Symphony of the Seas Review
RC Symphony of the Seas Eastern Caribbean Cruise (19-26 JAN 2019)
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Additional details
My husband and I went on the Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas Eastern Caribbean cruise (Nassau, Bahamas - Charlotte Amelie, St. Thomas - Basseterre, St. Kitts) out of Miami (19-26 JAN 2019). We prefer to vacation at all-inclusive beach resorts but decided to give cruises another try and join a group of friends on the Symphony. This was our second cruise (we took a Western Caribbean cruise with Carnival a few years ago). Royal Caribbean was much better than Carnival in our opinion.
PORT OF MIAMI / ONBOARDING: The cruise port is very over-stimulating as you can imagine. Traffic is a cluster but once you get dropped off it's easy to figure out where to go. The Royal Caribbean terminal is pretty nice! The whole process to get through security was surprisingly efficient and all the staff were very friendly from security into the waiting lounge. Our boarding time was 10:30 and we got through security into the lounge within about a half hour. think we started migrating onto the ship around 10:45.
We immediately stopped at the Irish Pub and ordered our first drink with Earl, who was very pleasant especially considering the mass influx of newcomers looking for the first available bar! We got the Deluxe Beverage Package in advance of the cruise and it was well worth the price! *TIP: When you find a good deal on beverage packages (the best deal we saw was Buy One, Get One 50% off) book it then and you can always cancel and rebook later if you find a better deal.
Cabin Review
Ocean View Balcony
We were checked into our room immediately (our onboarding time was 10:30). Our luggage was delivered to our room maybe 5 minutes after us. The Balcony was the reason we chose this room and we were very happy with how much space we had. There were two chairs and a table and room to move around. We enjoyed sitting out there relaxing (good when you want a space that isn't crowded with people!) The room was not overly spacious. There is only enough walking room at the foot of the bed for one person at a time. The bathroom was a bit tight but sufficient. Shower was nice and there was sufficient space in the room (closets/drawers) for clothes. Our suitcases fit under the bed once we unpacked which was awesome because otherwise no clue what we would have done with those! I was happy to have a mirror on the wall so when my husband was in the shower I could get ready in the room. We thought the bed was very comfortable. Room 6570 was in a very convenient location as it was at the end of the hallway very close to the stairs and elevators so it was nice not to have to walk down long hallways to stop by the room.