Just back from Harmony - some info to help you

[xxHadleyxx]

Our family was on the Harmony TA, so I will throw my 2 cents in as well.

 

To clear up a bit about the ice: the ice machine in Park Cafe broke about halfway through the TA---I wonder if the OP did not see one as it might have been removed for repairs and then the later posters did beucase it was returned by their cruises?

There was an ice machine in the Promenade cafe. Took me 2/3 of the cruise to notice it as it was not where I expected--it's on the far right as you face the cafe.

As others said, any cup can get ice from the freestyle machines, I used them for ice often.

I really do think there should be a freestyle machine in or near the Park Cafe and one on the Boarwalk

 

 

 

As far as everything else: we had a nice time on the ship. We've only sailed Oasis class once before (on the first Oasis TA) and felt that Harmony had worked out many of hte bugs we experienced on that other sailing.

 

We had MTD and ate at various times, meaning we had three different serving teams. All 3 were really good to excellent. We also had very good service at Soraliam Bistro. No complaints with the free dinner service at all. We ate at Sabor twice and had excelletn service the first time and terrible the second. We had the same experience (one really good and one not) at Johnny Rockets for lunch.

Lunch in the MDR was disastoursly slow and unorganized and busy on the one and only day we tried it. We noramlly eat lunch in the MDR on every sea day, but it was bad enough on that one go to not return even with a TA full of sea days

 

Food was good, but not great (but also not bad) and the menus were somewhat boring.

 

I agree the breads were not so good, and also missed having good salads (lacking even at the start of the cruise before fresh veggies might have run low). On the plus side, we enjoyed finally having tasty desserts.

 

Windjammer tended to be very repetitive for food at lunch. At peak times we asked to share a large table with another small group, and at anything other htan the most peak times it was not and issue to get a seat.

At peak times there was a 2-3 minute wait to wash hands. It was annoying that passengers did not move away from sink to dry hands when people were waiting to wash, but not really a big deal. We did comment that if the paper twel dispensers were moved to near the trash and away from the sinks it might improve the flow of people. Far more annoying were the rude passengesr complaining loudly about the short wait to staff, or literally shoving past those waiting. I personally did not see any mold on the sinks when entering Windjammer.

 

Cruise Staff were good and personable and working very hard to keep a very demanding group of repeat cruisers happy. The CD was very boring and extremly focused only on American Cruisers/experiences. I would rank him as "meh" Not remakrbaly bad but not good either.

 

Production shows:

Columbus---campy and silly and upbeat with some serious stage effects. 2 out of 3 of us really enjoyed it, and the other hated it :p My one complaint is that it is designed in such a way that the sight lines from side sections are terrible.

Grease---I am not a big fan of the script, but they do a good job of it

1887 Ice Show--lots of cool special effects, weird plot, talented cast, enjoyable but nothing amazing

I Skate---Very good, we all really liked it and went back for a second time. Mostly skating and good music, not so much with effects, etc

A Fine Line aqua show---we all loved it. everythign worked well when we saw it and we liked hte effects and music and talent. Would have liekd to see it again.

Hideaway Heist Aqua Show---cute, light, fun if you have the time but not a must see at all

Headliners---we walked out on each and every one. Others seemed to find the appealing though

 

Bar Service---on the TA, with half the ship being Diamond or above, the evening Happy Hour time slot tended to overwhelm the bars and waits could be long in that time frame. Otherwise we found it prompt and friendly, and even during Happy Hour it was OK. My husband tended to order the same thing most nights, and the staff in Schooner often brought his drink during that busy time without him even having to order/ask.

Availability of spirits and other ingredients, and knowledge of various drinks varied greatly from bar to bar and bartender to bartender. Caipirinhas were fun to order--only some bars had the proper ingredients and only about half the bartenders knew what they were.

 

I really like the photo system and lack of waste from it. We actaully had photos taken (and bought some) with this system.

 

We also liked that the fridge was empty on arrival with a note saying that if we would like the minibar stocked to call them and tell them what we want in it and they will stock/restock then as needed. So nice to not have to empty it out and find space to store the stuff, and worry about them coming to check on it, etc.

 

we had a Central Park Blacony and liked our room layout. It was a big improvement over the same category of room on Oasis. The pull out sofa for a third person was odd---the matress is in a drawer under the sofa, so it is almost like sleeping on the floor. My 17 year old did not care for that (who could blame him?) and just moved the mattress up onto the top of the sofa and closed the drawer. After 2 days, the room steward set it up that way. The room steward was friendly and always seemed to make it into our room within a few minutes of us leaving---things were always clean.

 

Overall we felt the ship's design and layout was good. We giggled at the "ramps" near the welding seems---apparently the ship wasn't built quite perfectly to spec and the sections did not line up totally straight? But it didn't feel unsafe or anything, we just made some silly jokes about French engineering :D

Edited November 28, 2016 by NHDisneylover

[Chardo]

So, I'll chime in now, 25 cruises, 22 with RCI. Giving Harmony one more chance in 3 weeks to improve. Our waiter and waitress were the best, they worked like a true team! I only wish the food was half as good, it wasn't! They have indeed cut down on the bread selection, and what they had could break your teeth. Room service is now lessened to where you will pay for anything you really want. I don't think this hybrid thing with Oasis class and Quantum class works for us, but we will give it another try. The ship is beautiful and high tech and has many positive features. I just think we prefer Allure, Oasis, and Independence OTS. Harmony does have the best casino we have seen on a ship also.

 

 

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What makes the Harmony casino better than others?

[yknot13]

Generally there is no Chefs-Table - but they were improvising it in the Solarium-Bistro

 

We liked "Grease"

We disliked "Columbus"

Aqua-shows were very good!

Headliners were very weak...

But that is a question of taste - that will vary from person to person...

 

We felt the exact opposite in regards to Grease and Columbus.

The Comedian was awful and one of our biggest disappointments.

He used the old typical cruise line jokes.(Yawn, Boring)

We sailed Allure 2 years ago and the Comedian on that sailing was exceptional.

[bobkat12]

What makes the Harmony casino better than others?

 

 

It was larger, had newer machines, the was room to navigate, and it wasn't as smoke filled as others. Oh, and we broke even.[emoji106][emoji456]

 

 

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[yknot13]

We shouldn't have to be forced to go to specialty restaurants to get excellent service for what we pay.

 

 

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AMEN...we heard horror stories from Friends that dined in the MDR so we stayed away.

[Debitoo]

I didn't realize the craziness about ice going on. I'm off the ship today, you can also get ice in any of the freestyle machines even without the special cup.

Didn't know this (or even think about this for that matter)...thanks for the heads up! :D

[dcscorp1]

We just got off Harmony of Saturday and completely agree, service was not up to par.... I heard from another cruiser that a lot of the staff was at the end of their tour and preparing to go home.... not that this is an excuse. Everyone seemed tired, almost overwhelmed at times. There are A LOT of people on that ship.... We stayed in an owner's suite, I won't even tell you what we paid for our stateroom and definitely didn't feel "wowed." This is our 6th RCCL cruise, we are pretty loyal to Royal but we were disappointed. Let's all try to be kind and respect each other's opinions.... I, too, feel if I can spare someone's expectations (and expense) then I will!...