Neaxan

Deluxe package is now 35,26 € (+ 18 % service charge) - down from around 49 € + 18 % - for our Symphony TA 2018. Immediately booked of course =) Coincidentally Spa offerings have just appeared - might be connected to Black Friday? As the offerings only appeared today I have no way to compare prices to be sure. As we weren't planning on booking Spa services I guess it doesn't really matter.

I'd always choose option B, especially because our bank doesn't charge a currency conversion fee and no matter where we used the card to pay or to withdraw money from an ATM, the conversion rate was always much better than with 3rd party services.

Thank you so much for this blog! I thoroughly enjoyed it and am now even more keen on Halloween on Symphony next year. Your blog has also finally convinced me to get the internet package - I'll be live blogging Symphonys TA so we can see how many decorations made it over the Atlantic

Though I'm still waiting for my first Royal cruise (354 days boohoo!) we frequently booked two excursions a day on our other cruises. We enjoy two completely different impressions of the port stop and not loosing time with a lengthy lunch as on most full day tours. Hope Royals IT is better than its reputation, with TUI Cruises you could only combine two different excursions if the timing works out. We still had to visit the shore excursion desk on day 1 to make sure that no start times were changed and everything could go ahead as planned. If you don't mind missing lunch you could give it a try. Up to now it has always worked out for us, the only problem we ever had was Visby (Gotland, Sweden) which was a tender port at that time. We arrived late at the pier from our first excursion so there was no time to tender back to the ship to meet our second group - someone from the shore excursions team just called it in and we were able to meet our group at the bus. Funny thing: we had to wait for our group for about 90 minutes because the tender process was total chaos so though late we still were the most punctual by far

I guess that might be possible for 5+3 as they each only require that the first reservation is either day 1 or day 2, but 8x specialty dining on the packages plus Izumi Hibachi is a bit much. Unfortunately the 2 night package offered is only for day 1 and day 2.

That's what I feared. So be it, 5 night package and I'll book the cheapest restaurant solo once more information about Hooked is out. Thanks for the information. Exactly, for a week-long cruise it would really be too much for us but for 12 nights it's perfect. Maybe see you on the cruise

Now that dining is available on the cruise planner for our Symphony TA I'm struggling to decide which packages to buy. We would like to try each restaurant at least once but we're definetly also planning on dining in the MDR a few times. The Ultimate Dining Package doesn't make sense for us - it's highly unlikely that we'll eat anything besides a sandwich or salad for lunch. We're going to buy the 5 night dining package - so that would be Jamie's, Chops, 150 CP, Izumi and Wonderland once each but I guess Hooked will also be specialty dining (not available on the cruise planner right now). Is it possible to combine the 5 night package with the BOGO 2 night package? It isn't listed as restricted but I'm not sure if they'll allow to use the first reservation for the 5 night package to be on day 3 as you'd have to use BOGO on first and second night. Has anyone ever tried that combination? Another idea would be FNDR but it isn't available in the cruise planner - how do you book that? Worst case we'll just pay full price for Hooked but I'd prefer doing 5 night and BOGO. I'm thinking it might be nice to do Wonderland twice to be able to try most of the items offered - between the two of us I see no way to try everything in one sitting. And I know I'm way overplanning this but can you find out what will be served in the MDR for the whole cruise so you can plan your specialty dining around it? Sorry for the bunch of questions, hope one of you Royal pros can shed some light on this dining package mystery

Following. Hope you'll share how the halloween celebrations are on the ship, do many people wear costumes? Symphony's TA will include Halloween and I have no idea what to expect. Enjoy your cruise!

Regularly checking the cruise planner really is mandatory - Royal is consistently inconsistent - I can already book dining for the Symphony Transatlantic which is still 368 days away! Dining became available anytime between October 12 and yesterday - didn't check in between as I was cruising the mediterranean. Might be a new record for booking dining so far in advance?

As I've just bought it in the cruise planner for our Transatlantic crossing I can tell you that Symphony DOES offer Hibachi

That's what I thought too, unfortunately this has changed. You can still visit parts of the parc free of charge, but for the so-called Monumental Zone (main entrance, terrace, all the parts containing mosaics) you need a ticket (access regulations started in 2013). I had no idea this was the case and when we got to the main entrance at around 2 pm (we started on entrance C and walked around the free part of the parc first) we weren't willing to wait for a 6 pm admission - the only time slot still available that day. From what I gathered afterwards they only admit 400 people at a time to Monumental Zone and they're really strict with admission times - if you're more than 30 minutes late you cannot enter the Zone any more. Another word of wisdom: if you do hop on/hop off be aware that the walk from the stop to Parc Guell is quite far and steeply uphill. Alternatives are taking a taxi or bus or taking the metro (green line L3, station Vallcarca). We did the latter and while you still have some uphill walking to get to entrance C, the most part is by excalator through Baixada de la Glória. The escalators are quite a sight being outdoors and offering nice views.

Suggestions for Geema: Dublin: Works well with hop on/hop off. Guinness experience was quite enjoyable. Trip into Wicklow Mountains might be an option if you don't fancy the city. Cobh: Titanic Experience was quite interesting. Kinsale might be another option. I didn't enjoy Cork much. Waterford: Waterford itself is a nice town to explore. If you're into handcrafts you could visit Waterford Crystal. Kilkenny is a nice town and Kilkenny castle is another option. Depending on your time in port it might also be possible to do a trip into the Wicklow Mountains. Suggestions for StevenM: Marseille: Personally, I don't like the town very much. I'd recommend an excursion to Avignon if you're in port for some time. It should take 1,5 to 2 hours by bus per trip but it's really worth it - and you get to see a bit of Provence on the way. Avignon itself is a gorgeous old town in part bordered by the river Rhone with an ancient town wall, numerous beautiful churches, the popes palace... If you're pressed for time, Aix-en-Provence is also quite nice with an old town, cathedral and especially Cours Mirabeau. Palma de Mallorca: Works quite well with hop on/hop off. I've also heard good things about the train ride to Soller. LaSpezia: Cinque Terre is a must-see. Pisa is overrated in my opinion, I do like Florence and especially Lucca but it's quite far from LaSpezia. Barcelona: Hop on/hop off is nice to get a good look around town. If you're interested in Gaudi's works be sure to book every ticket in advance with designated time slots - otherwise you won't be able to visit much. This is especially relevant for Parc Güell and Casa Batllo - not sure for Sagrada Familia though. Never been to Naples. We were in Civitavecchia last week on AIDAperla but didn't bother with the 2 hour (by coach) or 1 hour (by train) trip to Rome - from Germany it's no hassle to fly to Rome for a few days so we'll try this in the future.

I`m currently on a 7 night mediterranean cruise on AIDA perla and guess who`s in port with us in Palma de Mallorca? TUI Discovery, formerly known as Splendor of the Seas. Apart from the colours there seems to be not much change on the outside - I recognised her by shape. Here`s a picture for those of you who might miss her.

We've already booked the TA on Symphony so hopefully we'll be able to check out everything the ship offers. Some of the announcements are really exciting.

I'd love to have a seafood restaurant on Symphony - hubby is already praying that the brochure got it wrong. Hope Izumi will have hibachi, I'm counting on it to give it a go on our TA as in Germany it's quite uncommon. I'm also wondering about El Loco Fresh, maybe it's just a new name for Sabor? Would seem strange to have 2 mexican restaurants - well I won't complain as long as they have guacamole. I've never ever tried guac but after reading all your praise for it I feel compelled to try

We typically book the cheapest cabin available - a bed and a bathroom is about all we need as we're only in the cabin to get some sleep. If we ever do a cruise to Norway I might book a balcony but apart from that no way. We prefer to spend the money on shore excursions or simply more vacations. Regarding flights I had no idea how expensive it is to fly in the US. Maybe you should try a European cruise? Flights from Miami to Cologne (Germany) non stop were around 300 € per person - even down to 200 € per person if you were willing to switch planes in Portugal. Was quite a pleasant surprise to learn the flights home won't mess up our budget.

I usually check it once a week and when I read something about cruise planner promos - just to find out there's none for German customers. Oh well, with still more than a year to go (Symphony TA) I guess I'll see 20% off the drink packages sooner or later.

I don't think Meyer can go much further regarding the size. Length is an issue because there is a shiplock when leaving the shipyard and the ship has to be turned after leaving the shiplock. Width is also a no-no because of the shiplock and because of some railway bridges that have to be partly removed even with the normal Quantum size. I guess height wouldn't be a problem but draft definetely is. Big ships can only travel down river Ems once it has been dammed and/or with high tide. These ship transfers usually attract a huge crowd due to the difficulty and will be shown on German television (internet live stream as well). It's really quite a sight so I recommend watching Spectrum leaving the shipyard when the time comes :)

The only port I can help with is Marseille: Personally, I don't like the town very much. I'd recommend an excursion to Avignon if you're in port for some time. It should take 1,5 to 2 hours by bus per trip but it's really worth it - and you get to see a bit of Provence on the way. Avignon itself is a gorgeous old town in part bordered by the river Rhone with an ancient town wall, numerous beautiful churches, the popes palace... If you're pressed for time, Aix-en-Provence is also quite nice with an old town, cathedral and especially Cours Mirabeau.

Norway or the Baltic Sea are the most impressive cruises in Europe in my opinion. I never did a Norway cruise myself but I went on a camping trip about 15 years ago - the nature is stunning, especially the fjords. I did the Baltic Sea last year on another cruise line - as I don't know your potential itinerary I'll just report what we did in the ports we visited. Every port was very enjoyable and I can't pick a favourite. - Gdansk: We had a coach trip to Malbork Castle and a few hours in Gdansk afterwards. Although the castle is quite impressive I'd suggest spending the whole day in Gdansk - the old town is beautiful. Maybe you could combine it with a visit to Sopot, a nice seaside resort in the vicinity. - Klaipeda: The city isn't something to write home about. But the Curonian Spit is not to be missed! Beautiful landscape and cute touristy villages like Juodkrantė and Nida with endless timber houses as well as some nice sandy beaches are well worth a visit. - Riga: Now one of my favourite cities - beautiful architecture, I'd suggest a walking tour. A trip to Sigulda in so-called Latvian Switzerland is also an option. - Tallinn: We got a taxi to the Upper City in the morning and then explored it on foot. Try to use Pikk Jalg to get down from the Upper to the Lower City in the morning - before it's crowded with fellow tourists. After exploring the Lower City we had a lunch break on the market square and then did a hop on hop off tour to see the rest of the city. - St. Petersburg: We had 2 days and did 4 shore excursions: 1) Catherine Palace - don't do it. The amount of people is frightening, the palace and especially the amber room aren't nearly as interesting as I expected. If you feel compelled to do this - try booking an evening tour after normal opening hours. 2) Walking tour of St. Petersburg city centre in the evening: Thoroughly enjoyed it, you get to see many of the attractions and it feels as if the whole town is out in the street having a party. A word of warning: these tours usually include quite a few kilometers of fast walking. 3) Peterhof Palace - if you want to do one palace, choose this one. The interior isn't that impressive but the Gardens are a must-see. I'll try this again someday as we had torrential rain on our visit :( 4) Boat trip on river Neva and the canals with a visit to St. Isaak cathedral - skip the cathedral but the boat trip was really enjoyable - and quite relaxing after running around the city for 2 days. - Helsinki: We had a tour around the city by bus and boat. Quite nice but I regret not visiting fort Suomenlinna or Porvoo (fishing village). - Stockholm: Whatever you plan for the day - get up real early and watch the sunrise while cruising the archipelago. It's so much more impressive than the trip back in the evening so don't miss it. For shore excursions we did a city tour by bus and boat and really enjoyed it. - Visby (Gotland): We did a bus trip around the island and a walking tour in Visby. Skip the bus trip (with the exception of Högklint - 48 metres high cliffs with a great view over Visby and your ship). A walking tour of the medieval city is enough to keep you occupied for the day. - Copenhagen: We did a bus and boat city trip. The canal tour is a must do, I'd also recommend the changing of the guards at Amalienborg.

We never seem to get around to that - I like sleeping in way too much. We only did this once - for Stockholm last year. That meant being out on deck at around 4 am but it was so worth it seeing the ship sailing into the archipelago. For a "normal" port I just couldn't be bothered :)

We did a hop on hop off tour by bus which was ok to get a nice overview. I'd recommend doing a boat trip on the canals - I think it took about 2 hours and was really impressive. Another highlight is the changing of the guards at Amalienborg or the Nyhavn canal with quite a few nice cafes - on our last visit there was also an Irish Pub (2016). You can also visit the Carlsberg brewery, they have a visitors centre, although I wasn't that impressed. I prefer the guinness brewery in Dublin.

My personal favourite is the BBC - Bailey's Banana Colada - though definetly not a secret item. If I remember correctly Royal also serves a Chocolate BBC - must try that one next time.

Not what I had hoped but thanks for your input. Back to the drawing board - I guess I`ll make a spreadsheet. If I make my reservations directly after boarding, does the staff already know which nights will be formal or even better, what will be served in the MDR on which evening?

I`m also planning to book a specialty dining package for our TA on Symphony. Is it really necessary to do reservations? On our previous cruises (not Royal) we just went whenever we wanted. Any experience with this? It`ll be only the two of us and we prefer dining late. We also don`t mind waiting for a few minutes but it would be a bummer if we couldn`t try the restaurants we wanted. So what do the Pros suggest?