Semi live review Symphony Transatlantic

[Deeliteful]

Hi everyone

This is a late start to my review as we set sail from Barcelona on 29th October and due to arrive in FFL on 12th November.

I am travelling solo but met up with my friend Anne who I met on the Jewel last year.

 

Had a fabulous 2 days in Barcelona. Our first port was Valencia and I had organised a tour for 14 of us for a Paella cooking class. 
 

It was a fantastic day / if you are going to visit Valencia check out Horta Viva. Taxis were arranged by Miquel, the chef and owner, and cost us 10 Euros each round trip from the ship.

 

We had ham and cheese for a starter, beer, wine of soft drinks throughout / the amazing paella, fruit, cake and coffee for the awesome price of 49 Euros each! Totally 5 star day.

 

[NoShoes2]

Looks amazing!

[Deeliteful]

So Day 3 was Cadiz and as I have been before I just wandered around town and met up with Anne at a beachside restaurant for lunch. She had been on a RCI Sherry tour and was not impressed.

 

So the ship - this is my first cruise on the Symphony and I won’t be back. Whilst there is little wrong with the ship per se, it is just too big and too crowded for me - Anne agrees too.

The last TA was on the Jewel last year and that was just perfect. (My review is around somewhere 😂)

 

The UDP looked like a bargain when we both bought it but it is an absolute sh1t show trying to book anything. I won’t go through all the issues but an example this morning trying to book lunch and dinner (we have both been trying on the app for days but everything already booked!)

I called the dining line and told Chops was closed, call 7000. This takes you to the exact same voice message, as does the one when you call Guest Services! So we are taking our chances and going down at 12 to see if we can get in.

 

Wont be buying it again / we are definitely not alone in our complaints about this. An example - we were booked in for Day 2 dinner with a group at Jamie’s. When we got there on time they told us they had no room for us despite the rest of the group being there! The maitre d was extremely rude but luckily guest services were great and got us into Chops where we had a great meal.

 

We have since eaten twice at Jamie’s and it’s been excellent (with no grumpy Maitre d in sight!)

 

Have enjoyed Izumi and Hooked too. Not so keen on Wonderland but it’s an experience. Pic of some good at Playmakers!

 

Favourite bar is Vintages but have also enjoyed Boleros and Schooners. Obviously plenty more to try 🥂🍸🥳

 

So having a great cruise but the ship is not for us.

[gfargo53]

that is over the top amazing looking cooking

[h20skibum]

We sail on Symphony about a month after you make port in Port Everglades.  It will be our first time on Symphony, but we have sailed all the other Oasis class ships.   I have a feeling it will be packed for that sailing right before Christmas.  We were spoiled by those reduced capacity sailings coming out of the pandemic. 

[cruisin73]

Thanks for posting.  We were on Symphony in May.  We stayed in Barcelona a few days before the cruise and was introduced to Paella.  I would have loved a cooking class.

We loved Symphony so much so we are booked on her again in about a month.  The big ships are not for everyone but we love them. We booked all our dining reservations when we got on the ship so maybe that helped but I also know booking 14 nights of dining all at once is not ideal. 

How have the seas been?

[fromaustin]

Thanks for sharing! We are also on the cruise right before Christmas. Looking forward to hearing any good reviews you may have. 

[Deeliteful]

Always lots of posts about the quality of the food and how it has got worse but I have to say we have both enjoyed every meal we have eaten.

Have now eaten lunch or dinner or both in Chops, Jamie’s, Hooked, Wonderland, 150, El Loco, Playmakers, Izumi, MDR (lunch only), and food and service has been fantastic. 

 

Wonderland was least favourite, Hooked and 150 the best but a tough call. 
 

The weather is now great, sunny and warm and smooth seas. We have had some big swells but this ship can handle those well.

 

The major complaint from many is the noise level - especially on the Promenade.

They have a band playing when things like Trivia are going on, so really tough to hear. One guy measured the level at 95 Db!🙉

The Cruise Director needs to work on that!

 

Saw the Comedy Show, not impressed at all! A Brit and a guy from Boston. Very poor imo but lots of people liked them!

2nd formal night tonight and we are eating in the MDR liked the look of the menu.

 

Will Iet you know how it goes! And I’ll try and remember to take pics!

[TheHawk1]

On 11/5/2023 at 8:13 AM, Deeliteful said:

So the ship - this is my first cruise on the Symphony and I won’t be back. Whilst there is little wrong with the ship per se, it is just too big and too crowded for me - Anne agrees too.

The last TA was on the Jewel last year and that was just perfect. (My review is around somewhere 😂)

Everyone has a different idea of the perfect cruise vacation.  I wouldn't take even a free vacation on a ship as small as Jewel, as I know I would be bored to tears.  I just finished a Mediterranean cruise on Symphony, my second time on this ship after a Caribbean cruise in 2020 pre lockdown.  After two sailings, I think this is the best Oasis class ship in the fleet (and I've been on all five).

[Deeliteful]

2 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

Everyone has a different idea of the perfect cruise vacation.  I wouldn't take even a free vacation on a ship as small as Jewel, as I know I would be bored to tears.  I just finished a Mediterranean cruise on Symphony, my second time on this ship after a Caribbean cruise in 2020 pre lockdown.  After two sailings, I think this is the best Oasis class ship in the fleet (and I've been on all five).

As you say, we are all different! Just not for me

[Nick67]

Thanks for posting. I’m still undecided about a transatlantic. Want to do an eastbound next April. Reading your post is helping me decide. Thanks

Edited November 7, 2023 by Nick67

[taglovestocruise]

24 minutes ago, Nick67 said:

Thanks for posting. I’m still undecided about a transatlantic. Want to do an eastbound next April. Reading your post is helping me decide. Thanks

Don't rule out a Westbound, we have done several on Oasis Class, Voyager Class and Freedom Class. All Westbound have had far better weather. Westbound in Oct seems to carry far less children. The six or seven time changes in the middle of the cruise seems much easier to handle when we go West. Happy cruising

[wolfcathorse]

Would you mind finding out who the captain is please. I need to see if my chart is correct.

[Teeara]

12 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Don't rule out a Westbound, we have done several on Oasis Class, Voyager Class and Freedom Class. All Westbound have had far better weather. Westbound in Oct seems to carry far less children. The six or seven time changes in the middle of the cruise seems much easier to handle when we go West. Happy cruising

So true!  Loved those 25 hour sea days during the Wonder WB TA last year.  Going to book Allure WB TA this week (if RCI would ever open it for booking 😉😊).

[Morecruisesplz]

On 11/5/2023 at 2:13 PM, Deeliteful said:

So Day 3 was Cadiz and as I have been before I just wandered around town and met up with Anne at a beachside restaurant for lunch. She had been on a RCI Sherry tour and was not impressed.

 

So the ship - this is my first cruise on the Symphony and I won’t be back. Whilst there is little wrong with the ship per se, it is just too big and too crowded for me - Anne agrees too.

The last TA was on the Jewel last year and that was just perfect. (My review is around somewhere 😂)

 

The UDP looked like a bargain when we both bought it but it is an absolute sh1t show trying to book anything. I won’t go through all the issues but an example this morning trying to book lunch and dinner (we have both been trying on the app for days but everything already booked!)

I called the dining line and told Chops was closed, call 7000. This takes you to the exact same voice message, as does the one when you call Guest Services! So we are taking our chances and going down at 12 to see if we can get in.

 

Wont be buying it again / we are definitely not alone in our complaints about this. An example - we were booked in for Day 2 dinner with a group at Jamie’s. When we got there on time they told us they had no room for us despite the rest of the group being there! The maitre d was extremely rude but luckily guest services were great and got us into Chops where we had a great meal.

 

We have since eaten twice at Jamie’s and it’s been excellent (with no grumpy Maitre d in sight!)

 

Have enjoyed Izumi and Hooked too. Not so keen on Wonderland but it’s an experience. Pic of some good at Playmakers!

 

Favourite bar is Vintages but have also enjoyed Boleros and Schooners. Obviously plenty more to try 🥂🍸🥳

 

So having a great cruise but the ship is not for us.

We are with you on the dining packages. We only had 6 nights + our D+ bogo. Unless you can catch a specialty with an open table early, plan on dining late. Jamie's usually has open tables early. We were told for 4 days of checking that our 8pm Chops reservation was the earliest they had. "Early dining is popular" is their line. We were having a drink in Central Park with plans to get a snack and wait for 8pm. When walking by Chops, we saw lots of empty table. We walked in and were seated. I told the waiter to tell desk staff that this would replace our 8pm reservation. Do you think passengers are over booking on purpose?

[Morecruisesplz]

21 hours ago, Deeliteful said:

Always lots of posts about the quality of the food and how it has got worse but I have to say we have both enjoyed every meal we have eaten.

Have now eaten lunch or dinner or both in Chops, Jamie’s, Hooked, Wonderland, 150, El Loco, Playmakers, Izumi, MDR (lunch only), and food and service has been fantastic. 

 

Wonderland was least favourite, Hooked and 150 the best but a tough call. 
 

The weather is now great, sunny and warm and smooth seas. We have had some big swells but this ship can handle those well.

 

The major complaint from many is the noise level - especially on the Promenade.

They have a band playing when things like Trivia are going on, so really tough to hear. One guy measured the level at 95 Db!🙉

The Cruise Director needs to work on that!

 

Saw the Comedy Show, not impressed at all! A Brit and a guy from Boston. Very poor imo but lots of people liked them!

2nd formal night tonight and we are eating in the MDR liked the look of the menu.

 

Will Iet you know how it goes! And I’ll try and remember to take pics!

We have enjoyed MDR meals but we only go if menu looks good to us. Several nighty menus during week one did not appeal to us. Portion sizes are fine and asking for more or extras has not been a problem. Staff has been excellent. 

[goldfish65]

Thank you very much for your observations. Last year's Jewel T/A was perfect for me...sailing half-full won't happen again but you confirm my fears about crowds on a big ship. I am so envious though you got to have the authentic cultural experience with locals making paella. 

[Teeara]

3 hours ago, goldfish65 said:

Thank you very much for your observations. Last year's Jewel T/A was perfect for me...sailing half-full won't happen again but you confirm my fears about crowds on a big ship. I am so envious though you got to have the authentic cultural experience with locals making paella. 

I agree with you on the half-full.  It was the same on the Wonder WB TA last year, too.  Just lovely.

[Deeliteful]

Pre dinner cocktail in Boleros 

[travelberlin]

57 minutes ago, Deeliteful said:

Pre dinner cocktail in Boleros 

It looks good. What is the name of that cocktail?

[Morecruisesplz]

1 hour ago, Deeliteful said:

Pre dinner cocktail in Boleros 

May I ask where you had dinner tonight? We were not excited about MDR menu again so went to Windjammer. Only 1/2 of it was open and it was packed! 

[Deeliteful]

It’s an Espresso Martini - delicious 😋

We had a solo meet-up at Izumi Hibachi last night. It was good fun and absolutely loads of food!

For some strange reason we had it booked for lunch today too😱 we cancelled. We have an early dinner at 150 our favourite.

Saw the magic show yesterday afternoon, not normally my thing but heard some good reviews. Definitely worth seeing, he’s very entertaining and clever.

[Deeliteful]

On 11/7/2023 at 12:39 AM, wolfcathorse said:

Would you mind finding out who the captain is please. I need to see if my chart is correct.

Captain Rick but not sure of his surname

[NoShoes2]

35 minutes ago, Deeliteful said:

It’s an Espresso Martini - delicious 😋

We had a solo meet-up at Izumi Hibachi last night. It was good fun and absolutely loads of food!

For some strange reason we had it booked for lunch today too😱 we cancelled. We have an early dinner at 150 our favourite.

Saw the magic show yesterday afternoon, not normally my thing but heard some good reviews. Definitely worth seeing, he’s very entertaining and clever.

 

We've booked Izumi Hibachi on our next cruise! I'm looking forward to it!

[Bteam]

Just now, Deeliteful said:

Captain Rick but not sure of his surname

I believe it's Rick Sullivan 🤔