Harmony Western Caribbean with tweens - review

[canadakath]

Just back from the Harmony of the Seas March 25-April 1, 2017 and thought I would post a quick review, as it can be tricky to find info on travelling with that "in between" age of kids. Happy to answer questions!

 

Pre Trip and about us

I booked this cruise in June 2015 (the great Harmony sale for those that remember) for DH and our sons ages 13 and 10. We had connecting oceanview balcony cabins (9150 and 9152). We also traveled with good friends who had boys ages 14 and 12. All the adults had the drink package - and we got our money's worth!

 

We flew Toronto to FLL the day before and stayed at the Courtyard by Marriott Ft Lauderdale East. Took Lyft (very easy) for the half hour ride from the airport. Got the free hotel shuttle to Funky Buddha brewpub for some great beer and eats! Spent the evening relaxing at the hotel pool.

 

Embarkation

We all had boarding times of 2:00, but called for Lyft around 11:30. Had to wait about 20 minutes (they were all buzzing between the airport and the port) but had no real line ups to deal with when we got to port at 12:30. They opened up our rooms five minutes after we got onboard, so we ditched our carry ons and went to the Windjammer for lunch. Just easier to feed everyone in one spot.

 

Food

We had MTD, but after a great meal the first night we requested the same table and serving staff the rest of the week. Golabi at Grande on Deck 4 was super helpful, and Nenad (who is leaving the end of April) and Iwayan were a fantastic team. We had planned to eat at a specialty restaurant or two, but enjoyed the food enough in the MDR that we didn't bother. We were going to skip the formal nights, but after seeing how people dressed for regular dinner and asking our server, we confirmed that we would be fine in our dresses and collared shirt/pants. Nenad said "I wear the tie, so you don't have to" ;)

 

Ate dinner at Windjammer one night (late day in Falmouth), had lunches in a variety of places including the MDR, and breakfast either Solarium Bistro or Windjammer. Very happy with the quality and variety of food - not the best ever, but more than enough to keep us happy.

 

Entertainment

Only saw Grease and the Fine Line - both were fantastic. None of my boys (young and old) came to Grease - they would not have enjoyed it. Only the other mom and I went. The comedy show in the Attic was also great - adult only! Our favourite part though was Toby-Joe Reilly playing in the pub. We spent every night in there.

 

Activities

This was the first cruise our kids didn't use the Kids clubs. With one being 10 and the rest able to go to the Teen club, it just didn't work. They both did rock climbing, mini golf, table tennis, basketball, and one did Flowrider and one did ziplining. We all did the Abyss (our shortcut to Johnny Rockets for milkshakes!) and they did the water slides. Lots to do, but without the kids club there seemed to be a bit more down time in the room.

 

DS 10 and I also did the Sushi Making at Izumi - really fun, and a delicious early lunch too! $30 per person and we each made a spicy tuna roll, tempura shrimp roll, California hand roll and some shrimp negiri.

 

Ports

We just hung out at the beach under the Zipline on Labadee - had brought our snorkeling stuff but wasn't anything to see. the break wall there made for some good swimming though, and there was lots of room.

 

We booked a private tour for the 8 of us through Real Tours Jamaica in Falmouth for Dunns River Falls and jerk chicken or pork lunch at Scotchies. Perfect excursion for our group and nice to beat all the big motorcoaches from the ship to the Falls.

 

We enjoyed the almost empty boat in Cozumel - I can't stand the people soup that the pools are on sea days so this was perfect. Great day.

 

We also booked the Everglades Airboat tour and transfer to FLL through the ship for disembarkation. This was a nice way to spend our Saturday morning (if you like being close to alligators and other scaly things! Oh the things I do for my boys) before catching our 3:30 p.m. flight back to Toronto.

 

Overall Impression

Very fun trip, rarely felt like there were 5,500 other passengers. Lots of activities. Wouldn't want to do the same cruise again, but this was about the ship and not the ports. It will likely be back to more port intensive cruises for us after this one, but very glad we experienced the beautiful Harmony! Loved all the staff we interacted with!

[Cruisegirl6]

Thank you for writing your review, I only got to the part so far that you had a boarding time 2pm, do they tell you what time to show up, does RC. have staggered boarding?

[canadakath]

Thank you for writing your review, I only got to the part so far that you had a boarding time 2pm, do they tell you what time to show up, does RC. have staggered boarding?

Yes, you are assigned a boarding time during check in (which we did online about a week or so before). Based on reading reviews here, I was confident we could show up any time after 11:30 and get on without issues.

[MANDMTRAVEL]

HI, nice to hear you had a good time. For the Falmouth excursion did you book online or when you got there?

[canadakath]

HI, nice to hear you had a good time. For the Falmouth excursion did you book online or when you got there?

 

 

We booked online about 10 weeks out. Great company to work with, fantastic guide and driver. Very easy to walk through the port shopping area to the parking lot where they call out your tour company and the guide comes to meet you.

 

 

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[Nolefan95]

Thanks for the review. Just curious, you mentioned that "Toby-Joe Reilly playing in the pub" was your favorite entertainment. What made it so good?

 

Thanks.

[jyasneski]

Thanks for the review. Just curious, you mentioned that "Toby-Joe Reilly playing in the pub" was your favorite entertainment. What made it so good?

 

Thanks.

 

Curious to know this too. Also what kind of entertainment was in the Schooner Bar in the evenings?

[canadakath]

Thanks for the review. Just curious, you mentioned that "Toby-Joe Reilly playing in the pub" was your favorite entertainment. What made it so good?

 

 

 

Thanks.

 

 

Toby has a great voice and is a guitar wiz! He played everything from blues to alternative rock and was personable and interactive. Plus the pub had Stone IPA and Redhook so it was the best place on board for beer. That's just our vibe, I'm sure others would love Boleros or Dazzle, but not us. The bartenders took great care of us, and it's right across from Sorrentos for a late night pizza slice. It was my happy place!

 

 

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[canadakath]

Curious to know this too. Also what kind of entertainment was in the Schooner Bar in the evenings?

 

 

Sorry, we never went into the Schooner Bar.

 

 

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