Symphony Of The Seas REVIEW-- 9/20 from Rome

[MrFunInTheSun]

Great review. Thanks for sharing. That pizza looks so good. Cool idea with your wife’s books, maybe one day someone from this forum will find one. 

[TeamTrom]

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 8:00 AM, CRUIS4ME said:

Would like to know about on board entertainment?   Shows there are?  Any special events like murder mystery or prohibition party?   Thx

 

Plenty of Shows on board but unfortunately we were soooo busy with the itinerary that we only made one, the Aqua Show(Hiro). We made a Prohibition party on Oasis a few years ago but didn't see it this time. Once again with how many ports we had and knowing we would probably only make it here once in a lifetime we did not have a ton of time for extra stuff. 

 

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 8:29 AM, MrFunInTheSun said:

Great review. Thanks for sharing. That pizza looks so good. Cool idea with your wife’s books, maybe one day someone from this forum will find one. 

 

Thank you so much. I would ABSOLUTELY LOVE it if someone from the forum found a book one time. We did get lucky and someone who found the book did get back to us for the first time while in Marseille. We are super excited about this!!!

[TeamTrom]

We had some family in town the last week so I neglected this for a little while. I will be coming back tomorrow to get started on the tour of Pompeii and even more. But first let me share a link to our next video on YouTube. This is of our trip to Frascati and the Wine Tour that we took. Volcanic Wine is a thing... lol

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-w3_gfQ9Fw&t=40s

[TeamTrom]

Our final stop for our day long tour of Naples is Pompeii. Originally this city interested Wifey much more than I but as I learned more about its history leading up to this trip my interest gained some. We arrived ant met our tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and each got our own headset so we could hear everything she had to say. This is so nice because you can enjoy something a little longer while she walks ahead and still learn about the upcoming area. Here she is on the right...

Sun is up with a clouds covering most of the sky, representation of the slightly dark history of this city

Here you will see some of the incredible detail that went into the buildings of this 2000 year old city. It was buried in well over 10 feet of ash from an eruption of Mt Vesuvius with a lot of its citizens still in it...

The amphitheater of Pompeii where games were held is known to be the earliest amphitheater of roman times. 

If you look closely, 4 rows up your will see inscriptions. These are believed to be the original numbers inscribed on the seats...

[TeamTrom]

You can see a the roadway that leads through town, buildings butting up against one another right on the edge of the street. 

Road signs are marked as such

Here you see what a house of luxury consists of from the exterior. Still in very good condition

Very common to find a garden in the center of your home like you see here. 

[TeamTrom]

Here is a reminder of the devastating story this city holds. Many people did not evacuate the city when the volcano gave warnings of an eruption. Most of the people had no time to escape once they realized it was too late...

[TeamTrom]

Lets lighten the mood a bit. Have a look at your old time spa

And where a nice night of rest took place

How about the symbol for a brothel, you would find this in the road in front of the building to mark its location...  😲😂😂

Here you can see Mt. Vesuvius overlooking the city of Pompeii

This statue was added only a few years ago as a gift

There are a hundred more photos but I don't want to show everything. Hopefully one day you can experience it for yourselves. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. 

[TeamTrom]

We had a group of 24 people and 3 tour guides for this day long adventure. Ciro, the one who does this for a living, was awesome and supplied everyone with a bottle of Italian wine to take home. It only cost us 48.75 Euros per person(same rate for 8 people) to do the day long tour. It did not include cost to get into Pompeii nor did it include the private tour guide we had. Neither were expensive. Find him at "taxi mister cab driver-naples & amalfi coast-" on Facebook to schedule a tour with him. Did we mention that between stops he sings karaoke in the van that he drives, he has a display for the words so you can sing along too... it was sooooo much fun!!!

We had Flight, the entertainment show, scheduled in the Royal Theatre that night but lets be honest. After that day we just wanted to spend the evening in the hot tub relaxing the night away!! 

[TeamTrom]

The next day was our only Sea day and in a 10 day span of non stop sightseeing we sure needed it. We spent a lot of time on the top deck.

Made sure to take a ride down this gnarly beast...

 And spent most of the day at the Beach Pool catching some sun and drinking some adult beverages. It was such a relaxing day that had us doing nothing most of the day. Very little in the picture category of the day. It was a day off from everything lol

 

One thing we did do, which we do on every cruise, is take a visit to the Library(in this case is also the card room) and Wifey signs a copy of her book...

And adds it to the small collection for passengers to read.

Let us know if you found it and if you read it!!! 😉

[TeamTrom]

We ate lunch are the Solarium Bistro this day. We had heard some great things about the buffet offered so we took a stroll that way. We took some photos to show the large variety offered here.

 

 

 

 

To be completely honest we didn't enjoy much of what we had here. We each had pasta which wasn't anything special. I remember having piece of sirloin steak that was very tough and dry that I couldn't finish it even with steak sauce. The salad selection was great. PLENTY of options to choose from so you cant go wrong there but most of the other things we ate were very bland and just not up to the expectations. Maybe it was a bad day in there. 

[TeamTrom]

This night we had plans to go to the MDR to enjoy dinner. We have really enjoyed the MDR on all of our cruises and while we do book a few Specialty Dining options each time we live having old reliable there ready for us. We only had the option of My Time Dining, and this was the first time we went this route. We both did not enjoy it nearly as much. We scheduled each of our dinners around our schedule so that was nice to be able to switch things up from day to day based on the time we got back on board or around entertainment options we were too tired to actually make lol but we really like having the same server each night and knowing where our table will be. Each night was a different location and a different wait staff. You are getting scheduled at a separate time of the main dining times and you feel second fiddle... Just our experience. Tonight I ordered the seafood alfredo which was delicious.

Wifey order Steak and Potatoes(not a great picture, sorry lol). She has had better.

And we shard some chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream. You cannot go wrong with vanilla ice cream and that cake was good, nothing to write home about. 

We finished off the night with a stop to the hot tub but first made a trip by the Bionic Bar. I have heard so many good things about this bar that we had to give it a try. You sit at your table and there is a bunch of Ipads around that you place your orders on. Very easy to use and fully customizable. 

Once you place your order it will show up on the screen in the order it will be made. Once your name appears on the screen you can walk up and see how it is made. 

Pours it in a cup and sends it to the end of the counter for you to enjoy. Quite genius. lol Like most other things we didn't have much time to make it back here, just so much to do on the ship. 

[TeamTrom]

We arrive in Barcelona at 5am and there was no way we were getting up that early so we decided to plan this day out completely on our own. We did a lot of research and the first thing we decided to do was take a visit to Las Ramblas to do some shopping and find some food. We take a short taxi ride to the square right off the Las Ramblas strip and find this massive statue.

 

Big square, lots of people, we decided what better place to do Wifey's next book drop. We found this cool statue of a Lion and decided on a spot. 

Free Book to whomever finds it!!!

This city is so cool. Gargoyle statues are so neat!!!

And a few steps away we get out first glimpse at the tree lined street of Las Ramblas

 

[TeamTrom]

And here you will find shops after shops after shops...

Most of Las Ramblas was much more authentic than that though. Such a beautiful place.

And the drinks were flowing... never ending Sangrias and Beer!!! My kinda place.

Oh look!!! I think we finally found our place to eat. lol we cant get away from this place.😂

We came on a Sunday and there was some kind of event going on at this church. Either that or they do Sundays big in Barcelona. You will see more on this later.

[TeamTrom]

Once again we had a list for foods we wanted to try in Barcelona.

We decided the first authentic bakery we came across we would cross something off the list. These look good!!!

We asked her to make us up from churros with chocolate sauce on them.

These were very tasty. They were warm and soft but crispy on the outside..

While we were enjoying our Churros we hear a lot of noise and see these things coming up the street...

They were HUGE... And they walked through the front doors of that church with the big event. This was pretty neat to watch.

 

Edited October 30, 2018 by TeamTrom
Mistake

[TeamTrom]

Walking up the street and with a little taste of Spain in us already we are begging for more. Every couple hundred feet we watch everyone else feasting on some food with a  cold drink in our hand and wonder why is this not us...

So what would you do... I know what we did lol

The food was soooo very interesting. We order a plate of tapas and each was so very different. We were able to knock a bunch of stuff off of our list. We had Chorizo, Potatoes Bravas, a cheese plate, some homemade meatballs and a egg pastry thing or what Barcelona refers to as a Tortilla. Some we enjoyed and some eh but we were starving so we ate it all. lol Washed it down with a Red Wine Sangria, mhmmm

 

Once we finished eating we walked the rest of the street to take it all in. Once we finished we made started making our way to our next destination... the beach!!!

It was about a 30 minute walk from one to the other but it is crazy how you go from tight city quarters with buildings surrounding you to this... Palm trees, open air and sunny skies...

Wifey is ready to get in the water, its getting HOT!!!

[TeamTrom]

Were nearly there and this "little" guy is here to greet us!!! 😃

You know your close when you see some Yachts!!!

Your really somebody when you park a jet ski on the top deck of your boat... I'm sure there is a simple explanation but I am going to stick with the idea that it is a $10,000 piece of artwork and that it is only on display lol 

I'd like to try this one on for size...

[TeamTrom]

Just before we get to the water we walk through this fair. Looks like a fun place to hang out with kids!!!

I want to go on this one... 

[TeamTrom]

And we made it!!!

Barceloneta Beach was very busy but we already expected that. There was still plenty of room for the two of us!!!

Fun little shot here, how many different stories are happening in this one picture alone?

We found our spot to hang out right here. There was a rock "pier" that led out to this area here and it worked out perfectly for what we wanted. 

We were away from the sand, in the water and just far enough away from the beach for some cool shots...

[FionaMG]

Following along. Thanks for sharing. 

[TeamTrom]

Another cool thing about this location was the structure was secure enough to lock my bag to it with our camera gear so we could get into the water without worrying about our stuff running off... 

We could see everything that was going on from this point. 

Took a couple shots, you can see a group of paddleboarders in the background.

I really miss this spot. It was spectacular

Wifey!!!

[TeamTrom]

After an hour or so of cooling off in the water we decided to head back in towards the beach. We had decided long before this day that we were going to eat Paella while in Barcelona. It is known for its Paella after all. So we walk around for a bit enjoying the boardwalk looking for a place we can get it. If you plan on doing this as well reserve a spot ahead, it was a little bit of a struggle trying to find a place we could get a seat.

More Sangria??? Wifey says "Yes Please"

Here is there version of Gazpacho and then a large piece of bread with some tomato sauce on it. Both were.... interesting

And what we came here for. The Seafood/rice dish known as Paella. Mhmmm it was good!!! 

[TeamTrom]

We hadn't realized it until we got back but these ports were not very ship friendly for photos. We never got a picture of Symphony of the Seas to be proud of...

It was Sunday, as stated before, and being the football fans we were we decided to forego any dinner plans and eat instead at playmakers while watching the games. The IPA was good and the hottest wings they offer were HOT!!! And I LOVE spicy!!!

Make sure you know in advance that they DO NOT offer all of the NFL games on the ship. They only played one game at a time which was disappointing to Wifey because her game was not on, but lucky for me My Cowboys were!!! We stayed up late watching games, this was the only night we didn't spend some time in the hot tub.

[TeamTrom]

We docked at Palma De Mallorca at 8am and we were nowhere to be found. We are tucked away in bed sleeping the morning away. Once we do get up from our slumber we decide to pretend that today is a Sea Day. After all we only planned on going to a beach and relaxing anyways, what is the difference between that and the Beach Pool on the top deck 😂😉

 

We had dinner reservations for Chops Grille so we head back to the room to play dress up for the night. We decide before we eat to stop by the rising tide bar to enjoy a drink. This bar is so cool. It is a "floating" bar that is like an elevator that takes you from the promenade on deck 6 to central park on deck 8 all while you sip on a cocktail and enjoy the ride.

Have I mentioned that Wifey is Stunning!!!

Little did we know that we would spend an incredible amount of our time on board in this very spot moving forward.

Why might you ask? Because of these... 

That is the absolute BEST old fashioned of my life and an ABSOLUTELY killer chocolate martini... I cannot express just how good both of these drinks were …

And it was all thanks to this guy. Marcello was the best bartender on board. We rarely strayed away from these two drinks because we couldn't believe just how good they were, but when he convinced us to try something else it was ALWAYS amazing. Not only was a perfect at his craft he was such a cool guy. We had endless conversations that were genuine and made us feel like we had been friends forever. He was a 20 out of 10 and by far the best member on board in our eyes. FIND HIM!!!

[TeamTrom]

Reluctantly we left him because we had to eat. We have been to Chops before and have always enjoyed it so we were looking forward to this meal. 

If you've never been to a Specialty Dining on board let me do a little explaining. You pay a surcharge per person to go, sometimes as low as $20, most of the time $35 and sometime as high as $50 or more. It is a big step above the MDR and the specialize in much fewer items so you know they will be good. You choose a Main Entrée and basically unlimited appetizers so you never leave hungry or before you feel like you got your moneys worth. Desert is included as well. First thing to come was bread. Oh look a full Chocolate Martini, we asked the server to get Marcello to make Wifey another and guess what, they did!!!

We started off with a salad, I'm not sure what is to funny lol 

I also asked for the Lobster Bisque, which of course they sent, they NEVER say no!!! Surprisingly the waiter did try to talk me out of it as he believes it is too salty. I, however, insisted I still wanted it and LOVED it. It was perfect.

Wifey order Tuna Tartar and it looks marvelous... You know that was good, no denying it!!

I had heard endless things about this Bacon dish on the Chops Menu so I looked for it and it found me... Drooling over its...everything!!! This was spectacular. Practically the size of a steak itself. So tender and flavorful. I will get this again in my lifetime, I guarantee it.

 

[TeamTrom]

Ohhhh, what a surprise. Friends we met from our tour in Naples arrived for dinner shortly after us. Will and Danielle are on their honeymoon!!!

I love the story from this photo, I was only trying to get a shot of Wifey but in the background you can catch the waiter getting a photo of them before dinner!!!

I ordered the 20oz Dry Aged Porterhouse with lobster and It looks so good. Unfortunately the steak was tough and flavorless even though it was cooked perfectly(medium rare). This was most disappointing because I really decided to go big and payed an upcharge to get the larger steak that had been dry aged for 30 days but it really missed the target for me. I only took two bites of it and decided to save my appetite for everything else. The waitstaff noticed I hadn't eaten much at all and asked why, I respectfully told him I didn't enjoy it and without ever asking he took the extra charge off of the bill. That's customer service. Lobster was perfect!!!

Stacey went with her usual, Lamp Chops. We also received as many side dished as we liked and went with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Both were very good!

The waiter also suggested we try the shrimp dish and brought it out with our dinner. We can both say the sauce this dish was made with was SO good. I recommend it just for that so you can dip everything in the sauce. Made some of the best shrimp I have ever had!!!