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With my artistic juices flowing (the wine in the Solarium Bistro at dinner was really good) I was inspired to take more night photos around the ship. The Perfect Storm slides were still open. Inspired by the color changes within the art in the Solarium that I saw during dinner in the Solarium Bistro I knew I had to try to capture it. It really is pretty spectacular and something anyone who sails Symphony needs to experience.

Day -2 - Pre-cruise As I looked out this morning, the weather in beautiful St. Louis, MO confirmed that it is indeed time for a cruise. Nothing like a dreary day with the first flurry of snow for the year covering the roof tops to remind you that it's been 364 days of dry dock, time to start the live-blog, and offer a miserable picture to test out how to insert them into the blog and have them sized correctly. Sailings We will being a pseudo-side to side on Oasis and Enchantment out of Port Canaveral. Oasis will be a 7-night Western Caribbean starting November 11 through November 18. One night spent in Port Canaveral, then a 4-night Bahamas sailing on Enchantment from November 19 through November 23. Itinerary Day 1 - Port Canaveral, FL Day 2 - Sea Day Day 3 - Labadee Day 4 - Falmouth Day 5 - Sea Day Day 6 - Cozumel Day 7 - Sea Day Day 8 & 9 - Port Canaveral Day 10 - CocoCay Day 11 - Nassau Day 12 - Sea Day Day 13 - Port Canaveral We have a beach bungalow booked for Labadee. Falmouth we will probably stay in the cruise terminal. Cozumel we will be going to Nachi Cocom, then heading downtown to Coz Coffee and Chocolateria Isla Bella. CocoCay we have a Cabana booked, and then probably the cruise terminal again in Nassau. Who is Sailing: It will be my wife, Abby, our 4 year old daughter, and I on this sailing. I cruised once when I was a kid on the Big Red Boat. My next cruise was last year with Abby on Majesty of the Seas, and went to Grand Bahama and CocoCay (which we missed due to weather.) I get cruise incentives from my land-based casino, so we booked that cruise after final payment date on a whim. It was right before we left on the sailing that I found RCBlog, and now I am fully indoctrinated. This will be our daughter's first cruise, and she's been counting down the number of "sleeps" left since we were at 20. She can't wait to meet new friends in Adventure Ocean, and has been trying to convince us that all of her friends from school can come with us. So while this is our second RC cruise, it will be our first 7-nighter, first Oasis Class, and first just about everything else including first time in each of these ports. Other logistics Packing has been ongoing for about a week. Hoping to get it all finalized tonight. We fly out tomorrow from STL to MCO via Southwest. Tomorrow night will be in the Country Inn & Suites near the port. We will have a rental car from MCO to the hotel, returning it at the port. For the night in between cruises, we had the same hotel booked, choosing it originally due to the on-site laundry facilities. After @Matt posted the blog about the Holiday Inn Beach Club, we changed our stay there, due to in-room laundry, as well as everything else on property. Possibly even taking the rental car to Publix to cook dinner for ourselves. After we debark Enchantment, we are taking a shuttle from PC to MCO for our flight back. Cabins On Oasis we have a JS on deck 6 booked. The location should be great for it's location, and we envision Johnny Rockets for breakfast most mornings. On Enchantment, I've done the best I can do to ensure that my daughter will become a full on suite snob by booking a GS. The pricing was great for the upgrade, plus we got a great deal on the Oasis sailing by booking during a WOW sale last year with KSF and free gratuities. (Although I feel like I'm probably heading to #suitesnob status as well. Looking at booking Oasis again in Feb of 2020, and my eye is on a Crown Loft Suite...) Other thoughts -We will be #TeamNoDX. I had weight loss surgery in February and can't really drink much (down 200 lbs in about a year). My last drink was 2 weeks before surgery, but I imagine I may have to have at least a sip or two while on the ship or at Nachi. -We have the 3 night dining package booked on Oasis. We plan on being #TeamCK (more influence from our favorite Stubborn Canadian (wouldn't let me tag @lovetocruise2002 for some reason). If we can't do CK, we may opt for Solarium Bistro. On Enchantment we don't have any specialty dining booked. We'll either see if there are deals available, or take advantage of the MDR service in our room, especially on Thanksgiving Day. -Pictures will be with my iPhone 8 and the moment lenses. I'm opting not to bring my DSLR this trip, just so I can enjoy the journey, and work on shot selection vs. shot quality. Once I get a better idea of what shots to take on a cruise, and how to frame them, I move to bringing my DSLR. -We are excited for our daughter's first cruise. This will be her second time flying, but the first was with Grandma and Grandpa, so we're looking forward to that also. We are doing the Dreamworks Breakfast on Oasis, and the girls will be doing the Cupcake class on Enchantment. Finally, I'm hoping to do the live blog justice. Lots of great influences on the site, and I hope I hold a candle to some of them. We do have VOOM, so I'll try to be as interactive as possible. If there are questions, I'll try to get them answered. Now it's off to iron my best shorts and t-shirt for formal night and finish packing. -Lance

Day 11 - Dinner Dinner tonight would be in the Solarium Bistro. It's a pretty great location for dinner and with the Solarium changes on Symphony it is a pretty awesome venue for dinner. For those that want a short summary - come eat here. Must. do. The Solarium at dinner is by reservation but at no charge unless you want to enhance your dining experience with a special entree. The 'menu' is offered outside on flat panel displays for your consideration. Solarium Bistro is not a full sit down specialty dining venue. You will be escorted to your table but you will not be presented a full menu to order from. With the Solarium right outside the floor to ceiling windows of the Bistro make it a pretty great dining location. Instead of a dinner menu I was offered a wine list to start and informed that the Bistro is more of buffet of sorts. A foodie buffet. My waiter did mention some specials one of which caught my ear. A filet for $12. Like a land restaurant the nightly specials don't appear on the menu. I decided I better try the filet. For $12 it's all in the name of research. Having ordered the filet special I was invited to eat from the buffet as if I had not ordered an extra cost item. The Bistro is a collection of small items that you are free to pick as many of one, or a selection of many, as you see fit. There is also a pasta station where you can pick your ingredients and have them make a unique pasta entree. A salad station offers different types of salads to pick from. My 'appetizer' tonight. Mixed Salad, Chicken Kabob and Kofta. By this point the sun had set and the beautiful art of the Solarium was illuminated with ever changing colors. Quite mesmerizing to watch. Perhaps it was the wine, but it is a very unique and nice dining venue that really struck a chord with me. Very quickly my filet arrived. Cooked just as I requested and very good. Yum. Time for dessert. O. M. G. I would have taken pictures of dessert but I found myself diving into the wonderful flavors. The Baklava really was good. So were the two other dessert items I managed to eat. Three desserts? I don't normally do that but they were so good. I wish I had found the Solarium Bistro earlier in the cruise. While I'm not a foodie by nature the Kofta and Chicken Kabobs were really good as an appetizer. I would gladly pay the $12 for the filet again. Dessert - just wow. Between the ambiance of the venue itself and the food offered it was a highlight meal of the cruise for me.

No Pressure. Lol. Thank you. I feel like a new person. This is from our family pictures, separated by one year. Should have about another 50 lbs to go... Also, you know it's time for vacation when you get a text from school saying "Your daughter has been tormenting one of the boys at school today, and decided to pull her pants down and shake her butt and him." SMH.....

On Harmony last week and Captain Gus told us the difference between a ship and a boat... “A ship has a captain. A boat has a frustrated husband”.

@twangster Here Are Some Photo I Took Of Your Boat Docking In Port Canaveral. Hope You Enjoy

Day 11 - Last Sea Day Sometime around 4:30pm I was in Central Park having a glass of wine when the sky caught my eye. Have I mentioned I love Central park? I saw the early signs of a sunset so I headed up to the Solarium. The Solarium Bar is back open! When sailing into the sunset the Solarium is a pretty great location to take it in. I was joined by several sunset enthusiasts tonight. It was really kind of special. Our last sunset in the Atlantic before making Port Canaveral tomorrow for Symphony of the Seas first ever U.S. port of call.

Day 4 – Horseshoe Bay Today was our laid-back day. No rush to get off the ship, only real plan is visiting Horseshoe Bay and trying to do some shopping at the craft market and other shops in the dockyard. We slept in a bit, and went down to Cafe Two70 for breakfast again. Barely made it before they closed at 9:30. They actually closed all the doors in and out while we and the other stragglers who squeaked in at the last moment got our food and coffees, opening the exit door only long enough to let someone into Two70 when they had their breakfast ready. We were still stuffed from the night before, and just had a light meal before heading out. I got an extra espresso shot in my morning cappuccino; I needed the extra caffeine. That done, we headed over to the North Star to get in another ride and see the island from 300 feet up. There were only a couple of other people there, as expected, and we had no problem boarding from the standby line. The view was pretty impressive, and it drove home just how tiny the island is as we were able to see all the way to the far end. After our ride, we left the ship and walked down the pier to where the private shuttles were lined up, ready to take passengers to Horseshoe Bay. At $7 per person, it's only a little more than taking the bus, and they have the advantage of running much more frequently and taking you all the way to the beach entrance. We arrived around 11:00, and the main beach was fairly packed but not a madhouse. The chairs, loungers, and umbrellas available for rent could only be set up to about half way down the length of the beach, leaving a nice big stretch wide open. As we walked to the rental booth, we passed a small grotto with a very calm and shallow tide pool. We rented just a single lounger, mostly so we'd have a place to put our towels and backpack and not lose them. We had it put as far down as we could go, which wasn't super-crowded yet. Then it was time to get our feet wet. We hadn't brought our bathing suits with us, mainly because we didn't think we'd be staying that long. Well, after about five minutes of standing at the water's edge and letting the surf wash over our feet, Cathy decided that she didn't care that her bathing suit was back in our cabin. She had on enough clothes that even soaking wet, it wouldn't be at all indecent, and she just dove on into the ocean! I couldn't really do the same, with my phone and camera lenses and a bunch of other stuff on me that I didn't want to leave lying on the lounger unattended, so I decided to wander down to the far end of the beach, where it looked like there was another grotto and maybe some good picture opportunities. Off in the distance, I saw someone standing on top of a boulder in the middle of the bay. I headed back to our lounger, not wanting to leave Cathy behind for too long, and while taking a couple more shots I managed to catch the person diving off the rock and into the water. Cathy had gotten out of the water, and after drying off a bit more in the sun the two of us walked back to where I'd been so she could see that grotto. She got some good pictures of the surrounding cliffs, wading out into the water with my phone and getting some nice changes in view from what I could get while staying on land. On the way back, I played around with climbing one of the rocks. Wade wasn't amused. Cathy wanted to go back in the water for a bit, so just let the water wash over my feet again and got some video. It was just about 1 when Cathy came back out, and we decided we should head back if we wanted any chance at shopping before our all-aboard time. On the way out, we stopped at the first grotto, and Cathy once again took my phone with her into the water to get another shot from up close. We hopped back on the shuttle, and after a bit of a wait for it to fill up we were on our way back to the dockyard.

Day 3 – Wonderland and evening on the ship Since we still had about an hour and a half before our reservation, Cathy went up to the thermal spa for a bit. I didn't think my really sore feet would do well resting on the hard lounger, or sitting in the sauna, so I stayed in the room and rested while Advil did its magic. Now, before I get into the actual meal and experience of Wonderland, I want to go back a bit in time. You may remember me posting here a couple of weeks before my sail date with a question on whether I should just book the reservation online, or wait to see if a sale was offered on our day in port. I decided to book it online, and that ended up being a very good thing. I was of a really strong belief that with it being an overnight day in port, and people probably wanting to eat at venues off the ship, that all the specialty restaurants would be looking to fill tables and offering specials. NOPE! I had paid a visit to the reservations desk the morning of our sea day to check on whether they were in fact doing any specials or promotions for this day, and the woman there informed me that not only were they and all the other specialty restaurants not offering any kind of discount, they were in fact just about fully booked for the whole trip! So had I not booked in advance, I might not have even been able to get us a table there at the time we wanted! So we arrive at our scheduled time and were seated immediately. Our server for the night, Ilver, came over and explained the way the restaurant worked, and I had a feeling this might not have been the best specialty restaurant to book for the two of us. Cathy isn't a fan of seafood at all. I knew the menu had a strong seafood focus, but I just figured that she could simply skip those parts and order a meat entree and just a couple of the appetizer options that would be more to her liking. For Cathy's part, she was looking more for the experience of it all and also the chance to try The World, and if the rest of her dinner was a little light that would have been OK. Well, our waiter explained that the appetizer part of the menu was fixed for everyone, and he really couldn't leave anything out or make alterations. In addition, they normally served two fish entrees with one meat option. I was thinking I would have to apologize to him and say we had to leave, because no way was I going to have Cathy sit there not able to eat for over half the meal. But then Ilver started to turn it around for us. He didn't want Cathy to be sitting there and not able to eat while the appetizers were served, and he also didn't want us walking away disappointed. He asked if he could get Cathy a Caesar salad and a bowl of mushroom soup from Chops, right next door, to have during the appetizers; he hoped she would try at least a couple of the non-seafood items, like the tomato water or the Baby Vegetables in the Garden, but wanted her to have something she would enjoy. That was totally acceptable to her, so appetizers were squared away. And instead of the usual two fish and one meat, he would reverse it for us and do two meats with just one fish. She ordered the slow roasted chicken entree for herself, while I ordered the branzino in crispy bread; for the second meat, we decided to try the Terroir Beef to share. Our appetizers came out, and I had every one of them (including Cathy's). I thought they were all great. First, the Baby Vegetables in the Garden, with the smoked deviled eggs behind it. The "dirt" in the baby vegetables dish, which is hidden by the dressing that was poured over it, is actually finely grated pumpernickel bread. I had been wondering what they used for that, and thought it was actually very clever. The dish itself was very good, and I was surprised that Cathy didn't want to try it since it had no seafood. But she had her Ceasar salad and was fine with that. Next up, the Liquid Lobster. Just a single bite of lobster tail in broth on a giant spoon. The lobster was very tender and not at all overcooked, and had good flavor. Next we have the tomato water (in the test tubes), the crispy crab cones, and shrimp kataifi. Cathy tried the tomato water and didn't care for it. For me, it was exactly what it said on the tin but hardly anything special; it didn't even really strike me as the palate cleanser our waiter said it was meant to be. The crab cones and shrimp kataifi were both excellent. While I was going through these last appetizers, Ilver brought out the mushroom soup. Cathy had a couple of spoonfuls and commented that while she's not a big fan of mushrooms, that was a really good soup! She didn't finish it, but did enjoy what she had and reassured Ilver that she was just saving room for her entree and the dessert she knew was coming. @WAAAYTOOO, you have another believer in this soup from Chops! So now it was time for our entrees. My branzino was very good, and I liked the presentation that basically hid the fish underneath the bread part, sized just right to cover the filet and the rice that it lay on. It was only my second time having branzino, the first being at Chef's Table, and I actually liked this preparation more! Cathy's roasted chicken was also really good, and she liked the vegetables and mashed potatoes that it was served with. And then, there was the Terroir Beef... My picture was taken after Ilver had already prepared it for us to eat, so you can't see how it just slid right off that bone with no effort, and looked so incredibly tender. I slid my fork in, took a bite... The texture and taste was like my mom's beef stew. Exactly like it. And I HATED my mom's beef stew! This dish was bringing back every awful memory of being a kid and forced to choke it down in front of her because there was no plan B. I apologized profusely to liver and let him know that it wasn't any failing on his part, this was just a dish that brought back memories in the way that food does, with not one of those memories being good. Cathy also didn't care for it, so basically the entire dish was left on the serving plate. I was kind of ready to just call it a meal, get dessert and chalk this one up to bad judgement on my part, but Ilver wasn't done trying to make this a meal we'd remember in a good way. So how do you fix a bad meat experience? By getting a dish from the place that does nothing but good meat -- Chops! And not just any dish, either; Ilver got each of us a filet mignon, cooked to our preference. Quite honestly, I would have been OK without this after eating appetizers for two people along with my fish entree, but Ilver insisted that we get the full value of the meal we'd paid for. So a few minutes later, we had two filets laid out before us. Sorry, no picture of this. Cathy was in heaven, and said it was just as good as the filet we'd had in CK on our first night. She fully agreed with @ellcee's statement that it was the best filet she'd had. I didn't think it was quite that good, as my piece tasted like it had a little too much salt thrown on, but it was definitely good. I was starting to feel really stuffed at that point, and knowing we still had dessert coming I chose to leave about a third of it on the plate. And now it was time for the desserts. Again, no picture; food coma was setting in and it seems I forgot to take one. But we had three desserts served to us: Forbidden Apple, which is mostly a raspberry mousse and doesn't actually have apple in it; a mini-popsicle of key lime ice cream; and The World. This was what Cathy had been waiting all night for, especially after I had raved about it when I got to have it at Chef's Table back on Freedom. It was just as good this time around as it was then, and Cathy was right back in heaven. While we were enjoying all this decadence, Ilver asked if we wanted any coffee or anything to go with it. I asked for a lactose-free cappuccino, thinking that if they had that milk in the Windjammer as well as the coffee places, it must be available ship-wide. Well, Ilver let me know he'd run down to La Patisserie to get it for me; before I could tell him not to bother, and I didn't want to make even more of a bother of myself, he was gone. Ten minutes later he came back with my beverage in hand. I was really impressed by his drive to give us a good experience and good meal, and simultaneously felt like a heel for causing him to run down to deck 4 to get that for me. The meal finished up, and I left Ilver a sizable tip for the way he went above and beyond. I also asked him for the exact spelling of his name so that I could be sure to note him in my post-cruise survey. God knows he earned that! It was just about time for the late showing of this evening's headliner act, The Las Vegas Tenors. I seemed to recall hearing of them before, maybe here, and wanted to catch this show. Cathy came along, but after the first couple of songs decided to call it a night as she was pretty wiped out from our day on shore. I stayed through the show, and for the second time I was disappointed in Royal's choice of entertainment. While the trio are all good singers, their music selections were almost all from artists before my time and I just felt like this was an act geared for an older crowd than my age bracket. I did like their Spanish rendition of Nights in White Satin, and they had a couple of other numbers from newer artists that I enjoyed, but they were too few and too far between for me to really enjoy the show as much as I'd wanted to. I decided after the show to swing by Vintages, as I'd barely made use of my drink package outside of two cappuccinos. The night's disappointments continued, as I found a wine menu with less than a third of what was offered at the Vintages on Freedom. I got a glass of La Volte, a wine I'd enjoyed on Freedom, and after a short while I took my glass with me and wandered over to Brass and Bock Pub, where there was a better crowd to people watch along with the musician performing there. I settled in at a table with my wine, and slowly finished it off while I wrote up this day's notes. After that I called it a night, a little after midnight. The couple of issues we've had on the ship notwithstanding, and believe me that they were unquestionably small potatoes, Cathy and I already agree that we absolutely have to come back here, even if we have to do it in an inside cabin.

Thanks everyone! @lovetocruise2002 I unfortunately can only reprice about every 2 weeks or with a notice email (my day to day requirements make checking daily impossible, but hopefully I catch most of the biggest drops), but all yourr experience is surely informative! I wondered if re-pricing was possible after a change in status, so appreciate the suggestion about that too @melski94 ! All good information ??? Lynn UPDATE Well I booked it! We are on the Adventure of the Seas in November next year in one of the two Oceanview Pandoramic Suites. Major Beeze loves those big balcony’s, but decided he could skip having one this once for that amazing view. Worth a try for sure! And I will be checking the price @Lovetocruise2002 ?? Whoopsies - @Matt it would be wrong of me if I failed to also thank royalcaribbeanblog.com blogging for first alerting me to the fact that these two suites had been moved to Sky class as of Sept. (suites have been moving the opposite direction after all) - that played a huge role in our decision! ???????? <— my party for all of you

Luckily for those of us booking through the Australian website, gratuities are included in the cruise price so we don’t see them. Drinks have an 18% automatically added “for our convenience” when purchasing drinks. i prefer this to having to the previous way of having to pay them separately.

@Neaxan, realized I thanked @twangster but forgot to also thank you for your own live blog! This was really interesting seeing the same sailing narrated from two different perspectives at the same time, and definitely loved your photos documenting your own experience!

Day 9 Another early start for us – after yesterday‘s change of breakfast plans, we returned to Solarium Bistro – only way earlier. At 7.15 am, we stood in the ever-growing line – fortunately we were early enough to get seated. Solarium Bistro is a nice venue for breakfast, as you can get made to order omelet and also pre-cooked omelet options as well as fruit pancakes. Unfortunately, it’s just too much hassle on this cruise – too many people know about it. After breakfast, we headed to Central Park for a bit of blogging. After more than a week I finally got one of the Hide & Seek items – this cute teddybear from Joe. At least I was wearing the perfect shirt for the occasion. Sadly, we didn’t have much time to chat as we were on our way to Dazzles for the Guest Talent Show rehearsal. This was our final meeting because we would miss the other ones due to Escape the Rubicon and the All Access Tour. Escape the Rubicon is an escape room game where your mission is to use the old submarine SPS Rubicon to fire a torpedo at an active volcano and thereby saving the world from its fatal outburst. It's in a dedicated room in front of Adventure Ocean. Our group comprised of 12 people, with us, two indivduals and a group of 8. We were the only non-US citizens so again no language barriers. A staff member introduces you to the story and is present in the room for the whole time. She also instructed us to not touch anything with a red hand on it. Guess what, somebody didn’t heed to the instructions and reset the game when we were on it for about 5 minutes. Fortunately, we could still go on. With a group as big as this, the game is quite chaotic because it’s impossible to know who is doing what. We still managed to save the world with 8 minutes to spare (3 if you count in the 5 minutes in the beginning). Escape the Rubicon is great fun, but you’ll have to decide for yourself if it’s worth the 19.99 $ fee. Taking into account that escape rooms are more expensive at home, it was worth the money to us. Instead of taking a lunch break, we raced down the stairs to On Air for the Royal Heist – another puzzle break experience (without a fee attached). We already did Royal Mystery the week before and had great fun doing it. We joined the same European team as last time. PIty this game is not as well designed as Royal Mystery – you have 45 minutes and we were done with all riddles except the final one after half the time. We then stared at the final riddle for 22 minutes without coming up with a solution – or even a way to the solution. As there were no hints, no team solved the final riddle ? Time for lunch – we headed to Park Cafe to grab a bite. The afternoon was spent at Playmakers, then a quick wardrobe change and off to Wonderland we went. You know the drill – speciality dinner will get its own post. Next stop: ISkate 2.0 in Studio B. As we had to hurry there from Wonderland, we didn’t get the best seats – can’t always get what you want. ISkate is a show where the cast choses the music as well as the choreography – so don’t expect a storyline – just let yourself be wowed by the performance. Funny enough, one of the songs they chose was This is Me from The Greatest Showman – exactly the song, we’d been rehearsing all cruise for the choir. Yes, we sang along ?

Today I Was Looking At https://www.cruisemapper.com And Found That Mariner OTS Stopped In Labbde This Week. Is This A Glitch Or Did It Happen

@Lovetocruise2002 I'm way behind on my reading, so someone may have already posted this, but here is the new paper/printed set sail pass for Star Class on Allure, my January 2019 cruise. As an FYI, when I first printed the set sail pass it didn't look like this and didn't say Star Class on it, the new APP has my set sail pass on my iPhone did look like this, so before I saw this I assumed I would just use my phone for faster check in but was concerned after reading @twangster post about not having cell reception when he needed it, I decided to print again. I will also be going out of the new terminal in Miami, so I will hopefully have updates on the terminal and Star Class check in.

I plan to continue the timeline and post more to this thread but the last few days have been quite hectic. More to come... soon.

Yeah, she has quite the personality. Forever she was the only girl in her class, so she can be quite the tomboy. And I couldn’t help but laugh when I got that text. I thought it was too funny not to share. She’s as ready as mom and dad are for the cruise.

That is because someone provided the appropriate email addresses the Genie... Some reason the initial email didn't include the other two email addresses but were mentioned in the email.

Your blog was wonderful. I can't believe it's over ! Safe trip home.

So excited for y'all. This is going to be a great blog. I can tell already ! Safe travels

I'm part of @CGTLH's party...and an actual email from the Genie came on October 20. Our sailing is November 17, so just about a month out. I believe the survey came before that. Funny thing is two of the members of our party got the October 20 email and two got the email on October 21. We are all on the same booking number and in the same room.

Following! Have a great trip, and safe travel to MCO!

Or email the Allure concierge and ask them to get in touch with whoever your Genie might be.....

I haven't done my online check in yet for Indy for December but that is an awesome sight to see! "Star" Love it! And I think the survey comes out around 7-8 weeks prior, and the email about 3-4 weeks prior.

Enjoyed your blog & photos. Thanks!!!

In the cruise planner right now, for my April cruise on Adventure, it is showing $79 Per Person (Adult and Child)

When it's a single Set Sail pass that has the names of everyone in the party, then indeed you need everyone there at the same time before you can board. However, since you have individual SetSail passes for this upcoming sailing, each person can board whenever they arrive and there's no requirement for all people in a cabin to be there together. Just make sure each person has the necessary documentation along with their pass. I kind of remember asking about this when I sailed Freedom earlier this year, but in reverse, because so many people had mentioned having individual passes when they boarded and my sailing had a single pass for everyone.

Loving the pictures, Joe! It's funny - on our sailing, Wonderland was ALWAYS available. I saw the poor guy in his purple coat walking around every night trying to drum up business. After reading your experience, it makes me wish that we were brave enough to try it instead of going to Chops twice. It really sounds like Ilver went above and beyond to make it worth the upcharge. Thanks for your review... it'll give me courage for next time ?

Sovereign (Majesty) is taller, Vision is longer

That Solarium is a Symphony of Light in itself !

Awesome blog. Thank you. Love your sense of humor.

I do not know with RCCL, but when I sailed on the Disney Magic, the three of us in the room came from different places. Each of us checked in at different times. I checked in last, maybe even the very last to board on that sailing. My roommates were already having fun on board while I was still driving to the port.

I just wish she wasn't double the price. Taking my girls on their first OA class in 4 months. Then we have Oasis after that. Would love to take them on Symphony but not at the prices right now.

Royal hit a home run with Symphony. I am still looking forward to my other Oasis class ships as well as a couple on some ships that aren't the largest cruise ship in the world, but Symphony is special. Is it too much to ask for a pop up storm that closes all U.S. ports and forces us back to Europe? (yes, she has enough fuel to cross back across the Atlantic)

I know what you mean Loveto, Great photos, great ship and great write up. I've been looking at the 2020 itineraries for the Symphony and may just cancel our 2 week B2B on the Adventure. Hopefully the 2021 itineraries will be out in a couple of months. Symphony is now at the top of my cruise bucket list!

A boat is something you get into when the ship is going down. The Symphony is a SHIP.

Yup. @Matt blogged about in this article posted yesterday.

Exactly! Just to give you an example, I booked a Star class suite in January 2018 for sailing March 2019. I have, in that time, re-priced it 3 times already for a total savings of $2,333. The first re-price was due to a random price drop. No new sale. Second was KSF. The last, which was yesterday, was another random price drop. That last one was over $800 off. It pays to be diligent in checking your prices. I check them myself. I email my TA when I notice a drop. This is just one example. Over the years, I have saved lots this year. And for the record, I have not once used my CA discount. Like @F1guynz mentioned, it is often not worth it.

You are already Gold from your first cruise so the difference is only $25 less than if you were Platinum. You'll get double points for booking a suite no matter what level you are.

Crown and Anchor points are awarded by days at sea. One point per day per person for Interior, OV, and balcony. Two points per day per person for suite bookings. You are speaking in terms of number of sailings. If these sailings you refer to are 14 or 21 days, you would move up rather quickly. I think this is still current info. Looks like the largest jump is between Platinum and Emerald.

Thanks for the great blog!

Day 11 - Sea Day Breakfast in the MDR this morning. Given the large numbers on this sailing, deck 4 has been set aside for Diamond and Diamond Plus. Breakfast menu for the MDR Solarium Bar update It looks complete at this point. Caulking in between glass panels was added last night. Did someone ask for some pool pictures?

I really think one of the remaining vessels will get an ifly. maybe not, they might just keep them to quantum class but it would certainly set it apart from the others if they do. instead of the sky pad have an ifly? hmmmmmm

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No ifly?

I hear that every ship going into dry dock is going to have the Flow Rider removed! ?

Symphony was a miss. It happens when preparing thousands of meals, not every one can be perfect.

Day 3 - Hairspray Let me start by saying I'm not into musicals. In the past if I were asked to go to a musical I would rank it right there with "Go to the hair salon with me" or "Help me pick out a dress". When Hairspray was first announced for Symphony of the Seas I paid it little attention because I had somewhat already decided to pass. Since that time I have be able to go on a number of back stage entertainment tours on various Royal ships. On those I learned a lot of technical details and the level of effort that Royal Caribbean puts into its shows. When Symphony first started sailing earlier this, Hairspray was getting pretty great reviews. Consequently I settled on taking in this show, after all, we have 12 nights on this sailing so why not? I'll let the pictures tell the story. The music was good, the vocals were strong and the cast did a great job. I never found it dragging or felt the need to come up with an excuse to leave. It was a great performance and I highly recommend it, even for the non-musical types. If you've sailed Harmony and you couldn't find an excuse to book Symphony this just may be it.

Day 2 - Sea Day Moving South and West as we somewhat hug the coast of Spain. Windy today, top decks closed. The ship is handling great, minimal movement. After staying up into the wee hours of the morning on my photo shoot last night I slept in today. Up in time to make the Windjammer for breakfast. It's a been a while since I've sailed Oasis class and I've got to remember there are other options for breakfast. Lazy day, just the way I like them. I didn't take a lot pictures as I am still exploring the ship. Plenty of sea days to come for me to take pictures when hopefully it won't be as windy. Random thoughts and observations As offered before we boarded due to the large numbers on board, the Diamond/Diamond Plus area incorporates the "Entertainment Plaza". The Diamond Lounge, Jazz on 4 and The Attic. They have been pretty busy during happy hour times. The Attic is the only venue with a walk up bar where the other two have wait staff walking around taking drink orders. Staff at each door check cards. The latest version of the Royal app incorporates a personal calendar. It now displays entertainment reservations but not My Time Dining or spa reservations. Being so close to the Abyss slide is interesting. When someone slides down it makes a sound. Four dongs followed by a whoop sound. Often people scream. While the patio door does a good job blocking most sounds, those make it through. I might make it a ring tone, it's burned into my psyche. No water bottles were in my cabin from C&A. Some sparking wine and a beer based on my preferences. Today a bottle of Chandon was dropped off in ice with two flutes. Nice. When I boarded one of the letters in my cabin addressed my transfer to Serenade after this cruise. It will be provided by Royal. I was planning to use Lyft or Uber so Royal offering to provide the transfer is very much appreciated. Loyalty does pay. The thermostat in my cabin was on high when I arrived. I had to turn it down from 'bake' last night so I could sleep. My account in the Royal app fixed itself overnight. I can now see my folio and charges to my account in the app. I dropped by the loyalty desk. Based on points I qualify for a glass block on this cruise. My Adventure points just posted Friday. He didn't have me down for a block and thanked me for stopping by. He'll add me to the list. Over 280 glass blocks being handed out this cruise. They'll go out for delivery to our cabins day 5 or 6. I skipped lunch today. I'm still burning off the calories I picked up on Adventure not long ago. If my belly gets any bigger I might need to start picking out names. Well past a baby bump, I've entered the third trimester. At this rate I'll qualify for and become a rock start in the belly flop contest by the next cruise. Where's that gym?