Independence/Mariner vs Harmony

[cruise questions]

Hi all

We have been on quite a few short 4/5 night Mariner and Independence cruises. Our kids love doing all of the ship activities-slides, Flow rider, rock climbing etc. 
 

I know everything is changing with new guidelines etc, we were on Independence over Thanksgiving and were pleased with it-we missed some shows because didn’t realize we needed reservations but it was fine as we were trying to stay away from crowds anyway. 
 

Here are my questions-

In considering a 7 night Harmony (during a busy time in April)-I know the ship is a lot bigger with more guests-do those few thousand extra people create a lot of waiting in lines (for food, slides, rock climbing)-ie are those extra people noticeable or spread out since the ship is bigger?

 

We don’t usually do specialty dining-to us, cruise food is what it is. Is specialty dining needed on Harmony or can we just eat in MDR or windjammer as normal?

 

Are reservations required for everything on Harmony? Shows? 
 

Anything else we should consider in Independence vs Harmony??

 

Thank you! 

 

 

[jalves]

The Harmony, along with the other Oasis class ships, has much more public space to accommodate the larger passenger numbers.  

[Ozark_Kid]

Been awhile but we have cruised Mariner a couple times and really enjoyed.  We were on Harmony a couple weeks ago and it had few pax.  We were also on Harmony in Sept 2019.  Based on 2019,  If you enjoyed the other ships you will enjoy Harmony.  The size accommodates the extra number of pax.  I don’t remember it ever causing problems with long lines. I was on the sides a lot and flow rider with no problems.  Shows need reservations.  You used to be able to make them before boarding but now you have to wait until on board.

We did several specialty dining this time but went to the MDR for lobster night.  After dining in the MDR we wished we would of dined more there.  We actually canceled our UDP for our May cruise because it was a good experience on Harmony.
One thing many point out about Harmony is that the Solarium does not have a pool.  This was not a big deal to us. 

[topnole]

3 hours ago, cruise questions said:

Hi all

We have been on quite a few short 4/5 night Mariner and Independence cruises. Our kids love doing all of the ship activities-slides, Flow rider, rock climbing etc. 
 

I know everything is changing with new guidelines etc, we were on Independence over Thanksgiving and were pleased with it-we missed some shows because didn’t realize we needed reservations but it was fine as we were trying to stay away from crowds anyway. 
 

Here are my questions-

In considering a 7 night Harmony (during a busy time in April)-I know the ship is a lot bigger with more guests-do those few thousand extra people create a lot of waiting in lines (for food, slides, rock climbing)-ie are those extra people noticeable or spread out since the ship is bigger?

 

We don’t usually do specialty dining-to us, cruise food is what it is. Is specialty dining needed on Harmony or can we just eat in MDR or windjammer as normal?

 

Are reservations required for everything on Harmony? Shows? 
 

Anything else we should consider in Independence vs Harmony??

 

Thank you! 

 

 

I don’t think it creates extra waiting.  I’ve been on all 3 ships, but only Oasis (including Harmony) class with kids.  Benefit of Oasis class is there are two flowriders.  So if your kids love the flowrider that makes a huge difference because one is usually for boogie board and the other for stand up.  So no splitting times up during the day like the smaller ships.  Also two rock walls although they often only have one set up and the waits were never bad other than some peak times which happens on all ships.  
 

Oasis class handles more passengers quite well.  I wouldn’t worry about that for food or activities.  That is my opinion at least.  If cost isn’t a major deciding point I would pick Harmony.   So much to do and so many great outdoor spaces to do things and to eat if Covid protocols ramp up at any given time.  

[deliver42]

The Oasis class ships have so much more room than the Indy/Mariner, there are actually less lines than the other two ships.

[vacationlover_mn]

We’ve been on all of the oasis class (except wonder ;)), and they felt no more crowded than the smaller ships.  I actually thought Majesty felt the most crowded!

[wrldtrvllr]

Agree with the other posts—feels like much more space per person on Oasis class ships because people really do separate to different areas…more things for kids with multiple flow riders, slides, rock walls, skating or laser tag (pre Covid anyway), zip line, etc.

We only do “free” food options and have no complaints…no it’s not 5 star gourmet but it’s better than cooking and cleaning at home for a change of pace.  More included/“free” dining options on Harmony vs smaller ships. 

[taglovestocruise]

1 hour ago, deliver42 said:

The Oasis class ships have so much more room than the Indy/Mariner, there are actually less lines than the other two ships.

+1

[cruise questions]

Thank you all so much! This is so helpful and exactly what I was looking for! I appreciate the feedback! 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

6 hours ago, cruise questions said:

we were on Independence over Thanksgiving

and we were on Harmony the same week. Parked next to you in CocoCay. 

 

We loved it. Granted, Harmony probably had fewer people than usual because it's still the pandemic, but there were quite a few people onboard. Surprisingly, there were no long lines for anything except for some activities, like ice skating (didn't get to skate at all), flowrider and rock climbing. Never saw a line to WJ, which I can' say about the Allure in 2019.

 

You can read my short review in the signature. Harmony was our L&S cruise from a cancelled 2020 Indy cruise. We'd been on Indy twice before and loved it as well.

 

ETA: show reservations are strongly encouraged, but we did see at least one show without having a reservation, by simply showing up after all the peeps with reservations entered the venue.

Edited January 22, 2022 by Itchy&Scratchy