Quick Thoughts from 1/14/17 Harmony Sailing

Just got back from a 1 week trip on this new ship. It is definitely a nice new ship. We mostly enjoyed it, but there were a few items that had room for improvement, which I will mention in each category. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to let me know. I do not have copies of the compass or any pictures to include.

Pre-cruise

We decided to fly into Orlando instead of Fort Lauderdale for a few reasons. First, hotels in Ft Lauderdale were very expensive on Friday night. Second, there wasn't a lot of day activities in Ft Lauderdale. And third, we have annual passes to multiple attractions around Orlando, so visited Universal Studios on Friday. We left Orlando around 7:15AM Saturday morning, and arrived at Ft Lauderdale airport at 10:30AM. Our only stop was a short fuel/bathroom stop. From the airport, it was a quick $15 taxi ride to terminal 19. We were to the cruise terminal by 11:00 and in the waiting area by 11:15. Boarding was 11:30

Check in

Even with the difference in SeaPass retrieval process, the check in process was fairly similar to checking in on any other ship. It was still super quick. I guess I was expecting agents wandering with tablets in hand, instead of going up to a counter like normal. Kids club bracelets were handed out prior to boarding in the waiting area.

On board portion to be continued

I suppose I should mention who was on the trip. Travelled with my wife, 8 year old son and MIL. My mother also normally travels with us, but was not able to join us this year due to a prior commitment.

Initial on board thoughts

Very similar to other Oasis class ships. Did find it strange that the Kate Spade store was closed for the first three nights. Guessing it was to drum up sales? Stores on ship were definitely higher end with Bulgari, Cartier, luxury watch store, and luxury jewelry store. Drink packages were being highly pushed. There was some sticker shock when I saw the weekly price. Well over $500 for the all inclusive package for the week. I purchased the non alcoholic all inclusive, which was about $225 for the week. This would not be a normal purchase for me, but we had a lot of OBC to use. The only other thing being actively sold was the internet packages. We headed to the closest specialty restaurant to book a restaurant package. My thoughts on that later.

Staterooms

We had 2 adjacent ocean view balconies booked on deck 7. After my last Oasis cruise, where we had a boardwalk balcony, I decided if we are paying for a balcony, it needs to be oceanview. Our stateroom attendant was Lalit. This was his last week on contract. He always did a great job of cleaning the stateroom and taking care of requests. Also opened the balcony divider for us without issue. The redesign of the room I mostly liked. I do wish that they had 1 outlet or USB port on each of the nightstand/lamp areas. Plenty of storage space for clothes. I did miss the storage shelves in the mirror in the old stateroom design. Sofa was almost like a regular sofa with removable cushions, and definitely larger than the love seat sized sofas on smaller ships. TV seemed to have a couple of additional channel choices. The stateroom bathroom seemed to have less storage space. I do wish that the shower would have a second shelf and bring the drawstring back. Balcony was nice, but salt seemed to accumulate rapidly on the railing, which I haven't recalled in the past.

Harmony Specific Items

RFID / Wow Bands - A nice update from the swipable cards. The ipads set all over the ship that could pull up your schedule and other information. Being able to get a Wow Band to take to the pool is also great. I feel that Royal needs to move the payment pads to more customer friendly locations, as using the wow band for payment requires taking it off every time.

Water slides

These were a lot of fun. There are a total of three water slides, two of the three are basically dark, which might be bothersome to some people. The third water slide has transparent sections and goes into a whirlpool before finishing. Most people have to scoot around the whirlpool to get to the last chute. I do think that there should be one night session for the waterslide, as the lines during the day stayed very steady.

Ultimate Abyss

We really enjoyed the Ultimate Abyss and probably went down it at least 15 times during the week. Line was never super long. On a few occasions, the lights and sound effects in the slide did not trigger, which made the ride a dark ride. Still a blast. As pictures have shown, I think that the slide really does obstruct the majority of the boardwalk balconies.

Wonderland

So, I know others have really liked Wonderland. The service was great and the atmosphere was also great. The food though, I could definitely pass on. It was served very creatively, but we didn't find it to be good. Maybe that is us being overly picky, but we can say it was an experience.

Can you please tell me if there are formal nights and if so how many and what days?

Thank you

Glad your family and all your luggage fit right in a taxi.

I hope you guys had great weather! Heard the week before was a little cool and cloudy...

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We were on this cruise too.

It's always neat to hear other people's perspective on the same cruise.

Were you at Paradise beach in Cozumel? I think my 8 year old and 5 year old girls hung out with your son a few times on the cruise and in Cozumel.

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Couple of quick answers, formal nights were 2 & 5. I will be the first to tell you that we did not bring formal attire and went to specialty dining both nights. I don't really like to wear a suit, and we always bring a carry on bag only for the week, so not a ton of room.

And, we were at Paradise Beach in Cozumel. Guessing that my son probably did catch up with your daughter.

Quick port review of Cozumel:

Haven't been here in a few years, but the port seems fairly similar. Shared a taxi to Paradise Beach, $15 for 1-4 or $30 for 6-whatever the van holds? Entry to Paradise Beach is $3 per lounger plus they request $10 per adult in food & beverage consumption. They also have an inflatable water park, separate entry for that is $18 per person.

My son wanted to do the water activities, and while he is a good swimmer (swim team), I wasn't comfortable with him swimming by himself, and my wife was not either, so we both got passes. The inflatable slides, trampolines, platforms all seemed to be in good condition. As an adult, I can tell you all the swimming and climbing wore me out fairly well.

For food, we did purchase a plate of nachos, and a couple of drinks. I did notice this time that they weren't pushing the souvenir yard style glass as much. One visit years ago, they asked if we wanted a small or large drink, neglecting to mention the large was the yard glass. It was crowded, but not overly so, and there was very little soliciting while you were in the water or at your seat.

My wife and MIL headed back to the port separately to do some shopping. My son and I stayed about an extra hour to enjoy the beautiful day. When we left, I asked the taxi driver in rudimentary Spanish for a taco stand. I mentioned the Municipal Market, but the taxi stand had already closed, and didn't reopen until evening. He instead took us to a taco truck about 2 blocks from the cruise port. The truck had fresh tortillas and offered chicken, pork, or chorizo tacos. They also had horchata and other local beverages. Tacos were $1 each, and very good.

On the way back to the port, my son and I decided to get some new football jerseys for our favorite Mexican club. We went to the 2nd floor of the flea market, and got a couple of jerseys and a small pair of earrings for my wife.

In regards to jewelry, I will mention, that we first looked for earrings downstairs. The prices were insane. I was looking for a small pair of earrings, as if they don't cost a lot, I don't care if they are fake. Negotiations at the first couple of places literally went, $300, $250, $200, $100, $80. And that wasn't even with me saying anything other than no thank you and walking away. I guess what I am saying is buyer beware.

Back to work for me. I'll add more in a bit