Edit - if you wanna see pics/videos from our trip you can check this out… https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTg3MDE4ODQzMTAzMzM1?story_media_id=3174301502813786984&igshid=MWZjMTM2ODFkZg==

Lots of firsts for us on this cruise. This cruise was our first... Royal Caribbean cruise, European/Mediterranean cruise, 7-Night cruise, and cruise without kids. We've previously only sailed with Disney Cruise Line out of Florida or San Diego with our 3 kids. We were very excited to take a couples holiday and try a new brand of cruising.

Itinerary: Barcelona, Mallorca, Marseille, La Spezia, Civitavecchia, Naples, Sea Day, Barcelona

We purchased a 3-night dining plan and 2 device internet package pre-cruise. We like to explore on our own so we did not buy any excursions. We also don't drink so no drink packages for us.

The ship... was really impressive. Felt new, clean, well organized. Disliked the mall vibes of the Promenade. Smoking sections on the pool deck were not great. Faced long lines for Windjammer and My Time Dining in the Main Dining Room.

The crew... were nice, friendly and helpful overall. Although, most appeared rushed and short conversationally. Had a few questionable experiences that another crew member made up for. The chef at Izumi Habachi was the stand out. Funny, personable, and a great chef. Its no wonder he'll be moving to Icon OTS.

The room... verandah state room on deck 14. Kind of on the small side. But my wife and I found plenty of storage space and the verandah was roomy enough for the two of us. Was in good proximity to the elevators, pool deck and the Windjammer. Stateroom attendant was excellent.

EDIT: More info...

On board recreation... We loved that the hot tubs were open 24 hrs. We spent a lot of time in the water rehabilitating and planning our next days adventures.

Entertainment... We saw several big productions on board. For us the entertainment was the ships weakest link. Compared to other entertainment we've experienced on past cruises Symphony OTS just didn't do it for us. Our opinion is nothing against the performers, who are all very skilled and talented. The shows all lacked in the storytelling and theming. Kinda disappointing. The comedian killed it though! Loved that guy.

iSkate 2.0 - 1/5 Kinda garbage. It's basically pop song karaoke through the ages on ice skates. Again, the skaters were talented. Ice skating is an impressive skill but we just didn't get the concept of the show.

Hiro - 2/5 This gave off a Cirque du Soleil "O" vibe with a Japanese flare. Unfortunately, it was nothing of the sort. The dancing, diving and choreography was impressive and executed at a high level but there was no through line. None of the acts seemed to be related or connected in any way. There was no character development or plot. It started out with a potential battle of good & evil and there was this floating deity type person that kept running in slow motion overhead but it never evolved into something cohesive. In fact, between the beautifully orchestrated original score they through in some janky pop songs just in time to ruin the mood. I dont get it. It was so close to being amazing.

Dream... Dare to Fly - 2/5 What! The! Hell! Why is there a broadway style show about aviation on a cruise ship? at this point, who cares as long as it tells a good story. Bad news. It didn't. The idea here isn't actually half bad. It's the reverse history of aviation. The problem is the same as Hiro. Theres no cohesion or through line connecting the scenes with the audience. The show is basically 7 completely separate scenes about eras of aviations. And each scenes isn't even necessarily about aviation. Some of them are more a cut scene from a different show that happens to be set in a specific time period. Kind of like a costume drama of show you didn't see the beginning or ending of. And why go back in time to tell us about aviation? Well, im sure it's because they had this really cool prop of a plane that flew out over the audience. Like, it was really cool. But there was no plot, character development, etc. It could've easily been a "Carousel of Progress" style story of aviation told by a similar cast of characters throughout history that shows the collective dream to achieve is alive in us all as we strive to build upon the advances of those that came before us. But it wasn't that. It was soulless with a few cool props. Oh yeah... and there were pop songs thrown in every act just to make sure you weren't too invested in the original ideas. Seriously, this show could started with the Wright brothers trying and failing to fly with one brother giving an inspirational speech about the possibilities of flight. Then we could've gone on a journey of the advancements in aviation over time that show his dreams coming true before it flashes back to the Wright bros at the end of the show and them achieving the first flight and the cool prop flying out over the audience. It's not rocket science.

Hairspray - We skipped Hairspray cause we had seen it before. In retrospect this was a mistake.