Harmony of the Seas July 7, 2018-AMAZING!!!

Just returned from Harmony-WOW!

Of course the following is based on my family's experience, tastes & opinions.

From beginning to end it was just an amazing cruise.

A few random thoughts...

I was able to keep a secret for over a year from my family. For our past 12 Royal Caribbean cruises, the 4 of us have always been in 1 ocean view cabin. This cruise I surprised the family by getting my daughters their own cabin & I got my wife & I a balcony cabin.

Boarded the ship at 11:15. Very smooth. Not having uploaded our own photo was no big deal at check in.

The ship itself was very impressive. Had been on Allure when 1st out & the additional features on Harmony make this Oasis class ship just that much better.

The cruise staff as a whole were extremely friendly. From Captain Johnny to the crew members cleaning the ship there was always a friendly smile & greeting as you walked by. Loved our dining room waitstaff, stateroom attendants & casino dealers. Although I played at $25 BJ tables that paid 3-2, I was pleasantly surprised that they offered $15 BJ tables that paid 3-2 (and not just 6-5) as well.

The entertainment was great! All of the shows were phenomenal. Grease was fantastic (side note for anyone concerned, there was a little bit of adult verbiage & gestures.) We did a behind the scenes tour as part of the Diamond & above group that was very interesting.

My family really enjoyed all of our dining experiences. OUR OPINION is that the food was very good in both the main dining room & in the Windjammer. The Kummelweck sandwich in Park Café was very good. Snacks in Café Promenade were good. Sorrentos Pizza seemed to be hit or miss for us, but probably had to do with freshness. (we did not eat at any specialty restaurants)

Navigating around the Harmony was easy by the 2nd day. For those that have not already noticed (with the exception of the Royal Promenade), in general, the entertainment venues are forward & the food venues are aft. This helped me when I finally caught on.

Islands were nice. Just did local shopping on our own-no excursions. St. Kitts was our favorite island, mostly because we did not get hounded to get in a taxi or take a tour & the locals were not pushy to make sales in the stores or tents. Very friendly island.

One aspect that we did not care for was our CD. In our opinion & from ourexperiences on our past 12 Royal Caribbean cruises, although it did not detractfrom the cruise, Dru Pavlov (cruise director) was not very good or maybe notsuited for an Oasis class ship. For myfamily, the CD has always been the face of the entire entertainment &activities on the ship. While he wasvery friendly & posed for a couple of pictures, Dru seemed like he wasrarely around at big events. He wouldusually show up at the end as crowds were already exiting a show or event &no one paid attention to what he was saying. He was more of just an MC at some events. He is the first CD we have had who didnothing to add to the entertainment factor. I understand that the Oasis class of ships is a different beast, but wehave been on the Allure with Allan Brooks in the past, and he was all over theship at every main event & added to the entertainment factor himself. Once again, Dru was very friendly, but maybejust not my family's cup of tea as a CD.

Like most of us, I could go on & on forever writing & talking about cruising.

If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to try to answer them.

Happy cruising.

We were on the sailing before yours (June 30) and totally agree about the CD.

So glad you had a great time! I was on Harmony last April and my family also got two rooms - the parents in an oceanview balcony on Deck 10, and my brother and myself in the Central Park balcony directly across the hall. I agree with your statement about, in general, entertainment bring forward and food aft (with the exception of the AquaTheater and Solarium Bistro) - definitely a good rule of thumb to help people who have never sailed an Oasis class ship!

I’m sorry to hear that the CD was not quite up to par - I have never sailed with Dru, but have never had an issue with any of the CDs I have sailed with. That being said, I do have a favorite, and that would be the one from my Harmony cruise, that being Abe Hughes, who will be returning to Harmony this fall. He was fabulous! I have sailed with Captain Johnny on both Harmony and Allure and agree that he is one of the best. The crew as a whole is usually always very attentive and friendly!

Overall, I’m happy you enjoyed the Harmony - I love Royal Caribbean and hope you liked it enough to return just as my family and I have! Thank you so much for the review!

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Thanks for the info and sounds like a great time. We leave on Harmony in 2 weeks and have been reading on the boards for what seems like forever. Were any of the hot tubs open in the evening?

We sailed with Captain Johnny on Allure as well & had Abe on Freedom last year-he was great.

Dru was very friendly, maybe he was just off his game last week.

Oh yeah, I forgot about that little Aqua Theater thing (sarcasm) is aft.

We sailed with Captain Johnny on Allure as well & had Abe on Freedom last year-he was great.

 

Dru was very friendly, maybe he was just off his game last week.

That’s great to hear! We were on Freedom this past March and had hoped Abe would still be there since we enjoyed him so much on Harmony! Sadly, he had left by the time our sailing came, but we enjoyed Drew Devine nonetheless!

Everyone has their bad days - great to hear Dru was still friendly! Harmony is a magnificent ship and I’m glad you made the most of it!

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Follow-up to my earlier posts: who was the Activities Manager? Was it Katy? She was ours on Harmony, and although we didn’t see a whole lot of her, she wasn’t bad for being fairly new to the job!

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A few of additional thoughts (Im sure I'll have more pop in my head as I unpack)...

-In addition to all of the shows that are available to pre-reserve tickets, there was also an additional Aqua show called Hideaway Heist & an additional ice show called I-Skate that did not have an option to pre-reserve tickets.

-there were some event time discrepancies between cabin TV, Royal IQ app & Cruise Compass. We were told that the Cruise Compass was the most up to date schedule.

(Donna (over on the CD thread) just gave a great review of Dru so I am glad to see that my experience may not have been a typical week for Dru)

Yes, I believe it was Katy. Last week, she was all over the ship & very energetic.

Katy reminds me of an additional thought...we did not enjoy 90's street party (not because of Katy) last week as much as we have enjoyed 70's street parties on other ships. While I knew every song for both events, I don't think the majority of the crowd last week knew as many 90's songs, so it didn't seem like the party was as lively or interactive as a 70's party.

Yes, I believe it was Katy. Last week, she was all over the ship & very energetic.

 

Katy reminds me of an additional thought...we did not enjoy 90's street party (not because of Katy) last week as much as we have enjoyed 70's street parties on other ships. While I knew every song for both events, I don't think the majority of the crowd last week knew as many 90's songs, so it didn't seem like the party was as lively or interactive as a 70's party.

Great to hear! I have heard mixed reviews of her, but she did a good job on my cruise. I think the main reason we didn’t see much of her wasn’t because of any of her doing, but because Abe does his late night/ early morning show solo rather than with his AM. She did a great job hosting the 90s party on our cruise too, however, like you, my mother and I have grown to enjoy the 70s party and while we still enjoyed the 90s party, it just didn’t have the same feel!

Now I was born in 1999, so I wasn’t even a thought when those 70s songs were big, big the vibe at 70s night is just one not to be missed and that was one thing we did miss about Harmony! Alas, different events for different ships, gives us a variety! But what you said about the 70s party being lively and interactive is spot-on, you can tell that everyone there is having a good time! We loved it on Freedom, Liberty and Allure. We didn’t know about it yet on our Oasis cruise but more than likely would’ve enjoyed it just as much if we did!

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I was on the same cruise - maybe saw Dru once. Only knew who he was because of one of the tv shows I caught. We spent a lot of time at the pool and heard Katy a lot. Very energetic.

Thanks for the review. Not had Dru, but he has a big fanbase from Anthem (his previous ship). Maybe better suited to that ship than Harmony.

As for 90's night - I like it (plenty of songs), but it doesn't quite have the same feel as 70's night. 80's night is the theme night on Symphony (and on Mariner) and we enjoyed it a lot. Similar format to the 70's with some new twists and great songs.

I've had Dru as a CD a couple times and really liked him. He is definitely more subdued/laid back than some CD's but I personally prefer that kind of attitude rather than the loud, obnoxious, over-the-top types.

We are going on Mariner in December. Looking forward to experiencing an 80's night for a change.

Do you know what time self debarkation started? I have a super early flight home and am hoping to be off the ship by 7AM.

Thanks.

katiel53

Sorry it took so long to respond.

Self-assist departure started at 6:30am

A few of additional thoughts (Im sure I'll have more pop in my head as I unpack)...

-In addition to all of the shows that are available to pre-reserve tickets, there was also an additional Aqua show called Hideaway Heist & an additional ice show called I-Skate that did not have an option to pre-reserve tickets.

-there were some event time discrepancies between cabin TV, Royal IQ app & Cruise Compass. We were told that the Cruise Compass was the most up to date schedule.

 

(Donna (over on the CD thread) just gave a great review of Dru so I am glad to see that my experience may not have been a typical week for Dru)

Thanks for your review. We're looking forward to enjoying the Harmony in November! Do you remember how far in advance you were able to book the shows? I was hoping that they opened up already but they haven't.

We were around 45 days out from sail date when entertainment opened up for booking.

katiel53

Sorry it took so long to respond.

Self-assist departure started at 6:30am

Thanks so much. I was hoping so and if that's the case I should make my flight with no problem. It started the same on Allure and I was at the airport by 7 or 7:15. I'm just hoping that there aren't any delays this time as I've never had a flight as early.

I just remembered that one of the gangways was inoperable for departure, but it was still very efficient & on time as scheduled getting off. We had luggage tags to get off 8:20-8:45 & were off by 8:30 & curbside in about 15 minutes.

I have been on many cruises. Drew is my FAVORITE cd. :hearteyes:

Robinola, Drew Devine or Dru Pavlov?

I have not sailed with Drew Devine yet, so just curious to whom you are referring.