NYE Live on Harmony, Dec 31 to Jan 7/23 - New Years Eve coming with a fresh kiss, next year's gonna be better than this year!

[h20skibum]

38 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Seriously don't think you need a recon on Serenade of the Seas. You are going to be on it long enough to know every nook and cranny of the entire ship. Pretty much things are ran on that ship like any other ship you have been on but everything is just down sized. Only 90K tons(Radiance Class)

 

Probably does, since they are changing and adding things for the WC.

[Jimbo]

26 minutes ago, h20skibum said:

Probably does, since they are changing and adding things for the WC.

Well you aren't going to see any changes yet 11 months before the cruise. I'm any changes yet aren't going to be seen currently onboard by any passengers....current crew won't know much either because Royal never tells them anything this far ahead. That's pretty much what Royal tells them to tell the passengers when asked about something.

If taking a recon cruise onboard maybe best to go the end of October if you want to see what they added to the ship for the WC.

[Sea Dog]

11 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I vote for a group project. We can discuss more soon. I still have a Serenade recon cruise coming up next month. 🌐

 

I am in favor of a group live thread. We can post our individual adventures as well as group get togethers. I may visit you in FB messenger to talk about a few things.

[CruiszBug]

5 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

It's easy to do pictures straight to CC. 

 

Many can help you onboard I'd guess 

Straight to CC sounds like a plan! Thanks!

[GetToLivin]

@A&L_Ont I wanted to ask you about the CLS, specifically, since you had your kiddo with you, was it distracting at all if he had the TV on downstairs or just in general with noise? Is the privacy curtain "thick" enough to block out light from downstairs? When traveling with a 15yo, there isn't a lot of privacy to begin with so I'm curious about how the room created separation 🙃 

 

We were in a 1-bedroom Aqua Suite last week and yep, I'm in love with it, but I have the option to do a CLS or OS next Dec and we're kind of at the point where we've been to nearly every port, so the ship and the room really is the destination for us. I like that the CLS has an extra bathroom that he could have to himself, too, instead of going through our room!

[Sadebud]

Another great review, Andrew!  Thank you for your time!

[John&LaLa]

4 hours ago, Jimbo said:

Seriously don't think you need a recon on Serenade of the Seas. You are going to be on it long enough to know every nook and cranny of the entire ship. Pretty much things are ran on that ship like any other ship you have been on but everything is just down sized. Only 90K tons(Radiance Class)

 

 

How about you do you, and I do me😉

[HBE4]

6 hours ago, Jimbo said:

 

 

Just to go even more off topic, did anyone else notice all the ship images are Oasis?  Even the Grandeur. 

 

I'm waiting for the first post complaining of "deceptive" RCI marketing when they realize there is no Aqua theater on most of those ships. 😅😅 

Edited January 9, 2023 by HBE4

[Ocean Boy]

17 minutes ago, HBE4 said:

 

Just to go even more off topic, did anyone else notice all the ship images are Oasis?  Even the Grandeur. 

 

I'm waiting for the first post complaining of "deceptive" RCI marketing when they realize there is no Aqua theater on most of those ships. 😅😅 

At least they shrunk and stretched Oasis to make their point. 

[A&L_Ont]

On 1/8/2023 at 8:00 AM, Jimbo said:

How long of drive do you have from DTW to home? Is that the Airport you usually fly from?

 

Yes, Detroit is our normal airport. We are 2.5 hours from from Detroit, but when you add the extra hour to the Apple Store we didn't get home till about 6pm.  With my alarm going off at 6am it was an exceptionally long day of travel. 

[A&L_Ont]

2 hours ago, GetToLivin said:

@A&L_Ont I wanted to ask you about the CLS, specifically, since you had your kiddo with you, was it distracting at all if he had the TV on downstairs or just in general with noise? Is the privacy curtain "thick" enough to block out light from downstairs? When traveling with a 15yo, there isn't a lot of privacy to begin with so I'm curious about how the room created separation 🙃 

 

We were in a Star Loft this cruise but it is essentially the same situation. We make it work but Owen is also a sound sleeper.

 

2 hours ago, GetToLivin said:

We were in a 1-bedroom Aqua Suite last week and yep, I'm in love with it, but I have the option to do a CLS or OS next Dec and we're kind of at the point where we've been to nearly every port, so the ship and the room really is the destination for us. I like that the CLS has an extra bathroom that he could have to himself, too, instead of going through our room!

 

I agree.  We have done it with one before, but we have gotten used to having two.  For us, two bathrooms are really nice as it just makes getting ready a faster process.  Being on deck 17 is a much shorter walk to CK/SL than the aft suites. 

[A&L_Ont]

16 hours ago, CruiszBug said:

I'm game! Might need a mini-review on posting pictures? Better to post pictures from a photo hosting site like PhotoBucket?

 

9 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

It's easy to do pictures straight to CC. 

 

Many can help you onboard I'd guess 

 

John is 100% right. PhotoBucket IMO is a pain and posting directly to CC is a very easy option. 

[A&L_Ont]

51 minutes ago, Ocean Boy said:

At least they shrunk and stretched Oasis to make their point. 

 

Next thing you know Oasis and Allure will be the "car" placed in the RP of Icon 4.0 😂

[A&L_Ont]

On 1/8/2023 at 9:13 AM, bobmacliberty said:

Have you considered whether Owen is an evil genius and orchestrated his iPhone going into the water, along with no Apple appointments being available, just so he can upgrade to an iPhone 14?  

 

I don't think so but your daughter is a smart one.

 

On 1/8/2023 at 9:13 AM, bobmacliberty said:

 

I bought a BMW when my oldest daughter was 12.  Her first question was "how long do you keep cars before buying a new one?".  I could see her brain calculating if she was to get a hand me down when she got her driver's license (the answer was no).  I was equal parts proud and worried. 

 

Owen seems like a smart kid...just sayin'.  😜

 

Owen hasn't started to make any references like that, but I'm sure the day will come. He turns 16 in a few months. 

[GatorMomInNC]

Was checking out your review after I saw this video and wondering if you had seen any of this first hand, but sounds like you were up on deck.

 

[DaKahuna]

@A&L_Ont  I can't remember if I asked before, but do you happen to know if you can order items off the MDR menu in CK on Harmony? 

 

[A&L_Ont]

6 minutes ago, GatorMomInNC said:

Was checking out your review after I saw this video and wondering if you had seen any of this first hand, but sounds like you were up on deck.

 

Only videos on Social Media, and some of the explanations given were hilarious. Some were accurate though in what happened. Had I not seen the posts on line I would have never expected it to happen, but thinking about it one can understand how it happened. 

[A&L_Ont]

42 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

@A&L_Ont  I can't remember if I asked before, but do you happen to know if you can order items off the MDR menu in CK on Harmony? 

 

Sorry, I can’t answer this. Maybe someone following along can answer.
 

Anyone have any experience with this?

[A&L_Ont]

So now is the time to wrap up the review with our finals thoughts. We aren’t going to go over the ship, food, cabin and regular details.  Those aspects of our cruise were good. We enjoyed all our meals, service was excellent and ports were fine. It was really no different than any other time we have been on a ship. 

 

Lisa and I have been chatting about holiday sailings.  We have sailed over March school break, Easter, St Patricks Day, Canada Day, July 4th, Labor Day, and even Thanksgiving.  That said, I think those holidays do not compare to Christmas or NYE. Let’s be honest, those are the ultimate of the holiday sailings. 

 

Did we enjoy ourselves on this cruise, for sure.  How could we not, we are on a cruise. Would we book another NYE or possibly a Christmas sailing?  Perhaps, but for our household it won’t be an annual tradition.  We can understand how some families would love to do this as a tradition. It might be because of work or school breaks.

 

The thing that we really noticed was the influx of kids, from teenagers to younger kids.  That would be over and above a March school break sailing which has over 1,800. We think we heard there were 2300+ this week. We didn’t come across any that were rude or disrespectful.  LOL, maybe it’s because I’m now over 50 that I’m noticing all the young people. 

 

What we noticed in the demographics of the guests, was the amount of multi-generation families on board.  We can see how it becomes a tradition. Just not for us.  It was an “adventure” to fit in Christmas at home with three families, then put away Christmas, finish packing, worry about the weather for travel, make sure both grandmas were taken care of and then head south. It was a lot for our house. 

 

Now, would we sail again over the “MEGA” holidays?  Perhaps, but the factors would have to be right.  The biggest would be pricing for a starter. I think we would also have to be in the mood for it, and it might take a while to try it again in this house.

 

Now, Lisa birthday is in February, it’s the 14th…we’ll have to give that holiday sailing a try someday!

[A&L_Ont]

So let’s end the review with a couple Owen stories.
 

On the drive home, Owen randomly mentioned one of his new friends was the Captain’s son.  He was on for a B2B.  He didn’t even think of mentioning it earlier, not that it mattered.  In fact, he’s already been chatting with him and other friends on Snapchat.  He made a comment about how many sailings his new friend has been on.  That’s when I chimed in why I thought Owen should be a cruise ship captain.  He finally gets it. 
 

Owen also made a friend on the last few days with a girl from Montreal, Quebec. Lisa jokingly asked if they kissed goodbye, he blushed and said, “maybe”. She then asked if there was tongue, and I quickly chimed in ‘’obviously, it would have been a French kiss”.  Owen laughed at that one.

[A&L_Ont]

So we are now dry docked until March of 2023, for the Friends of Bell sailing. Take care until then. 

[saltycat]

Thanks again for sharing with us. Always enjoyable! 

[Luckynana]

1 hour ago, A&L_Ont said:

So we are now dry docked until March of 2023, for the Friends of Bell sailing. Take care until then. 

See you on board, Andrew!!!🛳️

Thank you again for taking us along with you, Lisa and Owen😊

[Ozark_Kid]

Thanks for taking the time Andrew.  Great review from one of my favorite ships.  I have to say though, where are the pics of y'all going down the water slides on the ship ?  Have fun on the Bella cruise.  The group review will be great. 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Ozark_Kid

[DaKahuna]

3 hours ago, A&L_Ont said:

Sorry, I can’t answer this. Maybe someone following along can answer.
 

Anyone have any experience with this?

Thank you and thanks again for sharing your family vacation with us.