Sort of Live from Symphony of the Seas.

[Biker19]

35 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

You posted “if you are allowed in the SL…”. Doesn’t mention anything about the state room category. 
 

And the whole thing was about if the drinks count against your C&A count. Hard to see how it’s not taking about both since it’s about C&A and state room at the same time. 

If you look at the first quote, we were talking about the 11-11 drinks (the free beer/wine/soda), which someone with access to the SL due to their cabin category (GS and up)  is allowed to have without using a C&A voucher. 
 

Biker, who is usually pretty good at explaining the issue within the overall context of the question but perhaps isn’t obvious every time. 

[countess5]

18 hours ago, abbydancer said:

Our first pre-reserved show as at 4:00pm, the ice show.  We got there just after 3:30, which was a little earlier than we needed to.

Enjoying your review, quick question.

We have sailed all Oasis class ships some a couple of times. Sometimes in a suite and others in balcony cabins. It’s been a while. 

I never remember having to reserve a show a head of time, except maybe a comedy show. A friend is sailing Symphony next year. They asked me about scheduling shows. 

I may of given the wrong answer. Did you book all your shows a head of time on the app or planner before boarding?

 

Thanks

 

Cheers! 

[abbydancer2003]

On 12/13/2023 at 6:19 AM, DaKahuna said:

 

Was this at the Renaissances ?  The shuttle has always pulled up in the front of the hotel in the past.  

 

When we have encountered full elevator's when trying to leave, our normal procedure is to take an up elevator and then ride it back down.  I think more and more people are starting to do this as well. 

 

What was the name of the Italian restaurant where you ate?  

 

Osteria Acqua e Ferina.  There used to be Goergios (something like that) in the shopping center across the street, but that closed )during the pandemic I think).  

[abbydancer2003]

Symphony/Apex Day 3. - Labadee

 

We weren’t in any hurry to get to shore, so we decided not to set an alarm.  We woke up around 8:30, and Glen decided to take a shower, so we missed breakfast.  

 

 

View of Labadee

 

Our concierges said that up until 10:00 they would escort us to the gangway, and once on shore someone would be there to take us on a tram to the Suite area of the island.  So at about 9:40 we went to the lounge for coffee and pastries.  At about 9:55, Jennie took us down in a dedicated elevator, and we headed to the aft gangway. 

 

This ship is very long, so our walk off the pier was surprisingly long.  Once on shore, we asked where we could get the tram to Barefoot Beach, the suite area.  They directed us to further along the main area, and we found people we recognized from our tour yesterday who were also in a suite, so we hopped on the tram.  After a short drive we were directed off.  At the entrance to the beach there was a checking kiosk, and we got wristbands.  We wandered in and found a couple of shaded beach chairs, and sat for a while.

 

 

About 10:40 we decided to walk around the Island.  We saw the coaster, the water park, and the zip lines.  Apparently on the zip lines there’s a short “training line”, and then you get on a truck to take you to the top of the regular zip line.  We opted not to do any of it.

 

If you look, you can see people on the zip line.

 

 

We then headed back to the suite area, where they had their own (unadvertised on the map) buffet line.  We sat for a few and then got lunch.  It was OK.  I had a burger, a single shrimp with cocktail sauce (my mini shrimp cocktail) 

 

Following lunch, we headed back to the ship.  

 

I got a coke, and a couple of bottles of water for the room, and then settled down to study for my test.  This involved reading a bunch of lectures, and accessing several short online lectures by various history professors.  I’ve discovered that reviewing everything just before a test is the best way to do well.  And on the multiple choice I got 24/25 so clearly it works.  There are also two essays that will be graded later.  This all took until roughly 5:15.  

 

The last view of Haiti.  I actually took this to send to my professor, to show him where we were.  In my last class from him, I took the final in Tierra del Fuego.  

 

So we dressed for white night dinner (I happened to have a white skirt that I take with me, so it worked, out, and Glen had a white shirt.  

 

We headed to the lounge for a snack, since lunch had been very early.  On this one, I have to give a big edge (pardon the pun) to Royal.  Here’s what their spread looks like.

 

 

 

On every X ship I've been on there's the same stuff every night, cheese, meat and crackers and some nuts.  

 

At around 6:10 we left for for our next show, Hairspray.  I’ve seen the musical professionally, so I thought it would be interesting on a ship.  

 

It was possibly the most well done show I’ve seen on a ship.  The presentation wasn’t much different than what we saw, and the cast was great.  (Maybe not quite as good as professionally, but still great.  I only have two minor quibbles with it.  First, it is cut a little bit from the stage play, but it’s still 90 minutes without an intermission, which is longish.  Of course I’ve seen Six, which is also 90 minutes with no intermission, and that bothered me less.  Maybe it’s because I liked Six more, and I’ve already seen this. 

 

That brings up the second quibble.  I’m not sure this is entirely appropriate for small children, because 90 is a lot, and there are some inappropriate jokes.  (Although most likely,  the inappropriate ones will go right over their little heads).

 

But overall we enjoyed it a lot, and were very impressed. 

 

After the show, we walked through the Royal Promenade to the forward elevators.  There was a great band playing on the stage there, and that leads me to what I think for us is the biggest issue with booking Royal again, or at least the Oasis ships.  Great dance band, no dance floor.  On Celebrity, on the M class, Ensemble has a good floor, and on S class, you can dance in the Atrium.  As far as I can tell, the only place to dance is Boleros, and their floor is a bit slippery for dancing.  We have yet to make the occasional Recorded Ballroom music there.

 

So we eventually made it upstairs, and to dinner. 

 

And I completely forgot to take pictures.  But Glen started with what they called Beef Gnocchi.  It was a slab of short rib with 4 little gnocchis on the side.  I had a spinach salad, which had three large pieces of unadvertised roasted garlic on the side.  (Glen put one on his bread).  For entrees he tried fried tofu (good for him) and I had veal cannelloni.  Dessert for both of us was what they called an ivory mousse with peppermint ice cream.  Our waiter suggested that we switch the ice cream for raspberry sorbet.  I did but Glen decided to brave the ice cream.  Turns out waiter was spot on with this, as it did taste like toothpaste.  Glen then got some raspberry sorbet.  

 

Tomorrow is Falmouth, and for us, a chance to pick up some stuff.  We called it a night at that point.

 

Tomorrow's cruise compass:

 

 

 

[jbrinkm]

1 hour ago, abbydancer said:

After the show, we walked through the Royal Promenade to the forward elevators.  There was a great band playing on the stage there, and that leads me to what I think for us is the biggest issue with booking Royal again, or at least the Oasis ships.  Great dance band, no dance floor.  On Celebrity, on the M class, Ensemble has a good floor, and on S class, you can dance in the Atrium.  As far as I can tell, the only place to dance is Boleros, and their floor is a bit slippery for dancing.  We have yet to make the occasional Recorded Ballroom music there.

 

I also hate the layout at Boleros - a long, skinny dance floor with furniture along the side. The dance class I tried to take there ran out of room and there was no place to spill over.

 

On Allure, they held the Silent dance party in Studio B. 

[abbydancer2003]

Symphony/Apex Day 4 - Falmouth Jamaica

 

We decided today to wake up in time for breakfast with time added to put out the laundry.  We fill the 34.99 bag (I forgot to take a picture, but from memory it’s socks, pajamas, underwear, tee shirts and swimwear).  We put everything but 3 polo shirts and two long sleeve shirts in.  We put those in a separate bag, since we had some OBC we’re not using.  

 

We enjoyed breakfast - Glen tried the Eggs Baja and reported they were good, and I had French toast and bacon.  They did serve a hash brown with it, which is a little strange, although their hash brown is very good.  

 

After breakfast we went to our room and got our stuff, backpack, wallet, photo id and sunscreen.  Going back to the elevator bank Jennie was running an express elevator, and we disembarked quickly.  Boom, I realized I left my phone in the room, so back I went.  They didn’t make me go through security and I found it and went back down.  

 

We walked through the port area, and on the way stopped at a gift shop to buy a small bag of JBM coffee.  Someone in the store said it was cheaper outside the port, but Glen was already paying for it.  If we love it, we’ll start buying online from home.  

 

Walking towards the Port exit, there were various signs explaining Jamaica history.

 

 

The last one was about their most famous person  - Usain Bolt.  Apparently he’s from nearby and shows up to visit occasionally.  Once outside, I navigated us to something google maps said was a clothing store.  It was about a 6 block walk from the port exit, but there was nothing there.  Along the way, we’d noticed what appeared to to be a clothing store, so we went there, 

 

Nope, very small and current stuff.  Oh well.  I did ask about coffee and she pointed us to a supermarket down the street.  Turned out no coffee there except instant.

 

I’d noticed a store called Englishmans and navigation said it was just down the street.  We went in and there were a bunch of ties behind the counter.  Glen picked out a blue one, we paid the very nice owner 10.00 and tie problem solved!  I asked him where to get JBM at a decent price, and he said just at the port exit, so we waked back.

 

Right by the exit there was a little market area with little gift stalls.  A woman who had one asked us to come in, and we did, but asked for coffee.  She took us to a friend’s stall and we got another small bag, this one for less.  Again, we’ll see when we get home if we like it enough to order it.  (We do get 2 pounds every other month from Kona).

 

We also went to the stall of our "guide" and bought a magnet, a shirt and a dress for Caribbean night tonight.  She was very helpful and we were happy to help her out.  Did we overpay?  Maybe, but it wasn't a lot for what we got.

 

After that we headed back to the ship, put our purchases in the room and headed to lunch.

 

It wasn’t very busy so we sat in a different part of the restaurant.  We both started with snap pea salad.  

Notice what’s not there?  Looks like an arugula salad to us.  We asked our server and she took them back.  What came back was pretty much the same, but with julienned strips of peas, some with very tiny peas, in them, but still mostly arugula.  The lemon dressing was good though.

 

For my main, I ordered steak frites, which was steak with bearnaisse sauce and truffled fries.  

 

The fries had a lot of cheese on them, and there was roasted garlic on the steak.  It was decent.  

 

For dessert, I ordered floating island, which  is meringue served floating on a light custard sauce.  I’m used to it on Princess, where it’s several little cookie size meringue pieces in a very flight sauce, and they do float.

Here, it’s not that.

 

 

Glen’s comment was it’s the Island of Montserrat.  It was meringue and it was pretty good though.

 

From lunch we headed to the aft on deck 15 and actually rode the Ultimate Abyss down to deck 6. There were only about 6 people ahead of us, and it was quick and fun.  (It’s the 10 story slide - not a water slide, but a covered slide)..  OK it was a lot of fun.

 

After lunch we went back to the room, and I decided to try to find some real coffee, not the espresso machine at the lounge.  I first went to the buffet, but it turns out they are completely closed, except for extended meal times (both X and Princess have some food offering all day).  So I looked at my app and found that Park Cafe on deck 8 might be likely, so I went there.  I found a line of people getting food, so I asked a worker about coffee, she pointed it out and told me that yes, it’s included.  So I got a cup but couldn’t find to go cups.  Another worker told me to just take the cup back with me.  Yay.

 

By this time it was getting on time to leave, so I went to the balcony and watched the Holland America ship (Koningsdam I think) head out.

 

 

Then I met Deanna, our next door neighbor and we chatted as we watched a few people running right around all aboard, but they didn’t need to do that, as it turned out, as there were several buses caught behind a major accident on the main road back (we could see backed traffic and emergency lights from our balcony), so the ship waited.  I figured at least 50 people.

 

While watching, I noticed a stilt walker going by.  Kind of cool.

 

 

Once we departed, we got dressed for dinner, and headed to the lounge for a quick snack, and then to Hiro, the water show.  

 

 

It’s probably the most amazing show I’ve ever seen on a ship.   Acrobats, dancers, divers, rope walkers.  hHere are some pictures:

preshow

 

Aerialist - slightly. Blurry no flash

 

Slightly less blurry aerialist

 

It ended just before 8, so we wandered to the forward elevators, and then to Central Park for a bit.  We headed to the room before dinner, and found a companion towel animal.

 

 

We left for dinner around 8:20 and were seated quickly.  Silvu, our Romanian waiter took care of us.  We both started with a caprese salad, which they called Tomato Mozzarella.  

 

I asked Silvu if they had a thing for arugula.  Without missing a beat he said “yes”.  

 

For my main, I had beef short ribs.  Another thing they seem to like at this restaurant.  It was good, and presented sort of like a bourguignon, but with polenta instead of potatoes.  It was pretty good.

 

For dessert, we both had ricotta cheesecake, which was also good.  It was a slice of very light cheesecake.

 

Tonight was supposed to be the best night of the current meteor shower.  We went on the balcony after dinner to see it, but it wasn’t great so we walked to the suite sundeck but no good views their either.  By this time, clouds were coming in, so we gave up.  

 

Back at the room, we opened the curtains, as it was getting late.  I went onto the balcony and watched the sky for a while, and then went in and to bed when it started raining.

 

Sea day tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

I haven't abandoned this.  I tried to post last night, but something went wrong, so I'll try again in a day or two.  Thanks

[perfect match]

Sounds like you’re having a good cruise. I’ll be watching for future posts.

[abbydancer2003]

Symphony/Apex Day 5, Sea Day

 

We decided again to get up for breakfast, forgetting that on a sea day we have until 9:30.  I tried a cheese omelette this morning.  It was big.  Their sides of bacon, however are quite good.  

 

We’d received our luggage tags last night, and we had Suites/Pinnacles (looks just like Suites/Zenith on X).  However I was told that we should be able to get a transfer to terminal 25.  So I went back and asked Jennie about it.  She called someone and said that we could go on an airport shuttle, and asked to be dropped off.  She gave us group 25.  I asked what time it was, and she said 8:00.  I asked if there was a later shuttle, because I want to arrive as late as possible, since I’m sure checkin won’t be open when we get there, and I’d rather wait on this ship than outside terminal 25.  She moved us to 48 at 9:00.

 

Next we decided to play mini golf.  

 

On our way down, we saw the gingerbread display on the landing of deck 16.  We watched them put it up last night.

 

 

The mini golf course  was amusing and we had a lot of bad shots.  The wind din’t usually help, although once it moved my ball closer to the hole.

 

 

We ended up tied. 

 

 

Next up, I decided to try the zip line.  I got in line, but they told me I’d need to remove watch, Fitbit, necklace earrings, so I decided to skip it today.  Tomorrow, maybe I’ll remove everything and try it.

 

Following that we headed to the lounge for a coffee, and soon after we got there, there was announcement from the captain. You know when he starts with apologizing for going into the cabins, it’s not good news.  And sure enough, tomorrow will be another sea day, as we’re skipping Nassau due to weather.  Oh well.  

 

At about 12:40 we decided to go to lunch.  I had a chilled strawberry soup, and then we both had the truffled grill cheese sandwich with fries and salad.  This is what we got.

 

Apparently the salad is in the cheese sandwich.  We’ve noticed that sometimes their food is a bit of a creative departure from the menu descriptions.  For dessert, we split a rum soaked banana cake.  It was good, although some bites were a little too rum soaked.  There was an almond brittle with it that was quite good.

 

We wanted to take a walk on the outside promenade after lunch.  To get there, we decided to take the Ultimate Abyss slide down to 6 as it was faster than waiting for the elevator.  There was no line, so it actually worked well.  

 

After a complete circle of the ship, we headed back to the room, and got ready for the second formal night (called dress your best - I guess they can’t repeat a dress code except the first and last night).  At 5pm we were planning to meet with friends we met online.  We decided meet each other at Vintages at 5.

 

We found each other easily and had a nice time talking for about 45 minutes. During that time it rained.  Yes it rained in the middle of the ship.  The bar is in the Central Park neighborhood, which is open to the sky.  They do have umbrellas at either end of the neighborhood  to use to walk across while it’s raining.  During our meeting we did use our free drink vouchers,   

 

We waked a little after that and then headed to the room.  Our laundry was back!  Our new luggage tags were not there yet.  I’ll ask if they’re not there after room servicing tomorrow morning.

 

And a not good picture of the ticket, as promised.

 

About 8:20 we headed to the restaurant.  It’s going to be our last dinner in Coastal Kitchen, since we have specialty tomorrow.  It was very busy.  I think because it’s the last formal and it has lobster.  While waiting, we took a peak at the dining room menu.  It was really more for curiosity, because we’d missed our set dining time by about 1/2 hour.  They did have lobster, but not rack of lamb.  Interestingly the lobster that was a main entree was the same lobster as the upcharge lobster every day (including today).  

 

The wait wasn’t all that long, and we were seated at one of our regular tables.  In a rare event, Glen and I had exactly the same meal - a wedge salad and rack of lamb.  Best meal of the cruise so far.  While they did have Baked Alaska on the menu, I don’t eat chocolate, so we both finished with creme brûlée.

 

The wedge:

 

 

And the lamb:

 

 

 

After dessert we headed back to the room for the night.  Tomorrow is the last full day of this cruise.  

 

[jbrinkm]

2 hours ago, abbydancer said:

At about 12:40 we decided to go to lunch.  I had a chilled strawberry soup, and then we both had the truffled grill cheese sandwich with fries and salad.  This is what we got.

 

Apparently the salad is in the cheese sandwich.  We’ve noticed that sometimes their food is a bit of a creative departure from the menu descriptions.  For dessert, we split a rum soaked banana cake.  It was good, although some bites were a little too rum soaked.  There was an almond brittle with it that was quite good.

 

Was this in the MDR? I'm wondering if Symphony has moved to "brunch" instead of separate breakfast and lunch seatings on sea days. I LOVE cold fruit soup and it is my main disappointment with the new menus - that there are no cold soups. 

[abbydancer2003]

On 12/19/2023 at 3:35 PM, jbrinkm said:

 

Was this in the MDR? I'm wondering if Symphony has moved to "brunch" instead of separate breakfast and lunch seatings on sea days. I LOVE cold fruit soup and it is my main disappointment with the new menus - that there are no cold soups. 

Nope, Coastal Kitchen.  Sorry.

[abbydancer2003]

This is our last full day, and we decided to go to breakfast.  Once again I had French toast and bacon.  This time, there were no hash browns with it.  Which is fine.

 

After breakfast, I decided that I did want to try the zip line, so we went back to the room for me to remove my jewelry and put my hair back.  When we got there, I noticed we still didn’t have the new luggage tags, so I went back to the lounge to talk to the concierge.  She said she’d contact the stewards to have them delivered.  

 

After that - it was time to do the zipline.  When I got there,there was no line, but there were a couple of people ahead of me to try it.  I did it.  It was fun but only about 6-7 seconds, so not worth doing a second time.  

 

We thought we’d then try the climbing wall, but it was closed.  So we headed to the Park Cafe in Central Park for a cup of coffee.  It got rather muggy, so we finished our coffee and left.

 

Also took a picture of the entire bubble installation at the elevator bank.

 

I dropped Glen off and found Christina (online friend) at her rented Castita, and chatted with her and her daughter for a while.  She got it at great price on the Good Friday sale.  She likes it because she can leave her stuff during lunch.

 

After chatting for a while, I went back and we went to lunch.  I asked for the kids menu (this was the first repeating menu and it wasn’t too appealing the second time).    Sivu  gave to me and asked if I also wanted the crayons to color the picture in.  I declined.

 

I started with a wedge salad with tomato dressing.  The blue cheese yesterday was better, but this was fine.  Then I had the kids spaghetti and meat sauce and finished with another slice of key lime pie.  

 

After lunch, I filled out our luggage tags, and then went to the smoke free casino to cash out part of my OBC.  I put in 40, and won 5.00 so I cashed out.  I was able to get cash for it, even though the app said you couldn’t cash out OBC on slots.

 

At around 3:50, we decided to go to Harry Potter trivia.  We got there 5 minutes early and it was standing room only and not a lot of that.  That’s kind of a failure on RC’s part, the venue was clearly not big enough for it.  

 

So instead, we went to the rock climbing wall. Only one was open, and there was a bit of a wait.  It wasn’t too bad.  Glen got about 1/2 up, and, let’s just leave it at I didn’t get very far.  

 

To reward ourselves for trying, we got finally stopped for soft serve ice cream.  It was meh.  So we wandered around the upper decks for a while.  I then went back to the casino to use up the rest of my OBC, but I was apparently locked out.  I have no idea how long the lock out would be, so I decided I’d buy something after the show.  (I have since, on X learned that you have to spend 50% before you cash out or get locked out).

 

We had reservations for Flight: Dare to Dream (production show) at 7.  So we dressed for dinner and went to the lounge for a bit and then to the show.

 

I didn’t love the storyline, but the effects were amazing.  

 

 

They actually flew the plane around the audience (yes, on wires, but pretty impressive).

 

After the show, I went to the shop on the Boardwalk and bought flip flops and then to the candy store for some caramels.  The shop has the self serve candy around, like a Jelly Belly display or any candy store that sells by weight, but I couldn’t figure out how to get the candy out.  I asked for help and it turns out he just opens  it from the top.  

 

Went back to the room to pack, and our room stewards left us a thank you note.

 

 

After we finished the major part of our packing we went to our reservation at Wonderland.  They seated us in a table in a corner, but it was quiet, and that was fine.

 

The menu is presented in a picture frame with invisible ink.  You paint it to see it.

 

 

 

And a shot of the restaurant.

 

Our waiter came over, and really all we ordered was mains and drinks.  While waiting for our drinks he brought us the crab cones.

 

It was crab in the middle with an avocado puree on top and a dab of wasabi on the bottom.  Good, but the flavors aren’t really mixed.  Glen said he’d pull ribbons of both wasabi and avocado along the sides of the cone before putting the crab in.

 

Next our pre dinner drinks arrived.  I got the Cheshire Cosmo, which is very sweet, as they pour it through cotton candy.

 

 

Glen got the smoke rings.  I have no idea what’s in it.

 

Smoke is dissipating by this time.

 

Next up was a deconstructed caprese salad and birds nests which is a wheat nest with deviled eggs.

 

There was also potted shrimp and a lobster bite.  Next time I’ll tell them only fish is the cone.

 

They finished the appetizer course with wonton soup.

 

Glen decided he doesn’t love pour over soup, because it doesn’t give the flavors a chance to meld.

 

Our waiter recommended short rib, but I’m getting tired of it, so I had the “chicken and the egg”.  The egg was cauliflower puree with butternut squash.  The chicken was very good.

 

 

Glen did have the short rib.

 

 

 

We weren’t given a choice on dessert.

 

 

The big mushroom was meringue and white chocolate mouse.  The little ones, I’m not sure of but they had pepper in them and it was a mango sorbet.

We were also given the world chocolate bomb, which Glen ate.

 

Final shot of the restaurant entrance.

 

 

It was fun and I’d go back, but I’d probably get more specific on shellfish next time (like only one).  

 

After that we finished packing and went to bed.  Up early tomorrow to vacate the room.  Next post will go on both RC and Celebrity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[abbydancer2003]

Symphony/Apex Day 7 - switch day Saturday 2

 

Because this is switchover day, I’m doing this as my last update in the Symphony thread and the first in the Apex thread.

 

So today we move from our first Royal Caribbean and Symphony of the Seas cruises to our first cruise on the Celebrity Apex.  

 

We woke up around 7.  Breakfast closed at 8 and that would give us enough time to get ready to go, and do one last check of the room.  Last night I had a bit of a worry as it said my air tag was in Fort Lauderdale.  I don’t see how I could have left it in the hotel though, so we’ll see.

 

After double-checking everything, we headed to breakfast.  The restaurant was busy and the lounge was packed.  I wasn’t quite sure how we’d know when to leave, but soon we heard an announcement for self assist and early luggage tags.   

 

I had Rice Krispies and bacon.  I asked for banana with my cereal, and Rowella (the server) wasn’t sure they still had any.  When it arrived, she said I did get the last one.  After we were done, we stayed at the table drinking coffee, since there was nowhere in the lounge area to sit and breakfast was over.  At one point, Glen went to the restroom, and I went to say goodbye to some people we’d met, and when we got back to the table, the coffee was gone.  

 

At about 9:10, our late luggage tag group was called.  We headed down and joined the line to leave.  It moved fast and we were soon in the terminal collecting our luggage and heading through customs.  It was facial recognition, so very fast.

 

Next stop, the transfer area.  There were two.lines, one for Fort Lauderdale and one for Miami.  I asked someone official and they had no idea what I was talking about.  They couldn’t find our names, partly because I think they were looking at the end of the alphabet.  No matter, they said they’d take us last, and told us to wait with the Miami people.  (Note:  When we used a transfer on Celebrity to get from Miami to Fort Lauderdale airport, we had the same issue that all buses went to the local airport).  Eventually, I asked someone else, and he told me to wait by the buses.  Then he asked a driver if they’d take us, and he said yes, so he had us drop our bags in front of the bus (to make sure they were at the front when we got dropped,  He told us to board the bus in the front seat.

 

So we waited.  After about 20 minutes, the driver came on and said we were waiting for 10 people, two groups of 5.  One had cleared customs and the other was still in.  After another 10 minutes or so six people got on.  Then the other guy said that we were waiting for 19 people. 

 

One of the official people said that the terminal was cleared, yet we still waited.  One guy got off and talked to them, apparently we were waiting for the rest of their group.  A few minutes later the driver asked him to call the other people.  The person did, and reported the rest would take an Uber, so we were able to leave.  I think all told it was 30-40 minutes.  A Lfyt, if we were willing to wait 15 minutes, would have been around $8.00.  If we ever do this again, we’ll get ourselves there.

 

Fortunately terminal 25 was our first stop.  We did notice a walkway along the route but it would have been a very uncomfortable walk.  At the terminal, they directed the bus to the end of the drive, and they dropped us, and our luggage with a porter.

 

Things went very smoothly from there, we entered the terminal, turned left for retreat, our boarding passes were checked, and we were escorted to an elevator.  In the checkin area, we were checked in and boarded right away. 

 

And with that, I will call this done.  I don't think I need to put all the details of the first day on the Apex here.

 

My wrap up on Royal Caribbean.  First, we did have a very nice cruise, and trying all the activities was fun.  The staff was great and the food good.  Wonderland was a hoot.

 

While I wouldn't rule out Royal again, I don't anticipate booking it again, as the activities are not really how we like to spend cruises.  We like sitting at coffee bars, and dancing.  They had good bands, but no good dance floors.  The best band usually played on a stage in the middle of the Royal Promenade, no floor there.  Also, so many people that trivia (which we sometimes do) was difficult. Also, it usually didn't feel like we were on a ship, which I can't really articulate.  Maybe it was because everything happened in the middle. 

           

 

That said, if our nieces ever have kids and we were to do a family cruise, we'd certainly consider it.  And if they ever have an itinerary that we really want, I absolutely would book it.  Never during December, though.

 

On the whole it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we did it.

 

 

[TeeRick]

We did Allure then switched to Edge a couple years back.  Both were great!

[abbydancer2003]

5 hours ago, TeeRick said:

We did Allure then switched to Edge a couple years back.  Both were great!

That was my experience on this trip as well.

[TheHawk1]

On 12/14/2023 at 7:37 PM, abbydancer said:

That brings up the second quibble.  I’m not sure this is entirely appropriate for small children, because 90 is a lot, and there are some inappropriate jokes.  (Although most likely,  the inappropriate ones will go right over their little heads).

Not every entertainment experience has to be sanitized for children.  If you feel it's not appropriate for their delicate ears, then don't take them. More space for the adults, who will actually appreciate the show.

[abbydancer2003]

5 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

Not every entertainment experience has to be sanitized for children.  If you feel it's not appropriate for their delicate ears, then don't take them. More space for the adults, who will actually appreciate the show.

Agree in general, but given the ship, this is the biggest show of the cruise, so parents are going to take the kids.  They do have an adult comedy show, though.

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 12/24/2023 at 2:23 PM, TheHawk1 said:

Not every entertainment experience has to be sanitized for children.  If you feel it's not appropriate for their delicate ears, then don't take them. More space for the adults, who will actually appreciate the show.

 

I agree. It's not the ship's job to be the parent. If the parents don't want their little ones seeing/hearing something but they really want to see, make arrangements for them to be in the kid clubs like you'd do for an adult comedy show you wanted to see or a special adult-only dinner. Don't punish the rest of the cruising public by insisting everything cater to the littlest - if someone doesn't want their kids to see it, they can opt not to take them; not complain that it shouldn't be there to begin with.

 

(And no, I don't have a dog in the fight. I don't cruise to see watered-down versions of Broadway shows. I can see the real things with just a short subway ride. I'm not wasting my cruise time on them. But I know there are people who love them, and it's not fair to deny it to them to protect some delicate ears because some parents don't want to actually parent.)

[abbydancer2003]

3 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

I agree. It's not the ship's job to be the parent. If the parents don't want their little ones seeing/hearing something but they really want to see, make arrangements for them to be in the kid clubs like you'd do for an adult comedy show you wanted to see or a special adult-only dinner. Don't punish the rest of the cruising public by insisting everything cater to the littlest - if someone doesn't want their kids to see it, they can opt not to take them; not complain that it shouldn't be there to begin with.

 

(And no, I don't have a dog in the fight. I don't cruise to see watered-down versions of Broadway shows. I can see the real things with just a short subway ride. I'm not wasting my cruise time on them. But I know there are people who love them, and it's not fair to deny it to them to protect some delicate ears because some parents don't want to actually parent.)

My thought was just that since the cruiseline does cater to families, maybe Hairspray wasn't the best show.  But I guess both Royal and one of their direct competitors like doing Broadway shows, so be it.  It was surprisingly good, though.  

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

2 minutes ago, abbydancer said:

My thought was just that since the cruiseline does cater to families, maybe Hairspray wasn't the best show.  But I guess both Royal and one of their direct competitors like doing Broadway shows, so be it.  It was surprisingly good, though.  

 

 

Having been to a lot of Broadway shows, I've seen plenty of little kids at them - most theaters have a 4 and over policy, some shows have an older limit. Thus it's up to the parents to decide if it's appropriate for their child depending on the child's age.

 

I guess I don't feel like "family" automatically means parents and kids - families come as 2 adults only, or even one adult - or that "family" means everything has to be G-rated.

[TheHawk1]

6 hours ago, abbydancer said:

My thought was just that since the cruiseline does cater to families, maybe Hairspray wasn't the best show.  But I guess both Royal and one of their direct competitors like doing Broadway shows, so be it.  It was surprisingly good, though.  

 

Given that, in both the stage and film version, the lead role in Hairspray is played by a male in drag, I actually applaud Royal for sticking with the show. Considering how many Americans, especially in Florida, disagree with that form of entertainment these days, I thought Royal might have been pressured to find something more “family friendly”. And I agree, the Symphony production is a very good show.