Harmony of the Seas Dec 2 - 9, 2017 Our take

Arrived at 12 noon. Maybe a five 10 minute line. There was no preferential treatment between newbies, golds, platinums or diamonds. Everyone was in the same line. But it only took 10 minutes to clear security. No big deal. Had lunch up at the buffet and then rooms were ready at 1 pm. We had an oceanview balcony at the back of the ship on Deck # 9. Wow, fabulous design to the room. Sofa was against the sliding balcony door. Very large room. Lots of storage space in terms of drawers, two closets. Lots of lighting. Great bathroom with glass shower as well. Quite impressive. We were never on top of each other. We quite liked the ship, except for the fact that there was no pool in the solarium. The captain of this ship says that they have corrected that issue for the Symphony of the Seas. They have put pool back into the Solarium. I have not seen the deck plan but we are booked for that ship next December but now it is out of Miami. Not crazy about that part of the journey however. We missed Grease on the first night but we were tired anyhow as we have late dining. People were complaining it was a long show. All other shows were impressive especially the Fine Line and the ice skating show (we only saw one of the ice skating shows. Someone told me there were two). Headliner was great - Greg London. Comedians, we have seen better. I hate the bad language. Why does everything need such bad language. We had a horrible table in the dining room on deck 3. Packed in line sardines. Complained and they moved us to the front of the dining room on the subsequent night. We had fabulous service there. However, we spent the next five nights using the Specialty Dining. We HATED, AND I REPEAT hated Wonderland. We got our money back on that one.!!! Maybe, we like to know what we are eating. Liquid tomato from a test tube (yes) that was one of appetizers was disgusting. The beef was a beef stew type of confection and the organic chicken was tasteless. Even the mashed potatoes had no appeal. Really, who can screw up mashed potatoes. The desert bomb (chocolate confection) was good. That was the only good food of the evening. We had to run upstairs and eat at the buffet after this horrible dinner. Maybe we are not foodies, but really, I do not think this will last on these cruise ships. They had it on the Ovation that did Asia I am told and it got shelved as it was not enjoyed by that cruising population. They gave us a credit for that to use another specialty restaurant which we did. Chops, Park 150 and Jamies were great. The ship was beautiful, the promenade great - always something happening. We did breakfast usually at Johnny Rockets. So great because you could get a great omelette made correctly in as little as five minutes. Excellent service there. We are not big buffet people in the morning. Do not want to struggle with 6000 other guests. I repeat Johnny Rockets great for breakfast and the Park Café for their roast beef sandwiches is the ultimate. Pools never any issue with chair hogs. Lots of place to sit. Again, too bad no pool in solarium. Lots of shopping for $10 bucks in you are so inclined on the Promenade - like forever. Always a sale. A feeding frenzy. They actually have shopping baskets. Not my thing but fun to watch everyone. Did not order room service even though you could get cold room service for free in the morning. Casino stinks and I wish that it would be non smoking. Oh, well, can't have everything. We are booked on the Symphony for next year now. I like that all pictures are now on the computer in their little Focus area however, I hate that it is hard to see the true picture because of the watermarks on all the pictures. This is so people do not take photos of their photos with the cameras. Really, Royal Caribbean!!!! You are not that poor. Anyhow, a nice get away. Happy to answer any questions. Cheers.

Thanks for your feedback.

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I would point out that Solarium Bistro is an excellent breakfast spot, too. Way less crowded than Windjammer and it's a buffet as well. We also got breakfast at Park Cafe sometimes also. I watched the first 10 minutes of Grease. I thought it was just, boring. The other shows were awesome.

We enjoyed grabbing drinks and people watching in the Promenade. All the passengers going crazy over $10 shirts is a riot.

Interesting that the Captain called the pool going into the Solarium on Symphony a "correction", as if the company is admitting they blew it.

You must have gone in a secret back entrance at boarding! We were on the same cruise. [emoji23]

We showed up at 12 pm and were in line for over 45 minutes JUST for security. I don’t think we were onboard until 1:15 once we did the check in and all.

I’ve used this terminal multiple times in th past and it was never that bad. A lot of the people around us in line were first-time cruisers and asking if it was always this bad!

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For Harmony... Arrive at 10am if you can. We walked right on the ship. No line at any point. We literally never waited behind a single person for security, check in, boarding, or anything. Shocking how fast it was.

For Harmony... Arrive at 10am if you can. We walked right on the ship. No line at any point. We literally never waited behind a single person for security, check in, boarding, or anything. Shocking how fast it was.

We typically do that, but we got held up that morning [emoji51]

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How was the bed in your stateroom?

How was the bed in your stateroom?

I will comment on mine. I had a Boardwalk balcony and it was pretty much as soft as a wooden board. We were in pain all week because we like soft beds [emoji51]. My husband never complains about anything and he said the beds sucked.

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I hate that it is hard to see the true picture because of the watermarks on all the pictures. This is so people do not take photos of their photos with the cameras. Really, Royal Caribbean!!!! You are not that poor. Anyhow, a nice get away. Happy to answer any questions. Cheers.

It is a little annoying, but I have seen people take pictures of the pictures. But on the other hand I hate seeing all those photos go to waste that get printed even though the people don't buy them on other ships.

Yours it the first bad comments I've seen about Wonderland, but I think I might tend to agree with you if I ever try it ;). When I do my reviews I try to use a blue collar persona and I've definitely not a foodie, give me substance in place of presentation.

You will be on Symphony a few months before me, please report back. I'll be curious about the new terminal as well.

Thanks for posting.

Interesting that the Captain called the pool going into the Solarium on Symphony a "correction", as if the company is admitting they blew it.

I was also at the Captain's Corner last week when Captain Gus said that, and I thought it was interesting too. He said that when he was first assigned to Harmony (still under construction at the time) he asked "where is the pool?" and they (RCI? Shipyard?) told him it was too late to add it. The pool requires piping and other infrastructure.

I am not sure what to believe. I think there are reasons that we will never know.

Captain Gus also suggested that Harmony might get a Solarium pool in the future, but that it would be very involved to add one. I thought that comment was interesting too.

I was also at the Captain's Corner last week when Captain Gus said that, and I thought it was interesting too. He said that when he was first assigned to Harmony (still under construction at the time) he asked "where is the pool?" and they (RCI? Shipyard?) told him it was too late to add it. The pool requires piping and other infrastructure.

 

I am not sure what to believe. I think there are reasons that we will never know.

 

Captain Gus also suggested that Harmony might get a Solarium pool in the future, but that it would be very involved to add one. I thought that comment was interesting too.

Appreciate the update, I had not heard that there was any consideration of adding a pool to Harmony.

Appreciate the update, I had not heard that there was any consideration of adding a pool to Harmony.

I'm not sure if that was speculation or if he knows something is in the works. The fact that he tempered our expectations makes me wonder why he said anything about it in the first place. He was coy about whether Symphony would have a pool (he said he "had it on good authority" that there will be one but would not confirm that it will be there) so maybe his coyness about a pool in Harmony can be interpreted the same way. I guess there are several ways to interpret his comments.

Personally for me, I could care less if there is a pool in the solarium. Unless it is raining I avoid the Solarium at all costs - way to humid in there for me. We love being at the pool, enjoying the sunshine and watching people. Solarium is way to quiet for us

I get that people love it and I understand the disappointment in no pool, but for me doesn't matter one way or the other.

I was more bummed that they took the Umbrellas off Harmony as my hubby will sit at the pool all day with me as long as he has his umbrella. So for me I am happy that Symphony corrected this. there will be umbrellas at the beach pool again on symphony.

Thanks for your review and sorry the cruise was less than you expected.:( On the other hand, we LOVED, AND I REPEAT LOVED, Wonderland!!!!!:hearteyes: If it wasn't so pricey, I would eat there more often!

It's a shame you missed Grease, as we thought it was very entertaining!!!:D

I, too, miss the solarium pool and hope they add it to the Harmony in the future; maybe, even before we board her again in October, 2019!!:rolleyes: Not holding my breath though!

Arrived at 12 noon. Maybe a five 10 minute line. There was no preferential treatment between newbies, golds, platinums or diamonds. Everyone was in the same line. But it only took 10 minutes to clear security. No big deal.

 

Had lunch up at the buffet and then rooms were ready at 1 pm. We had an oceanview balcony at the back of the ship on Deck # 9. Wow, fabulous design to the room. Sofa was against the sliding balcony door. Very large room. Lots of storage space in terms of drawers, two closets. Lots of lighting. Great bathroom with glass shower as well. Quite impressive. We were never on top of each other.

 

We quite liked the ship, except for the fact that there was no pool in the solarium. The captain of this ship says that they have corrected that issue for the Symphony of the Seas. They have put pool back into the Solarium. I have not seen the deck plan but we are booked for that ship next December but now it is out of Miami. Not crazy about that part of the journey however.

 

We missed Grease on the first night but we were tired anyhow as we have late dining. People were complaining it was a long show. All other shows were impressive especially the Fine Line and the ice skating show (we only saw one of the ice skating shows. Someone told me there were two). Headliner was great - Greg London. Comedians, we have seen better. I hate the bad language. Why does everything need such bad language.

 

We had a horrible table in the dining room on deck 3. Packed in line sardines. Complained and they moved us to the front of the dining room on the subsequent night. We had fabulous service there. However, we spent the next five nights using the Specialty Dining. We HATED, AND I REPEAT hated Wonderland. We got our money back on that one.!!! Maybe, we like to know what we are eating. Liquid tomato from a test tube (yes) that was one of appetizers was disgusting. The beef was a beef stew type of confection and the organic chicken was tasteless. Even the mashed potatoes had no appeal. Really, who can screw up mashed potatoes. The desert bomb (chocolate confection) was good. That was the only good food of the evening. We had to run upstairs and eat at the buffet after this horrible dinner. Maybe we are not foodies, but really, I do not think this will last on these cruise ships. They had it on the Ovation that did Asia I am told and it got shelved as it was not enjoyed by that cruising population. They gave us a credit for that to use another specialty restaurant which we did. Chops, Park 150 and Jamies were great.

 

The ship was beautiful, the promenade great - always something happening. We did breakfast usually at Johnny Rockets. So great because you could get a great omelette made correctly in as little as five minutes. Excellent service there. We are not big buffet people in the morning. Do not want to struggle with 6000 other guests. I repeat Johnny Rockets great for breakfast and the Park Café for their roast beef sandwiches is the ultimate.

 

Pools never any issue with chair hogs. Lots of place to sit. Again, too bad no pool in solarium. Lots of shopping for $10 bucks in you are so inclined on the Promenade - like forever. Always a sale. A feeding frenzy. They actually have shopping baskets. Not my thing but fun to watch everyone. Did not order room service even though you could get cold room service for free in the morning.

 

Casino stinks and I wish that it would be non smoking. Oh, well, can't have everything.

 

We are booked on the Symphony for next year now. I like that all pictures are now on the computer in their little Focus area however, I hate that it is hard to see the true picture because of the watermarks on all the pictures. This is so people do not take photos of their photos with the cameras. Really, Royal Caribbean!!!! You are not that poor. Anyhow, a nice get away. Happy to answer any questions. Cheers.

Thanks for the review. I was on the same sailing. My only suggestion would be to embrace the paragraph!! Walls of text are so hard to read.

I agree 100% about the Solarium missing the pool.

I disagree 100% about Wonderland, oddly, especially about the potatoes! I thought they were awesome and I'm a huge potato fan. I understand that Wonderland takes a certain type of person... and I'll agree that the liquid bruschetta shot was the worst item on their menu. I will say that this restaurant (or some morphed future version of it) is quite possibly the future of cruising. I have no idea your age bracket, but many younger diners tend to love the crap out of places like this. This sort of thing is a big deal event night thing that previous generations had on formal night. You go for a fancy cocktail crafted in the hipster style. You go for the modern Iron Chef-esque food presentation. You go for trying 15 different small plates instead of 3 larger portion plates.

I can't complain about the photo section. It's way better than it used to be and they have to protect their money maker.

On the other hand, we LOVED, AND I REPEAT LOVED, Wonderland!!!!!:hearteyes: If it wasn't so pricey, I would eat there more often!

To add to my previous comment... and obviously not just the younger cruisers, some of the more experienced cruisers do too!

Thanks for all the comments on my review of Harmony of the Seas. With reference to the bed, we had a lovely, absolutely lovely balcony cabin on deck 9 at the back of the ship. We found the bed very comfortable and I am quite picky about beds. We stayed at a Four Seasons a number of years ago, and ended up contacting the sales department and ordering the exact same bed as it was THAT GREAT. No issues at all with our bed. Very large balcony cabin, biggest I have ever had. Large sofa bed also beside the balcony door. I prefer that set up rather than the other way around. Lots of closet and drawer space. I use packing cubes so the cubes easily fit into the drawers. We always ask for a couple of extra blankets right off the bat once we meet our room steward. That way if we get cold (my husband likes to freeze), I have those extra blankets ready and can also sit out on the balcony at night (great for Alaska and Transatlantics). I found the balcony to be quite large as well. Two chairs and two little ottomans. I found the Balcony smaller on Allure (I will compare it to Harmony when I sail on Allure once again in December 2018). Yes, I am booked on two cruises in December 2018. Allure and Harmony. To make sure that we are comfortable sleeping, we also ask for extra pillows.

In terms of getting one the ship, we must have been directed to a better entrance, as we literally sailed right onto the ship. When I think back now to our arrival, it might have been prior to noon, maybe in the 11:30 time frame, rather than noon. We walked onto Deck 5 and right over to the Dining room (there were actually two waiters from Wonderland at the dining room (dressed in red) and we arranged all my specialty dining reservations and I think I waited maybe 10 minutes there in line to do that then went to lunch and then directly to my room. So my time estimate of arriving at 12 was wrong. I sailed onto the ship at 11:30 am. I guess we must have beat the crowd.

I checked the map for the Symphony of the Seas when we made our booking for Dec 2018 at the Next Cruise office and it showed a pool in the solarium. It is great having a pool there as it is nice to have a dip on a hot day.

I am glad there are fans of Wonderland out there. We are just not among them. Chops, Jamies, 150, all great but Wonderland just not our cup of tea. The two people sitting at the table beside me (a dad and his child) were making funny faces at the food and the family of four in front of me actually walked out twenty minutes after they started to eat. I was not hearing rave reviews. A lady in the elevator commented to me that she had just had the worse meal ever and I asked her if it was at Wonderland and she said yes. Oh, well, for those who like that restaurant, keep on going. I will not be spending my money there.

The Harmony is a great ship and Royal Caribbean gives us great WOW experiences. I will be even happier to sail Royal Caribbean after I achieve Diamond which will be at the end of Dec 2018. Wow Wow.

I was not happy with the meal at Wonderland... until I got to the entrees. The chicken was underwhelming. The fish was great ( and I'm not a fish guy), the short rib was incredible and the pork belly was out of this world.

The melting chocolate thingy was also super cool, and delicious.

I'm a picky eater and I was not happy.. until entree time.

I was not happy with the meal at Wonderland... until I got to the entrees. The chicken was underwhelming. The fish was great ( and I'm not a fish guy), the short rib was incredible and the pork belly was out of this world.

 

The melting chocolate thingy was also super cool, and delicious.

 

I'm a picky eater and I was not happy.. until entree time.

My DH is a very picky eater- we were on the Harmony a few months ago, but the Wonderland menu was too fancy for him. However, since we were in a suite, we had options as the suite guests have a really nice private restaurant, never waited for a table. We also enjoyed the other speciality restaurants. We loved the suite service and the suite deck. It had a great bar, free cabana's, a hot tub and plenty of seating in the shade or sun.

The beds were very comfortable and the large bathroom great. Plenty of storage. However the price was expensive. If you are in a Junior suite, you can dine in the suite restaurant for dinner and have a good sized cabin with a walk in closet. Price much better, but you do not get access to the suite lounge or suite deck unless you are grand suite or above. Since we are getting older- time to enjoy ourselves and as others have said- spend our children inheritance one cruise at a time!

We would enjoy going on the ship again-Our favorite class of ship is the Oasis class.

I preferred the old Coastal Kitchen menu to the current ones.

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I preferred the old Coastal Kitchen menu to the current ones.

 

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I thought the old menu never changed much. Enjoyed the new one- but we still prefer the speciality restaurants.

I preferred the old Coastal Kitchen menu to the current ones.

I missed the flatbreads.

I missed the flatbreads.

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In terms of getting one the ship, we must have been directed to a better entrance, as we literally sailed right onto the ship. When I think back now to our arrival, it might have been prior to noon, maybe in the 11:30 time frame, rather than noon.

 

I am glad there are fans of Wonderland out there. We are just not among them.

I think you are right on the timing. I dropped my husband and kids off with our bags and I went to park. There was ZERO line. I parked in the lot right at the terminal and by the time I got back it was literally wrapped around the side of the building. Maybe a bunch of tour busses arrived in that short time. Consider yourself fortunate! I wish I had been 10 minutes earlier!

Also not a fan of wonderland. I have never even eaten there, but based on the reviews I know it just wouldnt be for me. Something for everyone out there, thankfully. We had delicious meals at Sabor and Jamie's.