Allure vs. Harmony - $200

[js]

Hi.

If itinerary doesn't matter, would you choose one ship over the other if the ships

were Allure vs. Harmony.  The difference in price is that Harmony is $200 more than the Allure.

I have sailed on Allure before but that doesn't matter to me.  Is there a big difference?

 

What will matter to us on the ship are the specialty restaurants (we plan on only using these for dinner not MDR)

and the spa.

 

Thank you.

 

[Ourusualbeach]

4 minutes ago, js said:

Hi.

If itinerary doesn't matter, would you choose one ship over the other if the ships

were Allure vs. Harmony.  The difference in price is that Harmony is $200 more than the Allure.

I have sailed on Allure before but that doesn't matter to me.  Is there a big difference?

 

What will matter to us on the ship are the specialty restaurants (we plan on only using these for dinner not MDR)

and the spa.

 

Thank you.

 

when are you sailing?

 

If it's before this April then Harmony after April then Allure as she will be fresh out of drydock.

[js]

28 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

when are you sailing?

 

If it's before this April then Harmony after April then Allure as she will be fresh out of drydock.

 

I am looking to book a February 2021 cruise.

I was on the Allure last year, what is changing?

 

Spa and specialty dining are important to us, along with the adult only solarium.

 

Thank you.

Edited January 31, 2020 by js

[John&LaLa]

35 minutes ago, js said:

Hi.

If itinerary doesn't matter, would you choose one ship over the other if the ships

were Allure vs. Harmony.  The difference in price is that Harmony is $200 more than the Allure.

I have sailed on Allure before but that doesn't matter to me.  Is there a big difference?

 

What will matter to us on the ship are the specialty restaurants (we plan on only using these for dinner not MDR)

and the spa.

 

Thank you.

 

 

Harmony has the best masseuse in the fleet. Wanpen

Harmony also sails from my backyard, so there's that. 

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, js said:

 

I am looking to book a February 2021 cruise.

I was on the Allure last year, what is changing?

 

Spa and specialty dining are important to us, along with the adult only solarium.

 

Thank you.

Basically adding everything that the6 put on a Oasis in her drydock.

 

portside bbq

playmakers

el loco fresh 

expanding Giovannis 

 

[js]

6 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

Harmony has the best masseuse in the fleet. Wanpen

Harmony also sails from my backyard, so there's that. 

 

Thank you.

 

Is the spa area the same on both ships? We like to spend the mornings to early

afternoon at the spa, not necessarily for treatments but the saunas, jacuzzis, thermal pool, etc.

 

How about the restaurants?

[js]

8 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Basically adding everything that the6 put on a Oasis in her drydock.

 

portside bbq

playmakers

el loco fresh 

expanding Giovannis 

 

 

Thank you.

[John&LaLa]

2 minutes ago, js said:

 

Thank you.

 

Is the spa area the same on both ships? We like to spend the mornings to early

afternoon at the spa, not necessarily for treatments but the saunas, jacuzzis, thermal pool, etc.

 

How about the restaurants?

 

I've had 20+ massages in the last couple of years, but have never visited the sauna/jacuzzi area other than the tour

[js]

14 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I've had 20+ massages in the last couple of years, but have never visited the sauna/jacuzzi area other than the tour

 

Thank you.
I am sure someone will be able to help with the actual area.

[katiel53]

My choice would be Allure but I don't like sailing from Miami.  I think the service on Allure is far better than that on Harmony.

 

I found the crew on Allure more friendly as well.  Harmony will be going into dry dock in 2021; whereas, Allure is doing dry dock this year.  The slides etc that Harmony has now will be added to the Allure.  Additionally,  Harmony does not have a pool in the Solarium.  

 

Harmony has Wonderland which is not available on Allure.  There are many opinions of Wonderland and it's a place I'd not go again as I didn't think the food was that good.  For us, it was definitely a one and done.

 

I did like the truffle pasta in Jamie's as well as the short ribs.  Giovanni's doesn't have either of those.  

 

I've sailed on Allure 5 times and Harmony twice, but I am going on Harmony again as sailing from Pt Canaveral gets me a direct flight from home as opposed to have a layover when flying to Ft Lauderdale or Miami.  I'm sure whichever you choose, you will have a great time.

[schevel]

I have sailed on both and spend most of my time in the Solarium. I would choose Allure, just to have the pool in the Solarium. Harmony only has sprinklers in its Solarium.

[thrifty99]

Do the shows matter to you?  Harmony has Grease and its own production, Columbus.  I believe Allure still has Mamma Mia and Blue Planet.  

 

Also something to consider... Allure has the pool in the Solarium and Harmony does not.  Harmony has some misters instead.  But there is an adults only pool on Harmony out on the main deck.  They do a good job of keeping this for adults only.  

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

2 hours ago, js said:

Hi.

If itinerary doesn't matter, would you choose one ship over the other if the ships

were Allure vs. Harmony.  The difference in price is that Harmony is $200 more than the Allure.

I have sailed on Allure before but that doesn't matter to me.  Is there a big difference?

 

What will matter to us on the ship are the specialty restaurants (we plan on only using these for dinner not MDR)

and the spa.

 

Thank you.

 

First. There is a very good chance you will see the same shows on the Allure again. Told they might change every 7 years or so. We really were blown away on the Harmony. One fantastic bang for the buck. Everything on the Harmony was awesome. I mean everything. The food and the fun. The buffet was awesome. never seen anything like it on any other ship. If you do go on it. Make sure you reserve days before for every show. Do not miss any of them. Trivia and bingo were fun. Specialty restaurants galore. We booked the Allure last year and had to cancel because of the Hurricane. Royal gave that option. 

[js]

Thank you all very much!

 

I have sailed Allure and the crew was very nice, I noticed that during my summer sailing.

 

I was reading Harmony reviews and did see a picture of the solarium and noticed it no longer has a pool as the Allure does.
Although not a deal breaker, having the pool is certainly a plus.

 

We will be purchasing the UDP so we don't have to eat in the MDR. Could this also be used at 150?

Shows do not matter to us, other than comedy and live music, I think the last time I saw a show on a cruise was about

three years ago and we sail 1-2 a year.

 

Another "little" plus on Allure, for us coming from New York in February, is that it does sail out of Miami vs. Orlando.  We will spend 1-2 days in Florida prior to the cruise and the weather in Orlando can be cold in February, although I am aware that sometimes it can be warm.

 

Both Allure and the Harmony are sailing the same itinerary just different days.  The Allure is about $200 cheaper so

that is nice too although that wasn't a factor.  The dining, ship, spa access during the day (we will purchase) and

solarium are what is important to us.

Thank you all for helping me narrow my decision.

 

 

 

[ALWAYS CRUZIN]

5 minutes ago, js said:

Thank you all very much!

 

I have sailed Allure and the crew was very nice, I noticed that during my summer sailing.

 

I was reading Harmony reviews and did see a picture of the solarium and noticed it no longer has a pool as the Allure does.
Although not a deal breaker, having the pool is certainly a plus.

 

We will be purchasing the UDP so we don't have to eat in the MDR. Could this also be used at 150?

Shows do not matter to us, other than comedy and live music, I think the last time I saw a show on a cruise was about

three years ago and we sail 1-2 a year.

 

Another "little" plus on Allure, for us coming from New York in February, is that it does sail out of Miami vs. Orlando.  We will spend 1-2 days in Florida prior to the cruise and the weather in Orlando can be cold in February, although I am aware that sometimes it can be warm.

 

Both Allure and the Harmony are sailing the same itinerary just different days.  The Allure is about $200 cheaper so

that is nice too although that wasn't a factor.  The dining, ship, spa access during the day (we will purchase) and

solarium are what is important to us.

Thank you all for helping me narrow my decision.

 

 

 

You certainly missed a lot of enjoyment by not seeing the production shows. Nothing at all like on regular ships. The oasis class ships have awesome shows. 

[js]

2 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

You certainly missed a lot of enjoyment by not seeing the production shows. Nothing at all like on regular ships. The oasis class ships have awesome shows. 

 

Thanks.  We certainly enjoy ourselves and only in the cabin to rest/sleep.  We were doing other things :)

 

[NavyCruiser]

They're both basically the same ship.

I'll take the Allure for $200 off, Alex...

[John&LaLa]

18 minutes ago, twodaywonder said:

First. There is a very good chance you will see the same shows on the Allure again. Told they might change every 7 years or so. We really were blown away on the Harmony. One fantastic bang for the buck. Everything on the Harmony was awesome. I mean everything. The food and the fun. The buffet was awesome. never seen anything like it on any other ship. If you do go on it. Make sure you reserve days before for every show. Do not miss any of them. Trivia and bingo were fun. Specialty restaurants galore. We booked the Allure last year and had to cancel because of the Hurricane. Royal gave that option. 

 

I'd assume they update the ice show and the aqua show. Pretty sume Mama Mia will stay unless it moves to Anthem. And that's a stretch. 

[kruzerci]

The rooms and decor are going to be a lot newer on Harmony than Allure if that makes any difference to you. IMO the rooms on Harmony/Symphony are tremendously nicer than Oasis/Allure.

[js]

8 minutes ago, NavyCruiser said:

They're both basically the same ship.

I'll take the Allure for $200 off, Alex...

LOL, thanks.

 

 

7 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'd assume they update the ice show and the aqua show. Pretty sume Mama Mia will stay unless it moves to Anthem. And that's a stretch. 

Although we saw Mama Mia on Broadway, we didn't see on our last Allure sailing so that would still be good for us. Ice show, we watched but even if same, would be fine for me.

 

3 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

The rooms and decor are going to be a lot newer on Harmony than Allure if that makes any difference to you. IMO the rooms on Harmony/Symphony are tremendously nicer than Oasis/Allure.

Thanks.  The cabins on Allure were nice enough (we had a regular ov balcony) so I won't know what I'm missing, I guess, from Harmony. 

I can tell you adding the specialty, spa and alcohol package, still makes it less than NCL Haven (which we always sail on NCL and Platinum) but same price little less than MSC YC, which we are Diamond and sailed last three years, next being next month.  We are Diamond on RCCL but have stayed with NCL and MSC last few years, not counting our Allure sailing about 2 or so years ago. 

 

Thank you all for your help, I do appreciate it.

 

[taglovestocruise]

Allure will be coming out of a 100 million dollar dry dock and looks amazing. , Harmony is going into a major dry dock next year after 5 hard years of sailing.  We were on Symphony last year, hump balcony, and actually preferred the cabin layout on Allure. 

[js]

11 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Allure will be coming out of a 100 million dollar dry dock and looks amazing. , Harmony is going into a major dry dock next year after 5 hard years of sailing.  We were on Symphony last year, hump balcony, and actually preferred the cabin layout on Allure. 

 

Thank you.
When is this all suppose to begin/end?

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, js said:

 

Thank you.
When is this all suppose to begin/end?

It is happening this spring.

 

To answer an earlier question, yes you can use the UDP at 150CP

[taglovestocruise]

4 minutes ago, js said:

 

Thank you.
When is this all suppose to begin/end?

Middle of March to middle of May.  $165 million in improvements. DL gone and moved to deck 4,  No Wonderland or Hooked. New slides, sit down  $$ BBQ added to pool deck, playmakers added to boardwalk, Dazzles turned into music hall, new bar added to rear of ship near flowrider.  happy cruising

[cravingthis]

4 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

Allure will be coming out of a 100 million dollar dry dock and looks amazing. , Harmony is going into a major dry dock next year after 5 hard years of sailing.  We were on Symphony last year, hump balcony, and actually preferred the cabin layout on Allure. 

We're considering Allure, but I don't like sailing out of Miami.

When she comes out of dry dock, do they change anything drastically, for example the layout of the staterooms?  Harmony & Symphony have the closets that are beside each bed, whereas Oasis had sliding door closets (not sure if they changed that when she was in dry dock)?  Also not sure what the closet configuration is on Allure?