Royal Caribbean Symphony of The Seas - With Kids

Disclosure: We were invited on the cruise as part of a press trip.

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Booking Process With Cruise Circle

We booked the Symphony of the Seas cruise via Cruise Circle and you can read more about the booking process in this post. The great thing about booking a cruise through Cruise Circle is that they will make sure you book a cruise that you enjoy.

Once you explain about what type of trip you are looking to book, whether it’s a quiet couples holiday or family holiday with lots of excitement. Cruise Circle can tell you which ship or itinerary may be best suited to you. For us it’s probably going to be a busy large cruise ship whilst we have children! Although the appeal of a quiet cruise along the Norwegian fjords would be lovely fro my husband and I!

Symphony of The Seas Itinerary

The Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas spends the summer in the Mediterranean. The route travels around the Western Mediterranean taking in the countries of Spain, France and Italy.

Day 1: Barcelona. It’s arrival day, so there’s no time to visit Barcelona. If you would like to see the city add on a couple of days before or at the end of the cruise to explore and find some cool Barcelona restaurants to visit.

Day 2: Palma de Mallorca. This is a shorter visit, so either choose a ship tour, such as visiting Drachma caves or kayaking off the West coast. Or simply go for a wander around the city, admiring the cathedral and visiting the beach.

Day 3: Marseilles. The city is pretty to explore, or take a tour to a vineyard for wine tasting.

Day 4: La Spezia. This is the stop to take a tour to Florence, Pisa, Lucca or Cinque Terre. For Florence it’s best to take a ship tour (in case you’re late back!), the others can be done DIY or local tours.

Day 5: Rome. The ship docks at Civitavecchia, so you need to take the train, bus or taxi into Rome. It’s a long day, so it’s easy to get in and do your own DIY tour of Rome.

Day 6: Naples. Naples is great to see the beautiful city, climb the volcano Mt Vesuvius, take a trip to the island of Capri or visit the historical ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Day 7: Sea day. Spend the day exploring the ship and all the extra events put on for the sea day.

Day 8: Barcelona. Back in Barcelona to return home or visit for a few days after the cruise.

Child standing in front of a pretty village cinque terre

Symphony of The Seas Balcony Stateroom With A Sea View

The Symphony of the Seas have plenty of rooms to choose from. Cheaper rooms are inside the ship with no windows, up to the suite’s which are humongous and rather exclusive.

We stayed in the balcony stateroom with a sea view, category 5D. It was at the aft of the ship and the top floor of the balcony staterooms on deck 14. I actually quite liked this, as our balcony was sheltered by the main deck above. We loved sitting out and watching the view, even spotting a whale a short distance away when we were approaching Marseilles.

The stateroom itself was compact, but not much different to a small hotel room. With a double bed, a sofa bed that transformed into two single beds, there was plenty of space for a family of 4. Each morning the sofa bed would be neatly stowed away and you could easily access the adjacent desk and drawers. There’s plenty of storage in the 2 wardrobes and drawers beneath as well.

There is also a very modern and clean shower room/toilet near the entrance to the room.

Family Activities On-Board

There are plenty of family activities onboard the Symphony of the Seas. We didn’t manage to do even half of what was available, as there just wasn’t enough time! We used the Royal Caribbean app to plan what we were doing each day and booking certain shows.

Most things don’t require booking, but as the shows have limited seating then you do need to book in advance. Tickets are free and you just need to book a reservation. You will find that you can’t book any shows or activities until you are onboard and able to use the ships wifi.

Upper Deck

On the upper decks you will find the pools and flumes, which are always very popular. With 3 different pools, hot tubs and a kids splash park, there is a fair amount of space around for kids to play. Only on the sea day did we find it a bit too busy in the pools. There were never huge queues for the flumes either, possibly because most people were sunbathing!

Also on this deck were the twin flow riders, where you can learn to boogie board and even surf. We all got as far as kneeling on the board, back upright. The surfing looked a lot more difficult! Make sure you fill in a form (beside the bar) and get a band to confirm you have watched the safety film. They won’t let you participate until you have a band, and it can be a long wait otherwise!

Just behind the flow riders is the minigolf, which is actually pretty good fun! We played it a few times. Plus a zip line that looks down over the board walk and although is short, it’s worth doing it! Unfortunately there is a minimum weight, not just height, so our youngest wasn’t able to do the zip line.

At the very back of the ship is the Ultimate Abyss slide, it’s made to sound rather scary, but it really isn’t it. You slide down on carpet and although there are some scary sounds it doesn’t go very fast. We never even made out at the bottom, no matter how hard we tried to go faster! So we used it as an easy way to get from the top deck down to the board walk!

And don’t forget to fill up on free ice cream from the upper deck too! You can have as many soft serve ice creams as you want! Served by staff you can choose from vanilla, chocolate or vanilla and chocolate mixed.

Board Walk

The board walk is on the lower levels of the ship, with open roof space, looking up to the zip line in the upper decks. As mentioned above it’s connected to the top deck by the Ultimate Abyss, so a great way to get down to the board walk. Beside the Abyss exit are 2 huge rock climbing walls and the awesome aqua theatre (see the show section below!).

The main feature of the boardwalk is most definitely the carousel. It’s amazing to see a full size carousel and of course this was a huge hit with the kids. And us! We all went on the carousel many, many times! The board walk is lined with shops and restaurants, including the Dog House (hot dogs) which is included within the free onboard dining. Plus the Playmakers bar and Johnny Rockets Burger Bar that you will need to pay extra for. There is also an arcade, sweet shop and Surf Shack shop, for all your surfer style options!

Central Park

Just across the ship is Central Park where you can walk along a beautiful path lined with vegetation. Surprisingly all the vegetation is real! It feels like a park, complete with little tables set up to play chess or draughts!

This area has several bars and restaurants including the 150 Central Park, Chops Grille and Jamie’s Italian. There is also the Park Cafe which is included in your stay, with sandwiches and delicious cakes to eat.

This is definitely the quieter neighbourhood and the perfect place to hang out with friends.

Royal Promenade

The Royal Promenade is where you first step on board the ship. It’s the heart of the ship and feels a little like a shopping centre. It certainly doesn’t feel like you’re on a ship!

This is the place to go for a variety of bars, pubs, restaurants and entertainment. You will find live music in the evenings, parades on the sea day and whole host of balloons ready to fall when the ship sets sail on day 1!

We particularly loved the sculptures on this deck, plus the Bionic bar for robot made drinks, rising tide bar that actually moves up and down between here and Central Park and Sorrento’s for delicious pizza (this restaurant is included in your stay).

Entertainment Place

Downstairs from the Royal Promenade is the entertainment place. This houses a humongous casino, the royal theatre and ice rink.

This is where you need to go for all the amazing shows on board (except the Aqua theatre shows!). During the day you will also find the possibility to book free tickets for Laser Quest and even a taster ice skating session on the sea day!

Youth Zone

There is also a youth zone, on deck 14 you will find the Adventure Ocean kids club. Which we never managed to use as the kids were too busy visiting the rest of the ship and enjoying other facilities to go to the kids club. However, if you were on the ship for longer or wanted to spend some adult time alone then you can book the kids into Adventure Ocean.

There is tons of awesome sounding activities to do, from a science lab, an art and craft studio, sports area and even their own mini theater! If we had more time then I could see the kids really enjoying this. However, ours were happy spending time in the pool, playing mini golf, visiting the carousel and all the other awesome activities on board. Plus we wanted to visit various off-ship destinations together too!

Family Shows On-Board

There are lots of awesome entertainment on board, including a variety of events such as family quizzes and scavenger hunts. However, it’s the shows that really make the entertainment!

Hairspray musical on Symphony of the seas

The main broadway musical in the Royal Theatre is Hairspray. The cast are fantastic and put on a spectacular performance. My youngest couldn’t clap hard enough at the end, he does a lot of musical theatre shows with a local drama group, so it was right up his street! Definitely make sure you arrive early to find good seats.

There is also a Royal Caribbean original production called Flight: Dare to Dream. It takes you through the history of flight in a fun and entertaining way. I recommend sitting in the stall seats closer to the stage if possible.

In Studio B, where the ice rink is located, there is the ice show: 1977. The name is a bit misleading and I don’t think it sounds particularly interesting. However, it turns out to be a fantastic show with brilliant stunts! We had ringside seats and saw all the action clearly, including the youngest getting a high five with one of the cast. The seats weren’t all filled, possibly because people didn’t realise what exactly the show was. But we definitely recommend seeing 1977!

Outside on the Boardwalk you will find the Aquatheatre. Here you can watch the awesome show Hiro. There isn’t too much of a storyline, but there are fantastic stunts. Including diving from 10m Olympic diving boards into a small pool, balancing on a slack line 10m in the air and many other water acrobatics and stunts. Choose to sit in the splash zone for a more intimate performance!

Where To Eat on Symphony of The Seas With Kids

There are a huge host of eateries on Symphony of the Seas, from posh dining restaurants to relaxed cafes. With the kids it’s hard to get them away from the Windjammer restaurant, where they could help themselves to all they can eat from the buffet. It is definitely an all round pleaser and makes life easy when you have kids! The Windjammer also changes the food options each evening on a different theme.

You can also book the main dining room for dinner, which also includes children’s meals. However, it is more of a posh dining space and it doesn’t feel quite so family friendly compared to the laid back Windjammer.

We managed to convince the kids to eat at the Solarium one evening instead. It’s adults only in the rest of the Solarium, but kids are allowed in the restaurant. There is still a buffet, but definitely less choice and more fancy food. We did manage to find some food options that they would eat, but it wasn’t easy! As adults I enjoyed the quieter solarium dining and the pretty interior design. Plus the food was absolutely delicious!

There are of course plenty of other restaurants around the ship, although most of these you will need to pay for. Wonderland is an amazing immersive experience and also has a kids menu, this could be a good option for older children. There is also Jamie’s Italian which has pizza and pasta for little ones plus children’s menu at various other paid for restaurants.

Lunch time is easy with plenty of options, from hot dogs at the Dog House, to pizza at Sorrento’s or taco’s at El Loco. There are plenty of options that are included in your stay as well as restaurants you need to pay for.

Royal Caribbean App

Before you go on your cruise it’s really important to download the Royal Caribbean App to your phone. You will need this to book shows and laser quest amongst other things, showing the booking on the app to gain entry.

It also tells you exactly what is on each day, from quizzes and opening times to what time you must be back on board the ship in the evening. It’s got your own calendar too, so you can select the things you would like to do each day and it adds them to your calendar and any family on the same booking. So both my husband and I could see what shows either of us had booked or events we would like to go to.

There are definitely a few glitches with the app, one day it logged me out and lost all the bookings on my calendar. But they still showed up on my husbands, so definitely try and have it on more than one phone!

Medical Centre

We also unfortunately had the pleasure of visiting the medical centre onboard. Not somewhere we had intended to go! But when littlest was ice skating he fell over and hurt his knee. After a couple of hours of not being able to bend it, we chose to get it checked out by the Symphony of Seas medical team.

There was a lot of waiting around and forms to be filled in. But the actual assessment and 2 x-rays didn’t take long at all. It turns out it was just bruising and nothing was broken after all. So we were sent off with a bag for ice and some children’s ibuprofen to reduce swelling. He was much better again later that day.

I also noticed that there is a box of sea sickness tablets on the wall in the medical centre waiting room. So if you’re feeling sea sick there’s always a little relief! Although the majority of the time you can’t feel the ship moving at all!

Best Places To Visit at Ports

There are 6 ports to visit during this cruise, including the arrival and departure port, Barcelona. We didn’t see Barcelona due to time constraints, but have visited before. Parc Guell was my favourite place to visit there. If you have time I definitely recommend a visit.

Out of the other ports we would definitely recommend visiting Cinque Terre from La Spezia, the villages are fascinating to explore. Then Rome for some exploring, although perhaps book a children’s specific tour if you only have a short amount of time. Then Pompeii at Naples, it’s fascinating and definitely worth booking a small group or private tour.

We skipped Marseilles to spend time on the ship and although Palma was lovely to explore, it’s only a short amount of onshore time, so you can’t visit much of the island.

Would We Go On A Cruise Again?

So this was our first time on a cruise, would we do it again? Yes, we probably would, it was a fantastic holiday as a family, the kids loved all the activities available and the shows in the evening were fantastic too. The downside for me is that we didn’t feel like there was enough time to explore onshore.

Cruising on Symphony of the Seas was more about the cruise ship itself, a floating city of excitement! Spending a lot of time on the ship enjoying the activities and half a day at different locations to explore. If we wanted to visit one place in particular then we would be more likely to go on a non-cruise holiday to have enough time to see everything. Cruising on an amazing ship like Symphony of the Seas is definitely a lot more about enjoying the ship itself.

Royal Caribbean Symphony of The Seas – With Kids

Booking Process With Cruise Circle

Symphony of The Seas Itinerary

Symphony of The Seas Balcony Stateroom With A Sea View