Harmony Of The Seas - Maiden Voyage - Live Blog

[Single Cruiser]

I'm starting to think RCL should have given the job to shipyard in Turku, Finland. They did a good job with Harmony's sisters... Hopefully everything will be finished soon, we'll be on board in January [emoji4]!

 

 

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Well they should learn for Oasis 4 !

[dupe1_Risteilijä]

The French have been building a nuclear plant here in Finland for ages now, it was supposed to be ready in 2009... Now they're saying it should be finished in 2018!

 

 

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[Pratique]

The French have been building a nuclear plant here in Finland for ages now, it was supposed to be ready in 2009... Now they're saying it should be finished in 2018!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Not to pile on France because it is one of my favorite countries, but when I worked over there some years ago on a large project, progress was very slow by U.S. standards due in part to long lunch breaks, a no-hurry attitude, and always quitting early on Fridays despite chronically being behind schedule. And after delivery there were still many things incomplete or in need of correction, much more so than for similar projects we had done in the Netherlands.

 

Lowest bidder, probably.

Edited May 25, 2016 by Pratique

[BourkeBlogs]

Tonight's dinner was very good on Chops Grille.

 

It didn't get off to the best do starts as despite being seated first for our 6pm sitting everyone around us was attended to first and some even received starters before a waiter even came over to us with water and to take drinks orders. This only happened as my OH got up to speak to the manager which resolved the issue. For some reason our table seemed to have been forgotten.

 

Fortunately, that's the one and only bad from the meal and everything improved with service significantly from that point.

 

The food was truly excellent. We had a mushroom soup and French onion soup which were brilliant.

 

 

 

We both opted for scallops, which again were excellent

 

[the kids]

Thanks for your blog. We will cruise on Harmony from Ft lauderdale in December. Can't wait to learn more from you. Thanks

The kIDS

[BourkeBlogs]

For mains my OH had the short rib, whilst I had the filet mignon. We also asked for the spicy shrimp to share and our request was accommodated making the most fantastic surf and turf. You could choose sharer sides so we went for asparagus, fries and mushrooms.

 

 

This was the filet, slightly undercooked for medium, more medium rare but with being fillet it was actually perfect.

 

 

 

[BourkeBlogs]

For desserts it was cheesecake and mud pie

 

 

 

Both were very good although they could have done with some cream on the side, especially the chocolate mud pie as it was very rich.

 

This was probably the best quality meal we have had whilst on the ship.

[BourkeBlogs]

Earlier today we received an envelope in our cabin with the process for what to do for back to back cruises.

 

Despite having to change cabins we are able to leave our items hung in the wardrobe and just pack the rest in our case and leave this in the cabin by 8am. The stateroom attendant will hen move the items for us.

 

We don't need to get off the ship and are able to complete our new check in onboard in the morning. That means the only people onboard will be the back to back cruises, although I think there are a lot of us, so I plan to go round videoing tomorrow and do a voice over guided tour of the ship. Not sure how this will work but I've got all the gear to do it so may as well have a go.

[Pipo]

My mom knows nothing about ship building, but when I showed her some pictures of the ongoing work on the Harmony back in March, she told me: "that ship is not going to be ready on time"... Wise words.

[MrsR1987]

I am also sailing on Harmony on 6-26-16!!! We are a group of 6.

[John&LaLa]

Surprised you don't have to get off. What port are you at? Have fun waving goodbye to your former ship mates

[RFerrington]

Yummm... the cream of mushroom soup is my favorite dish on any Royal Caribbean menu. Makes my mouth water just to see the picture !

[BourkeBlogs]

Surprised you don't have to get off. What port are you at? Have fun waving goodbye to your former ship mates

 

 

 

It's at Southampton, they said if we do get off we wouldn't then be allowed back on again until general boarding and there is no reason for us to get off in Southampton until we arrive back on Sunday and go home.

[BourkeBlogs]

Yummm... the cream of mushroom soup is my favorite dish on any Royal Caribbean menu. Makes my mouth water just to see the picture !

 

 

 

I've never had it onboard and it was amazing!

[kjmjrm]

Has anyone done a per night breakdown to see if this cruise was priced as a preview cruise?

 

I understand the whoel "don't book an inaugural cruise" knowledge, but that comes from years of cruising experience. But not everyone has that experience. When you buy a product, you expect that product. Its not about money making things better. Its not about "being on a cruise is better than being at work". Why are so many willing to excuse RCCL but wouldn't excuse something like a vehicle purchase.

 

If I go purchase a a piece of furniture and do not get what was advertised b/c it was the first one they made, I would expect a refund or acknowledgement of some kind. Heck, RCCL published and still shows a solarium pool on the website!

 

If this was priced lower (based on per night) than others, I get it, but if it wasn't, RCCL did not sell what they promised. It doesn't matter that its the first . More cruisers than not are first or second timers and don't spend hours here.

 

I know that things can go wrong, but I dont think its fair to knock others who expect to get what was promised.

 

But thats just my opinion. Im scheduled to be on the ship on June 12. Hopefully, some of these issues will be cleared up by then. :)

 

^^^ thank you!!

[Britcruzer15]

I bought a french car once, lets just say once bitten twice shy:eek:

[heatherb1958]

Has anyone done a per night breakdown to see if this cruise was priced as a preview cruise?

 

I understand the whoel "don't book an inaugural cruise" knowledge, but that comes from years of cruising experience. But not everyone has that experience. When you buy a product, you expect that product. Its not about money making things better. Its not about "being on a cruise is better than being at work". Why are so many willing to excuse RCCL but wouldn't excuse something like a vehicle purchase.

 

If I go purchase a a piece of furniture and do not get what was advertised b/c it was the first one they made, I would expect a refund or acknowledgement of some kind. Heck, RCCL published and still shows a solarium pool on the website!

 

If this was priced lower (based on per night) than others, I get it, but if it wasn't, RCCL did not sell what they promised. It doesn't matter that its the first . More cruisers than not are first or second timers and don't spend hours here.

 

 

I know that things can go wrong, but I dont think its fair to knock others who expect to get what was promised.

 

But thats just my opinion. Im scheduled to be on the ship on June 12. Hopefully, some of these issues will be cleared up by then. :)

 

Well said.

The cheapest I saw the current ruise advertised was £349 for an inside GTY, well within our per night budget and similar to historical pricing for other short cruises out of Southampton but I was not tempted even though we were in town after the Navigator TA.

After our experiences on the inaugural Quantum TA that convinced me never to book an inaugural cruise again, we spent way too much time at GS due to being continually locked out of our cabin which reminds me, how are the RFID cards/ wristbands working onboard? :)

[John&LaLa]

It's at Southampton, they said if we do get off we wouldn't then be allowed back on again until general boarding and there is no reason for us to get off in Southampton until we arrive back on Sunday and go home.

 

In the states you get off as a group at the end of disembarking and get back on almost immediately.

[heatherb1958]

It's at Southampton, they said if we do get off we wouldn't then be allowed back on again until general boarding and there is no reason for us to get off in Southampton until we arrive back on Sunday and go home.

 

For future reference . If wanting to go ashore independently usually you are given a transit card with your new Seapass card if doing B2B in Southampton and return via the crew entrance bypassing check in with your passport & new sea pass card given to you on the ship . I imagine due to the numbers of workers still onboard and guests arriving that scenario cannot be accommodated.

We have done many B2Bs from Southampton, the only difference between ships was how your new card was delivered.

Looking forward to seeing your next video.

My friend who took the Solarium pics leaves tomorrow, she became Pinnacle on the cruise:cool: Another friend will take her place to be my spy :D

Edited May 25, 2016 by heatherb1958

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I'm starting to think RCL should have given the job to shipyard in Turku, Finland. They did a good job with Harmony's sisters... Hopefully everything will be finished soon, we'll be on board in January [emoji4]!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I will admit, this is the first thing that came to my mind.

 

These types of things definitely didn't happen with Oasis and Allure.

 

And even with Quantum Class, although some things weren't operating and there were service issues, the ships were beautiful with all of the construction aspects in very good condition. The smaller details on Harmony (i.e. the deck flooring, calked edges, and other cosmetic things) look completely unacceptable.

[compman9]

Tonight's dinner was very good on Chops Grille.

 

It didn't get off to the best do starts as despite being seated first for our 6pm sitting everyone around us was attended to first and some even received starters before a waiter even came over to us with water and to take drinks orders. This only happened as my OH got up to speak to the manager which resolved the issue. For some reason our table seemed to have been forgotten.

 

Fortunately, that's the one and only bad from the meal and everything improved with service significantly from that point.

 

The food was truly excellent. We had a mushroom soup and French onion soup which were brilliant.

 

 

 

We both opted for scallops, which again were excellent

 

 

I want to thank you for providing us all with a blog while you are on your own vacation. It is very kind of you

 

I would say one thing though, having eaten in most of those restaurants I know the food is good, and your photos are great, but as they are supersized on my screen they look terrifying - the hanging shrimp in Wonderland looked like something out of Godzilla :D :D

[Cosmic Rays]

Are the workers all getting off tomorrow or staying on for a further three days? If they do then hopefully 'guarantees' can be assigned for the trip to Barcelona on Sunday.............

[BourkeBlogs]

I want to thank you for providing us all with a blog while you are on your own vacation. It is very kind of you

 

 

 

I would say one thing though, having eaten in most of those restaurants I know the food is good, and your photos are great, but as they are supersized on my screen they look terrifying - the hanging shrimp in Wonderland looked like something out of Godzilla :D :D

 

 

 

Thanks

 

I've been on here and uploading pics in an app so they look fine, however when I looked on my Mac earlier they did look rather huge!

[RFerrington]

I will admit, this is the first thing that came to my mind.

 

These types of things definitely didn't happen with Oasis and Allure.

 

And even with Quantum Class, although some things weren't operating and there were service issues, the ships were beautiful with all of the construction aspects in very good condition. The smaller details on Harmony (i.e. the deck flooring, calked edges, and other cosmetic things) look completely unacceptable.

 

I have not yet been on Harmony so my opinion is just from the very few photos and videos I have seen....but there is something about the furnishings that seem a little "cheap" to me - both indoor and outdoor. Maybe it will be different when I see it in person. I dunno...some'n.....

[BourkeBlogs]

Are the workers all getting off tomorrow or staying on for a further three days? If they do then hopefully 'guarantees' can be assigned for the trip to Barcelona on Sunday.............

 

 

 

I can't imagine them all getting off tomorrow, still a lot to be done. Although some things like carpets seem to be finished now.

 

Another step closer as well, the big screens on the theatre are now working.