Recent President's Cruise on Symphony.

[John&LaLa]

5 minutes ago, Mikew0805 said:

Oh you were on it? How was the concert? I would have love to have seen that. 

 

From the cheap seats up top

[island lady]

5 hours ago, grapau27 said:

Great advice.

 

I would have to cancel and lose my non-refundable deposit.  😮  

 

I was booked on the 10/25/20 Allure cruise BEFORE they nominated it as the next President's cruise.  May love it...may....???   But either here nor there...we are on board for our first hand, first time on a President's cruise.  😉 

Edited November 10, 2019 by island lady

[Mikew0805]

1 minute ago, John&LaLa said:

 

From the cheap seats up top

Nice!! 

[CruisinNole]

We were on the Allure for the 2016 President's Cruise. We're D+; our cruising companions were D's. I was told by a couple sitting next to me at one of the shows that they booked the cruise specifically because Patti LaBelle was the main show. When they got on board, they found out that because they were Gold, they couldn't come to the show. They complained and received tickets. I don't know if that is true or not. Communication from the Crown & Anchor was poor before and during the cruise. I would not book another President's cruise unless we attained Pinnacle status and that will never happen. 

[island lady]

14 minutes ago, CruisinNole said:

We were on the Allure for the 2016 President's Cruise. We're D+; our cruising companions were D's. I was told by a couple sitting next to me at one of the shows that they booked the cruise specifically because Patti LaBelle was the main show. When they got on board, they found out that because they were Gold, they couldn't come to the show. They complained and received tickets. I don't know if that is true or not. Communication from the Crown & Anchor was poor before and during the cruise. I would not book another President's cruise unless we attained Pinnacle status and that will never happen. 

 

Never say never.  😉 

[countess5]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

It was fantabulous, dont listen to the haters.

 

BTW, suite guests got to do pretty much everything. CK was very quiet.

John I am with you, We are Diamond and at the end of this cruise are 1 night away from Diamond Plus. Will pick that up on our January Symphony B2B! 

The cruise was great! A lot of different things happened other than a concert. The gifts given, the parties and who doesn’t like a cruise! The ship outstanding, crew fantastic! It was another RCCL memory. 

People could make it what ever they wanted. 

We were in the Aqua theatre for the concert and it was fun, once completed turned around and watched the fireworks. 

John would of liked to meet you, we had two sightings of you and Lala but not close enough to say hi! Once was at the ice show, the drones were great! 

 

Happy cruising to all!

 

Cheers! 

 

[ReneeFLL]

11 hours ago, ValerieJo said:

 

This is why I'm asking for thoughts as I wasn't on the cruise.  Do you know how it was advertised?

No I don't. Trying to go on a president's cruise isn't my thing. Had I known about it I wouldn't have thought about if everyone was able to see them, but that's just me.

[countess5]

Some picks from the cheaper seats AKA Aqua Theatre.

 

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, island lady said:

 

I would have to cancel and lose my non-refundable deposit.  😮  

 

I was booked on the 10/25/20 Allure cruise BEFORE they nominated it as the next President's cruise.  May love it...may....???   But either here nor there...we are on board for our first hand, first time on a President's cruise.  😉 

If we had already booked like yourselves before we knew it was going to be the President's cruise we would have still sailed rather than lose our UK 

Always Non Refundable Deposit.

I was thinking as D+ we would only have a vastly overcrowded DL or overcrowded overflow to go in which we would avoid and some of the Pinnacle/Suite/Visa events we would be excluded from.

The pictures from John and Aring live reviews were phenomenal and certainly makes it look tempting and the midnight buffet reminded me of some of our early cruises when we always looked forward to the midnight buffet.

I'm sure you will have a fantastic time then have the TA to chill out.

 

[Tony O]

2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

It was fantabulous, dont listen to the haters.

 

BTW, suite guests got to do pretty much everything. CK was very quiet.

I assume you mean me. I am not a hater just posting as I saw it .

[CruisinNole]

2 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Never say never.  😉 

My husband and I joke that if we were to ever make Pinnacle, we would also make the Guinness World Records as the oldest couple still cruising!

Edited November 10, 2019 by CruisinNole

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, grapau27 said:

If we had already booked like yourselves before we knew it was going to be the President's cruise we would have still sailed rather than lose our UK 

Always Non Refundable Deposit.

I was thinking as D+ we would only have a vastly overcrowded DL or overcrowded overflow to go in which we would avoid and some of the Pinnacle/Suite/Visa events we would be excluded from.

The pictures from John and Aring live reviews were phenomenal and certainly makes it look tempting and the midnight buffet reminded me of some of our early cruises when we always looked forward to the midnight buffet.

I'm sure you will have a fantastic time then have the TA to chill out.

 

 

Graham, FWIW, the conditions as far as crowded lounges will be just as bad on the TA. 

 

Pretty sure there will be 2000 Diamond and up on that voyage.  😉

[John&LaLa]

50 minutes ago, Tony O said:

I assume you mean me. I am not a hater just posting as I saw it .

 

No, other folks quick to jump to conclusions.

Your comments were a valid opinion.

 

FWIW, I was reading FB earlier 😉

Probably got confused.

Edited November 10, 2019 by John&LaLa

[Tony O]

5 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

No, other folks quick to jump to conclusions.

Your comments were a valid opinion.

 

FWIW, I was reading FB earlier 😉

Probably got confused.

My apology.  Yes I also read a lot of negative stuff over petty things . But the cruise was a special cruise  and we just tried to avoid the negativity  some had.

[HBE4]

14 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

They were hired to do one concert.  Period. (And a second show still would not have included everyone.)

 

One measly show? Heck, most headliners do at least two shows. Talk about cheap! 😋

 

More evidence that Royal is cutting back on loyalty benefits! 😉

[John&LaLa]

6 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

One measly show? Heck, most headliners do at least two shows. Talk about cheap! 😋

 

More evidence that Royal is cutting back on loyalty benefits! 😉

 

Ocean and Bolton only did one show last year

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

One measly show? Heck, most headliners do at least two shows. Talk about cheap! 😋

 

More evidence that Royal is cutting back on loyalty benefits! 😉

Something tells me that H&O cost significantly more than the usual headliner, you really can’t compare the two. Also,  Symphony does not have a headliner show.  They have a Red Carpet Movie night instead so this show was a bonus. 

[molly361]

Guessing that there might not be as many P's on next year's cruise😇

[grapau27]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Graham, FWIW, the conditions as far as crowded lounges will be just as bad on the TA. 

 

Pretty sure there will be 2000 Diamond and up on that voyage.  😉

Thanks John.

I have avoided TAs for that reason.

For us a TA starting in the Caribbean and finishing in Southampton or Barcelona in the spring time is an option we are looking at.

I really enjoyed your live review and it was nice to see the photo of Lala and Bella reunited.

[John&LaLa]

1 hour ago, molly361 said:

Guessing that there might not be as many P's on next year's cruise😇

 

I'll bet there are just as many. They were already a ton on the TA from what  I  understand.

 

Saw a bunch at NextCruise after the announcement 

Edited November 10, 2019 by John&LaLa

[taglovestocruise]

25 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'll bet there are just as many. They were already a ton on the TA from what  I  understand.

 

Saw a bunch at NextCruise after the announcement 

How was it that you picked such a port intensive cruise for 2020.  We booked it about 6 months ago and it filled rather quickly, Only a few days ago I saw that it was the presidents cruise. We are doing the B2B taking the TA back home.  I think you are right about the TA being heavy with D, D+ and P'S.  I heard that last Thursday Royal took back all the unsold cabins from travel agencies to give access to the TA folks that also want the Oct. 25 date. Last year on the Symphony TA the P'S took over Dazzles every night with D and D+ filling the DL, Jazz on 4 and the Attic each night.  Happy hour was so over crowded that a few nights we just used the voucher drinks in the Wonderland bar/lounge.  Being flexible makes for a far better cruise then complaining.  your review was great. happy cruising

[Ourusualbeach]

6 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

  I heard that last Thursday Royal took back all the unsold cabins from travel agencies to give access to the TA folks that also want the Oct. 25 date.

 

I had heard that as well and despite checking on cruising power every 3 hours or so since last Thursday for a client nothing other than the odd guarantee cabin has shown up at ridiculous prices.  Then again maybe that’s Royals strategy, taking back all the unsold space and then slowly releasing them and getting big bucks for them.

[gaylemh]

20 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

My thoughts:

Hall & Oates are rock 'n' roll legends.  They are the highest selling duo of all time.  They were hired to do one concert.  Period. (And a second show still would not have included everyone.)

 

 

Hall & Oates are the highest selling duo's of all time - I would have thought it would be Simon & Garfunkel.  

[rt1092]

Just got home yesterday after 2 weeks on the Symphony. 

Had a great time. The extra events were handled quite well. We got in line for Hall and Oates before 5 pm and we got front row 3 seats from the center section (which was reserved for Michael Bayley and company. We did notice a few "privileged" people walking up front wondering why there were no seats reserved for them. And I thought to myself they should have waited in line with everyone else.  Royal had people going down the line telling everyone "seapasses" only. Even if you had your Pinnacle badge, you needed your seapass.  

The gifts they gave us were nice. And a special crystal block was given to those whom attended the Pinnacle lunch on the sea day. 

My wife caught the flu on the 3rd day (even though she had the flu shot) We went to the infirmary they tested her and told her not to leave our room, till they cleared her (she really wouldn't have wanted to go out anyway) .

We spent most of our "happy hours" on deck 4. And while crowded it could have been much worse. The bar in the hallway did a lot to alleviate the wait for drinks.  Went to Dazzles once (our cabin was on deck 8. ) It didn't seem crowded at all.

There were a few gaffs during the cruise. Seemed to me (just my opinion) that there were more than a few crew that were not fully trained. During the Pinnacle lunch the wait staff never offered wine to the captains table. And Captain Rick had to go get it and pour it himself. We were not at that table but close enough to see it unfold.

This was our 3 Presidents cruise. We would go on another but not when they are in Europe. 

One thing we learned was not to book cabin 8695. The first BW balcony cabin from the elevators. It is next to the pantry for Dazzles. So a lot of noise (banging etc.) till well after midnite. The first week we just thought we had noisy neighbors, but by the second week I did call guest services at 1am and found out what was next door to us. We normally never complain. We know you hear the music from Dazzles and the Aqua theater show. But this seemed like they were coming through the wall.

[rt1092]

1 hour ago, gaylemh said:

Hall & Oates are the highest selling duo's of all time - I would have thought it would be Simon & Garfunkel.  

They put on quite a show. To my wife and I, they were better than Patti LaBelle and Michael Boulton.

I wonder what front row stage right seats would have gone for at their concerts?

 

Edited November 11, 2019 by rt1092