has Symphony improved?

[joyhannah]

OK I have been reading Lots of really bad review about Symphony of the seas:

 

I have book for November 30 and cant go and rebook for one of the other boat . I am now worried.

So looking for people that  can tell if the food and service has improved or not? or is it really bad?

MDR - Food is it still bad?

Buffet is it still Bad?

Restaurants wasted of money?

no luggage valet?  so sorry  this boat is going of Miami

Am I missing anything?

 

Is this boat new with lots of things to work out? 

I really love everything on the Oasis I was so hoping for that again

 

Just looking for your experiences and tips with anything your think I should know?

 

Thanks everyone

 

 

[John&LaLa]

We board the 26th. I'm sure I'll be posting my thoughts

[Clarea]

I beleive that there is still no Luggage Valet for Symphony.

[BillOh]

The only problem I had with Symphony was the terminal, not the ship.   If the computers go down and your stuck in the terminal for 90 minutes, I think they have about 12 seats for 1000 people. 

[awestover89]

Always take reviews with a huge grain of salt; especially when it comes to subjective topics like food quality. We absolutely love Symphony

[Crism]

We were on Symphony in August, and it was AWESOME! Food in the MDR was great, and the ship is absolutely gorgeous. I stopped reading reviews other than ones posted on this forum a LONG time ago. 😉

[lv2cruisgrl]

We just got off last week. This was our 33rd RC cruise. The service was great no issues there. The ice show and Hairspray had technical difficulty but they were able to fix it after 15 to 20 minutes. We ate at Hooked and my lobster tail was mush as was my husband's whole lobster. My salmon was good. Solarium Bistro was ok, but won't do again. If McDonald's is your go to food then you will like the dining room. We have higher expectations and RCs food has declined over the years.  Dining room food was ok, sometimes even good, but never great. However the lobster there was good. Our ship was full and always seems very crowded. We have done all the Oasis class ship's but won't go again. Most people dresses casual, as that was dress code except for 2 formal nights. That was a mix.

Edited October 18, 2019 by lovrccl

[Norwich Cruiser]

We’ve been lucky enough to sail on Symphony twice and on both occasions had superb cruises excellent ship, crew and food.

[taglovestocruise]

Other than no luggage valet you have been badly misinformed. We were on her for 14 nights and the cruise was awesome.  We had 11 specialty restraunt diners and all were very good to excellent.  happy cruising 

[3CatsInMA]

2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

We board the 26th. I'm sure I'll be posting my thoughts

Thank you for finally breaking your silence. 🍻

[koolkat327]

Forgive my ignorance, but what is meant by no luggage valet?  I'm going on the Symphony in January.

[John&LaLa]

18 minutes ago, koolkat327 said:

Forgive my ignorance, but what is meant by no luggage valet?  I'm going on the Symphony in January.

 

Luggage Valet is a program where you check your luggage straight thru to your airline. You wont see it until you arrive at your final destination.   

 

It is port and airline specific

Edited October 18, 2019 by John&LaLa

[koolkat327]

7 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Luggage Valet is a program where you check your luggage straight thru to your airline. You wont see it until you arrive at your final destination.   

 

It is port and airline specific

 

Oh -in all my cruises I've never used that feature.  The way everyone was talking about how awful I was like "are there no porters and we are required to carry all our luggage on" or what? 

[John&LaLa]

4 minutes ago, koolkat327 said:

 

Oh -in all my cruises I've never used that feature.  The way everyone was talking about how awful I was like "are there no porters and we are required to carry all our luggage on" or what? 

 

It is a for fee program 

[parsec0298]

4 hours ago, Crism said:

We were on Symphony in August, and it was AWESOME! Food in the MDR was great, and the ship is absolutely gorgeous. I stopped reading reviews other than ones posted on this forum a LONG time ago. 😉

We were on her in January and this was our experience as well.  We loved absolutely everything about the ship, and the food was great.

4 hours ago, lovrccl said:

We just got off last week. This was our 33rd RC cruise. The service was great no issues there. The ice show and Hairspray had technical difficulty but they were able to fix it after 15 to 20 minutes. We ate at Hooked and my lobster tail was mush as was my husband's whole lobster. My salmon was good. Solarium Bistro was ok, but won't do again. If McDonald's is your go to food then you will like the dining room. We have higher expectations and RCs food has declined over the years.  Dining room food was ok, sometimes even good, but never great. However the lobster there was good. Our ship was full and always seems very crowded. We have done all the Oasis class ship's but won't go again. Most people dresses casual, as that was dress code except for 2 formal nights. That was a mix.

I've seen you posting negative experiences with Symphony several times now, and I just don't know how to explain how you had such a bad experience when lots of others, including myself, have reported the opposite.  I almost wonder if the OP is reacting to your posts.  Are you perhaps being hyperbolic?  Not ONCE did we have a meal, in ANY venue, that was as bad as McDonalds.  Maybe the pre-cooked hamburgers in WJ, but those are easily avoided and there were plenty of other good options to choose from.

[LuCruise]

We were on Symphony in March and had an amazing time.  Ship is beautiful!  So much to see and explore and was a "wow".  Our meals in the MDR were great.  Loved El Loco Fresh.  Ate at Jamies that was amazing.  Only disappointment was Chops as it was better on Mariner.  No issues with service (both our room and overall) and so much to do and see.  Shows were really impressive...esp Hairspray, Flight, Aqua show and ice show (guess that's all the production shows) .    In my mind, if you want improvement, that's going from a 5 to a 5+.  

[Oakman]

5 hours ago, lovrccl said:

We just got off last week. This was our 33rd RC cruise. The service was great no issues there. The ice show and Hairspray had technical difficulty but they were able to fix it after 15 to 20 minutes. We ate at Hooked and my lobster tail was mush as was my husband's whole lobster. My salmon was good. Solarium Bistro was ok, but won't do again. If McDonald's is your go to food then you will like the dining room. We have higher expectations and RCs food has declined over the years.  Dining room food was ok, sometimes even good, but never great. However the lobster there was good. Our ship was full and always seems very crowded. We have done all the Oasis class ship's but won't go again. Most people dresses casual, as that was dress code except for 2 formal nights. That was a mix.

Got off of the Symphony October 5th and have many of the same feelings. Have done all of the Oasis class ships at least once, and this sailing was out least favorite. Agreed the ship always felt crowded and the food has declined greatly. Just our opinion.

[2ManyCruises]

Just got off Symphony this morning and sitting at the airport. What an awesome cruise. We sailed her also in May this and it was wonderful. Food and service was outstanding. 

[lv2cruisgrl]

19 hours ago, parsec0298 said:

We were on her in January and this was our experience as well.  We loved absolutely everything about the ship, and the food was great.

I've seen you posting negative experiences with Symphony several times now, and I just don't know how to explain how you had such a bad experience when lots of others, including myself, have reported the opposite.  I almost wonder if the OP is reacting to your posts.  Are you perhaps being hyperbolic?  Not ONCE did we have a meal, in ANY venue, that was as bad as McDonalds.  Maybe the pre-cooked hamburgers in WJ, but those are easily avoided and there were plenty of other good options to choose from.

Glad you liked it, we didn't. Royal has been cutting back slowly over the years with the food. I think the bigger the ship the worse it is because they are serving so many. The food is tasteless, they have cut back on flavor. My husband had a steak you could have played hockey with. Our lobster in Hooked was the worst we have ever had. The desserts are tasteless. I had a lemon meringue pie with no lemon flavor!  I could go on but hope you get it. We have no desire to do RC again, after 33 cruises that is sad.

[Guest BigRoger]

Wow we were very surprised that there are seemingly lots of bad reviews of Symphony.... have seen some from (maybe the same) people commenting time and again about what they didn’t like (you have to respect their views of course) but have to say our experience of Symphony was fantastic... we did the transatlantic last year and also once this year and it was a truly beautiful ship and everything was awesome.. no issues at all.

 

Interestingly hooked is our favourite restaurant on board by some distance - we loved it full stop. Can’t comment on the main finding room food as we booked the dining package and found the food delicious as a result.

 

We have never felt any of the Oasis class ships to be crowded at all (except when moving to a major population event such as theatre, acqua theatre etc) if anything the Oasis class continue to amaze us that even with the level of passengers and crew on board there is pretty much always a seat where you need one (ex maybe at Karaoke if you wander in if it’s been going for a while).

 

We did hear a fair few people in the diamond lounge complaining that the ship ‘isn’t like it used to be on the smaller ships in the past...’ which again you have to respect as those people are entitled to their views. But to review the ship as being poor is strange and certainly not our experience of all the RCL ships... the Oasis ships are simply awesome if you want a classy and resort style vacation with lots of entertainment... if you want traditional cruising then they may not work for people and I respect that too. 
 

You pay your money and take your choice.

[John&LaLa]

5 hours ago, lovrccl said:

Glad you liked it, we didn't. Royal has been cutting back slowly over the years with the food. I think the bigger the ship the worse it is because they are serving so many. The food is tasteless, they have cut back on flavor. My husband had a steak you could have played hockey with. Our lobster in Hooked was the worst we have ever had. The desserts are tasteless. I had a lemon meringue pie with no lemon flavor!  I could go on but hope you get it. We have no desire to do RC again, after 33 cruises that is sad.

 

You might think about changing your screen name then

[Mikew0805]

I didn't have any issues with Symphony, and I am going back again. I will try Hooked, as it was fantastic on the Navigator. I would have no problem sending back lobster that was mush, as described above. 

 

Elevators were quick, casino was the casino, dining room was fine, and shows were good.. especially Flight. 

[lv2cruisgrl]

15 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

You might think about changing your screen name then

Yep!

[Liverpoolfan181]

Wow shocked by all the negative reviews. To each their own for sure- especially food related opinions. Of all the oasis class ships (and we were on all of them), Symphony was our absolute favourite of all, so much so, we will be cruising in her again this January. 
never felt crowded (unless you show up to the pool deck late morning, but that’s most ships to get pool chairs) 

We enjoyed the food throughout the ship (did not heat at Hooked) - El Loco Fresh (replacing mini bites) was such a great added feature with build your own nachos, etc. 

Smaller ships and oasis Class ships are two very different experiences. Keep an open minds 

She’s a Beautiful ship, has amazing crew, , great entertainment....don’t read too much into reviews as again it’s very personal- Just go have a great cruise.... I know we are counting down till we sail her again!

[JediNeo]

Having recently cruised on this ship I agree the food wasn't that great, especially the desserts. Which is disheartening as I have a sweet tooth.

 

Made reservations for the solarium bistro for dinner. Arrived for the first 5:30 seating. The food looked pretty but was way overcooked and lacked flavor. 

 

Wonderland was ok. The presentation was great but again the food was just okay. Also there was no mad hatter the night we ate.

 

150 Central Park was average. My wife liked the truffle butter bread. My braised pork was very rich. I think the fried cheesecake missed the mark.

 

We tried the WJ for lunch once. Had a hamburger and was sick the rest of the day. Not sure if it was from the burger or people not following proper hygiene practices.

 

There MDR was the best food we had on the ship. The dinner rolls were soft. Food was hot but bland. I loved the baked Alaska. The service was good even though they forgot my drink even though we ordered two and wasn't asked if we wanted coffee 2 out of 4 times we had dinner there.

 

We enjoyed the ship but it did feel crowded, especially on the elevators. Do we really need to remind folks to let people off before you get on? Don't know how many times I had yup yell I wanted to get off and nobody moved.

Edited October 19, 2019 by JediNeo
Misspelling