A story of hiccups and recoveries on Harmony (get a cup of coffee - it is long!!!)

[IamJPT]

We were on the Dec 12th Harmony of the Seas sailing out of Port Canaveral and had a wonderful time although we had our share of Royal hiccups followed by nice recoveries. DW and I just retired and we wanted a quick get away so we booked this at the last moment. 

 

We stayed in a Crown Loft Suite (1738) and booked speciality dinners for every night of the cruise. We pre booked the Bahamas Blue Lagoon Beach and the Perfect Day at Coco Cay - Coco Beach Club day passes. We winged Cozumel and took a taxi to Nachi Cocum for the day. We heard there were 4,000 guests on board (capacity is over 6,000) and the ship generally felt empty.

 

We had a 1:30 check in time and arrived 30 minutes early. Once we let the baggage handlers know we were in a suite they walked us to the front of the line where we waited until the 1:30 grouping was let in. Checking in was painless and we were onboard in 15 minutes.

 

On COVID - I would say, generally, and throughout the cruise everyone was respectful of the mask mandates. On our cruise we were allowed to be unmasked in open air spaces like pool decks, on the boardwalk and at shows as long as we stayed in the vaccinated areas. It was wonderful feeling somewhat cruising normal again (I know the rules have since changed again 😔)

 

Prior to going to our cabin we stopped by at Windjammer for a quick bite. Buffet service was not as awkward as I thought it was going to be. I thought it would be weird having to ask for 2 of something instead of just taking it but it worked out fine as the servers asked if I wanted more without me having to prod them. Yes - being 6’5” and 260 pounds likely made it more obvious 1 dessert was not going to be enough 😊

 

While we were eating I booked our entertainment via the app. It was painless and quick but I do wish this was available prior to the cruise as we had several dinner reservations that conflicted with entertainment times that required us to juggle things around. Thank heavens for our Suite Concierges Jacki and Lyli - more on them later !!!

 

The room was fantastic with lots of space and having 2 bathrooms was a great plus. Cynthia was our room attendant and she and her assistant were very pleasant and did a nice job at keeping the room tidy. That gets me to our first hiccup - our luggage did not arrive till after day 1 dinner. While we always pack a carry on with enough to carry us thru a late luggage delivery it is unsettling not knowing that most of your cruise clothes are on board until you see them !!! And that is where Cynthia and her assistant stepped in. She said they would personally search and that if needed - would have the Captan turn the ship around to get them. I know she was being factious but her words made me feel like she cared and was going to personally make a difference. Nice recovery Cynthia !!!

 

That gets us to our next hiccup. We had scheduled a couples massage online prior to day 1 dinner. As the app daily calendar does not show spa appointments we decided to stop by the spa to confirm our reservation time. We confirmed the 4:30 appointment and were told to show up 15 minutes early to fill out their health questionnaires. We showed up on time and were escorted to the “relaxation” waiting room. Hiccup - they forgot about us 😳. We waited for 30 minutes before anyone came out to ask what we were waiting for. I actually emailed Jacki and Lyli to see if they could help as our 6 pm Jaimes dinner reservation seemed in jeopardy. Eventually DW decided to take measures in her own hands and found a manager that said we had a 5 pm appointment and that we would be seen immediately. Well that was not true as my online reservation was for 4:30 and we had confirmed with the spa just a few hours earlier. FRUSTRATING 😑 They profusely apologized for the confusion and agreed to call Jaimes and update our reservation and to give us an extra 15 minutes of massage time. Good recovery but there is more …

 

Hershey and Gretchen were our massage therapists and they were very good. It is amazing how strong their hands are !!! At the end of our massages they again apologized and offered us a $50 certificate for future services (I think that is standard for all completed spa services as a way to get more sales). As we were running late and did not want to run back to the cabin to shower they offered to let us use the in room shower to get cleaned up prior to dinner. Definitely a nice recovery. At this point we were feeling loosey goosey and headed off to Jaimes.

 

Dinner at Jaimes was good. On our last cruise on Symphony we had a magical dinner at Jaimes and as is sometimes the case, the 2nd time was not as magical. That is not to say it was not a good experience but it was not what we remembered. As an example, we ordered the meat plank and it seemed more like a cold cut platter than the artisan offering we dreamingly remembered from Symphony. Another miss was they had done away with the prosciutto baked chips that we loved so much that we have made at home many times. Any way, our server was excellent (Jonathon?). DW had the eggplant and I had the carbonara - both were very nice and after a bottle of Veuve Clique and another of Duckhorn we were feeling no pain !!! And yes, I eat and drink a lot 😂

 

Back to the spa hiccup - when we got back to our room I checked our account balance and found that they had charged us for the massage that we had already paid for online😳 Did I say thank heavens for Jacki and Lyli? I brought this to their attention and they had the charges removed quickly. Overall - good recovery !!! More spa hiccups to come 😔

 

We then went to the theater to see Grease and it was really well done. Both DW and I thought it was as nice a production that we have seen on any cruise. By this time I was a few Patron anejos in so we called it a day.

 

Day 2 - this and every morning we had breakfast in the coastal kitchen. This was good and we had a wonderful group of servers. Special call out to Matey who made it a point to get my DW Ilea coffee from the speciality coffee machine instead of the coffee they were serving to everyone else. Nice job Matey !!! Also call out to our Brazilian server - DW was born in Brazil and they were talking and laughing in a language I did not understand!!!

 

DW had woken up with a stiff neck (she had forgotten her isotonic pillow) and we asked Cynthia if she could find something equivalent. As with all things Cynthia, she delivered and DW had an isotonic pillow by nights end. Nice job Cynthia !!!

 

Our port of call was the Bahamas but due to a medical evacuation we were running late. Our original gangway time was 8 am but we were not able to get off the ship until 11 am. We quickly found our tender to the Blue Lagoon and waited an hour before they took us over 😔 We finally touched sand at 12:30 and were told we had to be back at the tender at 2:15. A <2 hour beach break was not what we were expecting but we put on a brave face and ordered 2 painkillers to help us forget about the disappointment. The beach was very nice and the water was crystal clear and calm but the beach area near where our lounge chairs were was very rocky so you could not walk or swim out. They did have a section off to the side with a ladder down to a section were you could walk and swim that was nice. Our server and lunch were okay but not anything remarkable. When we got back to the ship we mentioned this to Jacki and Lyli and they worked to get us a partial refund without us asking - thanks again Jacki and Lyli😊

 

We then went had dinner at Central Park 150. Our server was Carlos (?) and he and our dinner were wonderful. DW had the tenderloin and I had the lobster thermador and both were fantastic. Carlos brought us a few extra lobsters and all was good in the world - especially after another bottle of Veuve Clique and a few glasses of Chianti !!!

 

That night we saw the ice show. DW liked it. I thought other ice shows we had seen were better. They skated and jumped to music as they do in all ice shows but it felt a bit disjointed. Maybe that was me and the Patron talking but I was ehhhh …

 

Day 3 was a sea day so we decided to put our $50 certificate to good use. We booked another couples massage followed by an acupuncture treatment. This was my first time for acupuncture so I was a bit anxious but it was easy and might even have helped with my sciata. DW swears that her stiff neck was cured and she is going to become an acupuncture regular 😊 However that gets us to our next spa hiccup 😔 When we got back to the room I checked our charges (as I do every night) and saw the massages had an extra $200 tip added to them (in addition to the auto 18%). I always tip generously and extra in cash so I again asked Jacki and Lyli for help. Shortly thereafter the charges were removed and we received a call from Hershey saying it was her error and that she was sorry. Nice recovery but I was feeling a bit wonky with all the spa billing and scheduling confusion. 

 

We spent time walking the ship (she looks amazing) and headed to the suite deck for some sun and drinks. Eventually we had lunch at the coastal kitchen - the BBQ ribs were great and decided to walk the running track a few times to burn off all the calories I had from having to also eat a salad (DW demands I eat green things every day - I do not understand why 😂)

 

That afternoon we saw the aqua show. I liked it but DW thought there was too much choreography and not enough diving. I agreed but there was a lot of wind and I thought we were seeing a slimmed down diving version of the show. Any case, it is amazing what they can do on a moving ship and the divers are incredibly talented.

 

Dinner was at Chops and, like Central Park 150 - was wonderful. Our server (Mottee?) was fantastic as was the rib eye. DW thought the Caesar salad was not garlicy enough but I can not say as it is a green food and I am not an expert or fan of these things.

 

We finished the evening with some tequila on the Promenade and called it a night.

 

Day 4 was another medical evacuation and between that and some wind we wound up skipping our Costa Maya port of call. Another sea day meant more time at the spa so off we went for more couples massages and acupuncture. When we arrived Hershey again apologized for the billing error saying she made a mistake. I am not sure how that can happen but as it was resolved I let it go. The massages and acupuncture were good and again we were loosey goosey and ready for more adventure. We again had lunch in the coastal kitchen and spent some time n the suite deck getting sun and drinks.

 

We then had dinner at Wonderland. We had done Wonderland on our last cruise and liked the experience even though we thought the food was odd to our liking. I booked this again knowing we would likely feel the same way and that was mostly the case. The food was odd to our liking but the difference was the experience. On Symphony the Mad Hatter and Alice were very engaging but on this cruise only the Mad Hatter was there and honestly, after he marched us down the stairs to the table - disappeared (without a pill !!!). I would say our server was fantastic in explaining the meal courses and was very friendly. I forget her name but she was from Mexico. Going forward we will skip Wonderland unless we are traveling with younger kids.

 

We then saw the singing group “Fourever”. They were okay but I was hoping for a more acapella performance. DW thought the lead singer did a nice job on Queens Bohemian Rhapsody.

 

Day 5 was Cozumel. After breakfast we took a taxi to Nachi Cocum. DW was a bit anxious about taking a non RCCL excursion but we have enjoyed Nachi before and took the chance. It was worth it. The beach and service were wonderful. Lunch was also very good. We will definitely go back if we get a chance. 

 

Dinner was at Izumi and here the story goes a bit south. Our online reservations were for 5:30. At 5:07 we got a call from the restaurant saying we were late. I checked our calendar app and our online reservation and both were for 5:30. I told the girl on the phone this and she said they are starting early. I told her my DW is blowing out her hair and from previous experience it would not be a good idea for me to ask her to hurry ( DW has a lot of hair). I told the girl we would be there as soon as we could and we did get there a few minutes before 5:30. This is where I was most disappointed on our cruise. When we arrived everyone else at the table had their drinks, had finished their salad and had ordered. We got looks from 2 couples like we were the reason their dinner was being delayed. We explained that our reservation was for 5:30 but they were clearly not happy with us. The couple that was next to us was very forgiving and understood that we were not at fault and we had a nice conversation throughout dinner. We were asked to immediately order dinner and salads were quickly placed in front of us and the chef started his show. I felt rushed but asked to have some sake and beer and my DW ordered a drink. I did not eat my salad partially because it is green but also because I did not want to miss the chefs show. We did not even touch our edamame - yes they are green. Eventually my sake and beer came but my DWs drink did not. I called the server over and asked about her drink and was told she did not order one. That did not go over well as DW was clear on her ask and I reminded the server that he asked her if she wanted salt. Any case, DW eventually got her drink and the ensuing chefs show was wonderful. As I still felt bad about everyone having a delayed start to their dinner I ordered sake for the table. That seemed to help lighten the mood and dinner was served. The food was very good and we enjoyed the conversation with our table neighbors. After the dinner and after everyone had left I spoke to the manager about the experience. I had never been as uncomfortable at a cruise dinner as I was here when we were made to feel like we were late and holding everyone up. I told the manager this was unacceptable and that minimally he had to pick up the tab for the table sake. He did pick up the sake tab and he offered a sushi lunch pairing for free but I was in no mood to take him up on his offer. This was my worst dinner experience on a cruise. Sad because the chef was fantastic, the food was really good and some of the company was nice. Being told we were late, being rushed and being made to feel like we were the cause for a delayed dinner ruined it all 😞 A recovery but did not save the day.

 

We decided to call it an early night and my DW reminded me that they are trying and that I needed to forgive and forget. I have forgiven but I have not forgotten.

 

Day 6 was another sea day and of course that meant more spa treatments. I decided to let my DW go alone and boy did she !!!. I do not know what thermage is other than it is expensive 😂 DW also went for their Botox equivalent and now looks years younger and my wallet is also a lot thinner !!!

 

For dinner we went back to Central Park 150 and again had Carlos(?) as our waiter. Service and dinner were also excellent. I went for an off the menu surf and turf and could not have been happier. Of course the Moët and Chianti helped !!! We will definitely come back to Central Park 150 when we can.

 

We then saw the juggling act. He was fantastic. He nicely combined comedy and juggling and was a blast to watch. I would definitely see him again.

 

Day 7 was Coco Cay. We learned we had had another medical evacuation that night before. We had wondered why we were stationary off of Miami for a while. It did allow us to get lots of great pictures. The Coco Cay stop was a wonderful excursion even though we had a thunderstorm that caused us to leave early. The island was really nicely set up for everyone to have a nice time. We went to the Coco Beach club and got chair loungers. The water was crystal clear and calm and easy to walk and swim. Our beach server was on point and we had a nice conversation with a Pinnacle couple from the Carolinas. Lunch was also very nice and our server was great. Mid lunch we had a thunder clap and a monsoon rain began. Everyone scrambled to get cover and it was amazing to see how well the staff worked to try and keep every one dry and safe. Nice recovery Coco Cay staff team !!!

 

Our final dinner was at Jaimes. As we had prebooked I decided to give it another shot. As before, our server Jonathon (?) was excellent and the food was good. DW had the eggplant again and I had the lamb chops. No magic and I would not prioritize Jaimes again (we had chosen to prebook this twice - I will double up on Chops next time). 

 

We went to the comedy show and it was okay. The audience was a bit stiff and the comedians had a hard time reading and engaging them. We ended the cruise on the Promenade sipping some more tequila. 

 

A goofy note - DW and I made Diamond with our last cruise but only DW got the pin. She has graciously given the pin to me and it is now lost somewhere in our mess of luggage !!!

 

Also, we met the Hotel Director in the elevator and tried to engage him in a nice conversation but he closed it off. I wanted to tell him about how nice a job Cynthia and generally the entire crew had been doing but he seemed not to want to talk to us guests. It was as though we were bothering him. Later we ran into him again when he was on the Promenade working with one of his managers on a ginger bread display. We again tried to engage to say thanks for all the crews efforts but he disengaged immediately. Luckily his manager was very nice and talked with us about the display and how they were made. Seems to me if you are a Hotel Director you should like your guests and want to hear from them - in his case this did not seem to be the case. Anyway  the rest of the crew more than made up for his curt behavior.

 

Also, a final shout out to Jacki and Lyli - they really helped us on several occasions when we needed it. Yes that is their job but they did it in a nice way.

 

Finally, we were very happy to be back cruising again. While it is different and RCCL is adjusting, they are trying really hard and it shows.

[heatherb1958]

Great review , thanks for posting your experience on Harmony. 

It is a pity the HD did not take time to listen to your comments /feedback about your time onboard . There are some very good HDs on RCI ships unfortunately there seem to be some new hires too, maybe you had one of those . I remember when we met a new hire HD who had come from The World  cruise ship, talk about chalk and cheese environment , he had no idea what hit him on the cruise which was heavily loaded with C&A members . 😆 

[vacationlover_mn]

Thanks for your great review!

[FionaMG]

Thanks for sharing. I love your writing style; very entertaining. 😊

[jalves]

Appreciate the detailed review.  Some ups and downs but overall sounds good.  We've sailed in CLS on several of the Oasis class ships and really love them.  Great location so convenient to Coastal Kitchen/Suite Lounge.  Sadly, our next Harmony cruise in April we appear will have to be in a GS as there is a $3k price difference.  I keep checking though....

[Luckynana]

@heatherb1958 Hello Heather!  How have you been?  Wishing you a wonderful and safe Holiday!🎄

 

Maryann

[IamJPT]

Thanks all. We did have a wonderful time and RCCL is definitely trying. I am so amazed by their staff and how they are handling this all. We learned that they are not allowed off the ship at all during their contracts. I can’t imagine not being able to leave the ship on a day off when all the guests are. That and with many sailings with lower capacities their tips are down. I can’t say thanks enough to all those we met and made our vacation so memorable.

[GEORGIEGIRL]

Thoroughly enjoyed  your review.

[Merion_Mom]

@IamJPT

 

That was a truly excellent review.

 

Thank you for sharing it!

[DesireeC03]

great review! How uncomfortable at Izumi - Yikes!  You were a trooper

 

[livingonthebeach]

Thanks for sharing!! Although a bit lengthy as you said, nevertheless, every bit as interesting and succinct in the areas I experienced.  Harmony was one of my best cruises -- took her on her maiden Transatlantic voyage from Barcelona to Port Everglades.  We were met by the Oasis and Allure for a Photo Op off the Florida coast. To have all three ships lined up to be photographed and videotaped was a unique experience. 

[Missusdubbya]

Great review, thank you!

[psternklar]

Great review, thanks.

[crewsweeper]

Great review.

 

Will follow your recs on dining as we have UDP.  DW likes Jaimes so we'll give it a single shot (scotch not tequila😉.  150 Central and Chops are definitely on our list.   Like you we enjoyed the Mad Hatter on the Symphony.  Sorry to hear this one isn't as engaging.  But we like the odd food and I enjoyed the smoky bourbon cocktail.  Izumi is only sushi for us.  we're not into the Beni Hana experience.  I'll keep a close eye on the spa bill as DW loves to venture into that.

[Arzeena]

Excellent review! Enjoyed reading.