LIVE - Harmony 11/26 - 12/3 Sailing the Eastern Caribbean

[MrsKC08]

Hi everyone, and welcome to my LIVE trip report on the beautiful new Harmony of the Seas. We will be sailing the week after Turkey day…Nov. 26 – Dec 3rd and I hope that you all will be able to join me along on our fantastic cruise! Eeek… we are less than a week away from sail away!

First, let me tell you that we have absolutely NO plans on getting off the ship at any of the ports. We have been to all of these ports multiple times so we don’t feel like we will be missing anything. We booked this cruise simply for the ship itself. After all, it is a destination all on its own, right?

After moving 3 times in a year, 3 different states, we are more than ready to be on a nice vacation away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life in the real world.

 

So, let me backtrack just a little. In January of last year we were rounding out our 3rd year renting a cute little townhome in South Carolina (just across the North Carolina border). We owned a home about 20 miles away in North Carolina that we had been renting to a family who needed more space than we did but we were ready to sell that home. In all actuality, we really didn’t want to be Landlords anymore. Not that they were bad tenants, they were actually quite good. We just didn’t want that responsibility or stress. So, we gave them notice in January that we would not renew their lease and that we would be moving back ourselves. We did give them the first opportunity to purchase our home, but they declined. In all honesty, they probably would have gladly stayed in our home as long as we let them. But the time was right for us to put the home on the market.

 

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to live in Tennessee, more specifically Nashville. When we got our home ready to be listed in July, my husband told me that if I really wanted to move to Nashville, that this would be the time to do it. By God’s grace we had an offer on our home in August and Labor day weekend last year we made a quick trip to Nashville to secure an apartment. By the end of September we left North Carolina and moved to Tennessee. In March of this year, we purchased our “forever home” here just north of Nashville. That rounds out our 3 moves in a year! We live in a small town with about 6,500 people and simply love living in Tennessee. Moving here was the best decision we have ever made.

 

Now I said all that because we actually had a cruise booked on the Oasis for last year (also the week after Thanksgiving). As final payment date started to approach for that cruise, we decided that we might need to make a decision as to whether to cancel and rebook for a later time. At that time we didn’t yet have an offer on the house, and if we did get one, we didn’t know if new jobs in Tennessee would accommodate us taking a week off for vacation just after starting.

 

So, in August of 2015 we cancelled that Oasis cruise and booked this cruise on the Harmony!

This is what she looked like when we booked last August 2015!

[heisnuts]

We will be joining you on this cruise as well and we can't wait. We usually sail Princess, but could not pass up an opportunity to sail on the largest cruise ship in the world (we sailed on Allure in 2013, but now there is something bigger).

[MrsKC08]

So, who are we?

We are Ken (my DH) and Lynn (me). This past September we celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary (second marriage for both). I was born in Kentucky but I spent 27 years living in central Florida, with the exception of my college years when I returned to my Kentucky roots and majored in Music Performance and Education. Ken was born and raised in South Carolina and lived there all his life except for a brief 4 years when he lived in Dallas/Ft. Worth. I work in commercial real estate and Ken is a flooring specialist for Lowe’s Home Improvement (for now).

 

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US

 

We have two fur babies, Dixie and Savannah and 3 “angel” babies in heaven.

 

Dixie

 

Savannah

 

Oh….and we love to cruise. It is our first choice of vacation when we are planning a trip. The value just can’t be beat. On a normal year we try to cruise twice a year if work and finances allow that. However, due to all the craziness last year, we haven’t cruised in a while, so we are well over due. Matter of fact, our last cruise was on the Freedom of the Seas and we went with two of our dear friends. It was their first cruise, and they had a great time, although I don’t know if they will cruise again. If they do, it probably would only be a short 4 nighter because they seemed to think 7 nights was too long. I know, I don’t get it either. Hahaha.

 

That cruise was a strange experience for us. We always thought it would be great to cruise with another couple. We could do dinners and shows together and excursions, not to mention we could actually get more photos of us together that were NOT photos from the cruiseline. Alas, when it was all said and done, Ken and I both said that it wasn’t our favorite vacation. We missed things because they didn’t want to do them, or we felt we had to show them the ins and outs of everything. I don’t know, maybe because they were virgin cruisers or what, but we both said we would probably not do a cruise with another couple…at least not ones that were so high maintenance. We did have many laughs that cruise though, from Wayne’s crazy shenanigans or Debbie calling our MDR waiter “Walter” all week just because she misread the sign on our table that said “Waiter” and his name. We still laugh about that. Sadly, my dear friend Debbie is currently fighting Breast Cancer. Thankfully it was caught early and she is only stage 1, but it has really thrown her for a loop. She will be having her 5th of 6 chemo treatment this Wednesday. So, if you think about it, just whisper a little prayer for her.

Wayne and Debbie

[MrsKC08]

We will be joining you on this cruise as well and we can't wait. We usually sail Princess, but could not pass up an opportunity to sail on the largest cruise ship in the world (we sailed on Allure in 2013, but now there is something bigger).

 

Hi there! Glad to have you along with us next week! Are you part of the Roll Call? Hope to see you on board!

[heisnuts]

Hi there! Glad to have you along with us next week! Are you part of the Roll Call? Hope to see you on board!

 

We are not. After doing several meet and greets on Princess we were always by far the youngest couple in the group (we are in our early 40's). We still laugh about the time we were asked by a couple at a meet and greet where our parents were sitting. They were really nice about it and a little embarrassed when we told them we were not traveling with them, but when everyone else in the room is over 75, there is not a lot in common.

 

We may try and stop by the meet and greet this time since I have a feeling we will be more middle of the pack as far as age is concerned on this cruise.

[MrsKC08]

We are not. After doing several meet and greets on Princess we were always by far the youngest couple in the group (we are in our early 40's). We still laugh about the time we were asked by a couple at a meet and greet where our parents were sitting. They were really nice about it and a little embarrassed when we told them we were not traveling with them, but when everyone else in the room is over 75, there is not a lot in common.

 

 

 

We may try and stop by the meet and greet this time since I have a feeling we will be more middle of the pack as far as age is concerned on this cruise.

 

 

Completely understand. We have sailed Princess a few times ourself and know about the age difference. Our Roll Call is a good mixture for sure. We have a slot pull scheduled as well as a bar crawl. We tried to organize a cabin crawl but just didn't have a good variety of cabin categories to tour so that has been scrapped.

 

 

Lynn & Ken

[MrsKC08]

At 200 days out I booked our hotel stay for pre-cruise since we are flying in the day before. I chose Crowne Plaza. The day I booked the cruise & stay package it was $204 + tax but it included the shuttle to port which is normally ($8/pp). I chose this hotel due to cost and location and that it had a shuttle from airport and to the cruise port. However, about 10 days after that I checked on cruise critic and someone on my roll call mentioned that they switched their hotel to the Hyatt Place and got a great rate. I had looked at this hotel when I was searching before, but the rates were over $200! But, when I checked this particular time, there was a rate of $140 for Hyatt reward members, so I jumped on the deal and cancelled our reservation at the Crowne Plaza. I hope that I don’t regret this decision, but after all…it’s just for one night.

 

While pre-planning for our Harmony cruise, I booked my first Celebrity cruise for December 8, 2017 (next year). We had a Next Cruise Certificate that we have had for a few years that we purchase on one of our first Freedom of the Seas cruise, and I decided we might want to use it before things change again…you know how policies and things change quite often with RCCL. Anyway, this cruise is going to be a 9 nighter sailing to St. Johns, Antigua, Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten. With the exception of St. Maarten, these are all new islands for us! I’ll start my pre-cruise planning for that one when we return from the Harmony!

 

I’ve been keeping a note pad on my desk and making notes of all kinds of things. On June 1st I made a note “Still 178 days out and I’m crazy with cruise fever. I find myself looking at cruise critic all the time.” I think most of us can relate, don’t you think? We fill the void between cruises with all the posts here on CC. I don’t know what I did before joining this forum. Anyway, back then I was debating on the whether to purchase the drink packages or not. Even that far out they were advertising them as “20% off”, but my calculations just weren’t adding up. It was hard to really detect what the price on board would be because Harmony was sailing in Europe so prices would be different than for our Caribbean cruise. Ultimately I did decide on purchasing drink packages, but I’ll speak more on that in a bit.

 

I knew that I wanted to get the Voom internet so that I could do this LIVE report and some Periscopes as well as posting photos on my Facebook and Instagram. Back in June the Surf package was roughly $10/day which seemed very doable. According to the cruise planner, this was a 30% discount from prices on board. I went ahead and booked the Voom Surf only package for about $66 total.

Edited November 21, 2016 by MrsKC08

[MrsKC08]

On July 25th the entertainment portion on the cruise planner opened up and I was able to book our shows. As of right now this is our schedule:

 

Day 1 – No scheduled shows

Day 2 – Bahamas – Grease @ 8:00pm

Day 3 – Sea Day – The Fine Line @ 9:30pm

Day 4 – St. Thomas – Comedy Show @ 10:45pm

Day 5 – St. Maarten – Headliner Show @10:30pm

Day 6 – Sea Day – Ice Show @ 10:00pm

Day 7 – Sea Day – Columbus Musical @ 5:00pm

 

I purposely didn’t schedule anything for the first night. I knew we would want the evening to get the lay of the land so to speak and just explore the ship. I also wasn’t sure how tired we would be with all the excitement, so I figured it best to keep night 1 open.

 

We have late seating for traditional dining, which is always our preference. I did make a reservation for the Sabor for Night 3 and Solarium Bistro for night 5. Here is where I have a little frustration with the online restaurant booking. I tried over and over again to get a reservation for night 2 (Formal night) at 6pm at a few different restaurants but I kept getting the message that if I did book the restaurant at 6pm, it would cancel my 8pm show of Grease. I just didn’t get it. I know that for the two of us, dinner will not take 2 hours. There is no reason why we shouldn’t be able to get a reservation at 6pm and still keep our show reservation. So, when I get on board I will go to the first restaurant I can come to and try to book dinner reservations at 6pm for night 2. Stay tuned and I’ll let you know how that goes!

[suesnake2002]

Happily following

[MrsKC08]

For those booked and curious...

At roughly 90 days out we were able to do our online check-in. This was really putting this cruise closer to reach for me. I did notice that almost everyone on my roll call was able to select a check-in time but I never got that option. Even when it said on my online check in form, “please arrive at the pier at your arrival appointment time for the best boarding experience. Your selected time is identified on your SetSail Pass.” I couldn’t understand why we didn’t have that option when we did online check in, and I even reached out to my TA. She contacted Royal Caribbean and she informed me that there are many people that don’t have a selected check in time and that we could check in anytime. Whew. I also noticed that our SetSail pass did say that “Those with Air2Sea” will not receive a check in time as we are already aware of your arrival time”… or something like that. I can totally understand that if we were flying in the morning of the cruise, but we arrive a day prior. I’ll let you know how that goes on Embarkation day!

 

At exactly 45 days out our cruise documents became available. I printed out everything since we purchased our flights through Air2Sea along with 8 copies of our luggage tags. Don’t get me wrong, we will not need that many, but I wanted to have extra just in case.

Several weeks back I purchased these through Amazon, and so far I’m very happy with them. The printed luggage tags fit them perfectly and I like the metal rings so that I can attach and detach as necessary.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B011DDOIZ0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

At about 37 days out Royal started running one of their WOW sales but still no advantage for us. We are happy with our cabin and location. Not to mention the price we paid can’t be beat at this point since we booked so far in advance. Matter of fact, at one point this year the cruise fare was double what we paid!! As most of you know, these Royal Caribbean sales are just a bunch of gimmicky type of advertising. Most times there is just not benefit to booking through one of these “sales”. I normally don’t even check the cruise prices after final payment, but this time I checked just to see about possibly upgrading. In the end, we are very happy with our boardwalk balcony choice. I can’t wait to see what it is like in person!

[MrsKC08]

Royal Caribbean ran a special toward the end of October and beginning of this month for discounts on dining, drink packages and Internet. As mentioned, I was still kind of stumped on what to do with drink packages. They changed the drink packages back in September, and now only offered 3 packages plus the coffee card. Ultimately I decided on the Deluxe package for DH and the Refreshment package for me. I had booked the Deluxe package several weeks ago and got it at 20% off. I used my Amex card and was able to get a statement credit of $75 as well. For my package I was able to snag it at 30% off.

 

The new offer for the internet made the Surf & Stream VOOM cheaper than what I paid for the basic Surf package weeks ago. So, I cancelled the Surf package and purchased the Surf & Stream! My credit card was credited within 2 days! Faster than I had anticipated!! Impressed.

 

Another win happened a couple weeks ago when I was able to save us $400 on our upcoming Celebrity cruise! I love saving money!

[MrsKC08]

If you were like me, you probably stalked Facebook and Cruise Critic and the internet in general on Nov. 4th to catch a glimpse of the 3 Oasis sister ships meeting for the first time. I watched several Periscopes and Facebook live videos. It was definitely a site.

 

I think this was my favorite photo that was shared on Social Media and Cruise Critic!

 

The following day DH and I cuddled on the couch and watched the first sail away of Harmony leaving Port Everglades. We noticed that she was a little late leaving the port, but after reading some of the reports here on CC and Periscopes, apparently there was a delay in boarding due to the clearing of the TA passengers that were getting off. I also read that the crew all had to clear customs too since it was there first time arriving to the US!

 

We were definitely excited watching that beautiful ship sail by the webcam out into the ocean.

 

I’d also like to thank happychippy for her awesome trip report from the 3 night and the 2 night (she did the B2B) preview cruise. It was fun following along with her, her sister and her niece. If you didn’t catch her posts, you can find them here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2417945

She definitely has an amazing story!

 

On a side note, I checked with our TA regarding luggage valet. She told me that she called Royal Caribbean and they told her it wasn’t available. I thought that pretty strange, since I knew that people from the TA had used this just a couple weeks ago. So I did some checking myself. I found out that it IS available, but it isn’t something you can book ahead of time. It must be done ONBOARD through guest relations. It’s $25 per person. I plan on inquiring about this once we board and I’ll let you all know the outcome of that. I guess I just assumed that the transfers that we paid for post cruise included that…and I was wrong. I don’t understand why it wouldn’t. It seems that if you are paying for a transfer from the port to the airport and you purchased your flights through Air2Sea that it would be inclusive of luggage valet. Oh well. Something that I will definitely look into and let you know about.

[SilkySal]

Thanks for taking me with you! Our family/friends (12) will be on the HOTS next October 7th for our anniversary and I am so excited! DH and I are in the last AFT BW balcony cabin #12329, which is listed as "obstructed":( but am hoping that it's not that obstructed! Is your BW balcony cabin nearby, so maybe I can get an idea of the view?:rolleyes: Thanks for taking the time to do this review!!

[MrsKC08]

Thanks for taking me with you! Our family/friends (12) will be on the HOTS next October 7th for our anniversary and I am so excited! DH and I are in the last AFT BW balcony cabin #12329, which is listed as "obstructed":( but am hoping that it's not that obstructed! Is your BW balcony cabin nearby, so maybe I can get an idea of the view?:rolleyes: Thanks for taking the time to do this review!!

 

Glad you are joining along. I know I started this a little early, but there was a lot of information I wanted to share before we even stepped on the ship. Information that I tried so hard to gather pre-cruise and had little to no luck since the ship was so new!

[MrsKC08]

For the past few weeks DH and I have checked hotel rates in the area. Nothing really wrong with where we are booked, but we both would really like to be a little closer to the port. I’ve looked at so many reviews on Cruise Critic and other places and there are a few hotels that are on my list as to what would be ideal locations to either see the ships sail in the morning of our cruise (even though my husband doesn’t think I would even be awake for that), or locations that have many shopping and dining options within walking distance. Some of those hotels that we check were Crowne Plaza (yes, the one that I had originally booked way back when and cancelled), Hyatt Regency Pier 66, Hilton (this is where niksmom630 stayed pre-cruise a couple weeks ago). Here photos were amazing as she watched the Harmony come into the port that morning! She was on the top floor in the corner room. You can see her photos here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2421744&page=5

 

Anyway, a couple weeks ago I checked on Value Trips and noticed the great rate for Hyatt 17th Street Convention Center. For anyone who has not tried Value Trips, you have to submit a “request” for a reservation and they will respond within 3 days letting you know if your reservation has been accepted. So, since it was only $10 more than our current reservation, I submitted my request for a reservation at this Hyatt. You have to stay tuned though to see if we switched our reservation or if we are still staying at the Hyatt in Dania!

[MrsKC08]

As I mentioned, we have two sweet fur babies. Unfortunately they are not able to cruise with us, even though there have been many times I have joked about getting my little girl Savannah certified as a service dog so that she can travel with us. I used to joke about that, until a couple cruises back we came across a woman on our cruise and she had a Maltese with her. Apparently this was her service dog, but we couldn’t quite figure out why or what the purpose was. This lady was not very friendly at all, when we would run into her and there were times when she didn’t have the dog with her, so it did seem a little suspicious. However, after that cruise I told my husband that I would never say something about making Savannah a certified service dog because I didn’t want to be “that woman”.

 

Anyway, I said all of that to say that when you have animals, sometimes it is hard to travel a lot. Boarding animals can be very expensive and stressful. Our little Savannah has had some history with seizures and gets very stressed when she is taken to be groomed, let alone when she is left in a kennel for a couple days. In the past when we have cruised, we have had someone come to our house to care for them while we were way. It would either be our dear neighbors or the daughter of a couple in our Sunday school class who was a college student. It always made things less stressful for our babies, and even for us too. This time however, my dad came up from Florida to spend Thanksgiving with us and house sit and care for his “grand-dogs” while we are on this cruise. It works out great for all of us, because he gets to enjoy Nashville, which he really loves and we know Dixie and Savannah will be less stressed in their own home with “grandpa” watching over them.

[MrsKC08]

I’ll mention here that DH and I prefer to dine at a table for two when we are cruising. Not that we are anti-social or don’t enjoy meeting new people. Quite the contrary actually. However, when it comes to our dinner time, we have had some bad experiences in the past with table mates. Either having those that control the entire conversation, or don’t speak at all, or are always bringing up politics or religion. You know, the kind of things that should not be part of table talk, let alone with people you have just met. SO, to avoid any of those awkward moments, we always request an intimate table for two. We enjoy this time together to just talk about the day, and what we want to do after dinner and what we plan on doing the next day. It’s a quiet time away from the daily activities we do on board to just kind of come together and have that time without outside distractions.

 

Years ago we would always just find the Matre d’ when we would board and put that request in. Quite honestly, probably one of the biggest pains we have to take care of once we get on board. And truthfully, it takes away some of the initial excitement of being on a cruise!

 

However, a few years ago I picked up a tip from a fellow CC member about emailing the ships restaurant coordinator prior to boarding. Since then we have done that for every cruise we have been on. Normally about 30 days out I will send an email directly to the ship and make my request. Normally within 2 days I have received a confirmation email back showing the screen shot of our table confirmation and sometimes the location of our table itself. This cruise was no exception, other than I waited until the Harmony had made her way to Ft. Lauderdale before I sent my request. I’m happy to report that Last week I got confirmation of my request and this is one thing I can mark off my list! I still thank that person for telling me about that every time we get that “confirmed” email.

 

 

As for Specialty dining, we have already booked Sabor and Solarium Bistro pre-cruise. Once we board we also plan on reserving either Chops or Izumi. As much as I'd like to try Jamie's, my husband is NOT an Italian food fan, so we won't be eating there this time. Wonderland is another one that we will not be trying this cruise either. We are not picky eaters, but after looking at the menu and pictures of recent reviews, I just can't bring myself to spend that kind of money on dinner and possibly not enjoy the food offered. I do plan on sneaking in there during the day to get some photos though!

[MrsKC08]

Today is my last work day before our cruise, and tomorrow is Thanksgiving! That means the next time I post I will be heading to the airport to head SOUTH!

 

Just a reminder that I will be posting here throughout our trip, but I will also be doing some Periscopes. You can follow me there at @LadyLDC08

I hope everyone has a fantastic Turkey Day!

[diadora]

My sister and I will be there with you. With over 5000 people we may see each other and never know. I will be the one always dancing.

Edited November 23, 2016 by diadora

[MrsKC08]

My sister and I will be there with you. With over 5000 people we may see each other and never know. I will be the one always dancing.

 

 

Woohoo! I love to dance too! Maybe we'll dance right into each other!

 

 

Lynn & Ken

[Foosguy]

Hello, my wife and I are on the next eastern sailing ( December 10) and would love to see the daily compasses if someone could send. Kyle

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[MrsKC08]

Hello, my wife and I are on the next eastern sailing ( December 10) and would love to see the daily compasses if someone could send. Kyle

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

I'll post them daily!

 

 

Lynn & Ken

[Foosguy]

Can you see if they are selling the coffee card (15 drinks) for $30 something? Also, they sometimes offer half price specialty restaurants on first night?

 

Kyle

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited November 23, 2016 by Foosguy

[MrsKC08]

At the airport this morning and through security in less than 10 minutes!! Already at our gate and ready to get this wonderful trip underway.

 

 

Lynn & Ken

[MrsKC08]

On the plane and ready to head south!

 

 

Lynn & Ken