scubaslayer

I just got an email for our upcoming cruise on Harmony in June for dining packages and all that like I get daily. I decided to check to see about the classes in the onboard activities and current casita prices. There is an option to book the escape room for $39 per person. So it looks like the escape room is coming back but wasn't it previously included and not an extra fee? I was hoping to do this but not sure I would want to pay $39 per person.

8 hours ago, Denversail said:

@scubaslayer as requested. Sorry it took so long. I had to drag my ass to guest services to get it. Struggled with the pic. Let me know if you need me to take another one.

Thank you!!! I now have more planning to work on, after a work day from hell. Only 105 days until my vacation begins.

On 2/7/2024 at 12:35 PM, leisuretraveler223 said:

I don't normally balk at pricing on a cruise ship, but JR has me scratching my head. A single fixed charge at a burger joint is a bit odd, as some people order a little, others a lot.  If it was a la carte pricing, I might grab a burger.  But honestly, I would have trouble spending $15 myself at a landside JR.

 

Even more of an oddity, has ANYONE been to a JR on land lately?  I mean, it was pretty cool thirty years ago, but now it's wildly unremarkable.

My husband and teen went to one in Vegas a couple of weeks ago. They both said it was great. Total cost for 2 meals (and probably dessert or shakes) was $75. Five Guys will easily cost $15 per person in our city. We probably won't go on our upcoming Harmony cruise, unless the teens beg for lunch one day and it isn't busy.

We used a travel agent. He was able to book my kids in their own room with a fake birthday and then call Royal to link the rooms and change the kid's birthday. This way their room key opens their room. Previously we did one adult and one kid in each room and the room keys were an issue, even after going to guest services onboard. They just gave us an extra set of key and the kid that had switched rooms had to carry 2 different cards (one adult's to open the room and their own seapass). Having 2 cards seems like it wouldn't be an issue but it was an annoyance when they would forget and then come in our room to get to theirs.

7 minutes ago, Denversail said:

We are on Harmony of the seas. We got to the port about 9:45. Wolf guided me to luggage drop off and where to get in line. I was basically useless this morning. We were on the ship by 10:30. For those worried about checkin times they didn’t even check and we were within the first 20 onboard after key and suites. Once they let us in the building about 10:20 we basically walked right on. 
 

A few negatives so far for Harmony in comparison to Odyssey. The dining reservations were a pain even though we were some of the first on the ship. Some restaurants were sold out. We were first told just to go to Sabor for lunch with no reservation. We had no other option for lunch today as everything else was booked. We were also told the only place we can make Hibachi reservations was at Hibachi. I hiked over to Hibachi only to be greeted with a long line. Most folks are booking an entire week so it doesn’t move fast. We decided we didn’t care enough. We had just done it twice last week with ease so we would just skip it. We then went back to another reservation desk to fill our hole we had left for Hibachi with 150. This person told us we needed a Sabor reservation for lunch today which we were still able to secure. Seems overall complicated to me. 
 

Wolf and I then headed to Boleros for our first drink. My first drink had about a drop of liquor in it. I quickly downed that in about 2 minutes. The bartender asked if I needed anything else and I asked for another. Just wanted a drink to carry as we were heading to our muster station. He informed me he couldn’t serve me back to back drinks on my package but he could give me one if I wanted to use my voucher. WHAT? I’ve never had this happen before on Royal. If I wanted to deal with drink restrictions I’d cruise on carnival. I of course passed on the voucher simply out of principle and let him know I’d just hop over to another bar. I walked across to On Air and got another drink no problem. 
 

I’m not sure what these two things are about. It was just inconvenient to me. Two points for Odyssey as I didn’t have these hassles on that ship. 
 

Anyways we just let that all roll off our back. Having a good time about to have lunch in Sabor. Sitting in my favorite spot in Aquatheater. Let’s get this party started! It is our long cruise, big ship week!

Have you cruised out of Texas before? Texas has some kind of dumb alcohol rules while in port. Which is funny, considering my city has drive through margaritas and daiquiris. Though those drive thrus are nothing compared to the liquor barns in Mississippi.

2 hours ago, Denversail said:

No. Dupable doesn’t do things like that. We will have to find another source of entertainment during week two. Maybe not though, I’m sure we will hear from her multiple times a day. Wolf has promised to send her a lot of pictures of the big ship. 🤣

I know you said this wasn't that type of review but I am trying to plan dinners. Can you see the showtimes for Harmony and if so any chance you can post them? Either way, I am still following along. This is one of the best reviews I've seen.

1 hour ago, n4w said:

 

lol, 1.5 of your family?

I was kind of joking but basically 2 adults and 2 teens. Neither teen ever agrees with the other about what we should do. The adults want to do both, so we win.

In the past we have found a cheaper hotel in Houston or south of Houston but before Galveston. However we drive the 12 hours from where we live to the port and have our own transportation. Last time we stayed near Hobby and had no issues with the area. Our hotel had 3 chain restaurants nearby (but we ate as we entered Houston to get a car break). Our upcoming cruise in June has Galveston hotel prices at almost $300 a night for lower end places. We managed to get a 2 bedroom rental house for 2 nights for the cost of 2 nights at one of the cheaper hotels. We lose out on having a pool but we save by having a kitchen, It really depends on how long you need a room for and your priorities. If it is just a place to sleep the night before, go for something cheap with airport shuttles but if you want to get vacation started and have a day, I would stay in Galveston, unless you want to go to NASA. Either way, you probably need to book soon. Prices are only going to go up as places reach capacity. We booked through VRBO but the place we chose was also on Trip Advisor and Booking websites. I checked reviews and policies on all of the sites.

Thank you. Maybe it will be more clear in the summer months? Either way we will enjoy ourselves. 3/4ths of my family wants to go to the ruins and a different 3/4ths wants to go to a beach and relax.

Can 2 teenagers go to dinner in the main dining room without an adult? Is this allowed for breakfast or lunch on sea days? We generally stick together for dinners but was trying to find out the rules and to make sure they know in advance.

On 2/10/2024 at 12:07 PM, ssb said:

Sunflower can be slow, backed up, and loud 

Probably going the day before the cruise and not morning of. That way we have time to wait. Every good cafe and diner is loud and crowded on a weekend.

1 hour ago, Denversail said:

So 🤣 let’s bring Mr. IT into the mix. He has just caught wind of all the dead animal drama. This is how the conversation basically went:

 

Mr. IT: I agree. It is a terrible PR move.

 

Me: Did you notice someone hopped on to the SO band wagon. I’m creating a movement.

 

Mr. IT; So Becky like OMG Becky said like so

 

Mr. IT (as he sees the actual picture) JESUS! OMG! Get that photo off of there! I can’t believe you posted that! Well say goodbye to all your readers!

Me: I’m sure it’s fine. I posted a super cute puppy video right after.

 

Mr. IT: Have you removed the dead bunnies?

 

I see far worse than dead bunnies, so I'm good. Also have 3 dogs and a cat. Presents are inevitable.

Did you end up doing this tour? I am considering this for my family in June but haven't seen any updated reviews for the lagoon.

I actually remembered enough small details to find the review in question. The pictures posted were from Sunflower Cafe, so going to try to convince the family to go there.

3 hours ago, Denversail said:

In Dupable’s opinion the doctor saying the test results are basically the same isn’t acceptable. She assertively informed the doctor that it is impossible for the results to be the same.  They either had to be higher or lower. 🙄

Ok, I work in a human hospital lab and I swear I have had that argument so many times. Except in my case it is doctors and nurses arguing that the results have to change.

I am way to invested in this story now. I hope everything calms down for your family.

I remember reading a review on the Royal board a couple of years ago that had some amazing pictures from a cafe near the port (chocolate croissant and eggs benedict). I can't find it now but was trying to find a great spot for breakfast on embarkation day. Will also gladly accept food suggestions for lunch and dinner for the day before but my family usually likes to go to The Spot.

1 hour ago, cj_one2000 said:

So the sale price in reality is that you’re just paying full price 🫠

Royal loves having a sale. The price does fluctuate but I have never seen anything in my planner saying it was full price. I could be wrong and just never noticed but every time I login Royal has a deal and yet checking the prices they are almost always the same. I'm currently trying to decide between 3 dates and the prices have been consistent for weeks. I wish I had been able to plan around Black Friday sales though.

My experience is it is never the full price. There is always a "sale". I am not sure the current rate for drinks but a couple of years ago it was about $15 for a cocktail. At that price, you would need to drink 5.6 drinks per day to break even. Is that worth it to you? I am well aware you can get more than alcohol with the package but that is generally the most expensive item. If you don't drink more than 1 a day, the refreshment package might be a better deal and just buy shots to add to your drink. I am in no way saying the drink package isn't worth it for some people but it is worth looking at the overall value of the drink package (including convenience). If this seems like an ok value, I would purchase and then cancel and reorder if the price drops before sailing. I have never seen it be lower once onboard.

17 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Each "regular" balcony cabin pair alternates (same as connecting cabins).

Thank you and crap, because I know one teen is going to complain about the setup of the room they are in. Of course it is a cruise and they can deal, because we don't have to go on vacations like this with them.

5 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Find a connecting pair.  The cabin on the left (from the hallway) is bed by the bathroom.  Cabin on the right is bed by the balcony.  Each subsequent pair has the same layout.  This applies to Oasis class.

 

Quantum class is opposite.

 

There are some exceptions to the "rule".

So if we are in non-connecting rooms but right next to each other, they will be opposite for the setup or is that just for connecting cabins? There are no connecting rooms available, so I know we won't have that but it isn't a problem. I was kind of hoping both rooms would have the same setup, because my teens disagree on everything.

Is there a place or way to find out which setup a balcony room will have? We will be getting 2 balcony rooms (not connecting) and trying to figure out if the bed or sofa will be near the balcony. It looks like it could be either based on the photos. Is there a chart somewhere with this information? We will either be in a regular oceanview balcony or the larger balcony rooms.

40 minutes ago, Kellie in Texas said:

We agree that the "free" coffee is great and, last week on Harmony, it was probably the best of any cruise. You can add Starbucks to that other thread about nickel and diming ... waste of money. 

Last cruise was on Liberty 2 years ago and the Starbucks was a must for "decent" coffee. Fortunately it was covered by the refreshment package. In case the teens ask, is Starbucks on Harmony covered by the refreshment package?

We aren't diamond, so we just have access to the basics but as long as it is decent enough the adults in the group will be happy.

So where is the best coffee and is it free or covered by the drink package?

With the kids my fear was always the arcade. I had a limit set. We do buy the refreshment package, which I think is overpriced but it comes out to less than we would spend on drinks that we do enjoy. I could limit that, but it is a vacation and we want to enjoy ourselves. Refreshment package is the no alcohol package but it generally includes all of the no alcohol drinks. If we didn't do this, the kids would at least want the soda package, which has always seemed reasonable to me. The alcoholic drinks package is too much, unless you will drink 4-5 drinks every day. Look up what you would drink for the price and see how many you need to drink in a day to break even. I think most of it is people not knowing how to do a cost-benefit analysis or just wanting to complain. Other than a drink package, we never spend above the cruise price plus gratuities on the ship since kids outgrew the arcade.

So our previous cruises the kids were allowed to order off of either menu and were allowed to have shrimp cocktail nightly, lamb, and the lobster tail on nights it was part of the menu.

As for the kids club on Harmony, I do not know but I would think so.