Symphony of the Seas Review
Boarding tips I wish I would've known
Rating by category
Additional details
Let me start by saying the entire cruise was great- even with having to wear face masks inside. I felt like they were trying their best to keep everything clean. They were even washing the walls regularly!
But the initial boarding at the pier... It was absolute chaos. If you have The Key then this won't apply to you- you have your own entrance clearly marked.
By some fluke I managed to figure out what was going on & how to get in on time. Our boarding time was 1:30. We arrived at 1:20, thinking by the time we gave our bags to Royal and found our line it would be time to go in. What we found after that were several lines, all behind signs that said 11:30, 12 & 12:30. Lines that had to be 75+ people deep and stretched down the sidewalk. There was no one from Royal there to tell you where your line was or guide you in any way. In one line we asked people what time their boarding was and they said 3:30! We couldn't find any sign that said 1:30 (on one of those posts on the ground so you had to weave through lines to see the times on them) Meanwhile, the queue to enter the building doors had about 4 people in it and plenty of space yet only sporadicly would they let folks in there that were standing in those long lines with signs for times that had already passed. I went to the head of one of the lines and observed/asked questions, & here's what you need to know:
Cabin Review
We had a partially obstructed view exterior balcony. The obstructed part was the ceiling- it stuck out further than any other balcony. But you could still see the horizon and I didn't feel like having an "obstruction" was a big deal at all.
Port Reviews
Costa Maya
We did the Triple Play excursion- tandem bike ride through jungle, swim in cenote and visit to beach with paddleboarding.
This was the worst excursion we've ever done. The "jungle" is a forest owned by the operators that's basically in their backyard. You're riding your bike on a pulverized gravel type dirt road. There is no cenote. Just a stagnant water pond that looks all brown from the dirt. They served us lunch at 9:30am (from which I got food poisoning). Then drove us to a beach where we were constantly hounded by locals trying to sell us stuff. And I mean constantly. 30 of us on this excursion and they had 4 paddleboards for us to share. The whole thing was disappointing compared to what the video shows on the Royal website. I don't know where they took those videos but it wasn't Costa Maya. Stay far away from this excursion.