Symphony Passenger Count Increasing

[taylortime05]

I read in a Symphony Facebook group that the Symphony Dec 4th sailing has 4002 passengers. They’re expecting close to 5000 for the Dec 11th sailing. Is anyone getting more concerned about sailing on the mega ships at close to 100% capacity?

[Ocean Boy]

No. Better chance that the Windjammer will be open for dinner.

[island lady]

22 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

No. Better chance that the Windjammer will be open for dinner.

 

WJ is open for dinner on Harmony....last week and this week.  

[island lady]

Last week on Harmony:  2600

 

This week:  Over 4K.  

 

Not why the huge difference in just one week!  😮 

[bouhunter]

5 hours ago, taylortime05 said:

I read in a Symphony Facebook group that the Symphony Dec 4th sailing has 4002 passengers. They’re expecting close to 5000 for the Dec 11th sailing. Is anyone getting more concerned about sailing on the mega ships at close to 100% capacity?

If someone is comfortable sailing with 3000 people on a ship there's no reason they should feel differently about 5000.

[Mellylucy]

1 hour ago, Ocean Boy said:

No. Better chance that the Windjammer will be open for dinner.

Symphony: Windjammer was open for dinner during Thanksgiving week!

Edited December 6, 2021 by Mellylucy

[Mapleleafforever]

34 minutes ago, island lady said:

Last week on Harmony:  2600

 

This week:  Over 4K.  

 

Not why the huge difference in just one week!  😮 

They really need the money. 

[Chickadees]

Was on the Symphony sailing last week (Nov 27). Talked to an officer and capacity was just over 50%. He said around 3300. Don’t know total capacity but WJ was not open for dinner. He said the plan for Symphony is to be close to full capacity by Christmas and into January.

Edited December 6, 2021 by Chickadees

[island lady]

22 minutes ago, Mapleleafforever said:

They really need the money. 

 

Can see that...but what was the big draw for pax this week over last week?  🤔

 

Prices were almost identical for us for both weeks.  

[iahawkfan21]

38 minutes ago, island lady said:

 

Can see that...but what was the big draw for pax this week over last week?  🤔

 

Prices were almost identical for us for both weeks.  

We've sailed both Thanksgiving week and the week after... the week after (last week) is generally less crowded as many families and groups have to go back to work.

 

We had this exact scenario in my office with most everyone around last week but have people starting to take pre-Christmas vacation time this week.  I don't remember the exact percentage, but do recall seeing something recently from Royal that they're targeting I believe ~65% capacity in December which is an increase.  Expect it to continue to rise from there.

[coaster]

Are tables by the pool, bars, and Windjammer still being blocked off at these higher capacities?

[Ocean Boy]

13 minutes ago, coaster said:

Are tables by the pool, bars, and Windjammer still being blocked off at these higher capacities?

Good question. If passenger count is increasing with the same number of chairs and tables blocked off it is going to turn into a huge mess on the ships.

[John&LaLa]

20 minutes ago, coaster said:

Are tables by the pool, bars, and Windjammer still being blocked off at these higher capacities?

 

Unvaccinated areas still doing social distancing

[RCCLNYMETS41]

As of now for dinner in MDR traditional seating, are they seating people together with people from outside of your own reservation/stateroom? Or will I only be seated with my own family?

 

[Sunshine3601]

17 minutes ago, RCCLNYMETS41 said:

As of now for dinner in MDR traditional seating, are they seating people together with people from outside of your own reservation/stateroom? Or will I only be seated with my own family?

 

Last I heard seating in MDR for vaxxed only is right on top of each other, no spacing of tables so you are eating with your neighboring table.

Heard some vaxxed passengers were eating in the unvaxxed dining room as they preferred the social distancing there.

[Chickadees]

51 minutes ago, coaster said:

Are tables by the pool, bars, and Windjammer still being blocked off at these higher capacities?

On the Symphony, yes. WJ had every other table blocked off so seating during busy times was a challenge. We ate breakfast in the Solarium every morning as it was less busy. Only vaccinated people could enter so finding a table was easy. Bar stools around the pool bars were blocked off.  Not as many chairs around the pool deck and they will not bring out extra chairs due to distancing and numbers. However, our sailing was only 50% so finding a chair was not an issue for us.

[sargenet]

I am on the Dec 18th sailing and the one thing that is concerning is situation with kids.  I have been on a few of the lower capacity sailings on other ships but I have never sailed OASIS class.  My son is now out of Adventure Ocean but I have been reading nightmare Thanksgiving holiday sailing stories about Adventure Ocean and limited availability and how kids are being forced to sit in circles vs run around.  and parents only getting 5 hours all week in the program. I have to wonder how many parents are going on this holiday cruise not aware of what to expect as far as the kids program. If they put 800 kids on this sailing that’s going to be crazy…

[blueslily]

There seems to be some inconsistent reports about whether or not the WJ was open for dinner on the Symphony during the past two sailings. Also, there seems to be varying reports of passenger counts.  It might be a long shot, but if anyone on the current Dec 4 sailing sees this, can you report whether or not WJ is open for dinner now and passenger count on this Dec 4 sailing. I will be on the Dec 11 sailing and am curious about both the WJ for dinner and passenger count. Thanks! 

[jerseyjjs]

3 hours ago, Mellylucy said:

Symphony: Windjammer was open for dinner during Thanksgiving week!

 

 

I was just on Symphony Nov 27-Dec 4.  They listed Windjammer on the app as open for dinner for about 2 days, then took it down.   Windjammer was only open for breakfast and lunch all week.  As a side note, Johnny Rockets wasn't open for complimentary breakfast all week either.

[long4acruise]

7 minutes ago, blueslily said:

There seems to be some inconsistent reports about whether or not the WJ was open for dinner on the Symphony during the past two sailings. Also, there seems to be varying reports of passenger counts.  It might be a long shot, but if anyone on the current Dec 4 sailing sees this, can you report whether or not WJ is open for dinner now and passenger count on this Dec 4 sailing. I will be on the Dec 11 sailing and am curious about both the WJ for dinner and passenger count. Thanks! 

I'm on the Dec 4th sailing now and will be B2B on the 11th. 

The WJ is open for dinner nightly, 6-9 pm. The booked guests for this sailing was 4130, but as previously reported,  there are just a tad over 4000 guests onboard currently.

 

Ice shows sold-out quickly but that may have been my limited choices around my desired football games.

 

Coastal Kitchen was not available for Day 1 and 7;  but 8pm/later for Pinnacles to book. Reservations for speciality restaurants were easy to secure and was even allowed to pay on day 1 (after we sailed to avoid the taxes!) to use our BOGOs later in the week

 

Doesn't seem overly crowded but plenty of books & towels on the poolside chairs early!  Haven't seen too many kids (more infants & toddlers), lots of wheelchairs & scooters in the hallways. Elevators are fast and uncrowded.

 

Hope this helps some and that you're looking forward to a great sailing on the 11th!

[Kmermaid]

does anyone have a current show time schedule?

[long4acruise]

4 minutes ago, Kmermaid said:

does anyone have a current show time schedule?

[long4acruise]

Hairspray is canceled this week due to one of the entertainers being injured on the last sailing.

[mawvkysc]

To the OP: yes I would be concerned cruising at full capacity right now. My Dec 13 Freedom sailing still has lots of cabins available, so I’m feeling pretty confident it will be lower capacity and mostly vaxed,  as it’s not a school vacation week for kids. 

[taglovestocruise]

3 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Last I heard seating in MDR for vaxxed only is right on top of each other, no spacing of tables so you are eating with your neighboring table.

Heard some vaxxed passengers were eating in the unvaxxed dining room as they preferred the social distancing there.

I read a report from Ovation a few weeks ago. Vaxxed area of MDR was so jammed that many asked to be moved to the unvaxed dining room. Vloger said it was far less crowded in unvaxed and he was moved with no problem.