Symphony of the Seas review April 14 sailing

[moonflower0906]

I've tried to submit my review on Cruise Critic twice and it still hasn't gone through. Anyone know what the lag is? I've seen other reviews get posted now.

 

In the meantime, I still want to share my experience on Symphony of the Seas with the community.

Before I start, I'll give a little background on my cruising style:

 

I might not be your typical cruiser. I don't go on with plans to drink a lot (we had a handful of cocktails) or spend a lot of money doing specialty dining. My first cruise (to the Caribbean), we focused more on the cruise. This time, the itinerary was port-intensive and we booked it with the intention of seeing a lot of Europe in a short amount of time. We knew we were going to get off in every port (which many on the ship did not do) and see the sights. We are serious about our food and wine but our emphasis was on eating and drinking local when we were at port. (We live in California and drink local wine at home so for us, traveling to another wine region is about trying their wine.)

 

We considered booking a cheaper cruise with less activities since the trip was so port intensive but I had been wanting to sail this trip and try Symphony of the Seas for a long time so we went for it. We hoped to have great activities and eats on the ship when we got back in the evenings too but as the cruise wore on, we realized we'd have to eat at port if we wanted to be satisfied.

 

My review:

I sailed on the April 14 sailing on Symphony of the Seas and it was one of my worst vacation experiences.

 

I’ll start with the positives:

The ship is beautiful. The artwork is beautiful, I love the whimsical feel and every room is classy. The staterooms are nice and the beds very comfortable.

The shows are cool. Some of them are a bit high concept. I honestly think if the ice show was iSkate 2.0 expanded, audiences would be just as happy as trying to figure out that strange storyline in 1977 but overall, a talented team.

I like the emphasis on cleanliness with hand sanitizer and sinks everywhere.

Here are some of the problems we experienced on the ship:

The food is not great. The breakfast at the Windjammer is cold in areas it shouldn’t be and the potatoes are dry. I assume it’s a given the scrambled eggs are a mix. In the Main Dining Room, I had to send back the tuna one day because it was rubbery. The Royal Chocolate Cake doesn’t taste like chocolate. In Park Central, we took some sandwiches with us on a temperate day. 2 hours later, we took them out to eat and parts of the sandwich changed color, stemmed from what we believe to be poor ingredients or improper temperature food storage. Beyond that, the dishes were inconsistent. Some were good but many were average to below average. The menus were not inspired by the local foods or ports. It was completely generic.

 

The wine list contains generic wines you could get in any American restaurant or Costco (like Duckhorn and Francis Ford Coppola) and there’s no cocktail menu at the dining room. This is a Mediterranean cruise. Wines are made in every country we ported at. Why not celebrate the local flavors a little more?

The service ranged from good to poor but really, it was inconsistent. Rooms are barely cleaned. When we moved the pillows off the bed to sleep, the staff would not pick them back up when making the bed. They would just make the bed AROUND strewn pillows. Cups were left around for days. I found a mug in my nightstand after THREE days! Eventually, this got better so I assume it’s a kink the team is working out.

In the Solarium Bistro breakfast, tables would be covered in empty plates, giving the appearance of a trashed restaurant. Guests would have to shove plates around on the table to make room to eat and even when I asked they be cleared off, they were not always cleared off.

 

When we called (from the hall) about our phone problems (more on that below), the operator tried to tell us it was late and could he just come tomorrow. We said no. They did fix it but then ANOTHER guy showed up later in the night to fix it again. Seems like poor miscommunication.

We had a guest services officer tell us iSkate 2.0 was free skating time for passengers. It’s a show. Please educate your guest services team.

 

The spa was small. The “lobby area” for the thermal suites connects to the aroma spa (which had no aroma), the tiny dry steam room and the rainforest shower so you can hear every door slamming and everyone struggling with the rainforest shower, which only lasts 10 seconds. The worst part is that the ceiling shook every time someone above in the gym lifted a weight, took a step on the stair master etc. Why would you not soundproof the spa?! Also, I really missed the floor to ceilings windows of the sea that Carnival had. The noise was too distracting and I had to get a refund.

The nightly dance parties with the life-of-the-party cruise director are lacking. Oh and all the cool activities you advertised? The escape room was only open once at a port time. The skating rink is only open once for passengers. Things open and close at weird times and the hot tubs are not hot. The advertised activities, especially those in Studio B, were a gimmick.

 

The technology on this ship is not good.

 

First, a tech/service issue:

The automatic door at Central Park malfunctioned and nearly slammed in my face and instead of noticing he should report it, the staff member laughed at me! A second time, it slammed me hard in the shoulder because the automatic doors in Central Park are slower than ALL the other automatic doors on the ship!

 

Back to the phone: our room phone needed 3 work orders so we basically had to go to guest services or do it ourselves every time we need something. Why am I paying $14.50 a day for service?

 

The app sucks. You can’t bookmark events, message other guests on the ship, it listed incorrect times for trivia, listed an ice skating event and then we got there and it was iSkate 2.0 and it generally lacks info like “don’t bring any loose items to laser tag.” We missed events because of the app.

 

FINALLY, the billing issues! First, I got billed twice for a spa pass and had to have it refunded. Then, on the last day, I was told I didn’t return towels and charged $50! First of all, we last used towels on day 5. We brought them back and the employee barely paid attention when we returned them. Or perhaps the technology malfunctioned again! We spent the last night at midnight at Guest Services (AGAIN) to clarify the towel billing. We were told they would take it off and it would reflect on our account in the morning. In the morning, on the tv, the towels were still there but on the paper invoice, it was gone (slow technology yet again!?). We figured that’s fine but then I got home and got billed for the towels AGAIN! I had to call and then had to explain yet again how I didn’t take the towels. I’ve been told the charge will be refunded in 7-10 days so only time will tell if it’ll finally happen.

 

This cruise was an awful experience. To their credit, a Guest Services Officer did offer 10% off our next cruise but we declined (got $50 on board credit instead) because we will never sail Royal Caribbean again and will never recommend it to our friends.

I saw someone else reviewed they also thought the food was bad but some other reviews online have been good so I am interested to see what others experienced.

[Clarea]

I've tried to submit my review on Cruise Critic twice and it still hasn't gone through. Anyone know what the lag is? ...

I know it can take several weeks for a review to get posted.

[MsJaydee]

Wow what a completely different experience you appear to have had than we did. We sailed on Symphony's pre-opening cruise on 31st March and found it incredibly good.

We thought that from beginning to end RC pulled out all the stops to impress. The service, cleanliness, food and wow was probably the best we have experienced on RC.

[darthvadrouw]

Wow what a completely different experience you appear to have had than we did. We sailed on Symphony's pre-opening cruise on 31st March and found it incredibly good.

We thought that from beginning to end RC pulled out all the stops to impress. The service, cleanliness, food and wow was probably the best we have experienced on RC.

 

 

Completely agree with you, sailed on the maiden voyage and it was wonderful, food was good, no door issues in central park, cabin spotless everyday, solarium bistro was always clean. There were several skating sessions, several laser tag sessions ... App did its job, was able to book shows, look at the daily activities, didn't need more. Wine list/food issue is not specific to Symphony but to Royal.

Regarding activities, according to the Cruise Director some of the activities (love and marriage/belly flop ...) are not scheduled on the med cruises as they do not appeal to the majority of the passengers that tend to do these cruises (different crowd than in the Caribbean), they will be available when the ship gets to Miami.

Edited April 28, 2018 by darthvadrouw

[MsJaydee]

Completely agree with you, sailed on the maiden voyage and it was wonderful, food was good, no door issues in central park, cabin spotless everyday, solarium bistro was always clean. There were several skating sessions, several laser tag sessions ... App did its job, was able to book shows, look at the daily activities, didn't need more. Wine list/food issue is not specific to Symphony but to Royal.

Regarding activities, according to the Cruise Director some of the activities (love and marriage/belly flop ...) are not scheduled on the med cruises as they do not appeal to the majority of the passengers that tend to do these cruises (different crowd than in the Caribbean), they will be available when the ship gets to Miami.

 

Where'sthe like button when you need it :) 👍

[ChipLondon]

Or when translated into English

 

This person walked into the door because it did not open as fast as they expected.

 

The door cannot slam you if you don’t get too close too quickly, Yes the doors to the lift area did at times open slower than others around the ship, but hey wait for the door to open then walk through it .....NOT BEFORE .... if this happened during closing then it can hardly slam you if it is slower. The same thing occurs on the doors from the pool deck into the Lift lobby area there. Sometimes these are effected by the wind pressure outside. Hey you are on vacation the extra couple of seconds will not mean you will miss anything.

 

This is a new ship there are bound to be some teething issues, as there will be on any ship that has so many mechanical and technical components, same will apply on an older ship.

 

I wish everything in my home worked as it should.

 

By the way you will find similar “issues” on other cruise lines.

 

..................

 

 

First, a tech/service issue:

The automatic door at Central Park malfunctioned and nearly slammed in my face and instead of noticing he should report it, the staff member laughed at me! A second time, it slammed me hard in the shoulder because the automatic doors in Central Park are slower than ALL the other automatic doors on the ship! ................

[wendychloecruiser]

Sounds like our inaugural on Quantum!

 

I hope the towel saga has not morphed out of the mystery charges for the missing pop cans in the minibar!

[CruiszBug]

I'm sorry you were disappointed in your Symphony cruise, because it sounds like you were really looking forward to it! Your expectations were high due to all of the advertising of this marvelous new ship. This sailing did not live up to your expectations. But thank you still for sharing your experience!

[moonflower0906]

Or when translated into English

 

This person walked into the door because it did not open as fast as they expected.

 

The door cannot slam you if you don’t get too close too quickly, Yes the doors to the lift area did at times open slower than others around the ship, but hey wait for the door to open then walk through it .....NOT BEFORE .... if this happened during closing then it can hardly slam you if it is slower. The same thing occurs on the doors from the pool deck into the Lift lobby area there. Sometimes these are effected by the wind pressure outside. Hey you are on vacation the extra couple of seconds will not mean you will miss anything.

 

This is a new ship there are bound to be some teething issues, as there will be on any ship that has so many mechanical and technical components, same will apply on an older ship.

 

I wish everything in my home worked as it should.

 

By the way you will find similar “issues” on other cruise lines.

 

I should clarify. One side of the doors malfunctioned. So the right half opened at a normal pace and the left half slowed down partway through so that's why it slammed as I was going through...I thought the pace was already established by the right half and so I moved as such.

[darthvadrouw]

I should clarify. One side of the doors malfunctioned. So the right half opened at a normal pace and the left half slowed down partway through so that's why it slammed as I was going through...I thought the pace was already established by the right half and so I moved as such.

 

It's most likely fixed by now, minor technical issues as that one will appear on any ship, new or old. Like I said it was working on my sailing, got broke by the time you went on it and is now probably fixed. The staff member might have already reported it before or did it after, I also understand him chuckling at someone walking into a door, although it must not have been fun for you I can see the funny side of it from an external point of view.

[moonflower0906]

It's most likely fixed by now, minor technical issues as that one will appear on any ship, new or old. Like I said it was working on my sailing, got broke by the time you went on it and is now probably fixed. The staff member might have already reported it before or did it after, I also understand him chuckling at someone walking into a door, although it must not have been fun for you I can see the funny side of it from an external point of view.

 

It should be because I reported it to Guest Services.

[darthvadrouw]

Back to the phone: our room phone needed 3 work orders so we basically had to go to guest services or do it ourselves every time we need something. Why am I paying $14.50 a day for service?

 

The $14.50 is not all for the guy repairing your phone or guest services, it's mostly for your stateroom attendant, Maitre D , waiter , assistant waiter and some people working behind the scenes. These gratuities can be removed if you are not satisfied by the level of service provided.

[darthvadrouw]

 

This cruise was an awful experience. To their credit, a Guest Services Officer did offer 10% off our next cruise but we declined (got $50 on board credit instead) because we will never sail Royal Caribbean again and will never recommend it to our friends.

 

Yep, all of Carnival's doors work perfectly and have never malfunctioned, all of their phones have never had any issues, when they bother to come to Europe they adapt their menus to the reflect what is available locally, have some of the most amazing food available at sea and they never have any billing issues, I completely get you :) I would be curious to see what Carnival's Horizon is like.

 

I must have a completely different mindset than you, but come on all of what you described hardly make it an 'awful' vacation. You were on one of the most beautiful and technology advanced ships there is doing one heck of an itinerary, great ports, amazing stuff to see. Staff on board were also some of the best and most experienced that Royal has. If you had a room steward that didn't do his/her job correctly, why didn't you report it ?

Edited April 29, 2018 by darthvadrouw

[moonflower0906]

Yep, all of Carnival's doors work perfectly and have never malfunctioned, all of their phones have never had any issues, when they bother to come to Europe they adapt their menus to the reflect what is available locally, have some of the most amazing food available at sea and they never have any billing issues, I completely get you :)

 

I must have a completely different mindset than you, but come on all of what you described hardly make it an 'awful' vacation. You were on one of the most beautiful and technology advanced ships there is doing one heck of an itinerary, great ports, amazing stuff to see. Staff on board were also some of the best and most experienced that Royal has. If you had a room steward that didn't do his/her job correctly, why didn't you report it ?

 

I didn't say it was an awful vacation. I said the cruise was an awful vacation experience.

 

We had a great time at the ports and cities (visited some others before the cruise started). I was talking about the ship itself. Not the beauty of the Sagrada Familia or hiking Cinque Terre. We did report these problems to the staff. (The one thing we didn't report were the ones related to stateroom cleanliness because I did not want our super nice steward to get in trouble but everything else, we reported,) The Guest Services Rep found a record of 3 work orders on our phone by the time we started reporting the problems (spa issues were reported on day 2) and that's when she started discussing reparations with us.

 

The first night the phones didn't work and the food was ok...whatever...the second night, ok just move the cups all over the stateroom out in the hall...people kept shoving the buffet plates int he center of the tables to make room for their families to set their new plates...but the things all add up.

 

The amount of time spent at guest services and trying to attend activities we were told "happened an hour ago in another room" (we were actually sent to THREE spaces before someone told us it was at 5pm, not 6pm) or were not actually what was listed on the app at all...is not my idea of fun.

 

WE had a great vacation...loved Europe...Barcelona is one of my new favorite cities...I enjoyed the company... in spite of the cruise part.

Edited April 29, 2018 by moonflower0906

[yuvraj]

I would like to thank the OP for their review.

 

I recently had a really bad cruise on another cruise line. So bad that I am seriously considering whether to sail with that line or ship again. So I know exactly how it feels if you come back from a cruise feeling a little disappointed. I don't believe that one sailing on a brand new ship with mixed experiences should put you off sailing with RC again but then that is a personal decision.

 

It's a new ship with a new crew so I am sure things will settle down. I sailed on Allure when it did the Med itinerary and I really enjoyed it.

 

I agree that the thermal suite on RC ships and in particular this class of ship is not great.

[moonflower0906]

I would like to thank the OP for their review.

 

I recently had a really bad cruise on another cruise line. So bad that I am seriously considering whether to sail with that line or ship again. So I know exactly how it feels if you come back from a cruise feeling a little disappointed. I don't believe that one sailing on a brand new ship with mixed experiences should put you off sailing with RC again but then that is a personal decision.

 

It's a new ship with a new crew so I am sure things will settle down. I sailed on Allure when it did the Med itinerary and I really enjoyed it.

 

I agree that the thermal suite on RC ships and in particular this class of ship is not great.

 

Thanks for sharing your experience too. So during the ship, I mentioned (in the privacy of our room) to my boyfriend several times "I think it's because it's a new ship and they're working out the kinks." He asked though "But the staff isn't all new right? I mean, this isn't RC's first ship. They've launched many ships before so why does being a new ship matter?" My response was, "I don't know...maybe they're not used to working together yet?" If we hired an all-new team of experienced professionals at my office job, that would be my guess.

 

I honestly DON'T know why being a new ship affects service. Anyone have thoughts on that?

 

And re: venues not being ready" Why is the ship being launched without the venues being ready for business? I get not wanting to fall behind on business but...why is not being ready considered a normal thing?

 

If someone has experience with the cruising industry, I'm genuinely curious about these two things.

 

Side note: We figure there's a lot of cruise lines out there. We hoped RC would be one we'd like enough to sail multiple times, since it seemed to have the right mix of budget and luxury for us, but we're just going to keep experimenting with different cruise lines. I want to try Celebrity Cruises since I've heard (including on this website) they have the best food.

[darthvadrouw]

And re: venues not being ready" Why is the ship being launched without the venues being ready for business? I get not wanting to fall behind on business but...why is not being ready considered a normal thing?

 

 

What venues were not ready ? The only one that wasn't on my sailing was the escape room ....

Regarding the shows, Hiro wasn't available but Royal did put on an alternative show instead (AquaNation) and they had warned us beforehand that it wouldn't be available. Flight will only be shown as from May, again they didn't hide this and had other shows instead. Hairspray,1977, the parade were also ready.

 

The ship was ready (unlike the Harmony when it started sailing), the staff was experienced, the service was great, what you experienced were one offs that added up and are common to all cruise lines. Service was better than what I've previously had witch is amazing considering that the ship is brand new, Royal did a great job with the start up of this ship. When I first boarded I was expecting to have the same inaugural problems that previous ships had experienced but was pleasantly surprised to find out that that wasn't the case with Symphony.

Edited April 29, 2018 by darthvadrouw

[phabric]

I will be in a balcony cabin.

 

Is there shampoo, conditioner and shower gel in the cabins?

[fallujahkid]

“I honestly DON'T know why being a new ship affects service. Anyone have thoughts on that?

 

And re: venues not being ready" Why is the ship being launched without the venues being ready for business? I get not wanting to fall behind on business but...why is not being ready considered a normal thing?”

 

Not just cruise ships. Vegas mega resorts (Aria, Wynn) also experience rough births. The investment is so immense doors have to open and staffing levels, completion of amenities fall into place along the way. If you were a major shareholder or executive how long are you willing to wait to establish steady revenue streams? At 70% of operational capacity? Sooner, later?

[swoopy2110]

Someone I know who cruises a lot just got off Symphony yesterday and said it was the best cruise she's ever been on!

[saus]

Hi MoonCruiser0906,

What a bummer of a cruise. I could see one or two of the mishaps that you experienced being par for the course, but things really piled up for you. And it seems like the staff often made things worse, not better. I appreciate you taking the time to write about your frustrating experience.

I’m happy to read that other aspects of your vacation were so enjoyable.

As I’m going to be on Symphony traveling the same itinerary this summer, I was wondering if you could tell me how you would do things differently if you were locked into a cruise on Symphony.

Do you recommend specialty dining? Or are there dishes in the MDR, Solarium, Mexican place, and/or cafes that you do recommend (I’m not really a Windjammer person)? It sounds like bringing as much good, local wine as allowed at embarkation would be wise.

How about your port excursions? Do you have any recommendations? Any restaurants or experiences that one shouldn’t miss?

Based on your review, I will check the phone the first day, communicate clearly with the room attendant about my expectations, get to the Solarium early for breakfast (before the dishes pile up), rely on the cruise compass (not the app), stick to freshly carved meats in the park cafe (and eat them quickly), have cocktail in-hand if I venture into the MDR, keep my expectations for the spa, skating and dancing events low, get to laser tag early, stay on high alert when entering or exiting Central Park at all times, and set aside some time to deal with the seemingly inevitable overcharge for towels.

This is good stuff. Thank you. Any other recommendations that you have would be very much appreciated.

 

[SamTimeDining]

Just curious, what was wrong with your phone that required it to be fixed immediately? I don't think I have used the stateroom phone more than maybe 5 times total in all my cruises! lol

[brookmill18]

Not sure, but one of the reasons it may have been disappointing is mixing "cruise vacation" with "European vacation". Some people love mixing the two and can move back and forth, but on a large cruise line, I think it's important to realize that the experiences on board are going to be somewhat standard fleet wide. Meaning, the on board cruise experience in the Med isn't going to be tailored that differently from the on board experience in the Caribbean (except for a few ship activities). The menus, wine selections, etc are all going to be the same. Which can be disappointing when you've spent the day exploring a European city, you're in that zone, and you return to have dinner in what now seems to be a "generic" restaurant.

 

The smaller, more "luxury"based lines may be different and extend the European experience on board--not sure.

[cruiselvr04]

What you experienced is not so out of the ordinary for any cruise. On Navigator 2 weeks ago we had no TV remote control until the second day. Our stateroom attendant said it was getting new batteries. We had charges twice for drinks we did not order. The food was inconsistent. Twice we couldn’t get a table at the Windjammer. The cruise director left a lot to be desired. A staff member at the excursion desk was rude.

 

We never went to guest services for any of these issues. ( We did dial 0 to take care of the erroneous charges.)

 

It was a great cruise overall. The evening entertainment was very good, specialty dining was great, room attendant very good, concierge fabulous. We have six more cruises booked.

 

Thanks for your honest review. I will know to not depend on the app but use the cruise compass. It would be irritating to miss an activity that you wanted to do. From what you describe mainstream cruising isn’t for you. You may need to go to the luxury cruiselines to meet your needs.

[moonflower0906]

Just curious, what was wrong with your phone that required it to be fixed immediately? I don't think I have used the stateroom phone more than maybe 5 times total in all my cruises! lol

 

So RC doesn't allow you to fill your water bottles directly from the restaurant water machines. We asked staff what to do and they said call room service for water. That was the first reason we needed the phone. When we picked it up, there was no dial tone so we went to guest services. This incident/night, we needed two work orders (and had to ask two times) because the first time, no one came.

 

After that, we figured out that the fastest way to get water was to fill the cups with water at the restaurant and then pour the cup into your water bottle so that wasn't an issue. (I totally get why they do this for sanitation reasons).

 

The next time I found the phone had no dial tone was when we tried to find out what happened with the towel charges on night 7, hence why we ended up at guest services.