Not so Live Review, Symphony of the Seas Sep 17-24

[Stealthdog]

Hey all, we are getting ready to leave on a 7 night Symphony of the Seas out of Miami this Saturday.  I normally do a review of our sailings.  I don't think we are going to get a Wifi package this time, so probably won't be providing updates every day, but rather port days when wifi is available or at the end of the cruise.  That said, feel free to post any questions or comments - anything before mid day Saturday I will definitely see and will make sure to look into while on board.  

 

This is the sailing itinerary:

Sat (17th) - Miami

Sun (18th) - Sea Day

Mon (19th) - Costa Maya

Tue (20th) - Roatan

Wed (21st) - Cozumel

Thu (22nd) - Sea Day

Fri (23rd) - Coco Cay

Sat (24th) - Miami

 

We are flying from DCA to Miami first thing Saturday morning (530AM flight - ouch) with an 1100AM "wellness check" time.  I assume the wellness check time is also boarding time.  We are both vaccinated and will have our cards with us - will be interesting to see how boarding process is different from our last cruise.  We will have a few hours to spend in Miami before we can board, so that will give us that time to pick up anything we forgot to pack (usually sunscreen) and test the water/wine carry-on policy.  We didn't get a drink package and will roll a little suitcase on the ship with us.   We are staying in an Oceanview Balcony and are Platinum C&A status.  NCL Epic and Independence of the Seas are the largest ships we have been on, so this will be a completely new experience for us.  

 

We got the Ultimate Dining Package, and have mapped out the 7 days, so plan to make reservations first thing we get on board.  We plan on doing Chops, Hooked Seafood, and Jaimes for seaday Lunches (on port days we'll do Johnny Rockets, Sushi, Playmakers, and/or free restaurants for lunch).  For dinners we will check out Wonderland, Chops, 150 Central, Hooked Seafood, and Jaimes.

 

We did all of our port days through the shore excursion group for this sailing.  I don't think we have used them before.

In Costa Maya we are doing "Chacchoben Extreme Tour" which includes time at the Seven Color Lagoon.

In Roatan we are doing "Monkeys, Sloths, and Iguanas" at one of the local sanctuaries.

In Cozumel we are doing "Snorkle El Cio and Columbia Reef with Playa Mia" - we usually stay on the ship at Cozumel, but are looking forward to snorkle time.

 

We will probably go to the main production and evening shows, and check out the other entertainment on the ship.

 

We will post daily activities, menus, or other pictures when we can.  Let me know if you have any questions!

[Sea Dog]

Looking forward to your review as we are on this sailing as well and I'm doing a "as If live" when we get back with the focus on UDP. I guess great dogs think alike. 😉

[h20skibum]

1 minute ago, Sea Dog said:

Looking forward to your review as we are on this sailing as well and I'm doing a "as If live" when we get back with the focus on UDP. I guess great dogs think alike. 😉

I thought for a moment that you changed your CC name to go in Stealth mode this sailing. 🤣🤣

[cruisegal40]

Can't wait. We will be on her also.  Flying down to FFL tomorrow morning. Looking forward to this so much.

[Stealthdog]

20 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Looking forward to your review as we are on this sailing as well and I'm doing a "as If live" when we get back with the focus on UDP. I guess great dogs think alike. 😉

 

We may as well be twins. 🙂

 

Everyone has different tastes - can't wait to see your thoughts on the UDP!

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Stealthdog said:

 

We may as well be twins. 🙂

 

Everyone has different tastes - can't wait to see your thoughts on the UDP!

Agreed it will be interesting to compare notes. We all know food is subjective and can vary any given time and day.

[karena1]

2 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

 

 

This is the sailing itinerary:

Sat (17th) - Miami

Sun (18th) - Sea Day

Mon (19th) - Costa Maya

Tue (20th) - Roatan

Wed (21st) - Cozumel

Thu (22nd) - Sea Day

Fri (23rd) - Coco Cay

Sat (24th) - Miami

 

 

 

 

We are on the same itinerary on Oasis out of Miami in Dec.  It is a good route, but when I originally booked it, it was because it was going to Labadee.  Then they changed it to CocoCay.  We love CocoCay but we are there like 10 times a year, so really wanted to go to Labadee for this cruise.  Been to all these island many times and just do our own thing.  

 

Edited September 14, 2022 by karena1

[ScubaCat3]

Just FYI - Izumi Sushi is not open for lunch on port days. Johnny Rockets (1 pm, 3 pm or 5 pm) and Playmakers (3 pm) open for food service on port days after normal lunch hours. There are other free options as you noted (example - Windjammer, El Loco Fresh and others).  Enjoy your cruise!

Edited September 14, 2022 by ScubaCat3

[LobsterStalker]

4 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

We are flying from DCA to Miami first thing Saturday morning (530AM flight - ouch) with an 1100AM "wellness check" time

You are a brave man !

[Stealthdog]

17 hours ago, LobsterStalker said:

You are a brave man !

 

I know, right?  I'll be up by 3AM, but I'm worried I might get injured or killed by the other half trying to get him out that door that early.  🤕

 

We aren't too worried about the flight getting canceled.  There are hourly flights to both Miami and Fort Lauderdale we can get rebooked on.  

[Stealthdog]

20 hours ago, ScubaCat3 said:

Just FYI - Izumi Sushi is not open for lunch on port days. Johnny Rockets (1 pm, 3 pm or 5 pm) and Playmakers (3 pm) open for food service on port days after normal lunch hours. There are other free options as you noted (example - Windjammer, El Loco Fresh and others).  Enjoy your cruise!

 

Oh no! All of my planning is in shambles.  We were already planning on eating like Hobbits with first dinner and second dinner after the late show at playmakers.  I guess we will have to figure out how to do three dinners per night to include Izumi.  🤔

 

Thanks for the headsup!  It definately helps with the expectations and figuring out what we want to do on those port days.  

[Stealthdog]

20 hours ago, karena1 said:

We are on the same itinerary on Oasis out of Miami in Dec.  It is a good route, but when I originally booked it, it was because it was going to Labadee.  Then they changed it to CocoCay.  We love CocoCay but we are there like 10 times a year, so really wanted to go to Labadee for this cruise.  Been to all these island many times and just do our own thing.  

 

 

I hear you - I've only been to CocoCay once, so definitely looking forward to that.  In fact, given the number of times we have been to Cozumel, Roatan, and Costa Maya, CocoCay is the stop we are most looking forward to.  We will stop in Labadee for the first time in a December sailing.

[Stealthdog]

Operation Water and Wine is a go!

 

Depending on what time we get to Miami, we may eat breakfast at the airport to waste some time.  We plan to stop at Whole Foods across the cruise port near Bayfront Park.  The plan is to fill up an empty little carryon luggage with water and both of us carry two bottles of wines onto the ship.  We are going to test the water a little and get different size water bottles to see if they say anything, but still keep it at 12 bottles of water.  If we get called out for the wine, our defense is to play stupid and cite Celebrity's policy of up to 2 bottles per person and say we assumed it was the same since its all the same company.  

 

I hope there are no RCL port spies on this board.

Edited September 15, 2022 by Stealthdog

[Sea Dog]

@Stealthdog Are you getting the drink package?

 

Btw, I will be in a variety of Sea Dog T-Shirts and Polos. If you see me stop me and say hi.

[Stealthdog]

29 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

@Stealthdog Are you getting the drink package?

 

Btw, I will be in a variety of Sea Dog T-Shirts and Polos. If you see me stop me and say hi.

 

No drink package this time.  Between bringing bottles on board, TA gifting wine to our stateroom, and 40% off bottles in the specialty dining restaurants, it just didn't make sense for us.  We have some extra on board credit and will just pay as we go.  We will probably get a port/sherry on occasion and a few frozen drinks over the course of the cruise.

 

We will definitely look for you on board!

 

 

[LobsterStalker]

5 hours ago, Stealthdog said:

I hope there are no RCL port spies on this board

That's what I was thinking reading your post

 

Cheers , Gl

[OACAggie]

On 9/14/2022 at 2:37 PM, h20skibum said:

I thought for a moment that you changed your CC name to go in Stealth mode this sailing. 🤣🤣

I thought exact same. 
 

Both ‘dogs’…enjoy your cruise!

Edited September 16, 2022 by OACAggie

[Sea Dog]

11 hours ago, OACAggie said:

I thought exact same. 
 

Both ‘dogs’…enjoy your cruise!

This Dog has made the first layover to Miami. Getting closer!!

[Stealthdog]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

This Dog has made the first layover to Miami. Getting closer!!

 

Woohoo!  Lets do this!  About to take the other, other dog 🐶 to boarding and remembered they have webcams we can access.......so we will break down and get wifi so we can check up on him.  Stoopid me should have bought the pre-sailing priced wifi.

 

Where are you staying in Miami?  I think we have always stayed on South Beach.  

[Sea Dog]

44 minutes ago, Stealthdog said:

 

Woohoo!  Lets do this!  About to take the other, other dog 🐶 to boarding and remembered they have webcams we can access.......so we will break down and get wifi so we can check up on him.  Stoopid me should have bought the pre-sailing priced wifi.

 

Where are you staying in Miami?  I think we have always stayed on South Beach.  

We thought about boarding our two pups but we have an awesome girl that pet sits and allows them to stay home. This will be the first time we’ve been away from them since we are retired and they are used to us being around 24/7.

 

 

 

We are Hilton Miami Downtown. Plan for tonight is to eat Cuban at a restaurant that was recommended to us, Versailles.

 

Just landed in Miami. Let’s do this!

Edited September 16, 2022 by Sea Dog

[Stealthdog]

So jealous about Versailles.  How was it?

 

We are driving down to Florida in December and will leave the dog with family for our December b2b.

 

Good news too - I survived the early morning wakeup and we are waiting to board the flight.  

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, Stealthdog said:

So jealous about Versailles.  How was it?

 

Incredible! I highly recommend this place.

 

Safe travels wished for you. Hope to meet you on board!

[Stealthdog]

2 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Incredible! I highly recommend this place.

 

Safe travels wished for you. Hope to meet you on board!

 

Not the same as your Versailles, but couldnt help myself.  

[Stealthdog]

A few updates:

 

Operation Water and Wine was a huge success.  We each brought 2 bottles of win on.  We also brought 1 liter and 1.5 liter bottles of water.  Noone seemed to care.

 

We had boarding time of 11 and were on the ship by 1030.  Was really quick.  Outside was a hot mess, with everyone getting off trying to get their ride shares and everyone arriving stuck in traffic.  

 

And a welcome aboard drink while waiting for Jaimes to open.

[Travllvr619]

Hello,

I will be on this itinerary same time next year and am wondering what the time difference is in Roatan this time of year.  Does the cruise compass note this at all?  I want to schedule my tour and don't want to risk booking the wrong time.  Hope you guys have a fabulous cruise!  Thanks!