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Symphony of the Seas Caribbean cruise review 2025
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Symphony of the Seas in Six Ports (photos)

CRUISE REVIEW


SYMPHONY
OF THE SEAS

Bahamas

Autumn 2025

By

Richard H. Wagner

 This was a seven-day cruise scheduled to call at Port Canaveral, Florida, Nassau and Coco Cay in the Bahamas. As discussed below, the itinerary did not go as scheduled.


Cruising during hurricane season involves risks. The risks are not so much to passenger safety but that the cruise will not be like you thought it would be when you booked the cruise.


To illustrate, two cruises before this cruise, Symphony was scheduled to sail the same itinerary that was planned for this cruise. However, due to the track of hurricane Humberto, it was decided that Symphony would go north and call at Halifax in eastern Canada. Thus, what passengers booked as a “fun in the sun” Bahamas/Florida cruise became a “fall foliage cruise.”


Along the same lines, during the instant cruise, a combination of a Nor'easter and the remains of a hurricane offshore, resulted in New York harbor being closed for two days. As a result, Symphony had to remain at her berth in Bayonne during that period. Since there no longer was sufficient time to do her entire itinerary once the storm had passed, this meant that two of the ports she was scheduled to call at had to be cancelled. Consequently, there was only one port of call - Royal's private island in the Bahamas Coco Cay.


Royal Caribbean was not the only cruise line to be affected by this weather. From Symphony's berth, we could see MSC Meraviglia at her berth in Brooklyn and up the Hudson at the Manhattan piers were ships from Norwegian Cruise Line and the German line TUI.


Aboard Symphony, the restaurants were open, there were shows in the theater and there were daytime activities such as trivia contests. Drinks were 50 percent off. However, the weather precluded outdoor activities and local laws precluded opening the shops or the casino – the ship was still in U.S. waters. Looking like a bonding exercise, a sizable group of passengers who presumably were gambling aficionados gathered together in the closed casino.


Once the authorities opened the harbor, there was a parade of cruise ships exiting. Symphony dashed at nearly full speed towards the Bahamas in order to maximize the time that passengers would have at Coco Cay. This effort was almost thwarted by the need to pause to exceute a helicopter medical evacuation. However, Symphony still manged to arrive at Coco Cay in the pre-dawn hours of the day she was scheduled to be at Coco Cay.


At first, the weather on the voyage south was somewhat grey and there was some movement of the ship. However, most passengers were out and about enjoying the ship. By the time we reached the Bahamas, the sun was out and the seas calm. This was also the case on the subsequent voyage north.


Inasmuch as this was not the cruise passengers envisioned when they purchased the cruise, the question of compensation arose. Of course, Royal Caribbean has no control over the weather or over the authorities who closed the port of New York. Furthermore, the cruise contract that most people routinely click through without reading when booking a cruise gives the cruise line broad discretion to change the itinerary.


Nonetheless, the cruise lines typically do offer some form of compensation when the itinerary of a cruise has to be changed. This is done as a good-will gesture in the hope that the passengers will return again. In this case, Royal provided future cruise credits “for the total value of two (2) days' worth of the Cruise Fare you paid.” In addition, the port fees for Nassau and Port Canaveral were refunded in the form of onboard credits as were any amounts paid for shore excursions in the two cancelled ports.


While some passengers may have been disappointed by the itinerary changes, this cruise had a feeling of a shared adventure, which, at the very least, provided a topic for conversation. At no point was there a feeling of danger. Moreover, the officers and crew went beyond the norm to ensure that passengers were enjoying themselves.

Above: The storms produced spectacular sunrises and sunsets.
Below: TUI's Mein Schiff 1 arriving in the shelter of New York harbor as the storm passed by at sea. 

Above: A balcony cabin on Symphony.   Click here for our review of a less unusual cruise on Symphony. 

Cruise ship review - - Royal Caribbean International - - Symphony of the Seas - - Bahamas - - 2025