spazzyjanet

Any info out yet on which nights will be the formal nights on the Harmony Eastern Itinerary yet?

I can take an educated guess that the first formal night will be night 2.

Is the second formal night night 5 (St. Martin), or night 6 (sea day, but last night?)

Thanks!

If I book for just the two adults, is there a chance that I won't be able to add the kids once on board? We are travelling with 3 kids, if that helps.

For example, if I have booked two adults for night 1, and then try to add 3 kids after boarding is it likely or unlikely that they will tell me no?

Hello,

I am looking into the 4 night dining package on Harmony. I would like to go to the following restaurants with the kids: Jamie's, Izumi, Sabor. I would like to book Wonderland for just the husband and I.

The booking process for this with kids is very confusing. How do I do about booking and scheduling the 4-night package- 3 with kids, 1 without?

The $100 pp price for adults is a really good deal. How are they currently handling kids? I know that it used to be that they charged full price and then discounted on board-- Even though the reservation clearly states the kids ages. How are they currently doing it? Also, it is super confusing as to what the process is for booking restaurants per night.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.

For those that have done this recently, I was hoping for more information. If we did this, our family would be a team of 5- two adults, kids 7,9,11. Will kids that age have fun? About how long does it last? Also, I think that I read one review that said it ended at a beach and that there was plenty of time for sightseeing afterward? Can anyone confirm or deny?

Thanks!

I would choose 1600 because it is an AFT cabin. Nothing quite like sitting out on the balcony and watching the ship's wake.

We docked at 10 in Falmouth, got off right away and were driving just after 10:30.

It was a madhouse by the time we got there. I would not go to Blue Hole OR Dunn's River from Falmouth with a docking time after 10 am again. Of course, it may also vary based on ships in port (MB, Ocho Rios, and Falmouth).

It's in Gifts and Gear. For us, I think it was $43 and totally worth it. They sold it for less expensive ($29) onboard, but purchasing in advance meant that is was set up on day one when we boarded the ship. Boarding day was my daughter's 8th birthday and she LOVED having the blanket, pillowcase, sign on door, etc. It was a huge hit.

It would seem that the experience is highly variable depending on what time you get there and how close to port.

From Ocho Rios, I'd imagine the poster was able to beat the crowds and have a much different experience.

My experience was closer to the one in the picture you found on Tripadvisor.

With experienced swimmers you will not have as dangerous of a situation as we had. However, the crowds and pushing might still be an issue depending on ships in port.

My concern is that I found NO reviews prior to indicate that this attraction could be dangerous for kids, etc.

To his credit, my Dad had no idea that he could no longer swim/float with his replacement knees so neither did we.

As far as the kids go, the danger came from rushing them up and having them jump in before I could even understand or explain to them what they were doing and how to handle it.

If you aren't into jumping in under the waterfall please be advised that there is no alternate shallow relaxing spot to hang out and watch.

I think the distance from Falmouth to Ocho Rios is 1 hour. However, if you encounter the unexpected- lots of ships in port, traffic, an accident, etc. it can take longer and it did in fact for us.

I would be very hesitant to take a tour out of Ocho Rios from Falmouth again.

I do, however, highly recommend the tour company. We did use Courtney Taylor and the tour company was the ONLY reason why we made it back to the port with plenty of time to spare. Since we were nervous about time, our guide went in and bypassed the lines at Scotchies to get us DELICIOUS food to eat on the way back to port.

Many of the ship's tours didn't get back until later. We comfortably sat on our balcony and watched a tour bus rush up to the port a full hour after the scheduled departure time.

Once you get to Blue Hole, it's like a separate destination. They hand you off to guides who are full time at Blue Hole. The tour company just waits outside for you to finish. This was not something that I realized either beforehand.

We used Courtney Taylor, but our issues with Blue Hole had nothing to do with the tour company- mainly the destination itself (afterward we went river tubing and had a blast).

I get the feeling their were a ton of ships in port that day between Falmouth and Ocho Rios. It was a mad house. Traffic even getting in and out of Blue Hole was a mad house. This is no longer a 'secret' destination.

For those that have been there recently? How was your experience?

We went picturing a relaxing experience of hanging out, swimming under waterfalls. What we experienced was actually a crowded, rushed, and even dangerous experience.

My husband and Dad both almost drowned. TOO MANY PEOPLE. So many that they rushed you and pushed you into doing things before you could even think, pause, or get adjusted to it. We were rushed up and pushed to jump in before really even knowing what we were doing. My Dad had knee surgery and didn't realize that he could no longer swim due to the fact that his replacement knees meant he could no longer float. What's more- since he had to take his glassed off to get in he couldn't SEE! He jumped in and started sinking, panicked and had to be rescued by staff. After that, since there was no easy way out, he was given a life jacket and I had to help guide him out. On the way out, his leg hit a rock and swelled up afterward. He was limping for days afterward.

This was just after the girls and I jumped in under the waterfall. We didn't have time to explain to them what was going on, so when they came up and realized they were under a waterfall and could not touch the ground THEY PANICKED. Each girl grabbed on to one of my husband's arms and he couldn't swim to hold them up. He started sinking and staff had to come and take the girls off of him so that my husband wouldn't drown. Needless to say, I nearly had a heart attack. Twice.

Are we the only ones to have this experience? Was it just a freak day? I'm just curious what others' thoughts were.

We did this on the past cruise. If your kids are in kids club you don't have to sign in. Just tell the servers that your kids have my family time dining and they will speed up their meal. About 40-45 minutes in, staff will sit outside floor 4 and pick up any kids in kids club.

We had traditional early... I think you could pull it off with my time dining if you have an early reservation (5:30-6). Wouldn't recommend later than that.

Now, we did see some TEENAGERS in the casino, but no kids. We sat at Roullete one night and watched the casino boss scan and point every time he saw one. It was actually pretty funny and it was very discreet. An employee would go up and ask them for their sea pass and they would always make up a quick excuse and bolt. :D

Which sailing was this? I didn't see any of this on last week's cruise.

Drinking package lesson learned:

-Buying the Soda Package for my 3 kids was a waste of money. The only one who used it was my oldest. We bought the liquor package and it came with the cup and we NEVER USED THEM. We had bottled water in the room we used in the am, and were drinking "grown-up" drinks pretty much after that.

Next time we will purchase the drinking packages for ourselves and let the kids use our cups :)

- The Ulimate package was barely worth it over the premium. I got an average of 1 specialty coffee a day. 1 day I got one of those coffee/liquor drinks. Did that add up to and average of $10 a day? I'm not sure. We never got fresh squeezed OJ.

- My husband got Gentleman Jack, Woodford Reserve, and Knob Creek Bourbon on his premium package with no up charge. I'm not sure whether that was because they were under $12 or because we tipped every drink.

We did deck 14 forward. The "sun deck" lol, but really a wind deck. The wind was fun :)

Staff actually kicked people out about 30 mins past sailing due to the wind.

"Just returned from Allure yesterday and I thought it was rough almost the entire time.

We had a great time, but I did take Dramamine every 12 hours."

Wow, really? We barely even felt the ship moving except at night. We were on Freedom in 2010 and THAT was rocking. The pool turned into a wave pool and it rained lots of days.

Which day were you in Jamaica? We were there on Dec 30th and the crowds were insane.

Let's talk Poker.

I didn't play until about day 6. I played the 10:30 sit and go cash game. It turns out, they only accept 9 players. I was the 10th to sign in, but got in due to a no-show. The blind structure was ridiculously fast. I ended up splitting the top two with another gentleman. We were equal in chips and since the payouts were like 530/230 that we'd both rather walk away with about $369 than chance leaving with only about $100 than we started with.

The 10:30 tournaments are on a video screen, so there is no dealer to tip at the end.

On the last day, I did the Royal Poker Tour. This is a scam if I've ever seen one. For some reason they put the players at blackjack tables and for these they use real cards. The fee of $100 for a chance for another chance to win a free cruise is already ridiculous. Then, once you sit down they give you the option to buy more chips for extra money. Of course, once a few players agree everyone does it so they aren't left out. You then basically have a $150 tournament. They filled two tables and one player per table gets to play in the finale. I didn't do as well in this one- no chances to make moves with the ridiculous blind structure.

I'd probably play the late night sit and go's again, but not the Royal Poker tour tournaments.

Lunchtime at Sabor was also a la carte.

"that seems contrary to most reviews I've read"

I was shocked too, since all the reviews I had read were positive. I pictured something relaxed and leisurely. We were rushed through and pushed just to keep things moving.

I even asked ahead of time online to the tour company whether this was something that was appropriate to all ages and they assured me that many age groups had a good time.

On the way back, our guide mentioned that the attraction had only been open to the tours for two years and that even he had never seen so much traffic. The roads to get there are not equipped. He said that they would have to do something about that and soon.

As we passed Dunn's River Falls he remarked, "I can't even imagine how crazy that place must be today. Wouldn't want to be there."

Trying again. I suck at technology.

Royal Promenade.

So here is the deal with New Years. They listed parties throughout the ship. One was a "mellow" party in the solarium. Tables on the rising tide bar were listed at $1400-$1800 per person. The promenade had balloons to drop. That was where the crowds were, and where clearly they wanted everyone to gather. In places where they could make money off of you.

We didn't want the crowds. The kids were tucked away in bed and so was Grandpa. We headed to the hot tub. The pool deck was dead. About 10 folks hung out in the whirlpool off the side for a makeshift New Years party. Someone has asked if they could switch the tvs over of the whirlpool to the ball drop from football. They were told no.

Staff came over about 5 minutes before midnight and told us to immediately leave the hot tub to go over to the other side of the ship. Someone asked if they could let us stay until midnight. Then another staff member came over and started yelling at everyone, "We are already behind in maintenance!!" Really? They couldn't spare 5-10 minutes to let everyone celebrate the New Year before starting?

We just rolled our eyes, grabbed our stuff and then ran to the hot tub on the other side just in time to ring in the New Year. Others stayed and spent the New Year arguing with staff who couldn't just let people ring in the New Year and then leave. They certainly didn't gain any time by doing this and probably even lost some. Sorry- this was ridiculous.