This will be part 2 of a 4 part series on Royal Caribbeans Symphony of the Seas mega ship. I know I said it was going to be a 3 part series but as I started writing this there is just too much to talk about on activities and it deserves it’s own post. I’m going to be focusing on Activities in this post and Entertainment (shows) in the next post. I’m an active person so this is no doubt going to be my favorite post in the series. In case you missed the first post I am a fan of this ship so this may be a bit biased. I’m going to in order of the things I did rather than try to separate this out by sections of the ship and I could probably write 5 posts on this subject alone. There is so much to do on the Symphony you could spend a week on the ship and not do them all.
For the adrenaline junkies, there are a few things to do in the Aft (“back” for the none nautical out there) of the ship. The first one we tried was the zip line. The zip lines runs about 10 stories over the boardwalk. It does not take a lot of time to get geared up and go and just about anyone can do it. The only complaint from me on this was it is too short! Really fun though and sliding over an open space with a 100ft drop is exhilarating. Where else can you do that at sea? Just an FYI you do have to have lace up shoes and socks to do this. They also recommend full t-shirts (no tank tops) to avoid the straps rubbing. I don’t think the t-shirt is a requirement though.
Close by the zip line is the miniature golf course. Pretty nice one by cruise ship standards. It is also lit up for those of you who want to do a little “…night putting. Putting at night with the deans daughter” ($25 gift certificate to Expedia CruiseShipCenters Polaris for the first person who correctly recognizes the movie this edited quote came from and puts it in the comments). Just down from the miniature golf course is an on-board Padi dive shop. You can take introductory courses in the pool on-board and arrange dive shore excursions here or near the shore excursion stations near the bionic bar on deck 5.
Next up is the Flow Rider. Yes, that graceful hunk of a man in the video is me and yes, I wiped out on purpose to show people it’s not that bad. Yeah, we are going to go with that. There are two flow riders on the back of the ship. In order to go on either you have to sign a waiver and get a wrist band. First thing I will say about this is there is some serious water pressure going on here so you are going to want a suit that can stand up to it. Mine was not tied as tight as it could have been initially. Fortunately, there were no incidents and the helper there told me not to worry, he was ready to jump in front of me with a boogie board in the event of an embarrassing mishap. I get the impression I would not have been the first to put on an extra show. The next thing you need to know is that the two sides offer different experiences. The one on the port side of the ship has boards you can stand up on and surf. The Flow Rider on the starboard side only has a boogie board that you can lay on or get up on your knees and knee board. Don’t worry if you have never done it before, the people working there are great at giving you pointers and helping you out. Also, don’t worry about wiping out. The bottom of the flow rider is like a big mat. The only thing you are likely to hurt is your pride.
While we are on the subject of water, lets talk about pools and water slides. They have water slides for all ages. Their splash pad for the little guys is pretty cool. There are even little Adirondack chairs around the pool just for them. For the ones that are not strong swimmers there are children’s life jackets on board. For the big kids there are there larger slides. Beware the blue one. It is pitch black for most of the ride down. Caught me a little by surprise at first. The ship has multiple pools and hot tubs spread out around the upper deck. The adults only Solarium has a pretty cool pool, that I’m not sure what to call. It is like an infinity pool, but the edge is glass so you can see the people in it. My wife was not really a fan, but I thought it was pretty neat.
Speaking of slides, the Ultimate Abyss was another thing about this ship I could not wait to do. This is a 10 story dry slide. I definitely recommend it. So fun. When you go down there are sound effects and lights. With more time I could have done this over and over. A question I got from my daughter was about static electricity. Don’t worry, they give you a special mat to sit on so you don’t get shocked.
But John, what about the athletic among us? Don’t you worry. There is plenty to do onboard to work up a sweat. They have a full gym onboard with a yoga studio. Tip for the runners, there are treadmills on both sides of the gym, so if you walk in and they are full, keep walking. However, why do you want to run inside. They have a nice running track that is long. Not sure if it is true or not, but another agent told me you only have to go around 2.5 times for 1 mile. Pretty awesome. There is also a basketball court.
But John, I don’t want to work up a sweat and want to get my game on arcade style. Don’t you worry. There are multiple arcades on-board. There is one on an upper deck that I really wanted to play the Ghostbusters game, but did not fit it in. The other arcade is attached to the sports bar on the boardwalk. Outside of it are basketball and football shooting/throwing games you see in some bars. I’m not sure these are free though. While we were on board they were but I saw little card readers for sea passes so check before you go crazy.
I know this is getting long so I’m going to bring this one in for a landing. There are so many things left I did not do but here is are a few you can look forward to and then let me know. Puzzle Breakout Room (sweet), kids clubs, ping pong, Foosball, ice skating, and more!
If you would like to see more pictures of our trip feel free to visit our Symphony of the Seas Facebook Album. Warning, there may be spoiler alerts for the next posts!