lmintzer

Just wanted to add--it seems like with the amplification, they put a some of these futon-style sleeper sofas into at least some of the J4 cabins. I found a video of someone opening one up and then found a "matching" sofa in another  J4 category cabin (see photos).  From Youtube videos and photos, other junior suite cabins appear to have the larger, tufted sofas (which may open more traditionally). Still not sure if there are any that don't open at all.

To make matters even stranger, I can also book 3 of us into a J4!

Ah, interesting. That is probably why I seem to be able to book 3 into all of the J3s.

Yeah, you can definitely book any of the J3s for 3. Just not all are marked as having sofa beds. There was a J3 on deck 10 aft--with the huge balcony. Not marked obstructed. It's gone now. : (   Would have loved that! The ones left are on 6 and 7.

I'm thinking if I can't get a J3 I'm sure sleeps 3, I might just book two cabins right across the hall from one another. I'd book my teens (ages 18 and 16) into one and me into the other. We'd have two bathrooms and would each have a real bed. Only $300 more total to do this than to book us all into a J3. From what I've read, Royal would approve this since they are right across the hall from one another. There are no adjoining rooms left.

Thank you for checking. What about for 3 people? We need beds for 3. Thank you for you assistance. Unfortunately, all the J3s with a triangle are sold out (except for the obstructed view aft ones). 

Thank you. Is this true even if it is missing a symbol? These are all J3 cabins. 1608 has a triangle--thus has a sofa bed. But it's an accessible cabin, so I would want to take it away from someone who needed it. 9614 and 9618 are J3s also but have no triangle.  (Not sure I'd want to be that close to the elevator, but just an example.)

For the Navigator and the Independence of the Seas, it appears as if the J3 cabins are intended to hold 3 or 4 passengers and the J4s are meant for 2. However, not all of the J3s have a little triangle next to them (the symbol for a sofa bed). Would you take that to mean that some of the J3s would not work for 3 passengers?

To make matters more confusing, Royal Caribbean's site makes it sounds like you might find a sofa bed in both types of cabin. Here's the very subtle distinction they make between the two.

Anyone have any insight into this?

It's a shame there isn't a system for texting using ship WiFi. NCL has this--it's not perfect, but it worked a lot of the time. Each person had to plug in a special NCL 5 digit phone number. Then, you could message each other at those numbers without buying a data plan.

Thanks for the feedback. I just came across a Youtube video of 1706. Downsides: it's not renovated and you can see some of the framework, structure of the ship and the lower decks below. But the view still appears quite good, and the balcony looks to huge and shaded. I cannot find videos of 1378, 1372, or 1600. I did, howeve, find a video of 1106. It looks fresh and new! Pretty wood floor on the balcony. Appears to be unobstructed. The big downside: glass above the railing as well--all the way up. I'm sure it's to block wind, but I'm not sure if that would feel like it was outside. Otherwise--this stateroom is so nice!

So here are the J3s that are available on this sailing that sleep 3: there are 2 all the way forward on 11 very near the spa (Are these new cabins? Are the balconies completely enclosed?). Next, there is the lone 1600 on 10, port side. There is 1706 (aft-facing on10), and finally 1104 and 1106--Starboard side, toward the stern.

Thanks much for the feedback. I am leaning toward the Independence itinerary anyhow. In part, because I like an "at sea" day. Or I won't feel like we are cruising. Also, for "selfish" reasons--there seem to be J3 junior suites for 3 available on the Independence sailing. Would rather not be cramped in a balcony with my boys.

If anyone has any particular favorite J3 suites on the Independence (location-wise), please feel free to share. : )

Thanks to those who answered my Symphony of the Seas questions earlier today and yesterday.  I guess I posted too soon. As it turns out, the people I am traveling with (we are a multigenerational group: 2 seniors, 2 40-something moms, 2 teens, and two school-aged kids) need to switch gears and do a 4 night cruise out of South Florida instead of a 7 night. So now we are looking at either the Navigator of the Seas out of Miami (Coco Cay, Nassau, Coco Cay) or the Independence of the Seas out of Ft. Lauderdale (Nassau, at Sea, Coco Cay). 

Looks like the Independence was remodeled in 2018 and the Navigator in 2019. Reading some reviews that suggest that not all the staterooms were rehabbed. 

Any thoughts on which would be better?  I have a slight preference for the itinerary with the sea day. Not sure we need Coco Cay twice.

 I'm a little disappointed to not be cruising for the whole week--but maybe I can do a tour of the Everglades or something else on the Florida Keys with my teen boys when we return. And they would certainly be excited about the possibility of going to Atlantis for the day!

TIA for any advice you may have.

Yes, I see that. But balcony size aside, how about location for 2 seniors, one who has mobility issues? And for less noise level in the stateroom?

Thanks so much for the helpful and reassuring replies! I feel a lot better that there will be comfortable places to relax and not crowds everywhere. In terms of staterooms--it's a little tough to find 3 together at this point--I had better luck on a 3rd party site. Would you recommend these on 8 or these on 11 (I put little red Xs near the ones that were available). Cel_cruiser enjoyed deck 8 for a multigenerational family--but it sounds like those cabins were on port side? Are these likely to be loud due to being closer to Maltings? 

My step dad would like go with the family on a cruise this summer to celebrate his 80th birthday. The travelers will be: my mom, my step dad, his daughter and her two sons (ages 11 and 9), and me and my two sons (ages 18 and 16). We have zeroed in on the end of June, leaving from south Florida. The RC cruise that works with our schedule is the Symphony of the Seas, Western Caribbean. I am not crazy about the itinerary (3 full sea day, and port stops in Labadee, Haiti, Falmouth, Jamaica, and Cozumel) but this is the week that will work for all. The ship looks like will be tons of fun for the 11 and 9 year-olds and probably for  my teens, too. I am a little concerned about the adults, in terms of dealing with crowding and having quiet places to comfortably relax. My mom and step dad are used to more adult-focused cruising; I have cruised twice before on Norwegian, once on a medium-sized ship (had no trouble with crowding) and once on a mega-ship but in the Haven where we had use of a private sundeck with plenty of padded loungers, nice hot tubs, a courtyard, a wonderful private dining, room, and a bar without a long wait, etc. Are we going to be able to find anywhere quiet to relax on the Symphony (we are pretty much priced out of suites)?  How is the Solarium? Would we expect to be able to find loungers there?  I see it's for 16 and up, so it's nice that my boys could also potentially join us. Are there any other quieter/less crowded spots on the ship? Also, if my step dad needs a mobility scooter, should I be concerned about that with the crowds? And does there tend to be a lot of standing and waiting (which might be hard on them) for shows, dinners, and to embark and disembark? The younger crew can deal a little more chaos--I just want to make sure everyone will be comfortable. The only other cruise option I can come up with is a 5 day/4 night cruise on the Navigator of the Seas. Looks to be smaller but recently renovated with fun water slides, etc. The ports look fun (Nassau, Coco Cay), as we could spend a day at Atlantis (all 4 boys would love that!). To me, Coco Cay, is more appealing than Labadee. But it's shorter--and has no sea days. Any thoughts? TIA.

A few options would be:

Day 1: Hidden Gems tour. If a Wed., then Hamilton/Harbour Nights festival in the evening.

Day 2: Ferry to St. George; Tobacco Bay before crowded. Lunch and explore town. Ferry back.

Day 3: Take early beach shuttle to Warwick Long Bay Beach and explore beaches from Warwick to Horseshoe. Beach shuttle back in time for sail away. (This is not the day pass at a resort but more an "explore beaches on your own" option). Highly recommend this beautiful beach walk.

Another option if you really want a day at a resort:

Day 1: Ferry to St. George. See St. George and Tobacco Bay. Ferry back (or bus to Hamilton and stay for Harbour Nights)

Day 2: Beach day at resort

Day 3: Hidden Gems

Or you could reverse day 1 and 2.

Hope that helps a little.

In all fairness, the hotel lobby wasn't a major part of the trip . . . we just "chilled" there for about 5-10 minutes so the people got a chance to check out the hotel. There were also beautiful views of the harbor out back (and a Moongate) that we checked out. I think, with this tour, that she takes special requests and only has time to accomodate a certain number of them. So if you are the fist to book for a given day, yours might be granted (thus, the hotel stop). In restrospect, we should have used the time to walk up and down the main street in Hamilton. We were just hot and tired . . .

I do think your teens will enjoy Hidden Gems. There are benefits to day 1 (get an island overview can can schedule it a little later) or day 3 (if you are on a cruise that leaves at 3:00 p.m. -- you make great use of the day/can't miss the ship if you book through the cruise line which leaves more time to pack in other activities on day 1 and 2. I could help you better with "which day" if you tell me the other things you want to make sure not to miss.

We did both tours during 2.5 day on the island. While they were both great tours, and we would have definitely missed some sites if we had chosen 1 over the other, there was a fair bit of overlap. Hidden Gems entails a 50 minute ride to the far end of the island, and the guides do a good job highlighting Bermuda history and pointing out sites on the way. The difference is that there is no time to stop, get out, and take photos.

If your teens prefer an active adventure, I would probably choose Hidden Gems. We enjoyed our Bermuda Byways tour, but there were parts of it that seemed geared toward an older crowd. (The lighthouse, the fort and the beaches were the kids' favorites.) We didn't stop at Grotto Bay to explore the caves. We, instead, made a trip to see the Hamilton Princes hotel, which one of the women in the group had stayed at many moons ago. The people who we toured with had booked before us, so their request took priority. This might have been boring to my kids, except for the fact that the lobby was nicely air conditioned and had WiFi. There was a lot of time on the van, and a lot of it is spent quiet and listening, as Heidi talks while she tours.

Overall, I would lean slightly toward recommending Hidden Gems to families with active teens with the caveat that you try to get to the lighthouse on your own--it's totally worth it!

Wow, those are some serious cliffs! The footage from above shows some rock formations under water--that would seriously freak me out! Cool video, though!

Thanks. It was fun making the video (though it was hard trying to pick and choose from such shaky footage).

We used KS Watersports. They get good reviews on TripAdvisor, and a poster on another message board I was on had used them and said that they go through extensive safety training (and that parasailing is highly regulated in Bermuda). The day we flew. the winds were approaching the maximum allowable, so the boat was really really rocky. And, at one point, as they were about to hook up one of the women to the sail, she stumbled. Both immediately grabbed her and prevented her from falling. In doing so, they sacrificed their chute which fell overboard and was immediately waterlogged. It took them 15 minutes to get that thing untanbled and reinflated again--but they didn't give up. It was clear that they were thinking of the passanger and her safety and not their equipment or the problems they would face after. This made me feel a lot more comfortable about flying.

We cliff jumped in a very controlled environment. It at the Blue Hole as part of the Hidden Gems tour. I knew my kids would want to jump, and I didn't want them jumping anywhere where the depth/safety of the water hadn't been tested. (Yes, I would have also preferred that my crazy son would not have climbed that huge rock, but he promised not to jump, and he is exceptionally balanced and dexterous).

HTH, and thanks for watching. : )

Thanks. Hope you have a great trip. Was trying to plan some active adventures for my teen boys. Was super impressed with my father for keeping up with us for the most part (he wasn't scared to parasail where I was nervous about it--wound up loving it though).

This highlights some of our aerial adventures over the 2.5 days we spent on the island. Wish, in retrospect, we would have had a GoPro and a gimbal--this was filmed with a traditional video cam, and iPhone, and a Olympus TG-4 (plus some animated stills).

Trying to see if I can use Shutterfly as a host site. If this works--the first photo that shows the sand at Warwick. The second shows the soft sand between Warwick and Jobson's Cove. The third shows the path becoming more compacted after passing Jobson's.

And yes--in the first photo, that is the rock my crazy child scaled--in bare feet!

Thanks. I filled out an on-line lost item form with all of the relevant info and contacted a very helpful Cruise Critic member who has some contact info. of staff on the ship. Hopefully, between the two, we will be able to locate the glasses. I'm happy to pay for return shipping.

Of course they can be replaced, but they were not super cheap pair, and they were only a few months old--not something I would just say "whatever" about. Thankfully, he only uses them for distance, and we have month until school starts.