HARMONY SHOW RESERVATIONS FULL! HELP!

[tewkewl]

Hi.  So I didn't know about the whole idiotic royal Caribbean precruise reservation system that benefits prior cruisers and people who want to schedule every freaking aspect of their cruise before sailing.  As a result when I finally look on line to reserve shows.... There are no times!

 

So my question is.  Is it possible to get good seats by just showing up?  If so, what time?  Can I come with a family of 4?  

 

This is all such a cluster.  

 

I get why they do it, but their stupid reservation website doesn't help either.

 

Why not just let folks don't the morning of?  At least everyone has a fair shot!

 

Anyway, any help regarding the shows would greatly help.

 

We want to see Grease, fine line, 1882, and Columbus.

 

Cheers

[Ourusualbeach]

Spots are held back to reserve on board.  There will be a spot on board on the first day to make reservations.

 

you need a reservation to get into the show otherwise you go to the standby line and get admitted 15 minutes prior to the show starting and won’t get great seats.

 

with a reservation it just gets you into the show...how good a seat you get depends upon how early you get to the show.  

[pilot]

Was on Harmony last week. We had reservations. The standby lines were long. If you can’t get a reservation after you board, just be toward the head of the standby line if you want a good seat. Don’t be late. 

[tewkewl]

So basically, you have to plan out your whole dang week on the first day in order to get good seats?  That kinda sucks for people who didn't know about the system until too late.  On all the prior cruises, you'd just show up 15 min before and get decent seats.

[ONECRUISER]

10 minutes ago, tewkewl said:

So basically, you have to plan out your whole dang week on the first day in order to get good seats?  That kinda sucks for people who didn't know about the system until too late.  On all the prior cruises, you'd just show up 15 min before and get decent seats.

In the old days before online everyone would rush on the ship, fill out paperwork for everything including excursions. First come first serve and when full out of luck, excursions sold out fast. So you'd have to list first choice, second and third for every port. You'd find out when tickets were brought to your cabin if you got it and which one. What a mess and crowds. Now you can do reservations/excursions  months before cruise, when gets to a point they cut it off and still hold some back for late comers

[Mikew0805]

I agree with a previous poster. The standby lines were very long last week. I had reservations before we boarded, but there was a place that was announced when we boarded (don't remember where) where you could go make reservations for the week.

 

Luckily, I had "The Fine Line" the first night, because there were quite a few cancellations due to weather later on, and were rescheduled on the last night of the cruise. Unfortunately, due to that... they never did perform "Hideaway Heist," which I was looking forward to. 

 

Good luck OP.. just get on board early, and go make reservations.

 

[VICKIB114]

When are you able to make the reservations on line

[Sugarlift]

13 minutes ago, VICKIB114 said:

When are you able to make the reservations on line

 I'm wondering the same thing... also, does this apply to all ships? I'm sailing on the Explorer in 11 days...

[Crazy planning mom]

You don't need a reservation for shows on the Explorer.   Just show up early.

Only, the newer ships like Harmony, Symphony, Anthem, Ovation have this reservation system.

[Sugarlift]

6 minutes ago, Crazy planning mom said:

You don't need a reservation for shows on the Explorer.   Just show up early.

Only, the newer ships like Harmony, Symphony, Anthem, Ovation have this reservation system.

Oh phew! That's good to know. Thank you! 😁

[VICKIB114]

I will be on the Harmony in August when do you think the show will be able to reserve 

[gerif]

3 hours ago, VICKIB114 said:

I will be on the Harmony in August when do you think the show will be able to reserve 

Suggest you tune in to your rollcall. Someone is sure to announce when reservations open up. 

[h20skibum]

Here is a little known secret, but once I post it here, I guess the cat will be out of the bag..

 

On Harmony, if you want to see Fine Line and Hideaway Heist without reservations, go to deck 7 and walk all the way aft.  Go through the glass door, and you will be on the balcony above the show.  There are a few lounge chairs there, so if you get there 20 minutes, or so, before show time, you can get them.

 

Here are a couple scopes I did of parts of the shows from that vantage point in November.

 

Fine Line

 

https://www.pscp.tv/w/buIlDTEzNzU1Mzc5fDFtbnhlT0RtTnZBR1jfDJX7OaNnf2PiyDz_K1FSlmrOptjkFLUhobq7xlgvkQ==

 

Hideaway Heist

 

https://www.pscp.tv/w/buIkxjEzNzU1Mzc5fDFPeUpBeVJ6TVJuSmJ4AQKsH9bFMx8iX83J3SzmeOeGxEjQbsHJ4E7S2tmnWg==

 

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Here is a little known secret, but once I post it here, I guess the cat will be out of the bag..

 

On Harmony, if you want to see Fine Line and Hideaway Heist without reservations, go to deck 7 and walk all the way aft.  Go through the glass door, and you will be on the balcony above the show.  There are a few lounge chairs there, so if you get there 20 minutes, or so, before show time, you can get them.

 

Here are a couple scopes I did of parts of the shows from that vantage point in November.

 

Fine Line

 

https://www.pscp.tv/w/buIlDTEzNzU1Mzc5fDFtbnhlT0RtTnZBR1jfDJX7OaNnf2PiyDz_K1FSlmrOptjkFLUhobq7xlgvkQ==

 

Hideaway Heist

 

https://www.pscp.tv/w/buIkxjEzNzU1Mzc5fDFPeUpBeVJ6TVJuSmJ4AQKsH9bFMx8iX83J3SzmeOeGxEjQbsHJ4E7S2tmnWg==

 

There are also stairs from deck 6 so you can access the balcony directly from the Boardwalk. 

[h20skibum]

Just now, Ourusualbeach said:

There are also stairs from deck 6 so you can access the balcony directly from the Boardwalk. 

 

True, but often you can not access those if people are waiting to get into the Aquatheatre for the show.   It is much easier to just get there from deck 7

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

 

True, but often you can not access those if people are waiting to get into the Aquatheatre for the show.   It is much easier to just get there from deck 7

I guess it could be if you showed up before they started letting people into the show.  We’ve always showed up after and never had an issue.  It’s amazing though how few people know about this.  15 minutes before the show and people wandering around looking for seats and there are still prime seats available on the balcony.  

[h20skibum]

Before they converted the upper balconies to private balconies on the Oasis Class ships, they all had lots of people watching from them.  

 

Maybe people think all all of those were now private, so they don’t think about this one.

[pilot]

8 hours ago, tewkewl said:

So basically, you have to plan out your whole dang week on the first day in order to get good seats?  That kinda sucks for people who didn't know about the system until too late.  On all the prior cruises, you'd just show up 15 min before and get decent seats.

The first time we were on Oasis many years ago, our great travel agent told us about making reservations for the shows a few months before our cruise left.  It’s too bad yours didn’t. That’s what they get paid for. Also, as previously posted, someone on your roll call will post when the reservations open up. 

 

Try to make your reservations when you get on the ship. If they are not available just go to the standby line early. You will get in. It’s really no big deal. Enjoy your cruise. 

[maggieq]

Go to the box office as soon as you board/they open.  We have been shut out of a show here or there and are always able to book once boarding.  

[rbschultz]

Back before the online reservation system you'd need to go book everything when you got on the boat (so again first come first serve) and before that you'd need to show up and stand on line 30-45 min before a show. New system is much better. Royal spams your email with reminders to book your shows, excursions, drink packages, etc starting when the availability to book opens up and if you had a travel agent they should have notified you.

[tewkewl]

2 hours ago, rbschultz said:

Back before the online reservation system you'd need to go book everything when you got on the boat (so again first come first serve) and before that you'd need to show up and stand on line 30-45 min before a show. New system is much better. Royal spams your email with reminders to book your shows, excursions, drink packages, etc starting when the availability to book opens up and if you had a travel agent they should have notified you.

Yeah because you're used to the system and you may have different needs.  That's a pretty horrible system for people who want to decide daily when to eat and which show to watch.  We don't want the show to dictate our schedule.  If it was just me and my wife that would be fine, but we have a one year old as well, so this sort of pre-planning doesn't work well for us.

[MNfamilycruiser]

46 minutes ago, tewkewl said:

Yeah because you're used to the system and you may have different needs.  That's a pretty horrible system for people who want to decide daily when to eat and which show to watch.  We don't want the show to dictate our schedule.  If it was just me and my wife that would be fine, but we have a one year old as well, so this sort of pre-planning doesn't work well for us.

No system is going to meet everyone's needs perfectly.   But this one allows for both pre-planning and spontaneity - there is just some risk in going the spontaneous route.  The same risks you take in being spontaneous at home - you might not get into the show you want to see or get the dining time you want if you wait until the last minute.   I believe the new systems were put into place for the bigger ships with more passengers.  You really think it would be better if 6000 people needed to make their reservations on a daily basis?  Or just show up at the dining location or show they wanted to see?  That sounds like my idea of a horrible system - I shudder at the idea of wasting so much of my vacation standing in lines...

[mjkacmom]

1 hour ago, tewkewl said:

Yeah because you're used to the system and you may have different needs.  That's a pretty horrible system for people who want to decide daily when to eat and which show to watch.  We don't want the show to dictate our schedule.  If it was just me and my wife that would be fine, but we have a one year old as well, so this sort of pre-planning doesn't work well for us.

All on smaller ships where reservations aren’t needed or taken. However on the larger ships on all lines, reservations are very necessary.

[h20skibum]

If you don’t have reservations for the comedy show, you may get in by going to the standby line, but chances are you may not find seats together.

 

But then, no one would be taking kids to the adult comedy show.  I don’t even think they would let you book them.

[JCDCA]

1 hour ago, tewkewl said:

Yeah because you're used to the system and you may have different needs.  That's a pretty horrible system for people who want to decide daily when to eat and which show to watch.  We don't want the show to dictate our schedule.  If it was just me and my wife that would be fine, but we have a one year old as well, so this sort of pre-planning doesn't work well for us.

What system would you suggest?  Making reservations for shows is required on a ship of this size, unless you think they should have built a 6,000 seat theatre for Grease.  Making a few plans ahead of time should not really be this big an issue.