Jump to content

Harmony Eastern Aug 5-12; My 2 cents


Recommended Posts

This is my quick 2 cents... I probably should wait until tomorrow, until I am more focused, but I am gonna write my thoughts now and will followup tomorrow as well, base on comments and any questions... BTW... did not save compasses so I cannot upload them. We really didn't use them that much. We already had an idea of what we were doing. We relied on the Royal IQ app to remind us of our calendar. I used the app quite often. We did have the internet package and it was the best internet at sea we've experienced.

 

To get back on track....

 

Embarkation was the best experience we've had on any ship. We arrived at 10:30 and were on by 11:00.... super easy... no waiting... no lines. We immediately headed to the promenade to wait in about a 20 minute line get our WOW bands... which I would not recommend. We were told they would immediately work... but they were not programmed correctly... so after a couple tries, I went to Guest Services to wait in that line to get them activated. Our complaints with them are, while they are good in theory, they are cumbersome to use. My wife and I both thought a different design would be better... she suggested a 'slap bracelet' style instead of a buckle. We were constantly removing them to give them to bartenders (which I had the alcohol package and my wife had the soda package BTW). They worked flawlessly to make retail purchases, arcades for the kids, unlocking cabin doors, but even if you walked up to a bar to order, chances are you had to take it off unless you happen to be standing right at the POS terminal. The other problem was there was no way to tell them apart... our family of four was constantly getting them confused.... and markers didn't help for us... between sweat, pool water, etc. it just didn't work. We thought you could pick your colors, but they told us our our muster station, BLUE was the only color. I finally came up with what I thought was the best solution in keeping them straight.... taking nail scissors and clipping out a little notch in different places for each person. All was well until on Day 4-5 my wife looked down and noticed her's was missing... so Guest services had to replace all of our sea pass cards and wow bands... could not just replace one... everything had to be redone. THEN, my next problem arose. I began getting charged for bar drinks... so it was back to guest services... where I was informed my wife had been buying drinks at the bar. WOW bands switched up after they assured me and I marked "who's was who's". In the mean time, my wife had been making some retail purchases... which looked like I was making them. Guest services had a hard time believing that bartenders nor clerks at the shops questioned it because our pictures didn't match.... but they sure didn't. At least 2 clerks and 3 bartenders never questioned it. It was only at the bionic bar, when it tried to charge me I realized what was happening... so it was back to... you guessed it... GUEST SERVICES again. Bottom line, I wouldn't do the WOW bands.

 

OK... getting back on track... our stateroom attendant was the best ever. We had 2 connecting central park cabins. He called us by name every time we saw him, was eager to help and talk.... asked how our day was going... my kids loved him. However, on the first night... about midnight... we turned our sheets back and wife life screamed BED-BUG... I took a pic and about a 10 second video of it crawling around then called Housekeeping. My wife put a piece of tape over it so it wouldn't "get away". While we were waiting, my daughter in the next cabin came over and said "There is something on my sheet". On the corner of the sheet was a... not sure the proper name... but a "booger." So we addressed that with housekeeping. Long story short... at 2 AM after new sheets on all beds and a bed-bug inspection of both cabins... we went to bed. It was just "one of those things". They inspected the room again the next day. I don't blame the stateroom attendant... it was just one of those things... but the hotel director was very apologetic and offered a 205 discount on our next cruse. I asked about just doing a OBC of some sort but he could not do that. The next day, our toilet would not flush... and they were there over 30 minutes replacing the " flush button"

 

We ate in the MDR every night. Once again, our waiter Roderick and assistant waiter Jerus were the BEST ever. We all loved them.. in fact, my wife confessed she wouldn't mind bringing Jerus home with us. He just had the best personality and smile ever. We had no complaints with MDR food. Windjammer, was a feeding frenzy at all times... total chaos every time we went.

 

Now is a good time to mention that our nickname for the ship was RUDENESS of the Seas.... the most rude passengers we had ever seen. Snotty people always holding elevators for their party that wasn't even near the elevator.... old ladies on scooters that would run over you without thinking twice about it, etc. Could not even play mini golf without the family behind us allowing their kids to step up on our green interfering with our shots... making our shots for us and running around to the point where we just gave up and quit. The straw that broke the camel's back was at the pool.... or the human soup bowl. (BTW, the pools were WAY overcrowd all week. My theory on that is because of NO solarium pool.) The other 3 main pools are over crowed because of no kids in the adult pool. On Allure, there was basically an extra pool for families because adults had their own pool in the Solarium.) Back to rudeness. We had a little section with only 3 loungers in a little row right on the edge of the water in the beach pool... very prized location. My wife and I had two. A lady had the other one and while we were in the pool her mother came over. She had nowhere to set so she sat on my wife chair. It was so close to where we were at, my wife politely told her that they was her chair... her response was "Don't worry, I will let you use it when you want it.". She just sat on the end of it for a few minutes but then she laid back. Then my wife told her, "please do not lay on my towel and my coverup". She huffed and said in her hispanic accent "Damn Americans". So then, she laid cross ways to where he head was on the bottom half of my wife longer and her feet was over her daughter lounger. Looked ridiculous. We had about had enough of her so I was rude right back. I went over and laid back on my lounger.... the third one over... and crossed my foot over my knee. This put my size 113 foot right in her face... about 30 seconds later, she got up and left and so did her daughter.... so then we had the 3rd lounger for my daughter. That may of been rude of me, but my goodness... I had never experienced anything quite like that.

 

One more thing I noticed.... Harmony was a very HOT ship in my opinion... I was hot and sweating most of the week. It never felt cool to me...even in cabin... Temperature is subjective I know like food, but to me, it was too hot.

 

Now, while I shared some NEGATIVES... we had a great cruise. We had a blast...We thoroughly enjoyed the shows, the dining room, etc. We also enjoyed Captain Gus and his daily "Words of Wisdom".

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One more thing I noticed.... Harmony was a very HOT ship in my opinion... I was hot and sweating most of the week. It never felt cool to me...even in cabin... Temperature is subjective I know like food, but to me, it was too hot...

 

Yikes. This is my nightmare. I can probably handle rude people but I tend to run hot too and this would have been awful for me. Sorry you suffered. :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yikes. This is my nightmare. I can probably handle rude people but I tend to run hot too and this would have been awful for me. Sorry you suffered. :(

My nightmare too. We had that situation in our stateroom on Allure once. Not fun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I wonder if allure of the seas is that hot??

 

Sent from my HTC 10 using Forums mobile app

 

We were on Allure a few years ago and I don't recall being that uncomfortable. Most hallways and especially the elevators were just downright sweltering.

 

Oh, also sone thing I forgot to mention was the elevators... the forward elevators were noticeably less crowded. The aft elevators were crazy all the time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for posting we will be on harmony in december for our first b2b. It is funny you mentioned rude passengers we found this on board the anthem shortly after she arrived at cape liberty. We were trying to figure out why passengers were so rude to other passengers and especially the staff.

 

We were thinking about getting the wow bands but I might have to rethink that. I am happy you had a great cruise even with the few issues. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the heads up on the wow bands. We were on the fence about them for our upcoming cruise. Now I think we will just stick to the cards. I think you handled the lounger situation :eek: perfectly, polite in the beginning and then if that doesn't work, go to plan B. Glad you were able to have a great time despite a few hiccups.

 

 

 

Mary Ann

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the heads up on the wow bands. We were on the fence about them for our upcoming cruise. Now I think we will just stick to the cards.

 

 

We were given the Wow bands to use for free on our Asia cruise last year. We were not fans, and after Day One we never used them again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I had the WOW band and yes, the clasp sucked (the watch unclasped and fell off a time or two) and yes you have to be close to the register to use it without taking it off but I'd buy it again. Of course I kept my old one so I can just get it re-programmed, but I think overall it was a positive for me. I had a yellow band and the other person in my stateroom had blue, so at least on my cruise every person in the same muster station didn't have the same color.

 

In regards to the "bed bug", bed bugs (even when fully engorged with blood) are fairly difficult to see. I don't doubt you had a bug in your bed but I doubt it was a bed bug.

 

Lastly, what is the relevance of the rude passenger at the pool having a "Hispanic" accent?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Since I know I was on the Harmony this past May, and while it was warm then, I wonder if cruising in August on the Harmony just means it's warm - which is a concern, since we're going on a family cruise next August!!

 

Sorry you encountered what has to be the prefect example of a rude passenger. I'm sure since it was hot on the cruise, and the lack of pools and lounger ratio is on a low side, this added to the obnoxiousness of these "guests", but glad you made the most of your vacation!

Yes, the best internet at sea!!! Definitely getting that and the drink package again!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for the post about your cruise on Harmony. Sorry to hear about the rude people, seems to be a recurring event lately. We are sailing on Harmony over Thanksgiving and have 2 Central Park cabins. Where did you eat for the lunch that is included with the Central Park cabins? Did you have to make reservations? I believe I read that it has to be on port days, was it tough getting in to the restaurants?

Any other info or tips about the Central Park cabins would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were on the same cruise. Elevator etiquette was horrible. Door would open and people would try to cram in without letting others get off. I had to tell one idiot to back up 3 times so we could get off. I also noted that forward elevators were faster and less crowded probably because all of the dining venues were on the aft end of the ship.

One tip regarding breakfast and lunch. Unless it's a port day, don't even try to eat in the Windjammer. You can't get a table and it's mayhem. We discovered that the Solarium Bistro had a nice breakfast and lunch selection and ate their most days. Never had a problem getting a table there and the staff was great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 7 months later...
We were on Allure a few years ago and I don't recall being that uncomfortable. Most hallways and especially the elevators were just downright sweltering.

 

 

 

Oh, also sone thing I forgot to mention was the elevators... the forward elevators were noticeably less crowded. The aft elevators were crazy all the time.

 

 

 

i agree with the elevators. this was my experience as well. front elevators much less busy. less in frontt of ship.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is my quick 2 cents... I probably should wait until tomorrow, until I am more focused, but I am gonna write my thoughts now and will followup tomorrow as well, base on comments and any questions... BTW... did not save compasses so I cannot upload them. We really didn't use them that much. We already had an idea of what we were doing. We relied on the Royal IQ app to remind us of our calendar. I used the app quite often. We did have the internet package and it was the best internet at sea we've experienced.

 

To get back on track....

 

Embarkation was the best experience we've had on any ship. We arrived at 10:30 and were on by 11:00.... super easy... no waiting... no lines. We immediately headed to the promenade to wait in about a 20 minute line get our WOW bands... which I would not recommend. We were told they would immediately work... but they were not programmed correctly... so after a couple tries, I went to Guest Services to wait in that line to get them activated. Our complaints with them are, while they are good in theory, they are cumbersome to use. My wife and I both thought a different design would be better... she suggested a 'slap bracelet' style instead of a buckle. We were constantly removing them to give them to bartenders (which I had the alcohol package and my wife had the soda package BTW). They worked flawlessly to make retail purchases, arcades for the kids, unlocking cabin doors, but even if you walked up to a bar to order, chances are you had to take it off unless you happen to be standing right at the POS terminal. The other problem was there was no way to tell them apart... our family of four was constantly getting them confused.... and markers didn't help for us... between sweat, pool water, etc. it just didn't work. We thought you could pick your colors, but they told us our our muster station, BLUE was the only color. I finally came up with what I thought was the best solution in keeping them straight.... taking nail scissors and clipping out a little notch in different places for each person. All was well until on Day 4-5 my wife looked down and noticed her's was missing... so Guest services had to replace all of our sea pass cards and wow bands... could not just replace one... everything had to be redone. THEN, my next problem arose. I began getting charged for bar drinks... so it was back to guest services... where I was informed my wife had been buying drinks at the bar. WOW bands switched up after they assured me and I marked "who's was who's". In the mean time, my wife had been making some retail purchases... which looked like I was making them. Guest services had a hard time believing that bartenders nor clerks at the shops questioned it because our pictures didn't match.... but they sure didn't. At least 2 clerks and 3 bartenders never questioned it. It was only at the bionic bar, when it tried to charge me I realized what was happening... so it was back to... you guessed it... GUEST SERVICES again. Bottom line, I wouldn't do the WOW bands.

 

OK... getting back on track... our stateroom attendant was the best ever. We had 2 connecting central park cabins. He called us by name every time we saw him, was eager to help and talk.... asked how our day was going... my kids loved him. However, on the first night... about midnight... we turned our sheets back and wife life screamed BED-BUG... I took a pic and about a 10 second video of it crawling around then called Housekeeping. My wife put a piece of tape over it so it wouldn't "get away". While we were waiting, my daughter in the next cabin came over and said "There is something on my sheet". On the corner of the sheet was a... not sure the proper name... but a "booger." So we addressed that with housekeeping. Long story short... at 2 AM after new sheets on all beds and a bed-bug inspection of both cabins... we went to bed. It was just "one of those things". They inspected the room again the next day. I don't blame the stateroom attendant... it was just one of those things... but the hotel director was very apologetic and offered a 205 discount on our next cruse. I asked about just doing a OBC of some sort but he could not do that. The next day, our toilet would not flush... and they were there over 30 minutes replacing the " flush button"

 

We ate in the MDR every night. Once again, our waiter Roderick and assistant waiter Jerus were the BEST ever. We all loved them.. in fact, my wife confessed she wouldn't mind bringing Jerus home with us. He just had the best personality and smile ever. We had no complaints with MDR food. Windjammer, was a feeding frenzy at all times... total chaos every time we went.

 

Now is a good time to mention that our nickname for the ship was RUDENESS of the Seas.... the most rude passengers we had ever seen. Snotty people always holding elevators for their party that wasn't even near the elevator.... old ladies on scooters that would run over you without thinking twice about it, etc. Could not even play mini golf without the family behind us allowing their kids to step up on our green interfering with our shots... making our shots for us and running around to the point where we just gave up and quit. The straw that broke the camel's back was at the pool.... or the human soup bowl. (BTW, the pools were WAY overcrowd all week. My theory on that is because of NO solarium pool.) The other 3 main pools are over crowed because of no kids in the adult pool. On Allure, there was basically an extra pool for families because adults had their own pool in the Solarium.) Back to rudeness. We had a little section with only 3 loungers in a little row right on the edge of the water in the beach pool... very prized location. My wife and I had two. A lady had the other one and while we were in the pool her mother came over. She had nowhere to set so she sat on my wife chair. It was so close to where we were at, my wife politely told her that they was her chair... her response was "Don't worry, I will let you use it when you want it.". She just sat on the end of it for a few minutes but then she laid back. Then my wife told her, "please do not lay on my towel and my coverup". She huffed and said in her hispanic accent "Damn Americans". So then, she laid cross ways to where he head was on the bottom half of my wife longer and her feet was over her daughter lounger. Looked ridiculous. We had about had enough of her so I was rude right back. I went over and laid back on my lounger.... the third one over... and crossed my foot over my knee. This put my size 113 foot right in her face... about 30 seconds later, she got up and left and so did her daughter.... so then we had the 3rd lounger for my daughter. That may of been rude of me, but my goodness... I had never experienced anything quite like that.

 

One more thing I noticed.... Harmony was a very HOT ship in my opinion... I was hot and sweating most of the week. It never felt cool to me...even in cabin... Temperature is subjective I know like food, but to me, it was too hot.

 

Now, while I shared some NEGATIVES... we had a great cruise. We had a blast...We thoroughly enjoyed the shows, the dining room, etc. We also enjoyed Captain Gus and his daily "Words of Wisdom".

 

If it was a bed bug how did they handle it ? Did they replace the mattress with a new one ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In reference to the pool incident, once when i was on a cruise , my dh and i were at the lunch buffet. I was sitting & eating, the chair across from me was empty waiting on my husband. At the table next to us were 2 older ladies.

One lady put her dirty plate on MY table, in my husbands spot.

I said " ma'am my husband is sitting there please don't put your dirty dishes on my table"

She ignored me and spoke to her friend in Spanish. (Obnoxiously comments about me)

I repeated my comments IN Spanish ( NO I don't Look like I'd speak fluent Spanish BUT I DO)

She STILL ignored me.

So in my anger, I asked the passing buffet staff member to remove this 'plate'

I still regret speaking so forcefully to the attendant.. who was super nice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the talk on the wow bands, we have been wondering if we should try them. After seeing a couple of other complaints about things and now this I think we will pass on them.

 

The WOW Bands are great all around but for ordering drinks. You can do as my DH and I have done before and also carry your Sea Pass card for the bar. What's an even better Idea is to pick the bar you will frequent most. Tip the Bartender heavily on day one and introduce your spouse as well. Then you can basically walk up to the bar and say (for example on the last cruise) "Hey Sammy! I need another.. Mr. Michael 8224!" and voila no Sea Pass card or wow band needed!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We were thinking about getting the wow bands but I might have to rethink that. I am happy you had a great cruise even with the few issues. :)

 

The WOW Bands are great all around but for ordering drinks. You can do as my DH and I have done before and also carry your Sea Pass card for the bar. What's an even better Idea is to pick the bar you will frequent most. Tip the Bartender heavily on day one and introduce your spouse as well. Then you can basically walk up to the bar and say (for example on the last cruise) "Hey Sammy! I need another.. Mr. Michael 8224!" and voila no Sea Pass card or wow band needed!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...