GoodSmith

Hopefully the same goes for the US vaccination requirement. Some unvaccinated family members are eager to cruise with me but cannot enter the US.

Have you tried messaging them and asking if its acceptable. Considering thats what our gouvernment gave as proof I would think they have to accept it. Especially considering as cruising picks up they will have vaccine proof from over the world which will all be different. 

Completely understand your hesitancy.  Given how things are changing weekly I'd be careful using what another Canadian was able to do as a reference point.  I'd want it in writing from the cruise line.  

I certainly love it and don't think I will be cruising again until they bring the buffet back. It would also be the time when it's safer to travel and these restrictions are lifted.
Cruising is all about the freedom and relaxation of a vacation, which other dining options don't provide. I tried specialty/main dining once but didn't feel like it. I like to feel free and relaxed with what I wear and how I eat all my meals.
And by the way, I don't like those who fill mountains of food in their plates and throw half of it. I actually do the opposite, I fill many smaller plates and I keep moving around between my table and the buffet to stay active while eating. I would rather waste water and dish washing than wasting food.

I certainly love it and don't think I will be cruising again until they bring the buffet back. It would also be the time when it's safer to travel and these restrictions are lifted.
Cruising is all about the freedom and relaxation of a vacation, which other dining options don't provide. I tried specialty/main dining once but didn't feel like it. I like to feel free and relaxed with what I wear and how I eat all my meals.
And by the way, I don't like those who fill mountains of food in their plates and throw half of it. I actually do the opposite, I fill many smaller plates and I keep moving around between my table and the buffet to stay active while eating. I would rather waste water and dish washing than wasting food.

I certainly love it and don't think I will be cruising again until they bring the buffet back. It would also be the time when it's safer to travel and these restrictions are lifted.
Cruising is all about the freedom and relaxation of a vacation, which other dining options don't provide. I tried specialty/main dining once but didn't feel like it. I like to feel free and relaxed with what I wear and how I eat all my meals.
And by the way, I don't like those who fill mountains of food in their plates and throw half of it. I actually do the opposite, I fill many smaller plates and I keep moving around between my table and the buffet to stay active while eating. I would rather waste water and dish washing than wasting food.

I certainly love it and don't think I will be cruising again until they bring the buffet back. It would also be the time when it's safer to travel and these restrictions are lifted.
Cruising is all about the freedom and relaxation of a vacation, which other dining options don't provide. I tried specialty/main dining once but didn't feel like it. I like to feel free and relaxed with what I wear and how I eat all my meals.
And by the way, I don't like those who fill mountains of food in their plates and throw half of it. I actually do the opposite, I fill many smaller plates and I keep moving around between my table and the buffet to stay active while eating. I would rather waste water and dish washing than wasting food.

I certainly love it and don't think I will be cruising again until they bring the buffet back. It would also be the time when it's safer to travel and these restrictions are lifted.
Cruising is all about the freedom and relaxation of a vacation, which other dining options don't provide. I tried specialty/main dining once but didn't feel like it. I like to feel free and relaxed with what I wear and how I eat all my meals.
And by the way, I don't like those who fill mountains of food in their plates and throw half of it. I actually do the opposite, I fill many smaller plates and I keep moving around between my table and the buffet to stay active while eating. I would rather waste water and dish washing than wasting food.

El Loco is a great place and I recommend it. I tried the pre-made burritos and they are yummy!
Loved the Studio B documentary! Twangster Quality!

Service on Royal Caribbean is exceptional. When I was on Symphony I asked once for a green tea. They don't always have it in Windjammer but the waiter had to go get it from somewhere else on the ship. Took him a long time I thought he forgot about me, but I was surprised when he finally showed up with my cup. That's true dedication! I wish I got his name.

Wonderland:
Wonderland was our most anticipated restaurant – spoiler alert: rightly so. To fully enjoy Wonderland, you have to appreciate the concept and be a bit of an adventurous eater. We loved the whole atmosphere of the place – it’s a real trip down the rabbit hole with everything including the waiter’s uniforms or the Mad Hatter’s conversations fitting in. We even found a little Alice ?





As we were planning to get the most of this experience, we ignored the menu even though painting your own menu was a nice touch. We let our waiter Sorina chose our courses as we only had good experiences with following our waiter’s recommendations.



For starters, we got the whole ride: Citrus Seas, Crispy Crab Cones, Mad Hatter‘s Purple Potted Shrimp, Liquid Lobster, The Chicken & the Egg. We loved all of them! When forced to pick a favourite, I’d go with the Citrus Seas even though the Liquid Lobster was the most surprising taste.






For entrees, Sorina hadn’t forgotten that hubby isn’t that much into fish as a main course. So we got Snap, Crackle & Pork and The Rib ‚I‘ Luscious Short Rib (aka Chocolate Brownie ?). Personally, I prefered the latter as the pork is quite greasy. Hubby did enjoy the pork so it might just be my pet hate talking. I can thoroughly recommend the short rib – I liked it even better than 150 CP’s main course!


For dessert, we were in for a surprise! As I’d hoped, we got The World – it’s not only a visual treat, it’s also absolutely delicious. Our second dessert was the Forbidden Apple, also very good but just not as perfect as The World. On the other hand, the Forbidden Apple was decorated for an anniversary that we still don’t know about ? Guess it was a mix up in the kitchen as neither me nor hubby had informed Royal about an anniversary. Instead of worrying, we just went with the flow and got nine times Happy Anniversary from Sorina and the Mad Hatter. We’ve been married 9 years now, it’s only we married in August, not in November. Who would voluntarily marry in the German winter season?


Back to the topic: we loved the whole Wonderland experience, it is easily our favourite restaurant onboard! In fact, we enjoyed this kind of imaginative and adventurous cuisine so much, that we’ll take the leap and try some fusion cuisine at home. If you only want to try one speciality dining venue – I’d chose this one as it offers the most different experience. We’ll definetly be back on another ship!

I was searching for you in the Grills among other periscopers videos but couldn't find you. You must have taken extreme precautions there ?

Since I was up here and it was dark outside I thought I'd share another new feature that can be found on Symphony of the Seas.  Electronic vending machines.
I tried taking some photos mid-cruise but the glare from the outside light coming through the windows made picture taking pretty hard. 



While the machines are disabled when in port due to taxation and other retail regulations at any given port, these machines are generally available 24 hours a day when not in port.  That makes them a great alternative from the retail shops on board if you need something after hours.  
I know what you are thinking.  What kind of ungodly money do they charge in these vending machines?  Actually they are pretty reasonable.  I looked at an Over-The-Counter medication that was one of the more expensive items at $17.25.  The same item for the same size was $17.01 on Amazon (U.S.).  

This is not Costco or Walmart of the Seas so I wouldn't expect prices to compete with land prices on everything but they didn't appear to be very different compared to drug store prices for a few items I looked at.   
The electronics do appear to have a higher premium compared to Amazon but realistically it's not fair to compare prices coming off a European transatlantic cruise to pricing at Amazon.  Few retail stores in America are the same price as Amazon.  
Are these going to be the cheapest prices for any item?  Not likely but the machines were very popular on this sailing any time I dropped by to try to take some pictures.  When you consider there is no additional tax collected as there would be (or should be) on land it's not that bad.
There is also a free charging station where you can securely store your device using a PIN you create.
 

Thank you @Neaxan for sharing your first RC cruise with us and letting us live the experience with you. You were also very lucky meeting @twangster ?
Choosing Symphony for your first RC cruise is a smart choice so you could see the best and most of what Royal Caribbean offers.

Cruise Summary
Symphony is a fantastic ship.  The evolutional changes and differences compared to her sisters including Harmony have been well thought out and executed.  The Solarium is outstanding and my favorite of all in this class.  The changing colors of the art in the Solarium day and especially at night is pretty great.
Playmakers is a hit and from my deck 8 boardwalk balcony very nearly on top of it I never heard any noise from Playmakers.  
The main shows such as Hairspray, 1977, Flight and HiRO were also fantastic.  Flight was very well done and I look forward to experiencing it again on the 50th birthday cruise.  The enhanced projection technology even in HiRO was noticed.  I appreciated the artistic nature of HiRO more and the symbolism of equality and unity.  
The crew were all top notch and I can't recall a single poor crew interaction.  Like all Oasis class the crew can be very busy at times but they always had a smile on their face.
I was pleasantly surprised how well the O3b Voom held up across the Atlantic.  There are times when poor weather or satellite switch-over can impact even the best satellite technology so it's not the same as internet on land but it never really let me down.
This was my first transatlantic but it won't be my last.  The days flew by and before I knew it I had to think about packing.  
Next cruise - Serenade of the Seas from which I am writing this post.  Ten days in the Eastern Caribbean.
I hope you have enjoyed following me on this journey and I thank you for viewing.

After breakfast I went down to deck 5 to have a look at the new terminal.

There is another new terminal that has just started construction.  If I recall this is for another cruise line.

That's Mariner of the Seas back down at terminal G.  She was using this new terminal for almost two weeks, testing it out and getting it ready for Symphony.

There were a number of loyal guests transferring from Symphony to Mariner as well as Serenade today.  Royal Caribbean very generously offered a free transfer for us and that was greatly appreciated.  We were instructed to had down to Studio B at 9:15am as our meeting place.  Luggage tag #75 were distributed to us (the last of the luggage tag zones).  I placed my bag outside of my cabin the night before as instructed.
Can you figure out what the mess is on the floor of Studio B?  It's the inflatable laser tag from the night before.


There were over 110 guests transferring to Mariner and Serenade today.

Mariner guest count was in the mid 80s and Serenade guest count around 30.
Sometime around 10:15am were led out to be scanned off the ship and down the gangway into the terminal.  We didn't get the full terminal experience but it certainly looked great and had that new building smell to it.

No customs processing here.  I found my bag and exited the terminal.
The pick up and drop off area is under cover of the building and it was pretty busy.  


There was a little confusion at this point with respect to where we were to find our shuttle bus.  

I found some fellow luggage tag 75 people and discovered they were also transferring to Serenade so we hung out as a group on the assumption there would be safety in numbers.  Eventually a Mariner bus was called and not long after another motor coach pulled up for Serenade.  Safely on board our bus we settled in for the short ride up to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale.  

The transfer could have been a little better organized but it was free and greatly appreciated so I'm not complaining.  I checked Uber and Lyft and both were in the $45 range.  Loyalty does pay.  I don't think this is normally offered as a free service so if you are planning a side-to-side cruise I wouldn't count on this.
One last look at Symphony as we drove away in our bus.

Sometime around noon I was onboard Serenade using terminal 18 in Port Everglades.  
My 'office' here on Serenade as I finish with these last few posts.

Day 13 - Miami and Debarking
Since I was up late with friends I slept as we arrived into Miami.
Our progress:

Cruise total, 4,701 nautical miles.


Still dark I ventured up to deck 16 to see what I could see.




True to his word, Captain Rob had delivered us to Miami.





A first look at the now complete new Crown of Miami terminal building.

Since I was up here already I zipped into the Windjammer for a final breakfast.

Hey Goodsmith.
Here's an actual photo of the Twangster at formal night in the MDR last week! 

I was searching for you in the Grills among other periscopers videos but couldn't find you. You must have taken extreme precautions there ?

Day 12 - Evening
Our last night on board.  Sigh...
Our progress so far:

With 4,551 nautical miles behind us we hug the coast just far enough out to be outside the territorial boundary.


Dinner tonight would be in Playmakers.  Since it's Thursday, football was on.

I had wanted to see what their wings are like so for $8 I ordered the hot wings.

They are pretty good and it's a great place to hang out and watch the game.

Shortly after I ate they announced a hot wing challenge.  The winner got this super sized beer dispenser delivered to their table.

Perfect for when the doctor or wife says you can have only one beer. 

While I'm back here I thought I take a few more pictures.

I'm not normally one to take pictures in a bathroom, but I wanted to show you some of the bathroom art:

Back in Playmakers for a last night of Jenga with friends.  Not bad on a moving ship doing 20 knots.


Ugh.  What a horrible thing to see.

I was searching for you in the Grills among other periscopers videos but couldn't find you. You must have taken extreme precautions there ?

I was searching for you in the Grills among other periscopers videos but couldn't find you. You must have taken extreme precautions there ?

Day 12 - Port Canaveral Sail Away
Our sail away was the highlight of the local news.  The largest cruise ship in the world coming to America was a big deal. 

With a water cannon salute we pulled away from the pier with news helicopters flying overhead and a blast of the ship's whistle.




A lot of people came out to see us off.


We slowly made our way back into the Atlantic for our final night on board this wonderful ship.


Looking back at Port Canaveral we had a beautiful sunset tonight to send us on our way to Miami. 

The U.S. Coast Guard performs routine and periodic inspections of all ships.  When a ship arrives from outside of the region or in the event of new ship arriving those inspections are more thorough.  Inspections today had begun.  The crew was also exercising a fire drill throughout the morning witnessed by the USCG inspectors.


My destination today was very close, Grills restaurant where local Florida members of the RCPeriscopers.live group were meeting those of us from Symphony.  Located right behind Terminal 1 it's a great location to get pictures of the ship as well.

With many guests already off the ship I took advantage of taking more photos with fewer people around.  





Our cruise director had been making periodic announcements including frequently that port officials had requested they hold guests to avoid over crowding the terminal.  At 11 am I headed down to join the queue waiting to debark.

Once inside the terminal I eventually reached a point where they separated Canadian and American guests into their own queue for Customs and Border Patrol officials.  Just before noon I was outside the terminal on my way next door to Grills.


They had life boats down exercising them.  All life boats are lowered and operated on a periodic basis.  

They were also touching up the paint getting ready for the grand debut in Miami.  Who knew there was a 'Baby' Symphony of the Seas?

A great time was had meeting other members of the RCPeriscopers.live group all of which were extremely jealous that they weren't guests on board Symphony.  It's always great to meet people and put internet usernames to faces.





After several rounds and some food it was time to get back on board.

Day 12 - continued...
Everyone on the ship was required to meet Customs and Border Patrol on this day.  They had to get the ship to 'zero count' meaning all guests had to be off before any guest was allowed back onboard.  
With over 2,200 crew they had to be cleared by CBP as well which for them began at 4am as soon as we arrived.  The crew were cleared early and first so that they could go in waves and get back to the ship to prepare our breakfast and do all the other things that the crew does.  
TV displays around the ship indicated when we were expected to debark.  Guests with excursions were to meet in the theater closer to the start of the process.  

Since my muster was G4 I had a couple of hours so I headed to the Solarium Bistro for a buffet breakfast.

The Bistro is much like the Windjammer for breakfast, self service with open seating.



There is an egg station where cooked to order eggs are prepared as you wait.







With the two story floor to ceiling windows the Solarium Bistro is a great alternative to the Windjammer for a buffet type meal.


That second story seating area is part of the Hooked specialty dining venue.