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Harmony 12/19/21- 12/26/21. Anniversary Celebration cruise.  Nice ship, but not for us again

matthewthamm

By matthewthamm,
in Royal Caribbean International

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matthewthamm

matthewthamm

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Posted

Thought I would post here also. Below is the summary of the review I filled out on the review section. 

Review title: Anniversary Celebration cruise.  Nice ship, but not for us again

Back to cruising!  This was out second cruise this year, the Covid year.  We were on the Carnival Elation in October.

We chose this cruise because the were giving away cruises and it fell on out 40th anniversary.    We are Vaxed, and boosted, and the price was great. 

We drive down to Port Canaveral when we leave from here.  Much less stressful to get to the port.  Parking structure was full.  Parked on the prepaid west side lot.  We were on the ground floor and just about as close to the terminal entrance as you could get.  Vax card was checked at the head of the line prior to being able to get into the terminal.  Make sure you have your vax card and ID IN HAND as you go to check in.  This makes that process quick. If not, this part of the process will be painful.  We were next-in-line witnesses to this.

Cabin

We were in room 9282.  Close to the elevators and one floor up from the Central Park (we ended up here a lot this week).  This is a very nice room.  We even could not fill the drawers, there is so much room.  The balcony was large, with two chairs and ottoman, along with a table.  Very nice room.

Dining

150 Central Park.  Fun fact: was told this was 150 meters from the bow and 150 meters from the stern.  We ate our first dinner on the ship here (as we were celebrating our anniversary).  Only 4 couples were in here the first night (Tip for eating at the specialty places?) Menu was fantastic, and the paired martini was out of this world

Main Dining room.  The food here is really good.  And the wait staff was even better.  Portions are still a good size.  Left each time full.  However, after day 4 we were sending the bread basket back (we would fill up on the bread before the entrees came)

Park Café.  Great for grab and go, or an afternoon cup of coffee (As we did most days).  Did have the requisite Roast Beef Sandwich.  Yes, it was good.

Chef’s table. I was looking forward to the Chef’s table.  As we had been to a previous one.  The food was great, as it always has been.  The event was great, as we had people from the US, England, Denmark and Mexico in attendance.  My issue was the continued menu items from the previous time we attended.  The soup was great, again. If fact I asked for and received the recipe last time.  And the World dessert, was good, but served again.  Was hoping for a change in menu.  Would I do this again?  Not without a change in the menu.  I very much enjoy the experience.  However, would like to see a change of menu.

Solarium Bistro.  This was supposed to be our first lunch.  But missed it.  Good food.  No kids.  A smaller selection then the Windjammer.

Wind Jammer.  Food was good to great the whole week.  Breakfast, lunch was done here.  Breakfast even had fresh-made avocado toast, which I then took to the fried egg station to top is off (3 breakfasts).  Bacon was extremely plentiful.  Covid protocols here were non impacting.

Embarkation

We had a 12:00 check in time for the ship.  Were in the terminal at about that time.  Checked in and went right on the ship. 20 minutes from head of the line to on the ship.   First time on the Harmony and the Oasis class ships.  Wow, this was big. Rooms were not yet available, was told about 2:00 to 3:00. No biggie, we wanted to see the ship. We were hungry so we were aimed to the Solarium Bistro.  Got off on the 14th and head aft instead of forward, and ended up at Mini bites.  This did the job, and was not really anyone around.  Done with that, we went forward to find out where we should have been.  Pools looked nice as we passed by.  About this time, we heard the rooms were released to us.  Off to drop the hand-carry items.  We were told there was 5,300 on board for this sailing.

Disembarkation. I was very disappointed with the departure on 12/26/21.  The idea was good.  However, the execution was not good.  What was lacking was communications.  To the housekeeping staff AND the passengers.  We had an 8:40 departure time (36) we got off the ship at 10:00 am.  I heard there was a medical emergency.  I can understand the delay.  This could have been communicated over the ship-wide PA that the slow down was due to this.  We did stay in our room until the time on Channel 27 changed to include our departure number.  This was all the remaining numbers from the ship.  This was at 9:50 or so.  I can understand the delays, but let us know.

Entertainment

Absolutely hate the reservations.  Was able to walk up and get into to the Hideaway aqua show on day 4.  Just show up 10 to 15 minutes early.  Enjoyed the four guys (forgot the name) headliner show.  Grease was a fairly good show.

Family

This is what the boat was made for.  Perfect Day at Coco Cay.  We were last here 10 years ago on the Freedom.  Tendered in, and food brought from the boat.  We had a fantastic time.  Had been looking forward to visiting again ever since.  We were on the island with the Independence also (5,300 plus who knows how many from Indy, all the beach chairs were taken by the time we got there).  We NEEDED to make use of the tram to get off the pier.  However, we waited 30 minutes to be picked up.  Could use more of the ship-to-shore trams for those with ambulatory issues. With all the additional people and up charges for quite a lot of the features, most likely will not choose an itinerary again with this as a stop.  Food on the island was good, staff and vendors were great.  But an amusement park in the Bahamas is not what we go on a cruise for.

Fitness & Recreation

Zip-Line; did this.  The Ultimate Abyss; did this. 

Public Rooms

Rising Tide Bar.  Nice and relaxing.  But it did have its ups and downs.

Solarium.  Great place.  Especially early in the morning. Hot when not moving, breezy, when under way.  Would like to see this changed to 18 plus.  16 year-olds are not adults.

King of the world.  Neat find

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lovescats5

lovescats5

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I can understand your thoughts about the Chef's Table but there might have been new people there that had not had the meal you have had more than once.  We always go and always enjoy ourselves. The problem with the trams is one person needs the ride but the whole family go so now you have that many more who could walk.  Just one of the things that are what they are.  Sorry you did not have the great time you had hoped for.

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TexasRon "Live from...." Rare

TexasRon

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26 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

And yet it sounds like you had a great time.  I am so confused.

I've been on vacations that were just fine in every way yet that also left me with no desire to do that particular thing again. 

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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5 hours ago, TexasRon said:

I've been on vacations that were just fine in every way yet that also left me with no desire to do that particular thing 

 I was waiting to read the reason but it never arrived. When I opened the thread I wasn't expecting to read such a positive review.

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Itchy&Scratchy Great Review Rare

Itchy&Scratchy

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1 hour ago, billslowsky said:

Sounds like it was too big for people with ambulatory issues.

not for all of them. My dad can barely walk, but he had no problems on Harmony in general or on Coco Cay.

He very slowly shuffled to the Chill Island (we went ahead and got us some chaises) and then to the Breezy Bay part of the Chill Island. From the map it was unclear whether the trams go to the Chill Island, and it wasn't a horribly long walk. By the time we got there, there were already many people on the beach who arrived by wheelchairs with huge rubber tires. So, they got there way before us.

 

Dad was tired and in pain after several hours on the island and took a ride on the tram back to the ship. There were quite a few of them zooming around, and he only waited for about 5 minutes.

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YankeesFan4Life

YankeesFan4Life

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Besides the use of the water park, hot air balloon ride and other excursions, what were the upcharges and other charges you mention at Coco Cay?  We were there in August, didn't spend a penny excep for some souvenirs, which you'd spend money on anywhere else...Food was fantastic, drinks included in the drink package if you had...confused

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ericopia

ericopia

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I was on this sailing, too … I agree, debarkation was a mess. We were group 43, ETA 9:00 … at 9 they were still repeatedly calling group 8 on the PA, while the screens said group 11. Easily an hour behind schedule or more, most of the morning. One of our party went to the photo shop and said the Promenade was wall-to-wall humanity. I went down about 9:30 … there was a line wrapped around Rising Tide; the forward end (by Boleros) was jam packed. We decided just to chill in Central Park and wait it out and hope they'd resume announcements. The line must've started moved quickly, though, since by 10:30 they resumed announcements with group 48 … followed a moment later by "all Guests" … followed a moment later by "last call to disembark." Barely time to get from Central Park to the gangway before that last call.

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Painter4me

Painter4me

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On 12/29/2021 at 3:16 PM, ericopia said:

I was on this sailing, too … I agree, debarkation was a mess. We were group 43, ETA 9:00 … at 9 they were still repeatedly calling group 8 on the PA, while the screens said group 11. Easily an hour behind schedule or more, most of the morning. One of our party went to the photo shop and said the Promenade was wall-to-wall humanity. I went down about 9:30 … there was a line wrapped around Rising Tide; the forward end (by Boleros) was jam packed. We decided just to chill in Central Park and wait it out and hope they'd resume announcements. The line must've started moved quickly, though, since by 10:30 they resumed announcements with group 48 … followed a moment later by "all Guests" … followed a moment later by "last call to disembark." Barely time to get from Central Park to the gangway before that last call.

 

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Maitaivegas

Maitaivegas

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On 12/29/2021 at 9:07 AM, yancycruiser said:

Thank you for this positive review.  We are booked for January 16th and are still going.   We are 80 and 78 years old and so ready to cruise.

 

Did you see the other post that shows 300 guests are Covid positive on the current Harmony cruise .

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