Harmony ~ B2B ~ July 1st & 8th ~ Review

[Joe12]

Hello all.

A pictorial and "day by day" review is in the works, and will be up soon.

Meanwhile, I will provide a review of various aspects the cruise itself.

Here is the rating scale, credit of poster DEix15x8:

Horrendous

Terrible

Bad

Poor

Neutral

Good

Great

Awesome

Spectacular

[Joe12]

Double post.

[Joe12]

PORTS:

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Awesome - It was a tad busy and chaotic outside, but the terminal itself is fantastic, very quick and easy to embark/disembark. B2B process was also very efficient, and we were back on the ship in 15 minutes.

 

Nassau, Bahamas - Poor - I can see why many people don't care for Nassau. It just has very little to offer, and some areas are fairly run down. There are many shops, but not somewhere I would get off again (except a trip to Atlantis).

 

Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas - Neutral - It has some nice aspects to it, and a nice place for a beach day, but the town itself is just shops, so not much to really say either way.

 

Basseterre, St Kitts - Neutral - I would get off here again for a tour, as it does have some pleasant areas for shopping, walking around, and soaking in the Caribbean culture, but an area where I walked to the left of the ship for a photo looked really run down, so I have to knock the rating slightly.

 

Labadee, Haiti - Awesome - This place is Spectacular. Fantastic beach, tons of alternative activities (although for a fee), great photo opportunities, nice food and pleasant atmosphere. Two issues are that the beach is very rocky, and having lunch on the beach is less than pleasant. I also did not enjoy the floating waterpark, but that was on Anthem last year, so it won't affect the rating of this trip.

 

Falmouth, Jamaica - Bad - The area outside the port is Horrendous, just so run down and dangerous, however, the inside port area does have good shopping and a Margaritaville, if you are interested. We just stayed onboard.

 

Cozumel, Mexico - Good - From what I saw on my two visits, it does have some good beaches, some decent shops and restaurants, but it is a shame that the port and shopping guides only care about the Forum Shops, and no other guidance about activities, so I can't give a much higher rating. I would say it was a decent enough port, but seen better.

 

 

Overall - wasn't really wowed by the ports. Some decent shops and beaches, but as Scots, that doesn't really appeal, and most had no other activities to offer. If I was on my own, I might have done stuff differently, but as a family, we wouldn't be able to agree. Labadee is fantastic though.

Some positives up next!

Edited July 17, 2017 by Joe12

[Joe12]

FOOD:

 

Sorrento's - Good - A good place to get a night snack, and fairly standard pizza, but nothing Spectacular.

 

Cafe Promenade - Awesome - The staff here were Spectacular, and generally, the selection of cakes and cookies were good, and most of the time, the drinks were decent (occasionally got watery milk). Would have liked more mudslide cookies however.

 

Windjammer - Great - Over 14 days, it does get rather repetitive. I always found something, although some of the items at dinner were a bit bizarre for a summer cruise, and were constantly served night to night, but generally there was always something good. Breakfast wasn't as good as in Europe in October, but again, plenty of variety. The lunch selection was always fantastic, with lots to choose from. The desserts were also excellent every day and meal.

 

MiniBites - Awesome - I didn't have lunch here, but the selection was always great from what I have seen, and was a less crowded alternative to the Windjammer. I also enjoyed the donuts here a few times, along with the occasional drink of H20 as I was walking around the ship.

 

Park Cafe - Great- A great place for a snack, great seating in Central Park, and I hit it for breakfast many times. I enjoyed the English muffin. Avoid the apple juice, that was too strong, and this time, I found the Kummelweck too salty. That was a shame as I have loved it on past cruises. All in all, a Great venue for a snack or drink on the go, or for a less crowded breakfast.

 

Boardwalk Dog House - Awesome - Only went here once, but very tasty. You can get hot dogs of every kind.

 

Starbucks - Good- The food was Awesome, although we have more selection at home, but I found both drinks I had from there to be bland and bitter, although I am not a huge coffee fan, so more my problem.

 

Overall, the food was Awesome, but a few minor problems that meant that I would not rate anything as Spectacular.

 

Next up - Crew, who were wonderful!

[hollon]

I love your outline of this review - makes it easy to read - can't wait for more - if you have pictures, that would be great, even though i've seen them before :)

[Joe12]

I love your outline of this review - makes it easy to read - can't wait for more - if you have pictures, that would be great, even though i've seen them before :)

 

Thanks for stopping by!

I will be doing a separate review with photos, focusing on the trip itself each day, while this one is more focused on my opinions. Stay tuned for the other review. It may be a week or two, as getting photos on the computer is a pain, and I am in the middle of a battle with Photobucket.

Crew edition coming soon! :)

[oracer]

Looking forward to your pictures and thoughts around the ship. We are leaving in 12 days on it.

 

Did you go to Jamie's Italian for dinner? If so, your thoughts? I see you liked the Windjammer, so wasn't sure if you did that all 14 days.

[Joe12]

Looking forward to your pictures and thoughts around the ship. We are leaving in 12 days on it.

 

Did you go to Jamie's Italian for dinner? If so, your thoughts? I see you liked the Windjammer, so wasn't sure if you did that all 14 days.

 

We actually did the Windjammer each night on HM. It got a bit tedious but we still enjoyed it.

I have never went to Jamie's Italian, sorry. We actually have them home in the UK but not really our cup of tea.

[CCC3]

Following. I agree. Nice format.

 

 

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[Joe12]

CREW:

 

Stateroom Attendants - Awesome - Our first one (Agus from Indonesia) was very friendly, always smiling, and always greeting us. He did a great job. The 2nd one did his job well, and appeared friendly but was a bit quieter and less outgoing. I didn't see him that much, but he did do a good job cleaning the room (provided I put up the "Make Up Room sign.)

Cafe Promenade - Spectacular - Always very friendly, always a smile. Latisha Jones from Guyana was fantastic. By the second leg of the cruise, she knew what we wanted every evening.

 

Other Complementary Cafe Staff (e.g. Sorrento's, Park Cafe etc.)- Great - Mostly friendly and efficient, did their jobs well enough, some talking with me about where I am from etc.

 

Windjammer - Awesome - The staff at the door were always smiling and welcoming, the servers were friendly and cleared tables quickly. Some senior management who were often present did look like they had a bit of a chip on their shoulder though.

 

Cruise Director A - Spectacular - I really liked Abe Hughes as Cruise Director on Week 1. The Morning Show was great, especially the live one, always appeared to be friendly, great host of activities such as L&M and Belly Flop, great energy in everything. First CD I have been really impressed by in a while.

 

Cruise Director B - Good - Bobby Brown was CD on the 2nd week.

He did a reasonable enough job, was funny at the Captain's Corner and some of the Activities, but a bit more subtle and quiet, wasnt present at Activities such as the Sailaway party. He was decent, but not quite Abe.

 

Activities Manager - Neutral - Katy McCullagh was AM both weeks. She is one of those really loud AM's and IMO, wasn't great as a host. Wasn't impressed on the 1st week. She was better on the 2nd week and did a good job on shows like the 90's party and the Love and Marriage intro, and was very energetic. She and Bobby had a decent rapport on their morning show, but I think she is a bit inexperienced to be on a ship like Harmony. Has potential to be a good AM in the future.

 

Cruise Director's Staff - Spectacular - These guys were very friendly and energetic. They put in 100% at each activity. No complaints.

 

Sports Staff - Spectacular - I interacted with some sports staff on the slides and they were very friendly and had great personalities. I don't have much to do with the Sports Staff in general, but what I saw was excellent.

 

Port & Shopping Guide - Bad - This was a husband and wife team. (I think they were still engaged however.) The lady didn't really seem to do that much, while the guy did most of the hosting. I found him to just be so fake. I know it is their job to act in a certain way, but I just thought he was really irritating so I couldn't really give a higher rating. Also, nowhere to be seen after the last port day.

Loyalty Ambassador - Spectacular - Don't usually have much to do with the Loyalty Ambassador, but she handled the B2B process very efficiently, was friendly and organized an Ice Cream social on the last day of both sailings where officers served Diamond and above guests ice cream, which was a nice touch and different.

 

Other officers - Awesome - Friendly at the Ice Cream social, ran a great ship. The Hotel Director (Gianluca Corneli) was good, and I saw him all over the ship.

 

Captain - Awesome - I was bummed that I have sailed a total of 21 nights on HM, and never had Captain Johnny (had him and really enjoyed him on AL 2 years ago), but no worry. Captain Gus was a great personality, had upbeat announcements with a "thought of the day", and fun at Captain's Corner. There were also a running segment with him and the CD on TV about his life leading to being Captain on HM, which was interesting. I didn't see him out the ship a lot, but when I did, he was always friendly, and he showed a his personality by riding along the promenade on the segway during the "Let's Celebrate Party". I know he isn't moving to SY next year, but I would definitely welcome a future sailing with him. His Staff Captain was also friendly the time I saw him.

 

I think that is all the crew I can remember. Please say if I missed out something or if you would like to know more.

 

NEXT UP - The ship - Coming tomorrow!

[spender]

Nice format

 

 

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[SilkySal]

Thanks for your review! Which beach did you visit on Labadee? We always go to the farthest beach (Columbus Cove) on the same side as the ship and the beach there was very easy to navigate and not rocky at all.:hearteyes:

 

Have you ever tried the Cozumel bar hop bus (private, just google it)? We get on the bus every time we visit Cozumel and are proud to wear our FOHO T's (Former Hopper)!!:') The bus takes you to the other side of the island to visit 4 beach bars where there is a lot of unspoiled beauty!! But be sure to take your camera and some cash cause there's no electricity over there to run credit card checks!!:o Their motto is "no one left behind" so indulge in the island food and libations to your heart's content!:halo:

[easyboy]

Great review! Thanks.

[vrock]

Following I am very interested in your experience on turnaround day we will be doing our first b2b on harmony in december. Great job so far. Thank you for taking the time to post. :)

[deliver42]

Great review. Looking forward to the rest. Glad you enjoyed it.

[MAlagich]

Thanks for stopping by!

I will be doing a separate review with photos, focusing on the trip itself each day, while this one is more focused on my opinions. Stay tuned for the other review. It may be a week or two, as getting photos on the computer is a pain, and I am in the middle of a battle with Photobucket.

Crew edition coming soon! :)

 

Love the review Joe... But what I really need is the Cruise Compass for the Western Part of your cruise please! Would like to see what the activities are like for that cruise as we will be on it in September! Thanks in advance for your help and post!

[Joe12]

I have the Compasses for the Western itinerary, but don't have a scanner, and it will be a few days before I could get them up. Feel free to ask about any particular scheduling.

 

Unfortunately, the Cabin Attendant binned some of the Eastern Compasses, so for anyone wanting them, I only have a few of them.

[Sascol]

Joe - love it thanks. We are doing a harmony B2B in October. Please tell me how they handled turnaround day? Seems like the process differs a lot based on ship/location. Did you have to get off the ship? I also heard there may be a special lunch? Were there a lot of people that did the B2B? Thanks in advance.

Edited July 18, 2017 by Sascol

[BillOh]

FOOD:

 

 

 

MiniBites - Awesome - I didn't have lunch here, but the selection was always great from what I have seen, and was a less crowded alternative to the Windjammer. I also enjoyed the donuts here a few times, along with the occasional drink of H20 as I was walking around the ship.

 

Mini-bites is a venue on the ship? Where is it located?f its something new to Harmony that is't on Oasis or Allure, I'm hoping it will be on Symphony.

[Clarea]

Mini-bites is a venue on the ship? Where is it located?f its something new to Harmony that is't on Oasis or Allure, I'm hoping it will be on Symphony.

Mini-bites is the renamed and enlarged Wipeout Cafe.

[BillOh]

CREW:

 

 

Cruise Director B - Good - Bobby Brown was CD on the 2nd week.

He did a reasonable enough job, was funny at the Captain's Corner and some of the Activities, but a bit more subtle and quiet, wasnt present at Activities such as the Sailaway party. He was decent, but not quite Abe.

 

 

I'm curious as to how they did the Captain's corner on Harmony. On Allure it was held in the aquatheater and it had the Captain, CD, Hotel Director, and Head of Engineering so you got to ask a lot of varying questions. On Oasis it was held in the comedy theater and that was way too small a venue. It was just the CD and the captain.

[BillOh]

Following I am very interested in your experience on turnaround day we will be doing our first b2b on harmony in december. Great job so far. Thank you for taking the time to post. :)

Me too, that is on our future list to do a B2B on this class of ship. He did say it was a real easy process.

[BillOh]

Mini-bites is the renamed and enlarged Wipeout Cafe.

 

Thanks Bob, I hadn't heard that. Hopefully that will be the same for symphony and they will put a Freestyle Machine there. (Allure had one there and Oasis didn't.) Joe hasn't mentioned using these machines yet, so I'll watch and see. On a barely related note, on Allure I had an example of how much more relaxed I am on a cruise. I would have probably confronted this guy on land, but on the ship I just enjoy the show. As most of you know you can only refill your cup at the Freestyle machines every 15 minutes. This guy wearing a Michigan football shirt was in front of me and he put his cup up and it said, "Refills not availble for 2 minutes 10 seconds. I thought he would step aside and let me go, but he kept putting the cup up about every 10 seconds till it let him refill. I was wishing I had my camera or phone so I could have posted his pic on dumb@ss.com

 

We now return control of this review to the OP.

[pinkandgreenmom]

I'm curious as to how they did the Captain's corner on Harmony. On Allure it was held in the aquatheater and it had the Captain, CD, Hotel Director, and Head of Engineering so you got to ask a lot of varying questions. On Oasis it was held in the comedy theater and that was way too small a venue. It was just the CD and the captain.

 

When I was on Harmony 6/24, it was as you described it for Allure (aquatheater and same officers you mentioned).

[Joe12]

Hello all.

My WiFi is completely down, so sorry for the lack of updates today. If you live in the UK - don't buy BT Wifi.

Back soon!

Joe (from my iPhone)