Christmas cruising on Harmony of the Seas

[MaiseyM]

On Harmony now for a Christmas cruise. A few thoughts and comments.

 

Ship is full. I sailed Oasis last Easter. This feels more fun than the last oasis class ship a holiday. I may be wrong, but it definitely feels more full. They have done a few special things for Christmas such as Christmas caroling in the promenade, Santa Claus came however I miss that so I can't tell you what happened when he was in the promenade.

 

 

 

We saw two shows last night. They had a guest ventriloquist on. He was awesome. His name is Ron Lucas I believe. We also saw Grace. I think I had different expectations, but the show was still really fun. I expected it to be a play, which it was not. That was probably my own mistake. The music was good and the acting was decent.

 

There are 900 teenagers on board. At least that's what they told us at the teen club. My teens have not taken advantage of it, but it looks like they have great stuff. The teen room looks like an awesome hang out. I wish I had that as a teenager.

 

 

We were up at the pool yesterday, first day at sea, and it was pretty packed up there. I don't know if it is an engineering problem with the floor, but there was a lot of water on the floor by the kids section. They were swobbing the deck all day long. No joke. And then people would drop their food in that as they were walking by, so that was pretty gross. We had pretty high puddles to walk through in order to pass that area I think they need better drainage on the floor because the water keeps splashing out between the kids splashing and the windy seas.

 

The ship is definitely windier than oasis at Easter time. It's not bad, but it's definitely noticeable. As a result, they shut down the waterslides yesterday due to the wind concerns.

 

I don't recall the room service being the same last spring. Room service ends at 11 o'clock at complementary food. Unfortunately, the complementary food in my opinion isn't that great. You can get soup, salad, and maybe something else that's pretty light. If you want burgers and fries or anything heavier, you have to pay for it no matter what time of day. It's not overly expensive but you still have to pay for it. Maybe were doing something wrong, but we always end up hungry again around 10 at night so it's kind of a bummer that you can't get a heartier meal than a salad at that time of night. Especially for my teenage boys. I don't know if I'm imagining it, but Café Promenade seems way more crowded at night now. I think people are looking for extra food options beyond the pizza.

 

Robot bar is fun. You can make some drinks on your own or choose from one of their preselected options. It's fun if it's not too crowded over there.

 

We have two promenade rooms, but we have two different cabin stewards. It's not a big deal but I thought it was a little odd to have the lines split down the middle and separate between families. No big deal though.

 

More to come.

 

 

 

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

 

They have these little tablets all over the ship. It was kind of nice because I can login last night and find out what time my show was at. It was a nice little computer station that was readily available by the theater.

 

 

 

Had to get coconut mojitos last night at Boleros.

 

. Boat drinks.

 

 

 

 

 

Teen club spots.

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

I forgot to add that I do enjoy the new drink package. Now that it includes everything, I'm ordering a lot more specialty coffee drinks.

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

https://vimeo.com/197092861

 

This is the problem I was referring to on the deck with the puddles everywhere in this area.

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

They moved the frozen yogurt stands. I felt like that one in Oasis was in a better location. This is a photo of where they are now, and the line backs up causing a little bit more traffic up here.

 

It's closed right now, but it's the section where the yellow doors are.

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

Thanks for the feedback and photos. When you state the opinion that Royal should offer more late night food options some here think the solution is to tell you to sail other lines but that's not an answer at all. It's definitely an area where Royal lacks and should be on par with competition. Cafe Promenade has gone downhill and so has the RS menu.

 

Did they happen to say how many total guests are onboard?

 

Also, just wondering, do the rooms have USB charging ports in them?

[MaiseyM]

I'm in the promenade room. Two USB Ports included.

 

A bartender told me last. Night that we had 6000 guests on board.

 

I suppose I could find a new line if it was that terrible but like you said, it would be nice if they just improved in this area. No need to jump ship.

 

 

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[Big_G]

 

I suppose I could find a new line if it was that terrible but like you said, it would be nice if they just improved in this area. No need to jump ship.

 

 

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Thanks for the good information. I don't think anyone is happy with room service on the new ships so just ignore those who feel the need to criticize the critics before there's any criticism. They're just as bad as their counterparts who they refer to as cheerleaders.

 

Have a great cruise.

[LMaxwell]

Thanks for the good information. I don't think anyone is happy with room service on the new ships so just ignore those who feel the need to criticize the critics before there's any criticism. They're just as bad as their counterparts who they refer to as cheerleaders.

 

Have a great cruise.

 

Big G, I am free to have an opinion on anything I want that is on topic, bereft of your persistent personal attacks. Perhaps with a new year looming you could adopt a friendlier attitude towards others, even if you disagree.

 

The difference is I never, ever come into a thread and direct personal attacks at people that are off topic. My replies are topical and not designed to dig at anyone. If someone feels offended by an opinion of mine, so be it, there really is no need to approach with hostility. Isn't this a discussion forum? It's not the back of a school gym.

Edited December 26, 2016 by LMaxwell

[DLS_222]

I forgot to add that I do enjoy the new drink package. Now that it includes everything, I'm ordering a lot more specialty coffee drinks

 

Hi, we enjoyed the specialty coffee with the drink package on Freedom on our last cruise but that included Starbucks. Can you tell me what kind of specialty coffees are offered on Harmony? I tried looking for a post I saw awhile back with a menu but no luck finding it. Alcoholic coffee drinks?

 

Thanks

[Big_G]

Big G, I am free to have an opinion on anything I want that is on topic, bereft of your persistent personal attacks. Perhaps with a new year looming you could adopt a friendlier attitude towards others, even if you disagree.

 

I'm sorry if you took that as a personal attack. I intentionally did not quote you as it was intended as advice for the OP. I'll try to be better this new year. :D

[Bootman4U]

Sorry to say that the days (or should I say "nights") when there was a totally complimentary "midnight" (it usually began around 11 PM) buffet every single night have long gone.

 

I guess we were different then. Or I just didn't hear anyone complaining about how awful "buffet food" is (probably because their mouths were full?-who can be sure?).

 

Was some of it leftover from dinner? I think maybe some of those desserts may have been. And you had to actually GO to the dining room to pig out.

 

End of an era. Sigh...

[vacationlover_mn]

Hi! Are the coconut mojitos made with coconut water? On Independence they were, but not on Adventure...

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

Hi, we enjoyed the specialty coffee with the drink package on Freedom on our last cruise but that included Starbucks. Can you tell me what kind of specialty coffees are offered on Harmony? I tried looking for a post I saw awhile back with a menu but no luck finding it. Alcoholic coffee drinks?

 

 

 

Thanks

 

 

It's odd because the café promenade does not have a menu of its coffee drinks. They pretty much serve all of the drinks minus the frappe at Chino. If you want to frappucino, you have to go to the vitality spa. There maybe one more place you can get a frappucino but I can't recall what it was. I've just tell them to make me a good coffee drink with no sugar, and they tend to come back with different ones each time. I did forget that I like the skinny vanilla latte that I get a Starbucks, so I've started ordering those as well. Since it's at the café promenade, I don't think they have alcohol behind the desk. I could be wrong though. It's an easy walk over to a bar if you wanted to throw a few shots in there though. I wish they had a menu though because that would give me a better ideas of what to order

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

 

 

I took a picture of the ingredients for the coconut mojitos because I hope to re-create this at home.

 

 

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[vacationlover_mn]

Thanks!

 

 

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[bertrande]

Thanks for the pictures. Don't like the inconsistency on late food options - on the Mariner of the Seas two weeks ago, the Windjammer always had late night snacks from 1030pm-12mn. I made my rounds once and there were quite a few people tucking in. Would have thought it would be standard on all RCL ships.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Today should be a "special" day...since Allure is parked right next to you in St. Maarten...watched the docking on webcam this morning.

 

Great photo op.

[MaiseyM]

Today should be a "special" day...since Allure is parked right next to you in St. Maarten...watched the docking on webcam this morning.

 

 

 

Great photo op.

 

 

Thank you. It was pretty cool seeing both of them side to side. I started a new post and shared some pictures. It was pretty cool.

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

Thanks for the pictures. Don't like the inconsistency on late food options - on the Mariner of the Seas two weeks ago, the Windjammer always had late night snacks from 1030pm-12mn. I made my rounds once and there were quite a few people tucking in. Would have thought it would be standard on all RCL ships.

 

 

 

 

Like I said, it's not the end of the world, but it definitely trained me to order larger dinners so we're not hungry at 10 o'clock at night. I don't know if it's because it's due to an entirely full ship this week or something else, but it's amazing how long the lines are at Café promenade at 11 o'clock at night. I don't know people are ordering food or just getting coffee, but it's packed in there. I don't recall it being that packed on oasis last Easter at that time of night.

 

 

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[MaiseyM]

This morning the docking took a little longer than they expected. We were about 30 minutes late. It wasn't a big deal but I was wondering if it had anything to do with it being the first time two Oasis class ships were docked together for the first time. I imagine that took a large degree of operational oversight.

 

 

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[Bootman4U]

Perhaps there weren't as many passengers on that Easter cruise as on your Christmas one. If so, that could explain the difference in line lengths.

[ShariMohr]

We were told there are 5,700 rooms for double occupancy but that this Christmas cruise as 6,300 guests. Much too crowded. Also, have found that this Christmas Harmony cruise is mostly large family groups. Dining room is crammed together. Really disappointed at n this cruise. Considering our May cruise on the Oasis.

 

 

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[ShariMohr]

Also cannot believe the buffet on the 16th floor closes at 9:30 pm. We always went there for a small snack/dessert before going to our room. We like to forego our dinner dessert and get up there later--not on Harmony!

 

 

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