Cruise did not go to Southern Caribbean and major disappointment

Item: Symphony of the Seas
Rating: 3.4
Author: Santa57

Symphony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Santa57

Contributor Level: Purser

499 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 2

Helpful Votes: 60

Overall rating:

3.4 out of 5

Verified Review

8 Night Southern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 21, 2021

Ship: Symphony of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 11640

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 years ago

Review summary

Ship did not go to ports as advertised. RCL did not replace Labadee with CocoCay which could have salvaged the trip somewhat. Going to Nassau was awful replacement. Would never have gone on this cruise to the ports they changed to had I been able to switch to another date, which did not exist. Ship was big, pretty, but would never imagine it full with over 6,000 guests. As it was closed off for Covid restrictions we still had to have reservation to go anywhere to eat. Specialty restaurants where good, and not very busy. Shows were Ok, suite level gains you nothing but room location or size. Coastal kitchen a flop. Slowest place to get a meal and limited menu. Better off in main dining room. Pool areas are very small and no adult pool. They were crowded with only 17% capacity on board. Cannot imaging with full occupancy. Captain of ship a ghost. You only heard him on speaker if you were on deck. Never even saw a picture let alone the person.

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Told to arrive at 10 AM. Doors did not even open until 11 AM. Stood in heat for no reason. Poorly executed.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Venues were nicely designed and furnished. Food was good and service was good.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Due to Covid restrictions pools were crowded. No adult pool. Did not enjoy pool area. The suite deck is a joke. A hot tub only and a bar. Did not even have chairs out to sit in. Areas closed off or highly restricted and needed reservation to go anywhere.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Stage show good. Musicians and DJ's all good with exception of Piano bar which was awful.

Children's Programs

Did not take kids

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

With 70% of staff and only 17% of passengers there were plenty of them and few of us. Almost un pleasant to try and eat with staff coming by to check on you. They have nothing to do and trying to look busy.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Very clean. Poor layout for pool areas and suites. Coastal Kitchen should be spilt with a bar area separate from food like Celebrity does. Saw two instances of exposed wires which surprised me had not been corrected. Cleanliness was excellent, design not so good.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Large rooms with nice bath area. No closets in bedroom which was a bid odd. Good size balcony. Room steward was very good and kept things clean and had good social skills.

Ship tip

Think long and hard about going during Covid with mask restrictions. Ship was closed off 66% of areas so even with 17% capacity filled, some venues hard to get into. Would never sail this ship or class again due to layouts of pool and suite level non perks.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Nassau, Bahamas

1 out of 5

Due to Covid did not get off ship. This city is basically closed. Should not be on any itineary.

Thumbs Up 1

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

3 out of 5

Went into town. Yes you have to taxi open air to get anywhere. Ship docks on west side and not close to any real shopping or venues.

Thumbs Up 0

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

2 out of 5

Took excursion which was supposed to be 5-1/2 hours to beach. Got 2-1/2 hours at beach which you could not swim due to drop off. Was right next to airport. Hot crowded bus ride. Did not go as advertised.

Thumbs Up 0

San Juan, Puerto Rico

4 out of 5

City has $100 fine for failure to where mask. Walked to Fort. City is not what it used to be. Dirty and crowded. Ship did not tell you that having vax card needed to gain entry to any restaurant.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

Very fast.

11 Comments

wgammon1 3 years ago

Thanks for your review.

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jvanhest 3 years ago

Sorry you felt this way. I was on your same cruise and in fact the one prior 8/14-8/21 on Symphony (also in an Owners Suite - 11240) as back to back and had a great time. Yes I was bummed when they changed the ports of call but we felt we just needed to roll with the punches if we wanted to cruise right now. No it wasn’t exactly like before COVID but I feel they did a great job of normalizing things as best they could and did a pretty good job! I am Crown & Anchor Diamond and my family member I sailed with is Diamond Plus so I think we have pretty good experience to base our opinions off of.

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wakinsupra 3 years ago

Wow! Thanks for the review! I love this class of ships and have only done them during pre-Covid. Good to know not to get hopes up post-Covid shut down.

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javawoody 3 years ago

Thanks

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Curt34 3 years ago

Thanks for the review.

Thumbs Up 1

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AuntPinkie 3 years ago

Sorry this cruise didn’t meet your expectations. Maybe next time.

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hollysmomtravel 3 years ago

I'm having a hard time picturing any ship ship sailing with less than 20% of passengers.

Thumbs Up 2

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cruisingurl 3 years ago

No cruises shown.

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CruzeFan 3 years ago

The current experience of cruising in a pandemic is nothing like pre-Covid conditions. Most are happy just to have the opportunity to be on a ship again at this point, regardless of where it is going. Sounds like you should probably wait 2-3 years until things may be back to normal before trying again.

Thumbs Up 8

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RoyalCruzer 3 years ago

Your experience does not reflect the overwhelming majority of cruisers on any Oasis class ships. Perhaps another choice of travel would suit you better.

Thumbs Up 7

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Pompebled 3 years ago

Thank you for your review.

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Other reviews of this sailing

Once in a life time opportunity. Amazing ship with wonderful crew, only 1100 passengers so social distancing was easy and the weather was perfect.

Fantastic cruise