Thoughts on Harmony of the Seas

Last week, I was privileged to sail the preview cruise on Harmony of the Seas that included her naming. I was on board as a winner of the Ticket to Adventure sweepstakes. I had never sailed RCI before (only Carnival) and I came away impressed by the ship, her crew, and the RCI experience.

I won't do a formal review, but here are some of my thoughts, both positive and negative.

1. What a beautiful ship. She is appointed nicely and the whole ship has a nice flow to it. Once we started to get our bearings, we found it relatively easy to navigate given its size.

2. We had large interior in the middle of deck 10 (forward). It was a great room. We heard little of our neighbors (even thought it was a connecting room) and I loved the number of outlets (and USB ports available under the vanity and next to the bed. On the negative side for the cabin: it is designed for 4 (two twins that can be made into a king and then a sofa and trundle bed). If all four beds were in use, I am not sure how some one in the back of the room (where the bed is) can get to the bathroom (in the front of the cabin) without stepping over or on the trundle occupant.

3. The shows were outstanding. Loved the aqua show and Columbus. Choose not to see Grease to see the comedian. He was funny and the comedy venue is really nice.

4. Loved the size of the solarium and that there is a cafe/buffet in the adult area. Having three decks of seating makes it spacious.

5. We had a great time on the Abyss (watch your head when you enter), the zipline, and the rock climbing wall. What cool features. We also enjoyed the slides, although the racers were not as fast I as thought they would be.

6. The food was hit or miss. First night in the MDR was excellent (filet), second night not quite as good (overcooked lobster tail and overcooked sirloin). The selection in Windjammer was good for lunch and the solarium had a paired down version of that menu. Had excellent chicken biryani and beef goulash for on day two. Also went to WJ on day one for breakfast and was underwhelmed. Ended up in the MDR for breakfast both days. Also loved the mini-bites for an afternoon snack.

I think that is most of my first impressions. Happy to answer any questions that anyone has.

dctravel

Do you like RC better than Carnival, roughly the same? Would you want to cruise Royal again? What other kind of activities did you do, what did you think of the service, etc?

Do you like RC better than Carnival, roughly the same? Would you want to cruise Royal again? What other kind of activities did you do, what did you think of the service, etc?

Great questions. In many ways, I thought the two lines are similar. Entertainment on Royal was superior, but I thought overall food was better on Carnival.

Since it was only 2 nights, we did a lot of exploring of the ship and not all activities were offered. I will say that pool area has a great vibe and with three main pools, there is so much space. We also really enjoyed Vintages, sitting in Central Park, and the parades on the promenade. They were a lot of fun.

Service was friendly and generally fast. We never saw our cabin steward, but the room was clean and made up each time we returned to the cabin.

We would absolutely cruise Royal again, although I am sensitive to price. Our one complaint was how allergies were handled, but I want to believe it was bc of the short duration and nature of the cruise.

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Did you miss having a pool in the solarium??

Did you miss having a pool in the solarium??

Having never been on Royal before, I have never experienced that. Since I normally travel with my kids, an adult pool probably wouldn't be on my list, but i can see the attraction to it.

I found the solarium to be relaxing as it is.

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Having never been on Royal before, I have never experienced that. Since I normally travel with my kids, an adult pool probably wouldn't be on my list, but i can see the attraction to it.

 

I found the solarium to be relaxing as it is.

You don't find the Solarium to be uncomfortably warm?

Thanks for your insights.

Thanks for your review!

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You don't find the Solarium to be uncomfortably warm?

That's an interesting point. We were up there while docked in Nassau, and it was warm, but not overly so. The glass panels on the ceiling (even with some gaps) make it so that you can still be up there if it rains, but does make it a little warm. Honestly didn't bother us.

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That's an interesting point. We were up there while docked in Nassau, and it was warm, but not overly so. The glass panels on the ceiling (even with some gaps) make it so that you can still be up there if it rains, but does make it a little warm. Honestly didn't bother us.

Maybe the design is improved from Oasis/Allure, or the conditions were different. Thanks for the info.

Even though it has been several months, I wanted to add some thoughts on RC's allergy protocol. After we returned, I talked to two different staff members in the special requests department about what had happened with my allergies and what that might mean if we chose RC for a family cruise (my son is allergic to dairy). They had no real explanation about why the ship didn't handle my allergies particularly well, but apologized profusely. Unfortunately, they would not commit to being able to produce dairy free food for my son. I was told that would be a chef-based decision that could not be made until we were on board. To me, that doesn't work, so we will have to wait to cruise RC as a family until my son is a little older and has a wider range of foods he eats.

Even though it has been several months, I wanted to add some thoughts on RC's allergy protocol. After we returned, I talked to two different staff members in the special requests department about what had happened with my allergies and what that might mean if we chose RC for a family cruise (my son is allergic to dairy). They had no real explanation about why the ship didn't handle my allergies particularly well, but apologized profusely. Unfortunately, they would not commit to being able to produce dairy free food for my son. I was told that would be a chef-based decision that could not be made until we were on board. To me, that doesn't work, so we will have to wait to cruise RC as a family until my son is a little older and has a wider range of foods he eats.

Hi

I've been reading multiple reviews since I will be going on Harmony later this year. Unfortunately I don't know how to send you the link, but this review addressed a child's allergy and how well Harmony responded.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2473719&highlight=harmony

Maybe the link did come through. Hope it helps you.

Old post

More than a year old!

More than a year old!

Seven months.....but still had some info that might be useful to a new cruiser