Beautiful ship and great destinations

Symphony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

avw3

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 20

Overall rating:

4.6 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: October 01, 2022

Ship: Symphony of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 9240

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

We loved our cruise and would definitely sail on Symphony of the Seas again. CoCoCay was fun but could use more lounge chairs, umbrellas and food stations. St. Maarten was awesome, and we loved St. Thomas despite the heavy rains that day. The food on board was the best we've ever had on a cruise ship and the same goes for the shows (usually they are awful.) Make your dinner and excursion reservations before the cruise. Make your show reservations as soon as you step on board to avoid getting shut out. Get to the pool early on sea days and grab your chair because the chair hogs come out early and never give up their loungers. The staff did not clear towels from idle lounge chairs on this cruise as they have in the past. Drink prices have gone WAY up and the drinks were weak. Give yourself an hour to get off the ship at disembarkation. Once you are off the ship, grabbing your luggage and going through customs was a breeze. The taxi stand line was very long but Ubers and Lyfts typically show up in about 10 minutes and are cheaper.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Embarkation in Miami was quick. We were on the ship within 10 minutes of dropping the bags with the porters.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Food was excellent all throughout the ship including the Main dining room and Windjammer buffet. Dinner at Chops was as good as any high-end steak house. We found drinks to be weak all around the ship and the pours were very light. Drink prices have gone up and a regular cocktail is $14 with almost all beers being $9.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

On-board activities were very good and plentiful. We saw shows, did trivia, name that tune, comedy clubs, etc. and they were all very good.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Performers in the shows we saw (Hiro - water show and Hairspray - musical) were all very good. We did not see any ice shows. DJs were okay but not great. They didn't read the crowd and played a lot of techno instrumentals. The bands were all very good around the ship including the house band.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Great service all around the ship from the cabin stewards, the MDR staff, Windjammer staff, Chops and the Cruise director's staff.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Layout of the ship is good. It is massive. some of the public area bathrooms needed attention. 6100 passengers on board and there will be occasional misses by the custodians.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

The room was very comfortable with lots of space to walk around and lots of storage space. Great location and had easy access to everything we wanted to do on decks 3-8. Short elevator trip to desks 15-17 for pool-area activities.

Ship tip

The ship is massive and when it is full it is a bust place. Book all of your specialty dining and excursions weeks before you sail. Book all of your shows (musicals, ice skating, comedy, headliner, etc.) as soon as you step on the ship. They will fill up fast.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

5 out of 5

Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas

5 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

4 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

2 out of 5

Disembarkation was poorly handled and it took us about 45 minutes to leave the ship. They routed everyone through the MDR and the process was terrible. Not a great experience if you are in a hurry to catch a plane. Plenty of Ubers and Lyfts available which were much faster and cheaper than the taxi stand line.

5 Comments

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