GoodSmith

The first aerial performer appears from behind us walking upside down into the theater.




She is lowered into the water and emerges with another performer upside down below her.

She is released and dives back into the water.  Nothing but their own muscles used during the lift.  


The aerial artistry continues

Next we see a performer high up in the theater banging a set of drums that are lit up and covered with water so that with every beat the water dances upward.

Below him every beat of the drum he seems to breathe life into the aerial performer

Day 9 - HiRO
HiRO is the story of three competing tribes that start separate and uniquely represented by their own color, red, white and black.





We first meet the three distinct tribes


The tribes begin to compete with a series of dives.

In the afternoon I saw the aqua theater staff testing various components that I assumed would be used during the aqua show.  A diver was on hand to assist.

They seem to be load testing these by placing them under tension.  I was hoping these would come into play during the show.

It turns out they would.    

Given that it's a sea day I worked much of the day.  A periscope notification told me some of the RCPeriscopers and Royal Caribbean Blog readers were starting their Yeti Pub Crawl.  Then they were sliding down the Ultimate Abyss.  Not long after they were below my cabin in Playmakers.  Soon enough they did the Carousel.  All in their bathrobes.
@Big Dawg Ron

@cookingyo and Mrs. Cookingyo







What happens on Symphony of the Seas stays on the internet.

Day 9 - Lunch
Johnny Rockets
Since I'm staying in a boardwalk balcony cabin, one free meal at Johnny Rockets is included for up to four guests.
Onion rings and fries

Smokehouse Burger

Soda is included (since a boardwalk balcony also includes the soda package) but their milkshakes are not.  Absolutely stuffed I skipped dessert.  

Day 9 - Misc.
Splash away Bay

Perfect Storm rules and limits

They've finished placing the glass on the new Solarium Bar cover.  My guess is the next step is to caulk or otherwise fill the gaps between each glass panel otherwise it won't be watertight.  The bar remains closed.

From my balcony I saw some Aqua Theater cast rehearsing.  That's promising, hopefully the aqua shows will be a go tonight.

If any body doesn't think swinging around in the air isn't a workout, think again.

Mid day progress...
For a ship with a published maximum speed of 22 knots, we're flying at 23 knots.

Must be a good tail wind, the highest I saw so far was 23.1 knots.
Our target destination is getting closer.

Day 9 - Galley Tour
A benefit of being Diamond Plus is a free galley tour.  Today a Sous Chef would be conducting the tour.

We meet one of the cooks who is responsible to make bread.  Lots of it.  





Meat cooking station.

Pickup station where wait staff retrieve food once it is ready to go.

Dishwashing

This particular tour was one of many they had to do because of the large numbers of Diamond Plus on board.  It was a little rushed and we were in the way in the galley during a busy time.  Consequently it's probably a good thing it was short.

They feed fishes with it.  Following USDA guidelines they can't make use of food that been prepared and presented but not consumed.  No cruise line can, if they follow the USDA.  

Our progress...  (as of 2am the morning of Day 9)

 

Post-show walk through Central Park to the sounds of live acoustic guitar.  So peaceful.

Our last stop on this journey back in time brings us to the first machine powered flight.

Our daring pilot prepares to take off for the first time.


Not only does he take flight but he flies out over the audience in the theater.





With that it's time to land

To a hero's greeting


To a standing ovation the show has reached it's conclusion.

Another Royal Caribbean Entertainment hit, Flight should not be missed.

Moving back further we reach World War II.  This includes a tribute to the WASPs or Women's Air Force Service Pilot program.



The tribute continues with the role of women in the war effort.



Then we see the young men who went off to fight the war in the air.


Here our adventure in time visits the era of 'The War of The Worlds' radio broadcast by Orson Welles.

And aliens on a cruise ship!




As we continue back in time we reach the days of the biplane and the barnstormers.

After nearly crashing into a barn, our plane and pilot are a little worse for wear.

Continuing back in time we reach the golden age of jet travel when the public could really begin to fly and visit just about anywhere in the world.

Of course everyone is smoking...


The passengers settle in and their jet takes off




Aerial performers join from above as we relive what flying was like back in the day.


Next we revisit the age of the test pilot who pushed the limits of flight forward

Next we visit a space station complete with astronauts floating in and around a space station set to music sung by the cast.




We continue our journey back in time to 1969 as man prepares to fly to the moon.

Landing on the moon is represented by an astronaut descending to the a backdrop of the lunar surface.

Day 8 - Flight
This is the first showing of Flight on this sailing.  It is performed by the same cast that performs Hairspray and it's an original Royal Caribbean production. To give it the respect it deserves I'm going to spread the pictures across a couple of posts.
Flight takes us through the history of aviation and space exploration.  We start in the future, getting ready to blast off on our 'sailing' to distant parts of the universe.

Our flight director greets us and welcomes us to the journey we are about to undertake.


Cleared for take off we blast off into space starting with a fly over an Oasis class ship in the waters near our space port.  Soon enough we are in space and greeted by our first musical act descending from the ceiling.

As we move back in time we are introduced to flight training and qualification.


Our candidates pass and are certified for flight.

Day 8 - Dinner
My Time Dining

Caesar Salad

Braised Pork shank

I was placed at a table for four by myself.  This seemed to generate the fastest service I've ever experienced in the MDR.  (they wanted the table).
Food and service were both good.

 

Solarium Bar Update...
Still closed but a couple more glass panels installed.

 
Water slides:

 

After Captain's Corner I met up with @Neaxan and her husband!
We sat and talked for a while and I learned a great deal about their perspective of how Royal compares to the cruise lines they have sailed.  It's always interesting to talk with fellow cruisers and gain insight into other's thoughts and ideas. 
I had intended to return to the Thermal Spa but the water slides were open and with little lines I just had to try them.  To my surprise they are actually still doing work on them such as painting feet to stand on at the top and a line to stay behind until it's your turn.  
To be honest I can't remember Harmony's slides but these don't have any colored bands or lighting that enhances the experience.  Neither did the Abyss.  Just a dark slide into left, right, down, corkscrew and so on until you start to see daylight and the landing splash zone.   There are some sections of clear tubing but they slide past so fast you don't really have a chance to 'enjoy the view'.  I thought Harmony had colored bands in one slide that you zoom past.  Anyways, still really fun and I enjoyed all three slides.

Captain's Corner

Given the large numbers of C&A Top Tier they figured this would be well attended and moved it into the main theater.
Captain Rob has a unique and dry sense of humor.   It was used extensively during this session much to the crowd's delight.
Just as he was about to begin, some guests in the crowd broke out in "Happy Birthday to you...".  Apparently today is his birthday.

Symphony has a number of innovations including a slightly different hull shape that along with the air lubrication system (and other changes) make her 25% more efficient than Oasis.  According to Captain Rob if you could see both ships in dry dock side by side the differences in the hull would be pretty apparent.
Captain's Rob first ship (at Royal) was Grandeur.  He was a Bering Sea fishing captain before joining Royal.  Moving to Royal he accepted a pay cut and joined as a junior bridge officer.  He worked up through the ranks to eventualy become a Captain again here at Royal.  
There are currently two Masters for Symphony, Captain Rob and Captain Rick.   They work a 10 week on/off cycle.  They keep in touch with each other at all times and let each other know what's going on around the ship.
According to U.S. Health Department code that the ship follows even in international waters, any food that is once placed out for consumption but not used is destroyed and run through the waste management process.  It is not, despite rumors, fed to the crew or used the next day.
The little deviation we did last night was due to cleaning out the ship's economizers in the stacks.  They need to be cleaned periodically and the zig zag course was executed as part of the cleaning process according to Captain Rob.
Captain Rob is not aware of any four sisters meet up.  He thinks it may happen, but at some future point.  He was on Oasis during the planning of the three sisters and that planning started months before it occurred. As he offered "Photoshop works really well and is a whole lot cheaper".

An enjoyable session with the Master of the vessel.

Day 8 - Noon Update
Our progress...

It's repeated several times on channel 14 along with other programs on board like the cruise director morning show.

Day 8 - Sea Day
It seems we did two 'Crazy Ivans'  last night.

Breakfast at Johnny Rockets again.  Followed by a Walking Tour of Central Park with Laszlo, the Landscape Specialist on board.  

Laszlo is very familiar with Central Park and those with some historical knowledge of the Oasis class will recognize Laszlo since he has played a critical role in establishing all Central Parks across the Oasis sisters including the first one on Oasis.

With an April in service date in the Mediterranean Central Park had to be outfitted differently with plants designed for the European climate since it would sail for seven months there before this transatlantic.  Now that she is heading to the Caribbean, Central Park will slowly be changed to feature more plants that are designed for a tropical climate.  That will occur slowly as plants die or otherwise need to be replaced through 2019.  With over 12,500 plants on the ship they can't possibly change it all at once.  
The trellis should begin to grow with cover over the coming months with it's permanent plants in place.

A few weeks ago the ship encountered some nasty storms that were responsible to coating the ship with layers of salt water kicked up by the storms.  That included Central Park and Laszlo was quite sad when he returned from his scheduled vacation a few weeks ago to see the damage within Central Park done by those storms.  Plants don't like salt water.  Along with his three assistants they've been busy trying to bring it back to it's former glory.  The Living Wall has some bare spots as a result.

The Central Parks across the Oasis fleet have evolved as they learned what works better in an environment like Central Park.  Many plants are actually now in special 'pots' or steel cubes much like a planter that can be lifted out on demand to access electrical and plumbing lines that weave under the fabric of Central Park.  That's an evolution compared to Oasis where they routinely had to dig up plants and soil to access and do maintenance.   

Now that I know to look for them, I can see the planters most plants are contained in.

You can tell Laszlo loves this job and doesn't even view it as a job, it's a passion.


Winds in Central Park tend to come from aft.  As the ship moves forward air passing over the upper decks hits the aft glass wall and curls around in a forward motion closer to deck 8 level.  During her encounter with a storm a few weeks ago these winds actually knocked over some of the trees within Central Park.  Laszlo has never seen that on any Oasis ship before.

Plants used within Central Park and subject to the agricultural restrictions of each country visited.  Even though she was first built out in Europe they had to choose plants that are approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for her arrival in America.  Upon our arrival they will send inspectors to the ship to check each and every plant to confirm it meets USDA regulations.  
Many countries do the same on a periodic basis, even some smaller Caribbean nations although Laszlo suspects some of them just want to see the ship and enjoy a lunch aboard.  None the less protocol requires they allow these inspections to occur for every country the ship visits.
Australia has some of the toughest agriculture regulations and for this reason it is unlikely they will ever send an Oasis class to Australia because they would pretty much have to strip Central Park bare and start all over with local Australian vegetation.   For similar reasons they won't take Oasis class to cold climates like Alaska because Central Park's tropical plants would be devastated and it's a significant investment in the serious six figures ballpark.  The 2018 budget to begin migrating Central Park to tropical vegetation is around $250k according to Bobby Brown our CD.  That's just to begin the job.  
Central Park has a fire break zone in the middle just in case a fire were to break out.  In this manner the fire would not spread the entirety of the park.  This fire buffer includes height restrictions for trees and distances from sides and balconies.  There is a lot more to Central Park then just some plants.
The tool shed for the landscapers.  This is the entirety of the space the have on board.  The irrigation control panel is located here where they can water the many different irrigation zones that cover Central Park.

On surveys Central Park often ranks near the top of favorite neighborhoods on the ship.  
Our 30 minute session turned into 90 minutes due in no small part to how passionate Laszlo is about Central Park and it's vegetation.  


It was a very interesting tour and I'd like to see Royal invest a little more into it such as giving him a microphone and portable speaker or offering it more than once a cruise.

I am very interested in the Escape the Rubicon. Hope you get to try it and tell us more about it.
When I tried the Ultimate Abyss for the first time I went so fast I almost flipped and fell on my face on the second turn, I had to support myself with my arm and I got stuck inside the slide because of that, and I had to push myself down. I guess I was doing it wrong as well! I didn't get the chance to try it again but I would  have loved to.
 
 

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.

That's like 7 decks up, right? I am starting to like this No-Elevators rule and may follow it on my next cruise. It's even faster for me to take the stairs.