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Harmony Solarium Thumbs Down!!!


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I liked Harmony's better too over the Allure. I only go there on windy/breezy days....or its just too hot. I had the joy of having windy days on both cruises, and I felt the airflow was much improved on Harmony. I didn't mind the whistling like sound of the plastic vs the glass either. I felt the sound helped to drown out the noise of others. I don't use the pools much so not a big deal to me. I go to sit, read and watch the ocean go by.

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Voyager and Freedom Class have open Solariums...much nicer than then "enclosed" ones! You can tan in a much quieter environment. On ships with the enclosed solariums, you can't tan in there, pool or not.

For us, that's a plus, because we're sensitive to sun exposure as it relates to skin cancer.

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Wow. Big bummer for us. What about symphony? We used the solarium almost every sea day from 2-5 we'd drop our son at kids club , teen was roaming with friends. So we'd get cocktails go in pool (even tho esther small it was nice break from on kids) it would get crowded around 3:30-5. We'd met some pretty nice folks there as well. About the only time we could connect with others and not have kids in tow of loud noises distractions. That was just one of our highlights. Without the pool I can't say on a hot day I'd want a hot tub. Even the pool got warm on hot days and with lots of bodies.

 

 

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On the NCL's bigger ships (away class), their adult areas don't have pools either, they have 'water features' so doing away with the pools seems to be a trend

 

I don't really used pools and liked the grotto on the Escape. I don't remember it being so hot as compared to other solariums. Prefer something that lets air flow and maybe some shade on Caribbean cruises.

 

A nicer water feature, more shade and breeze and I'd have liked the Harmony solarium fine. Didn't seem quite as hot as others but could use some other improvements wo actually adding in a pool at this stage. Some steel drum music lightly playing in the background wouldn't hurt either.

 

Bar was often crowded as it was on Harmony, not sure how it would be if the Solarium was used more.

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Although I liked Harmony I prefer Allure. The solarium is one of the main reasons plus the Boardwalk which is also badly designed

 

What do you object to in the design of the Boardwalk?

 

 

So Harmony's solarium doesn't even have hot tubs???

 

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Hot tubs, yes. "Pool", no. Although as someone else pointed out, the so-called pool in the Oasis and Allure solarium is more of a bird bath. ;)

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So Harmony's solarium doesn't even have hot tubs???

 

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I can understand why you would say this since you are reading cc, but, yes it has a very large hot tub and the suite sun deck has a very nice hot tub also, something oasis/allure don't have

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On Anthem the Solarium "pools" are itty bitty shallow dipping things, maybe thigh deep at best, and cold. Nobody used them much. The hot tubs were very crowded though. I guess that's the progression from older ships to newer, just keep downsizing the Solarium pool until there isn't one!

Hardly the progression. Majesty and Empress don't have Solarium pools, or solarium for that matter

 

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Who ever designed the Harmony Solarium should be Keeled Hulled. All the design team & top people of RCCL really dropped the ball on this. Hope the Symphony does not make the same mistake.

I guess with all the complaining about the "pool" in the solarium of Oasis and Allure RCI figured they would fix the problem by getting rid of it all together.... Probably not the fix that people were looking for.

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I guess with all the complaining about the "pool" in the solarium of Oasis and Allure RCI figured they would fix the problem by getting rid of it all together.... Probably not the fix that people were looking for.

Be careful what you ask for I guess.

 

But it may have fixed the chair hogging

 

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Just saw this article on the Royal Caribbean Blog back in May and it seems like they heard the complaints about the Solarium on the Harmony.

During a conference call with members of the media, Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley mentioned something about Symphony of the Seas' Solarium that has caught the attention of a few folks.

With any new ship, one of the most common questions is usually about what makes this ship different from other ships in her class. Bayley was not keen to share many details, but did indicate the adults-only area towards of the front of the ship will be "quite a lot" different from ones on other Oasis Class ships.

What that means is anyone's guess, but perhaps this could signify the return of a pool in the Solarium, following the omission of a Solarium pool on Harmony of the Seas.

 

 

 

55

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Just saw this article on the Royal Caribbean Blog back in May and it seems like they heard the complaints about the Solarium on the Harmony.

During a conference call with members of the media, Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley mentioned something about Symphony of the Seas' Solarium that has caught the attention of a few folks.

With any new ship, one of the most common questions is usually about what makes this ship different from other ships in her class. Bayley was not keen to share many details, but did indicate the adults-only area towards of the front of the ship will be "quite a lot" different from ones on other Oasis Class ships.

What that means is anyone's guess, but perhaps this could signify the return of a pool in the Solarium, following the omission of a Solarium pool on Harmony of the Seas.

 

 

 

55

Having no pool would be different than most of the Oasis ships. [emoji6]

 

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We are wrapping up a beautiful week on Harmony of the Seas. The crew is outstanding. My only complaint is this solarium. Royal Caribbean completely dropped the ball when designing this space. If you've sailed Oasis and Allure and used their solarium you'll be greatly disappointed with Harmony's solarium concept. Just look at the photo. We are on the last sea day and the solarium is a ghost town but not a chair to be found elsewhere. The lack of a pool, a signature feature of all Royal Caribbean solariums has destroyed this iconic space. Also, instead of glass panels, there are plastic panels which trap the heat and sound horrific. We were so disappointed with this throughout this week and will not sail Harmony again until (or even if) it's fixed.

 

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Look! Not a single towel, beach bag, or other item holding chairs for hours for people who aren't there! Wow!

 

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If that picture is of the Brilliance, we'll be very happy as we cruise on her over Thanksgiving.

 

I guess googling "Harmony Solarium Pool" turns up any solarium pool on Royal ships.:*:eek:

 

We are in the same sailing of the Brilliance over Thanksgiving. Love that ship!!

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I am not sure why you would call the Allure Solarium pool a "bird bath". We did a 13 day TA on the Allure and were in the solarium pool every day. It is about waist high and on some days it was heated and on some days not. It was always a cool respite from the hottish solarium air. True you can't swim laps in it but you can't do that too easily in the other pools either.

 

It was our favorite spot on the ship with the attached Bistro open for breakfast and lunch. It would be very hard to get us on the Harmony without it. Our next TA is on the Brilliance and the Solarium is always our first stop

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I am not sure why you would call the Allure Solarium pool a "bird bath". We did a 13 day TA on the Allure and were in the solarium pool every day. It is about waist high and on some days it was heated and on some days not. It was always a cool respite from the hottish solarium air. True you can't swim laps in it but you can't do that too easily in the other pools either.

 

 

 

It was our favorite spot on the ship with the attached Bistro open for breakfast and lunch. It would be very hard to get us on the Harmony without it. Our next TA is on the Brilliance and the Solarium is always our first stop

 

 

 

We loved it too. But I thought the bird bath comment was hysterical [emoji24]

 

 

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