"LIVE" from the HARMONY OTS 11/12/2016 - INAUGURAL Eastern Caribbean!

Greetings CC community! On Friday morning we will be departing Chicago for Fort Lauderdale for a one night stay prior to boarding Harmony of the Seas on November 12th for her first 7 Night Caribbean sailing!

As with most of my previous LIVE reports, the bulk of my review will be dedicated to photos around the ship and ports—although I’ll include my daily dose of tips, observations & musings. I’ll post compasses, menus, and any other important information that seems worth of sharing. Please feel free to ask questions, or post any special requests for information! I’ll be happy to try and help with answers.

I’ll start with a bit of background first….our family

Niksmom630, a.k.a Chris, traveling with my DH Rick, and 17 year old DD, Nicole. We are traveling with a large extended group of family and friends, (ages 13-90) whom we have cruised with often in the past. We actually booked this sailing in June of 2016, which I am pretty sure is an ”early booking” record for me. After placing my deposit and getting confirmation, I remember immediately hopping onto CC to set up my new countdown clock….well, isn’t that depressing! 546 freaking days??????? I remember playing around with several of the countdown photos to attempt to capture one that perfectly matched my mood, which was almost surly at this point, and in the end just settled for a beach photo and dismissed all thoughts about this sailing….it was just tooooo far away….

Our itinerary for this sailing…did I mention it was the Inaugural 7 day “Eastern” Caribbean sailing???? You Western Caribbean cruisers can claim your inaugural next week

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have always enjoyed your reviews so I am really looking forward to this!

Have a great time Chris. I will be following along all week.

Wow, that's a multi-generation group. Should be fun.

Looking forward to your live post.

Have fun!!!

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

PRECRUISE PLANNING………

This sailing will be my third on Oasis class, one on each of the “sisters”. Aren’t they beautiful? [emoji4]❤️

For those of you who have sailed on Oasis class ships before, you know the amount of planning that goes into these trips. I confess that this is not something that I particularly relish. One of the things I like most about cruising is NOT planning.

Book a cruise and hop onboard—WOO HOO! Seven full days of just winging it! It’s a welcome reprieve for me in a life that always seems to always involve an inordinate amount of planning. I’ve learned to make an exception for Oasis and her sisters though. The entertainment and options onboard are so vast that you really need to try and take in as much as you can—hence—preparation is key—but I guarantee it is worth every minute of the planning.

HOTEL

We have a one night stay booked at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale Marina. We’ve stayed here a few times previously—the last stay was kind of ho-hum…but we were able to book a Marina tower room this time at a great price and I hope to be able to catch some early morning shots of Harmony from our balcony.

CABIN

We are booked in an Ocean view Balcony cabin on Deck 7 forward, on the hump. As of this sailing (and time) I am still 0-22 for “fairy” upgrades or even upsell visits--despite answering every random unidentifiable call that popped up on my caller ID in the two months. It was nice to finally talk live to the bogus IRS investigator who has been leaving me messages for months, so I could promptly send him a check for my back taxes. God forbid I get arrested prior to sailing—sheesh, I’m not that stupid…after all, I have been waiting 546 days for this…..

INTERNET & BEVERAGE PACKAGES

A few months prior to our sailing, there were several promotions available—at a 30% discount. I wound up purchasing the Deluxe beverage package for myself, and the Royal Replenishment package for DD. I passed on the VOOM package though, because when I did the math, it was still less expensive for me to purchase onboard using my D+ discount. However, a few weeks ago they offered a VOOM Surf and Stream (1) Devise package at a 50% discount for around $66 for the week, so I wound up purchasing under the second promotion—a great value.

DINING

We have reserved 6:00 p.m traditional dining, and will likely be in the MDR most of the week. We do have reservations at Sabor on Day 1, and I also want to try Jamie’s—maybe for lunch one day.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Have a great cruise and looking forward to reading this thread.

:)

See you on board!!! I am nervous to do a LIVE review, but I am going to take a crack at my first review once we get back. 3 days to go!!!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

Excited to see your review :)

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

ENTERTAINMENT

When you are trying to coordinate reservations for 9 people, it can be a bit of a (few hour) project. See post above where I said this was all worth it……[emoji31]

Our entertainment opened for booking in July. Thanks to the heads up from our roll call members, I was able to jump online and get all our entertainment booked. Once booked, I knew I could rest easy for the next few months….. or thought so….DUN DUN DUN!!!! Spoiler alert!

Day 1 – 9:00 PM – THE FINE LINE

Always book the Aqua Theatre Show early in the cruise. Sea conditions can cause the show to be cancelled later in the sailing

Day 2 – 8:00 PM – GREASE

This is really cutting it close to 6 p.m. dining time, especially on formal night. I’m living on the edge with this reservation. Maybe bolting out of the MDR without dessert

Day 4- 9:00 PM – STAND UP COMEDY

Day 5- 10:30 PM – HEADLINER SHOWTIME

Did I mention I am a morning person? I’m your sunrise gal, folks. You will likely see me posting photos around 5 a.m…..I probably will never make this, not to mention this follows our day in St. Maarten where beaching and beveraging may be involved. In fact, count on no review of this show…..

Day 6 – 8 PM – 1887: A JOURNEY IN TIME

Another 8 P.M. show that will require a MDR dash…..

Day 7 – 5 PM – COLUMBUS, THE MUSICAL

Last sea day, and packing day. May be too depressed to make this show—but it’s booked

Hope to wrap up my last few posts and pics tonight or first thing in the morning!

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Have a great time Chris. I will be following along all week.

Thanks, Tim! Following Andrew and I this week will likely be a full time job. Plan to settle in with a few Stellas ( or some ice water and egg white omelets) Pick your poison. Followed your last review....in a word...awesome! [emoji23]

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

PHOTOS.... but no scopes......

Yes, there will be photos...hundreds probably... I plan to walk this ship from top to bottom.

My Sony Nex 7 is my go to camera for cruises, and I have a few lenses....although after recently upgrading to the iPhone 7 Plus, I've discovered it's a decent alternative for quick photos on the fly and the quality is on par....so you will likely a see fair representation of photos from both.....My Golden Retriever girls, iPhone 7 plus

Some recent photos in Door County, Wisconsin...

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks, Tim! Following Andrew and I this week will likely be a full time job. Plan to settle in with a few Stellas ( or some ice water and egg white omelets) Pick your poison. Followed your last review....in a word...awesome! [emoji23]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Haha! Thanks.

You and Andrew on the Harmony, ckrobyn on the Freedom - this is going to be one busy week.

Haha! Thanks.

 

You and Andrew on the Harmony, ckrobyn on the Freedom - this is going to be one busy week.

I agree. Thank goodness the World Series is over!

We have a group of 7 on the same cruise. I have you beat though 26 and zero for the upgrade fairy. We can't wait!!! Hopefully great weather ans smooth sailing. See you on board!

See you on board!!! I am nervous to do a LIVE review, but I am going to take a crack at my first review once we get back. 3 days to go!!!

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

Thanks, Kristen! Safe travels tomorrow!

I agree. Thank goodness the World Series is over!

And what a series it was :D:D...getting my entertainment scheduling issues squared away was a tad "stressful", but Game 7 for us Chicago fans? Now there's one that ranked pretty high on the stress-o-meter!

Yah Chris! This is so good I will be following you, right onto the ship.:D See you in a few days. :)

And what a series it was :D:D...getting my entertainment scheduling issues squared away was a tad "stressful", but Game 7 for us Chicago fans? Now there's one that ranked pretty high on the stress-o-meter!

I fully understand that comment. So glad they won!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

Yah Chris! This is so good I will be following you, right onto the ship.:D See you in a few days. :)

I hope you know I will require a "Meet Your Dueling Reporters" photo for my review (selfie style, of course) . Niksmom and A&L Ont at Sail away with beverage in hand. :cool: See you in Fort Lauderdale, my friend! :D

I hope you know I will require a "Meet Your Dueling Reporters" photo for my review (selfie style, of course) . Niksmom and A&L Ont at Sail away with beverage in hand. :cool: See you in Fort Lauderdale, my friend! :D

See you soon!

Chris,

thank you, thank you, thank you for doing a live report. We are 60 odd days out from another birthday cruise and I need the escape of a live report. :D

Have a terrific cruise.

Chris,

 

thank you, thank you, thank you for doing a live report. We are 60 odd days out from another birthday cruise and I need the escape of a live report. :D

 

 

 

Have a terrific cruise.

Thanks, and happy to oblige, Bill, as I will be thanking you and Marie in January! Where are you headed and what do I have to look forward to?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks, and happy to oblige, Bill, as I will be thanking you and Marie in January! Where are you headed and what do I have to look forward to?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Heading to Rhapsody out of Tampa. We go to Cozumel, Costa Maya, Belize and Roatan. Managed to grab a nice aft balcony. :)

Can't wait! I have a Sony NEX camera, love that series! Getting my 7 plus soon and can't wait to check out the camera and new portrait mode!

Excited for this review, enjoy! :)