Live - Harmony of the Seas - Nov 5, 2023

[Rewind]

Hi all and welcome to an almost live Harmony of the Seas trip report.  I’ll have the basic internet package so I should be able to post throughout the week.  This will be our third Oasis class ship and look forward to trying out a Boardwalk Balcony cabin.  I’ll let you know if we get any notice of what access we have to the Crown Lounge.

 

Quick rundown so far -

Stayed at the Country Inn and Suites last night - a bit to close to the motorcycle rally but we were tired enough to sleep through it.

Ate breakfast at the Sunflower Bakery and Cafe; I do recommend the grilled cinnamon roll.

Took a rideshares to the terminal at 10:45, didn't check my watch but we're on the ship by 11:15/11:30.  We had a noon scheduled time but things were moving fairly fast.

Checked in to our muster, went up to Windjammer and saw a line to get in, back to Central Park to get lunch at the Park Cafe (we did make a quick detour to make dining reservations at Chops).

After a bit of wandering, we grabbed a couple loungers in the Solarium to wait until rooms become available.

 

More to come and I will check in a few times a day - let me know if there is any specific things you want to know.

 

[travelchica915]

We will be on harmony in Feb so interested in following along! Curious when the shows are in the evening. We have MTD and I made reservations, but hoping the timing works out with the show times. Otherwise just want to see what you think of the ship. 
 

Do you have any excursions planned? 

[firefly333]

You say you have the basic wifi. Rcl only offers one kind of wifi. It should be pretty good. 

 

I board nov 26 so following along. 

 

Yea I heard the motorcycle rally got out of hand. (A shooting on the strand). Jason from ezcruise posted there was some vandalism at his parking lot. 

[nana51]

I’m following along also. I’ll be on Harmony for the Christmas cruise with 11 family members 😲. I’ve only done Holland America, so a bit concerned about the crowds. One granddaughter is mildly autistic and hates crowds but is willing to go to be with family 🥰. When will it inform us as to our boarding time?

[Rewind]

7 minutes ago, nana51 said:

I’m following along also. I’ll be on Harmony for the Christmas cruise with 11 family members 😲. I’ve only done Holland America, so a bit concerned about the crowds. One granddaughter is mildly autistic and hates crowds but is willing to go to be with family 🥰. When will it inform us as to our boarding time?

 

You should be able to pick a boarding time when you check in using the app.

Crowds - there will be some, but we have had good luck on the big ships as they move people around fairly well.  The worst times for crowds are when shows let out - either avoid those areas or if you are at that show, wait in your seat a while for the crowd to dissipate.  I can update later this week when I have more info.

 

There are two performances of the ice skating show tonight (7pm and 9pm) and one of Columbus the Musical (8pm).  Aqua Theater shows start tomorrow, and Grease is at the end of the week.  We are booked for Columbus on day three at 3pm (sea day).

 

For those Diamond members, we have been kicked out of the Crown Lounge between 5pm-8pm, reserved for Diamond+ and Pinnacle.  The lounge is available all other times though 

 

WiFi is Starlink:

 

But for the more fun pics:

 

 

 

 

[Rewind]

46 minutes ago, travelchica915 said:

Do you have any excursions planned? 

 

Nothing in Cozumel (we have been there a few times).

In Costa Maya, we are doing a Bike / Kayak excursion through the ship.

In Roatan, we booked a private excursion with Victor Bodden.

[firefly333]

30 minutes ago, nana51 said:

I’m following along also. I’ll be on Harmony for the Christmas cruise with 11 family members 😲. I’ve only done Holland America, so a bit concerned about the crowds. One granddaughter is mildly autistic and hates crowds but is willing to go to be with family 🥰. When will it inform us as to our boarding time?

YOU all need to do check in at 45 days out. Be sure and do it as that's when YOU pick a boarding time. It wouldnt inform you .. it's something you do. Shows are open to book on the app for dec. I booked shows for both my dec dates. They do fill up. Couldnt book online had to use the app. 

 

I would certainly be seeing how close to 45 days out you are and booking shows .. going to be harder once onboard. As someone said shows are when you run into crowds .. so maybe not your thing.

[trippen texan]

we get on next week like to find out about the house rock and roll band thanks

[Jimbo]

16 minutes ago, Rewind said:

 

You should be able to pick a boarding time when you check in using the app.

Crowds - there will be some, but we have had good luck on the big ships as they move people around fairly well.  The worst times for crowds are when shows let out - either avoid those areas or if you are at that show, wait in your seat a while for the crowd to dissipate.  I can update later this week when I have more info.

 

There are two performances of the ice skating show tonight (7pm and 9pm) and one of Columbus the Musical (8pm).  Aqua Theater shows start tomorrow, and Grease is at the end of the week.  We are booked for Columbus on day three at 3pm (sea day).

 

For those Diamond members, we have been kicked out of the Crown Lounge between 5pm-8pm, reserved for Diamond+ and Pinnacle.  The lounge is available all other times though 

 

WiFi is Starlink:

 

But for the more fun pics:

 

 

 

 

Do a speed test inside the cabin with cabin door closed and then one with cabin door open.

 

Oh, that ugly slide..................ruining the aft view.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Jimbo

[buncosquad]

8 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

YOU all need to do check in at 45 days out. Be sure and do it as that's when YOU pick a boarding time. It wouldnt inform you .. it's something you do. Shows are open to book on the app for dec. I booked shows for both my dec dates. They do fill up. Couldnt book online had to use the app. 

 

I would certainly be seeing how close to 45 days out you are and booking shows .. going to be harder once onboard. As someone said shows are when you run into crowds .. so maybe not your thing.

I've got three Star Class rooms on an upcoming Harmony cruise.

 

Any idea if this helps with seat reservations or best to book in advance all the same?

[firefly333]

17 minutes ago, buncosquad said:

I've got three Star Class rooms on an upcoming Harmony cruise.

 

Any idea if this helps with seat reservations or best to book in advance all the same?

Your genie should reach out to you about a week before and can book your times. You still need to book shows but genie will for you. Over near the right front several rows were set aside for suites, sky class .. star class there were a couple seats right behind me on allure, middle front section, row 2, said reserved. A couple came in with their genie who stayed and watched with them .. 3 seats reserved, 1 extra for genie. Never saw that before .. maybe for these questions we should move to main section on rcl. Not this pax personal review. 

 

I'm guessing from the pictures this OP booked a boardwalk balcony? And booked shows ahead.

[Rewind]

Correct - we are lowly Diamonds in a Boardwalk view.  First time in a Boardwalk and thought we would give it a try (and it was cheap).

 

We did have 6 bottles of water in our stateroom when we arrived.

[Rewind]

37 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Do a speed test inside the cabin with cabin door closed and then one with cabin door open.

 

Oh, that ugly slide..................ruining the aft view.

 

Will do.  Previous two tests were both done sitting in a lounger in the middle level front of the Solarium.

[Rewind]

We won't be staying up this late (back one hour for the end of DST and back another for us living EST), but thought the combo of these two events is a bit humorous:

 

[irishgal432]

53 minutes ago, buncosquad said:

I've got three Star Class rooms on an upcoming Harmony cruise.

 

Any idea if this helps with seat reservations or best to book in advance all the same?

The genie takes care of everything w except if you want to do chefs table. You need to book it and it will be refunded once in board. 

[cruiselvr04]

We have stayed up for the balloon drop.  They everyone pops them.  It was a bit noisy.  
 

Let us know how you liked your boardwalk cabin.  

[Tree_skier]

3 hours ago, Rewind said:

Hi all and welcome to an almost live Harmony of the Seas trip report.  I’ll have the basic internet package so I should be able to post throughout the week.  This will be our third Oasis class ship and look forward to trying out a Boardwalk Balcony cabin.  I’ll let you know if we get any notice of what access we have to the Crown Lounge.

 

Quick rundown so far -

Stayed at the Country Inn and Suites last night - a bit to close to the motorcycle rally but we were tired enough to sleep through it.

Ate breakfast at the Sunflower Bakery and Cafe; I do recommend the grilled cinnamon roll.

Took a rideshares to the terminal at 10:45, didn't check my watch but we're on the ship by 11:15/11:30.  We had a noon scheduled time but things were moving fairly fast.

Checked in to our muster, went up to Windjammer and saw a line to get in, back to Central Park to get lunch at the Park Cafe (we did make a quick detour to make dining reservations at Chops).

After a bit of wandering, we grabbed a couple loungers in the Solarium to wait until rooms become available.

 

More to come and I will check in a few times a day - let me know if there is any specific things you want to know.

 

This s just what I needed. We’re boarding Harmony Dec 10 for our first ever B2B. 
 

[firefly333]

12 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

This s just what I needed. We’re boarding Harmony Dec 10 for our first ever B2B. 
 

Are you diamond? I see OP said diamonds are excluded from the lounge from 5 to 8 pm

 

OP can you post a picture looking out the aft? I got a friend in the last boardwalk cabin wondering how much the slide obscures the view. 

[gambler]

Following along. Have a great cruise. Have not yet sailed on an Oasis class ship. Maybe this will change my mind.

[Rewind]

Speed results (bottom two were previous when in Solarium, top two are lying in bed in the cabin with door closed):

 

We are deck 9, second from the last cabin (9727).  Picture I posted above is from our cabin, but here it is in portrait form:

 

If we were in the last cabin (9729), we would have a much better view.  Also, deck 10 might be better with how the slide curves but can't verify that from here.

 

[Rewind]

1 hour ago, cruiselvr04 said:

Let us know how you liked your boardwalk cabin.  

 

We are sailing on a Sunday and the two big screens in the Aqua Theater are showing NFL football.  It is noisy in the cabin when there is a touchdown.  We will see how it goes the rest of the week.

[firefly333]

9 minutes ago, Rewind said:

Speed results (bottom two were previous when in Solarium, top two are lying in bed in the cabin with door closed):

 

We are deck 9, second from the last cabin (9727).  Picture I posted above is from our cabin, but here it is in portrait form:

 

If we were in the last cabin (9729), we would have a much better view.  Also, deck 10 might be better with how the slide curves but can't verify that from here.

 

Hes on deck 12. End of boardwalk. Idk how his view will be but thanks. 

[Tree_skier]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Are you diamond? I see OP said diamonds are excluded from the lounge from 5 to 8 pm

 

OP can you post a picture looking out the aft? I got a friend in the last boardwalk cabin wondering how much the slide obscures the view. 

I noticed that in his earlier post.  Yes we are diamond.  I'm a little annoyed about this but I'll survive. We'll see how it unfolds... Perhaps the first sailing has a higher percentage of D through P's than usual.  You'll have to let me know what the letter says when you board in a few weeks.

[Jimbo]

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Are you diamond? I see OP said diamonds are excluded from the lounge from 5 to 8 pm

 

OP can you post a picture looking out the aft? I got a friend in the last boardwalk cabin wondering how much the slide obscures the view. 

@twangster I believe he has some good picture of the slides from one of those last cabins.

Edited November 6, 2023 by Jimbo

[firefly333]

4 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

@twangster I believe he has some good picture of the slides from one of those last cabins.

I had the last cabin boardwalk, deck 10 on allure myself, but not on this ship with the slides ... and so high up. I hope my friend isnt disappointed. OPs picture is good, but thanks.