Overview
About
Passengers: 5,518 | Crew: 2,200
Passengers to crew: 2.51:1
Passengers to space: 41.3:1
Launched: 2018
Decks
- Deck 3
- Deck 4
- Deck 5
- Deck 6
- Deck 7
- Deck 8
Additional decks
Deck 3 layout
Cabins
Interior (1V)
Ocean View (2N)
Ocean View (1N)
Interior (2V)
Cabins
Balcony
Cabin size: 182 - 272 sq. ft.
Connected rooms: 323
Accessible rooms: 32
Maximum passengers: 6
Number of cabins: 1796
Reviews
Traveller rating
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- 35
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- 23
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My wife and I sailed out of Miami on Symphony of the Seas on March 9, 2023 for a 12-day cruise to Barcelona, Spain. It is our third cruise on Royal Caribbean (a 10-day cruise of the Mexican Riveria in 2010 and another cruise to the Caribbean in 2016). The embarkation, although very busy, didn't take exceptionally long. We cleared onto the ship in about 30 minutes. Our first disappointment was self-inflicted. We had booked a balcony thinking that we could watch the ocean glide by in the mornings while we drank our coffee. But with Oasis-class Royal Caribbean ships, there are inside and outside balconies. We ended up with a balcony overlooking Central Park. We only used our balcony to dry our clothes after swimming. Overall, considering our cruise was at sea for 10 straight days, the staff and crew aboard Symphony of the Seas did an exceptional job of keeping us entertained with many, many activities to keep us busy during our waking hours. All staff members were exceptionally helpful and kind. Our room steward and wait staff for the late dinner seating were exceptional! Johan, our room steward, was very efficient and did a superb job of keeping our room clean and welcoming. Arista and Sun, our dinner wait staff, made a huge difference in our enjoyment of our evening meals. Although the food wasn't up to the quality we had experienced in the past, it was still good to very good, and having Arista and Sun meet our every need with genuine kindess made our trip so much more enjoyable...so much so that every time we saw one of them somewhere outside the dining room, we made an effort to stop and talk to them. It's quite obvious Royal Caribbean does an excellent job of screening and training their staff. My wife and I made the effort to see most of the shows aboard the cruise during the passage. We managed to see Hairspray, Hiro, Flight: Dare to Dream, 1977 (and ice skating performance), and a number of other smaller shows such as comedians and a crew talent show. The best shows were definitely Hairspray and Flight: Dare to Dream! My wife and I have been to many, many plays and musicals both on and off Broadway from New York to Los Angeles. The performers in Hairspray were Broadway quality in our opinion. And the water show, Hiro was truly inspiring! The entertainment level aboard Symphony of the Seas is far and above any other cruise we've ever been on. We found that the food in the main dining room and in the other free food venues to be okay. In the past few decades, the quality of the free food has dropped as the popularity of "specialty" restaurants (i.e., you pay extra) has proliferated. On my first cruise over 30 years ago on Celebrity Cruise Lines, every single meal was five stars. When the cruise was ending and they introduced the main chefs, they got a standing ovation. Nearly every seat in the dining room was filled every night. That is no longer the case. We sat at a table for 10. We had 6 people on two evenings, four people on three or four evenings, and only the two of us on three or four evenings. Personally, I believe the cruise lines have dropped the quality of the food in the main dining room to get people to pay for the specialty restaurants. Another difference between when I first started cruising and now is the fact that soda and other non-alcoholic drinks are no longer free. Again, this is something that has occurred amongst all of the main cruise lines such as Carnival, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean, etc.…
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My Wife and I just returned from a 7 night Eastern Caribbean (St Maarten, St Thomas, CocoCay) cruise aboard Symphony Of The Seas. We have travelled to several destinations and cruised a couple times. In terms of activities and sight seeing, this cruise was my favorite vacation we have been on. Embarking was a breeze, we got dropped off at the Miami port by our Uber driver and dropped our bags with the porters. We were about 20 minutes early from our check in time but they waived us into the terminal. Because it was a little before 11a, passengers had to be seated and wait. The wait was only about 10 minutes and away we went. Lunch was at the Windjammer which became very crowded, quickly. Lunch was just okay...it's a buffet after all. The ship was huge and immaculate in terms of cleanliness. The shows HiRO and Flight are not to be missed on this ship! Great We also saw Hairspray (which has a great message) and 1977 which is an ice skating show (which I'm still trying to figure out the plot but the skaters were very good!). We also attended the game show "Crazy Quest"....I can only describe it as a version of "Let's Make A Deal". It's an adult themed show and was a lot of fun...I'd say don't miss it and if you want to be a participant, sit low and on an aisle. Dinners in the MDR were good. Not great, but they were good. We understand they have to cater to a wide variety of ethnicities and the food is not heavily seasoned, but it's plentiful. The southern fried chicken with honey-pepper sauce was one of my favorites. Of course on "Royal Night" they serve lobster tail and it was cooked just right! Specialty restaurants we ate at were Chops, Izumi and Hooked Seafood. While they were all great, Hooked was our best meal of the week and it had a lot to do with our server, Alkevin (aka Kevin). He could lead a seminar on customer experience. The food was outstanding here...the best meal we had on our cruise. Order the Captain's Platter (Lobster Tail, Salmon and Grilled Shrimp). The Central Park and Boardwalk neighborhoods were very nice concepts. With a full capacity sailing, these neighborhoods helped break up the crowds nicely. The Promenade was very nice as well and the Rising Tide Bar was a cool concept. We enjoyed Dazzles for the Plagio Band that was playing all week. A cover band that did a wide variety of songs and sounded great. The bar tender Serge is a super nice guy and the server Echo was a sweetheart. If you want to have some fun, head over to Boleros and sit at the bar and let bartenders Lincoln, Gusti and Monaj entertain you. A trio of fun guys that engage with patrons like no others. We had a great time hanging with them. Be sure to order an "AMF" from Lincoln! Our cabin attendant Ary cleaned our room 2x a day and provided some great towel animals. He was such a nice guy and always took time to inquire what our plans were for the day. Ary made you feel like a friend. We had a few charges on our account that shouldn't have been on there and Vinny in Guest Relations took care of them right away for us. He's in this role for a reason! At the Spa, my Wife had her hair done by Ray and enjoyed his personality. While she was doing that, I got the leg massage treatment (I am not sure what you call these things) but it was amazing! The young man, Sidney that assisted me talked with me the entire 30 minutes and was an absolute rock star!! There is no shortage of entertainment or things to do on Symphony. We've been on Freedom and while we liked it, the Oasis class ship is just a whole other level! Book this ship, enjoy what you can (you can't do it all) and tip your staff. They all work so hard to make the interactions pleasant.…
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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While there are many good things about this ship and the people who work on it, I just cannot recommend such a large ship. First, the good - The staff is wonderful. They are always friendly and cheerful (and I know I wouldn't always be cheerful if I had to work so hard and such long hours!). The boat is beautiful and they keep it looking great everywhere. There are many entertainment options and they are exceptional. I felt that the dining room food and service was top notch and I never felt like I was missing out on the specialty dining. The Jazz club was small and intimate and the musicians there were phenomenal! There are many other positives, but for me the things I didn't care for tipped the balance. There were absolutely no chairs available ever around the pool. People save several early in the morning and rarely come back. It's infuriating. I feel for the staff - if they remove anyone's stuff they get yelled at, if they don't, someone's mad at them for that! I also hate having to stand in line for lunch - I've never had to do that on any other ship. There was a line for just about everything. I also was not impressed with the itinerary. St. Martin was fine, but a very short stop in St. Thomas (7am-2:30, who wants to stress about getting back in time that early!) and then a stop at their private island in the Bahamas. Coco Cay is beautiful, but I think it would be nice if they spent 2 days there so we all could have a little more time by a pool (with a swim up bar and dancing! : )). For me, I just prefer the average size cruise ships with fewer people. If you like large and crowded, then this is for you! : )…
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Let's start with the food in the main dining room is horrible and the treatment is just as bad. The windjammer food was the best, its was always crowed and you can see a lot of table with dirty plates and people waiting for the crew to clean the tables. The entertainment shows were ok.(Hairspray show was awesome). For people who smoke you only have one assigned area in the whole ship, if you go to the casino the only way you are allowed to smoke is if you are betting. After losing $$$ I was smoking before going to my cabin and a lady from the crew called my attention because I couldn't smoke if I wasn't betting. The cabin was great and always clean. I don't know if I travel with Royal Caribbean again in the future but the next cruise will not be with them.…
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Cruise Director Clo sucks. Very surprised.. the only good thing was are room I cruised with royal carribean in the past but never again specially new years eve cruise.. the entertainment was okay the food was garbage you can tell they don't pay any attention to detail when it comes to making the dinners 2 of the nights they gave me a Raw steak and got annoyed when I asked for a new one?!? Flo was very judgemental during game shows and events very she would look at you like you're a idiot and makes you feel very uncomfortable. I really don't understand how she's in charge cruise director is supposed to be the face of entertainment. I have a African American girlfriend and it seems after she knew we were dating she just ignored us in the crowd and seemed like she was grossed out of our relationships. Trust me some people love royal for all the stuff they have rock climbing, Flo rider, ect but if you want great service and better entertainment then you have to go to to Carnival or Norwegian.…
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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