Just off Harmony 7/8/17 - First Summertime Caribbean Cruise

[sharktums]

Harmony of the Seas 7/8/17

 

Background Details:

Diamond Plus

Live in Florida

Myself, husband, 10yo daughter, and my mother

Soda Package

Unlimited Surf and Stream

Ultimate Dining Package (loved this!!!!)

Central Park Balcony (booked neighborhood guarantee)

Very experienced cruisers, love Oasis class, have done Harmony before...but never done a Caribbean cruise in the summer before!

 

Crowd:

The crowd was quite different than what we're used to. We don't always sail at dead times. We did Harmony over Thanksgiving last year, we've done Oasis over Spring Break, but man, this summer crowd...1700+ under 18's on board. LOTS of big family groups, weddings, quinceaneras, livelier group for sure. Balconies were full of clothes, towels, and toys! Flowrider was rented out every night, busy mini-golf, only 1000 crown and anchor members so a lot of newbies. My husband always stays up late and he was happy to see the ship wasn't a ghost town after 11pm which it seems happens a lot on our other cruises. Even on the last night when the ship is usually deserted, he gave up on taking 'empty' photos at 1:30am when it was still packed everywhere. Not saying this is a negative, we actually had a great time. But for anyone who is already worried about the crowds on these big ships, or children...avoid the summer.

 

Internet:

We own our own internet based business and for us to be able to travel we have to be connected. We love the Voom Internet and have used it on all of the Oasis class ships, even Harmony last November. This trip however, there were TOO many people on it and it CRAWLED and made doing business quite difficult for us. The IT people refused to acknowledge a problem and said everything was fine even though there was always a giant line of people with errors and complaints of not getting the speed they were paying for.

 

Ultimate Dining Package:

Look, I love RCCL, but I'll admit the dining room has certainly gone down hill over the years. We've found ourselves doing more and more specialty restaurants, or using Windjammer or the other free options more. When I saw a sale on the Ultimate Dining Package we decided to spring for it. Purchased for the three adults in our party, and notified once onboard that we also had a 10 year old. REALLY loved the package and it will be hard to not get it every time from now on. We ate at Izumi, Wonderland, 150 Central Park, Sabor, Johnny Rocket's, Jamie's (2), Chops (3). That's seven dinners and three lunches all included. Plus it gave us a reason to try restaurants that we wouldn't have normally tried for the price. I don't think we would return to Wonderland, but it was certainly a unique experience. Service was hit and miss at the specialty restaurants. Johnny Rocket's was certainly at the bottom with a waiter that barely spoke English and brought us cold food. We had a wonderful Indian waiter for one of our Jamie's meals and he made the meal that much better. There definitely seemed to be a lot more eastern European wait staff than the previous strongholds of India and the Philippines.

 

Stateroom:

We've stayed in anything from an interior to an aqua suite on the Oasis class and this was our second time in a CP Balcony. We got it at a great price thanks to a 'neighborhood guarantee balcony' deal. We did not like it as much this time. We were on deck 12 and it was REALLY loud due to the pool area above us, plus I do think I like being able to see 'outside' of the ship, even if it's just a little sliver in a boardwalk room.

 

Activities:

My daughter was finally tall AND heavy enough for the Zip Line and she enjoyed it. Along with rock climbing, golf, ping pong, the big slide, pool area and slides, we all had a great time. She's not a big fan of the kids club on RCCL anymore as she feels the activities are too 'boy centered' and it did smell like a gym every time we went in there with 75% sweaty boys and a few girls standing around. We've done a lot of the trivia, scavenger hunt, etc. activities before so didn't repeat too many but I would like to say that I think they need to up their game with these activities and the staff running them.

 

Entertainment:

Love the aqua show, love spinning guy! We had an abridged version of the show last time because of a mechanical problem so the show was MUCH better this time! My mom and daughter went to see Grease and really enjoyed it (I'm not a fan of Grease so didn't bother). Love Broadway music and talent though, so I was happy to see they just started something that we had only seen on Oasis prior. A Broadway cabaret night in the Jazz Lounge with the very talented singers and music director pianist. They apparently just started this a few weeks ago on Harmony, but if you ever see it on your cruise and like broadway music, GO!

 

Ports of Call:

LOL! Does anyone really go on this ship for Cozumel? We gave a courtesy lap of Jamaica and Cozumel (again, we've done excursions in these places before and didn't need to this time), and had a beach morning in Labadee.

 

Weather:

HOT!!!! Wow, I mean, I live in Florida so I know about heat and humidity, but this was worse than expected. Where were my nice cooling ocean breezes? Also, the ship was quite hot as the AC just couldn't compete against the heat with such a big open ship. The elevators at times were like mini-sauna's!

 

Pokemon:

Yes, I play Pokemon Go and I enjoy it! Added bonus, my daughter and I play together and she teaches me all of the little guys names! Obviously on Sea Days you can't do anything, but all ports have stops, gyms, and Pokemon, and in fact there were some places (Falmouth) where I could be on the ships WiFi and reach a stop/gym and catch pokemon/battle! Other than that I did use some international data in Labadee and Cozumel.

 

Loyalty Ambassador:

She was super nice and put together better events than we had seen on other ships (Ice Cream Social). Also could be that there were so few Diamond and above. (I believe she said 200 Diamond, Plus, Pinnacle combined)

 

Debarkation:

This is always the worst, but I had a feeling with so many new cruisers that they would be more traditional and put their bags out and wait to be called. Therefore, we decided to bite the bullet and go for Self Carry Express and got up at 6am, walked out of the room at 6:40am, and were in my car by 7am! Best experience (other than waking up early!) ever!

 

 

I can try to answer questions if you have any but note that I threw away all of the compasses and we don't really drink alcohol so that narrows down quite a bit I think!

 

Thanks for reading!

[easyboy]

Thank you for your review.

[mbrownferrier]

Thanks for taking the time for your review. We will be on the Harmony in May for Memorial Day. Hopefully many of the kids will still be in school. Lol

 

 

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[HappyCruiser54]

What is the age and weight for zip line

[Merion_Mom]

Absolutely fabulous write-up, sharktums. Thank you for taking the time and effort to post this. When I was reading it, I did a doubletake at this:

 

Harmony of the Seas 7/8/17

 

Ultimate Dining Package:

Look, I love RCCL, but I'll admit the dining room has certainly gone down hill over the years. We've found ourselves doing more and more specialty restaurants, or using Windjammer or the other free options more. When I saw a sale on the Ultimate Dining Package we decided to spring for it. Purchased for the three adults in our party, and notified once onboard that we also had a 10 year old. REALLY loved the package and it will be hard to not get it every time from now on. We ate at Izumi, Wonderland, 150 Central Park, Sabor, Johnny Rocket's, Jamie's (2), Chops (3). That's seven dinners and three lunches all included. Plus it gave us a reason to try restaurants that we wouldn't have normally tried for the price. I don't think we would return to Wonderland, but it was certainly a unique experience. Service was hit and miss at the specialty restaurants. Johnny Rocket's was certainly at the bottom with a waiter that barely spoke English and brought us cold food. We had a wonderful Indian waiter for one of our Jamie's meals and he made the meal that much better. There definitely seemed to be a lot more eastern European wait staff than the previous strongholds of India and the Philippines.

 

 

The first time I read it, I read "and noticed, once onboard, that we also had a 10 year old."

 

I was thinking, WHAT????? You hadn't noticed that you brought your 10 year old daughter with you?

 

LOL

 

So, thanks for the Saturday evening laugh.

 

:D

[TonyL128]

We were on that sailing too and I must agree that was the most kids I've seen on any of our sailings on Oasis class ships (8). We were in a Grand suite so we had access to the Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen and even there, they were overran by big families with lots of kids. One family had 6 preteen kids!

 

Since my DW works for a school district, we are used to sailing on ships with lots of kids. But even she had to complain to Customer Service when kids were running (and stomping) in the corridor after 11PM.

 

What made this sailing memorable for us was the helipad sail-away party, Labadee cabana and Rio Secreto excursion in Cozumel.

 

No matter, we will always enjoy ourselves on Royal because of the people we meet and the service we received. A big shoutout to Allan Gentile, the new Executive Chef on Harmony, who made our dinners special; Angelica, our waitstaff in Wonderland, who went above and beyond; Edy, our room attendant, who kept our room spotless and well stocked; Arvie, our Wonderland bartender, go try his Rolling Stone and you will keep rolling back; Anoop and Laurence in Coastal Kitchen, who always made us feel welcomed; and finally, Raj and Cheker, the two best Suite Concierge, anywhere on any Oasis class ship!

 

 

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[Clarea]

Great report, thanks!

[sharktums]

What is the age and weight for zip line

 

52" and 75lbs. I don't remember seeing an age restriction.

 

Thanks everyone for the comments.

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Sharktums, thanks for your thorough review. We will be on Harmony in December. Much of what you said reminded me so much of a Fourth of July cruise we took on Allure a few years ago. Boy, was it hot and, yes, the ship was loaded with kids and large families.

 

We are Diamond Plus on Royal...will probably never make it to Pinnacle due to our age. I found it interesting that so few D, D+ and P were on your particular sailing. Only two hundred among all those people, that is surprising.

 

Thanks to your advice, we might consider a dining package being as we aren't inclined to eat in the main dining room on any cruise anymore, regardless of ship. The Windjammer is more convenient and the specialty restaurants are more interesting.

 

I'm glad you liked Harmony. We have enjoyed our cruises on Allure and Oasis, so we are looking forward to the newer shows on Harmony and the restaurants we haven't tried before.

[marcypett]

We are sailing on Harmony in September with our 13 and 8 yo. The 13 year old wants to do Rubicon so hoping they will make an age exception for him being only 11 months shy from their 14 year old minimum. I'll have to weight my daugther and see if she'll be able to do the zipline but I think she'll like the Kids club, merry go round, ice skating rink and hoping she likes the shows. I'm on the fence about getting them the soda package. They get free sodas in the MDR, right? And free ice cream around the pool deck, too, correct? So I'm thinking a soda and ice cream treat per day should be suffice. Can you confirm these two questions?

[Moon Orchid]

Hello, I sailed on Harmony last December. Love this ship. My sister in-law will cruise on her this August. It will be her first cruise with Royal. She wants to check out her dining table after boarding so she can do the changes if needed.I can't remember if they let me know the dining table number when I check in or only find out at 1 p.m after I get my sea pass from the envelope outside of my door .Can you please let me know so I can tell her. Thank you.

[TonyL128]

Hello, I sailed on Harmony last December. Love this ship. My sister in-law will cruise on her this August. It will be her first cruise with Royal. She wants to check out her dining table after boarding so she can do the changes if needed.I can't remember if they let me know the dining table number when I check in or only find out at 1 p.m after I get my sea pass from the envelope outside of my door .Can you please let me know so I can tell her. Thank you.

 

 

 

The MDR will be open on embarkation day, deck 5 aft, she can go and ask the host/hostess to show her the table with her stateroom number.

 

 

 

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[Moon Orchid]

The MDR will be open on embarkation day, deck 5 aft, she can go and ask the host/hostess to show her the table with her stateroom number.

 

 

 

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Oh, thank you. You would think after cruising with Royal for years I should know that :D.Learn something new everyday. I will tell her to do just that. Thanks again. Happy cruising.

[TonyL128]

We are sailing on Harmony in September with our 13 and 8 yo. The 13 year old wants to do Rubicon so hoping they will make an age exception for him being only 11 months shy from their 14 year old minimum. I'll have to weight my daugther and see if she'll be able to do the zipline but I think she'll like the Kids club, merry go round, ice skating rink and hoping she likes the shows. I'm on the fence about getting them the soda package. They get free sodas in the MDR, right? And free ice cream around the pool deck, too, correct? So I'm thinking a soda and ice cream treat per day should be suffice. Can you confirm these two questions?

 

 

 

There is no free soda onboard anywhere. You get water, juice (not fresh squeezed), punch, lemonade, ice tea, milk, coffee, tea and hot chocolate in MDR or Windjammer.

 

There are two soft serve ice cream machine on Deck 15, one on each side of the aft elevators.

 

 

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[mrsaknar]

"What made this sailing memorable for us was the helipad sail-away party, Labadee cabana and Rio Secreto excursion in Cozumel. "

 

We are sailing in October ~ First time on Harmony. Is the Helipad Sail-Away Party for everyone? Sounds fabulous!!!

[TonyL128]

"What made this sailing memorable for us was the helipad sail-away party, Labadee cabana and Rio Secreto excursion in Cozumel. "

 

 

 

We are sailing in October ~ First time on Harmony. Is the Helipad Sail-Away Party for everyone? Sounds fabulous!!!

 

 

 

Sorry, it was for Sky and Star Class Suites.

 

 

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[DISFANS3]

Awesome report...

[Geoffa30]

Interesting to see you're on Cruise Critic Sharktums. Always enjoy following your adventures on TPR etc. :D

[Sascol]

1700 under 18???? Wow. This is why we cruise in the fall. Maybe there are 17 under 18!

[TonyL128]

Interesting to see you're on Cruise Critic Sharktums. Always enjoy following your adventures on TPR etc. :D

 

 

 

Actually the final count was closer to 1800 with 6400+ total passengers.

 

 

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[scorpluvsdolphins]

Thanks for the review. The helicopter pad didn't include the pinnacles?

 

I go on cruises specifically to go to Cozumel because I scuba dive. It is one of the best in the Caribbean.

I have spent one week each in Bonaire and Curacao, but I still love Cozumel.

 

Did you spend any time in the solarium? If so did you care that there wasn't a small pool?

Thanks.

 

 

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[TonyL128]

Thanks for the review. The helicopter pad didn't include the pinnacles?

 

I go on cruises specifically to go to Cozumel because I scuba dive. It is one of the best in the Caribbean.

I have spent one week each in Bonaire and Curacao, but I still love Cozumel.

 

Did you spend any time in the solarium? If so did you care that there wasn't a small pool?

Thanks.

 

 

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There were only 2 Pinnacles on this cruise, I didn't see them on the helipad.

 

We didn't dive in Cozumel because we dove "the wall" in Nassau the week before.

 

The are two hot tubs in the Solarium, but we spent time on the Suite Sundeck instead because it was much less crowded and there's a hot tub up there too.

 

 

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[MACE]

We were on the 6/24/17 cruise...agree about Voom: very slow a lot of times, sometimes not even working. Of course IT said all was good and they knew of no bandwidth or data throttle problems

 

We experienced problems like the A/C being sub par in our Balcony FWD 12184 cabin (Deck Supervisor provided a fan, which I saw in a few other cabins on our deck), the Interactive TV freezing, menus shown for that night in the MDR not actually being served, drinks being charged to my Ultimate Drink Package (all resolved with calling Guest Relations from our cabin phone), BUT after some 25 cruises overall and our 10th on RCI, these glitches were far out weighed by all the positives with HOTS, especially an awesome Waitress, Assistant Waitress, and Cabin Steward, that to date: HOTS and this cruise is our favorite.

 

We thought overall the shows were really good, though my Wife and Daughter who are big Grease Fans said that show was just OK, We never had a complaint about our MDR meals in the Deck 5 Silk Restaurant and also thought the all Complementary eating venues were good, and it helps if you hit the Windjammer off hours for both breakfast and lunch to miss the madness and rush of finding a seat.

 

Still in HOTS detox...lol

[Sascol]

We are sailing on Harmony in September with our 13 and 8 yo. The 13 year old wants to do Rubicon so hoping they will make an age exception for him being only 11 months shy from their 14 year

 

11 months is pretty substantial when talkIng about a 13 year old. I'd suspect not. No offense, but as a paying adult, if I were participating I'd HOPE not.

[sharktums]

Interesting to see you're on Cruise Critic Sharktums. Always enjoy following your adventures on TPR etc. :D

 

Thanks! Cruising is how we actually vacation as opposed to amusement parks!

 

To answer a few other questions...

 

- We love the soda package on ships with the Freestyle Machines. Just love those machines and I drink way too much soda because of it but I think it's worth it. I believe it's only Disney and high end ships that do free soda with meals.

 

- We're not big Solarium people and only went up a couple of times for pictures and to check it out. Way too hot every time, so I get what people say about wanting a pool in there to cool down, especially during the summer months.

 

- Good luck with the escape room and your son. I hope they let him in. My then 8 year old did it on Quantum (booked her in before they set the age limit and they honored it) and LOVED it as she's done escape rooms before and enjoys them. Sure your average child may not be into it, but she was cooperative, worked with the group and legitimately helped. I don't believe this attraction should have an age limit, especially as an upcharge.

 

Thanks again, happy to answer anything else. Trying to figure out what to book next!