Harmony & Me Live - Eastern 11/25 to 12/2

[h20skibum]

Bear with me as I try my first ever, Live from Harmony. I would have said bare with me, but the pineapple sign people might get the wrong idea. 

 

I have done several trip reports after returning, but never a live.  Will have to see how it works out this cruise.  

 

So how about a little video to get in the mood for where we are headed. All the photos of our port stops are ones I took on prior visits, but photos of Harmony are from the internet. 

 

Harmony & Me 

 

 

[h20skibum]

This cruise, we are headed to St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee.

 

 

[h20skibum]

We have sailed on Oasis before, and Allure a couple of times, but this will be our first time on Harmony.  Looking forward to trying out the slides, which will be new for us.

 

I hope to do a couple of scopes during the cruise, so if you want to check those out on the periscope app, just search for @H20skibum.  

 

This cruise, we will be turning Diamond and joining how many thousand others in that category.  It took longer to reach this milestone, because we sail other cruise lines.  We have sailed five others, and still want to try out MSC, Oceania, and Virgin when they get their ship built.

 

This cruise, we are also in what is affectionately called the “not really as suite” Jr. Suite.  It will be our first time in something bigger than a standard balcony cabin.

[mets07]

Have a great time, h20skibum!  We just got off Harmony on the 18th and had a wonderful time, however did not do the slides.  Looking forward to your  review. 

[h20skibum]

1 hour ago, mets07 said:

Have a great time, h20skibum!  We just got off Harmony on the 18th and had a wonderful time, however did not do the slides.  Looking forward to your  review. 

 

Thanks.  We are looking forward to boarding tomorrow, and enjoying all she has to offer. 

 

Trying to master posting ting multiple photos on the mobile site, but it only lets me post one at a time.  Oh well, I will experiment some more. 

[h20skibum]

So our last cruise was in March on the Allure, then we spent June -August in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Got to do a few interesting things there.  I am just posting a few photos from there to see if I can get multiple ones using the mobile site on an iPad.

 

Susan and I hike a lot, so one we did was a trail that overlooked a portion of George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch.  

 

 

We toured the Jelly Belly factory that had several pictures made from jelly beans.

 

 

We also toured the Tesla factory.  Unfortunately the only photos we could get, was of the badge.  All phones and cameras had to be shut off for the tour, and non-disclosure agreements signed before you could tour.  I think EM was sleeping at the factory as they tried to make the Model 3 numbers.

 

 

Well, I guess a few can be loaded at a time, but edits are needed for text between photos.

 

More to come, but about the Cruise.

Edited November 24, 2018 by h20skibum

[cruisinfromtampa]

Have a good trip. Thanks for taking us along!

[h20skibum]

19 minutes ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

Have a good trip. Thanks for taking us along!

 

Glad to take you along.  Bags are packed and ready to go. They each weigh in at 39 pounds, and they include my tux, two tux shirts, tux shoes, two long gowns, 9 more pair of shoes, etc.  That means I have room for 20 pounds of alcohol to bring home if I find good deals. 

 

If we didn’t do all the formal stuff, we could probably get by with one bag. 

Edited November 24, 2018 by h20skibum

[h20skibum]

Pittsburgh airport is decorated for Christmas. 

 

 

 

Too much liquid sunshine shine here today, and no plane yet. 

 

 

Already checked in at at the hotel for tonight in FLL, and have the shuttle booked. 

 

I spoke too soon.  The plane. The plane. It has arrived. 

Edited November 24, 2018 by h20skibum

[h20skibum]

I love it when the cruise planner updates

 

 

[h20skibum]

At 5a.m., Harmony is waiting in line

 

 

[h20skibum]

It looks like the new Celebrity Edge is also in port this morning, as Harmony makes her way to the dock.

 

 

[h20skibum]

The weather looks promising this week.

 

 

[MrFunInTheSun]

Thanks for bringing us along. Looking forward to an amazing week on the beautiful Harmony of the seas! 

[h20skibum]

Worst boarding day experience ever, for a Royal Caribbean cruise. More later as I track down the Loyalty ambassador. 

[dablondee525]

Looking forward to your review! We sail on the Harmony in 2 weeks...very excited! We also live in Pittsburgh...Cranberry area!  

[dst]

Enjoy your trip - will be following along as our daughter has decided to get married on the Harmony next year 🙂 

[suesnake2002]

Worst ever boarding hmmmm

We did her in march and literally walked on

[MaiseyM]

Looking forward to see what you do in St. Maarten.  I am not decided on what I'll do there and we will be there for Xmas week.  Following the Perscope as well.   Thanks. 

[h20skibum]

3 hours ago, dablondee525 said:

Looking forward to your review! We sail on the Harmony in 2 weeks...very excited! We also live in Pittsburgh...Cranberry area!  

 

Thanks for following along.  I will try to get a little updated before we are heading to Grease tonight. 

[h20skibum]

3 hours ago, dst said:

Enjoy your trip - will be following along as our daughter has decided to get married on the Harmony next year 🙂 

 

That sounds like a great idea.  We have seen a few weddings on ships before 

[h20skibum]

2 hours ago, suesnake2002 said:

Worst ever boarding hmmmm

We did her in march and literally walked on

 

When I get to the story, you will understand why.  But the story has not reached an end yet. 

 

I know. The suspense builds. 

Edited November 26, 2018 by h20skibum

[h20skibum]

2 hours ago, MaiseyM said:

Looking forward to see what you do in St. Maarten.  I am not decided on what I'll do there and we will be there for Xmas week.  Following the Perscope as well.   Thanks. 

 

Glad you could see the scope.  Since it was essentially my first, I will have to look at it to see what needs improvement. 

[h20skibum]

So to get caught up, our pre-cruise stay was at the Springhill Suites in Dania Beach.  We have stayed here a few times before. We booked two rooms, one for us and one for our friends.  For some reason, they put us on two separate floors.  We saw several others who were also placed on different floors. 

 

We we ended up on the top floor(7), and the water pressure was really bad.  I have heard of a weak stream before, but this was sad. 

 

 

[h20skibum]

I know, I know, I am already a day behind.  So I will fast forward to our boarding experience, and why it was the worst ever. 

 

We we took the 9:45 shuttle from the hotel to the port, and it was quick, and uneventful.  We got right thru security, with only a question if we had any extension cords with us.  No, only cell chargers, phone chargers, camera chargers, and other chargers.  No looking in my carry on at the wine or water. 

 

We we walked straight up to the check in counter, so everything is going smoothly at this point. Susan hands them her passport and sail pass and no problem with her. Then I give them my passport and sail pass. 

 

Them “We don’t seem to have you listed in the cabin!!”

 

Me “I love her dearly, but I wouldn’t get her a separate cabin!!  We are both in the same one.  Just look at the sailpass. “

 

So do they call someone over to try to sort out the problem. They promptly disappear, to check out with their wonderful IT system.  About 10 minutes later, the guy behind the counter says. “Uh Oh, they are walking back on the other side of the counter.  That means you will have to go somewhere else “

 

He leads us back to a far corner, where three people are huddled around a couple of computer screens.