Just off Symphony - First RCL Cruise - Brief Review/Thoughts

[mickeygirl78]

I miss them putting the freestyle cups in your room. My last three cruises they did something different every time and acted like you should know. It’s frustrating!

 

Great review, thanks for posting!

[Newcruiser215]

13 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

😂 I read that book and did the same kind of plotting and planning (without the app though as I did it back in 2011). It was a lot of work...but it worked. We hit up the major rides early and fit more into our day than we would have otherwise. The hard part is pulling your kids along past the rides on the way to the "scheduled" ride. 
 

Our last trip to Disney was during the week of the shut down in March 2020 (we were there when they announced they'd be closing down for "2 weeks" and we stayed at the park until they closed for good on Sunday March 15th). Interesting experience.
 

We were invited Disney guests on their trip though, and had unlimited line skipping privileges, no reservations necessary. I can never do Disney again because that spoiled me. Didn't stand in a line longer than 5 minutes the whole week. 

Sounds like you did the VIP tour. Lucky you! 

[Sea Dog]

2 hours ago, cruisegal40 said:

Thank you for this. We will be on her in September!

I will see you there!

[Newcruiser215]

5 hours ago, mickeygirl78 said:

I miss them putting the freestyle cups in your room. My last three cruises they did something different every time and acted like you should know. It’s frustrating!

 

Great review, thanks for posting!

I didn’t even get my money’s worth out of those cups because I fell in love with the complimentary lemonade. 

[Stealthdog]

Awesome review.  Very helpful.  We are going on a Symphony sailing in September and your experiences will definitely help make us make decisions (especially the dining).  Thanks again!

[Newcruiser215]

1 hour ago, Stealthdog said:

Awesome review.  Very helpful.  We are going on a Symphony sailing in September and your experiences will definitely help make us make decisions (especially the dining).  Thanks again!

Thank you. Glad I could help. 

[Steppy08]

Completely agree about the freestyle cups. Just got off Enchantment and had to play scavenger hunt to find a bar (that was staffed and didn’t have a huge line) to get the cups. 
 

And then the sticker they put on the bottom to activate it kept falling off, so I had to stand in line at a random bar to get another sticker. 
 

not sure why this is a better system than just putting them in The cabin. Probably a staffing issue. 

[Newcruiser215]

22 hours ago, Steppy08 said:

Completely agree about the freestyle cups. Just got off Enchantment and had to play scavenger hunt to find a bar (that was staffed and didn’t have a huge line) to get the cups. 
 

And then the sticker they put on the bottom to activate it kept falling off, so I had to stand in line at a random bar to get another sticker. 
 

not sure why this is a better system than just putting them in The cabin. Probably a staffing issue. 

I just read they have new plastic cups now. No more Coca Cola souvenir cups. 

[Steppy08]

2 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

I just read they have new plastic cups now. No more Coca Cola souvenir cups. 

The ones we got last week look like Plastic Solo cups but just in bright colors, the Royal logo only on the lid.  No embedded chip in the bottom, just a sticker with the electronic chip.

the cups in January were the Coke branded molded plastic w the Royal logo all over. 

[shofer]

On 6/28/2022 at 2:41 PM, Crusin Cindy said:

Thanks for your review. It was nice and to the point.  Do you have any trouble getting reservations for the nights and times you wanted?

We were on Symphony 1/29-2/6/22 and loved it.  There was a show schedule in our room and hubby and I chose which show for every day and I just had to call the number given.  We did this as soon as we got to the room.  No problem but the ship was at half capacity.

 

[Newcruiser215]

14 hours ago, Steppy08 said:

The ones we got last week look like Plastic Solo cups but just in bright colors, the Royal logo only on the lid.  No embedded chip in the bottom, just a sticker with the electronic chip.

the cups in January were the Coke branded molded plastic w the Royal logo all over. 

Those plastic cups are….. something. 

[ULCajunCruiser]

So which freestyle cup did you get??   The nicer "tumbler" type or the cheap looking, ice melting plastic one??

[Newcruiser215]

13 minutes ago, ULCajunCruiser said:

So which freestyle cup did you get??   The nicer "tumbler" type or the cheap looking, ice melting plastic one??

The nicer tumbler cup. I hope the plastic ones are temporary. 

[StephPS79]

Great review!  I was on Symphony last October, and pretty much spot on review.  (Except I really liked those onion rings at Playmakers!  I really liked all the apps we got there!)

 

The beach as St. Maarten though!  I did end up buying a hat, but, man, just let me relax!  I know, it is income for them, but it was so constant.  

 

I will say I had the Voom Surf and Stream, and found it to be decent, one of the better experience I've had with ship wi-fi.  

[Newcruiser215]

14 minutes ago, spsarrocco said:

Great review!  I was on Symphony last October, and pretty much spot on review.  (Except I really liked those onion rings at Playmakers!  I really liked all the apps we got there!)

 

The beach as St. Maarten though!  I did end up buying a hat, but, man, just let me relax!  I know, it is income for them, but it was so constant.  

 

I will say I had the Voom Surf and Stream, and found it to be decent, one of the better experience I've had with ship wi-fi.  

I love a good onion ring but these just tasted like grease. 

 

The lady next to us on the beach kept buying stuff so they just came coming over to her like vultures. At some point while I was in the water, my wife got a "free" massage. I was so confused. Lol. 

 

I think where I messed up was just buying the Voom Surf and not Voom Surf + Stream or it was just too many people using the wifi. It worked really good in some places on the ship but in room for example, it was bad. 

[StephPS79]

39 minutes ago, Newcruiser215 said:

I love a good onion ring but these just tasted like grease. 

 

The lady next to us on the beach kept buying stuff so they just came coming over to her like vultures. At some point while I was in the water, my wife got a "free" massage. I was so confused. Lol. 

 

I think where I messed up was just buying the Voom Surf and not Voom Surf + Stream or it was just too many people using the wifi. It worked really good in some places on the ship but in room for example, it was bad. 

Yes, the GF got the "free" massage as well lol, the lady pretty much did not take no for an answer and just sat down and started doing her thing to give a "sample."  I wasn't prepared for how handsy those beach massages are!  In any event, she did one leg and then said she'd do the other for $40.  Not saying it was a bad offer, but we had like 5 bucks cash at the time, which we gave her.  In our defense, we tried to say no!  Lol.

[waves]

Are you able to post a copy of the show schedules? We’re sailing this Saturday and looking for a recent schedule. Thank you 😊 

[Newcruiser215]

1 hour ago, waves said:

Are you able to post a copy of the show schedules? We’re sailing this Saturday and looking for a recent schedule. Thank you 😊 

Unfortunately, I left the show schedule in our stateroom. Sorry. 

[waves]

No worries…thanks for responding 

[hotsauce126]

3 hours ago, waves said:

Are you able to post a copy of the show schedules? We’re sailing this Saturday and looking for a recent schedule. Thank you 😊 

you can see everything if you go on the RC app and change your sailing to the current one

[Newcruiser215]

1 hour ago, hotsauce126 said:

you can see everything if you go on the RC app and change your sailing to the current one

I couldn’t see the show schedule in the app until we got onboard.