1) When you first board the ship (embarkation) usually occurs between noon and 2:30pm. Get there around 11:00am if you want to be one of the first on the ship. Get there around 1:00pm if you want to minimize the amount of time you will spend in line. Whatever you do, make sure you are there at least two hours before the ship is scheduled to leave (you don't want to miss the boat).
The last time you leave the ship (debarkation) usually occurs between 8:00am and 10:00am. You will be given a number or color and when that number or color is called, it is your turn to leave.
Ports - you leave and return at your leisure. Typically you have to be back on board thirty minutes before the ship is scheduled to leave. You can leave, return, leave, return, leave and return if you want. If the ship arrives at 7:00am typically it will not be cleared until around 7:30am. Will some people line up to be first? Of course. If everyone was being lead to the gallows, someone would still want to be first.
If the ship is docked (tied up to the pier), then you walk on and off at your leisure. If the ship anchors in the bay, you will take a tender (usually one of the lifeboats) from ship to shore and back again. The tenders run all the time.
2) You will order your drinks just like you would without the beverage package. In either case you have to show you room key (which is the size and shape of a credit card). This is how you charge things on the ship, or in the case of a beverage package demonstrate that you have already paid for your drink.
3) Balconies are three sided. One side is the back of your cabin. The two smaller sides are the dividers. The fourth side is missing, which means you can look out and see the ocean (or in some cases the side of the ship docked next to you). Since there is nothing there, the air has no trouble getting in. If you don't know the people next to you, then you will not be opening the divider between the balconies. Nonetheless, both cabins would have to agree to open the divider or it stays closed.
4) The two main dining options (though not the only dining options) are the main dining room (aka MDR) and the buffet. Treat the 8:45 time slot as a reservation, meaning you want to arrive at the dining room between 8:40 and 8:45. If you cannot or will not make it for one reason or another (you ate in town, you are eating at a specialty restaurant, you've decided to go to the buffet ...) make sure to tell your table mates or waitstaff so that they don't wait for you. As for the buffet, you can arrive whenever it is open.
Two person tables do exist. However, you will be assigned a table in the MDR. If you are assigned a two person table, great. If not, getting there early will not get you one. You can on the first day (the embarkation day) go to the MDR, speak with the maitre d' and ask if (s)he can assign you a table for two or move you to the any time dining. Slipping him/her a $20 might help (no, I am not kidding).
