Windjammer symphony of the seas

[backsbanny]

Hi to all. I am currently onboard. Food on the main dining room is acceptable but not what it used to be. Service great overall but the food quality and options at the windjammer are the worst ive ever seen in all of my previous cruises. Huge cutbacks by RCL unfortunately

[sgmn]

3 hours ago, backsbanny said:

Hi to all. I am currently onboard. Food on the main dining room is acceptable but not what it used to be. Service great overall but the food quality and options at the windjammer are the worst ive ever seen in all of my previous cruises. Huge cutbacks by RCL unfortunately

Disappointing, I guess this is the first cruise after dry dock so they've had a couple of weeks to do a reset and some training. 

Hope it gets better for you, and for us next month on Symphony 

[sowhat]

4 hours ago, backsbanny said:

Hi to all. I am currently onboard. Food on the main dining room is acceptable but not what it used to be. Service great overall but the food quality and options at the windjammer are the worst ive ever seen in all of my previous cruises. Huge cutbacks by RCL unfortunately

We were going to book the Symphony  of the Seas for a birthday  and anniversary cruise but the poor food reviews  and the outrageous pricing we never did
So glad 😊

[BennyandBo]

4 hours ago, sgmn said:

Disappointing, I guess this is the first cruise after dry dock so they've had a couple of weeks to do a reset and some training. 

Hope it gets better for you, and for us next month on Symphony 

OP didn’t have problems with service. The food quality and options has nothing to do with dry dock. Don't kid yourself. It's fleetwide. I'm already lowering my expectations for Wonder in May. It may very well be my last Royal Caribbean cruise if the food is as bad as the reviews lately. It's not like you can hop in the car and drive down the road to eat. Food on a cruise is too important for the penny pinching games they are playing. It's sounding like Carnival 2005 all over again.

[sgmn]

6 hours ago, BennyandBo said:

OP didn’t have problems with service. The food quality and options has nothing to do with dry dock. Don't kid yourself. It's fleetwide. I'm already lowering my expectations for Wonder in May. It may very well be my last Royal Caribbean cruise if the food is as bad as the reviews lately. It's not like you can hop in the car and drive down the road to eat. Food on a cruise is too important for the penny pinching games they are playing. It's sounding like Carnival 2005 all over again.

I meant training with chefs to get them up to speed with how to cook the food properly. And they've had plenty of time to source good food. 

Anyone know what they do with the staff on a short dry dock. Do they all get sent home?  Stay in local accommodation?

I think a lot may be to do with supply issues, (Ukraine and bad weather in Europe caused a lot of problems last year) and new crew who may not have the skills of pre pandemic crews. 

I think RC is still trying to recover from 2020 and may not be prepared to  pay a premium for good quality food. Maybe it would be better if they put prices up to a level where they can deliver a good product.

 

 

Edited April 21, 2023 by sgmn

[BennyandBo]

9 hours ago, sgmn said:

I meant training with chefs to get them up to speed with how to cook the food properly. And they've had plenty of time to source good food. 

Anyone know what they do with the staff on a short dry dock. Do they all get sent home?  Stay in local accommodation?

I think a lot may be to do with supply issues, (Ukraine and bad weather in Europe caused a lot of problems last year) and new crew who may not have the skills of pre pandemic crews. 

I think RC is still trying to recover from 2020 and may not be prepared to  pay a premium for good quality food. Maybe it would be better if they put prices up to a level where they can deliver a good product.

 

 

I'm OK with raising prices. Everyone is. But don't cheap out on the food quality. And don't tell me about your money problems. If you can't afford to stay in business and recover from the pandemic loans. Shut your doors and go out of business. But they don't care about my money troubles. I don't care about there's. I paid and except certain things in return. And again, don't kid yourself about supplies from last location etc. These problems are fleetwide.

Also train your chef's on land before boarding. That also is no excuse.

Edited April 21, 2023 by BennyandBo

[luvintravel]

Our dining experience in the main dining room on Symphony of the Seas in September was the worst. Food was mediocre and service was horrible. After three attempts, we stopped going and chose to dine elsewhere. Fortunately there are other options. The nights we were there many tables were empty. Perhaps they were shorthanded. Yet we will give it another try! B2B Rome to Barcelona and TA.

[bouhunter]

We were on Jewel, Symphony and Grandeur this past winter.  MDR and Windjammer food is definitely not what it used to be.  Pretty much average/acceptable at best.  Windjammer on Symphony was CHAOS every time we checked it out.  So were the elevators - wait time was forever and always packed.  We walked a lot of stairs.

[topnole]

11 hours ago, sgmn said:

I meant training with chefs to get them up to speed with how to cook the food properly. And they've had plenty of time to source good food. 

Anyone know what they do with the staff on a short dry dock. Do they all get sent home?  Stay in local accommodation?

I think a lot may be to do with supply issues, (Ukraine and bad weather in Europe caused a lot of problems last year) and new crew who may not have the skills of pre pandemic crews. 

I think RC is still trying to recover from 2020 and may not be prepared to  pay a premium for good quality food. Maybe it would be better if they put prices up to a level where they can deliver a good product.

 

 

They stay on the ship in most situations, but many don’t have to work as much.  We were on the Symphony TA and had communication with the concierge after our cruise.  She told us a bit about how it was going during dry dock.

[KeroTravel]

14 hours ago, sgmn said:

Anyone know what they do with the staff on a short dry dock. Do they all get sent home?  Stay in local accommodation?

 

 

 

As per a vlog that I regularly watch (from a member of the staff on SOTS), the staff stayed on the ship for the dry dock, and worked semi-regular days in other positions that pertained to being in dry dock (like ensuring safety etc with the contractors).  Certain people also brushed up on skills and re-certified for specific things where they could.

[KeroTravel]

OP, in any of your main dining room menus do you have lobster any nights that isn't an upcharge?  We board next week and only see it as an upcharge 😕

[backsbanny]

No free lobster anywhere. On royal night there is an option for grilled jumbo shrimp. We went for lunch on jamies and chops. These were like always top quality. Johny rockets was good also and playmakers. Main dining room quality was definitely not like it used to be but the service was top notch.Having disembarked now i can say that service was great everywhere on the ship. Crew very friendly, chatty and smiling at all times. Food quality though was the worst ive ever had on a RCL cruise. They are way behind NCL at this moment. NCL though has increased prices to the roof. I wish in the future when all lines pay their loans that RCL will revert back to good quality they used to have. I will check again on October ( 3 day rome barcelona symphony cruise) but all my other future cruises currently are booked on Celebrity until i see that RCL is back in the game

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, backsbanny said:

No free lobster anywhere.

One should not expect it on a sailing outside of the US.