mashakes

Hey all, I am going to be going on a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise April 6th - 13th out of Miami. Super excited about it! I have been on a ton of cruises, but am particularly excited to be on Royal Caribbean's new ship "Symphony of the Seas" . I wanted to post here to see if anyone had any tips, suggestions on dining, what bars are cool, or just any information they wanted to pass along, much appreciated! 

This forum has been great, the information everyone is posting is very helpful, very much appreciated! Any body else going on Symphony of the Seas April 6th - 13th??  There is going to be 10+ people in our group (big family). 

My girlfriend and I will be on that one...

This forum has been great, the information everyone is posting is very helpful, very much appreciated! Any body else going on Symphony of the Seas April 6th - 13th??  There is going to be 10+ people in our group (big family). 

We are going the same dates!  We did Harmony last year so not expecting much different. First time we went in April so hope the seas are calmer.  I worry about sea sickness. Great replies so far. Thanks for posting

Hey all, I am going to be going on a 7 night Western Caribbean cruise April 6th - 13th out of Miami. Super excited about it! I have been on a ton of cruises, but am particularly excited to be on Royal Caribbean's new ship "Symphony of the Seas" . I wanted to post here to see if anyone had any tips, suggestions on dining, what bars are cool, or just any information they wanted to pass along, much appreciated! 

Couple of blog posts to check out:
Symphony of the Seas family cruising guide Top 10 Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas hidden secrets My Symphony of the Seas Live Blog

You beat me to it, was just cutting getting ready to paste.

Just got back from a 7 nighter onboard her and I have a few thoughts/tips:
 
1. If youve been on an Oasis class ship, you know the drill.  Symphony isn't much different.
2. Sugar Beach candy store is good as is Playmakers on the BW, though given the time of year, not much going on sports-wise to show other than soccer.
3.  Do see: 1977, Iskate 2.0 (Studio B); HIRO (AT) Hairspray (RT)
4. skip- Flight (RT) complete zzzz fest
5.  HIRO scrapped 3 shows while we were onboard and then crammed the makeups into the last 2 days of the cruise; reserve the earliest one you can, so in case its cancelled, you'll automatically get rebooked to a later show.  We had reservations on Night 6, but the forecast called for iffy weather, so we endured the standby line for Night 5.  Barely made it.  Sat in the 3rd row (ie the splash sone, but didnt really get wet)
6. El Loco Fresh (pool deck) was great.  Fresh quesadillas, tacos and burritos.
7.  No shore tour was ever sold out (despite having 6500 onboard), but of course reserving during a sale ensures a lower price.  Be mindful that if you want to exchange or cancel a tour, you must do so within 48 hours, though we noticed the policy was loosely enforced (including for us, when we made a couple of last min changes).  If your cruise goes to Nassau and you get off the ship, bring your seapsss AND photo ID! we were not told about this and were briefly detained in port security for about 30 mins while Nassau Port PD checked our names against the days' manifests and arranged for an escort back to the ship since we didn't have a photo ID.
8.  Leaving the ship on the last morning was crowded (and we did express departure). leave before 8 AM if you want to avoid the masses.
9.  Speaking of, while the new terminal is great (easy checkin, still has the new terminal sheen), getting ground transportation to wherever after you last disembark (for us, FLL airport) was challenging..  we had a reservation with one of the MANY companies hawking rides.  signage is basically nonexistent  and the shuttles can pick up in any of the 12 loading zones spanning the length of the terminal.  You'll be well served to keep in constant contact with the company you choose to find out where to get picked up.  There are 6500 disembarking at once, so its chaotic!
10.  The app, as been discussed elsewhere, isnt great.  You cannot use it to text without a internet plan (unlike on Harmony) and youc annot modify reservation times or tours for the most part.  You must cancel and rebook, which usually results in you not getting the time you want, plus the added hassle of losing your orig reservation and trudging to guest services.  I tried to modify a Jamies res one night, which ended up inadvertently cancelling the UDP we had bought on black friday for super cheap.  At first, they were going to charge me for the full onboard price to get it again, but once I explained how their app caused me all sorts of confusion, they gave me the orig price I paid.
11.  Suprisingly, Guest Services was never terribly crowded when we walked by (which was often).  they do a good job of triaging in the line with the use of iphones/ipads  so that most trips to the counter can be avoided.
12.  Finally, the restaurants were all good, esp Hooked.  I def recommend it, since the lobster there is a full lobster, not some small tail you get in the dining room.  Since we had the UDP, we never ate in the dining room.