Let's get this party started! ~ Symphony B2B in the Med ~ 7/1 & 7/8 - LIVE with Joe!

[Bobal]

Interesting reading.

 

May be a bit off topic for a review but I'm just wondering do you work for the company? I ask because of your posts about wanting to be a CD which I thought was a role you earned going through the various cruise staff stages?

[Joe12]

May be a bit off topic for a review but I'm just wondering do you work for the company? I ask because of your posts about wanting to be a CD which I thought was a role you earned going through the various cruise staff stages?

 

I don't work for Royal (I do want to though), but the career of Cruise Director is something that I want to do. I know that you have to start at Cruise Director's Staff and then to AM before CD. Without getting too far into things, my aim would be to get to AM after 2 contracts as CS and then take it from there. It's happened before.

Edited July 13, 2018 by Joe12

[Joe12]

Observation:

There seems to be a fair number of Scots on this cruise compared to the last one. Definitely an advantage.

However, there are only 3 Scottish employees that I know of on the ship out of 2000 (all are Sports Staff). We need more of them here! ;p

At least it isn't like a ship in the States where we felt like the only non-American guests.

[Bobal]

I don't work for Royal (I do want to though), but the career of Cruise Director is something that I want to do. I know that you have to start at Cruise Director's Staff and then to AM before CD. Without getting too far into things, my aim would be to get to AM after 2 contracts as CS and then take it from there. It's happened before.

 

Good luck with your ambitions. I take it you're a young guy. It's a full on life 😁

 

Hopefully you won't get Bobby Brown as your first CD

[Joe12]

Good luck with your ambitions. I take it you're a young guy. It's a full on life 😁

 

Hopefully you won't get Bobby Brown as your first CD

 

Worth giving it a shot! And yes - I agree with the latter, but as CS, it's really the AM that is your boss.

[Joe12]

Final day - About to start my end of cruise evaluations:

 

I will organize them into 5 categories - Crew, Ports, Food, Ship and Miscellaneous.

Everything will be ranked on a scale from 1 to 10. 1 being the worst (Abysmal) to 10 being the best (Phenomenal).

[Joe12]

Not looking forward to leaving tomorrow especially since I can't find any Royal options for next year. Also unsure of when I will next be on an Oasis Class ship.

[Joe12]

Goodbye Symphony! What a fantastic 2 weeks. Hope to see you again soon for my 1st contract with Royal! ;)

 

Now at the airport ready to fly home. Any questions about the cruise or ship itself?

[Joe12]

CREW:

Stateroom Attendants - 9 - The Stateroom Attendants that I saw throughout the ship were all very friendly. Whilst nobody will ever live up to my first ever SA from Jewel (a guy named Seville), both of the attendants that I had did the job well and were friendly. I only ever reserve 10 for the absolute highlight employees, but they did a good enough job to warrant a 9.




Cafe Promenade - 8 - The Cafe Promenade itself seemed a bit disorganized this sailing. Again, 10 is reserved for the absolute standout employees (such as Latisha who worked at Cafe Promenade on HM), but the folks there seemed friendly enough. Nobody that stood out too much.

 


Other Complementary Cafe Staff (e.g. Sorrento's, Park Cafe etc.) - 6 - Not a lot of friendly staff here. They seemed to be going through the motions. Not all of them, but I hate to say that the Sorrento's and Park Cafe staff weren't that great. At Sorrento's, the manager had to serve Pizza most nights (he was friendly). I just didn't feel much friendliness from them. Maybe their contracts are nearly up? Can't give them more than a 6, sorry.

Windjammer - 8 - The waiters mostly seemed friendly, alongside the serving staff and greeters. Despite this, some were over the top. The reason that I am docking from 9 to 8 is that yesterday, there was a manager verbally berating staff in front of customers including a racist remark (akin to something Gordon Ramsay would say). That's completely out of order and I am making sure that it is mentioned in this review. The managers who greeted guests seemed really friendly though.

Playmaker's - 9 - The waitress at Playmaker's seemed friendly, so a 9 for her. It was a port day so not very busy.

 


Cruise Director - 9 - Michele Scarpato was the CD for these sailings. I really enjoyed him. He is not one that is obnoxious and thinks they are the star of the show or one that is bland and uninspired. He has the right balance of energy and professionalism. Did a great job at 80's night and the various show intros/closings alongside the Morning Show and other events. Visible around the ship as well. The only reason that I can't give him a 10 is that we didn't get to see him do the traditional pool events (Belly Flop) or the evening events (Quest, L&M etc) which are the basics, although that isn't his fault given the format of Med cruises and Oasis Class. Definitely a good one.

Activities Manager - 10 - Margot van Erck was AM for both sailings I'm giving Margot a 10 for being the first good Activities Manager that I have seen in years. Very energetic, but not at all over the top and loud like some. I saw her around the ship a lot and she worked with Michele very well in the Morning Show. It was a breath of fresh air to have an AM that was not over the top annoying or one that was bland and was barely seen. She did a great job and would not be surprised if she made it to CD one day (and they made a couple of hints about that in the Morning Show).




Cruise Director's Staff - 9 - There were no bad CS members on this cruise (such as the Bingo guy from Mexico on HM who shouted at guests on debarkation morning and was going through the motions for the entire 2 weeks). The person doing debark on the gangway was much friendlier (I think her name is Gabby). The Bingo Host, Jackpot JP was also much livelier than the guy on HM. Katheryn from South Africa was also a great member of Staff and seemed to be everywhere. The rest were also good, but those are the 3 who I remember off the top of my head.

 


Sports Staff - I did not interact much with the Sports Staff (too much of a wimp to do some of the sports activities) so can't give a score as such, but from my observations, they came across well. Graeme from Scotland was a highlight on the Staff. He was on Harmony last year and was a great personality on both ships (particularly at 80's night). I recommend that Royal promote him to Sports Supervisor if he intends to stay with them.

Ice Cast - 8 - It's interesting watching a show and then seeing what performers are like when the spotlight is off. The Ice Cast is the only one where this applies. Several members of the cast would get a 9 based on my interactions with them at the Skating sessions, however one came across rather cold and abrupt on pretty much every interaction and also had an argument with fellow members of the cast as to whether or not we could get on the ice for a particular session. I can ignore one 'off' interaction, but as it was almost every time, I have to reduce the overall score to 8. Sorry to the other members though as they were great at the shows (more on that later) and seemed friendly.

 


Diamond Concierge - 10 - I never interacted with the concierge on the 1st sailing, however we found out that the Lounge offered wings on the 2nd sailing in the late afternoon, so that was where we went each afternoon after the gym. Jackie Yabut was the concierge on the 7/8 cruise and was fantastic. Very friendly and not at all one of the concierges that ignores guests and stays at the desk. She was good enough to warrant a 10.

Loyalty Ambassador - 8 - Louise Japundzic was the Loyalty Ambassador for both weeks. I knew her from Harmony where she was fantastic. This time, we only interacted with her when we did the B2B process and she did seem slightly stressed out (although to be fair to her, the customer in front of us was a bit difficult). She was great on HM though, so still gets an 8.

Captain - 9 - For Captains, I give 5 points for their skills as Captain of the ship and 5 points for their front of house skills as like it or not, they are in the cruise industry where there are guests and if they don't want to interact with guests, they should go into one of several other maritime industries. With that said, pretty much every Captain in the world will get 5 straight off the bat (bar Capt. Schettino who gets 0). As for front of house skills, Captain Rob seemed like a very personable guy, hosted a great Captain's Corner on both weeks and came across likable. However, there wasn't much announcements (maybe a new policy) and I rarely saw him outside of scheduled events, hence why I am giving him a 9 not 10. Would definitely like to sail with him again though, but please bring back the announcements!

 

As you can see, Symphony has a great crew. Many have been on since the takeout and are around the end of their contracts, so who knows how the crew will be by the time she arrives in Miami? Positive experience all around, with just a few issues.

[lovesickmelodyx]

Joe thank you so much for this review, I really enjoyed reading each time you posted and I hope you had a brilliant time. Hope the post cruise blues aren’t too bad for you. Still getting through mine a month later!

 

 

 

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[suizas]

Haven’t read all of your review, so apologize for asking.. do you know who was bartending in Wonderland?

 

 

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[alaska_planner]

thanks for the crew review!

 

so where's your next cruise?

 

.

[Joe12]

thanks for the crew review!

 

so where's your next cruise?

 

.

 

That's a very tough question. I've done all 4 Oasis Class now and given that O5 is not out until 2021, that means that next year is a grey area. We also want a different itinerary as we have done the Barcelona/7NT Western Med 4 times now alongside several in the Caribbean. Was thinking Alaska but don't care for Anthem hence ruling Ovation out and I fear that Radiance would be too small. I'm lost for options. Any suggestions as to where I can go on an RCL ship next summer?

[Joe12]

Haven’t read all of your review, so apologize for asking.. do you know who was bartending in Wonderland?

 

 

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I'm afraid not - never went to Wonderland. Sorry.

[Bizzie07]

Haven't heard very much about the Diamond Lounge on Symphony. Was it busy during your sailings and what did you think of the location?

[alaska_planner]

That's a very tough question. I've done all 4 Oasis Class now and given that O5 is not out until 2021, that means that next year is a grey area. We also want a different itinerary as we have done the Barcelona/7NT Western Med 4 times now alongside several in the Caribbean. Was thinking Alaska but don't care for Anthem hence ruling Ovation out and I fear that Radiance would be too small. I'm lost for options. Any suggestions as to where I can go on an RCL ship next summer?

 

 

in alaska, i would go on the radiance as no way would i ever do a round trip alaska cruise - which i think is what the anthem does...

the radiance does one way cruises (south and northbound) between seward and vancouver

 

in alaska, for me it's all about alaska, not the ship...

i'm usually all about the ship, but not in alaska...

i absolutely adored alaska and i can't wait to go back...not just on a cruise, but to mainland alaska as well...

it's magnificent!!

 

in any case, the radiance was actually quite lovely and i enjoyed the fact that there were far fewer on board than on the behemoths..

it made certain activities, like quest in particular, far more enjoyable..

 

have you considered a cruise to australia and/or the south pacific?

 

.

 

.

[Leslie K]

in alaska, i would go on the radiance as no way would i ever do a round trip alaska cruise - which i think is what the anthem does....

 

.

 

 

Explorer does roundtrip from Seattle. Anthem is out of Bayonne, NJ. Doing Caribbean, Bermuda, Bahamas and NE/Canada.

 

 

 

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[londongal796]

Hi Joe, I noticed that the first formal night was when you were in Palma de Mallorca, just wondered if there was a second formal night and, if so, which night this took place on? (Or after which port?) Thanks for sharing your experiences!

[little britain]

Hi Joe, I noticed that the first formal night was when you were in Palma de Mallorca, just wondered if there was a second formal night and, if so, which night this took place on? (Or after which port?) Thanks for sharing your experiences!

Naples is the 2nd formal night.

[Bobal]

Goodbye Symphony! What a fantastic 2 weeks. Hope to see you again soon for my 1st contract with Royal! ;)

 

 

Interesting to see crew ratings on such a detailed scale. I don't think I've seen this before. I have to agree with you about Margot - she is a standout Activities Manager. We had her on Explorer for the TP earlier this year and I fully agree she will make a great CD

 

So you have a contract with Royal? What role will you be doing?

[Joe12]

So you have a contract with Royal? What role will you be doing?

 

No, no, no - I don't literally mean that. I just want to get SY for my first if Royal employ me. I would be Cruise Staff if I joined.

 

And yes, Margot is fantastic. CD material.

[londongal796]

Hey, I have another question, if you don't mind answering. Were they selling dining packages on board, ie. '3 meals for X price' etc? They haven't released them online (yet) for our October sailing but I'm assuming they offer them. Thought I'd see if you noticed any salespeople offering this.

[ckelly14]

Just off the Symphony out of Rome. There are selling dining packages, 3 dinners for about $116 plus gratuity.

 

I pre-booked 2 dinners for 6 people prior to sailing. I was able to keep those reservations and book an addition dinner with the package.

 

Bonus: They credited me for the meals I already booked. When they charged the package to my account, they didn't charge for my children (although one was older than 12) and they never billed my parents. Bottom line- I paid just over $300 for 3 specialty meals for 6 people! Ate at Central Park, Chops and Hooked.

 

Food was great, even in the MDR. Would love to be going back...

[Wivian]

There is a significant amount of motion on the ocean tonight. I have no idea why, but it is much worse on SY than on her 3 sisters. Doesn't help that the cabin for this cruise is a Virtual Balcony on Deck 7 forward.

 

 

 

It really was a rocky night! We were in a cantilevered hot tub that night and it was so windy up there. Also it was funny to watch how the water went from one side to an another in a hot tub :D

 

What a cruise it was. [emoji178]