Symphony of the Seas is simply an awesome ship. Many activities for the very active, or if you prefer a laid back day cruising, there are places on the ship to get away from the large crowds. Great gym, good running track, pretty good food, great staff. Solarium . . . very relaxing area for adults! Good casino to blow some bucks . . . you can get lucky tho.
Embarkation
5 out of 5
It was perfect! They took our luggage at the pier and we briefly toured the ship/got a bite to eat before heading to our cabin which was ready at 1PM as promised.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
4 out of 5
Food was pretty god in main dining room: some dishes were just good and others were excellent. Did not have a bad experience in Main Dining. The Windjammer buffet was packed with a variety of choices and on certain days, there were special food themes. The Windjammer can get crowded at times, but we never had a problem finding a table. Unfortunately, we only booked one specialty dining event and cancelled it to spend the last night dining with our friends on the cruise. We were travelling with six others on this cruise. We will definitely try out Wonderland on our next cruise as some of our friends raved about this specialty dining experience.
Onboard Activities
5 out of 5
OMG . . . everything you could possibly want to do on your cruise. Everything for the active person and if you just wanted to chill on a quiet spot on the ship, you could find a place to do that too!
Entertainment
5 out of 5
Great shows (Hiro, 1977, etc.) . . . The pianist who pulled his piano into one of the elevators in the evenings was awesome!
Service and Staff
5 out of 5
Great service from the dining room staff, staff in the buffet, bar tenders, staff in the various shops on board and our cabin attendant! However, I found the staff manning the "Guest Services" area to be just OK at best!
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
They do a great job in cleaning the ship every day, washing down the decks/deck chairs, sanitizing the elevators and buttons. Late at night/early morning, we would see staff cleaning all areas of the ship!
Cabin / Stateroom
5 out of 5
We had a Boardwalk cabin. Great size for 2; good views of the Boardwalk areas and the Aqua Theater; we did not have any issues whatsoever with noise from the Boardwalk below; we were surprised at the amount of space for our clothes . . . more than enough; safe was very small though; had a mini refrigerator; bathroom was large enough. Very comfortable cabin!
Ship tip
Check out the Solarium . . . very relaxing! And they have a great gym on board. On deck 5, there are lounge chairs towards the rear of the ship . . . a great quiet place to relax and read if you want to be away from the hustle & bustle of the main pool deck areas.
We liked Barcelona and stayed an extra 3 days after our ship returned from the cruise. Lots to see and do there! We visited La Sagrada Familia and toured the inside of the basilica. We also did the hop on/hop off bus tour visiting other sites such as the Arc De Triomph . . . it was a great way to see a lot in a short period of time.
We didn't spend much time here even though we had purchased a tour. My travel companion was sick this day and we skipped the tour. However, I did go into the city to buy some camera gear .... it was difficult to find locals who spoke English, so finding out where to go to get a taxi back to the ship was a "chore". Made it back though.
Maybe it was the weather (rainy & gloomy day), but we were not impressed with Marseille .... we thought the city to be somewhat dirty, crowded, with uninspiring architecture. Maybe we just selected the wrong tour!
We've been to Rome before for a week, so we skipped this tour. Our friends did tour Rome and found it awesome. That didn't surprise us as we loved our trip to Rome. There is a lot to take in during a visit to Rome, so one really needs a couple of days to truly experience the many wonders of this city.
Very efficient process! They took our main bags the last night of the cruise and had them waiting in the disembarking terminal the next morning, and we just picked them up there before heading to our transportation. Tip: we were staying over in Barcelona for 3 days after our cruise ended. The lines for taxis was very long and we were in line for 30 minutes before we got a cab. The next time we do this, we will arrange for a car/limo service to pick us up!
I think you'll enjoy this ship. There is a lot to do: zip line, rock climbing, the Ultimate Abyss, the Flowrider . . . a lot of active stuff! And you can just relax at quiet spots around the ship if you want to. Great Gym ... wasn't crowded when I went (early AM). Also, look out for specials for the Spa as they offered me a 20% discount on the 2nd to last day on the ship ($120 VS $150). It was a great massage treatment and the attendant threw in an extra 15 minute massage around my neck/lower back. Some reviews stated that the food wasn't great in Windjammer . . . we didn't have any major issues with the food at all and it was tasty enough. It's not gourmet and that's why they have specialty restaurants on board. Check out Johnny Rockets ... we had lunch for free (for 4) as it was included with our Boardwalk Balcony Cabin. The wings at Playmakers were excellent. Check out the "drinks of the day" as some of them were great at a lower $$. Enjoy!
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