gizbug

Those with a 4 year old, was there enough stuff for them to do given the steep price at this water park? I know mine is too small for the big slides 

Doesn’t RCL bring down prices with big sales in January/February months? Last year they did and I repriced a Thanksgiving day cruise that I had a deposit in and saved big….

13 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

Gizbug, genuinely sorry to hear about all the issues...I am just politely asking if you spoke to anyone onboard regarding all your issues? Thanks.

 

* Our first RCCL ship was Song of America.

Some of the issues, yes.  Wife & Mother in Law did not want to make a huge issue of some of the things but felt I would bring them up in my survey/review to the cruise line. 

Here is a quick rundown of some issues/negatives from our voyage last week:

Found the Dinner Service in the dinning room to be a bit slow.  The Assistant waiter rarely came to the table. Sometimes we did not get asked for wine until after appetizers.  Water was not frequently filled in our glasses.  Our table location for a table of 5, was a rectangle table with 1 chair on the end that was out in an aisle.  No ideal.  Having 2 young kids, and cruising on Royal Caribbean cruises since I was a kid (30+ years) I found that the lack of attention to the kids was surprising.  In the past, waiter would cut the food up for my 3yr old.  Found this didn't happen at all on this cruise.  Food portions were a lot smaller than past years, and the new menu this year leaves a lot to be desired.  Charging for an extra lobster tail when the last 3 years it was included is kind of ridiculous.

Would appreciate if the stateroom was attended to morning/night.  Seems to have only happened once.  In years past, mints and towel animals were the normal every night.  This year was hit or miss on towel animals and never any mints.  

Bars ran out of ice a few times during the day, causing my family to wait 10+ minutes to get a drink until ice was found. Not ideal for bar service.

The Aqua Park on Labadee was full of Jelly Fish. My son got stung 5 times, along with many others.  Royal was kind enough to refund the excursion for us.  Found the pizza slices to be 1/2 the size of what they were the last few years on the ship. Not sure why, but it's something our family noticed (along with frequent long lines at the pizza place).  

The WOW band we found to be a complete waste of $10.  It rarely worked.  I had to get it reprogramed twice as it would not work at the bars 100% of the time.  It also fell off very easily if it got caught on your clothes.  Cheap material maybe.

Would like to see the Adult Karaoke in Dazzles at night.  It is just too crowded in the current location On Air Club.

Been cruising on Royal since the Sun Viking / Song of Norway / Sovereign of the Seas days, so this isn't my first rodeo on their ships.  Hope some of the constructive feedback in my review helps others.

PS. We used #GoneCaribe for a private excursion on Curacao, and couldn't be happier!  I suggest you look into their services. They are highly spoke about on these boards, and their service/tours are A+

37 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

Aqua Nation: The day-time diving show - no reservations required.

 

 

Spot the diver...

 

 

 

 

 

 

you got my son and I  in the Aqua Natuon picture lol

7 minutes ago, rorito said:

I am reading posts that a lot of the fleet has begun decorating the ships for Christmas. Have you seen any sign of that on Symphony yet? 

tree went up at 730am this morning 

Found our wow bands more headache then they are worth.strap always getting caught on things and causing them to fall off. Hit or miss on them working at bars with their readers. 

19 minutes ago, Morecruisesplz said:

Like...?

Don’t want to hijack the thread. I’ll post in the next few days after vacation.

On the same ship as you currently. Will be curious to read your final verdict. This is our 4th year on RCL over Thanksgiving and have to admit this year there were some changes from previous years that hurt the overall experience 

Thanks. I’ll try Boleros or the comedy club box office then 

Where does one go to book shows & Adult Comedy club on Symphony of the Seas after boarding the ship first day? Guest services ?  App says shows sold out FYI

15 hours ago, SUESEABE said:

$17.99 a day now and 55% for multiple devices. I booked internet on my name with 4 devices for our 6 day March cruise and paid $215.94. 

Thanks! Booked under me with 2 devices 

1 hour ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

You didn't mention when your cruise is, but if you can wait about 10 days you will catch the black friday sales, which may be even cheaper.

we sail Nov 18

Just now, Ocean Boy said:

What price do you see in the app?

$19.99/day (20% off or save more per additional device)

Me with 2 devices - $255.92 

Wife and I, each with 1 device - $319

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

You can use any number of devices concurrently up to the limit of the Voom package - there's no "registration" of a device, the system doesn't distinguish.

 

The on-board price is likely to be around $26/day

So given this, it seems cheaper to signup in the app, and have 1 guest with 2 devices opposed to 2 guests with 1 device each.  Savings is about $80 that route

Want to purchase internet access pre-cruise on a 8 day cruise coming up.  Any idea what the charge is when we get on the ship if we don't prepay?

Also, I found that if 1 guest, registers 2 devices pre-cruise, it is cheaper than 2 guests in the stateroom, each with 1 registered device.  If this is the case, 1 guest can register his and his spouses iPad device ? 

27 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Use the browser based planner.

That on royals site?

6 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Enter your cruise details in the cruise planner lookup tool in my signature and you can see the price they are selling it for right now.

Don't see a signature for you to access this tool you speak of.

What’s the easiest way to price beverage package after purchasing (looking for lower price)?  In the Royal App, it no longer shows price or promotion for beverage package after purchasing.  Do t really want to call up Royal every few weeks and ask for current price 

33 minutes ago, JeriNP said:

Any news on the parking lots around Port Everglades?  Friends are on a cruise right now and their car is parked there. Terrible if all FLL cruise passengers come back to ruined cars.  

flooded. Along with decks at the airport 

$72 per day is cheapest I’ve seen for Symphony during Thanksgiving 2023. Been tracking prices since first week of December 2022. Loosing hope it will ever get lower 

10 hours ago, bjsurman said:

My husband and I went on our honeymoon (1980) on SunViking. Still the best cruise ever! On the smaller ships, you get to know everyone.

 

Ain’t that the truth! Met the doctors son on song of Norway. They both were from Norway. Stayed in touch with the kid for a few years after the cruise (think I was 8). Also got free tour of the ship 🙂

You can request one. We’ve had one (they refer to it as a play yard I believe) on our last 2 cruises 

Just now, cruisegirl1 said:

I kept hitting my head on the window. It has a pretty steep slant. 

m

Odd….our bed wasn’t under the window at all. We put my kids pack and play under it and had no issues 

Showing my age (44). Anyone on the boards been on this ship (I think it was their smallest ship, or maybe Song of Norway?

kind of miss those small intimate ships 🙂