Deeliteful

Never had a bad cruise 😂 some better than others but never a bad one!

Thanks all. We’ve booked Britannia incl. premium on flight back. Balcony on Deck 9 midships.

🥳🥳

Thanks all. Also just seen she’s in for a refit too.

Looking at a Caribbean next January. I have cruised many times with various lines including P&O.

Britannia itinerary looks best but reviews of the ship are all pretty dire.

Arvia itinerary ok and enjoyed our fjords cruise on her sister ship.

Any thoughts please from people who have cruised the Caribbean?

TIA

Pat

1 minute ago, Deeliteful said:

So to finish off my short review - final day was Nassau and we had chosen Rui Palace via Resorts for a Day.

Unfortunately there were 4 ships in port that day so it was very crowded. We enjoyed relaxing in the shade and the plentiful drinks but food was mediocre at best. Pools were crowded and weren’t for swimming.

We went back to finish packing and get ready for our final night dinner and drinks.

Getting back to the ship we realised we had left our driving licences behind the desk (they keep photo ID with them until you leave) 😱 Thank goodness I didn’t take my passport.

Luckily Anne called the hotel and they have fed ex them to her!

Pre dinner drinks at Vintages and dinner at 150 again, fabulous food and service.

An early night. We both had late times to disembark - 9.30 but OMG it was a real sh1t show, the worst debark I’ve had that’s for sure.

Despite being able to get off at both aft and forward, the queues then funnelled into one loooooooong queue and we’re kept waiting in the walkway with no aircon and a nightmare for most people but worse for those with mobility issues.

Finally, overall a great cruise with amazing food in the restaurants when we finally got them booked. 
It was noisy, the promenade music was LOUD! 95dcb I understand. As I said earlier it’s not the ship for me but I can understand why people would love it.

Pics to follow.

Won’t be cruising for a while as have a trip to Spain in January, Costa Rica in March and Vegas in June, so maybe another TA at the end of next year.

Happy cruising, happy Thanksgiving and Happy Christmas everyone.

Busy day! 😎 Following our Playmakers lunch and flowrider watching, it was time to relax on our balconies and maybe read or nap!

Pre-dinner drinks in Vintages and dinner in Hooked. Tbh we were still so full after lunch but bravely fought on to eat oysters and lobster and salad and lobster roll. No desserts though 😂

Then onto the Ice Show which was fantastic and finishing the night (for me) with poker - which was profitable. 🥳

Playmakers for lunch! Oh so much good despite ordering a small portion of loaded Nachos to

So tonight we are at 150 again. Definitely the best food on the ship as far as I am concerned, however my first course was not great tonight - belly pork, fat not rendered enough so fatty rather than tasty, soft pork 😢 However the beef tenderloin made up for that - it was awesome. Tender and delicious. 
 

Cheese board was great too.

Remembered to take some pics 😂

My 

On 11/7/2023 at 12:39 AM, wolfcathorse said:

Would you mind finding out who the captain is please. I need to see if my chart is correct.

Captain Rick but not sure of his surname

It’s an Espresso Martini - delicious 😋

We had a solo meet-up at Izumi Hibachi last night. It was good fun and absolutely loads of food!

For some strange reason we had it booked for lunch today too😱 we cancelled. We have an early dinner at 150 our favourite.

Saw the magic show yesterday afternoon, not normally my thing but heard some good reviews. Definitely worth seeing, he’s very entertaining and clever.

Pre dinner cocktail in Boleros 

2 minutes ago, TheHawk1 said:

Everyone has a different idea of the perfect cruise vacation.  I wouldn't take even a free vacation on a ship as small as Jewel, as I know I would be bored to tears.  I just finished a Mediterranean cruise on Symphony, my second time on this ship after a Caribbean cruise in 2020 pre lockdown.  After two sailings, I think this is the best Oasis class ship in the fleet (and I've been on all five).

As you say, we are all different! Just not for me

Always lots of posts about the quality of the food and how it has got worse but I have to say we have both enjoyed every meal we have eaten.

Have now eaten lunch or dinner or both in Chops, Jamie’s, Hooked, Wonderland, 150, El Loco, Playmakers, Izumi, MDR (lunch only), and food and service has been fantastic. 

Wonderland was least favourite, Hooked and 150 the best but a tough call. 
 

The weather is now great, sunny and warm and smooth seas. We have had some big swells but this ship can handle those well.

The major complaint from many is the noise level - especially on the Promenade.

They have a band playing when things like Trivia are going on, so really tough to hear. One guy measured the level at 95 Db!🙉

The Cruise Director needs to work on that!

Saw the Comedy Show, not impressed at all! A Brit and a guy from Boston. Very poor imo but lots of people liked them!

2nd formal night tonight and we are eating in the MDR liked the look of the menu.

Will Iet you know how it goes! And I’ll try and remember to take pics!

Not always stupidity sometimes naivety! I don’t generally play slots and left $38 in a machine because I presumed it would go back on my card 😱 lesson learned! 

So Day 3 was Cadiz and as I have been before I just wandered around town and met up with Anne at a beachside restaurant for lunch. She had been on a RCI Sherry tour and was not impressed.

So the ship - this is my first cruise on the Symphony and I won’t be back. Whilst there is little wrong with the ship per se, it is just too big and too crowded for me - Anne agrees too.

The last TA was on the Jewel last year and that was just perfect. (My review is around somewhere 😂)

The UDP looked like a bargain when we both bought it but it is an absolute sh1t show trying to book anything. I won’t go through all the issues but an example this morning trying to book lunch and dinner (we have both been trying on the app for days but everything already booked!)

I called the dining line and told Chops was closed, call 7000. This takes you to the exact same voice message, as does the one when you call Guest Services! So we are taking our chances and going down at 12 to see if we can get in.

Wont be buying it again / we are definitely not alone in our complaints about this. An example - we were booked in for Day 2 dinner with a group at Jamie’s. When we got there on time they told us they had no room for us despite the rest of the group being there! The maitre d was extremely rude but luckily guest services were great and got us into Chops where we had a great meal.

We have since eaten twice at Jamie’s and it’s been excellent (with no grumpy Maitre d in sight!)

Have enjoyed Izumi and Hooked too. Not so keen on Wonderland but it’s an experience. Pic of some good at Playmakers!

Favourite bar is Vintages but have also enjoyed Boleros and Schooners. Obviously plenty more to try 🥂🍸🥳

So having a great cruise but the ship is not for us.

Hi everyone

This is a late start to my review as we set sail from Barcelona on 29th October and due to arrive in FFL on 12th November.

I am travelling solo but met up with my friend Anne who I met on the Jewel last year.

Had a fabulous 2 days in Barcelona. Our first port was Valencia and I had organised a tour for 14 of us for a Paella cooking class. 
 

It was a fantastic day / if you are going to visit Valencia check out Horta Viva. Taxis were arranged by Miquel, the chef and owner, and cost us 10 Euros each round trip from the ship.

We had ham and cheese for a starter, beer, wine of soft drinks throughout / the amazing paella, fruit, cake and coffee for the awesome price of 49 Euros each! Totally 5 star day.

Hi @Selbourne we have already done very well with our investment haven't we?

Doubled our money plus OBC! Can’t say fairer than that. 🥳 

Cheers

Pat

No privacy issues for us, not that we noticed anyway 😂

43 minutes ago, ParisHilton said:

 

So not really 'kids' but irresponsible kids deliberately trying to splash passengers?

I'm guessing as you were in term time it was mostly child free cruising.

I've been given the impression they are aiming for Iona to be very much appealing to families (have heard her called butlins-on-sea), so it will be interesting as to how it differs in the height of school holidays.  The ports don't seem to be massively appealing to children, so they might be moving the families onto other ships (which honestly I have no idea about, I just agreed to it with my wife as a cruise sounds great, I'd not done any research).

 

Thanks for all your wonderful posts though.

No I would say irresponsible parents not kids!

Definitely not Butlins at Sea.

Depends on the kids and their ages re ports, plenty of hiking, kayaking, RIB boats that some would enjoy.

Joe McElderry was absolutely fantastic. What a voice. Great show and great dinner too.

And finally! 
How could I forget to mention our 5* Captain, Wesley Dunlop!

Brilliant and absolutely hilarious. Definitely looked forward to his updates and hearing his dulcet tones across the ship.

Very smooth disembarkation. Travelling back to North Yorkshire by coach - however our driver is a bit dozy! Kept us waiting for over an hour as two passengers missing - they weren’t. Maybe he should have counted the passengers on board first🙈😱

So 7 hours ish to get home instead of 6!

Just to add, the other thing I really like about the ship is how well spaced out chairs and tables are, so never feels crowded.

Dinner in Olive Grove was very nice. Washed down with a bottle of Pellar Ice Wine as recommended on here some years ago! One of my favourites.

Night, night.

Pat

Breakfast on the balcony this morning as part of the Bon Voyage package.

Managed to book Olive Grove for tonight by phoning 7070 - said fully booked on the app.