JennyB

It's a new sports bar on Mariner and Symphony, coming to more ships soon.

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.

The selfie @twangster took of himself as he soared through the air dangling from one of the drones was amazing.  It's a shame you and @Matt missed it since you skipped the photos. I can't believe they took a volunteer from the audience for that role. Shows a lot of natural athletic ability, obviously.  

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.

Probably avoiding a pod of whales, Pirates or Russian submarine. ?

that's a BIG NOPE!

It looks like we are headed to the new world.  
What have you guys done to Miami while we've been gone?

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.

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.

As little as I can...
And I volunteer at RoyalCaribbeanBlog.com ? 

Just to clarify, soda is not included in the complimentary beverages in the dining rooms.

$42pp/day is the lowest I've seen.   Black Friday/Cyber monday are good times to go to the cruise planner.

Yes, closed in port to avoid taxation issues or other in-country retail shopping laws.
The biggest benefit is access to certain OTC meds when the retail shop is closed.  Have a headache but don't need a trip to medical?  Use the dispenser. 
I had planned to do a post on them but need to take photos at night because of the glare coming in from daylight during the day.  There is also a charging station next to it.  Each bay is a locker with a PIN you assign.  Come back later and retrieve your device using your PIN.

 

Just bring it with you. No need to buy anything onboard.

I always order Indian curry in the MDR and it usually comes out quite good.

yes,  all the cruises I've been on there is always a steak to be had in the MDR menu.  If not ....ask your waiter.

If they ask for your card, then they're going to charge you for something!  ?
But seriously, they are pretty good about putting prices next to things that have charges and have signs up.  

We are leaving this Sunday on the serenade of the seas and heard a tip on cruise tips tv that instead of going to the crowded buffet after embarking you can eat at one of the ships dining rooms on some cruise lines.  Do any of you know if the Serenade will have main dining room open before leaving port?? Kind of like the idea of being served instead of searching for a seat at the buffet. Thanks ?

No.  Soda is always extra.

That was an awesome review...thanks for taking the time to write it all up. I am always amazed at what I can learn off this blog site based upon the small amount of cruising that I have done to date. So much to learn and I appreciate those that take the time to school us newbies.

Same but I think @twangster switched his image hosting service which could be the issue. Maybe he will take a look after this TA and hook us up.

The pictures aren’t showing up for me. Has anyone else encountered this? Thanks. 

See if you can get more crew to sign on here, we will love to hear their stories also.

I will chime in with my personal experience.  On my first cruise (a 4 night Bahamas cruise), I took dramamine non-drowsy every day...knowing ahead of time that I tend to get motion sick...and I didn't want to be sick on the cruise.  I was MISERABLE the whole time...not with motion-sickness, but just generally feeling "off".  I did NOT enjoy that cruise.  I just didn't feel like myself.  I even told my hubby and the others we were with that when i tell them, somewhere down the road, "Oh, it wasn't THAT bad...we can go on another cruise..." I want them to remind me how I felt on that cruise. 
So two years later (LOL) last December...hubby and i went on another cruise (6-night Western Caribbean) ONLY after I did some research...I read somewhere that taking the non-drowsy dramamine might have been the whole problem.  So, on our second cruise I didn't take it each day.  I just went and packed some to take with me "just in case".  The only time I ended up feeling sick was after an excursion day in port where we rode a charter bus all day.  That evening, back on the ship, I was a bit sea sick...So, i took dramamine and was perfectly fine the next morning.
We're cruising again 12/6-12/10...Let's see how this goes.

if your looking on the independence facebook page its mostly English people and we love to moan, I wouldn't be concerned In the slightest.