Harmony LIVE, September 16th - 23rd, 2017 - Our Cruise Wedding

Hello beautiful readers! This is my first attempt at a live blog so please, be kind. Not only do we have a Star Class Suite, the Sky Loft Suite 1724 on Harmony of the Seas, we are also getting married on this sailing! Let me kick it off by telling you more about myself.

I'm Christa, I'm 31, turning 32 on this sailing. I'm engaged to Joey, who just turned 33. We have 2 cats and 2 big fluffy dogs. We've been together for almost 7 years now. We are both born and raised in North East Ohio and have been living about 20 miles south of Cleveland for the last 5 years. I went on my first cruise with my parents nearly 20 years ago and for Joey's 30th birthday, I took him on his first cruise. So we are still fresh cruisers.

With this post, I hope to provide a new angle for a live review since as I mentioned, we will be getting married on Day 2 and we will be a group of 50 people.

If there are any questions in advance, please let me know. I will do my best to find the answer for you while onboard.

Fingers crossed that Hurricane Irma and what is currently known as Tropical Storm Jose will not complicate our trip!

You can visit my blog for details on my planning experience, in detail. christacourtney.com

You can also follow me on Instagram, where as of today, I have 1358 posts. christa4

my son, daughter in law and granddaughter had that cabin last week. Awesome cabin. What type of big fluffy dogs do you have?

my son, daughter in law and granddaughter had that cabin last week. Awesome cabin. What type of big fluffy dogs do you have?

That's great! I can't wait to experience it! I've heard some great things about it!!! Do you know who their Genie was? I received an email from Sebastian stating he will be ours!

We have a Giant Schnoodle and a Saint Berdoodle! Meet Lady and Wally!

- Christa 💜

my son, daughter in law and granddaughter had that cabin last week. Awesome cabin. What type of big fluffy dogs do you have?

Constable is your son?

Constable is your son?

yes he is

That's great! I can't wait to experience it! I've heard some great things about it!!! Do you know who their Genie was? I received an email from Sebastian stating he will be ours!

 

We have a Giant Schnoodle and a Saint Berdoodle! Meet Lady and Wally!

 

 

- Christa 💜

Joyce was their Genie but she left the ship after their cruise for her vacation.

On September 2nd both Joey and I each received an email from Sebastian Henter stating he will be our Genie while we are on board. I assume the email he sent to be a standard template email that they send out 14 days prior to sailing to all of their Star Class guests. The email included some useful pieces of information, including details on arriving at the port with a picture of what flag to look for and asking about our arrival plans - are we flying in that morning, are we taking a taxi, etc. He let us know about Royal Genie LOOP, which is simply a text messaging communication tool used to stay connected with our Royal Genie while on board. As he promised, I received the LOOP invitation today - 10 days prior to sailing. The email touched on things like Star Class amenities, dining, and reservations. It also detailed information on the Labadee Barefoot Beach Club and option for renting a cabana. Attached to the email was 4 documents, a map of the Labadee cabana locations, a list of the different types of cabanas with their pricing and features, a list of the available tours for Labadee with details and pricing and a general "Prohibited Items" list for the cruise. Also in the email Sebastian wanted to know some preferences such as what water, juice and Coca-Cola products to have in our mini bar and do we want to be greeted with champagne, white wine or red wine. Lastly he asked about our special celebrations, mentioning 50% of guests are celebrating something and that he wanted to know what it is, if anything, that we are celebrating.

Sebastian indicated that he typically responds to questions and requests within 24 hours, as he's still acting as a Royal Genie on a current sailing. He mentioned that he's typically "in his lamp" responding to emails between 12:00pm and 3:00pm EST and around 9:00pm he needs to recharge his cosmic Royal Genie powers.

To me, this email was exciting because this is an entirely new experience for me. I was pleased to receive it and eager to start drafting my response. :D

The next day I took a decent amount of time and concocted a response. I started off by telling him it's our cruise wedding and that there will be 50 people in our group. I let him know that I booked a limo and what time we plan on arriving at the port. I asked that he arrange a Welcome Reception for us on embarkation day and provided him with our requests. I told him I booked a few shows however, we are open to changes and suggestions should he have a better plan. I let him know we are looking to experience as many speciality restaurants as we can. Included in my response were the answers to his preference questions. I let him know our plans for the different islands and our plan to participate in the Cabin Crawl on Day 5 and that it will be ending in our room. Lastly, for fun I included a photo of our smiling faces from a destination wedding we attended at a Sandals resort in Jamaica a few years back so he can put a face with the name.

Constable is your son?

Nice to see you, Andrew. All of your posts have really been helpful during this planning process for me. I especially love your Live posts - it is the reason why I decided to do a Live post of the same stateroom but from a different point of view. With regards to having a Genie and stateroom 1724, I probably won't be posting anything that you don't already know since you are a seasoned 1724 Sky Loft'er. However, I'd like to hope that I will be able to include some info about what it's like to host a group and have a special event on board! We will have a professional photographer friend with us (Crown Loft 1730) so with any luck, I will have some fun photos to post of our experiences. It should be interesting because our photographer friend is actually an "Adventure Travel & Active Lifestyle Photographer" - they don't do organized events like what we are having. We love them as people and we love their photos so it was a no-brainer to have them join us. :cool:

Following, as I will be on this sailing as well (first Oasis class experience!)

Congratulations on your wedding (and happy birthday)!

Following, as I will be on this sailing as well (first Oasis class experience!)

 

Congratulations on your wedding (and happy birthday)!

Thank you x2!! Our first Oasis class too, first suite, first ocean view, first Royal Caribbean ship... lots of firsts for us - I'm really looking forward to it! If you see on in our wedding attire on Day 2, be sure to come introduce yourself! It's my understanding that Harmony is currently only doing about 1 wedding per sailing.

This is a surprise 30th birthday cruise for your fiancé? That's going to be awesome. Joey's first cruise was a surprise for his 30th birthday! He loved it - I think I told him a month or two prior to the trip. Are you considering a cruise wedding?? ;)

Following along since I think we could all use a really good story right now!!

Congratulations on your up-coming wedding, going Star Class and of course Happy Birthday!!!!

Loved Harmony in May - and I know you will too!!!

Great shot of the doggies!! Too cute!!!

Congrats again and enjoy!!! :D

Following along since I think we could all use a really good story right now!!

Congratulations on your up-coming wedding, going Star Class and of course Happy Birthday!!!!

Loved Harmony in May - and I know you will too!!!

 

Great shot of the doggies!! Too cute!!!

Congrats again and enjoy!!! :D

Wonderful - welcome to the party! Thank you for the congratulatory wishes; this cruise is going to be something special, full of celebration, not just for me, but for our guests. There are a handful of birthday celebrations and anniversaries.

Soo many good reviews about this ship. I can't wait to experience it!!! Thanks again!!

Constable is your son?

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

On September 2nd both Joey and I each received an email from Sebastian Henter stating he will be our Genie while we are on board. I assume the email he sent to be a standard template email that they send out 14 days prior to sailing to all of their Star Class guests. The email included some useful pieces of information, including details on arriving at the port with a picture of what flag to look for and asking about our arrival plans - are we flying in that morning, are we taking a taxi, etc. He let us know about Royal Genie LOOP, which is simply a text messaging communication tool used to stay connected with our Royal Genie while on board. As he promised, I received the LOOP invitation today - 10 days prior to sailing. The email touched on things like Star Class amenities, dining, and reservations. It also detailed information on the Labadee Barefoot Beach Club and option for renting a cabana. Attached to the email was 4 documents, a map of the Labadee cabana locations, a list of the different types of cabanas with their pricing and features, a list of the available tours for Labadee with details and pricing and a general "Prohibited Items" list for the cruise. Also in the email Sebastian wanted to know some preferences such as what water, juice and Coca-Cola products to have in our mini bar and do we want to be greeted with champagne, white wine or red wine. Lastly he asked about our special celebrations, mentioning 50% of guests are celebrating something and that he wanted to know what it is, if anything, that we are celebrating.

 

Sebastian indicated that he typically responds to questions and requests within 24 hours, as he's still acting as a Royal Genie on a current sailing. He mentioned that he's typically "in his lamp" responding to emails between 12:00pm and 3:00pm EST and around 9:00pm he needs to recharge his cosmic Royal Genie powers.

 

To me, this email was exciting because this is an entirely new experience for me. I was pleased to receive it and eager to start drafting my response. :D

 

The next day I took a decent amount of time and concocted a response. I started off by telling him it's our cruise wedding and that there will be 50 people in our group. I let him know that I booked a limo and what time we plan on arriving at the port. I asked that he arrange a Welcome Reception for us on embarkation day and provided him with our requests. I told him I booked a few shows however, we are open to changes and suggestions should he have a better plan. I let him know we are looking to experience as many speciality restaurants as we can. Included in my response were the answers to his preference questions. I let him know our plans for the different islands and our plan to participate in the Cabin Crawl on Day 5 and that it will be ending in our room. Lastly, for fun I included a photo of our smiling faces from a destination wedding we attended at a Sandals resort in Jamaica a few years back so he can put a face with the name.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Sometime over the next few days (I'm back at work) I'll be writing a detailed review. I'll cover all the fun, lavish star class perks. Stay tuned.

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

That sounds like a fun read! Be sure to let us know when it's posted! (y)

Hello beautiful readers! This is my first attempt at a live blog so please, be kind. Not only do we have a Star Class Suite, the Sky Loft Suite 1724 on Harmony of the Seas, we are also getting married on this sailing! Let me kick it off by telling you more about myself.

 

I'm Christa, I'm 31, turning 32 on this sailing. I'm engaged to Joey, who just turned 33. We have 2 cats and 2 big fluffy dogs. We've been together for almost 7 years now. We are both born and raised in North East Ohio and have been living about 20 miles south of Cleveland for the last 5 years. I went on my first cruise with my parents nearly 20 years ago and for Joey's 30th birthday, I took him on his first cruise. So we are still fresh cruisers.

 

With this post, I hope to provide a new angle for a live review since as I mentioned, we will be getting married on Day 2 and we will be a group of 50 people.

 

If there are any questions in advance, please let me know. I will do my best to find the answer for you while onboard.

 

Fingers crossed that Hurricane Irma and what is currently known as Tropical Storm Jose will not complicate our trip!

 

You can visit my blog for details on my planning experience, in detail. christacourtney.com

You can also follow me on Instagram, where as of today, I have 1358 posts. christa4

As soon as we walked up to the star class area the genie was waiting there and called my daughter by name. What a way to start the vacation. Also, our genie was phenomenal. I have no reason to believe that yours will be any different. Here's a shot of our genie and my daughter as we were leaving the ship

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Also on the subject of pictures.. Our genie recognized my daughter from the security photo I uploaded. I noticed on the genie clipboard they have a print out of each of their guests mugshot.

 

As soon as we walked up to the star class area the genie was waiting there and called my daughter by name. What a way to start the vacation. Also, our genie was phenomenal. I have no reason to believe that yours will be any different. Here's a shot of our genie and my daughter as we were leaving the ship

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Oh my gosh, those curls!! :hearteyes: Such a cute picture.

It sounds like Royal Caribbean is on the ball! What time did you arrive to the port?

Congrats on your up-comming wedding, we will be on the same cruise & will be celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary. We hope you will be happy & have your 60th on a cruise like we are doing.

George & Liz

george35

Oh my gosh, those curls!! :hearteyes: Such a cute picture.

 

It sounds like Royal Caribbean is on the ball! What time did you arrive to the port?

those curls belong to my granddaughter

Congrats on your up-comming wedding, we will be on the same cruise & will be celebrating our 60th wedding anniversary. We hope you will be happy & have your 60th on a cruise like we are doing.

George & Liz

 

george35

George & Liz, thank you! Please feel free to stop us to say hi if you see on during our wedding festivities on Day 2! Does your anniversary actually fall one one of the days we will be sailing??? <3

those curls belong to my granddaughter

You are quite the lucky grandma!!! I bet she's just a cutie!

I will be sure to come and say hi! I've been lurking on our roll call, but I didn't want to give the surprise away prematurely so I didn't post anything or join any cabin crawls.

Yep -- I told my fiance at a surprise birthday party we through this past weekend, so at least I don't have to keep it a secret anymore! We have been tossing the idea of a cruise wedding, but I don't know if our family would be too happy with that lol.

10 more days!!

Thank you x2!! Our first Oasis class too, first suite, first ocean view, first Royal Caribbean ship... lots of firsts for us - I'm really looking forward to it! If you see on in our wedding attire on Day 2, be sure to come introduce yourself! It's my understanding that Harmony is currently only doing about 1 wedding per sailing.

 

This is a surprise 30th birthday cruise for your fiancé? That's going to be awesome. Joey's first cruise was a surprise for his 30th birthday! He loved it - I think I told him a month or two prior to the trip. Are you considering a cruise wedding?? ;)

You are quite the lucky grandma!!! I bet she's just a cutie!

Thanks but I am her grandfather or Pumpa as she calls me. She is such a cutie. And yes, I am very lucky.

I will be sure to come and say hi! I've been lurking on our roll call, but I didn't want to give the surprise away prematurely so I didn't post anything or join any cabin crawls.

 

Yep -- I told my fiance at a surprise birthday party we through this past weekend, so at least I don't have to keep it a secret anymore! We have been tossing the idea of a cruise wedding, but I don't know if our family would be too happy with that lol.

 

10 more days!!

That's super exciting! Congratulations to her and the big birthday surprise! I'm sure she's soooooo happy!

I'm an only child so I didn't know how a cruise wedding was going to go over either. My family always envisioned a big wedding for me. I'm also one of the only girls in the family so they were hoping for a wonderful local wedding that everyone could have a hand in planning. When we told them about the cruise, they all took it well. It also helped that when we told them we were getting married, we told them about the cruise at that time so we hit them with both pieces of info at the same time so they were all just super excited. My mom and aunt ended up throwing me a more elaborate bridal shower than normal. We invited all the ladies that we would have invited to the wedding. It was a 5 hour shower and easily could have been longer. I think about 120 invitations went out. It was a nice supplement to having a local wedding.

One of our friends had a destination wedding at a Sandals resort in Jamaica a few years ago. They had a local reception shortly after we all returned home. After the fact, they wish they didn't waste the money on the local reception because all of their close family and friends came to Jamaica and to them, they shared their special time with their special people, and that's what it was really about.

We sent our wedding invitations 1.5 years in advance giving people lots of time to save up for the cruise! Based upon this Live posting, you will know soon enough my thoughts on having a cruise wedding!! :cool:

Thanks but I am her grandfather or Pumpa as she calls me. She is such a cutie. And yes, I am very lucky.

Oh my goodness, so sorry for the assumption, Pumpa! :o ;)