My View: A Symphony of Gratitude (Live Thanksgiving Week)

[CaribbeanCrushed]

3 hours ago, APDMOM said:

The Verdict on Symphony:

 

For perspective:  Our last cruise on Royal Caribbean, prior to this one, was November 2019.  Our most recent few cruises (post Covid) were with MSC and Celebrity.   

 

Overall, it was truly a week of gratitude for us to be able to cruise.  We did notice the cutbacks. Considering the economy and inflation, I prefer cutbacks (within limits) over hiking the price out of my reach.  We love cruising so much, but this was one of the most expensive cruises we had booked.  I will put in a chart later for comparison.  If the value is still better than a land vacation, we will keep cruising. 

 

We LOVED:

 

The friendly service - from fixing a charge at guest services to our room steward, to our Solarium dining service, to almost every bartender - it was clear to me that the Royal Caribbean crew members are much happier than those on MSC.  

 

The diamond vouchers - This is a huge improvement to the program, in my opinion.  It allowed us to enjoy non-alcoholic drinks, including specialty coffee and milkshakes!  DH and DS do not drink alcohol, so this was a nice adaptation to the program.  The fact that it is available all day is another plus.  That couple of hours in the diamond lounge was never our cup of tea - especially with the location and lack of views in the diamond lounge on this class ship.

 

The itinerary - We love Aruba and Curaçao, and we always enjoy the fact that Labadee is so easy to access.  Many sea days are not ideal on a sold out cruise, but we always found a fun and quiet spot, whether on our balcony, on deck 7 aft, on deck 5 aft, etc.  There were always non-crowded spaces to be found on sea days. 

 

The ship - This is still my all-time favorite class ship.  After 43 cruises on a variety of cruiselines and classes, Oasis class tops the chart for us.  Of course, I have my bucket list... 👀Keeping an eye out for dropped prices on Icon class!  

 

The food - The soups were consistently good.  Salad in the Park Cafe was amazing, except on one day when it was a bit limp.  Salad in Solarium Bistro was excellent - all those Mediterranean options were very good (except the lamb).  Ice cream from the soft serve, and vanilla milkshakes from Johnny Rockets were very creamy and good.  Of course, the campfire cookie was a repeater.  Curry dishes were great most of the time, especially the last night in Solarium Bistro.  Those are the high points of food, but there were plenty of 'usuals' like the coconut cookie!  

 

The shows - Royal Caribbean obviously continues to spend a lot of money on the shows.  They were excellent! 

 

What we did not like too much:

 

Lots of chair hogging, loud music (that I don't call music) at the pool, and the app occasionally not showing the correct time.

 

 Thankfully, we did not run into too much rowdy behavior this cruise, but there were some kids sliding down the stair rails, including young children just supervised by older siblings.  It seems like the ship did apply discipline warnings, as there were 3 cabins I walked by with a Discipline notification stuck on the door one morning. I was tempted to open it and read what it said, but I refrained 😇🤣

 

We did have loud teens in the cabin next to us - I think the adults allowed them to room together.  After two nights, they quieted down, so another neighbor must have reported them.  This can happen on almost any cruise, on almost any ship, so it is not related to this specific cruise.

 

In summary, we are very grateful that we can afford to cruise, that we are healthy to be able to take the stairs (elevators were BUSY!), that we have a family that gets along so well, and that we have another cruise booked!  We will gladly go on Symphony again, if the opportunity arises - it is a great cruise experience.  

 

If I think of anything else, I will add tips... I have MANY ship pictures.  

 

 

We sail in Jan. This was actually the most expensive cruise we’ve booked.

[APDMOM]

4 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Yes. Anyone can look up any cruise without any booking. The option is at the bottom of the main page of the app.

Maybe I need to log out?  When I open the app, this is all I see (Blacked out name):

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, APDMOM said:

When I open the app, this is all I see (Blacked out name):

Use that blocked out link.

[APDMOM]

2 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Use that blocked out link.

Got it - Thanks for sharing!  

 

The only thing is - our cruise did not even have all the menus listed on day 1.  Maybe it was beacause the ship had just returned from the Med - or maybe it was an abnormal menu for Thanksgiving.  

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, APDMOM said:

The only thing is - our cruise did not even have all the menus listed on day 1.

Yes, the menu is sometimes delayed being shown in the app, but it eventually gets there.

[Grankm21]

4 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Is anyone intersted in the MDR menu for each night?  I have screenshots I could post.  Just reply here.  🙂

Thank you for posting the menus! We sail in January, and while I can see most of the menus in the app, two of the nights only list the kids menu 😁.

[FionaMG]

6 hours ago, Grankm21 said:

Thank you for posting the menus! We sail in January, and while I can see most of the menus in the app, two of the nights only list the kids menu 😁.

 

The menus in the app reflect the current cruise, which is a 6-nighter, so if you're on the 8-night rotation that would mostly, but not always, explain the missing two nights. Sometimes special menus like @APDMOM had for Thanksgiving throw a spanner in the works.

The best way to get a fairly reliable preview of what your menus will be is to wait till the current sailing is doing the same itinerary as yours and then go into that sailing on the app.

 

 

[LEMJMcC]

20 hours ago, APDMOM said:

@gizbug Thank you for your input on your experience.  I am really glad we ate at the Solerium Bistro - service there was excellent.  We only ate in the MDR the first night as our Solarium reservation got cancelled by accident.  I am glad we got to experience it one night so that we have a comparison.  

Just curious.  On the last few cruises we took, we ate our evening meal in the Solarium Bistro, but never had a reservation.  As recently as this past February on Wonder we didn't reserve there.  Is this something new, or have we just been that lucky?

 

Thanks for the review and the great pictures.  We've been eying the ABC itinerary, but haven't found exactly what we want...so the search continues.

[ajtaylor29]

22 minutes ago, LEMJMcC said:

Just curious.  On the last few cruises we took, we ate our evening meal in the Solarium Bistro, but never had a reservation.  As recently as this past February on Wonder we didn't reserve there.  Is this something new, or have we just been that lucky?

 

Thanks for the review and the great pictures.  We've been eying the ABC itinerary, but haven't found exactly what we want...so the search continues.

We were on Harmony 3 weeks ago, and tried to eat dinner (2nd night i think?) in Solarium Bistro. They said we needed a reservation as they were fully booked that night.(the restaurant was empty, but they said they had a party of 40 coming in....??) I was surprised, as i thought in the past we were always able to walk in. We didn't try again so i don't know if it was easier to walk in later in the cruise or not...

[APDMOM]

5 hours ago, LEMJMcC said:

Just curious.  On the last few cruises we took, we ate our evening meal in the Solarium Bistro, but never had a reservation.  As recently as this past February on Wonder we didn't reserve there.  Is this something new, or have we just been that lucky?

 

Thanks for the review and the great pictures.  We've been eying the ABC itinerary, but haven't found exactly what we want...so the search continues.

 

5 hours ago, ajtaylor29 said:

We were on Harmony 3 weeks ago, and tried to eat dinner (2nd night i think?) in Solarium Bistro. They said we needed a reservation as they were fully booked that night.(the restaurant was empty, but they said they had a party of 40 coming in....??) I was surprised, as i thought in the past we were always able to walk in. We didn't try again so i don't know if it was easier to walk in later in the cruise or not...

 

I believe the word is out on the Solarium Bistro for dinner, which is why I highly recommend making reservations. It was quite booked each night.  It was fairly empty at 6 PM, but started filling up at 6:30.  Since they recommend 2 hours for dinner, I think it looks more empty because some people eat quickly (like us - 45 minutes and we are done).  We saw people turned away at 6PM at least 3 nights of the week due to not having reservations.  I saw the computer screen too, with all red lines (booked) and just small slots of green (openings for about 15-30 minutes), which the could not book due to the short period of time a table was available.

 

 

[APDMOM]

As promised, a few random ship pictures:

 

Ship model one deck below Windjammer:

 

The Card Room (Seemed to be popular for family gatherings to play games):

 

[APDMOM]

TIP: You cant cross over to the other side of the ship on deck 7 aft... in case that matters to you.

[APDMOM]

Oh!  I forgot another thing that we are very thankful for!  We had to cancel our cruise in January on Odyssey, which would have earned us our first crystal block.  We thought we would lose that opportunity, because we did not think Royal would keep up with the change... but look:

[APDMOM]

Dog House:

 

 

[APDMOM]

TIP: Playmakers had a game schedule, if you are interested in that kind of thing on a cruise.  One night, it was packed!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Our Balcony Cabin: 11704

 

We had a "Guarantee" ocean balcony booked and were VERY happy with the assigned location:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

TIP:  There were 16 hangers provided.  Since we don't fly, we bring our clothes, packed on the hanger.  That way I just pull the hanger with the shirt/dress out of the suitcase, and put it straight in the closet - fastest unpacking!  

 

Other cabin hacks that always help us stay clutter free and save space...

 

Over the door shoe hanger to organize cosmetics, lotion, hair stuff:

 

Magnetic Hooks to hang hats and jackets:

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

The fridge/wine cooler was empty, which we appreciate since we never use the drinks in the minibar.

 

TIP: If you bring your own wine, keep a wineglass in the minibar.  That way your cabin steward will leave it alone and you have a glass to enjoy your wine on the balcony.

[APDMOM]

I think that covers it... Too many ship pictures, and I know there are plenty of excellent YouTube videos that cover it better.

 

Hope to see you on a cruise soon!  How about Norwegian Escape in 16 days?  😉

 

❤️ A very grateful Family of the Seas ❤️ 

 

We love the One who hung the moon...

 

 

 

[mcgore83]

Love the stateroom!  Looks so inviting and clean,  Glad you enjoyed it!

[Ocean Boy]

59 minutes ago, APDMOM said:

Oh!  I forgot another thing that we are very thankful for!  We had to cancel our cruise in January on Odyssey, which would have earned us our first crystal block.  We thought we would lose that opportunity, because we did not think Royal would keep up with the change... but look:

You got one of the nice old style clear ones too!

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, APDMOM said:

We had a "Guarantee" ocean balcony booked and were VERY happy with the assigned location:

Can’t tell from your photo, but are the usb charging ports usb-A or usb-c?  It seems that all of our devices now use usb-c.   
 

We will be bringing our usb charging tower that has 5 c’s and 2 a’s.

[FionaMG]

Thanks very much @APDMOM for the review. It's been great. Enjoy your next one! 😊

[TeeRick]

13 hours ago, APDMOM said:

TIP: Playmakers had a game schedule, if you are interested in that kind of thing on a cruise.  One night, it was packed!!

 

Thank you.  Our cruise starts the day before the Super Bowl so I'm sure we can watch at Playmakers.

[LEMJMcC]

4 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Thank you.  Our cruise starts the day before the Super Bowl so I'm sure we can watch at Playmakers.

Yeah, it'd be nice to see the Steelers win their seventh!

Go Steelers!