She Sails Away

First of all, thoughts on Symphony: She was fabulous! What's not to love? Absolutely gorgeous. Boarding day was perhaps the smoothest I've ever seen....we got out of the cab and never stopped walking (hardly) until we were on the ship at eleven am. Easy-peasy. The ship is shiny and still looks brand new. Soooo much space. It was a full sailing--I didn't get the numbers, but it felt full, for what that's worth. A big mix of international crowds--I heard lots of Italian, French, and German on board, and spoke to several folks from Ireland and Scotland. Plenty of Americans, as well. Lots of families aboard. We left Barcelona very late. The captain eventually announced that they had a medical emergency and were waiting on an ambulance, which was expected in about twenty minutes. I was wondering why on earth an ambulance would take twenty minutes to get there, when the "alpha" call went out from the pool deck for another emergency. My son was walking by when that one happened and said someone had fainted. But they seemed okay when they came to, and were sitting up and getting medical help. In any case, it was about three hours later before we actually left. I hope everyone was okay. So here are some general thoughts on the ship: Pool deck--spotless. Crowded, of course....forget wandering into the solarium and finding two chairs together. Those things get claimed earrrrrly in the morning. ALL of the hot tubs stay full, naturally. But still....plenty of lounge chairs and nice places to hang out for everyone. You need a reservation to have any meal at all at Solarium bistro. I went into my app within minutes of boarding and they were all gone. Oh well. I checked a few times during the week and nothing opened up. I was given the opportunity ahead of cruise to make show reservations and a reservation for the Rubicon/escape room, so I did all that before we boarded. My cabin was a boardwalk balcony, deck 8. I was near the aft with a view of the Aqua theater (and Abyss.) That was fun. It was fun to see the Johnny Rockets waiters do their dancing, see the silent disco party one night, and hear the thundering music from the Aqua show several times during the week. The boardwalk was lively and hopping, but never overrun. We walked up to Playmakers twice to eat and had no trouble getting a table. Dazzles is beautiful, they have a lovely card room on deck 14, and overall, everything is just so PRETTY. The promenade stayed busy all week. The Rubicon escape room was fun-but hard! Get a good group and really work at it. That hour flew by and we did not solve it.

Hi, all! Just back from a three-week long adventure---a two week Transatlantic (other cruise line), followed immediately with a week on Symphony. My dates were May 21-May 28. I met my son in Barcelona, we did a little sightseeing and spent the night there, and then boarded Symphony the next day. It was a fabulous cruise and I thought I'd share a few tips, insights, photos, for those going on this cruise in the future. Side note, on my Transatlantic, I picked up what I think was norovirus. YIKES. I was SO SICK. Good grief. Fortunately, I was on the mend when we reached Symphony, but I barely ate the first few days. So here we go on my recap:

I know it's subjective, but I have to say my room attendant looked absolutely defeated and exhausted every single time I saw him. My son had a different cabin on a different floor and his room steward looked the same way. Excellent service from both of them, though. Really exceptional. Definitely felt for them. They were never not there.

Just got off Symphony in Barcelona, we had once a day service which I was informed of, but I was not asked which one I preferred. (And that didn't bother me, I'm just sharing that information.) If given the choice I much prefer morning. I shower at night and go through the towels and washcloths, obviously I sleep in the bed, I tend to bring empty water bottles and trash back to the room with me and stuff my trash cans. It's nice to go to breakfast and come back and the trash cans are empty and I have fresh towels and the bed is made and I'm good for the rest of the day. As it turns out, we did have morning service most days, (all of us on the hall,) although there were 2 days when we all had evening service. I did get two towel animals during the week. No paper compass.

We found there to be a huge mix, much more so than usual Caribbean trips, of international passengers. Lots of French spoken, lots of Italian, I heard quite a bit of German as well. There were tons and tons of teenagers and kids on the ship and everybody seem to be having a blast. Didn't find language barriers in the least. People were friendly and/or kept to themselves. Everybody got into the spirit of dressing up in white for white night, formal night, there were a couple of community dance parties in the promenade and they were packed with happy people getting along just fine. Adventure ocean always had kids scurrying in and out the entryway whenever we passed. as far as shore excursions, there were several options for Italian speaking only, Spanish-speaking only, etc.

On symphony 2 weeks ago we left Barcelona hours late because of two medical emergencies in a row. Neither one were severe, thankfully.

Happily following along! I just did this cruise last week and got home on Sunday. Looking forward to revisiting all of those amazing places right along with you.

Odyssey is a gorgeous ship in her own right, with plenty to love. However, I did find the entertainment to be quite disappointing. I don't remember liking any of the shows and I'm not especially demanding in that way. So if entertainment is important to you, that's just my two cents.

Just got off symphony in Barcelona last week on a Sunday, taxis were waiting and I made it to the airport in under 40 minutes, from the time I left the cabin to the time I walked into the airport. Check-in was fairly quick and I was at my gate within 30 minutes. I had an 1130 flight and even with stopping to buy snacks, I was at my gate by 915. Obviously, I did self-assessed luggage and just walked off the ship as soon as possible, which was about 730. on a sidenote, a baggage handler strike started that day, I believe. Our flight was delayed three hours because there was no one to unload the plane from the previous flight.

So glad you're okay!

Although I'm always sad to see disembarkation day come, once it's here I want off the minute the ship is open. I am ready to get home and usually anxious to get straight to the airport and catch the earliest flight possible. I also would not enjoy having to wait until after 1 o'clock to get on the ship on that first day. That's half your very first vacation day wasted.

Thank you for the adventure and the photos! Can't wait to go in a few weeks!

Those photos are incredible!

It sounds like it's already pretty warm out there?

Let's see that pedicure!

Oh how terrible

Love this. I will be doing this cruise in three weeks! Thank you for the info on everything! Following right along!

You look adorable in everything you've shared here; surely the shorts set will be a success! Good for you for cleaning out your closet--it's a great feeling to do that right before vacation. (And right after Christmas.)

I'm headed to Miami in two weeks. Yikes.

What a happy family!! Love that. Looking forward to hearing all about Star Class! I love Allure!

My goodness---that was some trip to the airport! YIKES. Thanks for bringing us along! So fun. Great pictures! I'm already looking forward to your Wonder blog next year. I've never been on that one. I forgot about that Once Upon A Time show.....I couldn't stand it. I left. I think somewhere around Rapunzel, too! You make this Casino thing sound so easy. When I tried all that on Enchantment, (first time in a Casino) I was overwhelmed!

Such wonderful pictures. I feel like I'm there! And holy cow… That is a long time to be on hold. But what a score! Which ship will that be on? very creative on the sangria.

Enjoying your blog! That’s awful about the soup. I totally get that vacation-food love/disappointment. Wow, you are killing it in the casino!

I'd love stuff like that! I would look, enjoy, and comment---but let me be clear that I live in shorts and saggy t shirts all cruise long. In a few weeks , I'm dressing for formal night on my next (non Royal) cruise for the first time in years.....other than that, it's mouseville for me. (See picture for shining example of my highly imaginative and age-appropriate cruise uniform.) Also I work from home and live in pajamas.

Great pictures of you and your brother! And the food! love Freedom--but I guess I forgot about the little phone booth showers. Those shorts look comfy. No scandal as far as I can tell! They have an ice skating show there, right? I love those.