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Just Back - Harmony 6/2-6/9 - The GOOD, Bad and Lessons learned

mammap

By mammap,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, Maplemoose said:

That is what I was counting on too but the above posts plus the revised MTD times in the May 26 Compass don't make it too likely. 

 

If they cannot get you a standing reservation for the time you want, just show up at that time, earlier the better.

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Maplemoose

Maplemoose

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Posted

Yes, but the point is that MTD does not start until 6:30 on the Harmony now, so showing up at 5 or 5:15 is pointless. The Compass on earlier cruises still said 5:15 but now clearly states 6:30 as per the edition posted on Royal Caribbean blog website. The best case scenario is that the policy is changed for our cruise in 2020.

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perfect match Holiday Sharing Rare

perfect match

Posted
Posted

Thanks for the info on the microfiber towels. I’ve been thinking of ordering some for a while now, and these seem like they would be perfect! I’ve already put a couple on my shopping list so I can show them to DH in case he doesn’t like the color I picked out for him, but I betting he will like it just fine! 

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OCSC Mike "Live from...." Rare

OCSC Mike

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, JamesEM said:

Thanks for your review and photos, I was on the Harmony last month, the first night we ate in the MDR after that experience we ate rest our dinners in the Windjammer.  

 

We stopped eating in the MDR a while ago (unless foreced to on family cruises) but it was b/c my wife is picky so there's more for her at WJ and I like buffets so it works for us.  Our MDR service has actually been quite good over the years when we've eaten there.

 

Still hoping someone recently on Harmony could give some feedback on WJ dinners since we're embarking Sunday.  I know this past week there was a Mexican night with a chocolate buffet as well.  Is there a theme every night (there was for us on Radiance in Alaska last Summer)?  I've read about cook to order stir fry and crepes.  Are there different cook-to-order options each night?  Basically, anything specific anyone wants to share would be greatly appreciated.  We'll be there no matter what but I like hearing about what to expect.  Thanks!

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Bem15963

Bem15963

Posted
Posted

Going on Harmony in 26 days.   Very excited.  Thank you for your review it was well worth reading.  We also have dinner reservations but I seem to remember it use to be you could hit a button and make the reservations for the same time every night.  this time when I went to reserve I had to do each day individually and never got the same time each day.   May have to visit the MDR when we board to see if that can be altered.  Love the towel idea and I have always taken magnetic hooks - they are a blessing to hang thing and post the compass up on the wall.   Looking forward to our trip and glad you enjoyed yours.

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Snit13

Snit13

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, mickey16 said:

We were on the ship with you! We hated have to get off yesterday and go back home. 😞 It was a wonderful week. Our only issue was with service in the main dining room, at the 5 pm seating. The waiter was awful, constantly making negative comments on what and how much we ordered, or how we ordered it, a couple of times they made passive aggressive comments about my attire (long shorts and a nice top), many requests for drink refills that never came, and cold food was served to us. It was a shocking change from our experience on other cruises. After 3 nights we ended up going to Windjammer the rest of the nights and had a wonderful time in there. Service and food was fantastic with WJ. Possibly the MDR servers were just overworked and had too many tables.

Did you report the waiter?  This should have been reported to head waiter and if there was no resolution then to the Food & Beverage Manager.  I would not have tolerated his/her behavior for a minute.  You paid your heard earned $$$ for your cruise and top notch service.  Hope you gave 0 on your survey.

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Snit13

Snit13

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Excellent review of your Harmony cruise.  Thank you so much for sharing with those of us who are booked on upcoming Harmony cruises.  One of the best reviews I have read on CC.  Sorry for your MDR negative experience and happy you enjoyed your Windjammer dinners.

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mickey16

mickey16

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

Still hoping someone recently on Harmony could give some feedback on WJ dinners since we're embarking Sunday.  I know this past week there was a Mexican night with a chocolate buffet as well.  Is there a theme every night (there was for us on Radiance in Alaska last Summer)?  I've read about cook to order stir fry and crepes.  Are there different cook-to-order options each night?

Yes, there were different options each night, it was pretty great! I think the stir fry/asian was there every night, but I could be wrong. They had the crepe station one or two nights, and it was delicious! I had never had a crepe before, and I got it with chocolate, caramel, and oreo pieces!!! Another night they were making some Indian dishes fresh, they made me some naan on request which went great with the butter chicken and rice. My advice, don't stop just at the front part of WJ, they make stuff fresh alllll the way back at the station deepest into windjammer. One night they were making fresh hot donuts, and in the mornings there were always hot waffles back there.

 

For all asking if we reported the waiters in MDR, we mentioned it to one of the waiters we saw in Windjammer, Clifroy. He had been working in Coastal Kitchen our first day on board and recognized us. He took all the notes down and told us it would be better and to try again the next night. We tried it one more night, which was the 3rd attempt, and it wasn't any better so that was it for us. But while we were in Windjammer several nights for dinner we got a visit from the Windjammer head waiter, the MDR head waiter, and they were all very apologetic, and asked if we wanted anything. Clifroy even offered to have food sent down from Coastal Kitchen, or book us into the Solarium Bistro. We didn't we didn't want to make a big fuss since we were having such a great time in Windjammer, but they did try. A couple of our rooms got sent chocolate covered strawberries from the head waiter, and another room got sent a bottle of wine.

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OCSC Mike "Live from...." Rare

OCSC Mike

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, mickey16 said:

Yes, there were different options each night, it was pretty great! I think the stir fry/asian was there every night, but I could be wrong. They had the crepe station one or two nights, and it was delicious! I had never had a crepe before, and I got it with chocolate, caramel, and oreo pieces!!! Another night they were making some Indian dishes fresh, they made me some naan on request which went great with the butter chicken and rice. My advice, don't stop just at the front part of WJ, they make stuff fresh alllll the way back at the station deepest into windjammer. One night they were making fresh hot donuts, and in the mornings there were always hot waffles back there.

 

Thanks for the info!  We're well versed in the "back station" of the WJ.  They had similar freshly made stuff that changed each day back there on Oasis two summers ago.

 

As I posted, we'll be there regardless, but appreciate the info in advance.  DW would love if the stir fry station was there nightly.  Nice to have a go-to for her in case she doesn't find anything else on a particular night (she won't eat Mexican, Indian, seafood, etc.).  I eat everything.  🙂

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mammap

mammap

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Posted

The WJ had wonder stir-fry noodle station every night.  My daughter loved this and was able to customize her bowl and it was yummy.   There was a Caribbean evening and Mexican.  The Mexican night featured taquitos,  quesadillas,  rice, beans, enchaladas.   There was a great crape station.....I got flambe bannanas and strawberries....Crapes were made fresh, filled and topped with powdered sugar.  I also added a bit of vanilla ice cream on top but had to get the scoops of ice cream from a different station.  It made for an amazing dessert.  The chocolate buffet featured all types of cookies, cakes and tarts all in chocolate.   My complaint was not the food quality or variety, but the pushy people around the stations made it tense.   

 

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LuCruise

LuCruise

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, mickey16 said:

We were on the ship with you! We hated have to get off yesterday and go back home. 😞 It was a wonderful week. Our only issue was with service in the main dining room, at the 5 pm seating. The waiter was awful, constantly making negative comments on what and how much we ordered, or how we ordered it, a couple of times they made passive aggressive comments about my attire (long shorts and a nice top), many requests for drink refills that never came, and cold food was served to us. It was a shocking change from our experience on other cruises. After 3 nights we ended up going to Windjammer the rest of the nights and had a wonderful time in there. Service and food was fantastic with WJ. Possibly the MDR servers were just overworked and had too many tables.

Wow...that's horrible and surprising.  Royal seems to pride themselves on their service and so far, we've only had excellent service (slowness isn't necessarily their fault, but always very friendly and never comments about orders).  Guessing that waiter didn't get a 10.  

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footballmp

footballmp

Posted
Posted

We were on the 5/27 Western itinerary on the Harmony of the Seas, the best cruise we have ever taken!  We ate dinner mainly in the Solarium Bistro and the Windjammer to avoid the MDR.  On night #5 they had the Mexican buffet and also the Chocolate buffet.  Both were very good but swamped with people! 

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panzafit

panzafit

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, Maplemoose said:

Yes, but the point is that MTD does not start until 6:30 on the Harmony now, so showing up at 5 or 5:15 is pointless. The Compass on earlier cruises still said 5:15 but now clearly states 6:30 as per the edition posted on Royal Caribbean blog website. The best case scenario is that the policy is changed for our cruise in 2020.

If it helps, I have MTD reserved for my group on Harmony of the Seas sailing June 30, 2019 and all our dinner reservations are for 5:45.  I did reserve our times almost a year prior.

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