LIVE - A Symphony Cruise April 23, 2022

[generalchadwick]

Sucked into the fun and the ship.  Another live update cruise bites the dust.  I don't blame them,  I wouldn't be able to keep up with it.  I greatly appreciate those that do.

 

D@#$ you RC for making cruises so fun!!!

[brillohead]

I'm not the OP, but I'm on this sailing.  

The boarding process has gotten a LOT simpler/faster.  We arrived just before 11am with an 11:30 boarding time, and there were NO lines outside -- they just waved us in without asking our time or anything.  

Didn't have to show COVID vax card and negative test result at the door, either -- just showed it all to the check-in person with the tablet, and we were second in line for that.  The longest wait was actually at security, because the lady in front of me had something in her bag that they couldn't figure out on the Xray machine, and instead of pulling the bag out and having her show them, they just all stood there looking at the screen for five minutes, which meant my bag was stuck on the belt waiting.  

I do recommend having a printed version of your boarding pass (SetSail Pass) -- it's much easier than waiting for the app to load and getting to the right screen.  (I also print my COVID results for the same reason.)  It's just faster and easier, IMO.

Symphony is doing the eMuster immediately -- go there right when you board and they are all ready to scan you in.  (Some ships I've been on didn't open the eMuster until noon or so, which was a pain b/c you couldn't get it out of the way.)

Captain Rick is personable on the announcements, and many of the announcements have been repeated in Spanish. 

 

We had a juggler/comedian as the first headliner.  Still no Hairspray.  We're heading to the adult comedy show tonight.

 

Pool deck was crowded on the first sea day, but that's to be expected.  I was able to find a lounger in the shade behind the staircase near the cantilevered hot tub.  I hate how they have them so you have a view of the pool deck (or the staircase, in my case) -- many of us turned them around to look out at the ocean instead, but you could only do that if you were near an end where you could create some space to walk between them -- they were crammed in so tightly that they were literally touching each other, and without space to walk between them you couldn't get into the lounger if you turned it around unless you created space somehow. 

 

Headed to Chops tonight to use my D+ BOGO coupon.  It's "trash menu" night (beef stroganoff, vegetable moussaka, lasagna, etc.), so I go to Chops that night to use my coupon.  I made the reservation when I first boarded and had them charge it the first day to utilize the coupon.  

That's about all I can think of to report.  I did put some "news" in a separate thread, too, because I assumed the OP was posting in this one and I didn't want to barge in.  
 

[YouthD]

Day 1 - Embarkation

 

We started the day around 6 am to leave Orlando for sunny Miami! After a 3 hour tour, ahem ride, we made it down! We dropped everyone off at the Star Class drop off, then parked the cars. We couldn't wait to meet Sunil! We made our way up to the suites waiting area and met our genie! All 10 of us did our quick boarding process, then on to the ship! I wish it was always this fast! As soon as we crossed the gangplank to the ship, there was a prior guest waiting to hand Sunil some Crumbl cookies! Would have brought some of I knew he loved them so much. We did our very quick and easy e muster (the best thing that came out of the pandemic), then up to our room!

 

 

 

I let Margaret (my wife) do the honors of opening the room for the first time. Wow, so much room in this suite! We all piled in and they explored while we did the low down the Sunil. We were able to get reservations for 10 people everyday! Margaret got her body pillow, is amazing! He got us some great snacks from Wonderland and some desserts, and a good amount of drinks that we requested. 

 

We broke away from the rest of the group and HAD to visit Coastal Kitchen for lunch. I had some good scallops and we split the Braised Beef, SOOO GOOD! Then went to see what the hub bub was about Park Cafe. We had a small second lunch from the salad bar there. 

 

Explored the ship some more, had pre dinner drinks at Playmakers, then off to Jamies for dinner! Since there was so many of us we got the appetizers and pasta served family style, and we each had our own mains. This place is amazing. I don't think we disliked anything, the lasagna was probably some of the best that I've had.

 

No show the first night, we wanted to have a quiet night. Well, we ordered some campfire cookies for a late night snack. We now have a standing order of these everynight..

 

Crashed so hard!

[YouthD]

Day 2 - At Sea

We woke up to having our morning Starbucks order of a Venti Iced Chai and a Grande Iced Toasted Vanilla Oat milk. Gonna miss have Starbucks delivered in the mornings after the cruise. We had a late start, so wrongfully decided to join the rest of our crew at Windjammer. There was a ridiculously long line, so we asked Sunil about it, he was like WINDJAMMER?! Where is that? I had to promise him we would never go back. After a very long line, we finally got breakfast.

Afterwards, we got some drinks at Playmakers, and asked about the Draft playing on Thursday, no straight answer. Hopefully they show it! Did some exploring, then played a friend in a friendly game of mini golf. Luckily, I beat him by a few strokes, both of us didn't play very well. Right as we finished my wife texted me and said she got a last seat at Izumi Sushi, the waiter called Sunil and he came running over to say Hi. Ordered some sushi, karaage, gyoza and ramen, everything was great! My wife loved the Japanese Strawberry Milk drink, so much that I asked Sunil about having some delivered later, and magically a pitcher of it arrived to our room right as they reopened later. That was a good pre-dinner drink. We did a Pub trivia and won! Also did a pool volleyball competition, did not win that...

We got to have formal night at 150 Central Park! It was an amazing experience. But we were a little rushed since we were going to see 1977 that night, what an amazing show! We're seated in the second row by Sunil.

After the show we were greater in our room by an Izumi Sushi feast we had put in earlier, SOOO good. Then our standing order of campfire cookies.

It was a great day, definitely noticed the cruise ship being much much closer to capacity. But having our genie has really helped. Need to hide our ducks!

[sunny_shores]

Are the Aqua theater shows happening?

[YouthD]

59 minutes ago, sunny_shores said:

Are the Aqua theater shows happening?

 

[YouthD]

Day 4 - Roatan, Honduras

Today we had an early morning excursion, so we had our standing Starbucks order along with room service. Our excursion for the day was the BOSS Underwater adventure! Got off the ship in a flash with the genies help. The water is so clear! Being able to be underwater in the submersible was amazing, and seeing the reef and all the fish. Then snorkeled for an hour afterwards while the other groups went.

When we got back to the boat we had Johnny Rockets delivered to our suite. Onions rings were ok, not as good as Playmakers. Burgers were good, they messed up the order a little bit, had to get another burger delivered. Walked around in the shops until dinner.

This was our second night in Jamie's, and they were struggling. The food wasn't as good as the first night there, didn't come out as fresh. I think they were much busier this night.

Afterwards we say Iskate 2.0. Our genie lead us into the show. All of the ice skating shows are fantastic! They had a slight technical hiccup at the beginning, but restarted and everything was good.

One of our favourite parts of the cruise is the Silent Disco! It always so fun to listen and watch people sing along to the three different stations. Grabbed a Sorrento's pizza, then off to bed!

[Oceansaway17]

On 4/25/2022 at 6:42 PM, brillohead said:

The boarding process has gotten a LOT simpler/faster.  We arrived just before 11am with an 11:30 boarding time, and there were NO lines outside -- they just waved us in without asking our time or anything.  
Didn't have to show COVID vax card and negative test result at the door, either -- just showed it all to the check-in person with the tablet, and we were second in line for that.  
Symphony is doing the eMuster immediately -- go there right when you board and they are all ready to scan you in.  (Some ships I've been on didn't open the eMuster until noon or so, which was a pain b/c you couldn't get it out of the way.)
 

wow really no showing of two documents that are needed,  hmmmm very lax I say.

Good to know that Muster is immediately avail and hopefully folks do this before stuffing their faces immediately with food.

I will do muster and then the shows reservations and then eat.

[NolaFireLI]

Loving this "live" review and hoping that you have an answer about the NFL draft tonight at Playmakers... hopeful since my NHL team might hopefully be in the middle of the playoffs when i cruise the 1st week of June... and hopeful that i can get some of our sports on board while cruising! TIA!!

[brillohead]

7 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

wow really no showing of two documents that are needed,  hmmmm very lax I say.

 

You didn't read that properly.

You still have to show the test result and the vaccination card, but only one time, to the check-in person.  

Previously, you had to show them the text and vax card to be allowed inside the building, now they let you in the building without stopping to show paperwork, and you just show them one time as you're showing your passport, etc. 

Nothing lax at all, other than your reading skills.

[GSRDPM]

Could you please share the names of the bands on board as well as the name of the piano player in the Schooner bar?