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Harmony of the Seas-What Works-What Doesn't

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By flag fan,
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flag fan

flag fan

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I'm just back from the a cruise on the Harmony of the Seas--the September 23rd Eastern Caribbean cruise that became a Mexico/Bahamas cruise thanks to three hurricanes. Rather than write a review I thought I'd mention what I thought worked well and what didn't. The ports of call were changed from San Juan/St. Thomas/Labadee to Cozumel/Costa Maya/Nassau. I won't write about the ports as this was a one-time-only itinerary (most likely) but I'll start by praising Royal Caribbean by making quick changes to the itineraries that still managed to give us three nice sunny ports and very calm seas.

 

What Worked Well

- Shore Excursion Reservations -- Speaking of shore excursions, I was worried that because no one was able to pre-reserve reservations before setting sail, there would be long lines at the Shore Excursions Desk--nope. There were a number of tables with tablet-like devices set up in the Royal Promenade for passengers to log-in using their door card (or Wow band) to make reservations and print out tickets then and there. No lines and very convenient.

- Royal IQ App -- The Royal IQ app was also great; could keep track of reservations and activities and could check on the Compass for the current day and later days to make plans. This was very handy when deciding when and where to dine.

- Active Menu Displays -- Outside the main dining rooms there were interactive screens that listed not only what was being served that day in the restaurant but on other days and in other restaurants. This was great for deciding when to eat in the Main Dining Room and when to go to a specialty restaurant.

- Food! -- I made a point of having at least a snack in every food venue (including room service (but not Coastal Kitchen) and did not have a bad meal anywhere. Particular favorites:

-- best dish of the week: lasagna in the main dining room; I changed a specialty restaurant reservation to eat in Silk on lasagna night and was glad I did--the best meal of the week!

-- best meat dish: beef in Wonderland; tender and delicious; the rest of the meal was fun and good tasting (although strange); definitely worth trying at least once

-- best starter: chips and salsa at Sabor; simple but good

-- best service: 150 Central Park--a good place for a special occasion

-- best buffet food: burgers; they were great, but Windjammer had a lot of great food; plenty of variety and all of the things I tried tasted great (next time I'll have more meals here and skip some of the extra cost restaurants)

-- hidden gem: Vitality Café

-- great quick snack: hot dogs! at Boardwalk Dog House, Mini Bites, or Windjammer--quick and really hit the spot on this cruise

- Entertainment! There are great entertainment options and all are pretty good, my recommendations:

-- water show: Hideaway Heist; I'm still amazed at high diving on a cruise ship; I preferred Hideaway Heist to Fine Line; the latter was too focused on artistic expression--strange costumes and twirling aerialists, not enough diving and humor, which were plentiful in Hideaway Heist; but the opening Twirling Dervish in Fine Line is worth the price of admission so I recommend going to both shows

-- ice show: 1887 -- this show had great costumes and settings and music (and skating); I give it an edge over iSkate

-- production show: Grease; I am not a great fan of this musical but on the ship it was wonderful, much better than the tv special that was recently on; Columbus the Musical was also good, but the plot was a little confusing and the music can't compete with Grease

- Cruise Director and Activities Director -- the Cruise Director was Bobby Brown and he did a great show every day with the Activities Director--Jerry (whose last name I did not get); they were a great comedy team. Bobby Brown was personable at all the shows and added to the fun.

- Running Track -- this was a great place to walk/jog; nice views and breeze and uninterrupted track all around the ship; I was lazy and didn't get around to doing laps until the 2nd half of the cruise; I wish I had discovered this earlier

- Loungers by Running Track -- a hidden oasis; there are loungers by the running track; a great place to get away from the crowds for some quiet reading or meditation

- Deck 7 cabin -- I had a cabin on an upper deck on an Allure of the Seas cruise and waiting for the elevators (which were always full) drove me crazy so for Harmony I opted for a Deck 7 cabin; best decision I made for this cruise; it was very conveniently located to get quickly to Central Park, Royal Promenade, Boardwalk, Spa and Fitness Center, and the Entertainment Place. The occasional trip up to the Windjammer and pools on the elevator were not too annoying because not too frequent.

- Storage in Cabin -- I thought the cabins had plenty of storage in comparison to other ships I've been on.

- Size of Balconies -- The balconies were much bigger than on Norwegian Breakaway and had nice chairs (2) that slightly reclined and had foot rests that fit under the seats when not needed; also a small table; very nice set-up

- Showers -- the showers had doors rather than shower curtains (avoiding that clinging problem)

- TV -- pretty good selection of channels (Fox News and CNN) and pretty good selection of pay-per-view movies (about 6 months old); interactive features were very nice--could check account and order from room service (although when I tried the feature was down)

- VOOM! -- great internet connections; I had no problem keeping connected and although I did not try streaming anything on Netflix the emails came through as quickly on my home wifi

- Interactive Maps -- Near the elevators were maps of the deck that were interactive; you can check out other decks, dining venues, activity venues, and "Map It" which give directions (using dotted lines) of how to get to a place from where you are standing--very neat

- Beds in Cabin -- I found mine very comfortable--not too hard, not too soft

- Football Games -- I was impressed that NFL football games were available on board; you could also bet on the games in the casino

- Solarium -- On some threads there has been a lot of criticism of the Solarium because (unlike earlier ships) it does not include a pool; I found the Solarium a great place to spend time; it was never crowded, was consistently breezy, and the Solarium Café had nice selections

- Captain Gary -- The captain (Gary) was great; made a lot of appearances and was very friendly; like the Cruise Director, he added to a friendly atmosphere on board.

 

What Didn't Work Well

- Casino Smoke -- I found the casino too smoky; although it supposedly had smoking and non-smoking sides, I always seemed to be in the smoky section

- Bingo Prices -- outrageously expensive--$40 for 3 games; and prizes were ridiculously low; I was with a woman who won 2 of the 3 games and barely broke even after buying a larger package

- No Library -- It would have been nice to have been a library on board

- Information on Excursions -- Although it was convenient to make reservations on the tablets in the Royal Promenade, there wasn't much information on excursions available

- Limited Activities on Port Days -- There was not much to do on board if you did not get off at a port

 

Well, that's my take on the Harmony of the Seas. It has a lot to offer. I got a lot of useful information from this Board when preparing for my cruise so I hope this is helpful to others.

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Clarea

Clarea

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I ... Limited Activities on Port Days -- There was not much to do on board if you did not get off at a port ... .

Interesting, that must be different than Oasis and Allure. We found that we were able to enjoy the zip line, flowrider, rock wall, and mini golf on port days.

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dwayneb236

dwayneb236

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Sascol. On my cruise the loungers by the track were easy to get. But the caveat in that is that when I was on the track running it was a bit early in the morning so not as many up and around. A couple of times I was down there during the day I never saw it too crowded in those areas.

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Sascol

Sascol

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Sascol. On my cruise the loungers by the track were easy to get. But the caveat in that is that when I was on the track running it was a bit early in the morning so not as many up and around. A couple of times I was down there during the day I never saw it too crowded in those areas.

 

Thank you

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flag fan

flag fan

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The captain was Johnny Faevelen. When he gave his first announcement I thought his name was Captain Johnny Fabulous. He was that from then on. He was great!

 

Thanks for the correction. (I can't read my own writing when I jotted down his name.) I want to give full credit to a great captain.

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MikeNJ1109

MikeNJ1109

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Thanks for the correction. (I can't read my own writing when I jotted down his name.) I want to give full credit to a great captain.

 

Captain Johnny was our captain on the Mariner of the Seas many many years ago, and the guy really is terrific. He's also got a great back story, which he put into an interesting and easy to read book ... and the guy rocks with a Harley!

 

Michael and Silke

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flag fan

flag fan

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Sascol. On my cruise the loungers by the track were easy to get. But the caveat in that is that when I was on the track running it was a bit early in the morning so not as many up and around. A couple of times I was down there during the day I never saw it too crowded in those areas.

 

I agree. I was there in the early morning and late at night and they were not being used at those times.

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