Select Tips for Harmony of the Seas

[webwise]

Just off the Dec 23rd sailing on Harmony of the Seas and wanted to thank all the contributors to Cruise Critic for the vast amount of information that has been posted on these boards. There was so much that we knew to do (or to avoid) thanks to your posts. All those details helped make our vacation run very smoothly. 

 

With that in mind, I wanted to share a few tips that either I didn't see covered elsewhere (I'm sure it's all out there already, I just might have missed it) or to which I wanted to add some details.

 

1. Windjammer on embarkation day

As is covered in other posts, get to Windjammer early or it will be crowded. We boarded the ship early, but did not go right to Windjammer. By the time we got there it was very busy, but was even busier than I had realized it would be. By about 1pm, there was a long line just to get in (partially as they made everyone wash their hands upon entry which is a good idea IMO) and over the loud speaker announcements were being made saying that Windjammer was operating at full capacity and asking people who were finished early to vacate their tables to make room for others. Others have suggested Park Cafe for lunch on embarkation day, which is a good suggestion, but note that it was also quite crowded when we passed by.

We didn't go back Windjammer, not because of any issue with it, but moreso because we found so many other places we quite liked (such as Park Cafe) and the MDR for breakfast (more on that later).

One sub-point for Park Cafe---there is a salad bar there and unlike the Solarium Bistro or Winjammer, you don't help yourself to the salad bar.  Instead the Park Cafe staff make the salad for you as you tell them which veggies you want included. So, if you prefer a custom salad and don't care for using serving utensils touched by many others, this might be a good option for you.

 

2. Main Dining Room for breakfast

We ended up eating in the MDR for breakfast every day.  The hours varied based on sea day vs port day so check the hours before heading there.  Enter the MDR from Deck 3.  You'll see a la carte seating to the left and buffet seating to the right. I recommend sitting in the a la carte section.  First of all, you are still welcome to use the buffet, so if there are some in your party that prefer the buffet while others want to order off the menu, this works out very nicely.  Also note that in the a la carte section each table is waited on by both a waiter and an assistant waiter.  In the buffet section each table is waited on by only one waiter (makes sense as diners are helping themselves to food). So, there is more attentive service in the a la carte section.

 

3.  The Royal App

As has been covered in other posts, HOTS recently switched from the Royal IQ app to the Royal Caribbean International app.  The app worked just fine allowing you to see activities, charges, etc, but the one major drawback for us was the lack of an option to text/communicate with others in our party through the app without buying an internet package.  Apparently the old Royal IQ app had this feature.  There is some good news for iPhone users though. Not sure if it is intentional or a glitch, but when connected to the Royal Wifi on board even without an internet package, iMessage worked for sending and receiving messages.  We were unable to find an option for Android users, but if you are sailing with others and using iPhones, communication is possible!  As a group of 13, planning meeting times requires a good degree of communication, so the iPhone users in our group were able to help coordinate all that.

One additional tip about the app.  When looking at the schedule, swiping left on an activity allows you to add it to your personal schedule so you can see what you have next without needing to scroll through every single offering.

 

4.  Columbus Cove Cabanas (I'll repost this section on the Labadee board in case it gets removed from here as it is not HOTS specific)

We booked a Columbus Cove Cabana based on the recommendations of others on these boards and were very glad we did so.  The rest of the Columbus Cove beach was covered armrest to armrest in beach chairs, but the Cabana area with only 8 cabanas was not crowded at all!  In addition to the shade of the cabana we had beach chairs under a coconut tree which provided even more shade.  The website says the Cabana is limited to 8 people, but we had no problem at all bringing all 13 in our party to the cabana.  Oneil, our cabana attendant even brought out additional beach chairs to accommodate them.  The cabanas are very close to the Columbus Cove buffet (one of three (I think) that are set up on Labadee).  

One item to be aware of is there were stingrays in the water. I now understand that it is due to the time of year (late December) that we were there.  They were clear in colour so are hard to see. When notified, staff removed them from the water using an oar. But, being an ocean, there were always more stingrays not too far behind.  There weren't so many that we could not go in the water, but we did keep an eye out for them.  One person in our party was stung by one on her leg, and while she definitely felt it, she reported that it wasn't overly painful.  Still, good to avoid the stingrays if you're there this time of year.

It is a fairly long walk in the heat to Columbus Cove. Other options are a boat that gets you close, but taking the tram takes you right to Columbus Cove. Just make sure you are getting on the right tram as not all trams go to Columbus Cove.

Finally, a bit on selecting a cabana.  All the cabanas are exactly the same in terms of size. There is no bad cabana and if you have booked one, you are guaranteed to get one. Each has coconut/palm trees in front and the ocean in front of that.  The cabanas are given out to those with reservations on a first come, first served basis. If you are particular about which cabana you get, you'll want to be at the beach early.  On our cruise, within an hour of docking, half the cabanas were occupied and the last cabana was claimed within two hours of docking.  We were the first ones there, so we had our choice.  Cabana #1 is closest the entrance and we figured there would be more foot traffic near the entrance so we avoided that.  Cabana #8 is the farthest in, but is near a pier/wall that we chose to avoid as the view in that direction becomes a bit limited due to the wall.  We chose #5 as it was central (not too close to the entrance or to the pier/wall) but also because when looking at the distance between each cabana, it appeared to us that #5 had a couple more feet on each side between it and the adjacent cabanas.  This meant we had a bit of a wider beach area we could use without intruding on our neighbors which was important for our relatively large group.

 

5.  Sabor (Mexican Specialty Restaurant)

We aren't foodies and were perfectly happy with the food and service in the Main Dining Room. Our group of 13 had the 8pm seating and were fortunate enough to have Treshana as our waiter and she was fantastic. One night our party did book Sabor for dinner and had a wonderful experience. The guacamole was the best any of us had ever tasted!  Andres was our waiter and took so much pride in the food and in our experience in the restaurant that he made a great meal even better.  Sabor had a lower price point than most of the other specialty restaurants (~$20pp vs ~$60pp) and with a number of vegetarians in the group the steak restaurant didn't make sense for us anyway.  If you're looking for a specialty dining experience without spending too much, consider Sabor.

 

[Biker19]

6 minutes ago, webwise said:

There is some good news for iPhone users though. Not sure if it is intentional or a glitch, but when connected to the Royal Wifi on board even without an internet package, iMessage worked for sending and receiving messages.  We were unable to find an option for Android users, but if you are sailing with others and using iPhones, communication is possible!  

Thanks for confirming that despite the app switch they have yet to close that loophole on Harmony - could happen any week.

[Valiamo]

Question on the App. 

Did you check and see if your show/dinner reservations were showing up before you boarded?  If so were they there?  Several of our roll call members (4 weeks away) have seen parts of their show reservations show up, and none of their dinner reservations.

 

Thanks for the detail on the MDR, good to know.

 

Did you try eating Breakfast or Lunch in the Solarium?  

 

[LuvCruising8]

Very helpful, thank you.

[zdad59]

Nice summary.    We loved Columbus Cove cabanas too.   We had #4 & #5.    Very relaxing.

[webwise]

1 hour ago, Valiamo said:

Question on the App. 

Did you check and see if your show/dinner reservations were showing up before you boarded?  If so were they there?  Several of our roll call members (4 weeks away) have seen parts of their show reservations show up, and none of their dinner reservations.

 

Thanks for the detail on the MDR, good to know.

 

Did you try eating Breakfast or Lunch in the Solarium?  

 

 

There were times when all of our show bookings disappeared from our app.  There was a refresh button at the top when looking at the schedule.  Clicking refresh usually brought them back.  Our dinner reservation did not show up.  Not sure if it was supposed to or not.  A number of our shows were rescheduled due to high winds (for the Fine Line Aqua show) and Columbus performances were all cancelled due to a "casting issue" (which we understood to be due to a tragedy involving one cast member during our cruise that is covered in another thread).  Some activities also seemed to be added as the cruise went on.

 

As a result of all these changes, clicking the refresh button was important.

 

We had lunch in the Solarium one day.  It was a late lunch (after 2pm) so the Solarium was quite empty with plenty of seating for us to choose from.  We were never there at peak time, so I can't comment on how busy it was then.

 

[GarlicBread]

1 hour ago, webwise said:

There is some good news for iPhone users though. Not sure if it is intentional or a glitch, but when connected to the Royal Wifi on board even without an internet package, iMessage worked for sending and receiving messages. 

 

'Google Allo' works for both android and iPhone users in the same way, connecting to Wi-Fi but not needing/logging onto a package. 

[LeeW]

Correction for the OP - no stingrays in the water.  If one of your party got tagged by a stingray they would have a large hole in their body.  I finally figured out you were talking about jellyfish.  Certainly right about crowds, though.  If you get off early you can easily set up a chair anywhere but later on it is indeed wall-to-wall outside cabana area.

Edited December 31, 2018 by LeeW
more.

[webwise]

2 minutes ago, LeeW said:

Correction for the OP - no stingrays in the water.  If one of your party got tagged by a stingray they would have a large hole in their body.  I finally figured out you were talking about jellyfish.  

 

You are absolutely right.  They were jellyfish.  Not sure why I called them stingrays.  

 

Thanks for clarifying that!

 

 

Edited December 31, 2018 by webwise

[chiguypaul]

On 12/31/2018 at 2:55 PM, webwise said:

 

Our dinner reservation did not show up. 

 

Just off the Harmony from NYE cruise. All of my dining reservations were in the app, but once I got on the ship they all disappeared. I started freaking out. Went to MDR and they showed me the reservations in the system and took a picture for me. I could never get the restaurant reservations to appear. Very odd.

[chiguypaul]

On 12/31/2018 at 1:42 PM, Valiamo said:

 

Did you try eating Breakfast or Lunch in the Solarium?  

 

 

Just off ship from NYE cruise. Had breakfast in the Solarium every morning in the outside seating area. This is our new fave spot for breakfast. Over the years we found the MDR waiters never very attentive for breakfast. Breakfast at the back of 15 or Johnny Rockets were nice over the years, but now hooked on breakfast at Solarium. If you want things like oatmeal or smoked salmon just ask them for it - it wasn't out on our ship, but available whenever we asked.

[Valiamo]

27 minutes ago, chiguypaul said:

 

Just off ship from NYE cruise. Had breakfast in the Solarium every morning in the outside seating area.  If you want things like oatmeal or smoked salmon just ask them for it - it wasn't out on our ship, but available whenever we asked.

 

Thanks!   I am so happy to hear this.   Oatmeal for breakfast sounds perfect to me!