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Symphony OTS Live! - Transatlantic Oct. 28, 2018 "Coming to America"


twangster

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2 hours ago, Matt said:

Can you grab a photo of the sign that advertises this, along with maybe the appetizer menu? I think this would be a great blog post.

I'm certain I saw this somewhere. Will search for it after the headliner show and post it to my blog when I find it.

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6 hours ago, Sweety said:

@twangster, you have me spending money again. YOLO, I am booking this for spring break 2021. Have to work night school again. I never worked night school until I brought a new camera, lenses and booked more cruises.

Work to cruise...that is what I always say to myself!

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Day 7 - Sea Day

Another beautiful sunny day at sea.

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The Captain mentioned the idea of swell and how it can come across the ocean from thousands of miles away.  On this day the remnants of Hurricane Oscar are over 1,200 nm away but the source of our swell today.  Wind and waves are from the East behind us, the swell from Oscar is come from the West and North in front of us.  The ship is pitching slightly and pools have been drained to avoid water sloshing around.  It's a subtle movement today where occasionally one movement might be a little stronger than most.

The swell is best seen when video is sped up or in this case a time lapse:

The Solarium is popular today.

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They must be working on the new Solarium Bar cover in the overnight hours as each day a little bit more is done.  They now have four glass panels in place:

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The Solarium Bistro:

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Day 7 - Lunch

Since I was in the neighborhood... El Loco Fresh for lunch

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Quite popular, I sense Royal Caribbean has a hit here.

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There are three primary stations and the first offers soft tacos with different meats.

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Pre-made Burritos are available

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Finally some Quesadilla 

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Lots of toppings

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A lot of toppings...

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My observations...

If you are a Mexican food Connoisseur then you'll you need to remember you are on a ship likely very far from Mexico.  Having said that it wasn't bad and I'll be eating here again.  In fact I have to give Royal credit for giving a strong alternative to another Windjammer lunch option.  The Guac isn't exactly how I like it, but they need to make it for the many, not just my taste buds.  That's not to say it's bad, just not exactly as it's made in my home.

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My only gripe was lack of seating.  Many people during this noon lunch hour had parked themselves here to play dominoes, watch a game on their phone, read a book or otherwise... not eat.  That left few seats for those that actually wanted to... eat.  In essence, the same issue any Oasis class Windjammer has - not enough seats for the passengers on board.

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I haven't really addressed our cruise director on this sailing - Bobby Brown.

I have to say a CD doesn't make or break a cruise for me.  I like some more than others but it's not a deal breaker for me.  I had Bobby as a CD on Harmony (I think).  To be honest he didn't leave a great impression on that cruise.  

However in the "always keep your mind open" department he has been better than I anticipated on this cruise.  I've actually watched the Morning Show more than I usually do. 

One thing he added to this sailing was a unique special - "How Do You Maintain An Ice Skating Rink On A Cruise Ship?".  

As a cruise geek this was really cool.  Ice cool.  Just kidding, but really informative.  

We enter Studio B to see someone.. watering the ice.

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Joining Bobby in this presentation is Rubin, the stage manager who looks after Studio B.

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They discuss thing like where the dance floor used during "RED" or Laser tag is stored (hint, it's under the center section and it slides out from under the seats). That's different from other ship in different classes.

As it turns out sailings like a 12 night transatlantic are an opportunity for some maintenance activities.  The ship has been in service for several months and while things like the ice surface could go on, once the ship enter routine seven night sailings it would be much more disruptive to perform certain essential maintenance including replacing the ice in Studio B later on, so they took advantage of this 12 night sailing to melt Studio B.  To. The. Floor.  They melted it down to the bare floor.  Like defrosting a freezer at home, once in a while it just has to be done.  

They began melting it down right after (ok, during) the last ice skating show.  That took overnight, then they had to clean it all up and get ready to make new ice.

They have since been building the ice up, millimeter by millimeter, by hand, watering each layer every 15 minutes or so, around the clock, since.  In fact as we listened to the presentation, the crew came out to repeat the watering process we saw when we first arrived.

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Then again.

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The water is special filtered water.  This will continue for the three days, around the clock, until the ice approximately 3.5 cm thick (1 1/2").  But that's not all.  

If anyone follows Nick Weir, VP of Entertainment for Royal he has been touting how they have AMPED up the projection technology on Symphony over Harmony.  That in part starts in the ice.

Within the ice is embedded a membrane that enhances the resolution of the surface as a projection technology.  That membrane was just replaced here on Symphony and you can see it now only because this new ice is crystal clear.

At a distance you don't even see it.

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Zoom in closer and you do. 

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Symphony is the first to employ this projection surface embedded within the ice, not even Harmony has it.  Not yet.  

Studio B has it's own mini-Zamboni used to dress the ice surface each day.

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The projection technology consists of six side mounted projectors that project onto this surface.

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Each projector costs around $100k.  Combining the six projectors, three port, three starboard into what appears to be a complete image requires precision.  The manufacturer is based in Japan and when they need to re-align them (it's a moving ship in seas, stuff moves) they need to fly the engineer in from Japan to align them occasionally.  

Next they talk about drones.  Very interesting.  Forty eight drones with twelve spares on hand.   Very special technology because within Studio B there is no regular GPS signal like a consumer drone might use.  They have to create a reference 'cube' within Studio B for the drones to fly within.  That's where these black boxes hanging from the ceiling come in.

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There are several of them mounted around the perimeter of the ice.  Combined with some floor mounted reference points and two portable white cubes placed on the ice surface they create a 3D GPS-like environment for the drones to operate in.  Now that they told us this, I recall seeing two white cubes sitting in the middle of the ice floor at the start of the show '1977'.

Before the show starts, while we are all waiting outside in line, the drones have to be checked to ensure they are happy with this reference cube.  If they aren't it has to be recalculated.  This is very new technology in use and with 48 drones operating in synchronicity, it's very precise.

The drone batteries are very special and they can't be flown due to HazMat laws.  That means when they need new batteries, they'll need to be shipped to America now that Symphony is on her way to Miami.  

As we listen on, two more crew come out to "grow" the ice.  Another few millimeters accomplished.

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It turns out these are two of the Ice Skating cast.  Even they get into the act.  It's a team effort, four times an hour, around the clock, for three days.

You know how they don't seem to open the doors soon enough?  I certainly felt this on Adventure of the Seas recently when the Ice Skating show had long lines.  It turns they can't.  The room is temperature controlled and letting all that air conditioning out affects the ice surface.  They have to keep the doors closed as long as they can.  Lesson learned, be patient.  

It was a very interesting presentation unlike others I've seen on a ship and I thank Bobby for putting it on.  It gives me a greater appreciation for the level of effort that Royal puts into their entertainment.

One last note.  On the way out I saw these coins embedded in the ice.

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Seems to be a tradition for the current cast who just changed over.  The previous ice skating cast, their first contract complete, has just headed home for a short vacation.

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11 hours ago, twangster said:

 I had Bobby as a CD on Harmony (I think).  To be honest he didn't leave a great impression on that cruise.  

You did.  We sailed about a month before you and we both had him.  Did not enjoy him either.

 

11 hours ago, twangster said:

However in the "always keep your mind open" department he has been better than I anticipated on this cruise.  I've actually watched the Morning Show more than I usually do. 

This is good news.  Perhaps he is growing into his OA class CD role over time.

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Late last night the ship had a different feeling.  Like we kicked it up a notch in terms of speed. 

The map indicates we've turned at as far South as 231° but now we've settled on 237°.  We've reached the maximum published ship speed of 22 knots.

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For a day or two now we've been sailing a steady 266-268° but a turn to starboard followed by a turn to port can be seen on the map.

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Day 8 - Sea Day

It seems we did two 'Crazy Ivans'  last night.

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Breakfast at Johnny Rockets again.  Followed by a Walking Tour of Central Park with Laszlo, the Landscape Specialist on board.  

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Laszlo is very familiar with Central Park and those with some historical knowledge of the Oasis class will recognize Laszlo since he has played a critical role in establishing all Central Parks across the Oasis sisters including the first one on Oasis.

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With an April in service date in the Mediterranean Central Park had to be outfitted differently with plants designed for the European climate since it would sail for seven months there before this transatlantic.  Now that she is heading to the Caribbean, Central Park will slowly be changed to feature more plants that are designed for a tropical climate.  That will occur slowly as plants die or otherwise need to be replaced through 2019.  With over 12,500 plants on the ship they can't possibly change it all at once.  

The trellis should begin to grow with cover over the coming months with it's permanent plants in place.

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A few weeks ago the ship encountered some nasty storms that were responsible to coating the ship with layers of salt water kicked up by the storms.  That included Central Park and Laszlo was quite sad when he returned from his scheduled vacation a few weeks ago to see the damage within Central Park done by those storms.  Plants don't like salt water.  Along with his three assistants they've been busy trying to bring it back to it's former glory.  The Living Wall has some bare spots as a result.

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The Central Parks across the Oasis fleet have evolved as they learned what works better in an environment like Central Park.  Many plants are actually now in special 'pots' or steel cubes much like a planter that can be lifted out on demand to access electrical and plumbing lines that weave under the fabric of Central Park.  That's an evolution compared to Oasis where they routinely had to dig up plants and soil to access and do maintenance.   

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Now that I know to look for them, I can see the planters most plants are contained in.

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You can tell Laszlo loves this job and doesn't even view it as a job, it's a passion.

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Winds in Central Park tend to come from aft.  As the ship moves forward air passing over the upper decks hits the aft glass wall and curls around in a forward motion closer to deck 8 level.  During her encounter with a storm a few weeks ago these winds actually knocked over some of the trees within Central Park.  Laszlo has never seen that on any Oasis ship before.

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Plants used within Central Park and subject to the agricultural restrictions of each country visited.  Even though she was first built out in Europe they had to choose plants that are approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for her arrival in America.  Upon our arrival they will send inspectors to the ship to check each and every plant to confirm it meets USDA regulations.  

Many countries do the same on a periodic basis, even some smaller Caribbean nations although Laszlo suspects some of them just want to see the ship and enjoy a lunch aboard.  None the less protocol requires they allow these inspections to occur for every country the ship visits.

Australia has some of the toughest agriculture regulations and for this reason it is unlikely they will ever send an Oasis class to Australia because they would pretty much have to strip Central Park bare and start all over with local Australian vegetation.   For similar reasons they won't take Oasis class to cold climates like Alaska because Central Park's tropical plants would be devastated and it's a significant investment in the serious six figures ballpark.  The 2018 budget to begin migrating Central Park to tropical vegetation is around $250k according to Bobby Brown our CD.  That's just to begin the job.  

Central Park has a fire break zone in the middle just in case a fire were to break out.  In this manner the fire would not spread the entirety of the park.  This fire buffer includes height restrictions for trees and distances from sides and balconies.  There is a lot more to Central Park then just some plants.

The tool shed for the landscapers.  This is the entirety of the space the have on board.  The irrigation control panel is located here where they can water the many different irrigation zones that cover Central Park.

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On surveys Central Park often ranks near the top of favorite neighborhoods on the ship.  

Our 30 minute session turned into 90 minutes due in no small part to how passionate Laszlo is about Central Park and it's vegetation.  

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It was a very interesting tour and I'd like to see Royal invest a little more into it such as giving him a microphone and portable speaker or offering it more than once a cruise.

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5 hours ago, Sweety said:

Can you check to see what Next cruise is offering? Thinking about booking while on board next month.

Next Cruise offers are fixed across the fleet.  There may be a 'lottery' of sorts for those who book a cruise in the first few days on board your name is entered to possibly win some OBC for the current cruise.  Other than that the standard Next Cruise OBC is offered which isn't always combinable with weekly promos or periodic sales.

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On our last Harmony cruise, we got a private Central Park tour with Laszlo.  He is such a nice man and as Twangbot said, he loves his job !!  To date, that tour of CP is the most interesting and enjoyable Royal Caribbean tour we have ever done.  BTW,our Genie arranged this tour (he and Laszlo are good friends) so this is another great example of the kind of personalized service you get when you cruise Star Class !

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Captain's Corner

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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.

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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".

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An enjoyable session with the Master of the vessel.

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After Captain's Corner I met up with @Neaxan and her husband!

We sat and talked for a while and I learned a great deal about their perspective of how Royal compares to the cruise lines they have sailed.  It's always interesting to talk with fellow cruisers and gain insight into other's thoughts and ideas. 

I had intended to return to the Thermal Spa but the water slides were open and with little lines I just had to try them.  To my surprise they are actually still doing work on them such as painting feet to stand on at the top and a line to stay behind until it's your turn.  

To be honest I can't remember Harmony's slides but these don't have any colored bands or lighting that enhances the experience.  Neither did the Abyss.  Just a dark slide into left, right, down, corkscrew and so on until you start to see daylight and the landing splash zone.   There are some sections of clear tubing but they slide past so fast you don't really have a chance to 'enjoy the view'.  I thought Harmony had colored bands in one slide that you zoom past.  Anyways, still really fun and I enjoyed all three slides.

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This blog is making it really hard for me not to book an Oasis Class cruise. Been looking at booking a cruise in January. Was originally going to do Brilliance as it was just going to be 2 couples, us in our 30’s and another in their 50’s. Might be a couple 16 year olds joining now as well so considering Adventure or Oasis. This blog has me wanting to do Symphony. Did Harmony back in March and loved her. Great blog as always Twangster! 

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On 11/2/2018 at 5:42 PM, twangster said:

The bar is a full service bar and on this night it honored Diamond Happy Hour drinks but I was more intrigued by the Hooked Happy Hour offer.  For $10 you can have the nightly happy hour appetizer and a beer or glass of wine.  Tonight's appetizer was 6 raw oysters.  The happy hour appetizer changes from night to night.

Oysters ARE my thing..and WOW..$10 and a drink is an incredible deal!  

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Fantastic job, as always, @twangster.  Your attention detail and ability to combine amazing photos and great summary of what's happening is what brings me back to to this live blog time and time again.  Thanks for sharing so many details from the ice rink, Captain's Corner and (my favorite) Central Park at night.

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Day 8 - Flight

This is the first showing of Flight on this sailing.  It is performed by the same cast that performs Hairspray and it's an original Royal Caribbean production. To give it the respect it deserves I'm going to spread the pictures across a couple of posts.

Flight takes us through the history of aviation and space exploration.  We start in the future, getting ready to blast off on our 'sailing' to distant parts of the universe.

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Our flight director greets us and welcomes us to the journey we are about to undertake.

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Cleared for take off we blast off into space starting with a fly over an Oasis class ship in the waters near our space port.  Soon enough we are in space and greeted by our first musical act descending from the ceiling.

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As we move back in time we are introduced to flight training and qualification.

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Our candidates pass and are certified for flight.

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