Orchestrating an Intergenerational family vacation on Symphony of the Seas, March 23-31, 2024

[jbrinkm]

7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

We actually love Hiro! I don’t think there is a story line but the show has great energy! Having seen them all, Hiro for sure is in our top 3 favourite Aqua shows. 

I've been thinking more about HiRO and the two places I felt a little bored were when the drums went on for a long time, in the same rhythm, with not much other action. And once I realized that, I also thought that those spots were an interruption of the story - so I guess I do think there was a little story.

Spoiler alert!

It seemed like there were three groups, different colors of clothing (red, black and white), and they were fighting. Then some stuff happened, including disco dancing and a visit from a being above (the "walking" lady who might also have been a spotted cat?) who helped bring them together. Then at the end, everyone was wearing clothes that were red, black and white all together so they now were peaceful together?

[jbrinkm]

My parents went to the thing today and actually had to sign an NDA. So they haven't even told US what it was about.

[Ampurp85]

Thanks for the info about the cake. I went on and ordered it. 

I am excited for Hiro, everyone I have talked to loves it because it is "water battle."

I think OceanAria (Allure) and Intense (Wonder) tie for the least-liked Aqua shows. I like Big Daddy hideaway, the second Harmony show, more than both and for a while that was my least favorite. But OceanAria had changed a lot from my fist viewing in 2021.

How have the crowds been? 

 

[ScottD]

Love the little orange and black magnet guys!  I'm really hoping to see Hiro as Symphony is on my short list of next cruises, it looks great!!!   

An NDA?? Now we really wanna know! lol 

[JohnK6404]

5 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I am excited for Hiro, everyone I have talked to loves it because it is "water battle."

I think OceanAria (Allure) and Intense (Wonder) tie for the least-liked Aqua shows. I like Big Daddy hideaway, the second Harmony show, more than both and for a while that was my least favorite. But OceanAria had changed a lot from my fist viewing in 2021.

Us too! Symphony has been elusive for us! I'd have to agree with you RE: OceanAria and inTENse... our favorite show of the 3 we've seen to date is Aqua80 (Oasis) by far. With that said, we will never miss an Aqua Theater show!  

[WAAAYTOOO]

I guess I'm an outlier as I really enjoyed OceanAria (Allure).  I really do not enjoy the aqua shows that just do a bunch of stomping and splashing.  I thought OceanAria had more diving and swimming than the others....but in the end, they are all pretty much the same, anyway.

I recall thinking that the one with the all-female cast (is that Symphony ??) was a little underwhelming but I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the cast is female....it was just a way for me to recall which show seemed less impressive than the others.

[JohnK6404]

15 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I recall thinking that the one with the all-female cast (is that Symphony ??) was a little underwhelming but I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that the cast is female....it was just a way for me to recall which show seemed less impressive than the others.

I agree... that was inTENse on Wonder with the all-female cast. They're all so talented, but the show was not as varied as OceanAria and Aqua80. Not as much diving as others mentioned from what I recall.  

[WAAAYTOOO]

5 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

I agree... that was inTENse on Wonder with the all-female cast. They're all so talented, but the show was not as varied as OceanAria and Aqua80. Not as much diving as others mentioned from what I recall.  

Thanks.  I couldn't remember which ship it was.

[SweetPea]

11 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

It seemed like there were three groups, different colors of clothing (red, black and white), and they were fighting. Then some stuff happened, including disco dancing and a visit from a being above (the "walking" lady who might also have been a spotted cat?) who helped bring them together. Then at the end, everyone was wearing clothes that were red, black and white all together so they now were peaceful together?

This summary made me smile. 

 

Aqua80 is the only one I've seen but it didn't occur to me that it could have a story line. I just liked the music and diving ....

[jbrinkm]

18 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

How have the crowds been?

I was going to say not as bad as I expected BUT the Windjammer tonight at 8pm was as crowded as it would be during breakfast on a port day!!! I have NO idea why...  and the main theater was packed to the gills during the show tonight except for a few seats that were behind poles (that upper-lower section).

BTW, we're still picking at the chocolate cake here and there and it is just starting to get a little stale.

[jbrinkm]

Today was Falmouth where we had picked a river tubing trip from Viator. They sent me a message yesterday to meet at 10:30am Jamaica time and I screwed up the time zone. We got there an hour early because Jamaica is on Eastern time but no daylight savings 

HOWEVER, my husband, who is beloved by grandmother-aged women everywhere, sweet talked the lady into letting us go with the earlier tour. There wasn't much of a description and it ended up being a bit too strenuous for my parents (although they did make it!). There was a walk to a small falls, over a wobbly plank bridge, and down a path quite a ways. Then everyone got in the water and essentially got dunked under the falls. We didn't get a great explanation, other than just "to get used to the water." It was fun for me and the kids but difficult for my parents.

We went down a bunch of wet rocks which was especially hard for my dad who has had two hip replacements. The guides were absolutely fabulous. Helping and joking in a way that did not make him feel bad. There were people of all ages and sizes on the tour and all of the guides were phenomenal with everyone. They kept calling my dad Papi which he got a kick out of.

So after the waterfall dunking, we backtracked a little bit and got in our tubes. Oh, we had to carry our own tubes all the way down the long path with us too, including over the wobble bridge. Each group had one guide with them and we each held our neighbor's tube with one hand to make a circle. We floated all the way down this river, some parts very calm and some parts with small rapids. My mom started to feel unwell here and thinks it was because of the helmet pushing her neck in a weird way and it made her nauseous.

There was one place to stop and get out and jump into the river from a platform. My son did a flip. Towards the end, we switched to a raft and paddled into the ocean/bay where we pulled up at a beach. Once we got in the raft, my mom was able to take off the helmet and started to feel better after that We walked all the way down the beach to a place with a bar and tables and a lifeguard. The beach & ocean here were absolutely beautiful. 

My son has been very interested in alcohol and asking if he can try stuff. We know officially we can't on the boat, but we kind of feel at home that if we let him have a sip of stuff here and there generally with family, European style, he might be less likely to do it in an unsafe way. So he was curious about the offerings at the bar, and I said - I wonder what the drinking age is in Jamaica. Then my husband said to the bartender, my son wants to know what the drinking age in Jamaica is and the bartender asks my son, how old are you. My son - "14". Bartender- "then 14!" So we got one Red Stripe beer for my husband and I to split and let him have a few small drinks of it. Later at dinner, he asked me, "why do people even drink beer? It's not like it tastes good." 

We had no wifi or cell coverage so only took 1 phone along and didn't use it to take pictures. My husband had a go pro but we don't have a computer to download to videos until we get home.

 

[jbrinkm]

We got back to the ship around 3:30pm (all aboard was 5:30) so we decided to go down the Perfect Storm since we were already in bathing suits. Then rushed to get ready for dinner - it was white night - and then had reservations for Hairspray. I enjoyed it somewhat, especially the upbeat songs. Since we had rushed dinner, we stopped in the Windjammer after the performance and nibbled on a few things. 

I was really surprised at how many people dressed for white night. I don't think I've seen this level before. My best estimate is that at least 80% of the people out and about were wearing white.

[jbrinkm]

Oh! And we bought Blue Mountain coffee and some really good chocolate bars in the port area.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

12 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

Today was Falmouth where we had picked a river tubing trip from Viator.

Ha…I was looking at that same tour with Viator IF our May Symphony cruise cancels Labadee and IF we get rerouted to Falmouth!  
Your description is pretty thorough so do you recommend?  We’ve got 6 kids (ages 9-12) and 8 adults (all in 40’s range except me 67).  Your thoughts…..

[Ampurp85]

I hope your mom is feeling better. River tubbing was something I did once decades ago and never again, it wasn't lazy enough and I got wind knocked out of me. I know a lot of people love it. 

Everything should be in moderation with proper education is my belief. So, I hate that I have to put this out there.........but I don't judge you for allowing your son to try alcohol. I am also probably one of the few people who don't like Red Stripe beer 

[jbrinkm]

3 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Your thoughts….

I think my parents would have enjoyed it more 10 years ago when they were both a little more agile. My husband, kids and I would have really loved it except we were a bit anxious about my dad and then my mom. Water shoes were fantastic to have - I'd recommend them to everybody doing this trip. I think your group would have a blast. The guides are phenomenal, singing Bob Marley, flipping into the water, laughing and being funny. 

You do hang out at the beach for quite a while at the end. It might be helpful to have a small snack in your bag. You leave your bag in the van at the beginning and the van is waiting at the beach. I wish I had known we would be there for a while because I would have gone in the water. The kids might want some floats or sand toys there. 

I think I saw two different companies offering the tubing - I'd definitely pick the River Rapids Jamaica one with the better reviews.

There were also outdoor showers near the bar where you could rinse off. We got pretty sandy towards the end and I was happy to also have flip flops to change in to. 

[jbrinkm]

33 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Everything should be in moderation with proper education is my belief. So, I hate that I have to put this out there.........but I don't judge you for allowing your son to try alcohol. I am also probably one of the few people who don't like Red Stripe beer 

Thank you! The other thing is - my husband and I rarely drink so it has only been a handful of times that he's even been in a situation to ask about it. Like maybe 4? Once was in Germany where it is legal, once in Wisconsin where my sister lives and is also legal with parents there, once today (legal?), and then maybe one or two other times? And he's just about to turn 15 and he's the size of an adult. So I know others might feel differently but we are ok with it under those circumstances. Especially because we model extreme moderation.

[jbrinkm]

I forgot to say the first night - no one was under our bed when we shoved our suitcases under there!

[jbrinkm]

I just caught up on @WAYNO's blog and we've also had good dinners this year. IMO, the MDR meals have improved from a year ago! I even enjoyed my tofu "tacos" tonight. No one in my family has had a bad meal yet.

[OCSC Mike]

9 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

I was really surprised at how many people dressed for white night. I don't think I've seen this level before. My best estimate is that at least 80% of the people out and about were wearing white.

Not quite 80% but I definitely saw more people than usual participating in the theme nights like white or Caribbean as well as getting dressed up for formal night on Wonder last week. My guess was the influx of new cruisers are excited about the themes and/or think most of the ship will participate and feel obligated to do so.

[WAYNO]

8 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

I just caught up on @WAYNO's blog and we've also had good dinners this year. IMO, the MDR meals have improved from a year ago! I even enjoyed my tofu "tacos" tonight. No one in my family has had a bad meal yet.

I just saw this post. This site is so extremely difficult to use on my cell phone when I'm traveling,  I don't  always see everything.  

Anyway,  I must again echo my dining experience onboard Wonder.  Two meals on the MDR have been world class,  the service has been great, and our dinners have been completed with plenty of time to get out and attend a show.  Our two servers have been truly delightful. 

[SweetPea]

11 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I am also probably one of the few people who don't like Red Stripe beer

+2 for not showing Red Stripe any love. (Batman hates it also.) Yuck!

Keep giving your son bad beer @jbrinkm!  He'll never get the taste!

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

11 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

My son has been very interested in alcohol and asking if he can try stuff. We know officially we can't on the boat, but we kind of feel at home that if we let him have a sip of stuff here and there generally with family, European style, he might be less likely to do it in an unsafe way. So he was curious about the offerings at the bar, and I said - I wonder what the drinking age is in Jamaica. Then my husband said to the bartender, my son wants to know what the drinking age in Jamaica is and the bartender asks my son, how old are you. My son - "14". Bartender- "then 14!" So we got one Red Stripe beer for my husband and I to split and let him have a few small drinks of it. Later at dinner, he asked me, "why do people even drink beer? It's not like it tastes good." 

I love this story.  When I was a young lady (too young to drink alcohol, for sure), my father told me that anytime I felt like I wanted to drink alcohol, please to come to him, first and that he would let me have whatever I wanted.  Guess what...I never did.

To this day, I believe that this is the reason that I have no interest in alcohol at all.  I never had that "...sneak around to drink..." fixation.  Obviously, once I was old enough to drink on my own, I did not bother my father with it (LOL) but I just never had the urge to sneak around and drink behind my parents' backs and I still really do not enjoy drinking alcohol.  Sure, I will drink a glass of champagne from time-to-time and maybe even a cocktail, but I SO hate the way I feel the next day when I drink too much that I just don't do it.

[Sweety]

11 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

Oh! And we bought Blue Mountain coffee and some really good chocolate bars in the port area.

Blue mountain coffee is the best. Sometimes I mix it will coffee from Mexico.

[Sweety]

32 minutes ago, SweetPea said:

+2 for not showing Red Stripe any love. (Batman hates it also.) Yuck!

Keep giving your son bad beer @jbrinkm!  He'll never get the taste!

 

Don't talk about my homeland beer. It's better with spicy food.

[asquared17]

8 minutes ago, Sweety said:

Don't talk about my homeland beer. It's better with spicy food.

i love red stripe as my traditional “you’re on a cruise!” drink!! i always have to get it from the schooner bar to kick off our cruise

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

15 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

i love red stripe as my traditional “you’re on a cruise!” drink!! i always have to get it from the schooner bar to kick off our cruise

I have no clue what it is…does this mean I will have to try it?  

[Ampurp85]

I will even have to say that the MDR has gotten such a bad rep that people are going in with preconceived notions. I had a couple of decent dinners, my service as a solo wasn't always great. But the food was hot and on a couple of occasion delicious. I just know I am a picky eater, so I often do specialty dinning, but I can make the MDR work on occasions. 

[asquared17]

1 hour ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

I have no clue what it is…does this mean I will have to try it?  

yes!!! 

once on board, head directly to the schooner bar and order a red stripe. 

BAM!

you are on vacation!!

[jbrinkm]

Ahhhh, just as I was complimenting the MDR, they serve.me THIS as the "apple blossom" for lunch today:

[jbrinkm]

Day 4!

[jbrinkm]

6 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

I definitely saw more people than usual participating in the theme nights like white or Caribbean as well as getting dressed up for formal night on Wonder last week. My guess was the influx of new cruisers are excited about the themes and/or think most of the ship will participate and feel obligated to do so.

I wondered if it was because you can now see the dress themes ahead of time in the app so people know what to pack.

[Ampurp85]

Where did you get the magnetic men? 

[jbrinkm]

2 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Where did you get the magnetic men? 

Bezos, aren't they cute?!? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7Q7SF33/ref=cm_sw_r_apanp_gvTR7Hlmh3Jcx 

[jbrinkm]

I had the hardest time finding stateroom requests in the app, so I'll share in case I'm not the only one:

Click here and then:

[jbrinkm]

1 hour ago, jbrinkm said:

Ahhhh, just as I was complimenting the MDR, they serve.me THIS as the "apple blossom" for lunch today:

So my gnocchi was bad in the MDR for lunch also. I got fruit for appetizer from the dessert menu and that was fine. But the gnocchi was tough & overcooked, plus very, very salty. 

I slept in today so no breakfast, this was my first meal. The apple dessert tasted ok, just was very disappointing that it wasn't the actual blossom. 

[jbrinkm]

I was enjoying my balcony and for the second time this sailing started smelling cigarette from next door and scurried inside. I reported it this time.

[jbrinkm]

On 3/25/2024 at 8:25 AM, ScottD said:

An NDA?? Now we really wanna know! lol 

They still haven't told us! But they've been spending their money! They booked the luggage service since their flight is not until 7pm, and the Everglades tour, and my mom bought a really nice, long sleeved spirit wear Symphony of the Seas shirt.

[Cactus527]

UGH, I had nice replies made and then my computer blipped. 

1. I thought your description of Hiro was a fight on board, a la @Ampurp85's Allure sailing. Fight shenanigans! 

2. My parents always let us try alcohol too, and that's probably why I'm such a lightweight (like @WAAAYTOOO). We joke at home that typically the only alcohol in the house is the wine for cooking.

3. Smoking on the balconies drives me BANANAS. I had it in September on Indy, but lucked out with Freedom earlier this month. 

[jbrinkm]

21 minutes ago, jbrinkm said:

I was enjoying my balcony and for the second time this sailing started smelling cigarette from next door and scurried inside. I reported it this time.

Part of the reason I reported it was because I had our stateroom door open to air it out - we had some wet stuff hanging to dry and gave the room a bit musty smell.

Allure has many more built in wall hooks. We're using the ones I brought more heavily than the last two years. We even have our drying line hooked up:

We drip dry our wet stuff in the shower and then move it over here to finish drying.