Symphony of the Seas: 13/05/18-20/05/2018 Review with pics!

[Guest]

La Spezia Part 4: Another cocktail? Why that would be a tremendous idea

 

We also tried the liquid water soup in the test tubes. It was very strange, but an interesting experience! Never had toast cream before, and i hope i never encounter it again in the future.

 

So, the best part of this meal (in my option) was the main courses. We were given the Chicken and the Beef, and they were both outstanding. The beef just melted, and the crispy chicken skin was amazing.

 

 

For desert, we got "The world" chocolate dome surprise thing, as well as the "forbidden apple". Both were very aesthetically pleasing, and both tasted tremendous.

 

 

Now. By this point we had tried all the cocktails on the menu between us, as well as some "special off the menu" drinks the bartender had wizzed up for us. We also saw a couple of genies tending to their guests. One was a group of 14, and i'm guessing they had the 4 bed presidential suite as they appeared from that direction on deck 12.

 

After leaving this amazing man to cause more mahem and magic, we headed back up to the bar. We ordered another Cheshire Cat cosmo each and headed to the aqua show for Hiro.

 

 

I somehow ended up with a Blue Sky Margarita (fourth mistake of the night, or was it fifth?) as we watched Hiro. It was so impressive, and the skill and nerve the divers have is insane. When the show ended, we headed to Playmakers for our first and last visit, and ordered another Blue Sky. All i kept thinking to myself is that it would be a great place to watch the Superbowl! (GO COWBOYS)

 

Now, this is where it starts to get hazy. This recollection of events came from my little memory of the night patched with Luke's memories of what happened. We headed into the promenade as i wanted to buy some souvenirs. I spent $50 on pens and a mug, and somehow got entered into a jewellery competition across the way at Regalia. I tipsily skipped across and had my photo taken with a gorgeous necklace. (we went back on the day of the raffle and i didn't win :( ) At this point (i believe) i lost my original necklace. I had taken it off to put the new piece on, attempted to put it back on, but i think it must have fallen off somewhere on the way back to the cabin. I asked at guest services and it hadn't been handed in!

 

So back to the room i skipped with Luke in tow. I laid down and decided i needed pizza (fifth mistake of the night). So, being the good partner he is, Luke went back down and got us some pizza. I must have fallen asleep at this point, as when he came back he had to wake me up. I then proceeded to take one smell of the pizza and the contents of my expensive dinner and drinks package made a unwanted reappearance. Bless Luke, he held my hair, took my makeup off and put me to bed on the side nearest the bathroom in case it happened again. Apparently i was crying saying that i had wasted £35 and disappointed the Mad Hatter. It didn't, but gosh did i feel awful the next morning. The last thing i wanted to do was spend 90 minutes on a warm coach on the way to Rome! Oh wait.....

 

Lessons learnt: Don't allow the waiter to order your cocktails, and don't mix tequila with ANYTHING other than tequila.

NB: I don't drink like this often. I just didn't realise how much i had had until i was in bed and the room started spinning. I am not irresponsible!

 

[scottygirl]

No worries Glitterati we have all been there! Enjoying your review!

 

 

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[slinder315]

Loving the review. What time were you in the ‘train from hell’ in La Speiza? We are going in September and are looking forward to the visit, but if we can avoid the train rush that would be great

 

 

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[s0479]

Loving the review. What time were you in the ‘train from hell’ in La Speiza? We are going in September and are looking forward to the visit, but if we can avoid the train rush that would be great

 

 

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I’m going in October and have been planning our trip there. Just FYI you can purchase the Cinque Terre Card online.

 

 

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[ndabunka]

Being a HUGE Top Gear fan I heard Jeremy Clarkson's voice in my head as I read these sentences of yours...

.

Lessons learnt: Don't allow the waiter to order your cocktails, and don't mix tequila with ANYTHING other than tequila....I am not IRRESPONSIBLE!:D

Actually, I am reading all of your sentences in JC voice (in my head) which is making this a VERY funny review. Kudos!:halo:

Subscribed to learn... "the rest of the story" (5 points if you read that in Paul Harvey's voice as you may be too young to have heard the saying)

Edited May 23, 2018 by ndabunka

[Bizzie07]

You have just convinced me that my decision to do the RCCL excursion Cinque Terre & Portovenere is the right decision particularly as we got it during a sale. Thanks for the info about 'duty free'. Looks like it won't be a bargain to us! Think we will give Wonderland a miss!!

[little britain]

We are definitely doing CT by ourselves.... So what time train did you catch, and it seems that you went to the furthest town and 'hopped' back... how frequent were the trains between the different towns and what time train did you catch back to make it back in time.

 

Shame about the Wonderland aftershock - it is fabulous .... and those eggs...yum,yum yum!

[Chester & Brewster]

we decided to go all out (jokes) and stay at the Premier Inn round the corner. I say round the corner, it was literally on the airport site. We then walked 10 mins to a favourite pre-holiday pub of mine (The Romper) and got 2 rump steaks, all the trimmings and 2 glasses of wine for £20. What a bargain.

 

Haha, most of my holidays start in exactly the same way! What's a holiday without a 'night before' dinner at The Romper??!! Have you registered for their newsletter? I'm always getting vouchers for free prosecco, free sharing starters, 25% off etc etc. Well worth it.

 

Thanks for the review, we're doing the same (but from Rome) in September.

[Kylomom]

We are definitely doing CT by ourselves.... So what time train did you catch, and it seems that you went to the furthest town and 'hopped' back... how frequent were the trains between the different towns and what time train did you catch back to make it back in time.

 

Shame about the Wonderland aftershock - it is fabulous .... and those eggs...yum,yum yum!

 

 

 

We just did the train bit in La Spezia. Trains run regularly enough that we didn’t have to worry about timing. However, as per previous poster, buy your tix in advance. We got to the station around 10am and just barely caught the 11am train. In other words, we stood in line almost an hour.

 

 

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[Ralphinsc]

Awesome review. We'll be on symphony in April next year once she comes stateside. Enjoying reading all the fun and all of the cocktails!

[madra2112]

We just did the train bit in La Spezia. Trains run regularly enough that we didn’t have to worry about timing. However, as per previous poster, buy your tix in advance. We got to the station around 10am and just barely caught the 11am train. In other words, we stood in line almost an hour.

 

 

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A group of six of us were in La Spezia in October 2014 on Liberty, and did the Cinque Terre on our own. We caught a train at 11.05, and went to Monterosso. Granted, it was October 15th rather than May, but we had no problems getting train tickets and plenty of room on all trains. We managed to visit all five villages, including walking the steps up to Corniglia. Tiring, but worth it.

[ckelly14]

Hearing about the trains makes me consider hiring a private boat to Vernazza and Manarola (The Blue Boat).

 

Great work Glitterati! Having fun following, including the gruesome details. I'll even excuse the Cowboys comment (as an Eagles fan)...

[Guest]

For all those asking about the train- we got to the station around 10am. The first train was packed but all the ones coming back were fine. Lots of seats. I believe it was becuse the train I got in originally was a single decker, and all the rest were newer double decker trains.

 

The train between each stop ran frequently and we waited no longer than 15 minutes!

 

It’s a more affordable option than the boat, and it was an adventure! We saw one of the boats unloading passengers and it was so rocky! The seas were calm but the boat was still rocking all over the place!

[JaniceB]

Really enjoying your review and pictures.

[blueridgemama]

So do you recommend Wonderland? Sounds like you liked some of the food and others not so much. I am trying to decide between Wonderland and 150 Central Park for an anniversary dinner. Enjoying your review-oh to be young again😄😄

Edited May 25, 2018 by blueridgemama

[Guest BigRoger]

Awesome review, we are really enjoying reading it! Definitely can relate to a number of your experiences including the ‘allire’ Of several too many of the wonderful cocktails.... we are on symphony for the transatlantic crossing in October and this has really made us excited - keep it up! Ps there are younger passengers.... they are just usually in bed earlier than the older ones..... :evilsmile:

[Guest]

So do you recommend Wonderland? Sounds like you liked some of the food and others not so much. I am trying to decide between Wonderland and 150 Central Park for an anniversary dinner. Enjoying your review-oh to be young again😄😄

 

I have not tried 150, but from what i have heard it is like an upscale fine dining restaurant. I have eaten in similar on land, but Wonderland is something else. Our dining room waiter told us its "a feast for the eyes, not the stomach". Its a visual experience rather than a foodie one. The food is good, but if they put two plates down and you eat one then the other, the other can often get cold. Its a hard choice! I know my parents chose to eat in the Celebrity 150 equivalent "Murano", and found the service to OTT. The wait staff were checking on them every 2 minutes and they said it just got annoying. Not sure if same in 150, but its something to think about! Do you want a fancy dinner, or do you want to be entertained!

 

I'm sure whichever you choose, you will have an amazing anniversary meal!

[AZDivers]

If you share a room with someone that doesn't drink can you buy just 1 drink package?

[Clarea]

If you share a room with someone that doesn't drink can you buy just 1 drink package?

Not anymore.

[Nanarrow]

Great review!

[jary8]

If you share a room with someone that doesn't drink can you buy just 1 drink package?

 

 

According to Royal last week, everyone over 21 in a room must buy the same alcoholic drinks package. The only exception is if you are a member of Alcoholics Anonymous and can show proof that you are, or you have a letter from the doctors, signed and with the full address of the surgery on it, that states that you cannot have alcohol for medical reasons. The fact that you are tea total, does not matter, or do not drink for religious reasons,

you will still have to pay for an alcohol package at £42 per day.

[Binkyzig]

Thats really frustrating, so I dont drink hardly at all but husband does, so I'm going to have to join AA just so we dont have to pay 2 x alcohol drinks package???!!!

[Clarea]

Thats really frustrating, so I dont drink hardly at all but husband does, so I'm going to have to join AA just so we dont have to pay 2 x alcohol drinks package???!!!

Wait until you are onboard to purchase, they may let you get by with one Deluxe and one Soda package.

[Guest]

Day 5: Civitavecchia

 

Our plans for today were to do a ship excursion transfer into Rome, called "Rome on your own: Short". It gave us just under 3 hours of free time, which was perfect for what we had planned to do. It was my 4th trip to Rome, so i was not too fussed. Luke was also not fussed, so we decided to just go and see a couple of the major sights and grab a pizza.

 

Waking up at 7am with a hangover and still feeling slightly nauseous was not a great start to the day! I was not a happy bunny when Luke tried to drag me out of bed. Bless him, he managed to attack the windjammer on his own, and brought me back some water and fruit. I just about managed to get myself dressed by the time he got back.

 

I did not take many photos in Rome, as i had exhausted that during my pre cruise stay in August. I just took it all in, and it was quite nice to not stop and take photos every couple of minutes!

 

The excursion was pretty good. The "guide" gave us some history of the port during the journey, and walked us to the meeting point- a gift shop (surprise surprise), where we could use some toilets free of charge. This meeting point was outside St Peters, but we were not visiting there today. We quickly set off, making our way through the hoards of water bottles, fans, selfie sticks and hat sellers until we got to the Pantheon about 15 minutes later. It is one of my favourite parts of Rome, and i had to bring Luke to see it. After a quick walk around and a "hey Luke, thats where we got ripped off for wanting a Pizza with a view" later, we took the 10 minute walk over to Trevi Fountain. Another favourite spot of mine in Rome. I don't know what Luke was expecting but it wasn't that! It was busy as usual, so we took a picture together and headed to get a Pizza in one of the backstreets. One large pizza, a side of fries and two sodas for 21 euros. Not bad!

 

So back to the boat and back to the ship. We were knackered from walking around all day, but we found a sunbed and watched all the other 6 ships in port with us.

 

We also walked into the buffet at the start of dinner time to see what they had on offer..

 

 

 

[Guest]

Day 5 part 2: The most fun of evenings

 

I think this was one of my favourite evenings on the ship. We had dinner (wonderful as usual, can't remember what i had) and then headed to the theatre. They were showing The Greatest Showman, and one of our friends has seen it now at least 15 times, so we had to take a photo. They had a funny thing going on at the entrance. it was billed as a "Red Carpet Event", so they literally had a Premier style red carpet set up, along with a fake crowd of photographers and the comedy club MC interviewing people as they came in. That was then being projected into the theatre! Neat!

As much as i wanted to stay a) the Spanish subtitles were annoying and b) We wanted to go and see iSkate next door! I receommend getting to iskate 15 mins before it starts if you want a choice of seating. We turned up with 5 mins (due to watching the first part of TGS) and ended up on the bar stools. It was fantastic! The last two songs they danced to were from The Greatest Showman which was also really awesome.

 

After the show, we headed to the Bionic Bar to create more weird and wonderful concoctions. So by the time the 80s dance party started, we were feeling pretty merry! Now this was an awesome dance party. I loved all the music, and enjoyed that they covered multiple genres! Although i was born in the 90's, i still knew all the songs they played! Pac Man and Ghost also made an appearance. I do have an awesome photo of us with them, but it is on Luke's phone! I shall add it once he puts them all in a shared folder.

 

It was also this night that i met my favourite entertainer on the ship. I did not catch his name, but he went by Piano man in my head. I had seen him across Instagram before our cruise, and i was determined to find him. When i saw him queuing to get in a lift, i knew it was my chance.

 

"Are you getting in the lift"

 

"OH MY GOD FINALLY SOMEONE WHO SPEAKS ENGLISH AND ISNT ASKING ME IF I'M GETTING IN THE ELEVATOR".

 

So yeah, we did a few ups and downs of Bohemian Rhapsody (sing along of course) and it was incredible. My favourite part is the peoples faces of either amazement or disgust when the lift doors open! So the second time i found him, he asked me for a request. I asked him if he knew any Muse and he his hand out for a fist bump. Turns out it is his favourite too! After a few songs and a few confused faces, i got out and thanked him for the awesome ride. Luke called him my cruise boyfriend. He was just jealous!!!!!

 

From the second time i found him

 

I feel like we also got Pizza this night?? It became a nightly thing as it was really good.