Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas
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Anonymous
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This sounds like going from a Lexus to a Ford. Why do that when you can afford better?
I love how relaxing Disney cruises are. I would not find it relaxing at all having to reserve every single activity and dinner in advance, or show up super early for shows and activities. I have also never been nickel and dimed on a Disney cruise, I’d hate that aspect on a Royal ship. |
Anonymous
It’s only really an issue on the bigger ships. We prefer the smaller ships (Disney, Royal, and Celebrity). |
Anonymous
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You'll have a great time on Symphony! We sailed on that ship pre-pandemic, and have been on 4 more RC cruises since.
Be sure to purchase the Voom internet package ahead of time. I also recommend springing for the deluxe beverage package, but that's something you'll need to weigh for yourself (includes soda, specialty coffees, and alcoholic beverages). For us, eating in the main dining room gets repetitive on a 7-night sailing, so I recommend you do the Chops+1 dining package or the 3 specialty restaurants package. It's not that hard to make show reservations in advance in the cruise planner. It's really just a way to guarantee getting into the show on the day/time you want, but you are under no obligation to attend if you get busy doing something else or decide you don't want to go. It's really not a big deal. If you want to attend something and don't have a reservation, just go extra early to ensure you get a seat. I get my teens either a connecting balcony or room across the hallway from our room (though I prefer connecting). |
Anonymous
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Getting ready to go on Symphony this summer with 2 pre teen kids. The ship looks amazing. Definitely looking at the deluxe beverage for me and the regular beverage package for the kids.
How much does the specialty dining cost approximately? I'm actually ok with general food and buffets so not a necessity to do the specialty dining but if the price is good might consider it. Do you remember how much internet was? For me, I'd rather have everything picked and paid for before the cruise than pay for everything I use. Did you leave from NJ? If so , how was the parking? Thanks |
Anonymous
| Pro tip: avoid the buffet to minimize germs. Seriously. |
Anonymous
Keep checking the cruise planner for costs as it fluctuates. When you see a good price, book it. If it goes down, cancel it and re-book it. As for internet - we paid a total of $303 for 8 nights for 4 devices under 1 person. Instead of each person getting their own internet, choose 1 person with 2 or 3 or 4 devices. It's much cheaper. The only downside, in our case, is my DH would alternate between his phone and computer. In order to do it, it would kick someone off and we would have to log back in as we were only allowed a max of 4 devices at once. We left from Ft. Lauderdale. We've taken the Oasis and Anthem from NJ and love it. We leave around 7am from NoVa and arrive at Bayonne by 11:30ish. We would drop off our luggage and then go park. Depending on the number of ships in port - we can park in the garage or a surface lot. Not the cheapest, but very convenient. Best part is at the end, we would leave the ship around 8, go through customs and be on the road by 8:30. We stop for gas at Costco (it's on your way out). We are home by noon. So much easier and cheaper than flying. |
Anonymous
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We went on a Disney cruise when the kids were younger and the Symphony of the Seas when they were early teens. The teen years is the perfect time to switch to RC. We all had a blast, and the food is MUCH better than our Disney cruise, and the ship seemed less crowded.
You’ll have a great time! |