Harmony of the Seas Feb. 3-10, 2019 review

[bandjwayne]

Background: This is DH & my ~10th cruise, about 1/2 with Royal & 1/2 with Carnival. This is our first time on an Oasis class ship. We’ve sailed on Royal’s Independence & Voyager class ships previously, along with Carnival’s Vista and some other smaller Carnival ships. We are in our late 30s and enjoy cruising for the mix of activities and relaxing it offers. Also cruising with us is another couple, in their early 40s, and on their first cruise.

 

In Dec. 2017 we originally booked the Allure of the Seas for this date, but were notified in March 2018 that the ship had been chartered out and our cruise was canceled. We were locked into these dates and ended up applying the onboard credit Royal offered us to this cruise. We were not happy about the change as this ship wasn’t one of the itineraries Royal was price guaranteeing, and they were not willing to budge when we called them, but that being said, we ended up having a wonderful time and were very happy with the trip.

 

We flew from MN to FLL the day before the cruise and stayed at the Best Western Oceanside Inn. We had a 2 queen bedroom with a small balcony & were pleasantly surprised that it was ready when we arrived before noon. The hotel was a little musty smelling, but not bad, and we were happy with how clean it was. It had a pool (no hot tub though) and a restaurant. The hotel staff were pleasant and the breakfast had a nice selection of hot & cold food. The beach was a short walk away and it was a fairly easy walk to restaurants & a CVS. We ate at the Drunken Taco restaurant which had yummy food, but was a bit pricey (no free chips/salsa).

 

Embarkation: We were assigned an 11:00 check-in time however we arrived to the cruise terminal around 10:30 and thought the security/check-in process went very smooth. We didn’t have to sit long before our group was called & we were on the ship by 11:15. This was one of our smoothest boardings ever. Our room was ready shortly after 1:00.

 

Room: We were in room 9186, Oceanview balcony. I loved the room setup. Our bed was by the balcony, we had a couch, lots of space, nice decor, and the balcony had a good amount of room with 2 chairs w/footstools. Our room attendant Carlos did a great job keeping it clean and remembered our names & said hi every time we saw him. The only downfall was that our neighbor was very loud and the room didn’t have enough insulation to block his noisy tv & loud voice that we heard at all hours of the day. We did have a room that had an adjoining door to his so maybe that was part of the problem??? Our friends had an Oceanview room, 9128, which they loved (no noise or motion issues). That room had the opposite setup as ours with the bed right away when you enter the room and the couch next to the window. We personally thought this made the room feel more congested.

 

Dining: We had my-time dining on the 4th floor dining room. I made all of our dinner reservations a month or two prior to our sail date. The first night service was quite slow and partly due to a change in the servers assigned to our table. The remaining nights the service was excellent, esp. from waiters Kardi & Sonny. The head waiter checked in with us throughout the week to make sure everything was ok. Some friends we met on the ship were able to join the 4 of us for dinner with no problem even though they were assigned my-time dining on deck 5 and our reservations were only for 4. I also thought our food was excellent, esp. when you consider how many people were onboard.

We tried the Solarium Bistro one night and were not impressed. I thought it was noisier than the main dining room and the waiter had too many tables to give us great service.

We only tried one pay restaurant and that was Sabor (the Mexican restaurant). The guac & ships were so yummy. The only downfall was that it was very noisy as the aqua show was going on the same time we were eating and the restaurant opens right up to the Boardwalk/Aqua Show Theatre area.

Other food notes: breakfast in the dining room can be a little slow, esp. for omelets, but this is the only place we found Eggs Benedict. You can sit in the al le carte area & still get items off the buffet if you desire. The Windjammer was very busy at breakfast time so we had better luck finding table space in the Solarium. The Park Cafe had yummy roast beef & panini sandwiches.

We had the drink package and were pleasantly surprised how well the bar service was. Many servers were taking drink orders in the pool area. Be sure to try the chocolate & key lime martinis in the Rising Tide bar!

 

Stops: In St. Martin we did the Golden Eagle catamaran/snorkel trip offered through Royal. The crew was great, it was a beautiful ride, and we enjoyed seeing planes fly over the beach. The snorkeling wasn’t all that great…sea urchins & a few small fish were all we saw. Also be prepared that you have to swim from the boat to the beach (no beach chairs). The best part for us was the rum punch & meeting people on the boat!

In San Juan we walked to Castillo San Cristobal fort as we had been to El Morro the last time we were here. The small entrance fee was worth the beautiful & historical sights. We had a tasty latte at La Bombonera Restaurant and street food from the food trucks not far from the pier. A unique site was seeing one of the popular streets covered with umbrellas. There’s also a CVS across from the pier if you need to pick up more sunscreen, etc.

Labadee was a relaxing beach day for us. Columbus Cove beach had soft sand, plenty of chairs, and food/drinks nearby. We rented a lounge mat for ~$18 and spent a few $ at the artisan market…hint, make sure you bring cash and be prepared to haggle with the vendors to get a good price.

 

Ship activities: Like I mentioned before this was our first time on a ship the size of the Harmony of the Seas. THere’s SO much to do that 7 days just isn’t enough, esp. if you like to have a little down time like we do. We enjoyed the Zip Line..make sure you have close toed shoes, socks & are dry. The Ultimate Abyss (dry slide) has amazing views on the top platform, but the ride itself isn’t very scary (the tube has light & you’re on a felt mat)…be sure to have a shirt with sleeves & dry clothes. The water slides were great & we enjoyed all the pools and hot tubs. The adults only pool is the Sports pool which is NOT in the solarium. The solarium has 3 hot tubs and a sprinkler area to cool off in if desired. Grease and the comedians were ok…not the best I’ve seen. The Fine Line aqua theatre show was AMAZING! Very very talented performers and this definitely was the hightlight of cruising on this class of ship in my opinion. Hint: Don’t sit in the first 1/3 rows if you don’t want to get wet. Also, be sure to make your reservations to all the shows in advance & then get to the shows early. Open seating for those who do not have tickets starts 10-15 minutes prior to showtime and those people are not guaranteed a seat.

 

Overall we were very impressed with this cruise. Harmony of the Seas is a beautiful ship with lots of activities and great service.

 

Let me know if you have any questions!

 

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

Thanks for sharing! We are back on her Sept 29. Reviews help pass the time until we sail on her again!

[mondsd]

thanks for the review!

[myk249]

Thanks for the review. I love the hammock idea and will now be bringing mine.  I do have a question about how you hung it? 

[14Terry]

Thank you for posting the great review and photos!

[CruisingMarch2016]

Great review. We sail in 56 days on the same itinerary.

Do you have copies of the Cruise Compasses you could scan? I've been looking for updated ones and can only find them back to late 2018.

Thanks!!

 

ps. I can give you my email if easier if you happen to have them

[jimbri]

Great photos!

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, myk249 said:

Thanks for the review. I love the hammock idea and will now be bringing mine.  I do have a question about how you hung it? 

It depends on the ship.  On Oasis class there are support you posts that are easy to tie off to.  On freedom class I found that small 3” C clamps attached to the steel I beams gave me a good place to tie off to. 

[myk249]

4 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

It depends on the ship.  On Oasis class there are support you posts that are easy to tie off to.  On freedom class I found that small 3” C clamps attached to the steel I beams gave me a good place to tie off to. 

On Harmony in April so nice and easy...thanks!

 

[Big_G]

Nice review. We were getting off while you were waiting to get on. We never did dinner in the Solarium but breakfast and lunch weren't bad. It seemed like the dining venues were less busy than other Oasis Class ships we've been on. Maybe it was just timing.

[bandjwayne]

3 hours ago, myk249 said:

Thanks for the review. I love the hammock idea and will now be bringing mine.  I do have a question about how you hung it? 

It was super easy with the Traveler Fantasy Double Camping Hammock that we got off of Amazon.  It is lightweight, comes in a little travel bag, and has the straps & carabiners to easily hang.  We were able to attach it around poles on either side of our balcony & just undid one of the carabiners when we didn't want it in the way. 

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06XNL8V8C/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_tqwACbRNFTEDR

[bandjwayne]

8 hours ago, RazorbackIslandGirl said:

Thanks for sharing! We are back on her Sept 29. Reviews help pass the time until we sail on her again!

Yes, I agree!  I love reading other posts to help pass the time.  Enjoy your upcoming trip!

[cocoabeana]

We were on this sailing with you and agree with everything you said.  She is a beautiful ship.  We had perfect weather and very smooth waters!  We were on Deck 9 also, I loved being in the middle of all the activity.  We had a boardwalk balcony.  Never had any noise issues from the Boardwalk.  We were far enough back that we also had the aft ocean view!  I had previously been on the Allure twice and the Oasis once.  I wasn’t a fan of the ports either, but wanted to try the ship!

Thanks for your great review!

[bandjwayne]

1 minute ago, cocoabeana said:

We were on this sailing with you and agree with everything you said.  She is a beautiful ship.  We had perfect weather and very smooth waters!  We were on Deck 9 also, I loved being in the middle of all the activity.  We had a boardwalk balcony.  Never had any noise issues from the Boardwalk.  We were far enough back that we also had the aft ocean view!  I had previously been on the Allure twice and the Oasis once.  I wasn’t a fan of the ports either, but wanted to try the ship!

Thanks for your great review!

Hello fellow cruiser!  Good to know that the Boardwalk Balcony room didn't have any noise issue.  I was wondering if you'd hear noise from the shows.  Did you sit out on your balcony at all?  I didn't see many people actually using the balcony, but thought the natural light would be nice.  Nice to know that you also were able to see the water as there aren't as many public areas with water views on this ship.  Did you fine the service as good on the Allure & Oasis?  I was amazed with how great the service was all around on this ship!

[bandjwayne]

1 hour ago, CruisingMarch2016 said:

Great review. We sail in 56 days on the same itinerary.

Do you have copies of the Cruise Compasses you could scan? I've been looking for updated ones and can only find them back to late 2018.

Thanks!!

 

ps. I can give you my email if easier if you happen to have them

I do have them & can try scanning later.  I'll try to post to the website so others can see them & then if that doesn't work I can email them to you.  In the meantime, here's a schedule that I made with when all the shows were offered which helped be decide which reservations to make.

 

Harmony Cruise Itinerary.pdf

[LBumb]

Nice review and pics

[RickinStl]

Thanks for the review.. only 203 more days to go.. 

[cocoabeana]

1 hour ago, bandjwayne said:

Hello fellow cruiser!  Good to know that the Boardwalk Balcony room didn't have any noise issue.  I was wondering if you'd hear noise from the shows.  Did you sit out on your balcony at all?  I didn't see many people actually using the balcony, but thought the natural light would be nice.  Nice to know that you also were able to see the water as there aren't as many public areas with water views on this ship.  Did you fine the service as good on the Allure & Oasis?  I was amazed with how great the service was all around on this ship!

 

 

The only show that I could hear noise from was the Fine Line show, but barely any with the door closed.  I did sit out on the balcony, got to watch them practice the high wire act during the day!!!!  It was nice to sit out there and people watch!!!  

I think the service was great also!  It was comparable to the Allure and Oasis! Our room steward was one of the best I have had.   I found the dining room to be a little slow though.  I don’t like spending 2 hours for dinner.  

All in all a great cruise for sure!!!  

[myk249]

3 hours ago, bandjwayne said:

It was super easy with the Traveler Fantasy Double Camping Hammock that we got off of Amazon.  It is lightweight, comes in a little travel bag, and has the straps & carabiners to easily hang.  We were able to attach it around poles on either side of our balcony & just undid one of the carabiners when we didn't want it in the way. 

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B06XNL8V8C/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_tqwACbRNFTEDR

Thanks for the feedback and the suggestion. I have an ENO setup that I use for backpacking, and now crusing...

[ksmommy5]

19 hours ago, RazorbackIslandGirl said:

Thanks for sharing! We are back on her Sept 29. Reviews help pass the time until we sail on her again!

Me too! Have you joined the roll call yet and registered for the meet and mingle? 

[JayTee1]

How was Deck 9? Was it a good deck? Actually, are there any bad decks?

 

The reason I ask is that I've got one of the virtual balcony rooms on Deck 9 in an upcoming trip on Harmony as well, and my concern was that it was a little too "far up". It looks to be quite the walk from the elevators. But I understand that your room was pretty close to the elevator. 

 

If i'm looking at the map correctly, I think that's the front of the ship?

 

Thanks

[bandjwayne]

54 minutes ago, JayTee1 said:

How was Deck 9? Was it a good deck? Actually, are there any bad decks?

 

The reason I ask is that I've got one of the virtual balcony rooms on Deck 9 in an upcoming trip on Harmony as well, and my concern was that it was a little too "far up". It looks to be quite the walk from the elevators. But I understand that your room was pretty close to the elevator. 

 

If i'm looking at the map correctly, I think that's the front of the ship?

 

Thanks

Our room, 9186 - OV Balcony was in the middle to front 1/3 I'd say.  It was close to the elevators.  Our friends were definitely closer to the front of the ship, in room 9126, OV room.  I was a little concerned that they'd feel the motion more than us, esp. being first time cruisers, but they said they didn't feel hardly anything (just like us).  That being said we did have very smooth seas I'd say.  As far as the 9th floor I did like it although I'd probably go even higher next time as we spent most of our time on decks 15 & 16 sitting around the pool or in the solarium.  That's a lot of stairs to climb, esp. for our friends who has a harder time walking (although there technically isn't a deck 13).  Based off other posts I saw here on CC I thought we'd spend more time in the Central Park on deck 8, but we didn't really care for the area & only seemed to visit the Park Cafe there.  We did enjoy the bars/pizza place on deck 5 in the Royal Promenade area which it was easy to go down the stairs to enjoy that area, then down a few more stairs to get to the dining room (my-time, deck 4 for us). I must also say that I was pleasantly surprised that we usually didn't have to wait long for the elevators!  I believe there were either 6 or 8 elevators on BOTH the port & starboard side close to our cabin.

[RazorbackIslandGirl]

14 hours ago, ksmommy5 said:

Me too! Have you joined the roll call yet and registered for the meet and mingle? 

I have! I'm looking forward to meeting everyone!

[TravisP]

Thanks for the review. 

Edited February 19, 2019 by TravisP

[bandjwayne]

Harmony of the Seas - 7 Day Eastern Caribbean_Cruise Compass - Days 1 & 2

Cruise Compass_Days 1 & 2.pdf

Edited February 19, 2019 by bandjwayne