Just off Harmony OTS.... 5 Quick things

sitting in the airport waiting to head back to the cold. A more detailed review will follow but here are 5 quick things....

1. 6,500 passengers and it never felt crowded. HUGE ship and always plenty to do.

2. Personal service was excellent throughout. MDR service was very good. Our cabin attendant was outstanding. Our waitress at Jamie’s Italian was off the charts.

3. Central Park was a peaceful respite. Enjoyed the classical guitarist in the evening and late nights at the bar there.

4. Windjammer food was fine but the space itself seemed smaller than on other ships. We tended to do our casual eating at the Solarium Bistro.

5. Shows were generally very good but “A Fine Line” water show was the best ship board show we’ve ever seen. SPECTACULAR.

Any specific questions, let me know and I’ll incorporate them in my trip report in the coming days.

At what point did you see drink cards, and the price please.

At what point did you see drink cards, and the price please.

Bob, we were on the 3/3 sailing and they never showed up. (It was also a pretty full sailing, with 64-hundred-plus passengers.)

Thanks for the quick review. We set sail on Harmony next January.

I was on the same sailing and I felt the ship was extremely crowded, more than past sailings I have done on Oasis and Allure? Maybe I was just in the wrong areas at the wrong times? We enjoyed the ship and agree about ‘The Fine Line’ being amazing. Windjammer poorly designed and too crowded...needs to be open later for dinner. The Ultimate Abyss is a lot of fun!

I noticed drink card yesterday-10 drinks for $79.

Bob, we were on the 3/3 sailing and they never showed up. (It was also a pretty full sailing, with 64-hundred-plus passengers.)

Thank-you.

At what point did you see drink cards, and the price please.

I never saw an add for drink cards. I may have just missed it because we had the deluxe package.

I was on the same sailing and I felt the ship was extremely crowded, more than past sailings I have done on Oasis and Allure? Maybe I was just in the wrong areas at the wrong times? We enjoyed the ship and agree about ‘The Fine Line’ being amazing. Windjammer poorly designed and too crowded...needs to be open later for dinner. The Ultimate Abyss is a lot of fun!

 

I noticed drink card yesterday-10 drinks for $79.

If Cruise Critic shows us anything it’s that there are many perspectives of the same cruise all the time. What parts of the ship did you feel were crowded? We may well have frequented different parts of the ship. Abyss was fun but less than I expected.

I never saw an add for drink cards. I may have just missed it because we had the deluxe package.

Thanks.

Whenever people complain about imperfections on their cruises I wonder, was it still overall a great experience? Cruising isn't cheap, if I cruise regularly and it seems to be such a hit or miss vacation I feel like I would find other trips to spend my money on. I can never quite gauge whether people's complaints are nitpicky on small things that could have been better, or if they're major influences on their overall vacation

If Cruise Critic shows us anything it’s that there are many perspectives of the same cruise all the time. What parts of the ship did you feel were crowded? We may well have frequented different parts of the ship. Abyss was fun but less than I expected.

We spent most of our time at the open pool decks, slides, and boardwalk. We mostly ate at Windjammer and found it very difficult to get seats every morning at breakfast. I'm relegated to cruising at school holidays so I accept the crowding but don't like it. There was rampant chair hogging in the solarium and open decks. We cruise mostly for the ship and not the ports- we stayed on the ship in San Juan and got a little relief from the crowds! Overall, I enjoyed it and we are booked for symphony for next spring break. One other thing I was shocked at was the cover charge for Johnny Rockets -just under $12!!!

When I went on Harmony in August the slides were also fairly busy. Chair hogging also in full effect, but we managed to make do.

Windjammer... yeah, I went there a couple of times and it was always busy. Best decision I made was to try and avoid going, although it was unavoidable a couple of times. Mini-bites and MDR had enough hot table options that I didn’t mind going there or to Johnny Rockets.

We spent most of our time at the open pool decks, slides, and boardwalk. We mostly ate at Windjammer and found it very difficult to get seats every morning at breakfast. I'm relegated to cruising at school holidays so I accept the crowding but don't like it. There was rampant chair hogging in the solarium and open decks. We cruise mostly for the ship and not the ports- we stayed on the ship in San Juan and got a little relief from the crowds! Overall, I enjoyed it and we are booked for symphony for next spring break. One other thing I was shocked at was the cover charge for Johnny Rockets -just under $12!!!

That is interesting. I did find the old saying "zig when others zag" true on Harmony, like any other ship. If we showed up at the peak time for lunch or breakfast, yes, it was busy. But there were other options that weren't busy at all. The OP mentioned Solarium Bistro, we never had a crowd there or difficulty finding a table.

The slides would get busy during the peak afternoon time. But if we went to ride the slides earlier, maybe 10 or 11AM, I don't remember exactly, we basically walked right on them.

I'm surprised about your issue with chair hogging in the solarium. When we sailed Harmony, an attendant would was looking after it, especially on the big enclosed loungers, but since Harmony has substantially more deck space in the Solarium compared to Oasis and Allure, there was always tons of empty loungers available.

Every sailing is different, apparently! Thanks for the update on Johnny Rockets. That's unfortunate but seems the way things are going. Margaritaville was $16.95 on NCL Escape a few weeks back, with service charge it was over $20/pp for lunch and of course, always empty because of it.

Was JR busy during lunch or did the charge scare everyone away?

That is interesting. I did find the old saying "zig when others zag" true on Harmony, like any other ship. If we showed up at the peak time for lunch or breakfast, yes, it was busy. But there were other options that weren't busy at all. The OP mentioned Solarium Bistro, we never had a crowd there or difficulty finding a table.

 

The slides would get busy during the peak afternoon time. But if we went to ride the slides earlier, maybe 10 or 11AM, I don't remember exactly, we basically walked right on them.

 

I'm surprised about your issue with chair hogging in the solarium. When we sailed Harmony, an attendant would was looking after it, especially on the big enclosed loungers, but since Harmony has substantially more deck space in the Solarium compared to Oasis and Allure, there was always tons of empty loungers available.

 

Every sailing is different, apparently! Thanks for the update on Johnny Rockets. That's unfortunate but seems the way things are going. Margaritaville was $16.95 on NCL Escape a few weeks back, with service charge it was over $20/pp for lunch and of course, always empty because of it.

 

Was JR busy during lunch or did the charge scare everyone away?

We are mostly 'zig when others zag' types, but could not avoid some peak crowding like breakfast before ports days. One thing that really annoyed me was the first sea day (and after daylight savings time change), there were substantial crowds at the breakfast buffet and they cordoned off the food stations with people still eating and lineups outside. I did get some snacks/coffee early in park cafe and did not find it crowded between 7-8 AM.

I never saw crowds at Johnny Rockets and didn't go bc I refuse to pay. I have been on NCL and refuse to pay for Margaritaville, either. I did try a hamburger at mini bites and it was really disgusting.... I'm not sure what grade of meat? they are using but I found them inedible.

The only time I could get a chair in solarium was late afternoons and on the last sea day. I did not see an attendant taking towels off, but I wasn't specifically looking for that.

We spent most of our time at the open pool decks, slides, and boardwalk. We mostly ate at Windjammer and found it very difficult to get seats every morning at breakfast. I'm relegated to cruising at school holidays so I accept the crowding but don't like it. There was rampant chair hogging in the solarium and open decks. We cruise mostly for the ship and not the ports- we stayed on the ship in San Juan and got a little relief from the crowds! Overall, I enjoyed it and we are booked for symphony for next spring break. One other thing I was shocked at was the cover charge for Johnny Rockets -just under $12!!!

We in fact did spend a lot of time in different places. Our group was all adults so we were able to avoid the pool. We only did Windjammer a couple times for breakfast and once for lunch. As I noted, I agree that the layout of the Windjammer is not good and makes for a crowded place. We did not do Johnny Rockets for the very reason you explain. Although we did like the Boardwalk Dogs.

Our cabins were deck 7 forward, so the Solarium Bistro was the best place for us. Spent a lot of time in the Solarium. Never had trouble finding seating. The lowest level was usually the best location for us, but on the last sea day we were able to settle in the covered couches in front of the bar.

Thank you for your report.

Keith

We are mostly 'zig when others zag' types, but could not avoid some peak crowding like breakfast before ports days.

That is pretty much when it's unavoidable, if you have an excursion planned.

I never saw crowds at Johnny Rockets and didn't go bc I refuse to pay. I have been on NCL and refuse to pay for Margaritaville, either. I did try a hamburger at mini bites and it was really disgusting.... I'm not sure what grade of meat? they are using but I found them inedible.

tbh I've only eaten at Johnny Rockets at breakfast because it's free. Completely with you on not paying extra for lunch/dinner there.

And I try to avoid eating burgers on board because... well, I guess because I can get burgers anytime off the ship. The burgers at Shula's at FLL aren't bad actually.

This will be our 6th sailing on an Oasis class ship and with approx. 8000 people on the ships there will always be a few moments of feeling crowded. Be it a cruise, be it a trip to Disney, or be it a trip to a resort, there will always be areas of crowds. Respect and understanding is key. The only time I really feel crowded is in the promenade during formal night when folks are getting pics taken and on 70s night, but it's fun to people watch and talk to others.