New Ship, New Port, Excellent Time

Symphony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

KarenChris2006

Contributor Level: Second Mate

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Reviews: 6

Helpful Votes: 215

Overall rating:

4.9 out of 5

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: June 01, 2019

Ship: Symphony of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 8598

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

So this was one of the most anticipated cruises for us, and everything was smooth from the flight in Florida, to the hotel, and the pre-cruise dinner. Once again the cuban food was excellent. Getting on board was great, but as I went to drop off our bags to be delivered to our room, the wifey was making the specialty restaurants reservations, and the person there was not on his job nd would only allow her to make reservations for like two nights, which was incorrect. Once we went over to Chops to have lunch as part of The Key, they were able to take care of all of our reservations without any issues. Another hiccup came when we went to Playmakers as part of the unlimited dinning after we ate at another specialty for dinner. So the manager of the venue said we could not eat there, because we had already been to another specialty, of course i got in his grill on the policy of the package. So eventually I had to go over to customer service, which they called over to him and told him the package details. He never came back out to apologize or anything, so of course I had to take it a bit further. Long story short I did not like how everything was handled, so I called onshore CS and ripped into them, eventually they settled it with a refund on the unlimited packages for a future cruise, which was cool. This was still a great cruise, we loved San Juan so much we are causing out of there in May 2020. The Key and specialty restaurant package was so worth it, we will probably continue to do both of those again.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

So we flew into Fort Lauderdale and driver over to hotel in Miami. Stayed at an excellent hotel in Miami (Homewood Suites), not far from the port. Had some cuban food the night before, so embarkation was smooth for us. We did The Key on this cruise, not exactly what we were thinking, but the speed of getting to the port and then onto the boat was the fastest we could have ever wished for.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

So not only did we do The Key for this cruise, we also did the unlimited dinning package. So the specialty restaurants were off the chain, and great. On a couple of the previous cruises the main dinning room started to be like, the main dinning room. So to have a more intimate experience and new restaurants was really great. There is a difference, so if your able, do unlimited dinning, you won't regret it. So at the time the kiddo was 12, so we were suppose to pay $10 for his meals, none of them charged the $10 for him, so we would tip higher for the waiter. Of course purchased the unlimited drink package and had no issues with driving our way through the cost.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Everything was great.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Top shelf, great.

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

he kiddo enjoyed it.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

So with the specialty restaurants the waiters and staff were just over the top excellent. There is a difference, and you get what you pay for, at least that's what I believe. I know the main dinning room is part of your cruise fare, but if your able to catch a great deal on the pre-cruise sales, take it, you will not regret it.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

New ship, excellent.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

OV with large Balcony. I probably could have went with a regular size balcony but we were going all out.

Ship tip

On any cruise, bring sanitizer wipes, and sprays, and when your able to go into your cabin for the first time, wipe everything down! normally you don't have your luggage yet anyway, so clean sanitize the handles, phone, remotes, etc, etc, etc.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

No excursion, but the cuban food was excellent.

Thumbs Up 1

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

4 out of 5

This was our second visit to this port, so we just stayed within the port and walked around.

Thumbs Up 1

San Juan, Puerto Rico

5 out of 5

On our own, walked to the forts and ate lunch at Raices, it was bust but the mofongo was the freaking BOMB!

Thumbs Up 1

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

5 out of 5

Rented out the day bed, and it was great and on point once again.

Thumbs Up 1

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

With The Key, this was actually smooth as hell, was out and on our way quickly.

Traveler Photos

7 Comments

cruisereckoning 4 years ago

So glad it was a fun time.

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bluewaves 4 years ago

Kudos for a great review, the time you took to correct the mishaps and the positive attitude you maintained!

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Fiesta83 4 years ago

So glad you enjoyed your cruise

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wooti05 4 years ago

Great review, with great information glad you enjoyed your cruise.

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KarenChris2006 4 years ago

@ Dewhite236, if your even considering an internet package you gotta do it, since you get on board a bit earlier, going to shows is easier and less frantic, in my opinion, and the lunch on day 1 keeps you out of the stampede at windjammer. pricey, but we do all the shows and things like that.

Thumbs Up 1

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Cruiserike0322 4 years ago

Great review, so happy for you

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DEWHITE236 4 years ago

Awesome review, thanks! We are going on our first cruise and we were thinking about the Key and dinning package. 50% of the people that reviewed the Key stated that it wasn't worth it, so confusing.

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