Allure vs Harmony vs Oasis for Sea Days?

[Grovest]

Many reviews talk about the similarities between the three ships, making comments like the ships share 94% of the same DNA. However, a human and a gorilla share 98% yet are very different creatures.

 

With all three offering similar Caribbean cruises this year, which one would you choose and why? When I asked RC they suggested choosing the ship based upon which stage show happened to appeal most. Is it really that simple? :D

Edited November 10, 2016 by Grovest

[Ocean Boy]

When it comes to Oasis/Allure, yes stage show, departure day, and port of departure is pretty much how I make decisions. Since we have not been on Harmony yet I won't comment.

 

The DNA of ships and DNA of living things don't work the same way.;)

[Grovest]

Forgot to mention that the RC representative did say that, although offering very much the same facilities, the Allure was being marketed more towards younger families with a greater proportion of 'Dreamworks' activities and entertainment than the other two ships. Would those who have been on more than one of Oasis ships agree with this claim?

[DragonOfTheSeas]

I have not sailed on Oasis or Allure, so I can not comment on the DNA or similarities.

 

But, I will say the Harmony is spectacular. Why not go with the newest, biggest, best if the itineraries are similar?

 

Regarding the shows: I have seen Broadway productions that are not as good as Grease on the Harmony. The actors, singers and dancers are GREAT! So professional and polished. For example, on the final production song and dance routine Sandy's [female lead] shoe strap came undone. She reached down and pulled it off, flipped it back stage and danced on one very-high heel and her toes on the other foot for the remainder of the number. She did not miss a beat.

 

There are a lot of technical things they can do with productions on Harmony they can not on the other two ships. This is most evident in the comedy production of Columbus and the water shows. Excellent! The ice shows are excellent, too.

 

I did the escape room on Harmony. It was very challenging. Our team was successful. But, there were 76 sessions on our TA and only 11 successes. I do not think Oasis or Allure have one of these.

 

Have a good cruise on whatever you choose.

[Ken at the beach]

Forgot to mention that the RC representative did say that, although offering very much the same facilities, the Allure was being marketed more towards younger families with a greater proportion of 'Dreamworks' activities and entertainment than the other two ships. Would those who have been on more than one of Oasis ships agree with this claim?

 

We sailed on Oasis last Christmas and Allure in March and I would totally agree with that comment.

 

We also enjoyed the shows (except Cats) more on Oasis.

[Ken at the beach]

Besides departure port and date, and shows also consider the price. Harmony is a significant premium over both Allure and Oasis.

 

My vote would be to start with Allure or Oasis and leave yourself room to work up to something newer.

[waterbug123]

Not much difference between the three, and I say that having been on all three within the past 5 months. IMO, not enough difference to worry about, so as others have said, make your decision based on itinerary and price.

 

That said, here are a few minor differences that may or may not matter, and that I certainly wouldn't let any of these override a huge price difference or an itinerary or production show that you prefer:

 

Oasis/Allure have more outdoor seating by the Wipe Out Bar, and a larger round Sabor Bar on the Boardwalk. Harmony has the entrance to The Abyss (4 story slide) behind the Wipe Out Bar, and the slide's exit on the Boardwalk. A smaller Sabor Bar is off to the side.

 

Oasis/Allure have the Champagne Bar on the Promenade. On Harmony that space is the Bionic Bar, where the robots make drinks.

 

The Rising Tides Bar on Harmony has less seating than on Oasis/Allure.

 

Oasis/Allure have Giovanni's Table for an Italian restaurant. Harmony has Jamie's Italian.

 

Oasis/Allure have an extensive tapas menu at Vintages. Harmony has an extremely limited tapas menu that all comes from Jamie's Italian.

 

Allure (and I think Oasis?) has a Starbucks kiosk in the promenade. On Harmony, Starbucks is an actual storefront on the Boardwalk, where the ice cream and cupcakes are on Allure. Can't recall if Oasis has ice cream and cupcakes there or if it's still the doughnut shop. Where the Starbucks kiosk is on Allure/Oasis, Harmony has an area with ipads on stands where you book shore excursions.

 

Did not see the candy store on the Harmony boardwalk. I believe Oasis and Allure still have it.

 

The kids splash zone pool area is different on Harmony. No lazy river, but there is a big bucket that fills and dumps on everyone. Couple other differences but didn't really pay attention. Kids seem to have fun on all three in this area. Harmony also has 3 larger water slides that are not on Oasis/Allure.

 

On Oasis/Allure, I believe the pool area has the old crappy lounge chairs that are on the rest of the fleet, with the exception of the beach pool, which has the nicer mesh loungers. Harmony has the mesh loungers around ALL the pools.

 

The area that is the Wipe Out Cafe on Oasis/Allure is an awkwardly arranged interior space that seems to have bad traffic flow. On Harmony they have reconfigured it to be more open and with better traffic flow, and the menu is different; they advertise sliders and grilled cheese, although we didn't manage to get there during lunch to see first hand.

 

Layout of Park Cafe has changed on Harmony. The barista counter is gone, and in its place is the self serve coffee against the wall, which makes for better traffic flow there. Some of the food is rearranged; pre-made sandwiches where salads were, salads where pre-made sandwiches were. Condiments/flatware are on an island between the food service and dining areas, instead of the round counter in the middle of the food service area (which made for bad traffic flow), and there's a long community table with small, low profile stools in the dining area, in addition to the regular tables/chairs.

 

Those are just off the top of my head. As I said, nothing huge, just lots of little tweaks here and there.

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I haven't been on Harmony, but have been on Oasis and Allure. I would pick based on price, itinerary, and departure port.

 

Harmony has the new slides and the interior design is different if any of that interests you.

 

Regarding the Broadway shows: Oasis has Cats (not my cup of tea), Allure has Mamma Mia (amazing), and Harmony has Grease (can't comment).

[jamesr3939]

We have done Allure and Oasis in the last 18 months and they are about the same. The only big things other than those mentioned is Allure has Samba Grill at night in the Solarium and Mama Mia was much better than Cats.

 

We were on the Allure when she meet up with the three sisters and can say the new slides on the stern look pretty awesome.

[ebonybee]

We sailed on Oasis last Christmas and Allure in March and I would totally agree with that comment.

 

We also enjoyed the shows (except Cats) more on Oasis.

 

 

I'm always amused to read folks comments on Cats. How did it run so long a Broadway? I knew the storyline but my enjoyment is limited to two songs.

[Grovest]

I'm always amused to read folks comments on Cats. How did it run so long a Broadway? I knew the storyline but my enjoyment is limited to two songs.

 

Might be an easy answer... I recall when CATS was playing in Toronto over 30 years ago both my girlfriend at the time and her best friend went to see it three times. CATS appealed to the younger crowd BEFORE the age of instant gratification from playing video games or getting the latest info from social media. Today it simply can't maintain the audiences attention as attention span is something long lost. :D

[John&LaLa]

Harmony does not have a Solarium pool. But then again, the pool is not much on Oasis/Allure.

 

Harmony does not have umbrellas with tables in the Beach Pool. :mad:

 

Harmony has Wonderland

 

Harmony has a better design for Coastal kitchen and the Suite Lounge

[racerxspeedy]

Many reviews talk about the similarities between the three ships, making comments like the ships share 94% of the same DNA. However, a human and a gorilla share 98% yet are very different creatures.

 

With all three offering similar Caribbean cruises this year, which one would you choose and why? When I asked RC they suggested choosing the ship based upon which stage show happened to appeal most. Is it really that simple? :D

 

Our closest living DNA "Ape cousin" is the Bonobo Chimpanzee,....Gorilla is runner up, but that's getting way off topic.

 

If you could only pick one, I would probably go with the Harmony:

Newest technology, Grease, Wonderland......etc.

 

Between the other two - probably Alllure with Mama Mia.

[Grovest]

If you could only pick one, I would probably go with the Harmony:

Newest technology, Grease, Wonderland......etc.

 

Between the other two - probably Alllure with Mama Mia.

 

It would seem to coming down to a choice between Oasis and Harmony. For the week in March we are looking at, those are the ones running the Western Caribbean route (last time we made the mistake of an eastern route the seas were not kind and ended up sea sick much of the cruise... but it was during hurricane season).

 

I guess I need to decide if it is worth paying $400 more per person for the newer ship, to avoid CATS and for the water slides, since those seem to be the big differences.

[John&LaLa]

Departure port is a big difference as well between those two

 

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[Grovest]

Departure port is a big difference as well between those two

 

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Maybe I am missing something...

 

If you're flying in for the cruise, and not spending time in Florida, does it make much difference if you embark in Orlando/Miami/Lauderdale?

[Clarea]

Maybe I am missing something...

 

If you're flying in for the cruise, and not spending time in Florida, does it make much difference if you embark in Orlando/Miami/Lauderdale?

Distance and time to airport is the major difference with MCO to Port Canaveral around 45 minutes.

[John&LaLa]

Maybe I am missing something...

 

If you're flying in for the cruise, and not spending time in Florida, does it make much difference if you embark in Orlando/Miami/Lauderdale?

Flights into Orlando vs Ft Lauderdale could be very different in cost depending on your departure city.

 

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[Biker19]

Distance and time (and cost) to airport is the major difference with MCO to Port Canaveral around 45 minutes

 

while FLL to Port Everglades is about 10 min.

[Thorben-Hendrik]

Harmony has many flaws as it is build so cheap.

Cabins are not insulated you can hear lots of noise from neighbours. Solarium and hot-tubs do not have glass roofs but very cheap and already dirty and broken plastic-foil that makes terrible loud noise when the wind hits it - that alone is enough to make the solarium nearly unusable!:mad:

The slides are not made well and there is constantly water splashing to the pool-deck making it wet and the staff constantly has to use noisy cleaning-machines to take away the water.

The smoking-alley next to the entire length of the pool is very awkward and not nice....not sure if Allure and Oasis have that too.

The slide in the back blocks the nice view to the ocean - very sad for such a lame ride:(

 

We would never book Harmony again......I can not imagine that Allure and Oasis are even worse....

[kcool]

i have sailed the oasis and the allure. just booked the harmony.

[waterbug123]

Harmony has many flaws as it is build so cheap.

Cabins are not insulated you can hear lots of noise from neighbours. Solarium and hot-tubs do not have glass roofs but very cheap and already dirty and broken plastic-foil that makes terrible loud noise when the wind hits it - that alone is enough to make the solarium nearly unusable!:mad:

The slides are not made well and there is constantly water splashing to the pool-deck making it wet and the staff constantly has to use noisy cleaning-machines to take away the water.

The smoking-alley next to the entire length of the pool is very awkward and not nice....not sure if Allure and Oasis have that too.

The slide in the back blocks the nice view to the ocean - very sad for such a lame ride:(

 

We would never book Harmony again......I can not imagine that Allure and Oasis are even worse....

 

 

• We didn't notice noise from neighboring cabins. Maybe it was your particular location, or neighbors that were unusually loud.
  
• Never went into the Solarium so can't comment there.
  
• Never noticed any loud cleaning machines around the pool.
  
• Maybe they are trying to casually discourage smoking, LOL. Hope one day they will follow Celebrity's lead and ban it entirely in the casino.
  
• There are tons of places to view the ocean. ;)
  

Everyone has a different experience, but I would hate for folks to read the above review and deduce that the Harmony is just horrible and not worth going on. We found far more positive than negative. :)

[Thorben-Hendrik]

• We didn't notice noise from neighboring cabins. Maybe it was your particular location, or neighbors that were unusually loud.
  
• Never went into the Solarium so can't comment there.
  
• Never noticed any loud cleaning machines around the pool.
  
• Maybe they are trying to casually discourage smoking, LOL. Hope one day they will follow Celebrity's lead and ban it entirely in the casino.
  
• There are tons of places to view the ocean. ;)
  

Everyone has a different experience, but I would hate for folks to read the above review and deduce that the Harmony is just horrible and not worth going on. We found far more positive than negative. :)

Many people complained they could hear noise from hallways and toilets!

 

Also Dazzles has had open doors every night so all the cabins around it on deck 8+9 get blasted with music night after night!

Well the cleaning-machines were around the slides when ever they were open from 10 am to about 5 pm! Did you use the 2 pools at the slides?

There is no way you could miss the water-spill + cleaning!

I am talking about the smoking- alley all along the pools on the portside just behind the row of loungers that get shade.....

The oceanview on this ship is very limited in the back as they put up that monstrocity of a metal fish for the lame Abyss slide there! And also on the boardwalk the tubes from the slide are so ugly!

Just for the record while the slide is long it is very lame as the max speed possible is 9mph for safety reasons - very boring ride!

No pumpkin seed or cheese bread in the MDR no mini- bread-bites - only 3 choices of bread - but you can BYOB ( bring your own bread :D ) as these and other bread-types are available at the WJ !

I can come up with a very long list of things that are more bad on Harmony than on other ships when it comes to design or service-choices.

 

BTW do the cabin doors also open towards the hallway on Allure and Oasis? What a stupid way to open a cabin door!

 

Harmony is just overhyped a lot....but not build well and has a bad layout IMHO

We sadly found that most of the bad reviews about Harmony were 100% correct.

But I agree everybody has a different oppinion but one thing became very clear when the 3 sisters were side by side.....Harmony is by no means that special and a super-vessel - it is hyped to be and you could really see how many glas elements on Allure are cheap plastic on Harmony.

Edited November 12, 2016 by germanfflyer

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Many people complained they could hear noise from hallways and toilets!

 

Also Dazzles has had open doors every night so all the cabins around it on deck 8+9 get blasted with music night after night!

Well the cleaning-machines were around the slides when ever they were open from 10 am to about 5 pm! Did you use the 2 pools at the slides?

There is no way you could miss the water-spill + cleaning!

I am talking about the smoking- alley all along the pools on the portside just behind the row of loungers that get shade.....

The oceanview on this ship is very limited in the back as they put up that monstrocity of a metal fish for the lame Abyss slide there! And also on the boardwalk the tubes from the slide are so ugly!

Just for the record while the slide is long it is very lame as the max speed possible is 9mph for safety reasons - very boring ride!

No pumpkin seed or cheese bread in the MDR no mini- bread-bites - only 3 choices of bread - but you can BYOB ( bring your own bread :D ) as these and other bread-types are available at the WJ !

I can come up with a very long list of things that are more bad on Harmony than on other ships when it comes to design or service-choices.

 

BTW do the cabin doors also open towards the hallway on Allure and Oasis? What a stupid way to open a cabin door!

 

Harmony is just overhyped a lot....but not build well and has a bad layout IMHO

 

When it comes to the design, don't expect things to be much different on Oasis or Allure. The vast majority of things are exactly the same, including the cabin doors and the overall layout, which I happen to think is one of the best layouts to ever be used on a ship.

 

Are you really bothered by the way a cabin door opens?

 

Regarding the solarium roof...Maybe it's not working out exactly how they planned, but I'm glad they tried something new because I've read my share of complaints about Oasis and Allure's solarium roofs.

 

I also feel that the Abyss is subjective. I would never book an Oasis Class ship expecting to see the ocean from the public areas. I simply know its not the case, but I think there are tons of things that make up for that. I would think that there are a decent amount of people that would sacrifice an ocean view for the slide.

 

Food is totally subjective and can change from one sailing to the next.

[Ocean Boy]

I am pretty sure I have read that safety regulations mandate that cabin doors open into the passageway instead of the cabin on new builds.