Symphony Star Class Review - 5 night sailing 31.3.18 2 Bed ATS

[TravelMadBrits]

Day 2 - at sea

Breakfast at Coastal, very relaxed and we really enjoyed breakfast here and came every day except one because we were a bit late - you have to watch the times as they can change and close an hour earlier than Windjammer.

 

 

 

We also tried different options throughout the cruise and everything was great. The fruit danish pastry ... oh I miss it!

[TravelMadBrits]

Lunch today was at Hooked. Very nice, service excellent - but it was so quiet! We were there about 12.15 but there were only two other tables that were being used.

 

Fish and chips - gluten free too - but a lot of fish for lunch...

 

Cheese scones came to the table instead of bread but we struggle to eat it, it was a bit heavy with everything else.

 

 

Lobster with some mac and cheese lobster dish (which we didn't order, but they were wanting us to try various dishes)

 

 

We also tried some calamari which was very nice and someone had a fish sandwich. One of us had desert but we were pretty full, ready to relax in the Suite Sun Deck area...

 

[TravelMadBrits]

I only took a photo of one side of the suite deck - the bar area with jacuzzi and shower. The area behind the showers was closed so you couldn't do a full loop and I'm not sure what they were doing (you may be able to just see the yellow tape being the jacuzzi). This area was good for looking at folk coming down the slides.

 

 

My son just as he whizzed by

 

Tonight's dinner was at 150 Central Park. It was very nice - my husband shared the beef dish for 2 which was carved at the table. It was also formal night, so everyone dressed up. We went to the promenade deck first to see Captain Rob having his photo taken.

 

I did ask for scollops as a main rather than a starter and that wasn't a problem.

 

 

Edited April 8, 2018 by TravelMadBrits
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[TravelMadBrits]

Going back to the suite deck the bar staff were great - kept bringing us drinks while in the jacuzzi which was great - we were the only ones using the whole area.

 

We also played laser tag today. Marla organised it for us and it was fantastic. She was very good and put us in a side area so not to upset people queuing so we could get on first and then go again. I think it was 7 minutes long but we were boiling hot afterwards, it was great fun and the lighting effects unreal.

 

We found out that the Escape room wasn't ready so didn't do this at all throughout the cruise. We did laser tag again on the last sea day.

Edited April 8, 2018 by TravelMadBrits
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[TravelMadBrits]

Day 3 - Naples

So after breakfast we decided that we would head into Naples. Marla was insistent that she take us off the ship (we were really quite happy getting off on our own but did as we were told!) - she was great, took us right out of the terminal and pointed us in the right direction. We had nothing planned except to wander around and may be stop for coffee. We knew it was Easter Monday but did not expect the volume of traffic or crowds. Oh boy it was unbelievable. So we found a coffee shop, and that was it, we were ready to get back on board!

 

We had no plans for lunch - we were already getting to the point that we couldn't eat a restaurant for lunch and dinner - so just went along the Broadwalk and found some food in Park Cafe, which was very nice. Then back up to the Suite Sun Deck to relax. Still quite windy but the sun was out and that was it - heatwave for us Brits :')

 

Being at the very back of the ship in the aquatheatre suite meant we had a great view of the square and the traffic lines. But there were a lot of local people driving up and parking taking photos of the ship and we managed to get quite a lot of people waving away with us before dinner. Even Marla dropped by to join in, it was so funny.

 

Dinner tonight was at Hibachi ... 2 guests didn't show up so we had the chef to ourselves. I've seen him on some PR material and he was great. The kids loved it too and the food was absolutely amazing - but again so much!!

 

Bye bye Naples - the traffic lines stayed for hours!

 

Dinner...

 

 

One more ready than the other!

[TravelMadBrits]

More food - oh the fluffy chick on the table - came out of the chef's hat along with the eggs!!

 

GF starter option

 

 

Before we started

[TravelMadBrits]

We would definitely eat here again, it was a really good evening.

 

 

So after dinner as we had never been on an Oasis class ship we had never tried the Rising Tide bar. We managed to get seats reserved for us after dinner to watch 'Wild Boys' the British group that were singing that night - all 80's hits - thank you Marla. We ended up staying on this gone midnight - we had a fantastic night, the music was great and the bar staff were really really good. Afterwards heading back to the room we found Dazzles (don't ask how we found that trying to get to deck 10!)... live group who we saw quite a few times over the rest of the cruise. Managed to get everyone dancing and the group played another song as they were supposed to finish at 12.30am. Great finish to a fantastic day.

 

I don't think we stopped laughing all night. And then back in the room... with the men enjoying the view - plus they were practising the aquatheatre shows throughout the early hours, they worked so hard.

 

The ghostly figure is a chair they covered in a blanket while practising all the lighting.

 

Off to bed now, I'll post some more tomorrow. Happy to answer any questions.

 

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[TravelMadBrits]

Thanks for the review.

 

Thanks!

 

Day 4 - Rome

We didn't get off the ship, wanting to enjoy as much as we could. It was very windy and chilly at times. Pretty much had the day to ourselves. Went to the spa to have a look around but didn't use any of the facilities. For star class you can have a free day pass and come and go as much as you please we were told.

Dinner - at Chops. Very nice, first time we had done Chops and the fillet was beautiful - had the lobster tail too. Won't post photos of the food as its not a new concept. Mushroom soup was very good. Couldn't manage the deserts so had those sent to the room.

Evening - Hairspray. Marla arranged for us to meet with her 15 mins before the show started and we had seats at the front. We had our drinks orders taken straight away and they were back within 5 minutes. The show was fantastic. I had read some comments that people weren't too happy that Hairspray was on this ship but we spoke to one of the creative directors and they told us that they had really changed things and brand new props etc that were not on other ships. We loved it. They were still trying to get things right so Nick Weir, the VP of entertainment for Royal had started the show off by saying that they were going to stop during the show if anything wasn't quite right - which happened but it made it all very real and gave a great concept of the work they were putting into it.

Forgot to say we had been to the 1977 ice show earlier in the cruise in the evening - had the same with Marla meeting us and drinks straight away. Didn't enjoy this as much, we kind of lost the storyline as it went from London to around the world, it didn't quite gel, however the skating etc was fantastic.

Day 5 - at sea

Marla had organised quite a bit for today.

We did a morning bridge tour for about 30 minutes which was interesting - first time for us and not sure we would want to do it again for a while. Captain Rob came along to have a chat which was nice.

We then did the laser tag again, it is really worth having a go. There are 2 teams I think about 7 per team, green or red.

Lunch - spent a while in vintages. Very nice relaxing area, a lot more refined that on Freedom class ships with sofas etc. We ordered some tapas which came of Jamie's menu, very nice.

We had the next cruise member come to our suite for half an hour - Marla organised.

Then we had cup classes for the 6 of us making frogs! Funny and glad we did it but not sure we would do it again.

We also had a backstage tour of Hairspray although because they were really busy trying to get everything right we didn't go right behind the scenes as you would normally, however, the chap that sat with us explaining everything was great, went through the whole process of when they invited the actors to join the production. Just amazing what goes into it. Would do that sort of tour again.

Dinner - we hadn't organised anything. Didn't go to Wonderland for dinner although we did see the restaurant and it did look amazing. We would have gone there to eat but felt it was something more for the two of us to enjoy rather than taking our son so we have an excuse to go back!

Ended up in the main dining room - strange you may think for star class however we wanted to get the feel of the dining room set up for this ship. It was busy but not the busiest we have had in a dining room. Marla arranged for us to have lobster thermidor as a treat.

We didn't have to put our luggage out until 7am on the day we left - special luggage tags were given. Breakfast in CK. We had read that star class could leave the ship by 10am but on this occasion they were asking everyone to be off for 9 although by the time Marla came to get us it was about 9.30.

We had an amazing time, not just about the star class but loved the ship. The fact that nothing was too much trouble in star class - or if something couldn't happen, think again, yes it can. We probably didn't use it as much as we could, but we were happy. Would we do it again? Yes, may be one day. In the meantime back to reality!

[scoochy12]

What was the cups class with the frogs?

[Daized]

Really great to read some info about GF provisions in your review :) I know there will be something to eat, but its good to read others experiences and gives a clearer idea. Altho I still haven't heard whether the Windjammer has a Gluten Free island / station like on other ships :)

 

Thanks so much for all the info xx I'm sailing on the 21st April so not got long to go x

 

Daisy xx

[TravelMadBrits]

What was the cups class with the frogs?

 

Sorry cupcake making class! They cakes were already made (including gluten free ones) and we were taught how to make frog decorations.

[TravelMadBrits]

Really great to read some info about GF provisions in your review :) I know there will be something to eat, but its good to read others experiences and gives a clearer idea. Altho I still haven't heard whether the Windjammer has a Gluten Free island / station like on other ships :)

 

Thanks so much for all the info xx I'm sailing on the 21st April so not got long to go x

 

Daisy xx

 

Hi Daisy

 

We went to windjammer for breakfast on one day and my husband was struggling to get some GF bread as we hadn’t spent enough time in there to navigate where everything was, so I’m not sure on this ship if there was a station for GF. Unfortunately the two members of staff he did ask didn’t help, and he had to find a supervisor to get it sorted. Plus I hate to say it but when they realised we were star class it was a mad rush to get his GF bread, which I think is a shame as it should be like that for everyone.

 

Things have really changed now on the ship and the batters can be GF and there is a lot more choice. Plus Udi’s Cookies were great in the room, you can pre-order a lot of the food including pizza at Sorrentos. Park Cafe told us we could order GF sandwiches but that’s not easy when you suddenly decide what you want! But it only means about 10-15 mins to wait if you don’t pre-order.

 

El Loco Was great - corn taco shells were available on request. You just have to keep asking as it’s not always obvious what is available.

 

Have a great time :cool:

[scoochy12]

Sorry cupcake making class! They cakes were already made (including gluten free ones) and we were taught how to make frog decorations.

Oh fun!

[mainsd]

Hi everyone

 

Please bear with me, have never done a review before but wanted to share some of our experience with you. I need to work out how to load the photos so any tips please let me know!

 

Background

There were 6 of us on this trip all from the UK - myself, husband and our 12 year old son together with our friends with their 17 year old daughter. We have all cruised with Royal before - this sailing made us to Diamond (whoop) but we have only been on Freedom and Voyager class ships before. Booked this last October while on Navigator.

 

About 3 weeks before sail we received the star class survey - not really sure if this made a big difference as 2 weeks before sail we received an email from our genie asking pretty much the same questions. Our genie was Marla.

 

We flew into Barcelona 2 days before, wanting to de-stress and miss the Easter traffic chaos. I booked us all in the Hilton Diagonal Mar hotel (booked just before Christmas) and got a great deal in a panoramic suite with breakfast and dinner. Did a lot of research into taxi companies and booked one that did all the journeys so everything was set and we were ready to go...

 

Bear with me, just sorting photos...

 

Hi there,

 

We are fellow Brits sailing on Symphony in September in 10734 - would be very interested to see any pics you have of the room and the balcony - the balcony looks much smaller on the deck plans than other Aqua theatre suites so would be good to see it for real! We are also coincidentally staying in the Hilton Diagonal Mar for 2 nights before the cruise - perhaps you could send me the details of the taxi company you used?

 

Cant get any of your pic links to work unfortunately - maybe its my work wifi though :-)

[LoveTwoCruise]

;)YAY!

 

OK so back to day 1. We had already told Marla the restaurants we would like to try and some of the activities and she had printed off a schedule for us to go through and this could be changed at any point.

There were plenty of beers and soft drinks in the fridge and she was trying to get gluten free beer which she did a couple of days. We didn't drink a lot of alcohol in the room so requested a bottle of red and rose. Plus a kettle! There is a Nespresso coffee maker but we really like a cup of tea first thing.

 

Now this is where we sort of learnt what the genie is for... Marla had said 'anything you need, anything at all you must call me' and she gave us her number. We had previously been communicating via email and had been sent the loop but we didn't use this all week; we carried on with emails and direct calls.

 

So, when on the first night we wanted a cup of tea I dialled room service - but the phones were a nightmare not connecting. Eventually I used one of the bedroom phones and got straight through to the manager who had come earlier to the suite to introduce himself and within 10 minutes the tea arrived. Great. The next morning when we rang for tea again it took over half an hour. So when we caught up with Marla later on day 2 she was 'nooooo you don't use room service you use me' which we found really strange to get used to. But to be fair I wouldn't have called her late at night or early morning anyway. So the kettle came and made life a bit easier ;)

 

Another thing we learnt was that the star class cards had changed a bit, and at the beginning not all the staff recognised what it was. The kids had gone to Johnny Rockets for milkshakes and had to sign for them with a charge despite them explaining. It wasn't a problem for us as we knew it would get sorted and we had the same at a couple of bars to start but again Marla soon got this sorted.

 

So just in case you missed it.... the ship waiting for us

 

and this is what the card looks like

 

Did they change the color of the card? The picture did not come through.

[little britain]

No photos here either.

Can you upload them from your phone via tapatalk? Very easy..

 

 

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