It's time to set sail! Symphony here we come! July 20, 2019
The day has finally come! After more than a year of planning and waiting, we were finally ready to board this ship! This was going to be amazing! The Symphony of the Seas is the largest ship in the world! There is most definitely something for everyone on board. I mentioned that we'd sailed on the Allure a few years ago and this is a very similar ship, but there are some new additions. I'll be mentioning them as we go along! We've also cruised on some of the other "big ship" categories, like Norwegian's Escape, Breakaway and Epic. And we've cruised on some of the mid-sized ships, and even some river cruises! We have a good basis for comparisons of experiences and definitely know what we're getting into with the Mega Ship atmosphere! One thing is for sure, on a ship of this size, to really take advantage of all that you want to see and do, a bit of advance planning is necessary.
I booked all of our shows in advance, and then it would be up to everyone to decide if they would actually attend once on board. We also each got the 3 Meal Specialty Dining Plan since we really enjoy trying the restaurants on board in addition to the Main Dining Room. I also recommend at least one person download the Royal Caribbean App so that you can see what is going on while on board because it seemed that the Cruise Compass didn't always include everything, and your individual reservations would be on your app as well.
Ok - that's it for the details part - now for the fun! We decided to get to the port as early as we thought we could board, so we took the 10:30 shuttle from our hotel. I would guess by the time we got on board the shuttle and got to the port it was probably 11:00. Royal has a beautiful new port, which makes boarding seamless. Have your documentation ready, and you walk in, and go up these escalators...
From there you'll be pulled aside into individual little stations and the boarding process is really about 3 or 4 minutes. If you've done everything on line they just check your ID, compare it to their little iPad device and tell you to move on to security screening. The line moved fast, our carry on bags were x-rayed and we pretty much walked on board.
I think we were on the ship by 11:30 at the latest. At that point I think things get a little hectic. With the 3 Meal Dining Plan you have no set reservations until you board. So our first stop was to make our reservations. Be sure you know what time your shows are booked and what time you get back from your excursions when you go to do this! We got in line right away and we had two people taking reservations. One couple in front of us was ultra prepared. They had a binder with them. I would guess they had the Unlimited Dining Package and were making not only dinner reservations for every night, but lunch as well. They were there for about 40 minutes. The couple at the other station had no idea what times or restaurants they wanted and also seemed to be there for about 40 minutes. So, have a plan... It was finally our turn, and we were able to make reservations everywhere we wanted, for all 6 of us, on the nights we wanted. Super easy!
From there we went to the Solarium Bistro for lunch. This was a great choice! While it's a buffet, and maybe it has the same choices as the Windjammer although I think it may be slightly different, it was so calm, and not crowded like the Windjammer on embarkation day! I want to say maybe it's a bit of an undiscovered place to eat. The food was really good. Very fresh!
We still had some time before our cabins would be ready so my parents went to go sit and relax and the 4 of us did our usual Spa Tour. We like to check out the spa on every ship. Especially the Thermal Suite. If it's nice enough, Keith often gets the Thermal Spa Pass for the week. It's his escape!
Their fitness center was really nice as far as equipment. Megan went quite a few times during the week.
The Thermal Spa left a lot to be desired though. If I had to criticize anything on the ship it would have to be this. As I mentioned we do a lot of spa tours and I just don't understand how you can have these heated chairs facing a wall? Most ships have them facing the ocean. There is also no jacuzzi or any other water feature as part of the spa pass. Definitely not worth paying for a pass for the week. You also do not get use of the facility before or after a treatment, it is a totally separate purchase.
Moving on~!
Our cabins were ready at about that time. My parents had an ocean view balcony and Keith and I, and the kids each had Central Park View Balcony cabins. We were all on the same deck, which was nice. I found the cabins to be very spacious. There was definitely plenty of storage space in them and plenty of outlets and USB charging ports. The kids had their beds by the door/bathroom, and in Keith and I's cabin our bed was by the balcony door. I liked our set up a bit more as far as presentation, but both had the same amount of space.
We all unpacked and by now it was time for our muster drill. Our station was Guest Services. After the muster drill it was time for Sail Away! We planned to meet up with my parents, but we somehow didn't find them. We ended up going to the Solarium area and watched from there.
Miami is definitely one of my favorite ports to sail out of. It's so pretty!
After dinner the kids and I walked around the ship for a bit.
This is the Rising Tide Bar. It travels from the Promenade on deck 5, up to Central Park on deck 8 several times a day.
I booked all of our shows in advance, and then it would be up to everyone to decide if they would actually attend once on board. We also each got the 3 Meal Specialty Dining Plan since we really enjoy trying the restaurants on board in addition to the Main Dining Room. I also recommend at least one person download the Royal Caribbean App so that you can see what is going on while on board because it seemed that the Cruise Compass didn't always include everything, and your individual reservations would be on your app as well.
Ok - that's it for the details part - now for the fun! We decided to get to the port as early as we thought we could board, so we took the 10:30 shuttle from our hotel. I would guess by the time we got on board the shuttle and got to the port it was probably 11:00. Royal has a beautiful new port, which makes boarding seamless. Have your documentation ready, and you walk in, and go up these escalators...
From there you'll be pulled aside into individual little stations and the boarding process is really about 3 or 4 minutes. If you've done everything on line they just check your ID, compare it to their little iPad device and tell you to move on to security screening. The line moved fast, our carry on bags were x-rayed and we pretty much walked on board.
I think we were on the ship by 11:30 at the latest. At that point I think things get a little hectic. With the 3 Meal Dining Plan you have no set reservations until you board. So our first stop was to make our reservations. Be sure you know what time your shows are booked and what time you get back from your excursions when you go to do this! We got in line right away and we had two people taking reservations. One couple in front of us was ultra prepared. They had a binder with them. I would guess they had the Unlimited Dining Package and were making not only dinner reservations for every night, but lunch as well. They were there for about 40 minutes. The couple at the other station had no idea what times or restaurants they wanted and also seemed to be there for about 40 minutes. So, have a plan... It was finally our turn, and we were able to make reservations everywhere we wanted, for all 6 of us, on the nights we wanted. Super easy!
From there we went to the Solarium Bistro for lunch. This was a great choice! While it's a buffet, and maybe it has the same choices as the Windjammer although I think it may be slightly different, it was so calm, and not crowded like the Windjammer on embarkation day! I want to say maybe it's a bit of an undiscovered place to eat. The food was really good. Very fresh!
We still had some time before our cabins would be ready so my parents went to go sit and relax and the 4 of us did our usual Spa Tour. We like to check out the spa on every ship. Especially the Thermal Suite. If it's nice enough, Keith often gets the Thermal Spa Pass for the week. It's his escape!
Their fitness center was really nice as far as equipment. Megan went quite a few times during the week.
The Thermal Spa left a lot to be desired though. If I had to criticize anything on the ship it would have to be this. As I mentioned we do a lot of spa tours and I just don't understand how you can have these heated chairs facing a wall? Most ships have them facing the ocean. There is also no jacuzzi or any other water feature as part of the spa pass. Definitely not worth paying for a pass for the week. You also do not get use of the facility before or after a treatment, it is a totally separate purchase.
Moving on~!
Our cabins were ready at about that time. My parents had an ocean view balcony and Keith and I, and the kids each had Central Park View Balcony cabins. We were all on the same deck, which was nice. I found the cabins to be very spacious. There was definitely plenty of storage space in them and plenty of outlets and USB charging ports. The kids had their beds by the door/bathroom, and in Keith and I's cabin our bed was by the balcony door. I liked our set up a bit more as far as presentation, but both had the same amount of space.
We all unpacked and by now it was time for our muster drill. Our station was Guest Services. After the muster drill it was time for Sail Away! We planned to meet up with my parents, but we somehow didn't find them. We ended up going to the Solarium area and watched from there.
The Solarium is the "adults" relaxation area of the ship. No one under 16 is allowed to be in this area. It's very pretty. But we found that with the glass roof it sometimes felt a bit like a greenhouse! There are open areas to the roof, but it still got quite stuffy! The Solarium in the Symphony is quite large, and does have a small pool, which is a nice feature!
Miami is definitely one of my favorite ports to sail out of. It's so pretty!
Some more pictures in the Solarium
Here we go!
Keith and Alex avoiding the crowds out on the deck...
A final shot of Miami Beach as we sail away!
We met up with my parents again for dinner at Chops. Chops has always been one of our favorite restaurants on any Royal Caribbean ship, and it definitely didn't disappoint! It's a steakhouse, and other than Keith, who isn't much of a meat eater, we all got some sort of steak.
Chops is in Central Park, which is one of the neighborhoods on the ship. It's definitely my favorite neighborhood! It's amazing to me that this is actually on a cruise ship! And at night, it's just so beautiful!
After dinner the kids and I walked around the ship for a bit.
This is the Rising Tide Bar. It travels from the Promenade on deck 5, up to Central Park on deck 8 several times a day.
A view of the Abyss at night!
The Boardwalk Neighborhood
Megan and I had plans to stay up until midnight when they were going to release the balloons in the Promenade. But it had been a long day.... At about 11:30 we decided to call it - back to our cabins we went! Our first day on board was a success! Tomorrow would be a Sea Day. We all were looking forward to doing our own thing!
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