Woody14

That makes sense, on Voyager we had nothing to pre book, 1 now on Odyssey so when I go to icon I assume it will be many.

not sure on Oasis but I am on the Odessy in a couple of weeks and we only had 1 show that was reservable. All the rest are not.

check out this site. https://www.saintgregtravel.com/menus/ it has all the food and beverage menus so you can see availability and prices.

50 lb ones are great

sorry I wish I did.

I would bet you will tender to the old port as pretty much all tenders go to the old port.

The first time in we arranged a tour with the ship that gave us a half day tour and dropped us at the airport. The second time we did a private tour something like what you are planning but when I told the tour company my plans and issues, for a nominal extra charge they were able to take our luggage and organize getting us to the airport. It was so worth the reaching out to them to ask.

Wow that is like 1/3 of the ship

did overnight in Cabo (so tendering) and we could come and go all night. It was interesting there was a carnival ship in doing the same thing but they could not come and go.

absolutely

your on board the ship experience is going to be the same. Since both cruises have 3 sea days that will be similar. You have really 3 different things to consider: 1 - travel time to the ship and home - as a fellow west coaster (Vancouver) it is a significant factor for me, if I can extend time out of Florida I don't object but it is a long way just to go on a cruise. The other part of that is cost - for me I can get cheap flights to LA but not so much to Florida. 2. weather - the two coasts have different weather - less of a factor in December but still a consideration 3. the ports - this is the big difference - Mexico ports and many Carribbean ports are a very different experience so it depends what you are looking to do. I have done the Mexican Riviera cruise 3 times now and so for me it is about relaxation time, but I still do a tour to the arch and spend time at lovers beach in Cabo, and do some shopping and exploring in PV, Mazatlan for some reason I have always done either hiking or food type things. On the Carribbean Princess Cay (private island) is relaxation / beach time. San Juan is a neat place and I would explore the forts (although I have been 2x so I might look for something new), St. Thomas has a lot of water (sailing, snorkelling) and some amazing beaches. Either will be great.

1/2 of St. Martin prefers euro's as well but they will take USD

Regarding the communications, did you book with a TA or royal direct. If you booked with a TA the changes would have been sent to them. You would have got the excursion change notice as you booked that with Royal via the website or the App.

Royal would be my first thought then perhaps MSC (different vibe but my kids loved it)

I like cruising which is why I cruise and don't fly to my destination. That said most of the time the destination is more important than most other things. The ship (one vs another) is not important. While I do have my favourite cruise lines that is less important than the destination. Cruiseline would rank higher than the ship for me.