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We're on this cruise 02/02/18. So following with interest

 

 

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We have a group of 10 sailing on this date too!!!!

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Very sorry to read about your experience. My wife and I were planning to use Luggage Valet when we disembark Allure next month. Since our flight is not until 1pm we figured we could Luggage Valet our bags to the airport and jump in an Uber and grab brunch before our flight. Maybe we will just Uber to the airport, drop bags and then poke around for a bit.

We have used the luggage valet many, many times - just my husband and me and with large groups - knock on wood, we have never had a problem. We just got off the Harmony with 20 in our party - all luggage arrived at our final destination. We will use it on our May cruuse on the Allure.

What disappoints me about the problem the passenger had is the lack of response from Royal Caribbean.

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Hi,

 

Will be sailing on the Allure in April and are interested in doing the mobile passport and also Luggage Valet Service and getting taxi to airport.

 

Did you have to get your luggage in the terminal and take it through customs with you or once you put it outside your stateroom you did not have to touch your luggage until you got to your home airport destination?

 

thanks,

Paula

If you are flying SouthWest your flight must be between 11:30 and 6:00 in order to use the luggage valet at $25.00 per person. WELL WORTH IT. You put your luggage outside your room the last night and you don't see or touch it until you arrive at your home destination. We use it all the time - it has worked perfectly every time. You don't have to worry about the weight either.

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Just returned to terminal 29 on FOS. Used to new mobile passport for clearing customs, and worked really well.we were B2B and i saw the signs on the first cruise. on tunaround day i downloaded to program on the iphone. then i scanned my passport and my wife's passport to load that info, plus used the phone to take our pictures. At the end of the cruise, loaded in the port info from a drop down, answered a few questions, hit submit and headed for customs. no one in line, and it is free. they say you have 4 hours after submitting, then i guess you have to do it again.

There is also a global entry line in this terminal.

We used it in Fort Lauderdale off Harmony in terminal 18 - worked perfectly

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Also, sailing the Navigator during the SB and some paxs mentioned that the game was shown on ESPN and in their cabin. On the Navigator, it was shown in the Ice Rink, Pool area & in the casinos.

On the Harmony this year they showed it several places but the best place was in the ice skating rink. They set up food and bars and showed it on a large screen and several smaller ones. It was set up like a tailgating party - lots of fun.

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Thanks Bob. Didn't realize the room was connected. Is that a problem that I should know about?

We have had connecting rooms several times and have never heard our neighbors any more than non-connecting rooms.

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Just got off Harmony with a group of 14 but we did 6:00 traditional dining and those that wanted to eat then did so. I think we had four nights all fourteen ate together. It is more difficult to converse but we preferred one table rather than two. They told out TA they would not do a table for fourteen. I emailed RCCL dining and made a request for fourteen at 6:00 and much to my surprise, they honored my request. In fact we had our table number before we got on the ship. I don't remember the exact email address but if you call RCCL, they might be able to give it to you.

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Just back from Harmony of the Seas with friends. This was taken on a casual night.

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Second formal night

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I think I'm both tough and realistic on my ratings so bare with me and my perception of things this past week, especially if you disagree. I'll also take away the weather issues and travel stress and do my best to look at this objectively compared to past sailings.

 

"5" is a pass, but just barely...

6 ok

7 is very good but not memorable

8 memorable, but not the best ever

9 totally excellent, have recommended or raved

10 the best EVER... and it has to be EVER

 

Food:

Chops 9 - 2nd to my Legend experience, #1 restaurant on Harmony for us

Wonderland 9 - I will do this again!

150 CP 7 - just not memorable, prettty good, but not "wow" excellent

Jamie's 6 - not memorable, I truly do cook better Italian at home

Sabor 7 - not even close to my Navigator 10 experience. Pretty good though, but worth $60 upcharge?

Park Cafe 7 - steady Freddie... ya know what you're gonna get!

Solarium Bistro - 6 - a surprising let down, once for breakfast and lunch.

MTD 0 - my first outright fail for the situation they put us on. And the food I can't even remember

WJ 8 - an excellent surprise. The breakfast stations were excellent and plentiful with choices (ie. muesli with many toppings, not just a couple)

 

if I forgot to mention a venue, I likely didn't try it

 

Entertainment:

Production Shows 10!!!!!! - Columbus & Grease were both superb, best ever on any RCL cruise for many aspects

Headliner 10!!! - 7th heaven best Headliner ever on any of my sailings

Comedians 5 - if not for Simeon, would've been lower I'm afraid

Latino Band 7.5

Ice Dance Show 7

Fine Line 8

 

 

Venues

Sports Deck 10 (no brainer now with 2 Floriders)

Boleros 9

Studio B 9

Promenade 8 - I think I'd take the cozy Voyager promenades over O Class

Casino I didn't use this time (normally play poker)

Pool Deck 6 - I don't like the 4 pool format, massive crowding with poor layout

Solarium 4 - the slats are a major fail in design + no pool

 

 

Staff

Checker the DL 9 - I did not need his services but he was highly praised by others, besides remembering me from 3 years ago

Reyno SL 10!! - Rmembers me from 2 yrs ago, follows to see where I sit, and even though I'm not in a suite gives me the last 2 front row seats in the theatre when no other suites show up. How great is that for service and going an extra mile?

Dennis Garcia 8 - better than average, never had to ask for anything. First day asked for ice each night and got it. Toiletries in the bathroom without me asking

Bar Staff 9 - a big applause to the bar staff. For the most part great drinks everywhere. Also I never once made to feel inferior or made to wait when asking to fill my Coke Cup.

CD Bobby Brown 7

Activity Staff 7

 

 

 

General Thoughts

Crowding 5 - worst crowding in various areas of the ship I've ever experienced

The Abyss 7 - just ok, one and done

The Perfect Storm Slides 6.5 - overhyped imho

All Access Tour 3 - a big +fail with the new format

Rubicon Escape 9 - excellent fun and memorable

Boardwalk Balcony 7.5 - I would look to try a CP next time maybe

"Outward" focus 6 - almost a fail... go back and look through this entire review and look very very closely at the actual venues and ship pictures, counting as you go how many times you can see the ocean or look out a window. Then open up my Adventure or Serenade review and do the same thing... you'll get the picture.

 

If you take away the slides, cold/windy Solarium, downgraded All Access Tour, the overcrowded pool decks, and inward focus without seeing the sea you get.... well... a Voyager or Radiance Class ship!!! lol.

 

Overall thought? I'll give this cruise a 7. I brought back great memories of several things which absolutely stand out (23 of the "best evers" on one sailing!). Conversely this sailing had the most fails (scores less than 5) than on any other review I have ever done. I went into this sailing with very high anticipation, and maybe that was a big problem as Harmony overall did not live up to it.

 

Many of you offered very nice words throughout this review and I truly appreciate it and try to answer to them. If I missed saying thank you personally to any of your posts... "Thank you" :D I have a bucket list epic b2b booked for Aug/Sept on Jewel that I really hope to do a great review on. In the meantime....

 

H A P P Y C R U I S I N ' E V E R Y O N E ! ! !

I know this is a strange question, but are the doors to the staterooms magnetic? Our group wants to put a congratulations sign on one of the couples sailing with us. If I remember correctly, you can put a magnetic sign on the door.

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I just called royal. They told me I had to purchase Voom in order to use the app???

 

 

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No one has mentioned having to purchase VOOM in order to use the app. Many times I get false information when I call RCCL. Can anyone, the has recently been on HOS verify the above statement regarding VOOM and the use of the RCCL app?

I used it often on Harmony last week.

 

I wish it had deck plans. I mentioned that in my cruise review.

Yes to both questions.

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Just checked in for an upcoming Harmony sailing and got an assigned boarding time of 1:30 pm. Been on many Royal cruises including sailing Allure last year and never had an assigned boarding time. My wife and I like to board early and usually are on by noon.

 

Are these suggested boarding times or are they mandated? Would like to get on earlier but also don't want to get to port early only to have to sit in lobby for a couple hours.

 

Appreciate any info.

I asked the same question and someone had a boarding time of 12:30 but boarded at 11:30.

I am traveling with a group of 20 on the Harmony February 4th and all have different boarding times. Our private shuttle will be picking us up at the airport at 10:00. I called RCCL about the different times on our set sail passes and asked, if those with later boarding times, would have to wait outside the terminal until their scheduled time and they said they should be allowed to board with those with the 10:30 time. Hoping I'm getting correct information. Four of us are diamond plus and they said that would help.

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Hi all,

 

First time on Allure, party of 12 with MTD, can we get a table for 12

We have traveled with a party of 14 on the Allure and was seated at one large table. I went to the Maitre D as soon as I boarded and requested the table.

We are traveling again with a party of 14 on the Harmony on February 4. I emailed the dining department at RCCL and requested a table of 14 and received an email granting the request and already have our table number.

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There are ALWAYS folks who will "Bend" the rules. Here's the thing..if there are loungers available...why do you give a fig if one 2 feet closer to the pool is "toweled"? I mean, really.

 

If there are NO CHAIRS anywhere...I can see making a stink...otherwise...sit down, and shut up. NO one cares.. Really...

Love this reply. WAY TOO MUCH TIME spent on the subject of chair hogs!!!

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After the great experience we had on the Quantum of the Seas in February 2015, we were really excited about sailing on Harmony of the Seas on Dec 10, 2016. We have sailed on Explorer and Oasis of the Seas in previous Royal Caribbean International (RCI) cruises and thoroughly enjoyed each ship and the service provided. Unfortunately, as beautiful as Harmony was, we were disappointed by a number of RCI business changes we and our group of 5 couples experienced during the cruise. I'll list a few of our observations with a focus on brevity.

 

ADDITIONAL MENU UPGRADES: Additional upgraded food choices listed on menus in main dining areas (American Icon) that were additional cost items. No longer included without additional charge. The food selections we wanted and had been included on previous RCI cruises were now available as extra cost alternative upgrades on the menu. Apparently, RCI has decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

ADDITIONAL CHARGE for UPGRADED MENU ITEMS IN ADDITIONAL CHARGE SPECIALTY RESTAURANTS: That's right! Pay an additional fee per person to enter then pay an addition fee for select items on the menu. Again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

ROOM SERVICE FOOD CHARGES: Want Eggs and Fresh Squeezed Orange Juice for your morning breakfast in your room? Surprise, you have to pay an extra $3 each for fresh Orange Juice or an Egg Omelette in your room. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

POOR SERVICE IN MAIN DINING ROOMS: This was truly amazing. After sitting in the American Icon dining room for dinner, no one ever came to the table to ask if we wanted a drink. Furthermore, you had to ask to have your water glass filled or it remained empty.

 

WAITING STAFF SHORTAGE: The poor service might have been related to what appeared to be a lack of sufficient restaurant staffing levels. Not only did there not appear to be enough staff on hand to get the job done, those that were there didn't appear to know what to do and stood around at times. They were certainly not yet performing as a team. Perhaps the newness of the ship contributed to this situation but all passengers we talked to felt the restaurant areas were not sufficiently staffed. Perhaps RCI has cut back to save money but the lack of staffing and quality supervision is painfully obvious!

 

WINDJAMMER BUFFET TOTALLY DISORGANIZED, LACKING FOOD, PLATES, SILVERWARE AND SEATS ON DAY 1: After boarding ship at Port Everglades, this was a true disaster area. Very little food available with throngs of hungry people circling the service areas anxiously awaiting the arrival of ANYTHING to eat. Clean plates and silverware were extremely hard to locate. Talk about ugly! After a considerable search, I was finally able to locate a stack of clean small plates and retrieve one for my own use. I was fortunate indeed to find a clean knife that I used to eat the garbanzo bean salad and chocolate cake I located and placed on that small plate. Not my idea of what I wanted for lunch on the biggest cruise ship in the world but, it was the best I could do without resorting to a more aggressive food foraging and collection style!

 

TOILET IN GRAND SUITE WOULD RANDOMLY FILL WITH WATER AND OVERFLOW: Harmony is a brand new ship so I guess it has to be expected that things will break and/or fail. Right? Damn, why did it have to be the toilet? We had a beautiful room, #14660, with a beautiful comfortable balcony. To our surprise, we had a plumbing problem in the middle of the night. Fortunately, when the valve to the bathroom toilet decided to go bad at 3:30 am, it filled the toilet bowl with CLEAN CLEAR water. Unfortunately, after filling the bowl, it didn't stop until sometime after it overflowed onto the bathroom floor. After convincing myself it was a freak random occurrence by making certain it once again properly flushed, I cleaned up the mess, without waking my sleeping wife, and went back to bed. Surprisingly, it happened 2 more times later that day before I finally called maintenance for help. They quickly responded and replaced the hallway valve which corrected the problem.

 

CHARGE FOR POPCORN WHEN VIEWING WATER SHOWS: Incredibly, RCI charges $2.50 for a SMALL bag of popcorn should you decide you want to partake while watching their incredible outdoor water show in the Boardwalk area at the rear of the ship. This is yet another example of RCI's business decision to charge for something that other Cruise Lines (Princess - Movies Under the Stars) include for free. Once again, RCI has apparently decided to nickel and dime passengers to death in order to get as much extra money out of them as they can.

 

RCI CHANGED ALL OF OUR DINNER & ENTERTAINMENT PLANS WITHOUT NOTICE: My wife worked for weeks prior to the cruise with the 5 other couples cruising with us to coordinate dining & entertainment reservations under RCI's "Dynamic Dining" program in place at the time to insure we could do things and eat together. Unfortunately, RCI canceled that program and rescheduled us to other locations and times without notifying us or taking into account our desire to spend dinner and entertainment events with friends. We never managed to totally recover from that and it certainly detracted from the enjoyment we normally experience on a cruise.

 

Finally, we really love RCI ships! They truly have that "Wow" factor many speak of. Their internet service is phenomenal and is truly the standard other cruise lines should strive to match or exceed. They have much to be proud of but we noted a number of changes since our last cruise on Quantum of the Seas. Unfortunately, based on these changes and our experiences, we won't be cruising on RCI again. If we hadn't been return RCI passengers, we probably would have just thought this normal and accepted it as such. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure it's RCI's new normal. However, having sailed on other cruise lines, coupled with our previous RCI experiences, we know that is not the case. RCI appears to have adopted a business model that once you're on the ship, they will attempt to squeeze as much additional money out of you as they can. Some things are to be expected but RCI takes this concept to a new level!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I too get so frustrated with RCCL changing show times randomly. We have a group of 20 and I did the show reservations over a month ago. I was notified Monday of two changes that give us two shows on one day and no shows on two days. After spending hours trying to reschedule online, I finally called RCCL and they did help me to reschedule all shows for all twenty guests. But, I spent 4 hours working on it and I expect I'll get more changes. I know some will say "go with the flow" but this group doesn't work this way. We have 34 cruises on RCCL and I am finding they are not quick to address a concern or problem. They have just gotten so big I think they are having difficulty staffing their ships.

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Do you know if they were strict on the boarding time on your set sail pass? We have a group of 20 sailing on February 4th and we all have different boarding times from 10:30-12:30. Our shuttle is scheduled to drop us at the pier at 10:30. I called RCCL and was told because we have two diamond plus couples traveling with our group, we should all be able to board at the 10:30 time. Thoughts???

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My husband and I did this cruise this past October and had a wonderful time. We spent thee days in Boston and boarded on Sunday. We did a RCCL sponsored excursion at each port and loved each one. The tour guides were fabulous. We usually cruise the larger ships but enjoyed the Serenade. Food was fine as was the service. Entertainment was much better than I expected. We would do it again.

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This is FABULOUS - RCCL should buy the rights to this OR give you crusing for life and have you make a video for each ship.

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Are Smoothies included in the Royal Replenish Package? Can't figure it out. Thanks

I was on the Allure the last two weeks this past June and had the replenish package. Smoothies in the Vitality Cafe were not included - only fresh-squeezed orange juice.

I will be sailing on Oasis of the Seas in February. This will be my first RCI. With previous cruise lines there was an iron on board to press clothes. I noticed passengers mentioned bringing a clothes steamer. Has anyone had any trouble bringing this on board lately?

I really like my clothes to be pressed - don't really care if others are wrinkled - absolutely no judging from me. This being said, I do iron everything before I go and try to fold to minimize wrinkles BUT it doesn't always work. It is worth it to me to send my most wrinkled clothes to be ironed by RCCL. The charge is minimal and gives me peace of mind. If you don't mind a small charge, lay your clothes on the bed, fill out the laundry form, and clotheds will be returned the next day by 5:00.

Anyone done Solarium Bistro for lunch? If so, how is it and are they busy first day?

We have been on the Oasis and the Allure several times and we ALWAYS do embarkation lunch at the solarium bistro. It is never very crowded and if all the seats happen to be taken, you can carry your plate out to the solarium and enjoy the views. Last cruise we took on the Allure, we had 14 people in our party and we went to the solarium bistro and got a plate of food and carried it one floor up and ate near the bar.

Sparkles.;)

 

 

Very few JS staterooms on Vision class ships have walk-in closets.

Are there walk-in closets in a junior suite on the Oasis of the Seas?

Hi Sky616

Pittsburgh residents here. We are doing Eastern sailing the Oasis on April 18 and looking for Cruise Compass to help us plan. I saw you had it posted but now it does not seem to open. Was it removed? Anyway that you could email it to me? Thanks. 52 Days!

My husband and I are on the same cruise. I grew up in the Pittsburgh area but now live in Tennessee. I lived in Clairton and my brother still lives in Charleroi. Looking forward to our Oasis cruise. We have been on this ship four other times, so if you need any information, just ask.

These boards, this world of cc always makes me chuckle. [emoji57]

 

Experienced cruisers... Your former glory days of titanic-era elitist cruises are over! Move on to Azamara and save us a gripe-fest! Just because you're diamond plus pinnacle you cruised your whole life and deserve everything for free attitude isn't being satisfied shouldn't mean you should poo poo an incredible ship and staff. After all it's all your freebies, free drinks here, free OBC there, price drop here balcony discount there that creates the need for royal to consistently reevaluate their budget, cut corners and ways to pet the kitties and keep them satisfied.

 

I am the new face of cruising. I am diamond and I could give two poos about it! I still buy the beverage package (no mixed up drink prices there!) and don't plan to use the lounge. I cruise to get away from it all. To enjoy the hard work of hard-working people and not view them as just the help, rather people who are dedicated to ensuring I have a nice vacation. I don't sit around and gripe about different priced drinks or mediocre food. What are you expecting? If something on land can do it better I think we'd all prefer you to stay on land and keep your bad attitude on land as well! Us young cruisers see this behavior on the ship and laugh. We laugh at you and your terrible attitudes and then high five the bar tenders we've made an actual connection with as you leave with your bad attitude.

 

I'm headed on Oasis next week for the second time, fourth time on oasis class and each time seems to get better and better. Can't wait for my incredible mediocre vacation to begin and pray to God that there's no whiners to bring us all down!!! Wah Wah Wah Wah Wah.

 

 

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Love your post and certainly agree. I am diamond plus (always in a balcony or above) and getting ready to do a B2B on Oasis. Have some things changed, sure, but these changes are not so horrendous as to keep me from enjoying every moment on the high seas. If I don't have to cook, clean up, make my bed etc. - it is a vacation to me. We eat in the MDR every night and have never left hungry. We have cruised on other lines and had a wonderful time but we always head back to RCCL. Too many feel they are owed too much entitlement - not just the "royal loyal" but those in suites too. I try to live with my cup half full not half empty.

I am planning on booking a cruise on April 25 on Oasis of the Seas. Will Dynamic Dining be introduced by then?

 

If not, will there still be formal nights on the ship? I don't like formal dress - I would prefer to wear jeans in the evening.

I will be on a B2B on April 18th and 25th. My TA was told dining will be traditional or MTD.

No dynamic dining during those two weeks.