330_cruiser

Thanks for all your suggestions re: internal flights and car service, much appreciated

On 2/27/2023 at 11:35 PM, FlyerTalker said:

Again....no one is answering the big question.  Why would you fly into Orlando, which is over 200 miles from the Fort Lauderdale port, rather than flying into Fort Lauderdale or Miami, which are just around the corner, by comparison?

 

And ground transport from FLL or MIA is a piece of cake.

 

This whole process is starting from some flawed premise.

There is no direct flight from Dublin to Miami in May. Orlando is the closest direct flight to Miami.

Great suggestions everyone. Thanks all!

I never thought of a car service or domestic flight to Fort Lauderdale. Will look into these options. 

3 hours ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

Very doubtful. When will you parents be cruising? 

 

The transatlantic cruise departs Fort Lauderdale to Dublin May 28th.. so all they need is a one way flight to MCO and  when they reach Dublin it’s a 20 minutes drive home! They have sailed with Silverseas before and really seem to like it.

I’ve tried a search but no luck.. I’m organising a cruise for my parents out of Fort Lauderdale.. they are on a direct flight to Orlando. 
 

Anyone know if Silverseas  offer transfers from Orlando MCO to Fort Lauderdale? Neither of them are comfortable driving in the USA unfortunately. 

Appreciate any suggestions.

Hopefully not but thankfully we’re good sleepers! Just looking forward to getting onboard again.

19 minutes ago, jollyjones said:

I think it’s the butler’s pantry and maybe service stairs. Certainly that’s usually where I bumped into my butler when looking for her for my daily temp check back in July.  

Thanks jollyjones. Good to know the butlers not to far away!

Any one stayed in Suite 635 on Silver Dawn?
 

There’s a blank area on the deck plan next to the suite. Anyone know what’s in this area?

Tried a quick search but no luck!

Few weeks ago it was 17.95 dollars for pressing on the first night.. items pressed and returned the next day 

Got off Harmony Oct 4th and the points were updated yesterday (Oct 12th)

On 10/11/2021 at 1:52 PM, Gracie115 said:

For those on board now or in the last month ...  was there a piano bar player in the schooner bar as there always was before Covid?  

Yes, there most certainly was a piano player in the Schooner bar.. had some great evenings there, quieter than normal but that didn't make to much of a difference. Vasi from New York was the piano player and I'm fairly certain she told us she is onboard for the transatlantic crossing back to Port Canaveral. Really good mix of songs and she did her best to get everyone involved, not always easy when the crowd is small. 

8 hours ago, globaltraveller said:

Does anyone have an idea of what percentage capacity they are going to book?  I don't think it will be 100%.  The Roll Calls for the current sailing in the UK don't say.  There are some YouTube videos.  But they are not clear about the capacity.  Just that the buffet is closed for dinner.

Currently on the Harmony.. we were told they had a capacity restriction of 50%..
 

speaking to crew it seems there’s approximately 1100 passengers onboard this week with 1700 crew 

On 9/22/2021 at 9:23 PM, MelKaps said:

To those who already sailed, can you provide some summaries/reviews of the shore excursions you’ve been on? Curious to hear your experiences with the required excursions in Italy.

We went on two RCL shore excursions this week. In Palma we just got a taxi to the beach, everyone was free to move around.

In Pisa, it really felt like a school tour, corralled into our group, very little time at the tower in Pisa and then back on the bus.

Naples & Pompeii much more relaxed whilst still staying within the guidelines.

Both trips there was plenty of space on the buses, bottled water handed out and restroom stops. 

2 hours ago, mm8516_02 said:

Hi,

 

I’m also quite confused about Italy entry requirements, one page says I need a form, another says cruise visitors are exempt. Has anyone from the UK on here who has been on harmony able to advise if you needed to fill in a form to get off the ship in Italy?

 

thanks,

 

All passengers entering Italian ports of call need to complete the following form:

https://app.euplf.eu/#/

UK & Northern Ireland passengers are required to complete a antigen test the evening before (complimentary).

On arrival at Pompeii today everyone entering was asked to show their vaccine card/certs.

Whole process sounds more complicated but in reality it all went smoothly, albeit we were kept in our groups and no wandering off. 
 

Hope that helps. 

Just an update from the Harmony.. onboard wifi is working great .. thanks for all your input!

1 minute ago, h18furball said:

Do a zoom audio call, no video.  Takes much less bandwidth.

I like your way of thinking.. turn the video off and log in from the Lido deck 😂

8 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Speed is not really an issue - you can stream decent video at even 1Mbps - the Stream tier of VOOM is 4 Mbps. Latency and the issues addressed in the post above are more important.

Thanks Biker19, appreciate your reply. This is not my area of expertise but is streaming something like Netflix equivalent to live video on something like a zoom call?

10 minutes ago, twangster said:

Royal is pretty consistently 4 mbps down and 2 mbps up on a per guest basis.  

 

The real issues you may face are weather and wifi signal strength. 

Thanks twangster - agree the weather etc can really impact it.. some things are just out of our control!

Hi all, enjoying all your updates from Harmony of the Seas. We are booked Sep 26th. One of our party will have to work (Zoom video calls) for a few hours possibly 3 days of the cruise.

Would really appreciate any feedback on the internet speed (VOOM) onboard Harmony? Is the onboard wifi still available while in port? Anyone been unfortunate enough to have to work / zoom while onboard?!

2 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

We are sailing on the same cruise.

Post your question on this thread: 

Great idea, thanks for the suggestion Fiona. Looking forward to getting back onboard!

1 minute ago, orville99 said:

On port days ask an officer where the closest Internet cafe is in the port area. You may pay a bit to use it, but you will get much better bandwidth.

Good idea.. just think it's such a shame to cancel when there are potential solutions

Just booked our first cruise since pre-covid out of Barcelona!

I've done a search for this but would really welcome some up to date info from anyone who recently sailed onboard Harmony of the Seas.
We are booked onboard September 26th, one of our party will need to log on to several work zoom video calls but they are considering  cancelling due to need to attend these calls. (they are first time cruisers). I have told them their is an option for streaming, in my experience it has always has been good but obviously there are many variables than can effect internet onboard.

I've previously used the onboard VOOM package with no issues for Netflix etc, can any one who has recently been onboard Harmony (or used Zoom onboard) offer any feedback on the internet speed?

The three days in question are actually port days so not sure if that effects the internet onboard at all?

Thanks Bob:)

Booked on the Allure this October, our deal includes the Select drinks package (beer, wine, soda).. anyone know is it possible to upgrade onboard and pay the difference to avail of the Premium package?

We are on the Carnival Fascination July 5th, we have a car hired from Alamo driving from Orlando to Jacksonville the morning of the cruise.. Does anyone know if Alamo have a shuttle to the port or is it easy to get a taxi from the car hire depot before and after the cruise?

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

I'm also on the Azamara Quest July 5th and wrote to Azamara asking which terminal the ship would depart in Venice.. I received the following from Azamara :rolleyes:

"Azamara Quest will be departing from Venice Italy at 6:00PM. At this stage

I cannot provide you with transfer details due to availability. You will

need to contact our phone number 0844 493 4016 any representative will be

able to help you with this matter."

I'm sure their intentions are good but it can't be that difficult to specify which pier or at least advise about shuttle buses from P. Roma?