Symphony Live, September 28th to October 5th - Now watch me Sip, Now watch me Lay Lay

[A&L_Ont]

And like that, we are back to solid ground and the reality that Pumpkin Spice Season is solidly upon us. 
 

For those who love it, this one is for you.

 

[A&L_Ont]

 Close to final approach.  I’ll finish up when we get home later tonight.

 

[Lionesss]

Andrew, thank you for yet another great thread.................love your pictures, and your dialogue.

 

Two questions:

 

Which airlines did you fly?

 

What is this private beach you showed construction of on CC?

 

Thanks

 

 

[Ocean Boy]

7 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Six minutes from cabin to the curb. Royal be like, Bye Felicia.

So many cruises in expensive cabins an they still don't know your name....

[A&L_Ont]

Just arrived home. Look who is awaiting us.

 

[suesnake2002]

Why does lucy look like she is giving stink eye. Lol

[purduemom1]

28 minutes ago, suesnake2002 said:

Why does lucy look like she is giving stink eye. Lol

 

Maybe because she knows she’s not invited inside for the welcome home party?😿

[A&L_Ont]

10 hours ago, purduemom1 said:

Safe travels home. Thanks for a great review. Can you reveal your next cruise date so we can look forward to following along?

Thanks.  Answer below. 

 

8 hours ago, Milwaukee Eight said:

Have a safe flight. See you next time. 

Thanks. 

 

7 hours ago, jagsfan said:

So when do we cruise again?

hope it’s not too long!

We are booked for March 14 on Symphony, but now that Owen is on the rep team we might have to delay that cruise to early April. Final payment is early December so we have some time. 

 

7 hours ago, vettprincess said:

Lucy awaits....

LOL, literally. 

 

5 hours ago, Lionesss said:

Andrew, thank you for yet another great thread.................love your pictures, and your dialogue.

 

Two questions:

 

Which airlines did you fly?

 

What is this private beach you showed construction of on CC?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

We went with Delta as Detroit is a hub. As for the beach club it is the one the Royal is building with over the water cabanas. It is not just for suites, but for anyone who wants to pay for admission.  There is a lot of unknown but this is RC after all. 

 

5 hours ago, Ocean Boy said:

So many cruises in expensive cabins an they still don't know your name....

You made me laugh. 

 

2 hours ago, suesnake2002 said:

Why does lucy look like she is giving stink eye. Lol

She’s a sour puss.🤣

 

2 hours ago, purduemom1 said:

Maybe because she knows she’s not invited inside for the welcome home party?😿

I bet if she came in, she’d want out immediately.  Either that or she’d never go out again. 

[Lorey2007]

 Delta just changed our DTW flight from 12:33 to 12:12. If we use curb side check- in we should be good to go right. Did you happen to notice if they were backed up. Or should we change to a later flight? 

[A&L_Ont]

It was asked if I could do a food comparison between Harmony and Symphony.  All the restaurant’s we ate at were very equal to each other.  Basically the menus are the exact same, so it comes down to the quality of the chef and the ingredients. 
 

We did try 150 and it was nice but it’s not exactly our style so we won’t return for a while again. We think Jamie’s was the best meal this week, with Chops close second. Sorento’s is the same with the added sauce on the pizza. The others were good. 
 

I just think 3 weeks on a ship out of 6 makes for things to be repetitive.  Not sure how the likes of Super Mario and other Pinnacles can handle the same food for so many weeks of the year. 

[Ourusualbeach]

20 minutes ago, A&L_Ont said:

Either that or she’d never go out again. 

Years ago I rescued a street cat.  Every time the door opened she’d turn around and walk  away.  You could leave the door open and there was no way she was going outside...I could just picture her saying “been there, done that.”

[A&L_Ont]

3 minutes ago, Lorey2007 said:

 Delta just changed our DTW flight from 12:33 to 12:12. If we use curb side check- in we should be good to go right. Did you happen to notice if they were backed up. Or should we change to a later flight? 

That’s your call but.... we boarded at 11:30 with a 12:06 flight time. We personally would not change it, but that’s an us thing. He have flown as early as 11:30 out of MIA. 

[A&L_Ont]

We don’t have a cruise for a while, being March of 2020.  We are headed to Sandals this January in Barbados, but since this is Cruise Critic there will be no reviews. I’m sure that I will be looking at Marine Traffic though, to see what ships have come into port while we are there. 
 

So I think that’s about it unless there are any further questions. It’s been fun bringing you along this journey, and meeting some of you on the ship in person this sailing. Hope you all made it home safe and sound. 

 

So that’s about it unless there are a few questions.  We are off to a hockey arena tomorrow until March of next year. 

 

Take care and see you all later. 

[luvcruzing]

28 minutes ago, Lorey2007 said:

 Delta just changed our DTW flight from 12:33 to 12:12. If we use curb side check- in we should be good to go right. Did you happen to notice if they were backed up. Or should we change to a later flight? 

Like Andrew, we have easily made an 11:30 a.m. flight from Miami to Detroit. Cruised NCL not RCI, but we’d have a leisurely breakfast in the MDR first and disembark around 8:30, catch a cab and usually made it to MIA by nine or shortly after and go inside to check bags.

 

Andrew, another fun review. Thanks for taking us along.

[ashleyriley]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

We don’t have a cruise for a while, being March of 2020.  We are headed to Sandals this January in Barbados, but since this is Cruise Critic there will be no reviews. I’m sure that I will be looking at Marine Traffic though, to see what ships have come into port while we are there. 
 

So I think that’s about it unless there are any further questions. It’s been fun bringing you along this journey, and meeting some of you on the ship in person this sailing. Hope you all made it home safe and sound. 

 

So that’s about it unless there are a few questions.  We are off to a hockey arena tomorrow until March of next year. 

 

Take care and see you all later. 

Hi Andrew, have you stayed at Sandals before? We are always looking for recommendations for all inclusive resorts when we aren't doing a cruise vacation. Thanks for the fun report! 

[PhoenixCruiser]

Thanks for another great week [emoji16]

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[perfect match]

Andrew & Lisa, thanks for taking us along with you on your Symphony cruise! I enjoyed every bit of your excellent review. I’ll be looking for your next sailing in the spring. Hope you enjoy your time at Sandals. 

[MalteseMama2]

Thanks for the wonderful review, Andrew. I hope Owen has a very successful hockey season!

[Sobro]

I appreciate all of your efforts to keep us entertained Andrew. You did well. Thanks.

[A&L_Ont]

6 hours ago, ashleyriley said:

Hi Andrew, have you stayed at Sandals before? We are always looking for recommendations for all inclusive resorts when we aren't doing a cruise vacation. Thanks for the fun report! 

We have stayed at the Royal Bahamian, Grande Antigua (Mediterranean Side) and will be going to Royal Barbados.  We do stay in the Butler level suites as they help to arrange things such as restaurant reservations and will actually reserve loungers for you either by the pool or beach.  One of the bigger complaints we have read in general is making dinner reservations once you arrive.  It can be a pain and not the most fun way of starting your holiday. I guess it would be no different than the dining package reservations process. I will say chair hogs at the resorts we have stayed at were out at 6am and no towels were pulled.  In this case having someone do it for us was amazing. 
 

We also tried Paradisus Playa del Carmen La Perla, which is the adults only side of that resort.  We selected a room with Royal Service which has it’s own butler, pool, private restaurant, and other amenities which were not as important.  I was always able to get a pool front chair even at 10am.  It does share some restaurants with the family side and we did venture over there for some dinners. Some kids were well behaved and others had poor parents 😉  It is about 40 minutes from the Cancun Airport with a private transfer where as the group bus one took much longer.  I’d return as the service was great and the cost was half of Sandals for a very similar service, but Lisa wants to always try somewhere new for land destinations. 
 

We started doing a land trip in late January every other year a few years ago.  I have commented every time how nice it is not to have to muster and get right to the fun. I do find it a bit boring compared to the ship, but there is life other than at sea.  
 

Hope this helps out. 

[mac_tlc]

11 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

 

I just think 3 weeks on a ship out of 6 makes for things to be repetitive.  Not sure how the likes of Super Mario and other Pinnacles can handle the same food for so many weeks of the year. 

My wife and I have some of the same feeling, and we cruise three of four times a year. We are bored with the menus. 

 

A little more focus on Celebrity when it is just the two of us, and Royal with the family.

 

mac_tlc

[Jimbo]

8 minutes ago, mac_tlc said:

My wife and I have some of the same feeling, and we cruise three of four times a year. We are bored with the menus. 

 

A little more focus on Celebrity when it is just the two of us, and Royal with the family.

 

mac_tlc

Holland America has great food also, worth a try.

[Lionesss]

2 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

 I have commented every time how nice it is not to have to muster and get right to the fun. I do find it a bit boring compared to the ship, but there is life other than at sea.  
 

Hope this helps out. 

 

Nicely put.

 

Our last couple years have been geared around Paul Reviere's favorite saying............

 

". . . . one if by land and two if by sea......."

 

So this year we did two Allure sailings, and upcoming for us is our fall get a way to DisneyWorld..................

 

The hustle and bustle of taking the child is over, we do what we want when we want and the only scheduled activities are 3 spaced out fast passes and of course our dinner reservations.  We usually get our 25,000 steps in by 2pm.  Love walking.

 

Take care.

[Lady Hudson]

Thanks again, Andrew.  You are a prolific writer and I really enjoy your reviews.

 

I hear everyone on food repeats.  But we tend to eat the same dinners at home week after week anyway.   Guess we are “food boring”.

 

Best of luck to Owen with hockey and the school year.  Your son seems to be one of whom you can be very proud.  Katherine

 

PS — going on Anthem 10/19 and our first chance to try Coastal Kitchen.  Looking forward to it.  😁

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Again, another great live report and awesome pictures! Thanks again for bringing us along!!