My players will arrive at Maelstrom soon. Any DM tips for this chapter?

Any hints for making Storm King’s Thunder A Great Upheaval more lvl 4 apropos?

Will Tomb of Annihilation be more sandbox/open world or story driven?

AL How much renown and downtime should I award to players in SKT?

I’m planning on running Out of the Abyss and Storm King’s Thunder together, any suggestions?