LauraLL

Recently, we left Symphony at 8:15am and were sitting at the airport gate by 9:15. We walked off with our luggage, had a car waiting for us and had TSA pre check.  All the stars were aligned for us.  Our flight was at 11:00am so I felt comfortable that we would make it.  

Ship - Symphony of the Seas

Deck - 11

Stateroom # - 11528

Stateroom Category – Family Ocean View

Starboard or Port Side - Port/Forward (as far forward you can go on deck 11)

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) – This was a very quiet stateroom with minimal traffic because it was far forward.  No noise from above.  The only noise was when arriving or leaving port because the anchor is near by.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – Two LARGE windows that have no obstruction.-

Any other comments? -  This cabin is VERY large for a family ocean view.  Sleeps 6 and you could easily add an additional roll away bed.  The best part is a WALK IN CLOSET, it was awesome to have this additional space.  I would book same room again!

Recently off Symphony of the Seas and we had a great time, but the food was hit or miss.  In my family's opinion,  food was drastically better when it was for an additional fee.  All the Specialty restaurants and Playmakers were very good, but the rest was definitely lacking.  The Windjammer was completely disgusting.  The other thing we noticed, in the non paying restaurants, it is basically the same thing just in a different ship location.  Royal really needs to make some drastic improvements in the general restaurants. 

17 hours ago, brookmill18 said:

Pool Decks--Chair Hog City!!!!  

My family and I just completed a Symphony cruise (July 27 to Aug 3 sailing).  We had a wonderful time. The ship is fantastic. The only problem was the chair hogs.  I'm not sure what the solution is but it is a significant problem.  All chairs are filled with towels but no people for hours.  A set of 4 chairs by the pool we were at only contained towels from 9 am to 5 pm.  At 5 pm they showed up to pick their towels.  It is so rude.

I would call Royal.  This happened to me.  Once I made them aware of the issue, within 2 hours the site was updated and i could make the reservations.

I called Royal again.  This agent said there is definitely something wrong with that sailing.  Specialty dinning reservations not available for anyone.  They are supposedly looking into it. 

My family and I are on the Symphony of the Seas departing July 27, so we are under 100 days from sailing.  Typically, i can book specialty restaurants around 6 months before boarding.  For our upcoming cruise there still is no specialty restaurants available to reserve in the cruise planner.  You can only reserve the dinning packages.  I called Royal and got the typical confusing answer.  I was told that for some sailings you can't book specialty restaurants through the planner before you board, it can only be done once you are on the ship. I even had him confirm this with his manager (who knows if he really did).   I've never experienced this so just wondering if anyone can confirm this to be true.  

Last year i did a land trip with my family.  We did both Herculaneum and Pompeii tours.  Both are extremely interesting and worth seeing.  Herculaneum site has more shade, smaller in size but much better preserved than Pompeii.  If you want a small group tour I highly recommend doing a search for local Italy tour guides. Our guide, Paolo, was an archaeologist and did an absolutely fabulous job.  He was able to provide so many interesting details and insight, as well as tailor it for my family.

4 hours ago, orville99 said:

The last (and in my memory the only) legitimate sale happened was in May 2014 when they introduced the never-ending BOGOHO.

Oh the glorious May 2014 Sale.  I remember it well!  It was the last time there was actually a true sale.  I was able to move my family of 4 from 1 cabin into 2 adjoining cabins AND reduce the cost by $2000. 

Additional question for this thread.   Many people have indicated they did not have an issue making reservations at their requested times once on board.  How large was your group for the reservation?  I have a group of 6 people and I am wondering if that will complicate it a bit.  Truth be told, I'm an obsessive planner and not sure i can wait to make the reservations on board for 6 people.  I want to make sure we can squeeze in the shows as well.

If after following the advice above to wait 30 minutes and the problem does not fix itself, I have had luck by clearing my cookies.  A bit annoying but has worked for me several times.

If there is a limit, I have yet to reached it and that is not from lack of trying. I book very early and continuously watch the price for reductions. The maximum number of times I have requested a reduction is 7 times and there were no issues with the requests.

There is a template that you can find online. It is pretty straight forward. I have traveled with my children many times and have not needed it BUT I have a friend that did have to present the signed from when taking her 12 year old daughter to the Bahamas. It was needed prior to boarding the plane.

I used this Cruise Critic "life hack" when visiting Atlantis a few years ago and it worked wonderfully. There were 4 of us and I only spend $180 on the room at the comfort in suites, which was a huge savings on this excursion. When I originally booked the room the cost was $220. When we check in I told the receptionist that we were not even stepping foot into the room and ask if there were any further reductions possible. She dropped it by another $40.

I have just recently did this same research. There are no OV balcony rooms with a Pullman on Harmony. If you want a Pullman you must go to a junior suite. Cabin 11538 in old deck plans had it listed having a Pullman but according to Royal this is incorrect. The new deck plans have that room with only a sofa bed. It is very tight to 2 teens to sleep on a sofa bed so I had to get two rooms. I think that was Royal's plan all along. Symphony is the same way.

Has anyone stayed in cabin 11538 on Harmony? Does it have a pullout sofa AND 3rd Pullman? I need confirmation because I am seeing different deck plans, some have it with a Pullman and some without. It appears this is the only non-suite Harmony balcony with a Pullman which seems crazy. Don't say call Royal. I tried that and they have no idea.

WOW...just WOW...

 

Better not go outside ever again either....one might get hit by lightning.... :eek:

 

After all...the odds are about the same... :rolleyes:

The odds are definitely NOT the same. This is a serious virus for newborn babies. In Brazil, in 2014 147 babies were born with mircocephaly. In 2015, 3,700 babies were born with mircocephaly due to the mothers' having contracted zika. That is a dramatic 96% increase. Whereas the chance of getting struck by lightning is 1 in 960,000.

The point is that this is not a risk for yourself, it is a risk for your child. I would follow the CDC orders and not go. There will be plenty more opportunities for vacations in the future.

I book all specialty restaurants before boarding, EXCEPT for the first night. I have found that if you wait until you are on board there is an additional discounted price for the first night. Last time we were offered 50% off of Samba or Chops for the first night of the cruise. There were actually waiters at the entrance to MDR asking if you wanted to eat at a specialty restaurant that evening.

Thank you all. I'll have a little shopping to do before we leave to ensure we have the right clothing for them. They have some now, but I don't think it's enough for an entire week. Thanks.

I have teen boys and on our recent Allure Spring Break trip all they needed was 2 pair of long pants and 3 collared shirts each. The minute they are done eating it is back in shorts and tee shirts.

Does anyone know what the changes will be made?

It is a mall just like you have at home. Unless you lose your luggage, I see no reason to go.

I'm going to be on Liberty 7/2 - 7/11 and was wondering if anyone knew if anything special would be done for Independence Day?

I'm guessing, probably not, but I figured I'd ask anyway.

Thanks in advance.

I've been on two RCI cruises that have been during the 4th of July holiday. On both cruises, the holiday was acknowledged with an evening pool deck party. Music and a very nice buffet. It even had the "old school cruise" ice sculptures and food display.

hi, i am [B]pretty sure there is no additional cost [/b]for the kids club. Is signup in advance necessary or available? Can it get filled up/booked up to max?

There is no cost in the kids club EXCEPT if your child stays for late hours, which starts after 10PM. I don't remember the exact amount but it was not expensive. In addition, they plan a lot of fun activities during the late hours including prizes and metals. It was near impossible to pull my 11 year old daughter out of the club on the Allure before midnight. She loved it!

Booked Nellie's cabana for our March, 2015 sailing in June of 2014. Approximately 9 months before the sail date.

Thank you for the report. We are going on the same cruise in March. I am a bit of a planner myself (that may be is a giant understatement), so I also have a detailed spreadsheet mapping out activities and costs.

Question for you on the Comedy show you have listed on your spreadsheet. It indicates it was family friendly. Did you need to make reservations for that show? On my cruise planner all the comedy shows are adult only. My teenage boys would really enjoy a comedy show.