Wingman2010

Sailing on the Constellation this Summer and the cruise ends in Venice (after spending the night in Venice). We've never done a disembarkation at a port the we spent the previous night at, was wondering how early we could self-disembark.

Would like to get the earliest train out of Venice.....

Was that flagged as a special promotion? I have seen both $199 and $224 quoted in my cruise planner but it's not at all clear what is the 'standard' price for a 9 night cruise or if it varies from cruise to cruise.

Yes, it was flagged as part of a "limited time" promotion: 20% off of any excursions, dining plans, etc . The "limited time" was like a 4 day period immediately after I booked the cruise.

This is my first Celebrity cruise so I'm not sure what the norm is for these promotions....

How much is the unlimited internet for a ten (10) night cruise?

I just paid $199 for unlimited internet for an upcoming 9 night Med cruise. This was supposedly 20% off......

Ate there on our recent Harmony cruise, it was OK- but our least favorite of the specialty restaurants we tried (Wonderland, Chops, Jamie's, 150 Central Park).

IMO, Giovanni's was better (on past cruises).

We were able to use our Diamond free drink coupons in all the dining venues on Harmony in Sept.

+1 for Park N Go. They were awesome on our recent Harmony cruise. They didn't charge us for the extra parking days because of our extended hurricane cruise. Online booking is the way to go.....

Put me down as a parent that thought it was OK to take the kids out of school for a vacation (cruise or land). That being said, we never did it without the proper pre-planning with schools and/or teachers. Many times, there were assignments being completed during the vacation. That plus the fact that we were never dealing with any academic deficiencies. I found that most teachers (provided they were given enough notice) were supportive.

We dined in specialty restaurants 4 nights on our recent Harmony cruise. I was dressed mostly business casual, but saw a mix of all kinds of dress (including shorts).

We just sailed Harmony in Sept. and pre-purchased a 3-night specialty restaurant package. We then added a 4th night as a BOGO after we were on board. We dined at:

Wonderland - liked it, but it is a unique experience..

Jamie's- thought it was so-so, wouldn't go back

Chops- had a really good meal

150 Central Park- highlight meal of our cruise (for both food and service)

We enjoyed our Wonderland experience on the Harmony. The restaurant location/ambiance was very nice and it is a unique experience. We liked all of the food items (our waiter did the selecting) but on a return trip we would probably try to explore more of the menu on our own. WE had great service throughout the Wonderland dinner but our waiter was either new to this venue- or just plain nervous. His explanations of everything were very rehearsed and a bit awkward. Desserts are worth the trip alone...

Unfortunately, she will not.....

WE were recently on the extended Harmony "hurricane" cruise and were very happy with the food selection and quality in the WJ. Might be because our expectations were aimed appropriately lower, but we found ourselves eating there more than usual..... Was actually a nice surprise.

Still a problem getting a seat though. Seems to be way too many people camped out in the WJ...

For those of you who want a table for two, did you always find during the cruise you were able to get a table for two, or did they try to get you to sit with others? Did you find waiting for a table of two took longer than waiting for a larger table?

Out of the six nights we used MTD on our recent Harmony cruise, we almost immediately got a table for two on five of the nights. One night we had a choice of waiting for a two top (think it was like 15 minutes) or being immediately seated with others. I was actually impressed with the overall MTD process on the Harmony. Note: we did have a reservation for all nights we used MTD but I must admit that we were not always punctual.....

I just made this exact change on my recent Harmony cruise...

We just sailed the Harmony and also used Park N Go. Our plan was to arrive dockside before 11:00, so we arrived at the Park N Go lot at like 10:15. The Park N Go process went much faster than we expected (I was impressed with this lot) and we were dropped at the ship at like 10:30 ish.

You will love Harmony.

WE bought the 3 night package prior to sailing for our recent Harmony cruise. Wonderland was assigned to us as a first selection. We could have changed it but decided to go and did like it. Think it might not be selling as fast as the other specialty restaurants.....

STANDARDDISCLAIMER: These are our thoughtsand experiences and obviously opinions vary. We tried to limit this report to the subjects most of you are interestedin (based on the bulk of CC questions and posts)

ABOUT US: 50ish couple, Diamond level on RCI but havecruised other lines. This was simply agetaway cruise for us but we were interested in the newness and size of theHarmony. Had previously sailed theAllure.

PRE-CRUISE: Wedrove to FT. Lauderdale and used Park N Go. Highly recommend this place, see details on the Florida Departuresboard. Great experience with them androughly half the cost of port parking.

EMBARKATION: Arrivedat ship at 11:00, no check-in lines. Basically, we walked directly onto the ship.

CABIN: OceanviewBalcony #8300, Aft Port side– We loved the cabin, no issues or complaintsthere. Cabin Steward was alsoawesome. He was personable and alwaysmanaged to work around whatever our daily schedule was. One caveat to being on the port side, almostall of the docking was actually on the starboard side.

SHIP OVERALL: Obviously very new and in great shape, closeenough to the layout of the Allure that we could find everything.

SOLARIUM: Therehas been much discussion about this area on Harmony, might as well get our twocents in. We found the aesthetics to begreat but it does get a bit hot (the transparent roof only diffuses thesun). So, you get hot. Then you either have to: go in a warm spa, goin the nifty sprinkler area or hoof it to a pool outside the solarium. As nice as the aesthetics were, we reallymissed the solarium pool!!

SLIDES: Didn’t goon them once. I will say that they appeared to be very popular with all ages.

CRUISE DIRECTOR(Bobby Brown): Was just OK. Didn’tphysically see him at all until day 3, thought his morning TV show was way toocorny.

SHOWS: Grease wasfantastic. The Fine Line Aqua Show wasalso fantastic (just don’t sit in the splash zone LOL). The 1887 Ice Show had a weird storyline butwas OK. The Headliner show (guy whocould do tons of voices) was very entertaining. Adult Comedy (especially Simion) was hilarious. RCI also brought on a rock cover band(Private Stock) that was very talented. Wedidn’t make it to Columbus. All shows considered, entertainment on the Harmonyseemed better than we experienced on our last few RCI cruises.

GENERAL DINING:Of the 10 nights, we dined six nights in the MDR and four nights in specialtyrestaurants. Our lunches were spreadacross the Windjammer (aka the “Foodjammer”), the Solarium Bistro and the ParkCafé. We don’t usually do breakfast butwe did try the MDR once (excellent) and Park Café (decent). Our meals in theMDR were all either good or very good. We also never had poor service, for the most part it was above average.I also don’t remember on past cruises having the Head Waiter stop by the tableevery night or filling out those happy face surveys all the time. Ourexperiences in the Foodjammer were frustrating, mostly because of thedifficulty getting a table. Lots of people come here and sort of camp out afterthey are done eating. Food selection andquality were fine, though our expectations here are probably a bit low. Solarium Bistro was always better for crowdsat lunch but selection was less than at the WJ.

MTD: We hadreservations every night we went to the MDR (table for 2) but there were a fewnights that we were less than punctual. Didn’t seem to matter much, we never waited more than a few minutes. Onenight we were asked if we would share a table (all the two tops were filled),we obliged rather than wait. Wegenerally ate at like 6:30-7:30, there appeared to be longer wait lines when wewere leaving the MDR (at like 8:00ish).

SPECIALTY DINING:We purchased the three night package and then added a fourth under the halfprice “hurricane special”. Started with Wonderland. The concept isdefinitely unique and the setting on the ship is gorgeous. We also really liked the food (even though itis a tad “gimmicky” and each course is kind of small). The desserts alone areworth the trip. The experience would have been much better with a differentwaiter. Ours was very new, very nervous and trying so hard to stick to thescript that it was awkward. Definitely worth going to though. Next up was Jamies’s, which had us missing Giovanni’s badly. We thought we ate better in the MDR. Thepasta dishes were nothing special. Chops was very good, this seems to be themost consistent specialty restaurant across the fleet. Last, but not least, was 150 Central Park. First timehere for us and we absolutely loved it. Not sure if it was just the food or that we also had an awesome waiter,but the overall experience really felt special. The tableside service was welldone and the beef tenderloin for two was worthy of any top shelf steakrestaurant. The tableside prepared tunatartare was also noteworthy.

DIAMOND LOUNGE ANDDIAMOND PERKS: As others have stated, the DL is sort of in the bowels ofthe ship with no window views. It isnicely appointed though. There were definitely times where it was standing roomonly but mostly when the different dinner time crowds were overlapping. Thehappy hour service was excellent, no matter the crowd. They also were offering a larger choice ofdrinks (i.e. Long Island Iced Teas, martinis, etc). Don’t think I saw this on prior cruises? Good news on the three free drinks loaded onthe sea pass: we were able to redeem these (during the appropriate hours) inthe MDR, specialty restaurants, shows, etc. This was very convenient. Onediamond rant: we couldn’t combine our two internet coupons for one internetplan for one device (which we were sharing throughout the week). I realize this is small potatoes but thesethings are a bit irritating…

WOW BANDS: We gotthem and liked using them, for the most part. There are obviously still some shortcomings, mostly having to keeptaking the thing on and off when you want to order drinks. The wait staff inthe MDR did not seem to like them at all. They would always ask if we had oursea pass cards instead, or write down our names and cabin numbers to manuallyorder the drinks. Kind of defeats the purpose. All pertinent crew members should have the ability to read these bands. Definitely handy for cabin access.

DEBARKATION: HolyMother of all cluster you-know-whats!! Granted, everyone wanted off the ship in a hurry after 10 nights. This is no excuse for the rude and obnoxiouspassenger behavior. To make mattersworse, RCI could have done a bit more to try to manage the chaos. It was a bad situation: our specific dockingtime was totally up in the air and way too many people were doingself-debarkation (including those that really were not capable of it). There were like 2000 people with luggage onthe Promonade hours before we could get off the ship. When RCI tried to set updebarkation lines at each end of the ship (the theater and the MDR) there wasmuch disorder and resistance. There are definitely groups of passengers thatfelt that waiting in line was just a suggestion. Quite a few confrontations with “linecutters” were observed, as were many instances of lack of any respect for RCIpersonnel who were trying to keep order. Not a shining moment for anyone…

RCI HANDLING OF THEHURRICANE SITUATION: With the exception of the above mentioned debacle, RCIdid an excellent job here with a bad situation. Plenty of updates throughout(Captain Johnny does like to talk J)and a few nice perks thrown in (half priced drinks, laundry, specialtyrestaurants; free continuation of internet, drink packages; cruise points forall ten nights, free internet periods for those that didn’t have it). Nocomplaints here!!

CLOSING THOUGHTS:We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on this cruise. Many, many more pluses than minuses. We did like the Harmony. Since weare not “slide people” though, the other Oasis class ships are probably abetter fit. Food and Entertainment on thiscruise exceeded our expectations, as compared to previous cruises. Just our opinion of two very subjectivecategories. One thing that was most consistent, we never once encountered arude crew member. Some were obviouslymore helpful than others but they all seemed to generally want to help. So, if you like slides and want the biggestship, Harmony is for you.

I did a Balcony GTY on my recent Harmony cruise and was assigned a connecting cabin. After reading about people's experiences, I called RCI and requested a change (which was granted)....

We used Park N Go for the first time for our 9/2/17 Harmony Cruise. I was impressed by how easy and organized the car drop off was on 9/2. What was more impressive was our return experience. As most of you know, our cruise return was delayed by three days because of Irma. Then, our actual docking time on 9/12 was delayed and we were basically sitting outside the port awaiting clearance to come in. To make debarkation even messier, a huge number of passengers chose self-debarkation - making the terminal a total madhouse. All these things considered, I was expecting to wait a while for a Park N Go shuttle. What a relief to see 3 Park N Go shuttles ready to load up customers, more incoming as we were leaving the terminal. We were immediately dropped off at our car and on our way. The last surprise: Park N Go was not charging anyone for the extra 3 days...

Highly recommended company that I will gladly use again!!

Just got back from the 9/2 Harmony "hurricane extended" cruise. There were definitely times on our cruise where the Diamond Lounge was standing room only. Seemed like it was mostly in the 5:30 - 6:00 timeframe, when there was a partial clear out for dinner seating. Even when crowded though, the service in the DL was great....

Bravo!! Very nice review.

Once again, thanks for the top notch trip report installment.

I particularly liked your idiot to passenger ratio theory, but would add one more quantifier: Idiots on vacation are a much more obnoxious strain of idiot.....:evilsmile::evilsmile:

The singing and dancing number always seems to happen whenever my food is on the counter, ready to be delivered to my table.... :cool::cool:

Thank you for the wonderful review and pictures! WE are sailing on Harmony in a couple of weeks and appreciate the additional info. Your review also made up our minds to try Wonderland (we were on the fence before)...

We are sailing on the Harmony in September with MTD. I kept trying to schedule MTD on My Cruise Planner (started in like June) with no success. Called RCI in July, they couldn't find the reason I was not able to. I was just going to wait until we were aboard to make the reservations but My Cruise Planner apparently "healed itself" in August and I was able to schedule MTD online...

Looks like when you book MTD in My Cruise Planner though, it wont let you pick a time less than at least 2 hours prior to another scheduled event. I understand this but was hoping as a table for 2 we could eat later and closer to show time..... Will likely revise MTD reservation on board anyway....