My 2 weeks aboard Harmony of the Seas (review)

[Single Cruiser]

Day 10 ( or day 3 maiden voyage) and the much sought after Aqua theatre show was shown for the very first time.. The ents vp Has to fill a bit as the Sun hadn't set yet and this show is definitely one for after dark.

 

If you sit in the back few rows the deck above will block your view of the top diving platforms and the tightrope act. If you sit in the front few rows you will get wet..

 

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Tonight's free gift in the cabin was a flask and shoulder bag

 

Edited June 9, 2016 by Single Cruiser

[Klstaack]

All of the included gifts are fun. I love the hat. I hope to find a hat similar that that on our next cruise in one of the shops.

[flgatorgirl]

Loving the review so far! We were one of the families watching from Southampton as you sailed off on the 29th. We were booked on the Navigator (and got a day taken from our Norway cruise [emoji22] due to the Harmony's schedule) that left on the 30th. We love the Oasis class and unfortunately, as I expected, were disappointed by the Navigator. We have sailed the Oasis several times, as we live near the Ft. lauderdale port. I just wish more ports could accommodate the larger ships, so the itineraries were better, rather than the same ole Caribbean. Last year we were fortunate and had a great Med sailing on the allure. I wish there were more itin. like that on those ships! I booked on next cruise for the harmony in March 2017.

 

 

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[ceddy1968]

Enjoying the post.

[Single Cruiser]

The aquatheatre shows always seem to be love them or hate them for some people. There was surprisingly quite a few people who got up and walked out during the show but equally those trying to see it but no reservations watching from the boardwalk dived in to grab the seats.

 

There was another "silent" disco which cruise director Ken seems to like in the nightclub so I popped into jazz on 4 opposite to catch the end of the very talented musicians set.

 

I must say throughout the ship all the bands and singers at the various bars were good. Hot Spices did Calypso music and were mostly poolside or in the promenade.

 

Kieron Cox (pictured below) was the resident guitar playing singer in the Boot and Bonnet Pub.

 

[Single Cruiser]

Before we head into Vigo I also wanted to mention the dream works characters. How they can spend large amounts of the day in those big costumes in the heat I don't know. But kids young and old , and adults loved them and they'd always stop for a photo opportunity!

 

 

[Single Cruiser]

A new month and the first Spanish port for Harmony of the Seas.

Vigo is a well known port for those from the UK as a lot of ex-Southampton departures from most cruise lines pop in on the way down to the Med.

 

Still with the Sun shining there was a lot of locals who had come down to see both arrival and later on our departure..

 

 

Looking at the daily compass for today two things hit me. First the headliner act for the theatre tonight was Donovan & Rebecca which were described as Vocal & Acrobatic couple. Not something you would normally associate together so jumped on the old Royal iq app (if you have a smart phone do download it as it is so convenient, if you don't they still have iPad stations around the prom decks where you can do the same), and reserved the 9:30 show which would mean coming out in perfect time for the adult quest gameshow in studio B (11PM , doors were 10:30PM). The friends I had met onboard hadn't been to one before so I tried explaining :D, but more on that later..

 

Seemed a very quick day and all aboard at 4:30PM we set out for an amazing sail away through the archipelago as you leave Vigo.

 

[Single Cruiser]

So the acrobatic vocalist duo was as strange as it seems. OK they were good at what they were doing but it seems the guy wanted to spend ages explaining (in very out of breath gasps) how they met and the act formed whilst actually doing the act?

 

Anyhow was now time to nip across entertainment place to Studio B to get a good seat for the quest show. The venue filled up fast..

 

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For those of you who haven't seen the quest before, have you not cruised? Both Royal and I know Norwegian do similar events. Basically it's a realtime adult scavenger hunt, the studio was split into sections - team captains male/female nominated and they had to get various items or team members to do various things.

Let's just say it helps if you have had a few drinks and there was plenty of waiters on hand. For the first-timers with me, let's just say I've never seen a lady remove a bra so fast and run down to the floor :eek::D

 

 

Being well lubricated by the end of the event around midnight most moved next door to the attic nightclub. The rest of the night is a bit hazy but I recall eating pizza in sorrentos and also feeling disappointed when I got back to my cabin to find tonight's gift was in fact a bingo card!! For the next day prize bingo, which in reality was about 5hrs time :rolleyes:

Edited June 10, 2016 by Single Cruiser

[Single Cruiser]

Shhhush...

 

:cool:

 

Today was one of those days when you realise you are not as young as you used to be.. After 11 straight nights (well 12 including the hotel in Southampton) I decided today would be a juice and soda only day :)

 

Appropriately it was also another showing of the 90s dance party on the prom which I had previously seen and also just a 3rd showing of the acrobatic vocalist duo. (To allow most guests to see the headline shows they have three shows, two one night and one the next, the theatre holds about 1500 so 3 shows allows for up to 4500 passengers to see it), as the CD explained in a Q&A on the last day some passengers never go to any of the shows! :eek:

[Single Cruiser]

Nearly forgot! Last nights gift was a selection of sweet chocolates and cake bites

 

The weather had been great all week and was now well into the 80sF, high 20Cs with a lot of people heading out to the beach, for those who stayed onboard they had free run of the ship 😄

 

 

 

I also had a note in the cabin about selecting departure time for tags to be delivered to my stateroom tomorrow. My flight was 10:50 from Barcelona and so opted for the 08:00-08:30 ones.

 

Sail away was the first where there wasn't a whole lot of spectators ashore or small boats. But then I think Malaga has seen Oasis and Allure in recent years. There was a very strong cross-wind gusting up to 20-30knots and so the Capt and pilot took us gingerly out through the breakwater in reverse before we could spin around and finally head to her Summer homeport of Barcelona.

A combination of tiredness, daytime drinking and too much Sun meant I missed the evening headliner act which was a male vocalist called Earl Turner.

 

Tonight's gift in the cabin was a special bound folder with a picture and certificate to commemorate the maiden voyage.

 

[jimbri]

Great photos and videos!

[Single Cruiser]

All good things must come to an end.. Despite this being my 15th day away from home it felt as though I'd lived on the ship for a month. I was though ready for some of those home comforts and the usual family, tv (was now 3 G.O.T episodes behind and trying to avoid social media spoilers!).

 

During the day, the Capt, Cruise Director, Hotel Director and Head Chef held a Q&A in the aquatheatre.

 

 

Disappointingly a lot of the questions were quite negative, one bloke waffling on about why didn't he have a life jacket in his room etc..

 

The interesting one which I knew the answer to but the Capt refused to answer was when someone asked if the Spanish Navy had been asked for assistance . The Capt replied we can't discuss any security precautions as people filming etc.. But what I do know from a valid source is that during our channel cruises we had an escort of a UK submarine that even the Capt. Didn't know about! I guess the worlds largest cruise ship on a maiden voyage would always be seen as a potential target the same as any other grand opening of a building or a new airport etc.. Thankfully the questions turned more positive after that..

 

Cases packed and put out before 10PM I did the rounds in the afternoon to all my great bar staff, I worked out that I'd not done all the bars but on my statement I'd done:

 

Solarium,

Mast,

Sand,

Pool,

Wipe Out,

Theatre,

Boleros,

Boot and Bonnet,

Rising Tide,

Bionic,

Trellis,

Attic,

Studio B,

 

The rest I'll do when I return in September!

 

Tonight they had a big street party complete with balloon drop and a massive cake.

 

 

I didn't think they'd do a gift on the final night but on returning to the cabin we had a commemorative coin in a display case.

 

 

I retired to bed fairly early as a long day travelling ahead the following day..

[Single Cruiser]

We arrived at the pilot station about 4AM, shortly after Norwegian Epic went in to terminal A we pulled up at Terminals B&C.

 

I'll scan the dailies in at some stage with the info but essentially the forward cabins (with muster stations A-E) get on/off via terminal B and have odd luggage label numbers and the aft , in muster stations F and G as well as upper suite guests were via terminal C.

 

I left my cabin about 7:40 and headed down to the theatre and about 20mins later they called the tags and I was off. Luggage was easily found and within 10mins I was in one of the many waiting taxi's heading to the airport.

 

Arrived at Barcelona airport about 8:40 and fixed price €39 from cruise terminal to the airport. After boarding on schedule at 10:30 we then spent half-hour sat taxiing around a bumpy Barcelona airport but eventually heading back to the UK.

[Biker19]

But what I do know from a valid source is that during our channel cruises we had an escort of a UK submarine that even the Capt. Didn't know about! I guess the worlds largest cruise ship on a maiden voyage would always be seen as a potential target the same as any other grand opening of a building or a new airport etc..

 

Did you consider that info like that should stay with the source?:cool:

[Single Cruiser]

So there we are. Very brief and I've got loads more pics and video clips which will be uploaded to my Flickr account /single_cruiser/ in due course.

 

I received the email on Friday about the compensation, 50% of the 4nt and 25% of the 3nt as future cruise certificate. The actual certificate arrived in an email yesterday and so now deciding what to book. With it I can nearly book a 3nt on Independence next year for just a deposit 😀

 

The crew were always amazing

The food great

The ents (and this was only half of the full productions). The second ice show i-skate will be great, I hear they just started rehearsing the second Aqua theatre show and in Barcelona when I left they were just building the set for the second musical Columbus.

The second street party "celebrate" is to be added as well so once that is all up and running this ship will be amazing.

 

It's a shame some people did have problems on the 4nt and also that some were sold the preview cruises as maiden voyage by agents/Royal.. But the poor guest services staff were flat out 24/7 and I felt sorry whenever I walked past and saw lots of people queuing ready to vent! :(

 

I had no problems with the voom internet package or the Royal iq app for the full 2 weeks and both cabins week 1 and 2 were perfect.

 

I'm back onboard, this time with a mate in just over 90 days time 😀, final payment was made just before I stepped foot onboard on the 22nd but have no worries it'll be another great cruise.

[Single Cruiser]

Did you consider that info like that should stay with the source?:cool:

 

Given another passenger had already directly asked the question to the Capt about naval assistance I'm guessing it had spread through the ship and beyond already. :D

 

The cruise director did say about 3 times but we are all safe and no worries as some of the American guests seemed worried.

 

No difference really than a lot of the cruise ships sailing down the Red Sea often get escorts

[Single Cruiser]

I should have added if anyone has any questions whilst it's still fresh in my mind. I've also got all the cruise compasses although as these were specials I'd imagine they'd change when in normal weekly med cruises.

[Nclcruise1415]

Wonderful review!

 

 

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[Steeler Nation At Sea]

Thanks for the review Craig. I'm excited for my turn in October.

 

I don't think I've seen mention of spa thermal suite rates anywhere yet. If it's not too much trouble, could you see if you have any info on pricing or hours in your paperwork from the 7 day? Please and thank you.

 

Kim

[Single Cruiser]

Thanks for the review Craig. I'm excited for my turn in October.

 

I don't think I've seen mention of spa thermal suite rates anywhere yet. If it's not too much trouble, could you see if you have any info on pricing or hours in your paperwork from the 7 day? Please and thank you.

 

Kim

 

 

Will do Kim. I've got all the daily compasses so will scan them in hopefully tomorrow [emoji3]

[jaspercat]

Nice review and great pics Craig. Thanks for taking time to post all.

 

 

[Surfguyxxx]

Thanks. Very much enjoying your review and beautiful pictures.

[Single Cruiser]

Thanks for all the lovely comments.. I'm back on with a friend in Sept so will be doing part 2 then to fill in all the missing bits [emoji3]

 

 

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[Cruisin' Again 86]

Great review & pictures !!!!

[joand452]

Thank you for your review and photos. No bookings yet, but I'm sure we'll be on Harmony soon.

 

 

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