My View: Harmony of the Seas - 8 days of semi-live tips & too many pics!

[zencruisers]

Following along. Beautiful sail away pictures.

[charmy98]

Following, Hubby and I will be sailing on her on the 25th Nov, woo hoo less than 2 weeks to go! May I ask what you are using to take your pictures, they are absolutely beautiful! Enjoy your cruise.

[October17]

Thank you for your posts! I will be sailing April 14th, so it is so much fun to read these while waiting 

[EeyoreRN]

Your photos are absolutely gorgeous!  No such thing as too many pics. Thanks for sharing!

[Ourusualbeach]

9 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Nice views from the ship.  Is Royal IQ for Harmony and specific ships?  There are 2 Royal apps and confused about which is which (and I have the other one).  

 

Lu, the Royal IQ works only on Harmony and Quantum class ships.  You’ll need the other app for Symphony in March and my guess is by 2020 on Anthem the Roysl IQ app will have been replaced.

[LuCruise]

50 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 

Lu, the Royal IQ works only on Harmony and Quantum class ships.  You’ll need the other app for Symphony in March and my guess is by 2020 on Anthem the Roysl IQ app will have been replaced.

Thanks for explaining. Funny that they currently have 2 apps depending on the ship.  

[jimbri]

Photos are great.  Thanks for the spreadsheet - will keep an eye on prices next time we cruise.

[BLAMBKY]

11 hours ago, APDMOM said:

Tip: Download Royal IQ for your phone and iPad at home.  We downloaded it on two devices at home.  When we got to the ship, we tried to put it on DH’s phone, but it failed due to needing a wifi connection for the large app.  It may have something to do with settings for our Verizon Cellular... 

 

Royal IQ:

 

If you have questions about how it works, feel free to ask, but here are some screenshots that are somewhat self-explanatory.  You create an account using your name, room number and birth year:

 

 

When you tap on the compass, you can see the Cruise Compass activities for the day.  We found one time to be inaccurate, so double check your paper copy if you are really interested in the activity.  When you tap on the arrow by the activity, it gives you the option to add it to your calendar:

 

 

Any reservations you made at home show up in this calendar, and it includes members of your party that plan to attend the activity.  For example, the colored squares by Grease show that DH and I attended, while the squares by the ice show indicate that all three of us would be attending:

 

 

You can message with the app at the following rate:

 

 

 

 

Tip:  If you and your friends have iPhones, the messenger glitch still applies.  DH and I can message each other through the iPhone messenger, using the free Royal Caribbean wifi. 

This is awesome! My husband always carried a phone (for photos) but we also would take a photo of the cruise compass to use. This will be soooooo much better!

[APDMOM]

10 hours ago, FLKrewzer said:

Enjoying your trip!  Thanks for sharing with us. Have you tried the Diamond Lounge or the 3 drinks loaded on your card?  I will be on Harmony in January and first time sailing as a Diamond member.  Where is the DL and what have you experienced so far?  Thanks for any tips you can share.

 

Hi, fellow FLKrewzer!  

 

We tried to go to the diamond lounge the first night, but it was packed!  There was standing room only.  So, we got a whiskey sour at Boleros.  It was much more relaxing.  Since then, we used the pre-loaded drinks in the diningroom, Solarium Bistro, and Trellis bar also.  When we don’t use all 3 drinks, we get bottled water to stock up for port days.  We will try diamond lounge again this week, and will report back. 🙂

[APDMOM]

10 hours ago, charmy98 said:

Following, Hubby and I will be sailing on her on the 25th Nov, woo hoo less than 2 weeks to go! May I ask what you are using to take your pictures, they are absolutely beautiful! Enjoy your cruise.

 

Thank you, charmy 🙂 I use a Nikon P900.  I absolutely love it!

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 2 - At Sea

 

A heartfelt, sincere THANK YOU to all our veterans for your service and sacrifice so that we may have the freedom to enjoy abundance.  

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Day 2 Cruise Compass:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Breakfast on Harmony:

There are so many options for breakfast on this ship! We intend to try quite a few of them.  Our breakfast  today was at Johnny Rockets. We love the breakfast sandwich, which you can customize with an English muffin or your choice of toast.  Add bacon or ham, with egg, cheese and mayo... a winner!

 

They used to have delicious juice with pulp, but here they serve the regular orange juice. It is still good to have a nice tall glass.

 

 

 

 

[charmy98]

1 hour ago, APDMOM said:

 

Thank you, charmy 🙂 I use a Nikon P900.  I absolutely love it!

Thank you for sharing, your pictures are amazing.

[FLKrewzer]

Thanks for the info on the Diamond Club.  Will be watching for more updates!

Enjoy your sea day. It looks you’re off to a good start with that yummy breakfast!!!

[APDMOM]

Veterans Day:

 

By far, this has been the most memorable Veteran’s Day to me.  I am glad we are booked again for the next Veteran’s Day.  I love that Royal went the extra mile to honor our veterans.  It is, in part, thanks to them that I was able to move to America and become a citizen.

 

Thank You, Veterans & their Families!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Couples in service:

 

 

Hundreds of people became silent to honor the veterans.  It was amazing to have absolute quiet on the promenade during that minute.

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2018 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

Sea days = Balcony days:

 

We typically book a balcony so that we can enjoy the ocean.  We love deck 7 on Oasis class ships, as we can see better and hear the ocean.  It is also close to the Boardwalk, Promenade, and Central Park.  Previously, we always booked a Boardwalk balcony.   Surprisingly, a boardwalk balcony was more expensive than oceanview balcony for our two Harmony cruises. So, we are enjoying the ocean view...

 

We’ve got company!  Mein Schiff:

 

[APDMOM]

Sea Day Lunch: American Icon Grill (Main Dining Room)

 

We love eating lunch in the main dining room on sea days, as it is more quiet and relaxing.  There were plenty of options - you can choose from a buffet with a variety of salad options, or “a la carte”.  We usually do a combination.  

 

 

DH enjoyed the King Salmon:

 

DS had seared striploin and loved it:

 

I enjoyed the risotto:

 

Dessert Art 😁

 

 

 

 

Ice cream with toppings galore:

[APDMOM]

1887: A Journey in Time Ice Spectacular

 

Our pre-dinner entertainment was the ice show.  We got in line right abround 45 minutes prior to the show.  There was a short line, and the doors opened soon after we arrived.  We got seats in the center section just 2 rows behind the suites.

 

This was not my favorite Royal Caribbean ice show to date, but the visual effects were spectacular!

 

Unfortunately, there were many low light scenes and my photography skills do not expand to those conditions yet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 12, 2018 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

A little more Ice Spectacular:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Cruise Director:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Dinner: Day 2 - Solarium Bistro

 

We found our favorite place to dine!  Solarium Bistro is much more quiet than the main dining room.  It has a great atmosphere and the meals are just the right size for us.  The appetizers are served on a buffet, but ready-to-go as individual servings.  You can return as many times as you wnat to for additional servings:

 

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2018 by APDMOM
typo

[APDMOM]

I will have to get a picture of the menu later this week.  It is the same every day, but includes enough options to make us want to return.  From chicken kebabs to salmon to steak, they serve healthier portions without comprising taste.  

 

Dessert is also buffet style:

 

We ended up booking Solarium for oir second sea day too, which I will report on shortly.

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View: Day 3 - At Sea

 

A rainbow greeting:

[APDMOM]

Day 3 Cruise Compass:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Crown and Anchor party invitation was in the stateroom on boarding day:

 

 

[APDMOM]

Our Stateroom/Cabin:  Oceanview Balcony Category 7D

 

We are finding that this cabin feels much more spacious than on Allure, where we had the same category.  The way the closets are designed makes the area by the bed more accessible.  I also like that we can kind of split our clothing.

 

 

The couch before it was transformed into a bed for the week: