Party of 12! Harmony of the Seas, Extended Family Style! June 12-19 2022

[ChristyLNDRN]

Please  join me for a photo review of our wonderful family trip on Harmony!  From age 6 to 71, we had a blast swimming, splashing, flowriding, kids-clubbing and basically being stuffed silly every night by our amazing waiters.

 

Some background:   Our family consisted of 3 groups spread over 4 cabins on deck 11. 
 

My family: The Delawareans!  Christy—narrarator, cruise enthusiast and crazy cat lady.  Mike—tolerator of Christy’s cruise obsession, good-humoredly along for the ride.  Zach—14, flowrider junkie, mr. “what are we doing next?”, and Suzy—12, sweet sunshine, laid back amateur duck-hider.  Adults have previously cruised on Explorer, Oasis, Liberty, Harmony, Anthem, Mariner, one carnival, one princess and two windjammer barefoot cruises.  Kids previously on Harmony and Mariner as well as the carnival.  

 

Brothers family:  The Texans!   Dan, Allison, Drew (15) Ethan (13) James (8) Lexi (6).  First cruise for the kids.   Two princess cruises for the adults.  

 

The Marylanders! Pop—best grandad EVER to the 6 kiddos on this trip, along with his significant other Alda❤️  Previous cruises on celebrity, princess, carnival, Royal, windjammer and maybe Holland?
 

Pop and I had adjoining Central Park balconies, 11581 and 11583.   Dan had ocean view balcony 11538 and inside across the hall for the older boys-I believe it was 11541.   Note:  because this inside was diagonal from their room (literally 2 inches from the one directly across) the older boys could not be booked alone into it.  So mom and one teen were on the booking for the inside, with dad, the two littles and the other teen booked into the balcony.  No problem to get extra keys made on the ship and swap where the kids slept around.  
 

We booked about a year out. Itinerary is St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and Coco Cay, along with 3 sea days.  Followed pricing along the way and eventually saved close to $1000 for my brothers two cabins (and upgraded pop from an interior to the CP balcony next to mine).  Black Friday/cyber Monday had the best cruise planner sales of the year so that’s when we booked most of our extras:

Thrill Waterpark: $50ish/pp for 4 big kids and 3 adults

Beach Club:  $99 for 4 adults and the 2 littles

Soda package: $6.99ish for the teens

Refreshment package:$16.99 (me)

 

I believe the lowest I saw for the deluxe beverage package was $57-63, and then it went waaay up from there.   We all passed and decided to go a la carte for our drinks.  
 

I have all the compasses, teen club compass and show schedule that I will post along the way.  


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChristyLNDRN]

Pre-cruise travel:

 

Brother’s family drove to Destin, FL area and spent the week at the beach there.   My family met up with Pop and Alda in Lorton, VA and took the auto train.   Before we left Friday AM, my family of 4 and Pop and Alda took our proctored tests from Emed.   Easy-Peasy.   Took about 20-30 mins per person, connections to a proctor were immediate.  6 negative results—Phew!   I will say having to worry about testing prior to the cruise definitely took away from the pre-cruise enjoyment.  My kids were in school until 2 days before we tested so I was seriously stressed out.  They faithfully masked at school those last two weeks and we were as careful as possible but I was still on pins and needles.   I think I was awake at 4:45 so I got up and got the testing started.  I used my iPad and it went very smoothly.  Results quickly available in the app and easy to print from email.  Before I knew it, we were on our way!

 

Arrived in Lorton, and hung out on benches outside the terminal with a picnic lunch until it was time to board around 3:30.  If you’ve never tried the autotrain, it’s not the best night sleep you’ll ever have but it’s a fun way to skip the drive.   We booked 2 roomettes for my family while Pop and Alda had a bedroom upstairs in the same car (they had their own bathroom/shower). 
 

 

 

Meals were still being served in the rooms (dining car closed due to covid or staffing).  Came with complimentary wine.  Here’s the menu options:

 

 

 

Train left Lorton close to 5 pm and arrived in Sanford FL around 9:30ish the next morning.  After that, it’s just waiting for your car to be offloaded.  You can pay for priority($60) and be one of the first cars unloaded or you can just wait.  Your car could come right off or it could be a bit of a wait.  They say to allow up to 1.5 hours to allow all the cars off.  We did not pay for priority and it was probably 45 mins to an hour for our car to appear.  Pop’s car was quite close to the end😂. 
 

From Sanford it was a little over an hour drive to Port Canaveral.  Found a yummy lunch stop along the way on the water—The Lone Cabbage.  Could watch airboat rentals headed out while we ate

 

 

 

Next up:  Reunited with the Texans and pre-cruise hotel 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jimbo]

Great looking group, sounds like you all had a great time. When is the next cruise booked for your group?

Edited June 23, 2022 by Jimbo

[ChristyLNDRN]

3 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Great looking group, sounds like you all had a great time. When is the next cruised booked for your group?

Tried Next Cruise for the first time!  My brother booked two out of Galveston (I think this December and next December). I booked one for my immediate family on Oasis out of Cape Liberty next summer😀

[mac_tlc]

Following along! We will have eight on the Harmony n August.

 

We have done the auto train a number of times —- found the food to be surprisingly good. 
 

mac_tlc

[ChristyLNDRN]

After lunch we headed to our hotel to check in. We were all meeting at the Country Inn and Suites by Radisson on Astronaut Blvd.  Our room was not ready because we had been upgraded to a Captain’s Suite (cool!) and it was still being cleaned.  No worries, dropped bags in Pop’s room and hit the pool.  
 

 

 

Did I mention the train is not a great night’s sleep???

 

 

 

We had also booked a day pass to Jetty Park ($16 per car) to watch the Saturday ships sail.  Dan actually booked a picnic pavilion for $25 which included the cost of admission.  Headed there a little after 3. 
 

Cousins reunited!

 

 

We planned to grab a pizza and stay here for dinner, but the weather had other ideas as a storm was rolling in.  Still, we got to see the Mardi Gras sail right by which was super cool. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decided not to wait for the Disney ship and moved the party back to the hotel, where our upgraded suite was ready! 
 

 

Had a nice pizza/beer/wine party and then we all scattered for bed.  Next up….Boarding day!

 

*Disclaimer:  We all shared photos on google, so pics throughout the review are from many of us.  I’m sure Pop and Dan will chime in at some point with their perspective as well!

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by ChristyLNDRN
Extra pics

[Jimbo]

On the train, you said you got roomette's , are there actually seats in there or are your seats in another car? I see your 2 kids seating at a table in one of the pictures? Is that in the roomette or somewhere else?

Little confused as to what is in a roomette?

 

Might be a good option for us to get to Disney, also taking our car. We are about 4 hours from Lorton in Southwest Virginia.

 

Maybe take the train one way and drive back and not need to buy a rental car once in Disney. I assume car rental prices are super high down there.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Jimbo

[ChristyLNDRN]

13 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

On the train, you said you got roomette's , are there actually seats in there or are your seats in another car? I see your 2 kids seating at a table in one of the pictures? Is that in the roomette or somewhere else?

Little confused as to what is in a roomette?

 

Might be a good option for us to get to Disney, also taking our car. We are about 4 hours from Lorton in Southwest Virginia.

 

Maybe take the train one way and drive back and not need to buy a rental car once in Disney. I assume car rental prices are super high down there.

So a roomette is your place to sit, dine and sleep all in one!   The daytime set up has two seats facing each other.   There is a tray table that folds down from the window.  At night, the two seats fold flat into one bed, and then another bunk is lowered from the ceiling.   Pre-Covid the dining car was open and you went there for dinner and breakfast.  This time dinner was delivered to our rooms and breakfast was grab and go (pick up cereal, fruit, coffee cake, breakfast sandwiches and coffee from dining car). Dinner was pretty good.  Breakfast was not as good but adequate. 
 

We have used the auto train for Disney and that was a good option as well.  We drove to Disney and then took the train back. It was nice to have our car there and the train was certainly more relaxing than driving home after a week in the parks—there’s no tired like post-Disney tired!  I don’t mind the drive down since we are so excited it goes fast!  We got a great deal for the trip to FL—it was maybe $500 for all 4 of us in the two roomettes.  (And the car fee was like $200 of that total)Given the price of gas I was happy!   The trip back would have been double, not sure why.

 

Some roomette set up screen grabs.   The bottom one has day vs night set up.  

 

[Jimbo]

10 minutes ago, ChristyLNDRN said:

So a roomette is your place to sit, dine and sleep all in one!   The daytime set up has two seats facing each other.   There is a tray table that folds down from the window.  At night, the two seats fold flat into one bed, and then another bunk is lowered from the ceiling.   Pre-Covid the dining car was open and you went there for dinner and breakfast.  This time dinner was delivered to our rooms and breakfast was grab and go (pick up cereal, fruit, coffee cake, breakfast sandwiches and coffee from dining car). Dinner was pretty good.  Breakfast was not as good but adequate. 
 

We have used the auto train for Disney and that was a good option as well.  We drove to Disney and then took the train back. It was nice to have our car there and the train was certainly more relaxing than driving home after a week in the parks—there’s no tired like post-Disney tired!  I don’t mind the drive down since we are so excited it goes fast!  We got a great deal for the trip to FL—it was maybe $500 for all 4 of us in the two roomettes.  (And the car fee was like $200 of that total)Given the price of gas I was happy!   The trip back would have been double, not sure why.

 

Some roomette set up screen grabs.   The bottom one has day vs night set up.  

 

Thanks for the info. That is probably a better idea, drive down and train back.  🙂

 

It's about 11 hours for us one way for us from our house to Disney.

Edited June 23, 2022 by Jimbo

[wolfganghowell]

We're on Harmony in October so looking forward to reading your review.  Interested in what you did for St Thomas and St Kitts.  We plan on going to Paradise Point in ST and probably the Marriott in St Kitts.  Not giant fans of St K.

[ChristyLNDRN]

2 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

Following along! We will have eight on the Harmony n August.

 

We have done the auto train a number of times —- found the food to be surprisingly good. 
 

mac_tlc

Thanks for following!  Agree the autotrain food (dinner especially) exceeds expectations!
 

 

17 minutes ago, wolfganghowell said:

We're on Harmony in October so looking forward to reading your review.  Interested in what you did for St Thomas and St Kitts.  We plan on going to Paradise Point in ST and probably the Marriott in St Kitts.  Not giant fans of St K.

We booked a private boat for the day in St. Thomas and went to the Marriott in St. Kitts!  Have plenty of pics there—spoiler alert, we enjoyed it!

[wolfganghowell]

YAY  We did the Marriott there in 2008.  Definitely been awhile so looking forward to your info.  🙂

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, ChristyLNDRN said:

So a roomette is your place to sit, dine and sleep all in one!   The daytime set up has two seats facing each other.   There is a tray table that folds down from the window.  At night, the two seats fold flat into one bed, and then another bunk is lowered from the ceiling.   Pre-Covid the dining car was open and you went there for dinner and breakfast.  This time dinner was delivered to our rooms and breakfast was grab and go (pick up cereal, fruit, coffee cake, breakfast sandwiches and coffee from dining car). Dinner was pretty good.  Breakfast was not as good but adequate. 
 

We have used the auto train for Disney and that was a good option as well.  We drove to Disney and then took the train back. It was nice to have our car there and the train was certainly more relaxing than driving home after a week in the parks—there’s no tired like post-Disney tired!  I don’t mind the drive down since we are so excited it goes fast!  We got a great deal for the trip to FL—it was maybe $500 for all 4 of us in the two roomettes.  (And the car fee was like $200 of that total)Given the price of gas I was happy!   The trip back would have been double, not sure why.

 

Some roomette set up screen grabs.   The bottom one has day vs night set up.  

 

Any restrictions(covid) from getting out of your room and walking between trains to stretch your legs or must you stay in room except for bathroom/ shower?

[ChristyLNDRN]

Boarding day

 

This always makes me happy:

 

I can never sleep in the night before a cruise.   Actually I can’t sleep in on a cruise.  So when you are up at 5:15 it’s always fun to watch your ship sail in.…here she comes!

 

 

You could just barely get a peek from our room on the 2nd floor

 

 

Dan’s room on the third had a better view 

 

 

We all met in the lobby at 9:30 to head to the terminal.  Dan and I both checked in at midnight 45 days out and got check in times of 10:30.  Dad checked in first thing in the morning at 45 days and 11:00 was the earliest for him. 
 

Lexi actually models for children’s boutique clothing, bows, etc.  Her picture has actually been on a billboard in Times Square.  Her boarding day outfit and accessories were on point😀

 

 

My beautiful niece in Times Square❤️

 

We arrived at the parking garage around 10 and we walked onto the ship just after 11.  Check in was a breeze at this hour and we were able to keep our group together despite the difference in check in times.  We had a bit of time to sit in the pre-boarding area after check in. I sat as close to the windows as possible and was able to make all our show reservations right there.  I had our whole party linked so it was pretty easy and that crossed a big one off my to-do list.  

 

While Fine Line (aqua show) is not yet up and running yet, we were lucky to get the full Hideaway Heist aquashow rather than the “aqua theater showcase that had been running lately.  We did see them running rehearsals for Fine Line during the week so hopefully that will be back soon too.  

 

Of note:  I emailed rcldining@rccl.com the week prior requesting a table for 8 and an adjacent table for 4 (we had early seating). I received an email back within 24 hours granting my request.  Good time to add that early dining on Harmony is waaaaay too early (5 pm?!!!) but I wasn’t attempting MTD with a party of 12, especially given reviews of late.  We made it work though.  We booked Jamie’s for night 1 because we didn’t want to miss sailaway.  Because we made that decision rather late, I had to stagger our reservations in 3 groups of smaller parties 15 minutes apart.  However, I sent Mike to Jamie’s first thing upon boarding and they were able to accommodate us as a table of 8 and 4 at the same time (7:00). 
 

Boarding started right around 11 with Suites, Key, Pinnacle, Diamond Plus and maybe Diamond.  After that they skipped the rest of crown and anchor and called by check in times.  We were able to all board together when they called 10:30.   Here we go:

 

 

This was my family’s 2nd cruise since the restart, having sailed Mariner over Christmas.  First since restart for everyone else.  

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by ChristyLNDRN
Extra pics

[ChristyLNDRN]

20 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Any restrictions(covid) from getting out of your room and walking between trains to stretch your legs or must you stay in room except for bathroom/ shower?

No restrictions.  We walked back and forth to my dads room several times. 

[cruise_co]

3 hours ago, ChristyLNDRN said:

Please  join me for a photo review of our wonderful family trip on Harmony!  From age 6 to 71, we had a blast swimming, splashing, flowriding, kids-clubbing and basically being stuffed silly every night by our amazing waiters.

 

Some background:   Our family consisted of 3 groups spread over 4 cabins on deck 11. 
 

My family: The Delawareans!  Christy—narrarator, cruise enthusiast and crazy cat lady.  Mike—tolerator of Christy’s cruise obsession, good-humoredly along for the ride.  Zach—14, flowrider junkie, mr. “what are we doing next?”, and Suzy—12, sweet sunshine, laid back amateur duck-hider.  Adults have previously cruised on Explorer, Oasis, Liberty, Harmony, Anthem, Mariner, one carnival, one princess and two windjammer barefoot cruises.  Kids previously on Harmony and Mariner as well as the carnival.  

 

Brothers family:  The Texans!   Dan, Allison, Drew (15) Ethan (13) James (8) Lexi (6).  First cruise for the kids.   Two princess cruises for the adults.  

 

The Marylanders! Pop—best grandad EVER to the 6 kiddos on this trip, along with his significant other Alda❤️  Previous cruises on celebrity, princess, carnival, Royal, windjammer and maybe Holland?
 

Pop and I had adjoining Central Park balconies, 11581 and 11583.   Dan had ocean view balcony 11538 and inside across the hall for the older boys-I believe it was 11541.   Note:  because this inside was diagonal from their room (literally 2 inches from the one directly across) the older boys could not be booked alone into it.  So mom and one teen were on the booking for the inside, with dad, the two littles and the other teen booked into the balcony.  No problem to get extra keys made on the ship and swap where the kids slept around.  
 

We booked about a year out. Itinerary is St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and Coco Cay, along with 3 sea days.  Followed pricing along the way and eventually saved close to $1000 for my brothers two cabins (and upgraded pop from an interior to the CP balcony next to mine).  Black Friday/cyber Monday had the best cruise planner sales of the year so that’s when we booked most of our extras:

Thrill Waterpark: $50ish/pp for 4 big kids and 3 adults

Beach Club:  $99 for 4 adults and the 2 littles

Soda package: $6.99ish for the teens

Refreshment package:$16.99 (me)

 

I believe the lowest I saw for the deluxe beverage package was $57-63, and then it went waaay up from there.   We all passed and decided to go a la carte for our drinks.  
 

I have all the compasses, teen club compass and show schedule that I will post along the way.  


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks, I am enjoying reading about your adventures. We have a group of 7 on Harmony in August.

[celoplyr]

34 minutes ago, ChristyLNDRN said:

Of note:  I emailed rcldining@rccl.com the week prior requesting a table for 8 and an adjacent table for 4 (we had early seating). I received an email back within 24 hours granting my request.  Good time to add that early dining on Harmony is waaaaay too early (5 pm?!!!) but I wasn’t attempting MTD with a party of 12, especially given reviews of late.  We made it work though.  We booked Jamie’s for night 1 because we didn’t want to miss sailaway.  Because we made that decision rather late, I had to stagger our reservations in 3 groups of smaller parties 15 minutes apart.  However, I sent Mike to Jamie’s first thing upon boarding and they were able to accommodate us as a table of 8 and 4 at the same time (7:00). 

 

I did not know about this email, and immediately emailed it for a special request (table for 6 not 8 even though we have 8 on booking).  Thank you!

[ChristyLNDRN]

Boarding day, continued….

 

Looks like our first stop was ice cream and mini-golf😂

 

 

 

 

We found some chairs nearby and just relaxed while we waited for rooms to be ready.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of us snacked at mini bites nearby (Quesadillas, burritos, fries, nachos, etc).  There was a freestyle machine there as well but most of us didn’t have our cups yet.  They used to be waiting in the room but this time you could pick them up on the promenade or I believe in a bar and they would cross your name off a list.  In the meantime set sail passes worked to get soda at a bar (or any other drink). 
 

Looks like the Texans tried out the pizza at Sorrentos

 

 

Hey Lexi, How’s the pizza????

 

 

There was a weather satellite launch scheduled so the boys found a spot to watch for that.  It was delayed a bit but eventually it was a go!
 

 

 

 

 

Oasis sailed right by as well, I believe on its port stop from Cape Liberty

 

 

And then it was time for rides and slides and pools (although we did squeeze in our muster check in somewhere!)

 

Kids make this look so easy LOL

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rooms were ready just after 1:00–here’s our CP balcony

 

 

 

We had our stateroom attendant open the balcony divider between our room and Pop’s…like having that option. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 23, 2022 by ChristyLNDRN
Extra pics

[LeeW]

Seems like your group is right size for escape room.  Is it open this week?  And could you bypass the age limit by booking the whole room?

[Merion_Mom]

@ChristyLNDRN

 

This is truly one of the best reviews I have ever seen!  Between your excellent, clear, well-phrased writing, and the wonderful pictures, I can feel your excitement!

 

Brava!

[Booking It]

I'm loving your review so far! We are sailing on Harmony in a group of 8 next month, so I'm excited to see everything that your group does!

[ChristyLNDRN]

1 hour ago, celoplyr said:

 

I did not know about this email, and immediately emailed it for a special request (table for 6 not 8 even though we have 8 on booking).  Thank you!

Great!  Hope that works out for you.  I picked that tip up from these boards so happy to pass it on. 
 

34 minutes ago, LeeW said:

Seems like your group is right size for escape room.  Is it open this week?  And could you bypass the age limit by booking the whole room?

 

We actually inquired about the escape room onboard as we have done them here at home and loved them.  Unfortunately we were told it was not open due to “technical difficulties”
 

31 minutes ago, Merion_Mom said:

@ChristyLNDRN

 

This is truly one of the best reviews I have ever seen!  Between your excellent, clear, well-phrased writing, and the wonderful pictures, I can feel your excitement!

 

Brava!

Oh my goodness, thanks for such kind words❤️
 

 

15 minutes ago, Booking It said:

I'm loving your review so far! We are sailing on Harmony in a group of 8 next month, so I'm excited to see everything that your group does!

 

Thanks for following!  I’m sure you will have a great time. 

[ChristyLNDRN]

Boarding day continued…

 

We met up aft by the giant fish head (aka ultimate abyss) for sailaway.  Easy to get a spot by the rail and there are some nice tall chairs and a ledge for drinks.   Looks like we pulled away right around 4:45 so I’m glad we made alternate plans for dinner this night.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hey Lexi, how excited are you??

 

 

 

Had plenty of time to change before dinner at Jamie’s at 7.  While hanging in Central Park before dinner we spotted this guy….

 

Um, how did he get onboard??    Stowaway on a plant as a baby?

 

I have no food pictures of Jamie’s but it was delicious and very filling.  The 6 adults sat at a long table with the 2 littles while the teens had their own booth nearby.  Our waiter brought out all the appetizers and 2 meat planks for us to share, as well as all the pastas family style for us to try which worked out great.   We all ordered our own mains and desserts.  
 

 

Kids across the way just wanted garlic bread and then their mains.  They all ordered the chicken LOL.  This was actually our dining set up all week—adults and littles at one table in the dining room with the teens next to us at their own table.  It worked out great and we had multiple people stop by our table throughout the week and compliment us on the kids behavior which is always so nice to hear as a parent. I think it was good for them to have to order for themselves and be able to enjoy their teen conversations all week. 
 

Central Park is so pretty at night!
 

 

That’s pretty much a wrap for day 1.  No shows scheduled for this night. I think the littles hit the kids club..they went every day, sometimes multiple times a day and usually did not want to leave!   No reservations required, just drop in.  Dan will have to chime in for any kids club questions but I know he said there were typically about 20 kids there in their group (one session seemed to have a way higher number but just that once) and they were always able to use the club whenever it was open and they wanted to. 
 

Day one compass next…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[ChristyLNDRN]

Day 1 Compass

 

 

 

 

Because last time I did a review someone asked me who the captain was and I couldn’t remember🤦‍♀️….

 

 

Teen compass for the week.  Note that on Harmony teen club is 12-17 while some of the other ships I have seen 13-17.  Worked out for us since Suzy was just shy of her 13th bday when we sailed.  
 

 

 

 

And C&A Platinum offers:

 

 

And that’s a wrap for Day 1.  Much more to come!

 

 

 

 

[xtremegk]

4 hours ago, ChristyLNDRN said:

 

 

 

 

Loving your review. Jealous you guys had Louis Ramey aboard -- his is the one and only Comedy Central Presents that I have downloaded and saved in my phone's music playlist. The guy is an absolute riot.