Harmony OTS / November 18 2017 - November 25 2017

[MikeNJ1109]

My wife, daughter (age 11), and I returned today from a cruise aboard Harmony of the Seas, and we wanted to share our thoughts of the ship and cruise with the CC group.

 

In addition to the three of us (from NJ), we had family join us from Florida and California ... our age ranges from 11 (our daughter) to 81 years of age.

 

 

Boarding

 

11AM check in time was reserved ... we arrived at 10:45 after spending the night before at the Residence Inn by Marriott Ft. Lauderdale Airport / Cruise port, and were onboard 30 minutes later.

 

Itinerary

 

 

Originally supposed to be "At Sea" the first two days, then San Juan, St. Thomas and Labadee Haiti, concluding with another 'at sea' day. Due to the damage in SJU from Maria, Nassau, The Bahamas was substituted instead on the first full day at sea.

 

 

The Ship

 

In three words, Harmony OTS is "Big as Hell". My wife and I prefer Radiance Class ships, as they are more intimate and offers more windows to enjoy the sea. That said, there is something for every age range on the Harmony and one is free to do as much or as little as possible.

 

 

Cabin

 

 

Balcony Stateroom 12196 overlooking the ocean "on the hump". A more than comfortable cabin on the hump. The balcony is always one of our favourite places to relax, whether it's having tea first thing in the morning, or just to relax at night while listening to the ocean.

 

 

Our stateroom attendant was able to unlock the balcony partitions to allow us to more easily socialize with our family.

 

 

Food

 

 

We ate in the dining room twice for dinner and once for breakfast. The food is good overall, but nothing to write home about. The waiter and assistant waiter did their jobs competently, and we received reasonable attention while dining -- exactly what we expected.

 

 

Other meals were taken at the Windjammer (for breakfast and lunch), though my wife and I prefer the WJ on the Brilliance better as it has a better layout there; Wonderland (dinner), which was the most innovative restaurant we ate at; 150 Central Park (great "traditional" gourmet food for dinner), Jamie's for dinner (very good, with the only standout being The Plank as an appetizer; and Chops (for lunch yesterday) -- their Chops burger (only served at lunch) is the best I've ever had.

 

 

Great breakfast stop was Park Central Café (deck 8), Dawg House (deck 6) for incredible hot dogs), Promenade Café for light bites and coffee.

 

 

Ports

 

We've been to each of the posts many time, so there's nothing special for us in going ashore. One can still see the signs of the major reconstruction work being done on St. Thomas.

 

 

Excursions

 

Dolphin Encounter in Nassau (our favourite), snorkeling in St Thomas, and the beach / water park in Haiti.

 

 

On Ship Highlights

 

Central Park is extraordinary. The water show at the Aqua theater was fun to watch, sort of like Cirque de Solei on crack -- very talented performers. The Boardwalk was a nice change of place but we didn't spend much time there.

 

 

My daughter and I did a sushi making class at Izumi -- lots of fun, we would highly recommend this.

 

 

 

 

Favourite places on board

 

Deck 5 starboard side forward, there is a space with lounge chairs. It's extremely quiet, very few people go by there except the runners / walkers on the track. It's also at "see" level, which is very intoxicating.

 

 

Breakfast at Park Central Café, in Central Park.

 

 

Disembarkation

 

We did express / self disembarkation -- we packed the night before, walked off the ship at 7:05 AM, was through Immigration and Customs in less than 10 minutes and was in a cab heading to FLL at 7:30.

 

 

 

 

This is an abbreviated review, forgive us if there is something we did not include. Any questions please let us know by posting it here on CC and will do our best to reply.

 

 

Cheers!

 

 

Michael

[easyboy]

Thanks for the well-written feedback.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Clarea]

Do you recall any drink cards being offered?

[MikeNJ1109]

Do you recall any drink cards being offered?

 

Yes, we saw them being offered on Day 4, 10 drinks for $79 plus 18% gratuity.

 

Michael

[Clarea]

Yes, we saw them being offered on Day 4, 10 drinks for $79 plus 18% gratuity.

 

Michael

Thanks!

[Dina7]

Where would the Drink Cards be offered, at any of the bars I'm assuming? We were on Anthem of the Seas in 2016 & didn't hear about these at all.

[Clarea]

Where would the Drink Cards be offered, at any of the bars I'm assuming? We were on Anthem of the Seas in 2016 & didn't hear about these at all.

Yes, we've seen the drink cards offered at the bars. Sometimes a bar server will offer them when taking a drink order.

[MikeNJ1109]

Yes, we've seen the drink cards offered at the bars. Sometimes a bar server will offer them when taking a drink order.

Exactly ... I was offered the card a number of times from different bartenders at different locations. You won’t have any trouble locating a place to buy one.

[Husky1987]

Thank you for the report!

 

Going on Harmony in January....did you find any public spaces that were better to avoid at certain times due to crowds?

[MikeNJ1109]

Thank you for the report!

 

Going on Harmony in January....did you find any public spaces that were better to avoid at certain times due to crowds?

 

Keep in mind that it was thanksgiving week so your mileage may vary. That said, the usual suspects of the Windjammer at breakfast and lunch, the Royal Promenade right after dinner, and the casino right after dinner were very crowded.

 

That said, my wife and I LOVED the Park Central Cafe for a quiet leisurely breakfast was wonderful ... Deck 5 (the running deck) had a couple of places with loungers, it’s a VERY quiet location that only the runners use, and it’s at “see” level and watching the ocean as the ship moves is intoxicating ... the Rising Tide bar became our absolute favourite for a quiet drink even if the area surrounding it was a hubbub of activity.

 

Enjoy the Harmony!!

 

Michael

[Husky1987]

Keep in mind that it was thanksgiving week so your mileage may vary. That said, the usual suspects of the Windjammer at breakfast and lunch, the Royal Promenade right after dinner, and the casino right after dinner were very crowded.

 

That said, my wife and I LOVED the Park Central Cafe for a quiet leisurely breakfast was wonderful ... Deck 5 (the running deck) had a couple of places with loungers, it’s a VERY quiet location that only the runners use, and it’s at “see” level and watching the ocean as the ship moves is intoxicating ... the Rising Tide bar became our absolute favourite for a quiet drink even if the area surrounding it was a hubbub of activity.

 

Enjoy the Harmony!!

 

Michael

 

Excellent, thank you!

[amp0289]

What time did you head towards the gangways to disembark? I'm trying to figure out what time we need to leave our stateroom on disembarkation day, we have a slightly early flight 🙂

[mikeinjersey]

Hey fellow Mike from NJ, Eatontown here! Any recommendations on what to do in St. Thomas? We will be on the Freedom OTS out of San Juan next May and St. Thomas is the only port that we are not sure of what to do. The port area looked pretty rough from the recent pics I've seen so I think we definitely want to book some sort of excursion for our first time there. We're pretty much beach/water people, we usually go for beach/boat/snorkeling/aquatrek style stuff. Thanks for any recommendations!