Sailing in harmony on Harmony of the Seas-February 16-23

[avlski]

🤩 Hope you have a WONDERFUL cruise! We will be taking your place next Sunday!  🌴🛳️

[John&LaLa]

On 2/13/2020 at 9:52 PM, WVHillbilly said:

 

I kinda wanted to try the Red Coconut Club but, things wouldn't be happening till much later in the evening and I really will need to some rest before boarding on Sunday.   So after picking up the car we'll head to Disney Springs and spend the afternoon there before heading to Cocoa Beach.  I hear there is a scheduled Space X launch on Saturday would be nice to catch that.  Also there is a guy on FB who takes pictures of Harmony coming in and he had some really nice night photos of her sailing in.  If I'm lucky I maybe able to catch her sailing in before daybreak.

 

SpaceX got moved again, now on Monday

[Eastern flygirl]

Just got home from the Harmony.  You will love the ship, food and service.  Everything is perfect, except for the location of the Diamond Club.  

[crusinot]

Following!  Just made final payment on our May 17,2020 cruise out of Bayonne. Getting excited!  You should be getting ready to board about now!  Have fun

[WVHillbilly]

On 2/16/2020 at 9:06 AM, avlski said:

🤩 Hope you have a WONDERFUL cruise! We will be taking your place next Sunday!  🌴🛳️

 

We'll try to get her back in one piece.  :)

[WVHillbilly]

On 2/16/2020 at 9:31 AM, Eastern flygirl said:

Just got home from the Harmony.  You will love the ship, food and service.  Everything is perfect, except for the location of the Diamond Club.  

 

Everything has been great so far, had one little hiccup on day 1; something happened and all stateroom doors on deck 6 quit working.  We had to wait for Security to unlock our doors, took so long to get Security we called it a night around 10:15 pm.  I checked the door just before midnight and they were working again, not sure what it was just a computer glitch only affected deck 6.

[WVHillbilly]

Cruise Day 1:  Embarkation from Port Canaveral:  I woke up early and drove to the port to watch Harmony come in before daybreak.  It was amazing how effortlessly she came into port, turned and slipped into the dock. 

 

Had a bit of panic set in, somehow my trunk popped open after returning to the hotel and before breakfast.  The front desk called to let me know my trunk was open; with most of my bags in the trunk I flew down four flights of stairs worried that my bags were gone.  Was relieved to find all was safe. Once my heart returned to a normal beat, we were off to eat the complimentary breakfast.  It was pretty much standard free hotel breakfast.  They had fixings to make a breakfast burrito, waffles, cereal, bagels and such. 

 

I dropped the bags off at the porters around 9:45 and went to return the rental car.  Entered the terminal at 10:10 and seated in “The Key” area at 10:20, no sooner had we sat down they started boarding.  The Key boarded right after B2B, Suites, and Diamond +.

 

Once onboard we stopped to make our specialty dinner reservations, then off to Bolero’s for WOW bands while the DW ordered our cruise starting Kracken Lava Flows.  With drinks in hand, we dropped the carryon bag at the MDR to be delivered to the room and set about exploring the ship a bit.

 

Lunch was the Chops Lunch in the MDR which is part of “The Key”.  Started with the shrimp cocktail, 6 oz. fillet mignon and we shared a warm chocolate cake.  Steak was tender and cooked to order, although I would have seasoned the meat.  Tried the peppercorn sauce, wasn’t my cup of tea, I generally cook my steaks at home with a little salt and pepper and that’s it.  It was a larger lunch than we normally have but it was a nice relaxing way to start the cruise. 

 

The rooms opened up before we finished lunch so we checked out our room.  My carryon bag was in the room and I spotted one of my suitcases down the hall.  After unpacking the carryon and hanging clothes suitcase; went back down the hall and my other two bags were there. 

 

Tonight’s supper was in the MDR, a dance or two in the Promenade and then to the showing of “Grease”.  Seating for Key guests was on deck 4 in the balcony, better seats were available 30 minutes before the show on deck 3 center.  We enjoyed the show and it definitely is not for children, yet many were in attendance.  The gestures were very explicit, much more than I remember in the movie.

 

After “Grease” we went back to our room to change shoes around 10:15pm, only to find out the doors on all of deck 6 were malfunctioning no one could get into their rooms.  After waiting a bit and talking to several ships’ crew members, Security came with the key and lets us in.  Doors were working again around 11:45 pm but we had decided to call it a night.

[WVHillbilly]

Cruise Day 2:  Coco Cay, Bahamas:  I woke up around 6:30 to find us about 30’ from the dock in Coco Cay, we were scheduled to be there at 8:00.  I thought maybe they would open the gangway earlier, but apparently they had to wait for the dock workers to arrive.

 

Empress joined us in port today,  with Harmony and Empress both at Coco Cay there was plenty of free  loungers both at Chill Island and Oasis Lagoon;  spent a couple of hours at both locations soaking up the warm sun.  We didn’t go into the water heard several people say the water was cold, a few were in the ocean but there were quite a few in Oasis Lagoon. Grabbed a crispy chicken sandwich and funnel cake from the Snak Shack it was less hectic there than our previous lunches at Labadee and Coco Cay.

 

Summary of Coco Cay:  I’d say they have it right for calling it Perfect Day, there is something for everyone.  The only food place that seemed busy was Chill Grill, Snak Shack and Captain Jacks were not crowded at all.  One observation is that there were plenty of empty day beds at Chill Island and most of the over water cabanas were empty also.  If that is a trend maybe prices will come down.  After lunch we headed back to the ship and found a fruit basket waiting for us (nice touch), partook of an embarrassing round of mini golf before getting ready for dinner.

 

We had our first specialty dinner tonight at Chops; DW had the Tuna Tartare, Spicy Jumbo Shrimp and Key Lime Pie, I had the Charred Beef Carpaccio, NY Strip and Warm Chocolate Cake.  I must say everything was delicious and the service was excellent.  It was a bit louder than I thought it would be but still quieter than the MDR.  I don’t normally eat steak out as I purchase a ¼ of a Black Angus cow each year and find most steak houses disappointing.  The fillet I had for the Key Lunch was good and tender but I wasn’t impressed with the flavor, but the NY Strip was seasoned just right and very tender.  Wrapped up the evening in Boleros dancing to the Latin Band.

 

Edited February 18, 2020 by WVHillbilly

[Maplemoose]

What were the Corona procedures this week. Was it still the 3 questions method or was there any temperature taking etc? 

[WVHillbilly]

On 2/18/2020 at 6:16 PM, Maplemoose said:

What were the Corona procedures this week. Was it still the 3 questions method or was there any temperature taking etc? 

 

Just the questions, easy peasy.  Didn't notice or hear of any illness during this sailing.

[WVHillbilly]

Well the cruise is over, I am in awe of all of you that manage to write a live review.  I packed so much fun in during the day that by the time I got back to the room at night I was beat.  In short I had another great cruise and have many observations and comments to share.  7 days is just not enough time to explore everything and Oasis class ship has.  I will endeavor to pick up this review where I left off and hopefully will have something for everyone.

[MrFunInTheSun]

29 minutes ago, WVHillbilly said:

Well the cruise is over, I am in awe of all of you that manage to write a live review.  I packed so much fun in during the day that by the time I got back to the room at night I was beat.  In short I had another great cruise and have many observations and comments to share.  7 days is just not enough time to explore everything and Oasis class ship has.  I will endeavor to pick up this review where I left off and hopefully will have something for everyone.

Indeed. 7 days is never enough on these beautiful Oasis class ships. Glad you had an amazing cruise on Lady Harmony! 

[Cougsie]

Aww man, I just found this review today and was really getting into it! Haha, take your time, but I'm now following and looking forward to pictures and all the deets.

 

My next cruise isn't for a year yet, but I'm devouring all the reviews and live reviews I can find in the meantime.

[WVHillbilly]

Wow, what a crazy post cruise week!  It's been almost non stop helping my parents, washing clothes and spending time with our abandoned furry pets.  I'm scheduled for surgery next month and made the difficult decision to cancel my Alaska cruise/tour for May/June of this year.  With the help of my TA, I re-booked for next year and the only money I lost was an airline change fee on my flight with AA.  I hated cancelling this trip, but it's been a load off my mind on whether I'd feel up to Alaskan excursions.  

 

Okay, time to resume this review.

[WVHillbilly]

Cruise Day 3:  Sea Day: Sea days are my favorite time on a cruise, sea days are sunrises and sunsets; pools and hot tubs; and lounge chairs and naps.  I’m an early riser so I grab my camera, a cup of coffee and wander a nearly empty ship waiting for the sun to rise on another day.  Harmony has so many venues that it’s nearly impossible to experience them all in 7 days.

 

The Promenade

[WVHillbilly]

The Boardwalk

[WVHillbilly]

Dazzles, Central Park, The Pool Deck and The Abyss

[WVHillbilly]

The wake and the sunrise.

[WVHillbilly]

Cruise Day 3:  Sea Day: Shortly after sunrise, towels began finding their favorite spots around the pool.  After breakfast it was time for some time in the Solarium.  We spent some time in a clam shell lounger and the tub/pool on deck 14, before moving up to a lounge chair on deck 15 to be closer to the frozen drinks.

 

Tonight was formal night in the MDR, we had purchased the all-digital photo package so it was time to get dressed and pose for pictures before dinner.  With all the discussion on what’s acceptable to wear on formal nights in the MDR, I took a look around to see what everyone was wearing for the first time.  I’d say that more than half the men were wearing slacks and collared shirts, some wearing ties, suits and a few tuxes’.  Only about 1% was wearing shorts with a collared shirt or t-shirt or jeans.  The cruise compass publishes suggested dress attire for the MDR, the ever accommodating dining room staff doesn’t want to confront anyone, and so as many have said you can wear whatever you’re comfortable in.

 

The evening’s entertainment was “A Journey in Time”.  This was a fascinating show filled with amazing skating and visual effects.  This was the only show where “The Key” reserved seats were in a good spot.