What was supposed to be a nice family Thanksgiving holiday cruise was not. We have cruised over 60 times and we spent more time with customer service on this 8 day cruise than all the others … combined. It was not the Royal Caribbean that our kids grew up on … by a long shot and we will not be bringing our grandchildren back again on Royal Caribbean due to the experience we had on this cruise … and we say this with sadness in our hearts as we had high hopes of introducing our grandchildren to similar experiences of there parents (our kids) and that was not the case.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Embarkation went fairly smooth with little wait although there was a lot of port congestion given the large number of customers coming and going
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
1 out of 5
Basically everything has been lowered from years past when we cruised with RCL. The quality of the food and drink have been degraded to mostly basic items with only nicer items occasionally. Heavy carbs. No seconds on Lobster Tail without an additional $17 up charge, no ajus on Prime Rib, steak was probably a grade B or lower, ice cream very limited … vanilla and Chocolate only, and not much cheese on Pizza. If you or your kids want a small popcorn for the show it will cost you $4. No doubles on drinks with drink package unless you pay an additional drink charge … so you have to consume a lot of sugar and calories to get where you want. I read the favorable comments from others and have to wonder how long they have been cruising or if they have even cruised other cruise lines for a base of comparison.
Onboard Activities
1 out of 5
First of all, Royal ships have some of the best and only special things that other ships don’t have … like the ice skating rink, water shows, zip line, and great big show entertainment. That said other cruise lines that don’t have those things and can’t rely on them have much better other things like water slides, obstacle courses, go karts, put put courses, etc. And they also have off Broadway style big productions as well. If your after the novelty … then RCL ships are for you. But if your after a more rounded set of activities you would do well to try some of RCL’s competitors. Also RCL has moved completely away from the paper daily planner schedules. It all on your phone and if your not liking being tied to an ever changing schedule of activities on your phone then your out of luck. We have never seen so much fluidity in daily schedules of activities
Entertainment
1 out of 5
RCL’s entertainment is top notch but the hassle of getting it scheduled and the never ending stream of schedule changes require constant attention and are the only reason for a low rating. We followed all the pre cruise planning steps and scheduling windows only to have RCL randomly change everything which created a lot of issues for other plans we had made for our family. They appear to have zero discipline in scheduling nor care what other plans families have made. They even rescheduled one performance over another. They really don’t care how much effort you have already put in to plan around their crazy schedule. To be fair they did help us with a work around for the double schedule issue … but it required yet another trip to customer service to get resolved. Also they had almost no danceable music on various venues for either pre dinner or post dinner dancing. It was very limited and almost all very late in the night
Service and Staff
3 out of 5
Generally the service was all over the board depending on individuals. The folks in customer service were very good for the most part. The room steward was the worst … we asked for clean, dry set of towels to replace all the wet dirty ones from getting ready for dinner and only once did he actually give them to us. Royals move to only one service per day is a horrible change that need serious adjustment. The bar tenders were all excellent. Chris at the pool bar was outstanding. But all the bars were packed and it was very hard to get a seat and service many many times during the evening. Especially at the schooners bar where somehow Royal thought was a good place to hold multiple rounds of trivia each day during prime time rather than have a professional musician actually use the piano to set the bar mood properly
Ship Quality
3 out of 5
Beautiful ship. Central Park, boardwalk, pools, slides etc all top notch. Not enough staff cleaning up though, so had to rate this down because of a lot of surfaces, especially bar tables and counters being constantly dirty.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Very small for a balcony with 3 adults. Bathroom sink one of the smallest I have ever sean on a ship. Combo body wash and hair soap … no conditioner. Only change towels and wash rags once per day even when asked for additional clean and dry towels. Towels were so thin that by the time we dried off they were soaking wet. Bathroom sink area moldy. Balcony was dirty and so was the carpet. Left over bags under bed from a previous customer left behind.
Ship tip
Don’t do it. Try one of Norwegians newer larger ships. If you must, then you need to check the activity schedule every hour on your phone as it is constantly changing and if you can’t get into a show go to customer service to get resolved … don’t just accept it.
We did a catamaran which was fun but the first snorkel spot was worthless and the second outstanding. The boat was a bit dated and in need of major refurbishment
I still get the paper copy of the cruise compass by simply letting my stateroom attendant like a copy. In 2022 when I sailed from Rome I got two copies, English and Italian. I would never have 4 adults in one room and expect there to be enough room. I hope you're able to overlook all of this and appreciate the time you spent with your family.
I just have to comment. First, and foremost. Things will never be the same as the first cruise;
Second, things have changed since Covid- some good, some not so good;
Third, workers on the ship just aren't given enough credit, they are leaving their families and friends behind. Could we do the same? Trade places for one week with them, and your views and opinions WILL be different. They are doing the best they can for you to be waited on hand and foot. These negative statements have to change. Sounds like we feel entitled to succumb to these comments. Stay home and see who waits on you like they do. Geez.
Thank you.
Based on your profile, you are a very I experienced cruiser. How do you think you can fit 4 adults in one cabin? Then you complain about it. Paper co.pass are readily available, ask your attendant to leave it in your room each night. All other Symphony reviews have been positive. Looks like you were just looking for something free. Stick to Carnival, that is more in your budget.
Question is, are the basic lines like this becoming cheap commodity cruise, or will they eventually go back up in quality? My last good trip was Panama December 2022 and three months later the same ship was totally different and way less enjoyable. Have seen it coming after Covid. Thinking about moving up to the classier (and more costly) ‘luxury’ lines to see what happens.
Can’t live in the past. Cruise lines are far from recouping from loses during the pandemic. It’s probably going to be that way for a while. Keep and open mind and don’t set your expectations too high.
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