katmu Posted January 30 #1 Share Posted January 30 Hello- I am in my early 50s and will be cruising solo. I’m looking at Eastern and Southern Caribbean cruises in either late November or early December. Both of these lines would be new to me, although I am booked on a HAL cruise for next May with my family. I was looking at these 2 cruises for different reasons. The Royal cruise is a hosted singles cruise. I’m not particularly interested in dating but a cruise where I know there will be well-attended events for solos does appeal to me. I’m not as excited about the big ship, potential for lots of kids on board, and it’s obviously 7 days vs. 11 days. Price wise, the base fare of the 7 day on Symphony of the Seas is cheaper but once I add gratuities, internet, and the non-alcoholic drinks package, it really only saves about $200. HAL includes a full drinks package, 1 specialty dining, 2 shore excursions and $300 OBC though as well. The HAL itinerary appeals to me more, but I know HAL has cut back on some of their music onboard recently so that is a bit of a concern. I’ve been reading the Midwest thread on the HAL board that’s showing the daily events on the Eurodam currently, and I think there are enough events that interest me to keep me busy. I do want time to relax on the sea days as well. I’m hoping to hear from people who have sailed on either of these ships on adults only cruises, or people who can give me experience with both lines. I have been to Miami and Fort Lauderdale for previous cruises, but all of the ports on both of these cruises would be new to me. Symphony of the Seas Day Port Day 1 Miami, FL 4:00pm Day 2 CocoCay, Bahamas 7:00am 5:00pm Day 3 At Sea Day 4 San Juan, Puerto Rico 10:30am 6:00pm Day 5 St. Maarten 8:00am 6:00pm Day 6At Sea Day 7At Sea Day 8 Miami, FL 6:00am Eurodam Day Port Day 1 Fort Lauderdale, FL 3:00pm Day 2 At Sea Day 3 At Sea Day 4 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 9:00am 6:00pm Day 5 St. Kitts 8:00am 5:00pm Day 6 Roseau, Dominica 8:00am 5:00pm Day 7 St. Lucia 7:00am 5:00pm Day 8 Antigua 8:00am 6:00pm Day 9 St. Maarten 7:00am 3:00pm Day 10 At Sea Day 11 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 8:00am 3:00pm Day 12 Fort Lauderdale, FL 7:00am Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserBruce Posted January 30 #2 Share Posted January 30 Eurodam is longer, and stops at Half Moon Cay. No brainer. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shmoo here Posted January 30 #3 Share Posted January 30 25 minutes ago, katmu said: Eurodam Day Port Day 1 Fort Lauderdale, FL 3:00pm Day 2 At Sea Day 3 At Sea Day 4 St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands 9:00am 6:00pm Day 5 St. Kitts 8:00am 5:00pm Day 6 Roseau, Dominica 8:00am 5:00pm Day 7 St. Lucia 7:00am 5:00pm Day 8 Antigua 8:00am 6:00pm Day 9 St. Maarten 7:00am 3:00pm Day 10 At Sea Day 11 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 8:00am 3:00pm Day 12 Fort Lauderdale, FL 7:00am Winner, winner, chicken dinner! Longer cruise, more ports. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Essiesmom Posted January 30 #4 Share Posted January 30 Longer cruise, better ports. EM 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mom says Posted January 30 #5 Share Posted January 30 Eurodam for sure! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leaveitallbehind Posted January 31 #6 Share Posted January 31 Agree with Eurodam. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare aungrl Posted January 31 #7 Share Posted January 31 Another vote for Eurodam. As @Essiesmom says, not only more ports, but (much) better ones. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
auntmeg Posted January 31 #8 Share Posted January 31 Eurodam. Much better ports. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donaldsc Posted January 31 #9 Share Posted January 31 9 hours ago, katmu said: Hello- I am in my early 50s and will be cruising solo. I’m looking at Eastern and Southern Caribbean cruises in either late November or early December. Both of these lines would be new to me, although I am booked on a HAL cruise for next May with my family. I was looking at these 2 cruises for different reasons. The Royal cruise is a hosted singles cruise. I’m not particularly interested in dating but a cruise where I know there will be well-attended events for solos does appeal to me. I’m not as excited about the big ship, potential for lots of kids on board, and it’s obviously 7 days vs. 11 days. Price wise, the base fare of the 7 day on Symphony of the Seas is cheaper but once I add gratuities, internet, and the non-alcoholic drinks package, it really only saves about $200. HAL includes a full drinks package, 1 specialty dining, 2 shore excursions and $300 OBC though as well. The HAL itinerary appeals to me more, but I know HAL has cut back on some of their music onboard recently so that is a bit of a concern. I’ve been reading the Midwest thread on the HAL board that’s showing the daily events on the Eurodam currently, and I think there are enough events that interest me to keep me busy. I do want time to relax on the sea days as well. I’m hoping to hear from people who have sailed on either of these ships on adults only cruises, or people who can give me experience with both lines. I have been to Miami and Fort Lauderdale for previous cruises, but all of the ports on both of these cruises would be new to me. Symphony of the Seas Day Port Day 1 Miami, FL 4:00pm Day 2 CocoCay, Bahamas 7:00am 5:00pm A beach. Who cares. A wasted day. Day 3 At Sea Day 4 San Juan, Puerto Rico 10:30am 6:00pm Puerto Rico is hardly exciting. Day 5 St. Maarten 8:00am 6:00pm Nov 28, 2022 — Maarten is recovering at record speed, welcoming six ships and 15,000 passengers in one day. Day 6At Sea Day 7At Sea Day 8 Miami, FL 6:00am All 3 ports for Symphony are worse, worser and worserest!! DON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AKJonesy Posted January 31 #10 Share Posted January 31 ED. Better ports, longer cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katmu Posted January 31 Author #11 Share Posted January 31 I’m waiting for my TA to complete the booking on the Eurodam. For people who are saying the ports are better on the Eurodam, what is the opinion on St. Maarten? I’m most excited about St. Lucia and Antigua. Half Moon Cay looks more my speed than Perfect Day as well. I need to do more research on Dominica and St. Kitts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
new_cruiser Posted January 31 #12 Share Posted January 31 I enjoy St Maarten but I've only been on days when it isn't overwhelmed by having many big ships in port. A 7-day cruise leaving Florida on the weekend will stop at St Maarten mid week. There are a lot of those so it's too many people at once crowding the island with day trippers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navybankerteacher Posted January 31 #13 Share Posted January 31 (edited) 4 hours ago, new_cruiser said: I enjoy St Maarten but I've only been on days when it isn't overwhelmed by having many big ships in port. A 7-day cruise leaving Florida on the weekend will stop at St Maarten mid week. There are a lot of those so it's too many people at once crowding the island with day trippers. Good point - but back on topic - Symphony’s 6,000+ passengers compared with Eurodam’s 2,000 means that port crowding should be considered —- in addition to the on-board differences. On our annual three week stay at St. Maarten we have learned to shelter in place on busy cruise days. I pity the poor cruising yahoos who think they are experiencing Caribbean islands when they travel like that. Edited January 31 by navybankerteacher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George C Posted January 31 #14 Share Posted January 31 Way better entertainment on rccl but better ports and more days on Hal , would have to pick Hal. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
katmu Posted January 31 Author #15 Share Posted January 31 1 hour ago, navybankerteacher said: Good point - but back on topic - Symphony’s 6,000+ passengers compared with Eurodam’s 2,000 means that port crowding should be considered —- in addition to the on-board differences. On our annual three week stay at St. Maarten we have learned to shelter in place on busy cruise days. I pity the poor cruising yahoos who think they are experiencing Caribbean islands when they travel like that. This does raise a good point about St. Maarten as I still have an issue there it seems. On the day the Eurodam docks in St. Maarten, there are 2 additional bigger ships in port that day so there will be over 10,000 people arriving. Any suggestions for a busy day? Eurodam arrives before the big RC ship so I may get off for a short bit and get back on the ship once things get busy. The good news is that for the moment anyway, the other ports don’t look to be as crowded. Even St. Thomas will have only a Crystal ship besides Eurodam on the day currently scheduled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquahound Posted February 1 #16 Share Posted February 1 Oof. Longer cruise and Half Moon Cay certainly are appealing but I gotta be honest, after my last HAL cruise, which happened to be on Eurodam, I swore off anything older than Koningsdam. Entertainment was nearly non-existent and main-stage evening entertainment was often a movie or a port lecture. I'm not often bored on a cruise, but I was on Eurodam. I recommend Symphony. I've cruised that ship class 4 times and I was blown away each time. There is so much to do and the entertainment is phenomenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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