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This summer on Symphony the paid excursion was done by the tour guide and no questions were answered by an officer. The star class tour on the same cruse was much better. The Star class tour was done by the Genie and an office came over and explained a lot of things in details.

In theory you don't need to worry about the B2B protocols. You could disembark on your own as early as possible and then check in for the second cruise as late as possible. But the usual B2B protocol makes it easier as you don't need the full terminal security and check in. Earlier this year my wife had an excursion on the turnover day in Barcelona, Spain. She got her new sea pass the day before and was told to leave the ship with the old one and scan the new one when returning. I'm not sure if that only worked because we travelled in star class or if it always works like that. But in general if you book a Royal excursion on the turnover day they will ensure that you can actually go on the excursion.

Good, then I know who to blame if the ship is trashed or out of food/drinks when we get on board. Congratulations on the anniversary!

Not sure about Canada but here in Germany I always pay my TA and never Royal. Actually for my last cruise this summer the payment through Royal wouldn't work before the cruise it showed an open balance but when I tried to pay it I got a friendly message indicating that I should pay through my TA. The main advantage for people in Germany paying through the TA are: * pay in local currency not USD. This is especially useful with currency fluctuations. I won't have a situation where I paid 50% a year ago and then 3 month before the cruise I find out that due to fluctuations the last 50% would cost me a lot more then then expected. * If something goes wrong, I never paid an American company, I never signed a direct contract with them. So I will meet my TA in court and not Royal - not that I ever expect that to happen. * If Royal goes bankrupt, nothing I would expect, but still I don't care, I paid my TA and I will get a refund from them. So I would say at least in Europe a honest TA never makes you pay directly to Royal but the TA handles that for you.

The "It's only required by a few select countries most cruises don't visit part" is questionable. There is this big country south of Canada, north of Mexico that requires a 6 month valid passport - at least for people from Europe. I think a lot of Caribbean cruises start in that country.

What week will you be on the Symphony in April 2025? We are on a B2B cruise from 13th of April to 27th of April 2025 on the Symphony.

You forgot: Ride with a nice, half-naked person early 20th and opposite gender: 4999.99

I can also confirm that we never had any trouble with our kids in the Coastal Kitchen. It was great experience for them. Very friendly staff, very accommodating. We loved it. Sadly I can't compare it to the main dining room as I've never used that one.

I think it sort of makes sense. If it is really that good. Star Class guests could fill the 38 seats easily. And if it would be included I guess there would be no chance for anybody else to ever go there.

I agree. Due to school holidays we can't travel whenever we want to. And my girls like the Ultimate Family Suite (or the Townhouse on the Icon) but compared to Wonder or Symphony the Icon price is 3 times as much for that one. My travel agent offered me the Ultimate Family Townhouse for Christmas 2025 for just under $190.000 per week. I'm sorry but I don't think we will be on Icon during the Christmas 2025 season.

Nice, if it works with the time. I would be happy to participate. will you organise it here or on another website/forum?

Interesting discussion and as somebody has said already Europe vs the USA are just two different cultures. We don't have to like each others culture but we have to know enough about them that we can conform when visiting the other culture. But there is actually one thing I really don't understand. In a lot of the discussions the tipping in the US is made out to be better since in encourages a better service and at the same time allows the employees to take more money home. That's actually an argument that I as a European can understand even if I don't necessary share it. However, if that is really the case then why is it limited to certain industries? I would love a better service in the department store, at the car dealer, from the flight attendant, from my insurance company or the post office. Are all those services so good in the USA that you don't need to encourage better services through tips and do employees in those industries earn so much that they wouldn't want to earn more through tips?

Apparently it plays what is played on one of the two TVs in the kids room. I guess it doesn't have a tuner. You have to change the input to HDMI something and then it will play the same that is played on another TV. I fully agree. My guess is the fridge part of the furniture is something they use in a lot of other rooms too so they just included in that room. But it really doesn't make any sense. That's impressive that you worked out how to operate the blinds. For me it was a hit and miss. Sometimes it did work. Sometimes it did not. The most annoying thing for me was that you can't stop half way. It is either fully open of fully closed.

And then you post here? Isn't that against the forum rules??? I think that is really strange, why would they care what you do at home. It is not like they can sell you a daily treatment for home or anything like that.

I know the problem. I'm glad that I'm not the only one with that problem. But on the other hand it must mean that the cruise is so good that there is no time to write a blog.

I was really disappointed in Pisa. More tourists then you can count and not really that good restaurants - more expensive tourist traps. The only good thing about going there was I can now confirm the tower is leaning. Not sure about Lucca but if it doesn't have the one and only tourist thing for everybody to see maybe that could be a nicer trip. How to get around, I guess train or private hire car with a driver would be the quickest.

I did that ones and I felt so bad about it. I got the show time wrong by 15 minutes In the second week when you have your Genie, they can provide blankets for the ice show as front row might get cold with shorts and a t-shirt. As for the change in show. The story in the normal one is better (as in there is a story) but I prefer the music in iSkate 2.0 and the skating is more or less the same. When we were on Symphony earlier this month they had two guest skaters (a magic quick change act that they incorporated in the normal show). So you didn't miss out on too much. But maybe you have another time to see the other show. Also if your kids like skating the second week your Genie can help with the public skating times as in possibly get you longer on the ice and if your kids really want to do it there might be the option to book a private skating lesson for the kids (for a small fee). For the Ultimate Family Suite, your kids will have a lot of fun. The only thing that might annoy you is the various TVs and remotes for them. Also we had a lot of people "not in the room" try to connect the phone to the big TV in the living room which always turned on the TV. In the end I unplugged it. I'm curious if this also happens when you are in the suite. If Gloria is your loft attendant please say hi to her from "Christian and family".

I'm with you on the truffles. Mushrooms are ok but truffles no thanks. When eating at the speciality restaurants make sure you read the menu well. On our recent sailing several restaurants had truffle fries with the main course.

Interesting. Yes, star class, but I would have thought it doesn't really matter. On Central park the kitchens are so close to each other who cares where the food comes from. But yes it might have been a star class "benefit" or it might have been that my kids asked very friendly without the assumption that it would actually work. I would go with: Don't demand something ask politely and be happy even if it is declined.

If you have a suite with a Genie the popcorn is free and you don't even need to queue up for it at least that was our recent experience.

I don't agree with comments such as: Are there places on the planet where you can get a better pizza? Yes, but I really don't think the Royal Pizza is crappy. When it comes to food options, I didn't have any problems to find something in the evening. I think a bigger issue would have been late morning just before the lunch start. A lot of places are closed - including Sorrento's.

Not only can they order from either menu, but kids also get away with ordering from a different restaurant if it is available. My youngest doesn't eat a lot, so she got away with ordering spaghetti in Chops and 150 central park despite it not being on the menu on those days. They just went next door to Jamie's to get her some spaghetti. Same with the deserts, my kids asked for ice cream that wasn't on the menu but they got it for them anyway. I guess my advice would be: Be polite and don't overdo it but if they kids really would like something they get it regardless of the menu. Actually the same for adults. I do not like truffle fries but I never had a problem ordering fries without truffle despite it not being on the menu or a surf'n turf if both steak and lobster are on the menu. Just be polite and ask.

I've recently been on the Symphony in a star class suite. And what the star class guests got was a free bridge tour. We also booked the all access tour (actually the same day as the star class bridge visit just later). The all access tour was great. As described by @Sarastep only on the bridge it wasn't a bridge crew member but the tour guide who spoke to us. On the star class bridge tour it was the second officer who showed us around and explained everything. The advantage was that he had more knowledge then the tour guide. And working there he knew what buttons to press. My daughter asked how high the waves were and he said not sure but let's look at the wave radar (I can't remember the actual name of that radar) and he showed her the current wave height, wave height for the entire day etc. Also the star class bridge tours are usually smaller with less people. So for visiting other parts of the ship definitely book the all access tour, it was great fun.

Yes I really underestimated the time it takes to write something useful. I will try again as the next cruise is already booked for next year. Regarding the noise, I don't think I have read anything about that anywhere. Maybe it is normal for cruise ships or maybe it is an American thing. next year I'll go to an US theme park then I can compare that to Europe with regards to the noise.

OK, I'm sorry, I didn't finish the second week. But it more or less went like the first one - it was great. I have learned something about writing a live blog - do it on the day itself or you will forget half of it. Departure day I didn't like - not because it was the end of the holiday but rather because it was a busy, early day and with the luggage packing the day before it meant that even the evening before departure day was a little annoying. I think it was mentioned before but I think it could be a nice option to have both departure and arrival later in the day. Departure just after lunch would be nice and I would be ok to arrive just before dinner time. So let me close with my personal summary. The cruise was fantastic. For me and my girls the destination was the ship and not the ports we visited. Apart from arrival and departure my daughters and I left the ship only ones. Maria was on land way more often I think 8 times but that's why we decided on a cruise we hoped and were not disappointed with us being able to go on holiday together but still do individual things. Adventure Ocean wasn't that much fun for my kids but they were ok with doing things by themself. They walked of and did whatever they felt like together. The 6 year old was a little too young to walk around alone, also she doesn't have a mobile so she couldn't message us if she gets lost or needs something else. For the next cruise I definitely put a $ 0 limit on my daughters cards, they don't need to spend that much time in the arcades. The cabin itself. It was just perfect. The kids also had fun playing there alone for hours on end. So when Maria and I went to a show the girls stayed in the cabin (with some room service ice cream). I have mentioned it before, the technology could use an update. A smart home that was planed 10 years ago isn't that smart today. Also in some areas the smart home limited the use. It wasn't possible to turn individual lights on or of. As the Wonder of the seas is newer, I hope this will be a smarter experience when we try it next year. It was our first cruise as a family and we had done extensive research before it mainly on YouTube and here. But the one thing we didn't expect was the noise level. I was talking to other European guests with a lot of cruise experience and they all confirmed. Royal Caribbean is an American cruise line that means they don't only build the best and biggest ships but sadly also the loudest ones. I enjoyed all the shows I saw but I don't think I saw a single one where the sound couldn't have been turned down at least 10%. Or walking through the promenade with live music - it's nice, but I think it was too loud. And the only reason why my girls didn't like Izumi Hibachi was because the noise level hurt there ears. I really don't know why everything must be so loud but I hope there is a good reason as the loudest is not always the best. Finally if there is anything you would like a picture of, let me know and I check if I took one. Christian PS Next time I write shorter reports but daily. And I include more pictures.