Huge ship! Lots of people; lots of kids.

Symphony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 2
Helpful Votes: 13

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5
Symphony of the Seas

7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 07, 2023

Ship: Symphony of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 12624

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

This ship is great for families with kids/teens. Lots of activities to do with them. If you’re looking for a quiet, relaxing vacation for adults, this is not the ship for you! It was crowded, noisy, and lots of kids running around. This was our first (and last) RC cruise. We’ll be returning to Norwegian to enjoy freestyle cruising, less kids, noise, and not being limited to when and where to eat.

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Fast and easy!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Food in main dining room was pretty good though desserts were a bit of a let down. El Loco Fresh food was fantastic! The buffet was just average. Service at all restaurants was very good. We did not like having a set dining time and place every night. It was very limiting, and we had to rush to leave whatever activity we were doing to get to dinner in time.. We much prefer “freestyle” cruising/dining offered by Norwegian.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
The Escape room was great! Flow rider was a huge hit but the line was always so long. Pools were super crowded and it was difficult to find chairs. Rock wall and mini golf were fun. Zip line fun, but short.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The shows were fantastic. Hiro, Flight, and the 1977 ice snow were all wonderful.

Children's Programs

I don’t have young children.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Our room steward was phenomenal! He took such good care of us. Didn’t staff were very good, helpful and friendly. They work hard!

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
The ship was very clean, and they took great measures to maintain health and well being of guests. The ship’s design was okay - it was just so huge. It lost some of that “cruise” feel and felt more like we were at a hotel in Vegas.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
The cabin was roomy, clean, and very comfortable. The balcony was spacious.

Ship tip

Definitely get a balcony room if you would like to have a quiet place to sit and enjoy the ocean and sailing. We found it difficult to find any quiet places on the ship to relax, so our balcony was so nice!

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

3 out of 5

Philipsburg, St. Maarten

4 out of 5

Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas

4 out of 5
Our excursion was a catamaran ride over to St John to do some snorkeling. It was a fun ride over to honeymoon beach, which was absolutely gorgeous!

Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas

1 out of 5
With two huge ships docked at Coco Cay, it was unbelievably crowded. Not a chair to be found, so many people everywhere, bumping into each other when trying to swim in the water, and long lines for food. There was loud music blaring all over then Island. It was not a relaxing day. We will never return!

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Fast and easy.

Traveler Photos

Two huge ships with LOTS of people docked at Coco Cay. Thousands of people at Coco Cay
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4 Comments

IzzyW    1 year ago

Thanks for the review. We had the same experience on our September cruise in Europe (Odessey). Very crowded (5400p on board). We also prefer the freesyle cruising with NCL.

Cruisersnoozer    1 year ago

Thanks for the review!

javawoody    1 year ago

Appreciate the review

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us

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