European Adventure on Symphony of the Seas!

Item: Symphony of the Seas
Rating: 4.1
Author: MasterGarf

Symphony of the Seas Cruise Review

MasterGarf

Contributor Level: Second Mate

252 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 8

Helpful Votes: 53

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5

7 Night Western Mediterranean (Barcelona Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 06, 2023

Ship: Symphony of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 9531

Traveled as: Large Group

Reviewed: 9 months ago

Review summary

The cruise was a good and fun tour of Europe. It was very informative, but the excursions did get repetitive after a while.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Embarkation was quick and easy. I was not familiar with the Barcelona cruise terminal, but the overall process was the same as prior cruises. We got on the ship fairly early.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Overall the food on the ship was very good. I will also leave reviews for individual venues below, but I liked almost every meal I had on this trip. Royal Caribbean continues to exceed expectations.

Solarium Bistro

4 out of 5

A very calm and less crowded alternative to the Windjammer. The atmosphere and music in this facility is perfect if you just want to eat a meal in peace. The solarium is only accessible to 16+ year olds though, so younger kids can’t eat here.

Johnny Rockets

5 out of 5

We had been waiting for 4 years to finally eat at Johnny Rockets on a cruise and it was so worth it! Some of the best burgers and fries I’ve ever had. Staff is very nice and the restaurant was very clean. I will definitely eat here again if I sail Royal in future.

Room Service

1 out of 5

The menu is very limited if you’re not willing to pay extra. I understand it’s convenient if you’re getting off the ship early, but the food options are hardly filling or energizing at all. I would recommend either heading to the Windjammer or going to the Dining Room instead.

Windows (Main Dining Room)

5 out of 5

Very good atmosphere, and I really liked the starters and desserts they served. I also had many fun interactions with family when I dined here which is a plus. Make sure to eat here at least a few mornings and/or nights on your cruise.

Windjammer Marketplace

3 out of 5

As a food service area it gets the job done, but it suffers from REALLY bad crowding, especially on a ship this big. If you go at peak times you may be looping several times just to find an open table. The food is passable but don’t eat the hot dogs, eating it felt like biting into a balloon. I’d recommend you just eat at the bistro instead.

Izumi

5 out of 5

I don’t eat most Asian foods, but I love fried rice, and the fried rice here at Izumi was amazing! Our chef was Shan, and he was very entertaining and good at his job. I also tried some chicken and it was decent.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Most of the activities on the ship were great. Aside from some questionable choices that I will go into, every venue on this ship was entertaining and worth my time.

Main Pool

3 out of 5

The pool in the Solarium is actually fresh water, which makes it much more preferable to the main pools which are salt water. I didn’t go in them much, but I did go in the hot tubs which were quite nice.

Zip Line

4 out of 5

Very fun quick ride over the ship’s boardwalk. I have no issues with the ride itself but the queues can get quite long sometimes, and there’s some clothing regulations that can send you back to your cabin if you’re not prepared.

Mini Golf

2 out of 5

The rubber golf clubs, foam balls and turf used was a very strange combination. I managed to pick it up somewhat quickly, but my companions had great difficulty playing on the course. This area could defo use some refurbishment.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Royal Theatre

5 out of 5

I only saw one show on this cruise, which was the dare to fly show. It was a very entertaining and educational show with memorable songs, as well as impressive sets. Would definitely recommend you see it.

Carousel

3 out of 5

It was a carousel, nothing too special about it. You can ride for one minute at a time.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

The crew on this ship were really nice, I never had an issue with any of them. Our cabin steward was very nice.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

I thought the ship was very well designed, and was very clean. The only neglect I noticed is that some of the windows were dirty. The only complaint I have was that due to the ship’s length, I often found myself walking for long periods through passenger corridors, which sometimes took me out of the mood. Everything else was great.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Our cabin was a small, quaint interior cabin on deck 9. It was very clean and accommodated all of my needs. I bunked with my cousin and we had the two beds split. I slept better in that bed than I have at home in months, it was so comfortable. The television was a nice feature as it had many channels and the bathroom was also very nice.

Ship tip

If you’re looking for a casual place to eat, go to the Solarium Bistro. There’s much less lines there and it’s a way calmer vibe than the Windjammer.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

La Spezia, Italy

3 out of 5

This port would be the beginning of a series of “headphone” tours that would ultimately define the Italy portion of our cruise. This tour actually ended up being overbooked which resulted in a lot of the early tour being very disorganized. We took a bus from the port about 2 hours inland to Florence. We were given small radios and earbuds to wear so we could hear the guide as they toured us. We ended up arriving behind schedule which resulted in a rushed tour, which was very sensory overloading. After we ate lunch (in a very nice hall I will admit), things calmed down and the tour got better. We saw the statue of David and drove back to the port. I got many nice pictures at this port but things could’ve been run better.

Thumbs Up 0

Palma De Mallorca, Balearic Islands

4 out of 5

In Palma we booked a bike tour of the city and surrounding areas. This was one of my favorite tours of the trip as it was very informative, and the bikes were fun to ride down the streets. It’s also the only tour that stood out from our otherwise repetitive excursions in other ports which I’ll also get to.

Thumbs Up 0

Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy

4 out of 5

Rome was probably my favorite port. It was another headphone tour, but was run much better, visited well known areas, and they offered us local food several times, all of which was good! This time we took a train into town. We got to see the colosseum, and the weather there was nice. The tour guide was also very nice and entertaining and did a good job telling us about the things there.

Thumbs Up 0

Marseille (Provence), France

2 out of 5

I didn’t like this port. The city was very dirty and our excursion wasn’t really an excursion, which was tickets for hop-on/off buses. It got very hot on top of the bus which was painful when the bus would stop in areas where the sun was beaming down on us. We also walked up to a church atop a hill where we got some nice pictures.

Thumbs Up 0

Naples, Italy

3 out of 5

In Naples we drove over to the ancient city of Pompeii. Our tour guide this time didn’t speak very good English, and was hard to understand at times. However it was nice to see the city, and walk the streets with Vesuvius looming in the background. It was blistering hot though, and often made me seek shade.

Thumbs Up 0

Barcelona, Spain

3 out of 5