GoodSmith

Day 5 - Late Night
I thought I'd check out some smoother music in Jazz on 4.  The Kellough-Carter Jazz Experience were playing.

Very good.

Thirsty for more I had a very good Mojito in Boleros with some latin dance music courtesy of Latino Heat.

Time for bed, but a quick look to see what was on the menu tonight at Sorrento's

I resisted and made it back to my cabin without any more pizza in my belly.

JR breakfast on Oasis class only.  
Crystal blocks are earned starting at 140 points in the loyalty program, the Crown and Anchor Society.  After 140 points it's every 70 thereafter.  

The second weather and course update on RCTV was made available today.  In it the Captain explains the factors that can influence the feeling of motion on a ship.  I've always known there is more to it that "big wind means big waves means motion" and Captain Rob did a good job explaining it here.
As a cruise geek I love that they take the time and effort to make these videos available on RCTV.

Our progress...


Time as I post this nearly 10pm on ship, 6pm in NYC.  We gain another hour tonight at 2am.  

Top Tier Event - Main Theater
The Top Tier event was split into two sessions to accommodate the numbers involved.
Three loyalty ambassadors on board.  They took all the cruise points for all C&A guests on board and added them up.  When summed, 781,230 collective points, which equates to "2,140 years of cruising experience crossing the Atlantic" as she phrased it.
4,552 C&A members on board.  
Gold - 739
Platinum - 576 
Emerald - 421
Diamond - 1,347
Diamond Plus - 1,242
Pinnacle - 227
Five couples became Pinnacle on the cruise.
Over 400 crystal blocks awarded.  There are so many they will need to distribute them over several days.   As she put it, once the blocks disembark with their guests the ship will rise in the water there are so many blocks going home. 
The Captain gave a nice speech and many senior officers joined him on stage.  He joked "I know what you are thinking, if we are all here..."  
Loyalty pays.
 
 

Day 5 - Dinner
My Time Dining 
So far I've split my dining in two different sections of the deck 4 MDR.  They do try to keep you with the same wait staff but some times that just isn't possible.  Both wait staff in both sections have been very good.  

Arugula & Radicchio Salad.  Very tasty.

Chicken Cordon Bleu

The lady at the table next to me had ordered the Chicken Cordon Bleu and it looked quite nice when she received it so I went with it.  Mine must have been on the upper rack of the oven closer to the heat.  It looked well done, burnt a little and as if it was butterflied then the top piece unceremoniously dropped on the bottom piece of chicken.  Even the ham within had burnt edges. 
No dessert tonight, I am not a big dessert person and simply can't do dessert night after night.  
I understand cooking for thousands has challenges and I suffered from that tonight.   
The salad was the highlight of this meal.

They are adding a cover over the Solarium Bar.  I guess in the rain this bar has become wet.  I'm surprised they didn't think of this during planning and design.  At any rate they installed the structure of the cover, cutting up ceramic tile flooring and anchoring the four corner posts to the floor.  
For the first few days the stairs down to the lower level of the Solarium and pool access was closed.  Given the weather that hasn't been a big deal.  At least now the stairs and pool are open again. 

After breakfast the sun was shining which has been rare on this cruise so far.



On deck 7 port I found several chairs on the aft deck right below the first Aqua Theater suite balcony.  I can't recall if her sisters featured this somewhat hidden public deck or not.

Day 5 - Sea Day
Time change this morning (and for the next four nights).  
I awoke and wanting to check the time I found the ship time in Royal app had the right time but the itinerary channel on RCTV was still on the old time.
Seas have calmed a bit.  Temperature warmer at 66°F. 
Sunrise was nothing special. 

I needed to kill some time before Johnny Rockets opened for breakfast so I walked the track on deck 5.


Like Harmony there are two viewing areas forward of the life boats.
One has shuffle board

The other has ping pong tables.

Needing to wait a few more minutes before JR opened I found an empty Promenade.


On each Oasis sister this artwork is a little different:



Dazzles was empty.


With that it was time for breakfast.

I think I found a new piece of tech on the ship. 
In the app I noticed an icon so being the curious person I am had to push the button.

That brought up my camera as if I was supposed to scan something with my phone.

So off to deck 12 I went!
There I found a headless Captain.

Beside the artwork is the symbol I was sent to seek.

This launches a sequence where you seem to be zooming through walls and the cabins in between where you are standing and the bridge, then you are presented a live camera on the bridge.

Here is a video that shows it in action:
Unfortunately it seems to be a work in progress and not stable.  It works at times and other times it doesn't. 
Cool idea though.

Back to the cabin late I found a glass block waiting for me.

Our progress so far...

In anticipation for the Halloween parade the Promenade became very popular.

Earlier in the day nearly 200 groups registered for the parade.  Each were assigned a number and given a card with their number to carry around.  Voting was setup in "On Air" where you could vote on the best costume.
















Finally it was time for the balloon drop.


It was quite the party and a lot people really got into the costume and makeup.
After the party it was time for some music in the pub.

I ran into some Royal Caribbean Blog readers including @cookingyo and @Big Dawg Ron in the Wonderland restaurant.

With some time to kill before the Halloween party in the promenade I went to the Wonderland Bar.  A lot people don't know you can visit the bar like any other bar on the ship.  You don't have to eat at Wonderland to visit the bar.  They have some unique concoctions in the Wonderland theme.

They have a table in the bar area that serves as a waiting area.

Like the restaurant the bar menu is also unique and backlit.

Down the Rabbit Hole:

The Smoke Rings cocktail is made with real smoke.


Mmmm.  Good.  With a hint of oak wood smoke.

Day 4 - Dinner
My Time Dining

Caesar Salad

Moroccan Spiced Ahi Tuna Steak

Baked Alaska

I had the Moroccan Spiced Ahi Tuna Steak on another ship recently and it was much better both in presentation and in flavor.
New section tonight but same great service.

Walking around the ship I noticed the Halloween decorations are up including balloons for the party later tonight.






In the afternoon hours I saw several people beginning to appear in costumes.  At least I think they were costumes.

Day 4 - Sea Day
Finally out of the rain (for the most part).  A little bit of 'motion in the ocean' in approximately 14' seas.  This is the first morning I didn't sleep in past 9:30am.

Time for breakfast at Johnny Rockets.

Included in the cruise fare for breakfast only, it's a great breakfast venue and since I can see it from my cabin, it was calling me this morning.



Cooked to order Omelette 

Plus some french toast

Yum.

Noted some new screens on the cabin TV.

Our progress up to this point:

Here is our position as we approached the Strait of Gibraltar:


I tried to venture up top but found the upper decks closed due to high winds so I headed to deck 5, the running track.

That pyramid looking object is the rock of Gibraltar. 

At this point we were in the Strait of Gibraltar and you could see lights on both sides.
Africa on the port side:

Spain and the rock of Gibraltar on the starboard side:

Walking a few steps, Africa on the port side:

While we were in Malagar the Captain had recorded a video which was placed on channel 14.  This would provide an update on our course for the next few days. 
The audio is digitized in a few places, it was that way onboard.
Here it is:

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.

With sail away approaching I realized I needed to get ready for my Hairspray reservation so I ventured up to the Solarium bridge wings to see what I might be able to see of Malaga.  The rain had almost stopped so I snapped the best photos of Malaga that I would get on this visit.  




A local fishing boat was returning to port.  They must have been tossing the remainder of their bait because the birds loved this boat.

With that I ventured down to the theater to line up for Hairspray.  I had a specific part of the theater in mind and I would need to be near the front of the line when they opened the doors.

Since I had my fish eye lens on I was wondering how a round scrunched up car in the shape a sphere would look with a fish eye at close range.  It pretty much looks like it does in person.

Time for lunch and with Sorrento's right there...

Barbecue Chicken on the menu today.  This was actually pretty good on Adventure recently.  
I found Symphony's variation a little too cheesy for my liking.

I thought I might as well take some more ships photos instead of walking in the rain.
MDR Entrance

MDR


I ran into some friend's and one drink led to another, so...

Day 3 - Malaga
After a visit to the Thermal Spa I had this great idea to walk down along the pier and get some pictures of the ship.  As I stepped off the ship and on to the gangway the skies opened up and the rain came down.  
Normally with a fish eye lens I can capture most ships at this range.  Not so with the largest cruise ship in the world.

I had to at least check out the terminal.

There are a series of shops including duty free liquor and wine.

I didn't feel like taking another shower today so I headed back to the ship. This would be as close as I came to Malaga on this day.

There was a 40' truck with supplies that were being transferred to the ship.  St. Francis and Decoy wine among other supplies.  I think we'll be fine making it across.

What's the no-elevator-rule?
Have you met twangster yet? If you do please take a photo of him, would love to see him in person!

Day 2 - Ice Skating Show "1977"
No cruise is complete without checking out the ice skating show.  Royal has put a lot effort incorporating technology into entertainment and "1977" benefits from this trend.  They've amped up the projection technology on Symphony.

The show starts out with dozens of drones hovering over the ice and flying in formation as each changes color independently at times and as a formation.  You can't capture this in still images, you have to see it live.

All the little purple and blue lights are individual drones.













A very memorable part involves fast wardrobe changes for one skater incorporated into the routine almost before our eyes. 
Impossible to display in still photos, another thing best viewed live. 
While the storyline strays a little at times when taken in it's entirety it is a great show to watch.  Oh yeah, they made it snow during one part of the show.  Amazing.