Symphony of the Seas Review
Rating by category
Additional details
We chose this ship over Disney Cruise because of the appeal of the onboard amusement park for our annual family vacation. There were 6 adults and 4 children: 10, 7, 7, and 4. The adults are repeat cruisers. We are also repeat Royal Caribbean/Celebrity customers. We understand that there are challenges to post pandemic travels.
We were mandated to use the APP and the web for communication. The APP crashed on us during the uploading of our documents and customer service, after several hours, were unable to resolve our problem. We were told to go to customer service during checkin (which required us to go to a different long line and merge back in to the main line again). Some information was available on the web address, some on the APP, and some switched to the APP when onboard. Club members were offered discounts for internet and beverage packages after being enticed to buy ahead, thereby not receiving the discounts. We had received notices of benefits for upgrading to the junior suites with a small print caveat that these benefits were not available on all cruises. We thought we had expedited checkin but found out at port that not on this ship. Checkin is walking through a maze with lots of people.
We had watched many videos and read many tips prior to our trip which were very helpful.
Cabin Review
Jr Suite is very spacious with walk-in closet. Room can easily accommodate a family with choice of bunk bed or trundle that is stored during the day. Contiguous rooms can have balcony separator removed so family can easily move between cabins without going to hall. Room was very clean and cabin steward very attentive to our needs. Ambient glow produced enough night lighting without causing sleep disruption.
Port Reviews
San Juan
Visited only 4 hours at night. Historic forts were closed. However the views were spectacular!
St. Maarten
Never recovered from hurricanes. Boat tour was cancelled but we were told when we had walked to meeting point. Found a taxi to do a quick Island tour. Many washed out roads and unkempt beaches.
St. Thomas
Hired a local tour company for our group of 10. Very knowledgeable and personable. We weren’t shopping so we got to see the beautiful vistas and rode the gondola. Beach was clean and beautiful.