Excellent Shows subpar food

Item: Symphony of the Seas
Rating: 4.2
Author: jhc2me

Symphony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

jhc2me

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 36

Overall rating:

4.2 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 18, 2019

Ship: Symphony of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6636

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Overall a good cruise but will stay away from this ship in the future. Nice to see the new shows, but food not good except as noted. The Oasis, Allure and Harmony have much quieter rooms, and better food with equivalent service, services, and main productions. Plus thought they would have staffed the officers at a higher level, perhaps they are still learning their jobs.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

With regard to my nautical adventure on Royal Caribbean's newest ship the Symphony of the Seas, I offer the following comments and I suppose in all fairness, I should break my remarks into 3 areas; Bad, Good and Excellent. Food would grade out at a D+. With a note here the only places to eat will... were the main dining area and Chops(A speciality restaurant serving primarily steak). The rest of the eateries including the speciality restaurant Park Place 150 was less than average. The worst were the Windjammer and 150, followed closely by the Solarium. The Main Dining Area graded a B+ and Chops an A.... I was surprised that a simple check by a supervisor did not reject dried out eggs, burnt moussaka, etc.

Solarium Bistro

2 out of 5

Speaking only for the food we had, the main course was burnt on top, mostly greasy inside with only a small piece of egg plant. Many of the side dishes were dried out. So bad as to be returned with us leaving hungry.

Windjammer Marketplace

1 out of 5

You have been warned... we made 3 attempts to eat here none were satisfactory. Food was dried out, leathery, and tasteless. Not sure anyone even bothered to inspect the serving lines or items would have been removed.

Chop's Grille

5 out of 5

Excellent food and service.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

I also enjoyed the water slides, even the one that reminded me of the Disney roller coaster Space Mountain... sharp turns and pitch black. The dry slide dropped about 85 feet from the 16th floor to 6th. Great fun just a bit scary before the start as I hate heights. But once in the slide the excitement begins and worth the lump in your throat ending in a laugh and a smile at the end. Gym was good as was the walking/ jogging track outside on Deck 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

The excellent areas were headlined by the live theater productions. Truly amazing group of singers doing Hair Spray and Flight. While the Ice show starting with about a hundred drones was a sight to behold. Lastly was the aquatic show similar to "O" absolutely great! These shows were worth the cruise cost and more...

Children's Programs

No children

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

All the staff I came into contact with were happy, smiling and greeted you with a good day... The serving staff was attentive to your requests and quick to do the little things... our cabin steward was equally outstanding.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Very nice, clean and well maintained

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Excellent size for maneuverability... however, perhaps insulation might have been an afterthought. Crying baby next door could only be drowned out by a loud TV, which did not work early in the morning.