommy or daddy is taking them to an organized event - usually at an exorbitant fee.

Cash tips are amazing tools! 
 

I can cook a steak at least as well as a steak house too; probably better since I get to decide exactly how I want it and it's a fraction of the price.  I've had the choice between booking with a $50 OBC or a $50 Costco gift card I'll pick the gift card every time.  I can put together a NICE steak dinner for two under $50 with sides, wine, and dessert.  You'll blow past $50 for just the steaks at a steak house.
That said, there's a certain appeal to being waited on and having someone else cook for you.  I would certainly never say NO if somebody wanted to take me to a nice steak house!

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

The crew probably doesn't like being put in a position to play bad cop and scold guests for sharing their drink package.  A lot of people get in to that "I'm on vacation and I'll do what I want!" mentality, and it isn't fun for anybody to watch the ugliness that comes from that mindset unfold.  I'm sure money's a factor in this decision, but I bet that reducing the amount of policing the crew has to do is part of it too.
Sucks for people who obeyed the rules, but I understand why they're making this change.

I have seen the prepaid drink cards in the past, not every cruise.  They would be for 10 drinks, don't remember how much it cost. But usually it pops up towards the end of the cruise.  I asked the person selling the drink package once on embarkation day, he looked at me like I kicked his dog.

Your question regarding 5 yr old is prudent. We live in Florida and usually get annual passes most years. Starting from when our youngest was age 7. (Yes prior to that we did Disney, Sea World, and Legoland as great options)
Universal is a GREAT park(s) (better than Disney in my personal opinion). However, there will be much fewer things for the 5 yr old to do (specifically look at Universal Orlando's web page for height requirements). Universal Studios will have great simulator rides like Minions, and Shrek, and Transformers that he/she probably will be able to ride. And also the Woody Woodpecker kids coaster and the ET ride and possibly Men In Black (great family ride). Not to mention the animal stunt show and other "kids area" stuff. Lots of characters walking around as well. Not sure about the height requirement for the Diagon Alley ride (some rapid motion, short drops, and mostly 3-D story interaction). 
Islands of Adventure is probably not worth it for a 5 yr old. Much more focus on motion rides that have taller requirements. (But in my opinion the better Harry Potter area is still the Islands side, 2 coasters and the castle ride). Islands does have the great Dr Suess area for smaller kids, and there are some cool things in the Jurasic area (like the flying bird "swing" ride that is restricted to just smaller kids and their parents), and the Marvel comics area where you can sometimes get pictures with heroes and villans.  Again age 7-8 seems to be a great age to start here.
Beware, the parks are very crowded in the summer, and extremely hot & humid. Pace yourselves (build in sitting/rest times for the kiddos). Also, if you decide to do Universal parks on your own (apart from RCCL) I HIGHLY recommend you pay the extra $ to stay at either Hard Rock, Portafino, or Royal Pacific on-site hotels. Those hotels not only get you in and hr early each day to Harry Potter area, but also include FREE express passes for up to 5 people in a room, for each day (including check-in & out days). Those Express Passes easily double the rides you can cover in a limited time, and on a hot day, that means EVERYTHING.
Have fun & welcome to Florida.

They are advertising  a big time headliner to perform a special concert.
 
I wonder if Bonnie Tyler is available?

My grandmother took the whole extended family out on a cruise 16 years ago, I was surprised to find that I still got credit for those cruise points all this time later!  It might not help your point balance, but it's something they can use and appreciate far into the future.

My grandmother took the whole extended family out on a cruise 16 years ago, I was surprised to find that I still got credit for those cruise points all this time later!  It might not help your point balance, but it's something they can use and appreciate far into the future.

My grandmother took the whole extended family out on a cruise 16 years ago, I was surprised to find that I still got credit for those cruise points all this time later!  It might not help your point balance, but it's something they can use and appreciate far into the future.

As a result of the overwhelming popularity of the C&A program and the associated perks, perhaps Royal should charge a $7.95 fee for those who want to partake. ;)
Too much sarcasm?
Seriously, I understand the need for the change as there becomes a point when the sheer number of C&A members becomes unmanageable. And for Royal, it's a good problem for them to have. However, I also think that they should replace a perk with something else if they're going to take one away. For example, they could wave the room service fee for Diamond Plus members. It really wouldn't cost them as many might not use it and it would add some good will. 

Agreed, load up an iPad

I'll add one more factor - iPlayer will only work if your connection is in the UK (you have an IP address in the UK).  The IPs issued to VOOM, in my experience, have been North American.
There are ways of working around each of these factors, but they are substantial obstacles.

As @tiny260 said, we already hashed this out a while back regarding AppleTV. Chromecast will have the same issues, which boil down to:
Most important -- the remote has no way to change the input on the TV, and the TVs don't have obvious on-device controls for menu navigation Next most important -- The Chromecast / AppleTV has no ready way to connect to the ship wi-fi since you need a web browser to manage the log in, and the device has to be on wi-fi before you can stream to it from another device Also -- You can't stream from a phone or tablet that's connected to the ship wi-fi to the Chromecast / AppleTV; a device can't be both a wi-fi receiver and transmitter Are there really convoluted hacks to let you get around all of these issues? Sure! But as also noted, why go to all the trouble when you're on a cruise ship and can enjoy all she has to offer? ?
If you really need the media, say for a child who has a particular bedtime routine or the like that you're trying to preserve, best bet is probably to see if the programs you want / need are available for offline viewing on Netflix (this is a recently added feature). Then you can download them to your device and just watch on there.

I have loaded shows and movies on my Grand-girls iPads for the airport, plane, and waiting in the stateroom before dinner.  Looks like I had a good idea too!