*~LIVE REVIEW~* 50x + Cruiser Tries RCCL (Symphony Eastern 7-Night)

[drumexpert510]

Gooood evening ladies and gentlemen! I am new to the Royal Board here but have done several previous LIVE REVIEWS on NCL and Disney.

 

I have had the privilege to have cruised more then 50+ times on NCL, Disney & Carnival but this week I am onboard the BEAUTIFUL Symphony Of The Seas. We will be on a 7-night cruise heading to St. Thomas, St. Maarten & Perfect Day at Coco Cay.  I will take you all along with me on my journey this week and point out all the highlights about this ship and destinations. Also, I will let you know as a veteran cruiser with other lines how Royal “stacks-up”… what’s better, what may not be as good in my opinion or maybe just different.

 

Thank you all in advance for following along with me this week. If there is something in particular you would like to know (officers, menus, activities, etc) let me know and I will do my best to include! 
 

I hope you love following as much as I love doing this!!!! Bon Voyage!!!

Edited January 7, 2023 by drumexpert510
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[ucfknightsgirl]

Can’t wait!

[drumexpert510]

Tonight we are off to a running start with dinner in Wonderland… I have been very excited to try this and right off the bat I am amazed at the details and “wonder” of this “land” (dad jokes incoming) and I haven’t even had the food yet!!!

 

Standby for official review! 

 

[Tree_skier]

Following 🙂 

[drumexpert510]

Wow… dinner at Wonderland. I am almost at a loss for words. This was a small plate style dinner “experience”. I would definitely recommend this for the adventurous eater or someone looking to try something new and amazing. 

 

The style reminds me of Remy’s or Enchante on Disney Cruise Line, very high end food BUT this is very casual feeling and fun and I very much enjoyed it. When it was all said and done I experienced 10 COURSES… 7 “appetizers”, 1 main and 2 deserts. 

I have the unlimited dining package (so you can expect many more specialty dining reviews) but even if you don’t, I HIGHLY recommend trying this… after 50+ cruises it can be hard to find something “new” or “exciting” but Wonderland on the Symphony has delivered! Bravo! 

See the photos below! Now off to Playmakers watch the Jacksonville Jaguars beat up on the Tennessee Titans! 
 

 

 

 

 

[drumexpert510]

Playmakers- sports bar located on the board walk. A laid back and causal place to watch your favorite game, grab a drink and play some bar games. Even with an NFL game on it isn’t too packed and tables were manageable to come by.  The have several large TVs with sound for you to watch your favorite game. For anyone worried about missing their favorite, don’t worry. Playmakers has you covered! 

[Kathscof]

Woo! #duuuval 🙂 thanks for the review! 

[drumexpert510]

Good morning everyone from the high seas! We have a sea day today and tomorrow as we make our way down to St. Maarten. Today and tomorrow will be a heavy focus on the ship itself.

 

So far from my observations, I am blown away with the ship. It is stunning and this Oasis class ship seems to have it all. I love all the neighborhoods and will cover them later in the Live but Royal really did an amazing job giving cruisers something new and innovative. 
 

Today… we will head to the gym this morning, then depending on weather a pool day, Chop for Lunch and then maybe try my hand in the casino. We have fair seas this morning, the swells look slightly agitated but with a ship this size, you hardly feel movement at all. 

[countess5]

Great Ship, sailed her for Royal’s 50th anniversary and also sailed her last May for our Nephews 30th birthday.  

Love the Oasis class ships. I believe you will continue to be impressed. 

 

Will be following along.

 

Cheers! 

[countess5]

By the way, love Central Park! Great place to grab a drink and just relax.

 

[drumexpert510]

Had a great workout at the gym. It is a very good size spanning from port to starboard and with about 20 treadmills BUT it could be larger. I went around 9am and every treadmill was full and almost every machine. For a ship this size the gym could be a little bigger. They seemed to have room for free weights and spin classes so that is nice if you are into that. They also had a scent machine in the gym that had a cedar sort of smell. This was the first time I have seen scents pumped into the gym and I kinda liked it. Small details make the difference. 
 

After a 2 mile run and some core workouts I walked right outside to the juice bar by the Vitality Spa. I have the refreshment package so sodas, fresh juices and shakes are included. This is a huge value to me because I get San Pelligrino at dinner included breakfast shakes in the morning and coffees throughout the day. STARBUCKS  itself is not included but you can get craft coffees and lattes at the promenade cafe or the Spa juice bar and they are just as good. This morning I got an off menu item, it was a soy milk banana and peanut butter shake (my go to) and I highly recommend!

 

so far this refreshment package is A+. It was only around $200 per person and I am finding huge value in it. Just in regards to bottled water being included, other lines like NCL don’t even give you bottle water with the drink package so this is a huge win for RCCL.

 

* I didn’t take photos in the gym out of respect for everyone in there working out and since it was packed there was no was to get photos right now. I will try again later. 

 

[aubreyc1988]

1 hour ago, drumexpert510 said:

Had a great workout at the gym. It is a very good size spanning from port to starboard and with about 20 treadmills BUT it could be larger. I went around 9am and every treadmill was full and almost every machine. For a ship this size the gym could be a little bigger. They seemed to have room for free weights and spin classes so that is nice if you are into that. They also had a scent machine in the gym that had a cedar sort of smell. This was the first time I have seen scents pumped into the gym and I kinda liked it. Small details make the difference. 
 

After a 2 mile run and some core workouts I walked right outside to the juice bar by the Vitality Spa. I have the refreshment package so sodas, fresh juices and shakes are included. This is a huge value to me because I get San Pelligrino at dinner included breakfast shakes in the morning and coffees throughout the day. STARBUCKS  itself is not included but you can get craft coffees and lattes at the promenade cafe or the Spa juice bar and they are just as good. This morning I got an off menu item, it was a soy milk banana and peanut butter shake (my go to) and I highly recommend!

 

so far this refreshment package is A+. It was only around $200 per person and I am finding huge value in it. Just in regards to bottled water being included, other lines like NCL don’t even give you bottle water with the drink package so this is a huge win for RCCL.

 

* I didn’t take photos in the gym out of respect for everyone in there working out and since it was packed there was no was to get photos right now. I will try again later. 

 

 thanks for the review! Sailing on Symphony on Feb 18th!!! 

 

(Also side note: NCL now does offer "• (6) 1L Flow Water bottles delivered to your stateroom on embarkation day*" to their base level free at sea package) 

[drumexpert510]

11 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

 thanks for the review! Sailing on Symphony on Feb 18th!!! 

 

(Also side note: NCL now does offer "• (6) 1L Flow Water bottles delivered to your stateroom on embarkation day*" to their base level free at sea package) 

correct, they do and is very new BUT that does not hold a flame to unlimited bottled water or sparkling. Royal wins this battle in my book hands down. 

[countess5]

I see the melting chocolate desert still goes on. Try the cocktail made with cotton caddy at the Wonderland Bar. Won’t show it here, just try one. 

 

Cheers! 

 

 

[drumexpert510]

8 minutes ago, countess5 said:

I see the melting chocolate desert still goes on. Try the cocktail made with cotton caddy at the Wonderland Bar. Won’t show it here, just try one. 

 

Cheers! 

 

 

Saw them being ordered last night, looks amazing! 

[drumexpert510]

Lunch at Chop is A+, an amazing perk of the unlimited dining package is you get lunch at a speciality restaurant on sea days! Definitely beats the buffet for sure!

[countess5]

Grab dinner at Jamies but eat outside in the Park. There’s music during dinner. Usually guitar or violin music. Nice with the outside weather.

 

Cheers! 

[aubreyc1988]

25 minutes ago, drumexpert510 said:

correct, they do and is very new BUT that does not hold a flame to unlimited bottled water or sparkling. Royal wins this battle in my book hands down. 

🙂 I usually use my waterbottle so it isn't a big deal to me, but just wanted to share that so that people reading would know that the standard NCL package does include 6L of water on the first day, (believe this was started last summer) and the plus package includes unlimited bottled, both still and sparkling. 

 

 

[dhdelrod]

Following 

[drumexpert510]

2 hours ago, countess5 said:

Grab dinner at Jamies but eat outside in the Park. There’s music during dinner. Usually guitar or violin music. Nice with the outside weather.

 

Cheers! 

Dinner at Jaimes is this evening. 🙂

[drumexpert510]

2 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

🙂 I usually use my waterbottle so it isn't a big deal to me, but just wanted to share that so that people reading would know that the standard NCL package does include 6L of water on the first day, (believe this was started last summer) and the plus package includes unlimited bottled, both still and sparkling. 

 

 

NCL is doing som really weird things with their beverage packages including now limiting certain wines to ONLY the platinum plus meaning you can’t even pay the up charge difference. No beverage plus and you won’t be able to get. I was just on Getaway and Prima last month and I didn’t see value in it. 

[drumexpert510]

Today was mostly a pool day since we were at sea. Most everyone else had that idea as well. It is days like today where you really feel how many people are on this ship. With that being said, RCCL has done as well as one could hope for a ship this size. 4 pools, 10 hot tubs, 3 water slides and an adult only solarium. Even with all these features… it was packed. Most to all of the hot tubs were slammed ALL DAY. It didn’t bother me, just have to wait a few minutes for a spot to open. I will say the 4 hot tubs on the side of the ships, outside the solarium have two TVs over them and came in really handy for NFL games today. I was very happy to see this. The slides were fun but the storm “bowl” slide you have to make sure you go really fast or YOU WILL GET STUCK… 3 out of 5 people did. 
 

All in all it was a great day and the weather was good. Looking forward to 1977 tonight (Ice Show) and then Jaime’s Italian to follow! 

[gingersvp]

Enjoying your live review thus far! We are equal opportunity cruise offenders and spread out among the lines, thereby having no real status on any of them. 

[LisaLisa87]

I’m enjoying your report so far and looking forward to more! We’ve sailed a handful of times on both Disney and NCL, so I’m interested in the comparisons.

[drumexpert510]

Having just finished the 1977 Ice Show in Studio B, I can say it was the Cat’s Meow! The skaters were brilliant, the show was amazing and there is nothing like this on any other cruise line. This cruiser is use to just having a single evening show or comedy but this was a whole new level of entertainment. I would see this again and again! 
 

…Now off to Jaime’s!