APDMOM

Got it - Thanks for sharing! The only thing is - our cruise did not even have all the menus listed on day 1. Maybe it was beacause the ship had just returned from the Med - or maybe it was an abnormal menu for Thanksgiving.

Maybe I need to log out? When I open the app, this is all I see (Blacked out name):

Even without a cruise booked? Would love to know how. 🙂

Breakfast Spaces and Times on Disembarkation:

MDR Disembarkation Day Breakfast:

MDR Dinner: Day 8

MDR Brunch: Day 8

MDR Dinner: Day 7

MDR Dinner: Day 6

MDR Dinner Day 5:

MDR Dinner Day 4:

MDR Brunch: Day 4

MDR Dinner Day 3:

MDR Dinner Day 2: Some items repeat, like the specialty menu upcharge items. I did not take pics of those every day.

MDR Brunch Menu Day 2:

By the Elevators: Promenade: That rolled up bug still has a stearing wheel and gear shift... "That silver mixed up Rubik's wanna-be waiting to be solved" (our geeky interpretation) 🤓

Favorite art pieces in the stairwells: And "hair pieces" in the Spa:

Some other faborite art items... On each deck thre are these small icons that match the artistic photo. Hearts with the hear picture, Puzzle pieces with the puzzle picture, etc.:

Favorite Art on the Ship: TIP: There are several pieces of interactive/experience art on the ship. We found these 3: An auditory experience: Another auditory experience: TIP: Entrance to the MDR - if you stand in front of this screen you show up in the art:

Is anyone intersted in the MDR menu for each night? I have screenshots I could post. Just reply here. 🙂

The Verdict on Symphony: For perspective: Our last cruise on Royal Caribbean, prior to this one, was November 2019. Our most recent few cruises (post Covid) were with MSC and Celebrity. Overall, it was truly a week of gratitude for us to be able to cruise. We did notice the cutbacks. Considering the economy and inflation, I prefer cutbacks (within limits) over hiking the price out of my reach. We love cruising so much, but this was one of the most expensive cruises we had booked. I will put in a chart later for comparison. If the value is still better than a land vacation, we will keep cruising. We LOVED: The friendly service - from fixing a charge at guest services to our room steward, to our Solarium dining service, to almost every bartender - it was clear to me that the Royal Caribbean crew members are much happier than those on MSC. The diamond vouchers - This is a huge improvement to the program, in my opinion. It allowed us to enjoy non-alcoholic drinks, including specialty coffee and milkshakes! DH and DS do not drink alcohol, so this was a nice adaptation to the program. The fact that it is available all day is another plus. That couple of hours in the diamond lounge was never our cup of tea - especially with the location and lack of views in the diamond lounge on this class ship. The itinerary - We love Aruba and Curaçao, and we always enjoy the fact that Labadee is so easy to access. Many sea days are not ideal on a sold out cruise, but we always found a fun and quiet spot, whether on our balcony, on deck 7 aft, on deck 5 aft, etc. There were always non-crowded spaces to be found on sea days. The ship - This is still my all-time favorite class ship. After 43 cruises on a variety of cruiselines and classes, Oasis class tops the chart for us. Of course, I have my bucket list... 👀Keeping an eye out for dropped prices on Icon class! The food - The soups were consistently good. Salad in the Park Cafe was amazing, except on one day when it was a bit limp. Salad in Solarium Bistro was excellent - all those Mediterranean options were very good (except the lamb). Ice cream from the soft serve, and vanilla milkshakes from Johnny Rockets were very creamy and good. Of course, the campfire cookie was a repeater. Curry dishes were great most of the time, especially the last night in Solarium Bistro. Those are the high points of food, but there were plenty of 'usuals' like the coconut cookie! The shows - Royal Caribbean obviously continues to spend a lot of money on the shows. They were excellent! What we did not like too much: Lots of chair hogging, loud music (that I don't call music) at the pool, and the app occasionally not showing the correct time. Thankfully, we did not run into too much rowdy behavior this cruise, but there were some kids sliding down the stair rails, including young children just supervised by older siblings. It seems like the ship did apply discipline warnings, as there were 3 cabins I walked by with a Discipline notification stuck on the door one morning. I was tempted to open it and read what it said, but I refrained 😇🤣 We did have loud teens in the cabin next to us - I think the adults allowed them to room together. After two nights, they quieted down, so another neighbor must have reported them. This can happen on almost any cruise, on almost any ship, so it is not related to this specific cruise. In summary, we are very grateful that we can afford to cruise, that we are healthy to be able to take the stairs (elevators were BUSY!), that we have a family that gets along so well, and that we have another cruise booked! We will gladly go on Symphony again, if the opportunity arises - it is a great cruise experience. If I think of anything else, I will add tips... I have MANY ship pictures.

Hope you have an AMAZING cruise! It is still the best vacation around - I just hope we can keep affording it. 😄

@gizbug Thank you for your input on your experience. I am really glad we ate at the Solerium Bistro - service there was excellent. We only ate in the MDR the first night as our Solarium reservation got cancelled by accident. I am glad we got to experience it one night so that we have a comparison.

Self-Assist Experience: We started doing self-assist a few cruises ago, and decided this is the best way for us. We had a 5-hour drive home, so we got off the ship around 7:30. We were through the facial recognition in customs and in the car by 7:45. The drive home was a bit grueling- 7 hours due to traffic and rain, but we are thankful to be home, planning the next cruise. Tomorrow, I will add some final thoughts and our verdict on the cruise, as well as more ship pictures. ❤️ Thanks for all the likes, loves, laughter, and for following along on our cruise! ❤️

Sunrise over the brand new Ascent: