Just off Symphony

[mrsd2fan]

I absolutely love this ship!

Lines: the only line we waited in as for guest services, they really need to work on that.

Crew: efficient and hard working

Food: So good!!! (except for the strip steak, still has a strange texture)

Drinks: Wish each bar had the same consistency as far as quality, ordered a drink of the day (can't recall which one) that was supposed to have rum, but the bartender in Players put vodka. Best drinks were made in the Schooner Bar with Boleros a close 2nd

Drink Package: Unless you drink alot or get a really good price ($68.00 or less) it's not worth it.

Labadee: SOOOOO much nicer than when we were there 20 years ago..so  much to do!

 

It was a wonderful 8 day cruise, the only down side was rude passengers, but that can't be helped.

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, mrsd2fan said:

I absolutely love this ship!

Lines: the only line we waited in as for guest services, they really need to work on that.

Crew: efficient and hard working

Food: So good!!! (except for the strip steak, still has a strange texture)

Drinks: Wish each bar had the same consistency as far as quality, ordered a drink of the day (can't recall which one) that was supposed to have rum, but the bartender in Players put vodka. Best drinks were made in the Schooner Bar with Boleros a close 2nd

Drink Package: Unless you drink alot or get a really good price ($68.00 or less) it's not worth it.

Labadee: SOOOOO much nicer than when we were there 20 years ago..so  much to do!

 

It was a wonderful 8 day cruise, the only down side was rude passengers, but that can't be helped.

Great picture!  And glad you had a great cruise on Symphony.  We do the same 8 night itinerary starting this Saturday.  We don't plan to purchase a drink package as we have some loyalty benefits (D+).  That should suffice for us.  Did you dine in any specialty restaurants?  Or order any food at Players?  Any other tips?  Thanks!

Edited February 5 by TeeRick

[Scottdalfonso]

3 hours ago, mrsd2fan said:

Lines: the only line we waited in as for guest services, they really need to work on that.

 

What was the issue that caused you to wait in line at GS?  I have yet to have to contact GS on any of my cruises, but I THINK you can call from the room phone if it's something simple, might save some time. Glad the cruise was great, otherwise- Looking forward to Symphony from NJ next year! 

[mrsd2fan]

1 hour ago, Scottdalfonso said:

What was the issue that caused you to wait in line at GS?  I have yet to have to contact GS on any of my cruises, but I THINK you can call from the room phone if it's something simple, might save some time. Glad the cruise was great, otherwise- Looking forward to Symphony from NJ next year! 

one of my luggage was lost, had to go down 3 times because of it. It all wored out and they did right by me

 

Edited February 5 by mrsd2fan
added more

[mrsd2fan]

3 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Great picture!  And glad you had a great cruise on Symphony.  We do the same 8 night itinerary starting this Saturday.  We don't plan to purchase a drink package as we have some loyalty benefits (D+).  That should suffice for us.  Did you dine in any specialty restaurants?  Or order any food at Players?  Any other tips?  Thanks!

No to both, but I really wanted to try Players wing..great price!

[RWMike]

We'd love to hear more about your cruise. We'll be on the same 8 night in April.

[ajtaylor29]

We were on this cruise with you and had a great time!

We were fortunate to be sailing in a suite, so we had access to Coastal Kitchen all week, and to the suite lounge.

Food was great in CK all week. We also had dinners at Chops and the Hibachi Grill and they were both really good! Had room service breakfast most days (love having coffee on my balcony!)

The suite lounge serves wine and beer all day (11-11) and full bar from 5-8 every day for HH. That plus our 4 free drinks w/ Diamond status and free drinks in the casino....no need for a drink package for us for sure!

Saw several shows and enjoyed them all! (Hiro, Hairspray, 1977, one late-night comedy show). 

Symphony is my favorite ship. Well maintained, great staff!

Only complaint is with the casino. They took my money. 😞 And also, the casino hosts were not very visible - they usually come introduce themselves to us but that didn't happen this time. Also, several video poker machines were out of order all week, and no one seemed interested in fixing them....

We still enjoyed our time in there of course and can't wait to sail on her again!

[TeamCan]

4 hours ago, mrsd2fan said:

I absolutely love this ship!

Lines: the only line we waited in as for guest services, they really need to work on that.

Crew: efficient and hard working

Food: So good!!! (except for the strip steak, still has a strange texture)

Drinks: Wish each bar had the same consistency as far as quality, ordered a drink of the day (can't recall which one) that was supposed to have rum, but the bartender in Players put vodka. Best drinks were made in the Schooner Bar with Boleros a close 2nd

Drink Package: Unless you drink alot or get a really good price ($68.00 or less) it's not worth it.

Labadee: SOOOOO much nicer than when we were there 20 years ago..so  much to do!

 

It was a wonderful 8 day cruise, the only down side was rude passengers, but that can't be helped.

Great picture!  Glad you had a great cruise!  We're on the same 8 day in 3 weeks... super excited!

[TeeRick]

1 minute ago, ajtaylor29 said:

We were on this cruise with you and had a great time!

We were fortunate to be sailing in a suite, so we had access to Coastal Kitchen all week, and to the suite lounge.

Food was great in CK all week. We also had dinners at Chops and the Hibachi Grill and they were both really good! Had room service breakfast most days (love having coffee on my balcony!)

The suite lounge serves wine and beer all day (11-11) and full bar from 5-8 every day for HH. That plus our 4 free drinks w/ Diamond status and free drinks in the casino....no need for a drink package for us for sure!

Saw several shows and enjoyed them all! (Hiro, Hairspray, 1977, one late-night comedy show). 

Symphony is my favorite ship. Well maintained, great staff!

Only complaint is with the casino. They took my money. 😞 And also, the casino hosts were not very visible - they usually come introduce themselves to us but that didn't happen this time. Also, several video poker machines were out of order all week, and no one seemed interested in fixing them....

We still enjoyed our time in there of course and can't wait to sail on her again!

Good to hear about CK.  I still am looking for a menu for our 8 night cruise (leaves Saturday).   We have one reservation so far at Wonderland (Valentine's Day).  We will get 5 drink vouchers per day (D+) plus SL drinks.  That should be more than enough for us.  Did you go to Labadee - Barefoot Beach?  Can you use drink vouchers there?  Are loungers provided or do you need to rent them in advance?  Thank you!

[deliver42]

Drink vouches are goo in Labadee, and lounges are no charge, and no reservations. First come, first served.

[ajtaylor29]

5 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Good to hear about CK.  I still am looking for a menu for our 8 night cruise (leaves Saturday).   We have one reservation so far at Wonderland (Valentine's Day).  We will get 5 drink vouchers per day (D+) plus SL drinks.  That should be more than enough for us.  Did you go to Labadee - Barefoot Beach?  Can you use drink vouchers there?  Are loungers provided or do you need to rent them in advance?  Thank you!

I don't remember seeing the CK menus before we got on the ship, but somewhere on here i know someone has posted them so keep looking i guess! The menu is pretty small in CK but we always found something we liked and enjoyed, both at lunch and at dinner. We only had breakfast in there one day but it was great too!

We did go to Labadee, and rented a cabana at Barefoot Beach (reserved for suite guests). There were 4 of us, and while we enjoy the hilltop cabanas, we spent most of the day in 4 loungers on the beach and there were plenty of them available. Next time, we might just go and park ourselves on the loungers! Also note, there were plenty of water floats available for use. I'm not sure if that's the case on the other beaches but it was at Barefoot. We've started travelling with our own floats since some beaches we go to don't provide any, just fyi.

[mrsd2fan]

19 minutes ago, ajtaylor29 said:

We were on this cruise with you and had a great time!

We were fortunate to be sailing in a suite, so we had access to Coastal Kitchen all week, and to the suite lounge.

Food was great in CK all week. We also had dinners at Chops and the Hibachi Grill and they were both really good! Had room service breakfast most days (love having coffee on my balcony!)

The suite lounge serves wine and beer all day (11-11) and full bar from 5-8 every day for HH. That plus our 4 free drinks w/ Diamond status and free drinks in the casino....no need for a drink package for us for sure!

Saw several shows and enjoyed them all! (Hiro, Hairspray, 1977, one late-night comedy show). 

Symphony is my favorite ship. Well maintained, great staff!

Only complaint is with the casino. They took my money. 😞 And also, the casino hosts were not very visible - they usually come introduce themselves to us but that didn't happen this time. Also, several video poker machines were out of order all week, and no one seemed interested in fixing them....

We still enjoyed our time in there of course and can't wait to sail on her again!

that reminds me, my sisters in law were with us and she played roulette and she, of course, had to give her sea pass to get chips and they gave her the wrong card back..that was a bit of a fiasco...going to post tis as a topic for people to be aware of.

[FionaMG]

@TeeRick, the CK menus are showing in the app now. Go into dining, then restaurants and scroll down a bit to find CK.

 

[FionaMG]

8 hours ago, mrsd2fan said:

I absolutely love this ship!

Lines: the only line we waited in as for guest services, they really need to work on that.

Crew: efficient and hard working

Food: So good!!! (except for the strip steak, still has a strange texture)

Drinks: Wish each bar had the same consistency as far as quality, ordered a drink of the day (can't recall which one) that was supposed to have rum, but the bartender in Players put vodka. Best drinks were made in the Schooner Bar with Boleros a close 2nd

Drink Package: Unless you drink alot or get a really good price ($68.00 or less) it's not worth it.

Labadee: SOOOOO much nicer than when we were there 20 years ago..so  much to do!

 

It was a wonderful 8 day cruise, the only down side was rude passengers, but that can't be helped.

 

Great pic! 😊

Love that navy blue flowery dress. 😍

I'm glad to hear the food was good and you had a great cruise. Thanks for sharing.

[mafig]

4 hours ago, mrsd2fan said:

that reminds me, my sisters in law were with us and she played roulette and she, of course, had to give her sea pass to get chips and they gave her the wrong card back..that was a bit of a fiasco...going to post tis as a topic for people to be aware of.

Why do you have to give your sea pass?  Can't you just give them $$$money?

[Scottdalfonso]

5 minutes ago, mafig said:

Why do you have to give your sea pass?  Can't you just give them $$$money?

If you want to get points for your time, I assume they need your card

[mafig]

Don't gamble enough to worry about points.  

[Minuet888]

16 hours ago, mrsd2fan said:

I absolutely love this ship!

Lines: the only line we waited in as for guest services, they really need to work on that.

Crew: efficient and hard working

Food: So good!!! (except for the strip steak, still has a strange texture)

Drinks: Wish each bar had the same consistency as far as quality, ordered a drink of the day (can't recall which one) that was supposed to have rum, but the bartender in Players put vodka. Best drinks were made in the Schooner Bar with Boleros a close 2nd

Drink Package: Unless you drink alot or get a really good price ($68.00 or less) it's not worth it.

Labadee: SOOOOO much nicer than when we were there 20 years ago..so  much to do!

 

It was a wonderful 8 day cruise, the only down side was rude passengers, but that can't be helped.

Thank you for this!  I am going on my first cruise and going on Symphony in late May!

Beautiful family!

They lost your luggage?  Did you get it back?How did they compensate you for the stress?

[flamingo6363]

Did you stay on Eastern time or did you move ahead one hour?

[TeeRick]

16 hours ago, FionaMG said:

@TeeRick, the CK menus are showing in the app now. Go into dining, then restaurants and scroll down a bit to find CK.

 

 

Thank you.  I did find them on the app now.  I just had to be patient.

[FionaMG]

1 minute ago, TeeRick said:

 

Thank you.  I did find them on the app now.  I just had to be patient.

 

You're welcome 😊

The menus have been all over the place on this sailing. Currently, Hooked is completely missing. I hope they find it again before I'm due to eat there. 😂

[TeeRick]

2 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

 

You're welcome 😊

The menus have been all over the place on this sailing. Currently, Hooked is completely missing. I hope they find it again before I'm due to eat there. 😂

That's odd.  It was there a few days ago and with the menu posted.

[Mum2Mercury]

On 2/5/2024 at 4:23 AM, mrsd2fan said:

Lines: the only line we waited in as for guest services, they really need to work on that.

I was going to say, "Guest Services is open 24 hours/day, so go early in the morning or the middle of the night", but since you were looking for your lost luggage, that isn't practical.  Visiting Guest Services personally is a low point in the cruise experience.  

Was your luggage lost between the porters and your room?  

21 hours ago, ajtaylor29 said:

Only complaint is with the casino. They took my money.

They've been known to do that! 

[mikefromny]

We took this same cruise in January and loved it. I love Symphony, I thought the food ranged from good to some items were very good. I always find RCL's service to be fantastic. I also agree that there's no need for the drink package unless you're a fish.

[ajtaylor29]

6 hours ago, flamingo6363 said:

Did you stay on Eastern time or did you move ahead one hour?

We stayed on eastern (ship time) all week. However - that meant that in Aruba and Curacao the local time was an hour later than we were. That always confuses me?!? My husband keeps his watch set to ship time and we take our phones off "auto-adjust" for the time so they don't change when we're on the islands either. You do need to be aware if you're taking a private excursion that their starting time is different than your ship time!