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Our experience on Harmony of the Seas cruise with a toddler


icedancer43
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We sailed on Harmony of the Seas on August 25, 2018 with our almost 3-year-old. We traveled to St. Martin, San Juan, & Labadee. Please keep in mind that the following is our personal experience with our opinions and some tips we learned along the way. I tried to review everything we experienced. We did not do any specialty dining but had the refreshment package. We found self-serve water stations available at the Pool Bar, Sorrento’s, Café Promenade, Solarium Bistro, Park Café, & Windjammer. Hope this helps future cruisers. Any questions, please ask. Thank you.

 

Embarkation: VERY quick and easy. Arrived at Port Everglades around 10:30 am with no line. One person had to have the picture retaken, but that was quick.

 

First Day:It rained our first day onboard so we explored things within the ship. The sailaway party was held in the Promenade. The ship was a little crowded with 6,000 people inside. Our luggage was in the hallway when our staterooms were ready around 1pm.

 

Staterooms: We had connecting ocean view balcony staterooms on the 12th floor (can’t remember the room numbers). The one on the right (the lower number) had the bed by the balcony. Plenty of room to move around. We had our stateroom attendant unlock the connecting door and open the balcony on the first day, which allowed our child to go back and forth between rooms and allowed us to have a larger combined balcony.

 

Freestyle Coke Machines: Two were located in Sorrento’s on Deck 5, two were in the Windjammer (one on each side by the beverages), & one in Mini Bites. FYI:the one in Mini Bites required one to press firm on selections (the waiters had to help the first time).

 

Mini Bites:It never had “mini” food when we went there. Every time we went they had burgers, hot dogs, French fries, nachos with chili & cheese, desserts,whole fruit, & beverages. I enjoyed the French fries with chili &cheese. I heard they have made to order omelets for breakfast.

 

Grande Main dining room: We had My Time dining and reserved the same time (5:15pm) every night, except the first night (5:45pm). The first night we were seated at a table for four with our waiters: Kevin from Jamaica & Jin from China. We requested to have them the rest of the week, which was granted. They were very accommodating to our child and always had a booster seat at the table when we arrived.

 

Main Dining Room Food for Dinner: In our opinion, the food was good on some nights and not so great on others. Sometimes one member of our party had a hard time finding a starter (does not like seafood), but we always had shrimp cocktail as our starter. Other starters we enjoyed were Caesar salads, crab cakes, seafood cakes, & mozzarella & tomatoes. For entrees, I enjoyed the New York Strip Loin, Seafood Linguine, Spinach & Ricotta Ravioli (only given 3), Garlic Tiger Shrimp x2, Lobster Tails x2 (Day 5), New York Strip Loin, & on Day 7 we just got starters and then went to the Windjammer because nothing looked good as an entree and I did not want steak for the third time. For desserts we had crème Brule, royal cheesecake, warm chocolate cookie with ice cream(amazing), cherries jubilee, & chocolate ice cream, FYI: you can view the main dining room menus on your stateroom TV. However, our day 4 and day 6 were reversed. There is a kid’s menu that does not change daily that has chicken fingers, pizza, spaghetti, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, steak, & and a burger. Kids can order off the main menu, which we did a couple of times.

 

Casual & Formal Nights: We saw a huge variety of attire for both casual and formal nights at dinner. For example, on the first formal night, we were inline for the dining room and the people in front of us were wearing athletic shorts, t-shirts, and tennis shoes and they were escorted to a table without question.Therefore, you may wear whatever clothes you feel comfortable wearing.

 

Windjammer:Overall, the food was okay. Breakfast had the same basic food every day (bacon,pork sausage, chicken sausage, waffles, French toast, pancakes, thick potato pancakes, fruit, cheese, oatmeal, cereal (never saw Fruit Loops), pastries, whole fruit, milk (no 2%), & yogurt). There is an omelet station (always a long line) and a fried egg station in the back, which has a shorter line (I enjoyed two eggs over easy). Lunch had the same basic food every day (chicken nuggets,French fries, hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, pasta bar, & desserts,including hard ice cream). However, there is one area in the back that changed every day. One day it had tacos and another day it had a soup bar. We only went once for dinner on Day 7, which was Caribbean night and was very unimpressed with the food. The Windjammer closed at 9 pm every night. FYI: the Italian dressing onboard is Creamy Italian. Also, lines were very long on port days in the morning since everyone seemed to be eating at the same time to get off the ship.

 

Solarium Bistro: We went here for breakfast a couple times and enjoyed the smaller venue and lines. It is buffet style for breakfast and they serve bacon,pork sausage, chicken sausage, thick potato pancakes, scrambled eggs, fried eggs, yogurt, milk (no 2%), cereal (including Fruit Loops), cottage cheese,donuts, pastries, & a much bigger selection of fruit than the Windjammer. Previous reviews have said it is all healthy food, but I don’t consider pork sausage,bacon, donuts, & potato pancakes “healthy” food. Kids are allowed in here for breakfast & lunch, not sure about dinner.

 

Café Promenade: The only food option open 24/7. It had sandwiches & desserts, which were unimpressive. Long lines in the evening.

 

Sorrento’s Pizza: One of two food options opened after 9 pm. They always had cheese and pepperoni with the other two options changing daily. The pizza was good. Long lines in the evening, especially when events were going on in the Promenade.

 

Park Café:They had a bagel bar for breakfast where they can toast and prepare bagels. The only bagels I saw were plain and one with seeds on it. They had a variety of toppings, including salmon, turkey, lettuce, tomato, and a couple different kinds of cream cheese. I was hoping for more of a variety of bagels and cream cheese, but the plain bagel with cream cheese was good. They also had oatmeal,fruit in cups, yogurt, & cereal (Fruit Loops). We enjoyed their made to eat salads for lunch one day. However, the only dressings that were available the day we went were Ranch and Caesar, which were okay for us.

 

Boardwalk Dog House: We enjoyed the hot dogs (same ones offered in the Windjammer).They had a variety of different sausages offered, in addition to regular hotdogs. They also had cups of cole slaw and potato salad. FYI: open from 11:30am to 7pm most days.

 

Johnny Rockets: We did not eat here because of the extra fee. However,the milkshakes and malts were included in the refreshment package. The chocolate malt was good.

 

Bionic Bar:We enjoyed this a lot more than we thought we would. Most times, it was much quicker than waiting at a bar for a drink. My child would say “I want to see the robots”. FYI: you can get nonalcoholic drinks here, which are included in the refreshment package.

 

Vitality Café: We enjoyed fruit smoothies here, which are included in the refreshment package. They also had fruit and some sandwiches, which we did not eat.

 

Beach Towels: Available on the pool deck on both sides by the Pool Bar and in the Solarium (only the right side is open on port days) from 8am to 9pm daily (per cruise compass). Just scan your Seapass card and tell them how many you want. You can return wet ones and get new ones without scanning your SeaPass card. When you are done for the day, you return the towels and scan your card. The towels were available to check out on the dock for both Labadee & St. Martin and was able to return them before getting back on the ship. FYI:check your account on the final night to ensure they did not charge you for beach towels you returned. That happened to us and we called down to guest services and the charge was taken off.

 

Life Jackets: Theses were available between Splashaway Bay and the Beach pool. The cruise compass says they are for 4 to 12 years old. We took our toddler’s puddle jumper and it worked great.

 

Pools: Beach pool has salt water and lounge chairs in the water.The salt water was very strong and stung when we got it in our eyes. We preferred the Main pool since it was chlorine water. Sports pool is just forages 16 & older (not sure of the kind of water in this pool since we were not in it). All the pools are overfilled. FYI: if there is a bodily fluid accident(vomiting, etc.) in any of the pools, they must close them, and it usually lasts the rest of the day. One of the days, both the Beach and Main pool were closed in the afternoon due to accidents, which leaves minimal options for families. Also, the pools were less crowded in the morning hours (before noon)on sea days. We were able to find lounge chairs in the shade despite the time of day.

 

Splashaway Bay: Both areas were open 9am to 6:30pm every day. Toddler area (2 small yellow slides) for diapered children is "treated water"and those who are potty trained that chose to use that area must rinse off before going into other water, per the pool attendant. The Splashaway Bay area for potty trained children is larger and has the two larger slides (purple& yellow), which they were strict on the height requirement of 42 inches.

 

Perfect Storm Waterslides: They were open 9am to 7pm every day of our cruise. We found the lines were shortest in the morning between 9 am and 11 am and in the evening between 4 pm and 7 pm on sea days and short all day on port days. FYI:the toilet bowl slide opens later than the other slides since it requires two additional “attendants” just for that slide. Therefore, I always looked for the“attendant” sitting at the bottom of the slide to know if it was open or not.In our opinion, the toilet bowl slide is the fastest and more fun. Neither my husband nor I liked the blue & yellow slides. We thought they were very dark and not very fast. However, we overhead other people saying they loved those slides because they were fast. FYI: absolutely no jewelry (including watches & sunglasses), except for a wedding ring, were allowed on the slides. There is an attendant at the bottom of the stairs who looks at every person to ensure they have no jewelry and check height, which is nice, so you don’t get all the way up to the top and can’t go down the slide due to height or jewelry.

 

Solarium:Nice, quiet area for adults with nice comfy chairs and lounge chairs. Three levels that were somewhat open (not completely enclosed). Some hot tubs. NO pool. Misting station that wasn’t always working. Plenty of chairs in the shade. FYI: The little “cabanas” fill up quickly and let very little air in.

 

Activities Waiver: I found the easiest way to fill them out was on our stateroom TV. You can also fill them out by the Ultimate Abyss & Flowrider. However, in order to participate on the Zipline, Ultimate Abyss, Ice Skating,& Flowrider, you need to get a wrist band to wear for the entire week,which we were able to get by the Ultimate Abyss & Flowrider by showing our Seapass card.

 

Zipline: It was fun. FYI: the zipline sign says,“appropriate clothing”, but does not specify what appropriate clothing means,which is a shirt with sleeves, shorts or pants, closed toes shoes, & no jewelry (I had to take my watch off but was able to keep my wedding ring on).It was not open on the first day for our sailing.

 

Ultimate Abyss: It was fun. A shirt with sleeves is required for this activity as well, but I saw many people going down wearing flip flops. Also, no jewelry, except for my wedding ring, but I was allowed to put my watch in my pocket.

 

Rock Climbing Wall: It was fun. The staff members were helpful in encouraging the climber to keep going. FYI: socks and a shirt with sleeves were required. They provide the shoes.

 

Flowrider: We did not personally participate in this activity, but enjoyed watching our fellow cruisers, especially on the stand up one. FYI: This was open from 9am to 11am on the day we were in St. Martin and one kid was getting attention and help from both crew members since he was the only person on the boggie boarding.

 

Ice Skating: We did not participate due to the times it was offered, which was usually in the late morning or afternoon on sea days. Those were the times we were enjoying the pools. FYI: pants and long socks are required.

 

Carousel: Our toddler loved the carousel. He rode a different animal every time. There was a frog, panda, kangaroo, horses, and a bench. I believe I saw a sign that said if the child was less than maybe 42 inches, then a guardian had to stand next to the child, which we would have done anyways. We enjoyed riding it at night. FYI:it does close for a short period of time throughout the day for cleaning (maybe 10 minutes).

 

Harmony Dunes: This mini-golf course was challenging and fun. I enjoyed that each hole had an obstacle you had to get the ball through.

 

Jogging Track: I loved the fact the jogging track was the length of the ship on deck 5. I enjoyed running in the shade and the gorgeous views. FYI: 2.4 laps equals 1 mile. The running track is much improved from other Royal ships that have the running track on the top deck that is baking in the sun and surrounded by lounge chairs and people.

 

Let’s Celebrate Parade: This was offered on Day 2 @ 12:30 pm and Day 7 @ 7:45pm. We enjoyed it both times. It was fun to see it again at the end of the cruise to see how many of the crew members we recognized from other shows, such as the aqua shows, ice shows, and main theater shows. FYI: get there early to get a seat in the Promenade, especially on Day 7.

 

Extra Activities: We enjoyed the balloon twisting on the boardwalk (one balloon per person per session). I highly recommend having them make a penguin(those were the cutest balloon animals). They also had face painting offered a couple times and the kids’ faces we saw were great. We enjoyed the Battle of the Sexes Game Show, Love & Marriage, & the Quest. All of those are held at 10:30pm or later. We wish those would be a little bit earlier, but understand they are late due to attracting the adult crowd.

 

Play:This area is (I believe) for kids under 6 with adult supervision. It is in the middle of Adventure Ocean. It had slides, play kitchen, coupe car, books, push mower,& other toys for kids. My toddler enjoyed playing here, especially with the play kitchen. It is a nice area for kids to play.

 

Nursery: It was our only option since our toddler was not 3 yet, even though potty trained.However, upon looking at it, it was quite small and geared towards kids under two,so we did not utilize it. If I recall correctly, the cost was $6 an hour prior to 5 or 6pm and $8 or $9 after that until midnight. Reservations were required,I think 24 hours ahead of time. It was recommended to schedule hours as soon as possible since most time slots fill up towards the end of the week. You can also get a loaner bag of toys for the week, which is nice, so you don’t have to pack a bunch of toys to keep your infant busy. We did not utilize this service since we brought some toys with our toddler that were barely even used, except for dinner and some shows.

 

The Fine Line Aqua show: Weird storyline. We enjoyed the diving, music, and acrobatics. It kept our toddler’s attention, which is saying a lot since our toddler is always on the go.

 

1887 Ice Show: Weird storyline. Great skating and enjoyed the music. It kept our toddler’s attention.

 

iSkate: This is the ice show that does not require reservations and is offered only on Day 6 @ 7pm and 9:15pm. We enjoyed the music and ice skating. We thought it was better than the 1887 show.

 

Columbus: The Musical: Weird storyline. We enjoyed the music and thought the performers were talented. This show somewhat kept our toddler’s attention.

 

Hideaway Heist: This is the aqua show that does not require reservations and was offered on Day 5 @ 4:30pm and 6:30pm & Day 7 @ 4:15pm. There wasn’t as much diving in this show and it seemed to move slow for us, but it was still entertaining.

 

Grease: It was good, even though they cut out several scenes due to it being a theater show and not a movie. The performers are very talented. This show kept our toddler’s attention in the beginning, but that started to fade more than halfway through, which isn’t bad since the show is 1.5 hours long.

 

Headliner Show: Our cruise had a headliner show with Ronn Lucas who is a ventriloquist. He was really entertaining.

 

Dreamworks Characters: It seemed there were multiple meet & greets daily.However, some characters were only available for one meet & greet, while others were seen multiple times. The meet & greets were usually located at the car in the Promenade, but sometimes they were on the boardwalk on deck 6 and outside of On Air on deck 5. FYI: you can bring your cameras for most and take your own pictures, but a professional photographer will still take pictures and ask for your room number, but you are not obliged to buy the professional ones. We loved that the characters were very interactive with the children (and adults), along with the staff assisting the characters.

 

St. Martin: Due to the heat and humidity, we decided to do some shopping at the port and then get back on the ship to enjoy the shade, pools, and waterslides with less people, which was a great decision for us.

 

San Juan: Due to the limited time at this port (7am – 1pm), we just walked around the area close to the port. It was nice to see the architecture of the buildings.There are vendors set up right when you get off the dock that have some neat gifts for decent prices. My toddler loves a little guitar we bought at one of the vendors. We also stopped at a souvenir shop a couple blocks up that had a variety of items at good prices. We have heard some of the beaches are beautiful here but did not have the chance to visit them due to the limited time we are in port.

 

Labadee: We took the ferry to Columbus Cove, which was quick & easy, right at the dock. FYI: the ferry is only offered to Columbus Cove (not back) and we only saw it in the morning hours. Columbus Cove was very nice. We enjoyed the soft sand, minimal waves, and chairs in the shade. There was a buffet offered from 12pm to 2pm that was just a short walk from the actual beach. The buffet was okay. It had the same offerings as the Windjammer did for lunch. We then took the tram to the splash pad for a short time, which was nice. The splash pad is located on Adrenaline Beach, right by the volleyball courts. We then took the tram back towards the ship.

 

Disembarkation Day: We ate at the Windjammer, which was only open until 8:30am and it was extremely busy. There was a line to get in and to find a table.Since our flight wasn’t until 2:25 pm out of Fort Lauderdale, we planned to stay on the ship as long as possible. We went to On Air on Deck 5 after eating breakfast since this is where the disembarkation paper said was the place for families to go for children to watch cartoons on the TVs. However, we could not hear the cartoons at all and could not find someone to turn it up. So we just wandered around until our number was called. On Air is also the place for those who need assistance getting off the ship (wheelchairs, scooters, etc.).

 

Actual Disembarkation: We put our luggage out the night before with the luggage tags given to us by our stateroom attendant (there is a form put in your stateroom that needs completed by day four at 10 pm stating whether you plan to carry off your luggage on your own or have them pick up the nigh of Day 7). We disembarked around 9:15 am (all numbers were called) and had no line to get off of the ship but had to wait in line to get down to get our luggage and customs.It seemed everyone was in the same line, whether you were carrying off your own luggage or not. Once we were released from the line to get our luggage, we were able to find our luggage (grouped by number) quickly and got in line for customs. FYI: the middle line seemed to go MUCH faster than the lines on the sides. Only 1/3 of the customs lines were open but getting through customs was a breeze. The whole disembarkation process took about an hour, which was rough on our toddler. We got an Uber to the airport, which was quick, easy, and faster than getting to the port.

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We did an Uber with a carseat. You can request it on the app.

 

Interesting; we don't have that option where I live, but it's great to know that's a thing in Fort Lauderdale as it gives us more options for getting around instead of having to bring a carseat or rely on vans/shuttles which don't require them.

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Interesting; we don't have that option where I live, but it's great to know that's a thing in Fort Lauderdale as it gives us more options for getting around instead of having to bring a carseat or rely on vans/shuttles which don't require them.

We brought our carseat a few times. No biggie. You just bingee cord them to a stroller or a magna cart and use them on the plane.

Ubers with car seats usually have only forward facing car seats (ImmiGo), so if you are in a state where it's illegal to forward face before 2 years of age or you choose to rear face your child longer than 12 months (as one should), then you are better off bringing your own car seat, like a very light and easy to use/travel with Cosco Scenera NEXT ($40).

 

This is discussed a lot on the Family Cruising board.

Edited by Itchy&Scratchy
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I really enjoyed your review. Thank you. I will be on Harmony in October. So excited!

 

Question: You said you ran on the track. Was it crowded? Were there a lot of people walking/running the opposite direction? (annoying) This is one of the things I am very excited about.

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I really enjoyed your review. Thank you. I will be on Harmony in October. So excited!

 

Question: You said you ran on the track. Was it crowded? Were there a lot of people walking/running the opposite direction? (annoying) This is one of the things I am very excited about.

 

I ran early in the morning so it wasn't crowded at all. I did not see people going the opposite direction at all. You should have no problems on it, regardless of time.

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We were on the same sailing! Excellent review, love how you broke everything down. My only comment is that tank tops were permitted for the rock wall (ie - did not need sleeves like on the Abyss and Zip line).

 

To answer the running track question, we never saw it overly crowded, and never saw anyone going in the opposite direction. Surprising that there were more runners than I would have expected out on the track past midnight! The only potential issue was groups of walkers spilling into the running side of the track.

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We brought our carseat a few times. No biggie. You just bingee cord them to a stroller or a magna cart and use them on the plane.

Ubers with car seats usually have only forward facing car seats (ImmiGo), so if you are in a state where it's illegal to forward face before 2 years of age or you choose to rear face your child longer than 12 months (as one should), then you are better off bringing your own car seat, like a very light and easy to use/travel with Cosco Scenera NEXT ($40).

 

This is discussed a lot on the Family Cruising board.

 

Did you find it easy to store your car seat in your stateroom?

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What a great review ! I am traveling with my 15 month old on the allure so a lot of your toddler info helped. Did you have a stroller with you ? Did you find you could bring your stroller in to restaurants or shows if baby is sleeping?

Any other tips for cruising with a toddler?

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Thanks for the awesome review. What was the process for a getting a milkshake in JR with paying the cover charge? We have a drink package too.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

We just walked into Johnny Rockets and asked for a milkshake or malt. We gave them our card and said we had the refreshment package. They made the milkshake or malt and we walked out of the restaurant. We didn't pay any cover charge since we didn't order any food.

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. My only comment is that tank tops were permitted for the rock wall (ie - did not need sleeves like on the Abyss and Zip line).

 

I had a different experience. There were a couple girls wearing sleeveless shirts in front of me in line for the rock climbing wall and they were told they had to have sleeves to do the rock climbing wall. This is why I wish they would specify on their signs what "appropriate clothing" means for each activity so it is consistent.

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What a great review ! I am traveling with my 15 month old on the allure so a lot of your toddler info helped. Did you have a stroller with you ? Did you find you could bring your stroller in to restaurants or shows if baby is sleeping?

Any other tips for cruising with a toddler?

 

Hi. We did not have a stroller with us since our child loves to walk around everywhere. I think a small stroller that reclines would be great and easy to bring into restaurants and shows. We saw a family with twins who connected two umbrella strollers and were using those to travel with their children. I also saw families with strollers, wheelchairs, scooters, etc. get into the Windjammer and specially seated ahead of others.

 

Since your child is 15 months, I would recommend utilizing the nursery if you wish, especially for the late night shows (Love & Marriage, The Quest, etc.). They will put your child to sleep when he or she is tired in a crib and you could hopefully transfer the child to the stroller and then the pack n' play in your room while still asleep. If you haven't already, I would request a pack n' play for the room for your child to sleep in (unless you are bringing your own). Just remember to bring a pack n' play sheet or crib sheet. If you have traditional dining, then I would request a high chair to be at the table. Also, we brought any type of children's medication (motrin, tylenol, benadryl, & children's Dramamine) we thought our child might need since I did not see that they sold children's medications onboard.

 

If you have any specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask. I did lots of research before cruising with our toddler.

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