Just back from Harmony - June 30- July 7 - Happy to answer questions

[acegolfer25]

How were the seas? I'm on Harmony next year the week of 4th of July and my family is a little worried about rough seas (usually we only cruise in the Spring). I know that seas change and such but thought I would ask.

 

I was on harmony 2 weeks ago. When we were on deck 16, we could feel the ship rocking. But hardly noticeable in our cabin (deck 8 forward). We usually cruise in January. Can't tell the difference.

[SusieQT]

How were the seas? I'm on Harmony next year the week of 4th of July and my family is a little worried about rough seas (usually we only cruise in the Spring). I know that seas change and such but thought I would ask.

 

The seas were smooth. A little rainy. This week is completely different though so it’s just luck!

[big al]

We sailed with 6500 passengers and it was A LOT of people. 45 Quinceanera girls with their families, they were beautiful and it was fun to observe. It felt like most other passengers were in groups much larger than ours. Of course it was a holiday week.

 

This was our 5th RCCL, but we haven't cruised in 8 years. Have also done 2 on Disney, a couple of Celebrity, and a few Carnival back in the 80's & 90s. I prefer land based vacations now that my kids are older.

 

This was a 3 generation cruise, ages 71-9. We did not do any kid club or teen activities per my kids choice.

 

There was NOT lobster in Windjammer on Lobster night. In fact, the dinners at Windjammer were nothing like the menu in the Main Dining room. Our MTD was at 8pm so we peeked in at Windjammer a few days. I did enjoy making a plate of cheese and fruit in Windjammer to eat while I got ready for dinner.

 

We were not charged a corkage fee and had wine nightly with dinner. Sometimes 2 bottles that we brought with us. We had 4 cabins and brought 8 bottles of wine.

 

 

GREAT -

 

Embarkation at 10:30am was quick and smooth. We were in the first 50 people to board the ship.

 

 

our cabin steward was probably the best we have ever had. Christian from the Phillipines, deck 14.

 

Aqua shows

 

Bananas Flambe in Windjammer at dinner, the merengue on the lemon cupcakes and the cream cheese frosting on the carrot cupcakes.

 

Wonderland - if you like that type of dining. Pedro was our server and I predict he will be a star one day with RCCL. This was the only specialty dining we did and I would've eaten there every night. Next cruise I will budget to do specialty dining every night. We went back the next night at Pedro's invitation for just dessert for our family, it's $10 per dessert, not per person.

 

Group lesson on Flow Rider - well worth the $65, we did it on embarkation day.

 

Refreshment package - we surprised our teenagers with this - it was fun to try fruity drinks and they also did specialty coffees every day and fresh OJ about every other day.

 

Park Cafe was great for lunch. I really enjoyed Central Park.

 

Solarium was nice and quiet and not very busy. Always plenty of chairs and those clam shell palapas to choose from.

 

Ship laundry - we did the press for our dress shirts the first day. Then DH continued to drip food on his clothes and the stains were gone after using the laundry service. Well worth the $, it's quite inexpensive.

 

Captain Johnny was a hoot.

 

We did the luggage valet for 1 room (we had 2 connecting cabins) - well worth the $60. ($25 per person plus the extra $10 since we had to pay the extra 2nd bag fee to American)

 

DISASTER -

 

My Time Dining - dinner consistently took 2 -2.5 hours even though we told them we wanted quick service. Our reservations were 7:30-8. So we missed all of the shows and a lot of the evening entertainment.

 

Shore excursions - there was never anyone there or anyone who could competently answer questions about the Grease Behind the Scenes tour. We did not book it.

 

Spa - we did the tour on the first day and they were so slow and rude with making reservations that we gave up. We saved a ton of $ that way so it all worked out. We also tried to book a hot stone massage for my 17 year old but you have to be 18. My sister did the glue on eyelashes (the ones they glue to your own lashes) and they all stuck to her pillow the first night and fell off. She did not put mascara or makeup remover on them.

 

Labadee was just ok - I am allergic to Mango and that is a key ingredient in the Labadoozie - they were very reluctant to make a frozen margarita - super odd. I did convince the lady making the pineapple filled pina colada to give me pina colada without the pineapple upcharge since I was allergic to mango. Most of the bars only had Labadoozies and beer. We went to Columbus Cove. Plenty of shade. I'm a beach snob and thought it wasn't very pretty.

 

WOW bands - my daughter's didn't work nearly every day - we went through 3 bands. They would frequently just write down the cabin number and then my account would be charged instead of hers. We went to guest services daily to have it adjusted.

 

Debarkation at 9am took 45 minutes......we had plenty of time for our 12 noon flight from FLL but still......

 

 

Thanks for the review..we are on HOTS in November..next time, do MTD at 6:30-6:45 the latest..you went at prime time ( 7-8 pm)..NEVER go past 6:45, it gets too busy..I know it can be hard to get everybody to go a little early, but we have had NO problems going early and many more problems going late..also TELL the waiters you are trying to "make a show" at "XX time" ( like 9 pm tell them..)..we do that everytime and on 36 cruises, we have never missed a show...just some FYI..

 

Big Al

[SusieQT]

Thanks for the review..we are on HOTS in November..next time, do MTD at 6:30-6:45 the latest..you went at prime time ( 7-8 pm)..NEVER go past 6:45, it gets too busy..I know it can be hard to get everybody to go a little early, but we have had NO problems going early and many more problems going late..also TELL the waiters you are trying to "make a show" at "XX time" ( like 9 pm tell them..)..we do that everytime and on 36 cruises, we have never missed a show...just some FYI..

 

Big Al

 

We tried for earlier but no luck for a party of 9. We would get there by 7:15-7:30 so as soon as our table was ready we would be seated. We also told them we were in a hurry. The team was the problem. Nothing made it faster....

[BLAMBKY]

That’s crazy! We were on the same cruise last week and had my time dining. We ate there twice (day 1 and 3) and were finished within 90 minutes max. We sat down at 5:30 and were done by 7. (We did speciality dining or WJ all other days.)

I am interested to know the size of the OP and your groups. Possibly the size of the group was more than on server could handle and caused it to be slower service? I noticed on Oasis, larger tables were there eating appetizers when my family of four arrived & we usually finished dessert before they did. Edit- should have kept reading, i just saw OP was party of 9. OP- did you only have one server, helper or four people total helping?

[SusieQT]

I am interested to know the size of the OP and your groups. Possibly the size of the group was more than on server could handle and caused it to be slower service? I noticed on Oasis, larger tables were there eating appetizers when my family of four arrived & we usually finished dessert before they did. Edit- should have kept reading, i just saw OP was party of 9. OP- did you only have one server, helper or four people total helping?

 

1 server & 1 asst. We were right by the entrance so the head waiter was near - but unhelpful. We ordered everything at once & quickly. We spent 30+ minutes after apps were cleared waiting for mains & the same mains to dessert. I left before dessert twice & my family brought it to go. Once because I had a headache and the last night so I could finish packing.

[BillOh]

We were western - Labadee, Falmouth and Cozumel.

 

 

Thanks for taking the time. Plenty of interesting information there.

[ma23peas]

We have only sailed Disney (7 times-all ships), but are trying RCCI with Liberty of the Seas that has two of the ports you had.

1. Comparison of the two lines?

2. Any favorite excursions for Falmouth and Cozumel?

3. What do you like to do on the ships for cruising days? Any activities not to miss? Our kids are all in college now-they would love the sushi making class if the Liberty has one!

4. How long is the port exit Times, can we be off the ship right at the times posted or are there delays?

Thanks!!!

[2Long2NxtCrz]

I think the problem for your MDR slow service had to be the later time. I know before this last cruise on HoTS (June 2nd) we always booked later, 7 to 7:30, and the service was slow, but that was usually okay since we were more about dancing and later entertainment. This time I had booked a show every night and I wanted to make them so I made our reservations for 6:15pm, every night. The service was incredible and that was with a party of eight. The server does make all the difference. The table we had the first night was awful. We asked to be moved. Got the best service and stayed there.

[seapad]

We'll be on board in 2 days :)

- Which day is the 2nd formal night....is it Day 5 or day 6? trying to figure out which night for specialty dinning.

- Anyone noticed how crowded is the kids splash-away area?

 

We'll be cruising with a 3 and 10 year olds.

 

Thanks in advance!

[sdrocks]

We were on Harmony June 16- 23.. Our group of 11 also experienced extremely slow dinners, min 2 hours. We didn't want MTD, but anything over 11 is what they do. Rest of the ship we loved. We ate many times in WJ, Chops at noon, Solarium 1 night, Did not care

for that at all. Johnny Rockets 1 night . We had 5 kids 8 - 14 & 2 hour dinners are way too long. WJ had good food.

[sdrocks]

We had MTD at 6 pm & service was still 2 hrs.

[BLAMBKY]

1 server & 1 asst. We were right by the entrance so the head waiter was near - but unhelpful. We ordered everything at once & quickly. We spent 30+ minutes after apps were cleared waiting for mains & the same mains to dessert. I left before dessert twice & my family brought it to go. Once because I had a headache and the last night so I could finish packing.

To me, only 2 waitstaff for 9 people explains it to me. We had 2 for just 4 of us. That would explain why the larger table that I noticed took longer too. I would make note of it on the post cruise survey.

[John&LaLa]

To me, only 2 waitstaff for 9 people explains it to me. We had 2 for just 4 of us. That would explain why the larger table that I noticed took longer too. I would make note of it on the post cruise survey.

Yes, you had 2 for 4 people, but those waiters had multiple tables.

 

I think each team handles about 16 people

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[Phenommom]

We have only sailed Disney (7 times-all ships), but are trying RCCI with Liberty of the Seas that has two of the ports you had.

 

1. Comparison of the two lines?

 

2. Any favorite excursions for Falmouth and Cozumel?

 

3. What do you like to do on the ships for cruising days? Any activities not to miss? Our kids are all in college now-they would love the sushi making class if the Liberty has one!

 

4. How long is the port exit Times, can we be off the ship right at the times posted or are there delays?

 

Thanks!!!

 

 

 

We sailed on Disney Dream and Liberty. The Dream would be comparable to one of the Oasis Class of ships on RCL. We sailed on the Allure before and it was definitely comparable to Disney. If you are adventurous book a private excursion to the Blue Hole in Jamaica.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Carlos A.]

We'll be on board in 2 days :)

- Which day is the 2nd formal night....is it Day 5 or day 6? trying to figure out which night for specialty dinning.

- Anyone noticed how crowded is the kids splash-away area?

 

We'll be cruising with a 3 and 10 year olds.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

For Us on the 30-7 sail it was the 5th day

[SusieQT]

We have only sailed Disney (7 times-all ships), but are trying RCCI with Liberty of the Seas that has two of the ports you had.

1. Comparison of the two lines?

2. Any favorite excursions for Falmouth and Cozumel?

3. What do you like to do on the ships for cruising days? Any activities not to miss? Our kids are all in college now-they would love the sushi making class if the Liberty has one!

4. How long is the port exit Times, can we be off the ship right at the times posted or are there delays?

Thanks!!!

 

1. We haven't been on Disney in several years. IMO, the food is much better on DCL, the decor is more nautical, and no port in the Caribbean holds a candle to Castaway Cay!

 

But I think with teen/adults they will love RCCL. Lots of activities geared for the older crowd (meaning 10 +).

 

2. I was not getting off the ship in Jamaica, but we did and spent $800 on jewelry - should've done an excursion! ;p;p:cool::cool:

In Cozumel we did a snorkel and scuba tour with Cozumel H2O - they were fantastic. No need to be certified and you can have snorkelers and scubas on the same boat. We loved it so much we are planning to go to Cozumel for spring break to get certified with Cozumel H2O. In the past we have enjoyed Paradise Beach.

 

3. My family really liked the sushi class. If there is anything that you must do, book it before your cruise. My kids also did the semi private flow rider lesson the first day. They also did the zip line, ice skating, abyss, mini golf, and water slides. We also liked hanging out in the Solarium. We are a pretty quiet group. I like the margaritas at Sabor. Harry Potter trivia was stupid hard. We surprised the kids with the refreshment package and that was really fun to try fruity drinks, fresh juice, etc.

 

4. We left our stateroom at 9am and it took 45 minutes. I really think you can leave the ship at any time you want, they called groups but I didn't see anyone checking. I would for sure give yourself enough time. Our flight wasn't until noon at FLL so we still had plenty of time. There were plenty of taxis and it's about 5 minutes to the airport.

[SusieQT]

We'll be on board in 2 days :)

- Which day is the 2nd formal night....is it Day 5 or day 6? trying to figure out which night for specialty dinning.

- Anyone noticed how crowded is the kids splash-away area?

 

We'll be cruising with a 3 and 10 year olds.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

The 2nd formal night is Wednesday. Ours was a bit off as they changed the lobster menu to Friday. I would do specialty dining the first night, the MDR is a mess.

 

I didn't notice it being very crowded but we did have quite a bit of cloudy and rainy weather. I didn't notice a lot of little kids or strollers.

[abbiep]

Was your room on the Port or Starboard side. Which side is best while in port. I like to sit on the balcony and watch the people.

[Ellceee]

Just did the 7-14th on Harmony. 6pm. We were out in 90 minutes every night. Group of 15.

[jason3695]

The 2nd formal night is Wednesday. Ours was a bit off as they changed the lobster menu to Friday. I would do specialty dining the first night, the MDR is a mess.

 

I didn't notice it being very crowded but we did have quite a bit of cloudy and rainy weather. I didn't notice a lot of little kids or strollers.

Is the first formal night day 2?

[Carlos A.]

Is the first formal night day 2?

Yes

[jason3695]

Yes

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums