SYMPHONY OF THE SEAS | LIKES , DISLIKES & SURPRISES 

Rules are usually put in place because of past issues. From pissing in the pool, to drunk waders vomiting, I’m glad they keep drinkers out the pool with drinks. Sorrentos is positioned on the promenade to offer variety from just cold sandwiches at the Promenade cafe. Unless there’s a floating pizza shop, you’re gonna have to use the stairs or elevator one way or another.

I like that you don't have a lot of music, just a lot of content. And you are honest, too, without being cutesy or constantly selling something.

I love Royal Caribbean and have been on 4 different ships. Always a pleasure and great experience. We will sail on Symphony this October and can't wait to experience the beauty of the ship.

If I were ever to be quarantined on a ship, I'd want it to be on this one.

Thanks guys! I was on Symphony in December. I really liked the ship. I like the way they segment the crowd. It never really feels crowded. I didn't spend much time at the pools, so I didn't experience the crowds up there. I was hanging out on the Boardwalk, Central Park, and Royal Promenade. The entertainment is great! I really liked Hairspray! You're right about not seeing the ocean.

I really appreciated this honest review! I don’t think you were being too negative, you were just telling your experiences. We are definitely looking forward to our cruise on Oasis of the Seas! Cannot wait to experience those shows and dining options! ❤️❤️❤️

Two things, first if you go to the exercise deck( running walking track) you can walk the entire outer edge of the deck. With outcroppings every 50 feet. Right above the water, it's also got a spot at the rear with a few chairs to sit and relax. Second. The no drinks is to encompass a no glass rule. All it takes is one person to smash a glass. And pools closed. To clean micro slivers out.

Hi! I’m from Costa Rica, this video was really helpful as I’ll be going on the Symphony of the Seas on May 2020, it’s going to be my first time on a cruise ship so I’m thankful for your honest opinions. I’m pretty excited and anxiously waiting to enjoy this new adventure. Again thanks for this video. I’ve also watched a whole bunch more videos from your channel and really liked them, they’re very helpful for people like me who have no experience on cruises. Hope you can come to Costa Rica one day on a cruise ship and enjoy my beautiful country.

I had never noticed the room number thing on the sea pass but you made great points on that, hopefully they'll consider those security concerns. It's so true that you can forget you're at sea on ships this big. We had an #afthole balcony like you did and after a week on the Allure I realized that I hadn't watched a single sunrise, something I usually love doing on all ships. Royal Caribbean does put on some of the most incredible productions! Great video!

I am absolutely shocked to hear about the crew being disconnected. We have always found the folks on RC top notch. After doing several sailing s with them we did a couple cruises on other lines (Princess, Norwegian) and decided to stick with RCI from now on.

You can’t beat the friendliness on Carnival ships. It’s one of my favorite things. But Royal has food & entertainment on lockdown!

Just went on Symphony earlier this month, and you were definitely allowed and even had servers bringing drinks to you in the pools/hot tubs in the Solarium. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I think as with all cruise lines the size of the ship has a lot to do with certain experiences. We’ve noticed friendly more interactive crew members on them mid and smaller ships but we’ve had good interactions at times on large ships. We are loyal to Royal but thinking of trying some other lines just for the itinerary. We recently did Ovation of the Seas to Alaska and that was an amazing ship and the destinations were our favorite!!! Great vlogs

I don't drink, but worry about my safety and safety of others of getting cut from glass because the drinkers sometimes drop the bottle, glasses, etc., into the water, instead of safely dropping them off at a nearby table, or garbage bin. This is why I encourage travel insurance, due to getting cut from not only broken glass caused by others, and/or cuts from sharp rocks at different country beaches. The good thing about RC swimming pools is they are open 24 hours...they clean around 10 pm every night for about one hour cleaning time, or they close due to bad weather, but usually they stay open 24 hours a day. So you know there are lots of drinkers especially during evenings! So, I couldn't imagine why they'd allow drinking, since it is a 24 hour pool (s) and during the nights, the bottles or champagne/cocktail glasses could be dropped into pool or at pool side, making it unsafe for passengers. Even if it is plastic cups, they can break open and have sharp edging that can cut feet. People are putting their whole weight down on the bottom of pools. I've seen sharp plastic or split open plastic cups cut peoples feet, it happens.

I love honest reviews no matter what! 😊 only way to be!

Checking out towels works for us. For someone to save seats on RCI they need everyone’s sea pass cards to check them out, making it an inconvenience for the seat savers. In the past 3 months we were on the Celebrity Reflection, Regal Princess and Celebrity Silhouette. All 3 cruises had people just grabbing many towels and saving seats for all their family and friends. On the Reflection I walked at 6:30 every morning. The walking track is around the upper area of the pool deck. The same lady saved 10 loungers every sea day. By 7am many seats were saved. Also, you could have gone to the windjammer every late night as they also have pizza . The pizza maker even made us Calzones at night. As for friendliness, in our experiences it varies from ship to ship . We were on the Oasis and it seemed like all workers were smiling and saying hi but on the Anthem they were as you said, not even looking up.

Hi Sharon at Sea ive been to Harmony of The Seas before another option instead of using your set saild pass is use the RFID Wristbands which you can integrate you'r set sail pass. And it wont show any info. Its just a rubber wristband and it comes in handy

We've sailed with 3 different companies, I think it just depends on what u want from your experience. Not being a big drinker I cant relate but the ship the food and the shows made Royal our favorite by far. Thanks for sharing your cruise.

My sisters and I going on Symphony of Seas in October. Found this Vlog helpful. Looking forward to the food and entertainment.

I have cruised with Royal several times. In fact I just got off of Symphony last week. I was looking forward to hear your comments on Royal. When I was in the pool with my drinks, I was able to rest them on the edge of the pool while I drank them and the pool attendant/bar staff brought me additional drinks while I was in the pool. Also I know that while I was in the Solarium, I was able to relax and enjoy my drinks in the hot tubs and the pool without anyone mentioning it. So I am not sure if you got to enjoy the pool in this area, but it may have been more like what you are used to.

Wow that’s a bummer. Something I really like about my cruises is interaction with the crew. I have made lots of friends with crew members because of the interaction I have with them. I have a Symphony cruise booked for December this year my first with them. Thanks for the video guys and the info about the cups in the room because I would never have known they were sodas. Love you videos. Can’t wait to try this ship.

My first cruise was a Royal. I lived it so much. I felt that it was extra clean. I have cruised 2 other times and going in a month on Carnival. I love cruising and can't wait to go on Royal again.

Appreciate the honest review and information. Our experience on RC was Independence of the Seas and we found the staff to be very friendly and interactive. Maybe on such a big ship they try to keep it more professional, I don’t know. 🤷🏼‍♀️ We are on Anthem of the Seas in 30 days so while it’s not Oasis class, it’s much bigger than Independence. It will be interesting to see if it feels any different to us. Happy cruising! 🚢

You can get wristbands on these high tech ships to use instead of the sea pass cards. They work for everything except leaving and entering the ship. The wristbands are great and eliminate the need for lanyards. I much prefer the wristbands to having a lanyard around my neck. The jogging track goes completely around the ship and provides multiple ocean views that are nice and quiet.

We were on the Symphony of the Seas June 8. This was our first cruise. You guys enlightened me about the Next Cruise. I didn’t do my homework on what it was about. Thanks for the info. Glad you guys tried the Key. We enjoyed it. Chops was awesome for us.

I’m glad they are not letting people drink in the pool, you can see people drink beer all day and not once go to the rest room! 🤢

I love royal Caribbean but that’s the only cruise I’ve been on it the workers are so nice and friendly!

In really enjoyed your honest feedback. My husband and I are cruising on the Symphony of the Seas in September. We cruised with Royal last year on the Empress of the Seas, and your description of the towels was the same on that ship as well, which may be the way they handle it. However, my experience with the service on the Empress was like your experiences on the other cruise line u usually have travelled on. I am wondering if it is due to the size of the ship, as the Empress is the smallest in the fleet and Symphony is the biggest. Whatever the case, enjoyed your video and am looking forward to our Symphony of the Seas experience.

One possibility about the pools and drinks may be because Symphony uses fresh pools. Carnival uses salt water and changes the entire pool water every day or two depending on how many use the pool. I’m not sure if this is one of the reasons about the drinks, but it might be.

I really enjoy your videos I'm glad you finally got onto a royal ship. Royal ships are my favorite ships (out of 11 cruises) and I've been recently on ovation of the Seas and anthem of the Seas on the quantum line. A couple things you mentioned on this video are different on the quantum class and I hope you make it a chance to experience that line later. For one thing you can get outside all over on Deck five and there are some really nice more private areas on that deck. and the friendliness of the staff was unbelievable on both of those ships. They were friendly and greeting and laughing and talking with me all the time and it didn't appear to be like what you mentioned on this ship at all.I hope you give the quantum class a try on your next Cruise!!!

I''m about to Go on The Symphony of the Seas on August 3. I know I'm gonna be a little nit picky myself, because I have been on only 5 cruises over the last 9 years and they were all Disney. I'm used to free soda (I'm a soda freak) and the only specialty restaurants are one or 2 depending on your Ship and they are out of the way. Everything else is included, so no walking past specialty restaurants all the time. I am also used to free room service 24/7 with only a gratuity that is NOT automatically added . you only pay for canned pop. so all the added charges are a bit weird to me. But, we bought the refreshment package for myself and we also got the key program when it was only $19.99. we are traveling with my brother, sister-in-law and my two nephews and this is their second RC cruise. I admit, I'm a Disney snob (well, I'm a disney crazy person anyway) But I am really looking forward to our cruise. Thanks for all the tips and for the honest assessment

The microwave was actually a convection oven, they use them at Starbucks also, looks the same but its different. Also I cruise Royal a lot and the customer service is different on the large ship.....try one of the smaller ships and you will find a big difference, for some reason the larger ships are let personable.

I did not mind having to walk to get pizza on Freedom Class and Oasis Class ships. By the way, pizza is also available in the Windjammer. When comparing Royal to Carnival, I would rather walk to get pizza than to pay to hear the drunks, profanity and racial slurs (3 guys from Georgia) in the elevator on Carnival. The fact that you booked another RCL cruise is a very positive statement.

I am interested in your perspective. Everybody has their own way that they like to cruise. Having the cabin # on the card is not good. Having drinks in the pool is not something I care about. I just don’t bring drinks to the pool, but I can understand for those who do. Your cruising style is different than mine. I, too, was on a Royal Caribbean ship for the first time. Cruised Carnival, NCL, Princess, and other older lines lines no longer in business. My very first dislike was boarding the ship and dropping off the items in my room that we carry on with us. When I arrived to the room, the steward told us that the room wasn’t done and kept repeating it. I don’t want to drag my carry on stuff to the lunch buffet. I expect to have my room ready with the ability to drop my stuff off in the room. Secondly, they made an announcement the rooms wouldn’t be ready till 2pm! Another dislike was not having any water in the room, no ice, or ice bucket. I had to ask for an ice bucket, with ice and let the steward know that we need it every at least in the evening. This was after the room was ready. Our Steward was not friendly either. Third, I know the cruise lines push the drink package. I don’t drink a lot of liquor, so I would never purchase a drink package. I do have a drink or 2, but when I see a drink that costs $14.00, I am not buying it. I have never encountered that pricey of a drink on a Cruise. Access to get water while you were out and about on the ship was an issue. I like to fill a water bottle with fresh water and ice while relaxing in the sun. I like to fill my water bottle up whenever I want. I tried to go to the buffet area, but it was closed. They actually close the buffet area with no access at specific times! I always have access to water, lemonade, coffee, etc in the buffet area on Carnival. I also agree with you on placement of the pizza place. I also didn’t like having to check out beach towels each time you wanted them. You even have to go to the pool deck to check them out to take on an excursion and make sure you go back to the pool deck to turn them back in. I never have to do that on Carnival. Our Cabin Steward brought towels to the room and took wet towels from our room when we came back from our excursion. If we were on the pool deck for the day, yes, I will get towels on that deck and turn them in on that deck, but I never have to sign them out and back in. I don’t use the specialty restaurants on the ship. Never have and probably never will because I don’t want to pay additional money. So my opinion is just for the regular dining room. I didn’t find the food to be any better between Royal Caribbean, NCL, or Carnival. I do find the food on Princess to be better. I found the shows to be the best on Royal Caribbean. It was also different to experience a skating rink and skating show. Each ship no matter what cruise line can have different experiences because they are run by different teams. The experience on different ships of the same cruise line can be different. I am subscribing to your channel because I like to hear your perspective.

Great review! Very thorough and very balanced! Totally agree on the SeaPass Card. We sailed on Allure of the Seas last year and our SeaPass Cards were misplaced by the crew to another cabin before we even boarded. We had to go to the customer service desk just to get access to our cabin. Who else had our SeaPass Cards? Pretty disconcerting, to say the least. We aren’t happy that you won’t be able to punch a hole in the card now. Eating breakfast and lunch at the Solarium is a great tip. We did that as well. The Windjammer is ok, but just ok, and it usually is “jammed”. Entertainment is top notch on Allure as well, and tends to be on every RCL ship we’ve sailed on. We had the same feeling about crowd management on Allure. The only time it felt crowded was in the Windjammer and whenever there was a special event or parade on the promenade. All in all a great cruise line, but every line and more specifically, every ship brings something unique and interesting. We have cruised RCL more than any other line so far but will be expanding our experience to other lines in the near future. Love your vlog and filling your adventures!

Next time, get a balcony room overlooking the ocean. They are so peaceful at night hearing the ocean and no one can see into your room.

This was a great video. Been cancelled on the Symphony twice, once while we were on the plane to sail last year, and then March this year. Booked again for next year. Been on the Allure twice. Towels check out, if you don’t return, they hit your card for $25, so beware. Only cruised on Royal, but always felt they were friendly, but, have never experienced anything else. Food is great, but if you cruise Royal often, you will see that the menu pretty much stays the same. Then you have favorites, for me, the lamb shank is awesome. Miss cruising, and can’t wait to be back. Again, great review. Thanks.

On the smaller Royal Caribbean ships, the pizza restaurant is located upstairs above the Windjammer. There are other areas where you can grab a late night supper and wonderful desserts up there as well. It's always nice and quiet no competition to grab that slice of pizza. As far as their rule about not having drinks while you're in the pool , I have to agree with them. I'm sure there are a lot of incidents where drinks slip into the pool.Love your informative videos. They are so very helpful when I am making my plans.

I agree that the food on RC is fantastic. I am Gluten Free and recently took was on a Princess cruise for the first time and I was hungry ! I talked to the head waiter, my waiter and still I ended up eating usually just a baked potato for dinner. I was so hungry that I ate all the emergency snacks that I always travel with. With Princess you have to pre-order the GF pizza 24 hours ahead and when it was served the dough was still raw in the middle. With RC you can walk up to order GF pizza and you only have to wait 10 minutes. Plus the GF pizza on RC is fantastic, thin and crispy and the right amount of sauce. RC rocks when it comes to food in general and especially GF options.

Thanks for the review sounds like things I would not care for as well but I agree with you about the restaurants. Great job.

You definitely need to consider sailing on a Radiance Class ship. The Jewel is our favorite, but they all pull you to the sea every minute you are on the ship.

I’m surprised about the beach towel situation.. the beach towels were in our rooms on the other cruises. It may be due to the size of the ship. I can’t believe the crew didn’t interact with people. They did on our ships... I hate that symphony doesn’t have the feeling of being on a ship. That’s my #1 reason for cruising.... thanks for the feedback.. plus the microwave shocked me... wow 😮

My mom and I went on our first ever cruise on this ship. We loved all the shows. one thing we noticed is some of the actors were in both hairspray and flight. Now that takes a lot of talent to be able to be in two shows. We also liked there are chairs on the track so you are able to watch the ocean when other spots are crowed. We loved the band " great ideas".

Hello Sharon, Completely agree about the location for the pizza, in relation to the pool deck. On Royal’s smaller ships the layout is different. On some you can get pizza at Park Cafe which is closer. On the former Majesty, Sorrento’s was just above the pool deck with Compass Deli on deck 12, just a short walk from the pool. I am booked on another smaller ship (for Royal) this year, but two larger ships, Explorer and Anthem next year. I am with you, prefer the outside areas, versus the promenade “mall”. The newer ships have fewer outside areas in order to offer many more Balcony cabins versus the older ships!

i've been on a few Carnival Cruise ships. Symphony was my first RC and I...hands down prefer them over carnival. The things I'm hearing that you didn't like though might be attributed to the fact that this is a mega boat. Maybe try a smaller one and see how you feel?

Suggestion: sail a smaller ship with RC, they work the crew to death on the big ships, smaller ships, longer sailings, have better ratios, less guests to remember, and the crew arent so stretched out.

I’ve been waiting for this video!! Thanks for this.

symphony of the seas has a running track on deck 5 which you can walk all around the ship looking out into the sea.. sadly u missed that!

I've thought about that, too. It really needs a waterfront / boardwalk. SO many great things, but if I had to list what I miss, that would be it. So ya could feeeeel like you're out at sea. I'm good not feeling the motion of the ocean, but I like to see it!

Absolutely you have to buy one of those things to put the card in I’ve been on the symphony and the harmony

Went on the Allure not the Symphony but had the same experience. Agree with what you said.

Your comment about having the cabin number on the SeaPass card made me look at ours. We sailed on Radiance of the Seas in June, and our cabin number is not on our card. Your point about how it seemed more like a mall than a cruise ship seems to be what a lot of people say, and is the main reason I might not ever sail on something so large. I want to feel like I'm on the ocean, and I want to feel that sea air when I'm walking. Great video!

I went on SOS on NOV 9 - 16. I totally agree about The Shop. It was extremely busy and cramped the last night and no men's shirts in larger sizes.

I liked the towel set up on Royal. I often grab 2 towels for each of us. Also it is easy to exchange them when they got wet. I also grabbed clean towels and took them back to our cabin because I am usually on the pool deck before the towel station opens.

I love your videos. So informational and entertaining. Helps me make decisions for my vacation.

This video was awesome. We are Platinum members on Carnival but from this video I think we may try a Royal Caribbean cruise in the future.

You can technically punch a hole in an rfid card as long as you don't punch it through the coil for the rfid circuit which most of the times is in the center of the card cut thats not guaranteed.

I've always had mostly positive outgoing interactions with the crew in all areas but I am super friendly myself. We agree the solarium bistro is great we ate lunch there often. Cruising on the Harmony in October. Been on the Voyager, Navigator, Explorer, Freedom, Serenade, Adventure, Oasis and Allure. After the Harmony we'll be Diamond woo hoo! We really like the Freedom and Voyager class ships but hard to beat that aqua theater on the Oasis class! The food and entertainment on all classes is unbelievably good always even super fantastic sometimes.

7 weeks and counting till i get on the Symphony of the Seas for my first cruise ever! so excited!

Great review! I have only sailed Carnival & Disney. From all the pictures and videos of Royal I’ve seen I felt like you didn’t get that same “I’m on a cruise ship” feeling. It seems like that big open air deck in between the two pools is a waste of space. I’ve also heard the pools and jacuzzis shut down very early each day. Kinda wish you guys had talked a little bit about ‘Perfect Day at CoCo Cay’. If I ever sailed Royal it would probably be to just go there. Maybe you guys could do a review Vlog of just that?

One of the complaints you had were the souvenir cups and how hard it was to refill them and you had to cart the cups around. That would be very annoying to me. Great job, Sharon and Jamie!

I have never cruised on the huge ships and am hesitant to book one because of the "mall" feel and I imagine the crowds are insane. We were on Serenade of the Seas last fall and I enjoyed that size ship. The food & entertainment were great. We had our cards punched at guest services at that time. Changes must have been made since then. We recently cruised on the Carribean Princess & they used a "medallion" for all your needs & I loved how your room door unlocked as you approached it. Our names were on it, not sure if the room ## was on it, but we used the lanyard that came with it. Others chose to purchase necklaces, sport bands, etc. TY for your reviews, learned a lot!

I've been on 14 royal Caribbean cruises and it was just recent when they added lifeguards that they don't allow drinks in the pool :( I have to agree on that. Symphony is the only Oasis Class ship I have not been on and I hope I can go soon!

Absolutely right do you like in a shopping mall when it ships just cruising along you don’t even know you cruising I did see somewhere

I was on that ship last year. They served drinks to us in the pool and hot tubs. We were in the solarium so maybe that's why.

The RFID cards are new to Royal and are only on the newest ships. I agree. We like having the cards with holes punched to wear on lanyards. However, there are great plastic pouch lanyards that work with the RFID cards.

Great Vid. I totally agree with all your observations, and hopefully Royal Caribbean will see this video and make some changes!!

I hate the plastic pouches. Am thinking about doing something with a velcro or similar thing. I bought a number of inexpensive elastic bands with an adhesive circle for my lens caps. Might try on on my next cruise to see how that works. The new Norwegian ships are same with the RFD but thank goodness the cabin number is not on the card.

It must of just been symphony of the seas because I want on liberty of the seas and the workers were all so nice and seemed happy to be there.

Love Royal Caribbean Cruise. Food and entertainment is fantastic in comparison to carnival. Not enough to do on carnival. You can get the watch on R.C. and use it for room entry. Carnival takes your card for drinks in the casinos.

Thank you for sharing your experience on Royal! We have been thinking about trying the Oasis class ships but are a bit nervous to do so due to the size of them and was worried it would not feel like you are on a cruise,however I would love to experience that entertainment ❤

Ok, so I’m not crazy or being snooty as I feared I might have been.........I TOTALLY agree about RCI staff not acknowledging guests as they exit the dining room (no “thank you”, no “have a great night”, just nothing) and I find the same thing happens on every RCI Cruise on disembarkation morning......they scan your card and just say “Thanks”. That’s it. I’ve done 10 RCI cruises now on all classes of their ships and every one has been the same (it’s your final impression as you leave their ship and never have I ever gotten a “hope to see you soon”, or a “thanks for sailing with us” or even a “have a safe journey home” would be nice). In my other experiences with a few each of CEL, NCL and CAR ....they did much better jobs at acknowledging departing guests both from dining venues and on the last day (not every time at every venue on every sailing,,,but it did frequently happen). Glad I’m not the only one that notices this. Don’t get me wrong I’m still loyal to Royal so to speak, but that’s an area that RCI could be improved upon.

Oasis class ships best kept secret is the Solarium breakfast - we generally eat there on those ships.

I've only been on one cruise so far - Royal Caribbean & it was 12 years ago. We booked a Carnival cruise for next year. We loved RC, but Carnival offered different cruise ports than the ones we had been to with RC. We like the smaller ships for exactly the reason you stated - I have no desire to cruise in a mall. Those large ships are not appealing to us at all. I didn't watch the vlog series because I didn't care about the ship/cruise, but I was interested to hear your summary of the likes/dislikes. Thanks for taking the time to post it!

I agree about having a drink in the pool! We sat for hours in the Havana pool on the Vista (I did get out to use the restroom). Our waiter was excellent and brought us drinks often. It was so relaxing ❤️

Awesome! I loved Harmony and I have Symphony booked for February 2020! I booked a Crown Loft suite since it's for my birthday! I'm really glad you did an honest opinion vlog! Not everyone is going to love or hate the same things! I agree with a lot of what you said being a Royalist, but disagreed with a few things as well! I was being served in the Solarium pool and hot tub on multiple ships! I also have no problem with where Sorrentos is! Again, personal preference! The entertainment and food is in my opinion beyond compare! I was on Harmony in November and my room number wasn't on my card and I just went on Mariner in May and it wasn't on that one either. Now I'm wondering if it's a brand new thing!

I understand about the pizza, kind of like comparing having to get dressed to go to the Mall vs. being at the pool and grabbing a snow cone pool side

Okay it's 2022 now. Just got off Oasis getting on Symphony in the fall. Symphony is a cruise ship. If you want to see the ocean sit on your balcony go to the solarium go to the back deck 15 or deck 5. Look at the wake it is the ocean you can't miss it. Enjoy Symphony for what it is amazing. And you will miss a lot in only a seven-day Cruise.

get that cabin number question asked all the time at the pier since the key is on the cabin door but there is just a lot of cameras/security on the ship to make you as safe as any major city

My first Royal Caribbean cruise was on Oasis of the Seas...…..I felt the same way about the service from the crew...….we never met our cabin steward…..I really had no interest in booking with Royal after this but I wanted to do the ABC islands and found a cruise out of San Juan on Royals Adventure of the Seas......total difference from the crew....super friendly and happy to make sure you were happy...….

I think one of the problems you may have had is that you had a balcony overlooking the boardwalk. I stayed recently in one of those cabins and I hated it. I vowed I would never stay in a balcony overlooking the boardwalk. It was noisy and I could actually see into the cabins across the way from us. In my honest opinion. Also, I’m not a fan of shopping on the cruise ship because I don’t think there’s anything I can get there that I can’t get back home. However, I understand your feeling about feeling like you are in a mall. I technically just go to the promenade deck to eat at one of their restaurants or just to walk around.

You're dead on. Food is fabulous on Royal but service and employees are our bottom of the three lines we've been on. I totally agree about the beach towels, that is a small thing but kind of a big thing for us. Plus no free popcorn during movies.

I think your dislikes were a bit picky except for the layout of the open decks that don't allow you to overlook the ocean at your leisure. Regarding that "shopping mall" feeling I agree but it's a feature that has made Royal Caribbean a unique cruise experience among the industry (and actually copied by MSC). Love your videos and I am glad you booked another cruise with RCI; I'll be on Independence OTS on January 7th for a themed cruise called 70000 Tons of Metal.

Thanks for sharing your adventures with us and I totally agree with you about these huge Royal ships..not the same experience we get on Carnival and NCL..

This is a great review. All comments noted are valid and helpful when deciding which ships/destinations to choose. TY and great job Sharon and Jamie !

We have only been on RC and from what we have experienced you should try the freedom or voyager class. You will see a big difference. We actually enjoy the pizza on deck 5 as we usually have our room on deck 7 or 8.

Super useful video, I went on one RC cruise in Europe and while we had fun and the food was great, the ship kind of went to sleep at 7ish pm....this was a bummer. Might have to check them out again!

It is fleet wide on all royal ships with the sea pass on our cruise navigator of the seas we sign a receipt once we got our drinks they took our room number down but never took our card

Great video. Sounds like you were fair and honest with all opinions. I think I would miss the "sailing " feeling and seeing the ocean. I guess I was correct on the previous vlog about the crew. I really enjoy the interaction with all crew when I am sailing. Over all looked like a fun time!

I have never been on a cruise ship 🚢 but my family is Planning on going on pne

On the Allure we saw Mama Mia, it was excellent!

Yes harmony was the very same just different name and I agree about the feeling like a mall, I personally did not like that at all! My harmony review sounds like yours lol

With the CDC lifting the ban for cruising and going down to only seven day cruises with the cruise out of New York and go to the private island and back to New York do we have to quarantine

2 comments... Totally agree with not feeling like you are on a cruise with such a big ship. I really missed that feeling. Second, the very first time I cruised, I didn't understand how the dining worked. I thought that I could only get one of each course. I wished that I had known that even in the main dining rooms, you can have as much of anything as you want.

On Norwegian they take your card when you buy a drink also

Great video, guys. Love your honesty. But I don't understand the drink in the pool rule. I've been on Harmony and Allure and everyone had drinks in the pool. Surprised that Symphony doesn't allow it. Edit- Actually, I just remembered that the post sign on Harmony and Allure said "No food or glass in pool". Drinks seemed ok. Once again, just surprised by the change in rule.

We got lanyards w/a clear plastic sheet to put our Sea Passes into, so instead of punching a hole in the card, it just sits in the clear plastic holder. But, I too am NOT a fan of the cabin numbers being printed on the card.

I couldn't agree more about your dislikes. I have only sailed on Royal and our first cruise was on Oasis, not a good choice. Our second cruise was on Granduer, an older smaller ship and it was amazing. We now have our next cruise scheduled for August on Adventure and hoping that will be a perfect fit! Love your videos and your son is adorable!!

Thank you. I was wondering if it felt like a ship or a mall. I want to walk around the deck and see the Ocean.

Wow!!! On a ship that big I would think food would be hit or miss!!! Good to know about this ship!!!