Rare flannbarr Posted March 24, 2018 #1 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Here is my first live review of the March 31, 2018 (Easter week) sailing of the Harmony of the Seas to the Western Caribbean. I figured I might as well start early so here goes. I pondered whether to even do this review since Andrew (A&L_Ont) just live posted his recent cruise. My review will be much shorter and probably not nearly as much fun, but I am still going to do it. Maybe another perspective will be helpful for CC’ers. Family-A little about us. I am Steve, age 54. My wife, Patti, is 59 years young and our son, Logan, is 16 years old. We live in a suburb outside Detroit. Our oldest son is almost 24 years old, lives and works in Chicago and is not going on this cruise. Cruise Background-We love to travel and I love researching and booking vacations. This is our 14th cruise (11th cruise for Logan), 8th RCCL cruise and 4th Oasis class cruise. Most of our cruises have been in the Caribbean along with one fabulous Alaskan cruise. Cabin Selection-We don’t normally get very expensive cabins. Sometimes we get interior cabins which we like because it is so dark and leads to good sleep. We have also had Boardwalk Balcony and Central Park balcony cabins. I originally booked a balcony cabin on this cruise back in November 2017. Without my wife’s knowledge, I upgraded to a Grand Suite and then to an Owner’s Suite. A Royal Family Suite opened up and I upgraded to it for no charge. Then, I said what the heck and upgraded (for a cost) to a Two Bedroom Aquatheatre Suite (category A2). We will receive the Royal Genie experience so that should be fun. My wife and son knew nothing about any type of suite until a couple of weeks ago. Then the questionnaire from the Royal Genie arrived and I could not keep the secret any longer. Air-We booked our air through Air2Sea. It was over $100 cheaper per person than booking direct with the airline. We are flying from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale on 3/30/18. After the cruise, we are flying to New York City on 4/7/18 to spend a day with family before flying home to Detroit on 4/8/18. DW and DS will find out we are flying first class when we arrive at the airport on Friday. Pre-Cruise Hotel-We are staying at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel. We have stayed there prior to other cruises and have enjoyed it. We also have Marriott points so staying for free is always ideal. You can’t beat the location. It is within walking distance of decent restaurants for dinner the night before the cruise and very close to Port Everglades by Uber. Star Class and Royal Genie-On February 20, 2018, we received our Star Class questionnaire to complete. That was quite interesting and notched up my excitement for the cruise that was still 6 weeks away. I answered the questions separately for each of us. That is when I just had to tell my family what was really going on. They were really excited. Then my wife asked why we need to spend that much money. I told her we have been fertilizing the money tree in the back yard to which she now has several other things she would like to purchase. That was not the desired result that I was looking for. On March 3, 2018, I received my first e-mail from Royal Genie, Sebastian. He provided information and asked a few questions. I responded to his inquiries immediately. I have read good things about Sebastian on CC so I was really excited. Then comes the March 20, 2018 e-mail from Valentina who introduced herself as our new Royal Genie replacing Sebastian who was leaving Harmony for Symphony. I replied to Valentina and am awaiting her reply. CC doesn’t have much info on Valentina except I think she was recently a casino host on Allure. That is all I have for now. Harmony is currently at Port Everglades (3/24/18) for the final sailing before we board her. I will be back soon and am happy to answer your questions now and when I am the Harmony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hurls88 Posted March 24, 2018 #2 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Have a great cruise. following Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lovetocruise2002 Posted March 24, 2018 #3 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Flannbarr...so excited to follow along! And I am so happy that you decided to blog! I've been following your upgrade story since you posted it a while back and I had to laugh at your comment about the undesired results from fertilizing money [emoji38] Our family is the opposite from you in that I am the one who keeps upgrading us into higher categories and my hubby would be happy with an inside. We're cruising Star Class for the first time next March so any info you can provide would be so much appreciated, even if you think it's trivial. Thank you for posting the timeline for the questionnaire and emails. Have a great cruise!! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Lionesss Posted March 24, 2018 #4 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Very nice introduction. Looking forward to your travels. Enjoy, be safe. TY for taking us along. Sea Ya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
14Terry Posted March 24, 2018 #5 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Looking forward to your review, enjoy that cruise! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuCruise Posted March 24, 2018 #6 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Following along. Enjoy your cruise! Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wighty99 Posted March 25, 2018 #7 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Awesome - we booked an A2 for next year. Look forward to your review!! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PCWalton1 Posted March 25, 2018 #8 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Kind of early on the kickoff ;p:D Thanks for posting your experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loungelady55 Posted March 25, 2018 #9 Share Posted March 25, 2018 We will be getting on as you get off. Please roll out the red carpet for us when you leave. (Kidding) Thank you for the reading as I wait......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunni2315 Posted March 25, 2018 #10 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Looking forward to this! Staying in the same category, deck nine, in November! Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy planning mom Posted March 25, 2018 #11 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Here is my first live review of the March 31, 2018 (Easter week) sailing of the Harmony of the Seas to the Western Caribbean. I figured I might as well start early so here goes. I pondered whether to even do this review since Andrew (A&L_Ont) just live posted his recent cruise. My review will be much shorter and probably not nearly as much fun, but I am still going to do it. Maybe another perspective will be helpful for CC’ers. Family-A little about us. I am Steve, age 54. My wife, Patti, is 59 years young and our son, Logan, is 16 years old. We live in a suburb outside Detroit. Our oldest son is almost 24 years old, lives and works in Chicago and is not going on this cruise. Cruise Background-We love to travel and I love researching and booking vacations. This is our 14th cruise (11th cruise for Logan), 8th RCCL cruise and 4th Oasis class cruise. Most of our cruises have been in the Caribbean along with one fabulous Alaskan cruise. Cabin Selection-We don’t normally get very expensive cabins. Sometimes we get interior cabins which we like because it is so dark and leads to good sleep. We have also had Boardwalk Balcony and Central Park balcony cabins. I originally booked a balcony cabin on this cruise back in November 2017. Without my wife’s knowledge, I upgraded to a Grand Suite and then to an Owner’s Suite. A Royal Family Suite opened up and I upgraded to it for no charge. Then, I said what the heck and upgraded (for a cost) to a Two Bedroom Aquatheatre Suite (category A2). We will receive the Royal Genie experience so that should be fun. My wife and son knew nothing about any type of suite until a couple of weeks ago. Then the questionnaire from the Royal Genie arrived and I could not keep the secret any longer. Air-We booked our air through Air2Sea. It was over $100 cheaper per person than booking direct with the airline. We are flying from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale on 3/30/18. After the cruise, we are flying to New York City on 4/7/18 to spend a day with family before flying home to Detroit on 4/8/18. DW and DS will find out we are flying first class when we arrive at the airport on Friday. Pre-Cruise Hotel-We are staying at the Renaissance Fort Lauderdale Cruise Port Hotel. We have stayed there prior to other cruises and have enjoyed it. We also have Marriott points so staying for free is always ideal. You can’t beat the location. It is within walking distance of decent restaurants for dinner the night before the cruise and very close to Port Everglades by Uber. Star Class and Royal Genie-On February 20, 2018, we received our Star Class questionnaire to complete. That was quite interesting and notched up my excitement for the cruise that was still 6 weeks away. I answered the questions separately for each of us. That is when I just had to tell my family what was really going on. They were really excited. Then my wife asked why we need to spend that much money. I told her we have been fertilizing the money tree in the back yard to which she now has several other things she would like to purchase. That was not the desired result that I was looking for. On March 3, 2018, I received my first e-mail from Royal Genie, Sebastian. He provided information and asked a few questions. I responded to his inquiries immediately. I have read good things about Sebastian on CC so I was really excited. Then comes the March 20, 2018 e-mail from Valentina who introduced herself as our new Royal Genie replacing Sebastian who was leaving Harmony for Symphony. I replied to Valentina and am awaiting her reply. CC doesn’t have much info on Valentina except I think she was recently a casino host on Allure. That is all I have for now. Harmony is currently at Port Everglades (3/24/18) for the final sailing before we board her. I will be back soon and am happy to answer your questions now and when I am the Harmony. Hi Steve. My husband, 15 year old son and I will also be on the cruise. We will be in a regular Oceanview balcony cabin. How great that you have a huge suite. Your teen will love that. We are Flying from NY to Fort Lauderdale on Thursday. We have a place in Boca Raton and will be staying there. There is a meet and mingle for this cruise.:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mac_tlc Posted March 25, 2018 #12 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Great surprise for the family!!! Following along and interested in your impressions of Star Class. We have an A1 on Oasis in August. mac_tlc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare flannbarr Posted March 25, 2018 Author #13 Share Posted March 25, 2018 Hi Steve. My husband, 15 year old son and I will also be on the cruise. We will be in a regular Oceanview balcony cabin. How great that you have a huge suite. Your teen will love that. We are Flying from NY to Fort Lauderdale on Thursday. We have a place in Boca Raton and will be staying there. There is a meet and mingle for this cruise.:) Excellent. I am signed up for the meet and mingle. We look forward to meeting you in a few days. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3happykids! Posted March 26, 2018 #14 Share Posted March 26, 2018 looking forward to reading your review. Have a great time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxermom711 Posted March 26, 2018 #15 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Following. Planning on cruising on Harmony in June 2019. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Keith1010 Posted March 26, 2018 #16 Share Posted March 26, 2018 I am also following along. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimeToGetNauti Posted March 26, 2018 #17 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Thanks for sharing your cruise with us. Have a great trip. I am looking forward to following along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgiafan Posted March 26, 2018 #18 Share Posted March 26, 2018 i'll be following along as this is the same ports as when I'll be on. Do you have any excursions booked yet ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sherrerakacik Posted March 26, 2018 #19 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Following along as well Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEENSAILING Posted March 26, 2018 #20 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Have A GREAT CRUISE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare L1211 Posted March 26, 2018 #21 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Where did you sign up for the meet and mingle? First time RCI cruisers on this sailing with you guys. My spring breakers are a bit older - 17 and 18 and in their own cabin!! Looking forward to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted March 26, 2018 #22 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Where did you sign up for the meet and mingle? First time RCI cruisers on this sailing with you guys. My spring breakers are a bit older - 17 and 18 and in their own cabin!! Looking forward to it! https://secure.royalcaribbean.com/ccEntry.do Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare flannbarr Posted March 28, 2018 Author #23 Share Posted March 28, 2018 i'll be following along as this is the same ports as when I'll be on. Do you have any excursions booked yet ? Wife and son hope to zip line in Labadee. They have done that on prior cruises. In Cozumel, we usually take a taxi to Paradise Beach for the day. Jamaica-no thank you. We will stay on the ship and maybe walk around the port area. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare JamesEM Posted March 28, 2018 #24 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Following along. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaiseyM Posted March 28, 2018 #25 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Have you heard anything from your new genie yet? I’m curious, is booking your airline tickets usually less expensive if you’re booking through RCO? I have 5 tickets to buy for next Christmas at peak time. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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