Just little stuff
Symphony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
Contributor Level:
Third Mate
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 13
7 Night Perfect Day & Western Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)
Sail date: June 04, 2022
Ship: Symphony of the Seas
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
After doing numerous cruises, I always say fun and enjoyment are what you make of it. If you let small things ruin a cruise or just a single day, then perhaps maybe you were not having a good time regardless. Unfortunately, a tropical disturbance was moving across Florida when we arrived on Friday night for our cruise. We received a text Friday night at 9 o'clock stating they could not bring this large of a ship to the port and our cruise would not be leaving until Sunday. After scrambling and trying to find another hotel as the one, we were staying in was booked for Saturday, we ended up staying at the Intercontinental. I would highly recommend this hotel due to its location and amenities. This was a great find, and we would've never stayed there if our Saturday departure did not get canceled. I would not allow an unforeseeable weather event to affect my review. As a result of this loss of a day, the cruise line had to pack a seven-day cruise into a six-day cruise. In doing so, we had to skip our first-day port at Coco Cay, which was why we chose this particular cruise seven months prior. Upon boarding the ship, we immediately headed to get our specialty dining booked. We also attempted to book the entertainment through their onboard app as the box office line was unreal. They made numerous announcements over the intercom, letting everyone know that they are experiencing technical difficulties with allowing entertainment booking on the app. This went on for pretty much the entire day. When they finally got the app working, we booked the escape room and attempted to book Hairspray. We found that Hairspray was completely booked up except for one showing the added-in at 3 PM on the second day. Unfortunately, that happened to be the same time we had booked the Rubicon escape room. The app would not allow us to make any changes. At that point, we headed down to customer service. We waited in line for approximately 30 minutes. After speaking with the customer service representative and them solidly typing or at least 10 minutes, they stated everything was resolved. We would be refunded for the escape room, and we were now booked for Hairspray. The following day, as an early riser, I noticed that the escape room was still listed on our itinerary, and Hairspray was not. Luckily in the morning, the customer service line is pretty much nonexistent. I headed down to customer service we explained what happened and what we needed. Again after at least 10 minutes of typing, I was told that the escape room would be removed and refunded. I was also informed that Hairspray was fully booked and that I could attempt to show up there and get in. The next day we were still reserved for the escape room, so I returned to customer service. I read explained what had occurred, and this time, after the customer service person tried to remove the escape room, she told me it was not allowing her to do so. I, for like this, is what everyone else was getting but did not want to say to me outright. She told me she would get with entertainment who could manually take care of it. Again I'm not going to let this dictate my enjoyment as I certainly understand problems arise. We went about our day and hung out by the pool. We went back on the app to confirm what time we had dinner and noticed that our entire calendar was no longer there. All the specialty dinings were missing, and I was concerned that they no longer existed. I went back down to customer service, and they could not figure out what happened to our calendar; however, thankfully, all dinners were still booked and intact. As I mentioned in the title of this review, there was not anything major, just little stuff and some which are out of the control of the cruise line. I cannot wait to try out Wonder or the Seas in December. Happy cruising!Embarkation
This was by far the fastest I have ever gotten on a ship. We literally stepped out of the Uber and was stepping on the ship in less than 10 minutes.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
The food was good. They do a good job with the buffets. We tried El Local Fresh on two RC ships. I have to say, regarding quick-bit Mexican-style food, hands down, the Blue Iguana Cantina on Carnival is much better. I think world Caribbean realized they needed a Mexican-style bar near this venue. They have now added a bar on the Wonder of the Seas. They did an excellent job with a rollout bar beside this venue to supply drinks.
We ate at Chops Steakhouse, and the food was great. Our server Marco was terrific. The host initially greeted us at the door had us scheduled to sit outside, which we did not want to do. He was very accommodating and got us a table inside.
We also attended Habachi at Izumi. Last year in October, we ate at Izumi on Odyssey of the seas. The chef on that voyage appeared to be new and was not very entertaining. This was a far cry from what we experienced on Symphony. The chef was hilarious, skillful, and overall just an entertaining experience.
On a whim, due to any time dining being backed up we decided to go try out Hooked. When we initially headed over there, we thought there would be no way we could walk in. We were definitely wrong. There is at least 25 tables and we counted five of them being used. We sit down and was immediately greeted by a waiter. The food was great and the waiter recommended numerous items to try. I had a feeling with so few there they had an excess of food.
Onboard Activities
There are always plenty of activities available. My daughter participated in the rockclimbing and we attended several trivia events. We also participated in the ice-skating. Like always, it is up to the individual to participate as much or as little as they want. What we found was a lot of things were just extremely crowded.
Entertainment
The Caribbean music on the Lido deck was great but wish they offered a variety. As far as the shows I cannot comment as we were unable to get into them due to them being booked up. I will explain later in the review.
Service and Staff
The servers and staff were fantastic. A few standouts were Joel in the rising tide bar. Joe, Batista and Anacito that the pool bar. Marco our waiter from chop steakhouse. No matter where you walk the staff are always greeting you.
Ship Quality
The ship layout and design were great. We really enjoy the oasis class ships
Cabin / Stateroom
We had a Central Park balcony. I enjoyed listening to the artificially generated crickets at night and birds in the morning. One thing I feel by having one of these balconies is the lack of change in scenery. When you have an ocean view, you obviously are looking at something different day after day. Overall central part balconies are still a unique experience you typically don't get on other ships other than the Oasis Class.
Ports of call
We had a great time in Miami. After the initial delay in our departure we got to visit additional areas in .Miami
Thumbs Up
1
We have been to Cozumel numerous times and usually just visit the city. One of our go-to places is Poncho's Backyard. This time we decided to visit Paradise Beach club. It is an all-inclusive beach club that boast the largest heated pool and numerous water activities. We had a wonderful day there.
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras
If you leave the cruise terminal this is one congested and hectic area. There are more tour companies than you could possibly imagine. The traffic is unreal. We signed up for a jet ski and Beach break excursion through Cruise One. Finding the meeting point in all of this chaos was extremely difficult and with the traffic situation we ended up waiting quite some time for our bus to get through to pick us up.
Did not participate in any excursions here. Basically walked around the port which is a nice cruise port. They offer a very large swimming pool and numerous shops. My family and I quite enjoyed the Fish Spa.
Disembarkation
For the most part disembarking was uneventful. There were several delays just due to crowded gangways.
Traveler Photos
