Neaxan

Wow, cruising with prissy Germans does have its advantages! I did 3 cruises with TUI Cruises - they have all inclusive drinks without any limit. Granted, TUI isn't as cheap as Carnival, it's comparable to Celebrity. I've never once seen anything like it - I can only recall one couple that was a bit intoxicated, and the worst they were doing was pushing all the buttons on the elevator. That was actually quite funny as they were in their 60ies and some children were berating them for it . I even did a Full Metal Cruise (comparable to 70000 Tons of Metal) with free beer, wine and sparkling wine 24/7 and free spirits, cocktails etc. after 6 pm. Yes. some people were drunk, but all in a good sports way. On that note, has anyone ever been on 70k? Thinking about combining it with Shiprocked in 2019... In the video I found the behaviour of the crew most shocking - repeatedly kicking people that are already on the ground and fixed should merit a dismissal. Also assaulting and possibly destroying a mobile phone just because someone was filming the incident is a no go.

Update for non-US cruisers: If you want to benefit from the old gratuity rates, talk to your local RCI subsidiary. If you are a German resident you have to pay the new gratuity rates even if you pay in advance. I know it isn't that much money but I get annoyed when companies aren't true to their word.

Devinly Decadence... seems a bit outdated. Was there even a DD on Anthem? Or was it discontinued before she started sailing?

Currently there's no entertainment reservations for Symphonys TA. I think you can still book your dining and try to move it around your entertainment schedule later. As I understand it all shows run more than once per sailing so if you check your cruise planner regularly you should be able to work it all out. If something really doesn't add up you could still try to solve it on board.

And today they started offering Hooked Lunch for 20.50 € in my TA cruise planner (sadly no sample menu). For comparison: Hooked dinner is 32.80 €.

Yeah, but I haven't read a thing about the 5th ship that was planned for 2020. Maybe it'll have half a season in Europe before it is repositioned to who knows where.

I'd have prefered to have the 5th Quantum class ship in Europe but oh well... I'd still go on Anthem or Quantum. Getting to Southhampton is much less of a headache compared to Bayonne or Asia/Australia.

I hope it does. We're planning to do Chops, Izumi, 150 CP, Hooked and Wonderland on the 5 night package and have additionally booked Izumi Hibachi and Jamie's. I'll have to skip either breakfast or lunch every day Guess we'll be rarely seen in the MDR and Windjammer for dinner. But I'm planning to make sure we'll be there for Lobster night - if they have one on the TA.

I'm guessing they'll deliver what you booked. We booked the 5 night package as soon as it was available and after a few weeks it was gone. I received no cancellation from Royal so I hope they'll stay true to their word.

Good lord, I'm sure hubby will force me to watch. NFL is getting more and more attention in Germany but you couldn't prove it by me. I'm a soccer and motorsports girl. Too bad we will miss Nascar in Homestead by a week :(

I'm fine with 700 pixels, menus or anything else with print might need more. Regarding compression I can't make out much of a difference

I've sailed on both (3x TUI, 1x AIDA), so if you've got any questions feel free to ask. Maybe by DM to not hijack this thread any further

As an avid TUI cruiser and now looking forward to my first Royal cruise the target audience thingy is debatable Just kidding, TUI Cruises is more or less restricted to the German speaking market as it's the official language on board - and let's face it, nobody wants to bother with German if it isn't your mothertongue anyway. Pullmantur is just the same, only for the Spanish market. Both lines don't have many international guests. Btw, CDF has ceased operations in 2017, if I remember correctly most ships have been transferred to Pullmantur as TUI Cruises is busy building their own ships (the 5th will arrive in 2018).

I've also read this quite a few times but in my CP for the Symphony TA in October the Dreamworks Character Breakfast has just become available.

If you're worried about snorkeling and prefer to take your items with you, you can use waterproof bags. I swim regularly and use these these for my asthma inhaler - works like a spell, up to now it's completely waterproof. Should be big enough for some money and/or a phone and/or ID.

Our last hotel was also next to the Diagonal Mar shopping centre. Apart from a taxi you can also use the Metro (underground) station Maresme/Forum , streetcar stations El Maresme or Forum - or if you want to do some sightseeing - the hop on hop off lines stop in front of the Hilton.

Believe me, the CC Roll Call is frantic about hotels. They had the first one fully booked months ago

Unfortunately not. German customers can't rebook, we have to actually cancel and pay the cancellation fee. And our current promo isnt 30% off - only 100$ OBC.

Hotel Jazz looks great but is fully booked when we need it. Not so impressed with Colón especially considering the price. Hubby just booked us in Hotel Barcelona Catedral right between Las Ramblas and Barri Gótic. Recommendations sound promising and we got a reasonable deal for it (about 225 $). It's only one night so if it's not as good as it seems we will manage

I'm also haven't booked a hotel in Barcelona for Symphony's TA. Can only tell you what NOT to book - Hotel SB Diagonal Zero Barcelona. We had a room for 3 nights in October and weren't impressed. The hotel is right next to a construction site and from the looks of it it won't be finished in October. On second thought, on my CC roll call they're praising Hotel Continental so maybe that's an option for you. Not for me, it's already booked solid with TA cruisers

I doubt there was ever a Live Blog nobody was interested in I'll definetly follow yours. But don't forget you should also enjoy the blogging - if you feel it's more of an imposition you should just enjoy your cruise. You can always do a roundup later.

Brilliant! Now Symphony's TA will not only be represented by my shoddy pictures Keep the Anthem pictures coming and my hubby will have to succumb to the pressure of me wanting to book Spectrum asap.

In the Black Friday/Cyber Monday frenzy we booked the Everglades excursion for our Symphony TA because we wanted to visit the Everglades on Friday anyway. Guess what, now that the frenzy is over we're thinking about the problems this might entail. Has somebody done this excursion? What happens with the luggage, is it left in the terminal or on the bus? As we're German I guess there'll be a check of our ESTA/visas on top of customs - any idea how long this will take? And finally: we chose this excursion because we won't be flying home but renting a car until Sunday . so we thought it might be easier to get a rental car at the airport instead of the port. Does this make sense or is it a stupid idea? Actually we had planned on renting a car near the port and booking an Everglades boat trip on our own. Happy to hear your thoughts, having never been to the US we have no idea what to expect.

That would've only been an option had we booked two packages. As that doesn't work out we'll be going once.

Although not advertised, some prices four our Symphony TA have been reduced by around 30%. This is true for the deluxe beverage package (from 49€ to 35€) and the shore excursion we wanted (from 69€ to 54€). Voom 1 device is now up (from 10,30€ to 10.89€) and there has been no change in dining.