One of the worst vacation experiences I have ever been on
Symphony of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Deck Hand
Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 36
7 Night Western Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip)
Sail date: April 14, 2018
Ship: Symphony of the Seas
Cabin type: Inside
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
I sailed on the April 14 sailing on Symphony of the Seas and it was one of my worst vacation experiences. I’ll start with the positives: The ship is beautiful. The artwork is beautiful, I love the whimsical feel and every room is classy. The staterooms are nice and the beds very comfortable. The shows are cool. Some of them are a bit high concept. I honestly think if the ice show was iSkate 2.0 expanded, audiences would be just as happy as trying to figure out that strange storyline in 1977 but overall, a talented team. I like the emphasis on cleanliness with hand sanitizer and sinks everywhere. Here are some of the problems we experienced on the ship: The food is not great. The breakfast at the Windjammer is cold in areas it shouldn’t be and the potatoes are dry. I assume it’s a given the scrambled eggs are a mix. In the Main Dining Room, I had to send back the tuna one day because it was rubbery. The Royal Chocolate Cake doesn’t taste like chocolate. In Park Central, we took some sandwiches with us on a temperate day. 2 hours later, we took them out to eat and parts of the sandwich changed color, stemmed from what we believe to be poor ingredients or improper temperature food storage. Beyond that, the dishes were inconsistent. Some were good but many were average to below average. The menus were not inspired by the local foods or ports. It was completely generic. The wine list contains generic wines you could get in any American restaurant or Costco (like Duckhorn and Francis Ford Coppola) and there’s no cocktail menu at the dining room. This is a Mediterranean cruise. Wines are made in every country we ported at. Why not celebrate the local flavors a little more? The service ranged from good to poor but really, it was inconsistent. Rooms are barely cleaned. When we moved the pillows off the bed to sleep, the staff would not pick them back up when making the bed. They would just make the bed AROUND strewn pillows. Cups were left around for days. I found a mug in my nightstand after THREE days! Eventually, this got better so I assume it’s a kink the team is working out. In the Solarium Bistro breakfast, tables would be covered in empty plates, giving the appearance of a trashed restaurant. Guests would have to shove plates around on the table to make room to eat and even when I asked they be cleared off, they were not always cleared off. When we called (from the hall) about our phone problems (more on that below), the operator tried to tell us it was late and could he just come tomorrow. We said no. They did fix it but then ANOTHER guy showed up later in the night to fix it again. Seems like poor miscommunication. We had a guest services officer tell us iSkate 2.0 was free skating time for passengers. It’s a show. Please educate your guest services team. The spa was small. The “lobby area” for the thermal suites connects to the aroma spa (which had no aroma), the tiny dry steam room and the rainforest shower so you can hear every door slamming and everyone struggling with the rainforest shower, which only lasts 10 seconds. The worst part is that the ceiling shook every time someone above in the gym lifted a weight, took a step on the stair master etc. Why would you not soundproof the spa?! Also, I really missed the floor to ceilings windows of the sea that Carnival had. The noise was too distracting and I had to get a refund. The nightly dance parties with the life-of-the-party cruise director are lacking. Oh and all the cool activities you advertised? The escape room was only open once at a port time. The skating rink is only open once for passengers. Things open and close at weird times and the hot tubs are not hot. The advertised activities, especially those in Studio B, were a gimmick. The technology on this ship is not good. First, a tech/service issue: The automatic door at Central Park malfunctioned and nearly slammed in my face and instead of noticing he should report it, the staff member laughed at me! A second time, it slammed me hard in the shoulder because the automatic doors in Central Park are slower than ALL the other automatic doors on the ship! Back to the phone: our room phone needed 3 work orders so we basically had to go to guest services or do it ourselves every time we need something. Why am I paying $14.50 a day for service? The app sucks. You can’t bookmark events, message other guests on the ship, it listed incorrect times for trivia, listed an ice skating event and then we got there and it was iSkate 2.0 and it generally lacks info like “don’t bring any loose items to laser tag.” We missed events because of the app. FINALLY, the billing issues! First, I got billed twice for a spa pass and had to have it refunded. Then, on the last day, I was told I didn’t return towels and charged $50! First of all, we last used towels on day 5. We brought them back and the employee barely paid attention when we returned them. Or perhaps the technology malfunctioned again! We spent the last night at midnight at Guest Services (AGAIN) to clarify the towel billing. We were told they would take it off and it would reflect on our account in the morning. In the morning, on the tv, the towels were still there but on the paper invoice, it was gone (slow technology yet again!?). We figured that’s fine but then I got home and got billed for the towels AGAIN! I had to call and then had to explain yet again how I didn’t take the towels. I’ve been told the charge will be refunded in 7-10 days so only time will tell if it’ll finally happen. This cruise was an awful experience. To their credit, a Guest Services Officer did offer 10% off our next cruise but we declined (got $50 on board credit instead) because we will never sail Royal Caribbean again and will never recommend it to our friends. Side note: Cruise line automatically assigned my rating as 3.6 but I'm not giving the cruise credit for Gaudi's genius architecture in Barcelona! I personally would give the cruise a 2.Embarkation
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food is not great. The breakfast at the Windjammer is cold in areas it shouldn’t be and the potatoes are dry. I assume it’s a given the scrambled eggs are a mix. In the Main Dining Room, I had to send back the tuna one day because it was rubbery. The Royal Chocolate Cake doesn’t taste like chocolate. In Park Central, we took some sandwiches with us on a temperate day. 2 hours later, we took them out to eat and parts of the sandwich changed color, stemmed from what we believe to be poor ingredients or improper temperature food storage. Beyond that, the dishes were inconsistent. Some were good but many were average to below average. The menus were not inspired by the local foods or ports. It was completely generic. The wine list contains generic wines you could get in any American restaurant or Costco (like Duckhorn and Francis Ford Coppola) and there’s no cocktail menu at the dining room. This is a Mediterranean cruise. Wines are made in every country we ported at. Why not celebrate the local flavors a little more?
Onboard Activities
The spa was small. The “lobby area” for the thermal suites connects to the aroma spa (which had no aroma), the tiny dry steam room and the rainforest shower so you can hear every door slamming and everyone struggling with the rainforest shower, which only lasts 10 seconds. The worst part is that the ceiling shook every time someone above in the gym lifted a weight, took a step on the stair master etc. Why would you not soundproof the spa?! Also, I really missed the floor to ceilings windows of the sea that Carnival had. The noise was too distracting and I had to get a refund. The nightly dance parties with the life-of-the-party cruise director are lacking. Oh and all the cool activities you advertised? The escape room was only open once at a port time. The skating rink is only open once for passengers. Things open and close at weird times and the hot tubs are not hot. The advertised activities, especially those in Studio B, were a gimmick.
Entertainment
The shows are cool. Some of them are a bit high concept. I honestly think if the ice show was iSkate 2.0 expanded, audiences would be just as happy as trying to figure out that strange storyline in 1977 but overall, a talented team.
Service and Staff
The service ranged from good to poor but really, it was inconsistent. When we called (from the hall) about our phone problems (more on that below), the operator tried to tell us it was late and could he just come tomorrow. We said no. They did fix it but then ANOTHER guy showed up later in the night to fix it again. Seems like poor miscommunication. We had a guest services officer tell us iSkate 2.0 was free skating time for passengers. It’s a show. Please educate your guest services team. The automatic door at Central Park malfunctioned and nearly slammed in my face and instead of noticing he should report it, the staff member laughed at me! A second time, it slammed me hard in the shoulder because the automatic doors in Central Park are slower than ALL the other automatic doors on the ship!
Ship Quality
The ship is beautiful. The artwork is beautiful, I love the whimsical feel and every room is classy. The staterooms are nice and the beds very comfortable. I like the emphasis on personal cleanliness with hand sanitizer and sinks everywhere. However, ship cleanliness left much to be desired. Rooms are barely cleaned. When we moved the pillows off the bed to sleep, the staff would not pick them back up when making the bed. They would just make the bed AROUND strewn pillows. Cups were left around for days. I found a mug in my nightstand after THREE days! Eventually, this got better so I assume it’s a kink the team is working out. In the Solarium Bistro breakfast, tables would be covered in empty plates, giving the appearance of a trashed restaurant. Guests would have to shove plates around on the table to make room to eat and even when I asked they be cleared off, they were not always cleared off.
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
Don't do it
Thumbs up
1
Ports of call
Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands
Disembarkation
29 Comments
WynnTravel 6 years ago
I sometimes find that misery loves company and life is what you make it. We will be sailing in July and so very excited to make this experience great! I really hate that they had a bad experience but..... EVERYTHING couldn’t be bad. I know for a fact that RCI has great food. There are way too many choices on the ship for them not to find something delightful. I hope and pray they continue to enjoy the other cruiseline of their choice and leave RCI to those who truly know how to enjoy something awesome!
marian9257 6 years ago
I think we should respect everyone’s right to give a review or opinion. The whole point of customer reviews is to hear what people think . Nothing is perfect so hearing others thoughts, that may be different from the next person , is an awesome way to gage the possibilities. We shouldn’t treat someone’s negative experience as a sin on their part . What we should realize is that each of us are PAYING CUSTOMERS. I work hard for my money and expect a certain level of customer satisfaction. Reviews are also a great way for companies or businesses to learn and make improvements. If use your worst review as a guideline for improvement, you’ll have a better overall rating . How can anyone make improvements without critical feedback? I am set to go on this cruise in June of 2019. I am hoping that the cruise line uses feedback like this to make improvements quickly .
papayasan 6 years ago
Sounds like you just like to complain. Your life is what you make it. If you choose to be annoyed and miserable thats the type of experience you will have. Ive been on many vacations where multiple things went wrong and still had a great time with the people i was with. I think your problem is you need to drink more. Just saying.
DebDoesCruises1 6 years ago
Beerfrog8...what exactly do you mean by " sounds like a carnival person"..I feel judging someone by their comments is so totally wrong... Anyone that takes the time to write their opinions deserve an applause... I have been on many cruises... With most all lines and like anything else... There is good and not so good!
jandrews0555 6 years ago
Just got home from an 8 night cruise on this ship. Everything was amazing. The service was excellent and the staff was very friendly and helpful. I was actually surprised on how great the service was considering that it’s a new ship and I expected some glitches but there was none. Some people just can’t be pleased.
Copentravelcom 6 years ago
I'm going with family in December. Hopefully new or improved staff by then and different food since it switches to Caribbean. I must say, your review is the best I have seen this far. Thank you for taking the time to write it thoughtfully.
I doubt I will cruise RC again either after my current 2 scheduled on Symphony & Rhapsody i'm kinda locked into these because the family goes with me in December on Symphony & girl friend's trip on Rhapsody. I have children and discovered MSC Cruises allows free sailings for kids 99% always and the minimum required deposit is cheaper with my TA. So I will try my first MSC in July and may switch up my loyalty.
I have always had issues with the spas on RC, so that part of your review hit home.
Anyway thank you again for your time and honesty.
GrLd 6 years ago
I hate to put anyone down but this review was disturbing. I have never been on a cruise, my first one will be next March on Symphony. I have been following that ship since construction started. By now I pretty much know the layout by heart & honestly don’t think I’ll get lost (although my bf says otherwise). He has cruised before, always on RC & says he’s afraid to try another cruise line for fear of disappointment. SOS being brand new, SERIOUSLY cut the crew a break. Everyone makes mistakes. That’s how we all learn. I’m sure there are many kinks left on SOS to be worked out. I’ve watched YouTube videos of couples that spend their lives cruising & grading cruises & all that I’ve been following give great reviews overall. It’s a shame that someone seems to find fault in what seems like almost EVERYTHING - I bet even off ship & in daily life. Please don’t drag the rest of us down, you have to make the best of your situation, as they say, “SHIP HAPPENS.” Get over it & move on. From all of the negativity I read in this review, I bet RC hopes this person never cruises w/them again; can’t say I blame them. It makes me even more anxious to have my first cruising experience w/RCL & on the BIGGEST CRUISE SHIP IN THE WORLD. I’m so psyched & pumped, I can’t imagine anything ruining my vacation. My bf is the best, we’re leaving the Port of Miami on my bday (3/16); what more could I ask for? Cheap reviews like this one are a dime a dozen & I believe this person is unhappy in any situation. It’s a shame, life is too short to be a ‘whiner.”
michaelgermany 6 years ago
Sorry to hear about the bad experiences you encountered. Years ago I took a carnival and the ship was new also, which resulted in me encountering some of the same issues as you. From this I learned new ships are a work in progress until they work out the kinks. I now go on ships that have at least 6 months of sea time resulting in crew and services becoming better at what they do. I've never had a bad experience from Carnival since my first cruise. I will be sailing on symphony April 2019 and hope for a great experience. Hope your next cruise is a GREAT ONE!