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I like cruising on small and medium-sized ships that aren’t busy, and a bit laid back. But I also love going to Vegas, with its big brash shows, buzz, and excitement. So, I decided, to see if a big resort ship would work out for people like me, so I nervously booked myself on Royal Caribbean’s Symphony of the Seas, which at the time was the second-biggest ship in the world, holding up to 6,680 passengers.
Now that I've experienced the best and worst of a mega ship resort cruising, I now know who should or shouldn't be booking themselves on one of these. And why!
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0:00
here's the dilemma I usually and like
0:02
cruising on small and mediumsized ships
0:05
that aren't busy and a bit laid back but
0:08
I also really love going to Las Vegas
0:10
with its big brass shows its Buzz its
0:12
excitement so I decided to see if big
0:15
Resort cruise ship sailing would work
0:18
out for people like me so I rather
0:20
nervously booked myself on Royal
0:22
Caribbean Symphony Of The Seas which at
0:24
the time was the second biggest cruise
0:26
ship in the world holding up to
0:28
6,680 passengers now now that I've
0:32
experienced the best and the worst of
0:34
mega ship Resort cruising on that trip I
0:37
now know exactly who should and
0:40
shouldn't be booking themselves on one
0:41
of these and why as you will find out by
0:44
the way if you're new here I'm Gary
0:46
benridge and I'm helping you to discover
0:48
plan and enjoy Unforgettable Cruise
0:51
vacations when I stepped onto the ship
0:54
in Barcelona I was hit by a wall of
0:57
Noise music chatter and crowds it was
1:01
almost overwhelming although that
1:03
freaked me out a bit and I will come
1:05
back to it before actually coming on the
1:08
cruise my biggest concern was actually
1:11
not so much that it was much more
1:13
fundamental with the activities and
1:15
events before and cun for me now look
1:17
I'm older I wasn't traveling with kids
1:19
teens or 20 and 30 somethings so with
1:22
this actually just have stuff I wanted
1:24
to do here's what I found first of all
1:27
the entertainment was mindblowing I got
1:30
to see Hairspray the Broadway show their
1:33
production show called flight dare to
1:35
dream with an airplane flying around the
1:37
auditorium at the end an ice skating
1:39
show which I've never seen it SE before
1:41
which was called 1977 and best of all
1:44
Hero an an aqua Show which was just
1:47
phenomenal now these I realized appeal
1:49
to me as much as they did to all ages
1:51
who attended them the ship had without a
1:55
Shad of a doubt the biggest program of
1:57
activities I've ever seen on the Cruise
2:00
there was so much to do I took a video
2:02
actually of me flicking through the app
2:03
of everything was on in just one day and
2:06
to get through it it was just a blur
2:08
just so much stuff going on now to be
2:12
honest there was not actually as much on
2:14
that program though targeted to me as
2:17
I'd really hoped I did appreciate though
2:20
the detail and the scale with everything
2:22
that they did offer so let me give you
2:24
some examples they had an imarc balloon
2:27
drop party with a staggering
2:30
3,000 Balloons with you know a live band
2:33
playing they did a a magnificent parade
2:36
through the Royal prominade which had
2:38
you know dozens of crew members
2:40
intricate costumes choreography floats
2:43
the themed evening parties were really
2:45
kind of done and embraced properly
2:47
across the ship so for example on
2:49
Caribbean night even the waiters and the
2:51
bman and every single venue around the
2:53
ship were you know dressed in Caribbean
2:55
Garb they ran a family Fair On the
2:59
Border walk one day with free cupcakes
3:02
popcorn stands face painting games band
3:05
entertainment so every single event even
3:07
if it wasn't necessary for me was done
3:09
with detail you clearly kind of money is
3:11
being spent on them and they are really
3:13
well done like as I said many of those
3:16
events weren't for me so I kind of just
3:19
went to see them in the end because of
3:20
their slickness you know the parade was
3:22
kind of for kids you know Family Focus
3:24
the parties were late at night for a
3:26
younger party crowd you know I must
3:28
admit the balloon drop was at midnight
3:30
which kind of meant I had to sort of
3:31
stay past my bedtime to go and see it
3:34
which is probably a bit embarrassing to
3:35
say but you know I was clearly the
3:37
minority because the events and the
3:39
parties kind of they were all packed so
3:42
again kind of not really me some of the
3:44
more regular events I don't think they
3:46
were for me either so they had kind of a
3:48
belly flop competition which really is
3:50
not my taste uh you know I missed not
3:52
having enrichment there were no porty
3:54
motion talks they did have I guess
3:56
probably one enrichment talk which was
3:58
where the production team of the shows
4:00
answered questions it was really really
4:02
sparely attended showing again that the
4:05
people on the ship weren't really kind
4:07
of looking for the sort of things that
4:09
that I think I was really looking for
4:11
now as I mentioned earlier the noise and
4:15
the crowds kind of were a concern before
4:17
going and as I boarded it kind of really
4:19
hit me so how did that actually play out
4:21
in the end cuz that actually was my
4:23
second concern not my first concern so
4:25
one thing that I really came to like
4:27
about the ship that actually helped deal
4:30
with the crowds was that it had seven
4:32
really distinct zones or areas and even
4:36
though you know I was on this massive
4:38
big ship as I went to each of them I did
4:40
feel like I was you know going to almost
4:42
different ships and different kind of
4:44
experiences and I was really clever
4:46
because they they the way they use them
4:48
because they would have activities
4:49
during the day in every Zone at the same
4:52
time and that would kind of spread the
4:53
crowds out around the ship so let me
4:55
explain a little bit more about these
4:57
kind of zones and and and areas now the
5:01
loudest and busiest Zone without a
5:03
shadow of a doubt was the royal
5:05
prominade it had the shops several busy
5:08
bars Guest Services uh the photo center
5:11
excursions desk Starbucks sarentos the
5:15
included Pizza Cafe prominade and so on
5:18
this is where the parties were held it
5:19
was always kind of boisterous here this
5:22
was a Zone to be honest I cared for L it
5:24
because it was too loud it was too
5:25
frantic it was too busy but it was
5:27
clearly loved by most passengers because
5:30
it was kind of the happening place
5:32
Central Park was a place that I way
5:35
preferred and liked they have thousands
5:37
of real plants in here it was a slightly
5:40
kind of quieter space it was a bit Buzzy
5:42
in the evenings because most of the
5:44
speciality dining restaurants are here
5:46
and they' have a guitarist or some live
5:48
music going on here it did offer a
5:51
slightly more piece and quiet space not
5:55
massively but slightly now the other
5:56
Zone which was fun but probably not
5:58
really targeted me as much was the
6:01
boardwalk it was more family and teens
6:03
place it had a carousel had viby kind of
6:06
dining places like Johnny Rocket Steiner
6:09
uh the boardwalk doghouse rock climbing
6:12
the aqua Show theater they had some
6:14
parties in here as well like the silent
6:16
disco for example now the zone that I
6:19
spent most of the time in the evenings
6:21
was in what they called the
6:22
entertainment place and it had most of
6:25
what I was looking for in here it had
6:27
the the main and the ice skating
6:28
theaters had a comedy club uh it had the
6:31
casino which is absolutely massive I'm
6:34
sure there are more slot machines in
6:35
there than than some of the casinos in
6:37
Vegas for example uh the pool and Sports
6:41
Zone is another hugely popular and busy
6:44
one uh it was a massive part of the ship
6:47
it was also kind of loud and really busy
6:50
during the day it included four pools
6:52
with one dedicated for kids uh this is
6:54
up on Deck 15 you often have live music
6:56
or a DJ playing up there you also have
6:58
three water slide sides which I did go
7:00
on and I really enjoyed even though I
7:02
was kind of lining up and shuffling
7:03
around mostly with kids but I loved it
7:06
uh then towards the rear of that deck on
7:07
Deck 15 was an area with the famous
7:10
Royal Caribbean flow Riders um again
7:13
used mostly by teens kind of and young
7:15
men and women uh the abyss which is a
7:18
slide which goes down to the boardwalk
7:21
Crazy Golf really popular with families
7:23
the zip line a sports court with kind of
7:26
constant basketball pickle ball soccer
7:29
uh and then there was also video arcade
7:31
up there it was a little bit Rowdy a
7:33
little bit party-like for me up there so
7:36
I did like that on that area there was
7:38
an adult area called the salarium which
7:41
was for people aged 16 years and over
7:44
this was pretty much though the only
7:46
place on the ship that was adults only
7:48
there was some 18 plus comedy shows and
7:50
a few events like that have like a big
7:53
band playing in Dazzle so that appealed
7:56
more to adults but unlike say on a line
7:59
like like Disney there was no extensive
8:03
dedicated adult only areas of course in
8:06
the sport zone I should have also
8:08
mentioned by the way there was a huge
8:09
spa and then a big Fitness area which I
8:11
actually really liked and used most days
8:14
there was also a youth zone which of
8:16
course for me kind of was not of any use
8:18
because that's where all the kids clubs
8:19
and things were all these zones and
8:21
facilities and the huge daily program
8:24
activities gave me so much to explore I
8:27
did something that I have never ever
8:29
done on a cruise with ports before and
8:32
that is stay on board for all seven days
8:35
I only got off in one port to actually
8:37
see if I could take good pictures of the
8:39
ship and I know I still did not see and
8:41
do everything because people still say
8:43
oh did you go to xace and I didn't see
8:45
it now I wasn't the only one that spent
8:47
time on the ship because every day there
8:49
were loads of people staying on board
8:51
even though places like Rome Florence
8:53
and Pisa were on the roots and my excuse
8:55
was I had been to them quite recently
8:57
now more on that come kind of to come
9:00
around this whole area but before I get
9:03
into that there are two other concerns
9:06
that I had coming on that I do want to
9:08
talk about uh the first of those is
9:10
around service now I assumed that was so
9:12
many passengers events and venues I
9:15
would find service way weaker than on
9:19
the mediumsized kind of Premium lines
9:20
that I go on often princess H America
9:23
celebrity saying that once I was on
9:25
board I was so impressed by the crew in
9:27
service they came across as a really
9:29
kind of happy crew and everyone I spoke
9:31
to agreed that the service was great on
9:34
Symphony Of The Seas obviously it wasn't
9:36
as personal as on smaller ships are gone
9:39
uh you know my waiters did kind of get
9:40
to know me in the dining room uh the
9:43
Starbucks crew got to know me because I
9:44
went there frequently but generally
9:45
speaking of course they just can't
9:46
personalize they don't get to know you
9:49
so whilst they didn't you know get to
9:51
know and personalize things they were
9:52
really friendly they really a beat they
9:54
really efficient they seemed really well
9:56
trained I was really really impressed
9:58
now I also came to real realized though
9:59
that they are clearly incentivized
10:02
because from the middle of the cruise
10:03
onwards so many crew started asking me
10:06
how I rated them and if I would mention
10:08
them in the post Cruise survey at the
10:11
end of the cruise so the crew are
10:12
clearly being encouraged to make sure
10:15
that they get good scores and they get
10:17
mention those surveys and it does seem
10:20
to work but service was great so that
10:22
was one unexpected positive but what
10:24
about one of the make or break things on
10:27
a cruise that I was also sure on a big
10:30
Resort ship would definitely absolutely
10:33
be below kind of those premium midsize
10:35
lines that I mentioned earlier that I'm
10:37
more used to before I talk about that I
10:38
want to do a quick plug if you don't
10:40
mind if you enjoy my content consider
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becoming a patron to get exclusive bonus
10:44
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I'm on trips like this one that was on
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10:53
go to
10:59
to Symphony Of The Seas and that big
11:02
topic I expected the food on this big
11:05
Mega Resort ship would be average at
11:09
best I decided on this cruise by the way
11:12
that I was going to stick with the
11:14
included dining options only and not
11:16
spend money on speciality dining now one
11:19
of the reasons being that I had booked a
11:22
suite and so I had already pushed my
11:24
budget out and the other is that I
11:26
really wanted to see if the included
11:29
food was poor to kind of encourage
11:31
splashing out on those many many many
11:34
speciality restaurants so of course I
11:36
did then D mostly in Coastal Kitchen
11:38
versus the main dining room and although
11:40
the menus were not as large as I'm used
11:43
to on those other more premium and
11:45
smaller ship lines the food was really
11:48
rather good now I used wind jamama
11:50
Buffet actually quite often way more
11:52
than I thought I would especially for
11:53
lunch because I really like the range I
11:56
thought the theme stations I thought the
11:57
salad bar options would absolutely
11:59
without a shadow of a doubt in my view
12:01
it's good as those premium Lions H
12:03
America princess and celebrity that had
12:04
been on I thought it was really good I
12:06
tried the pizzas and sentos really
12:09
excellent the boardwalk doghouse uh you
12:12
know sausages really tasty they included
12:14
ice cream which was good Al Loco Fresh
12:16
Mexican very tasty and went to Cafe
12:19
prominade in Central Park for sandwiches
12:21
which were also really good so I really
12:23
like there was a wide range of these
12:25
included dining options now apparently
12:27
there are nine included dining Ops
12:28
option so clearly from the list of ones
12:31
I went to I missed some but I found them
12:33
all good the ones I did go to now the
12:35
other thing that I did really like about
12:37
going on roal Caribbean was because I've
12:39
been on Celebrity often and it's part of
12:41
the same group they actually allow your
12:44
points to count towards status so I had
12:47
Diamond status which unlocked perks so
12:49
this include the Diamond Lounge which
12:51
had continental breakfast and even
12:53
canipes and importantly it included four
12:55
drinks a day up to $14 which meant I
12:59
didn't buy a drinks package so I came
13:02
away from this trip with a couple of
13:05
really big realizations first of all the
13:08
resort Symphony Of The Seas ship and her
13:10
sister ships is not at all tacky as I
13:13
had probably stereotyped it it was vast
13:16
but I thought it was really designed
13:17
well and well for the particular with
13:19
those zones second thing car of money
13:21
has really been spent on making this
13:25
packed with entertainment shows
13:28
facilities that are really well executed
13:30
really hard to find kind of in land in
13:32
one place thirdly it's absolutely made
13:35
for families multigenerational young
13:37
couple groups of friends that want to be
13:39
busy want to be on the go want to be
13:41
entertained the whole time when they're
13:43
on vacation it's loud noisy and bustling
13:47
everywhere now tellingly I was
13:48
absolutely I would say amongst the
13:50
eldest people on the ship I don't think
13:53
it's really for me it's not supposed to
13:55
be I really enjoyed trying it out but I
13:58
think I'm probably am looking for
13:59
something a bit smaller with more
14:01
enrichment less reason to stay on the
14:02
ship and more to see in the ports kind
14:04
of encourage me though I will absolutely
14:08
miss the shows and the scale of the
14:10
entertainment which was first class but
14:12
there is one other thing I would really
14:14
love you to see and hear about I'd love
14:16
you to see and hear what the sweet and
14:18
the premium experience was like on Royal
14:20
Caribbean I'm sure it's going to
14:22
surprise you so join me over in this
14:24
video and hear why you need to know
14:27
about it see you over there yeah
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