My Sort of Boring Harmony Eastern Review (12/10-12/17/16)

[birdlord]

Some hits, some misses on this cruise.

 

I had a previous post going noting some things previously when I was on board, but here is a generalized review/impressions of our cruise on Harmony last week. Keep in mind, these are all personal opinions and not to be taken as gospel by anyone reading the review as I am a firm believer that everyone’s experiences are different depending on their past cruise histories (if any), expectations, tolerance, etc.

 

By way of background, we are a married couple (20 years almost) and never had children. Because of this, we *try* to book our cruises when the kid factor might be less. As we all know, it’s impossible to be “kid-free”, but we try to keep it to a minimum. We had the deluxe beverage package which I’m not sure if it paid off or not – halfway through the cruise my husband didn’t feel well and stopped ordering any alcoholic drinks. Oh well, not a big deal.

 

The HOTS is a beautiful ship and, since it’s practically brand new, everything is polished and clean and in excellent shape. That being said, since we sailed Oasis last year (first Oasis class experience), the “wow” factor just wasn’t as “wow” anymore. The good thing was, we had pretty much zero learning curve on where things were located and how to get to and from. We did get to experience some things we didn’t get around to on Oasis and skipped some others we already did.

 

The week started a teeny bit bumpy, but nothing that was ruining it for me. Our stateroom attendant was less than stellar, which was a miss, but by the end of the week we were “satisfied” enough not to complain or risk her getting into trouble. I just know that job has to be awful. Also, due to a decent sale – I had canceled my two device wifi (surf & stream) and bought two separate one device plans (it had to be done that way to enjoy the savings). I confirmed twice before leaving that there would be TWO one device plans. I have print outs from RC customer service verifying that. Naturally, once we get on board, there was only ONE 1 device plan. I called the department necessary (forget who) and they kept insisting I only had a plan for one device…. I was just about to bring down my printouts to them when the phone rang and they verified that I did indeed have two plans and I could just use the same access code for both. So, it was a moment of aggravation which was resolved within minutes. Other than that, lots of long lines on embarkation day pretty much everywhere all day/night long. Understandable. What does ruin it for me, however, are the rude people who are so grabby that they cut right in front of you in line … this did kind of happen all week. Not the cruise line’s fault. Just grabby/self-centered, rude people that we all experience on a large cruise ship from time to time. I just kept my patience in check and chose to ignore them as much as possible. I was not going to let rude people ruin my vacation.

 

But I digress.

 

We were in a category D5 ocean balcony (midship, but more forward ship) on the 12th floor. I thought the layout made much more sense than on Oasis – the storage space area just made more sense (closets). We were pleased with the room. The balcony chairs, as noted by others, had foot stools, which was a nice addition. Oddly, every night very late (maybe 4am), I would hear this “thumping” sound – it wasn’t coming from the cabin directly above – and above them is the pool decks – probably more specifically the cantilevered hot tubs (generally). I couldn’t figure out what it was – but it was consistently same time every night and was loud enough/annoying enough to wake me up. It sounds as if a large door (not a cabin door – it would have had to been a huge, heavy door) was opening/shutting with the wind. I don’t have any other way to explain it. In addition, the bed was pretty uncomfortable. At first, I didn’t mind but by week’s end I was sore and stiff. A weird side note – I loved the scent of the hand soap they have in the bathroom.

 

Instead of the MDR on the first night, we went to Sabor as we did last year. We aren’t a fan of the first night menu typically and also not a fan of how disorganized things can be on the first night (whether you have traditional seating or not). The service and food were excellent and we spent a total of $25, including additional gratuity, for a lot of food that we didn’t even finish because we ran out of room. We did, however, go to the MDR for the remainder of the cruise (except Thursday – Thursday we went and saw Grease, but the Thursday night football game was on immediately after the show – which I knew husband wouldn’t miss – so we actually grabbed dinner at Johnny Rockets BEFORE the show as it was impossible to get reservations anywhere else, and we had to go too early anyway).

 

MDR experience with MTD was a definite hit or miss. We really had no real complaints about the quality of the food. Though, one night my husband ordered the up-charged Chops filet and it looked kind of dry and hard to me. He said it wasn’t that great. I guess $16 for a filet you can’t expect miracles, but lesson learned. However, service was spotty. The front desk, even with reservations, was very disorganized and slow. Seemed like the entire MDR staff was a bit confused. We had made reservations well in advance for every night and we had to wait in a long line practically every time. I think one time we showed up and were seated right away, but it was for a later time. The “non-reservation” line was never backed up. And when I asked if I should just go there, they didn’t/wouldn’t answer me.

 

One night in particular we received such excellent service, we gave extra cash tips right then and there. A couple other nights, we felt forgotten. The last night, I was a bit disappointed in what I ordered, but my husband was very pleased with the prime rib. I had some kind of ravioli (I think) with seafood and the “sauce” was just not what I had expected. I actually did feel queasy later that night and I sort of blamed that dinner, but it could have been anything. (I felt bad the entire next day, but we were stuck in the airport all day waiting on a very delayed flight due to ice storm in NJ, so again, I can’t blame the dinner).

 

Solarium Café is where we did breakfast every day. It’s a bit busy and sometimes hard to find a place to sit, but we did fine and the over easy eggs they have pre-prepared were always perfect. I had them every single morning. The toast, on the other hand, was hard and made it hard to “dip” into the eggs. The ice machine is still inoperable in there. They have a plastic bin with ice and a scoop if you need ice. It just skeeves me that people’s dirty hands are touching the handle and then dropping the scoop back into the ice…. Ugh.

 

Solarium was still warm when docked. If we were moving, it wasn’t as bad. We had a particularly windy week as the Atlantic Ocean can be that way in December and on the Eastern itinerary, you spend a lot of time on the Ocean rather than in the “sea” side of the islands. This made for a very loud Solarium due to the new materials they used on HOTS for the panels on the roofing. Again, it really did not ruin it for me. The pool not being in the Solarium really was disappointing. I never even used the “leaves/spray” area to cool down.

 

We used the sports pool as it is indeed for “adult” use only (over age 16) and they do enforce it. Sea days it was quite crowded. When the live band comes on, it's VERY LOUD and kind of hard to nod off if you want to. It's hard to escape the speakers if you want to be around the pool areas.

 

We never had an issue getting whatever types of chairs/loungers we wanted, even on sea days, and even by not “holding” the chairs before breakfast. We might have had to get creative, but we were always happy with our location.

 

We also used the beach pool one day and the way it is set up now (without umbrellas/tables) wasn’t so bad. Again, we just made sure we were at the end of a short row and used the fake rock wall or step as a “table” to set down our beach bag/drinks.

 

Elevator service was fine. I heard prior complaints, but I can’t say we had much of an issue getting an elevator in any direction.

 

Promenade Café is set up slightly different than Oasis – If I recall correctly, the hot water/coffee area was setup separately from the counter on Oasis. On HOTS, it is all one line/area. That made the line long on day one (even later in the day). But all other times we visited, we didn’t have a wait. Just hard to get a table as there aren’t a lot and people tend to sit and sip their coffee and people watch, as they should be able to – but it limits the seat availability. I saw many people take their stuff over to Sorrento’s instead.

 

Sorrento’s isn’t that bad, in my personal opinion. Okay, it’s not good pizza like Philly has (and where I’m from), but it does okay for a walk-by snack.

 

I never laid eyes on the Windjammer. Husband went once and was frustrated.

 

I think the space they use on the Promenade deck for the Royal IQ tablets/shore excursion set up is kind of a wasted space. It just never seemed that many people needed to use the tablets as everyone probably downloaded the app right on their phone (we did!). The whole area that was Starbucks area on Oasis is just an empty oval of Royal IQ tablets. I also wonder why there is so much space still needed for the photographs area – when it seems this could be condensed down with today’s technology/digital images.

 

Casino was just like Oasis. We only did a walk through as we really don’t gamble (no particular reason, we just don’t). The Diamond Club is where the comedy club was on Oasis I think. We missed the comedy show because we were just too tired to bother!

 

The Aqua Theatre show was not our cup of tea. We left. It seemed more acrobatic in nature than diving/swimming.

 

The 1887 Ice Show was very well done. We enjoyed that. Grease was also well done. Of course, growing up with the movie, we knew everything that was going to happen and all the songs… but I think they did a nice job despite the fact an older couple talked through the ENTIRE production right next to us. UGH! Rudeness again. We didn’t go to the Headliner show.

 

This year we finally did the Flowrider and I’m surprised how sore I was the next day. It does take some strength, but it was a really fun experience and the girl running it that day was superb.

 

We did some trivia/quizzes and had fun. I wish they were a little longer and not so many at a time in the day where we’d rather be in a lounger somewhere, but they never really disappoint.

 

We did not go to Dazzles except to see the room (during the day) and noted some people escaped in there for peace and quiet and to read their book. The card room was mobbed when we went by! We did not go to Boleros, but passed it a lot while in the Promenade and it always looked busy. Oh, we tried the Bionic Bar for one drink – that was very cute and I thought entertaining. It seemed to “go down” a lot with the attendant telling people she had to shut it down for whatever reason. But, I liked it.

 

Central Park and Boardwalk are a delight, especially the park. It seemed we were at the Boardwalk more often this trip.

 

Overall, the staff was very friendly, helpful and engaging. Some people have reported rudeness or being ignored by bartenders and that was NEVER the case, even when they were busy, for me. They did a very nice job and even suggested to me to get a “double” if I wanted as the package allowed for it (I didn’t know that) and that sort of thing. Also, I saw many servers at the pools and in the Solarium – never a shortage that other people had noted. Maybe they ramped up the amount of roving servers they have….

 

Fitness center is very nice, though it does smell of cigarettes. The running track was nice, though it seems that it might be shifted over a little – I didn’t notice on the Oasis, but there were a couple times the support poles kind of went right into the right lane on HOTS.

 

Vitality café was nice never busy. We didn’t use any spa services this trip. I was tempted to try the teeth whitening, but I resisted. I always suspect if I go to those things, they will do a hard sell on an upgrade or something else I don’t want.

 

I can’t think of much else. We only got off in St. Thomas to go to Pandora. A short trip to and back and that was it. We had considered a beach day in St. Maarten, but we opted to stay on the ship instead and enjoy the sun from there and have everything at our fingertips (bathrooms, bar service, food) and not worry about a beach club’s facilities and food choices.

 

I can try to answer any specific questions, but we most certainly didn’t participate in everything the ship had to offer. By the way, Abe Hughes was the CD.

[SilkySal]

I didn't think your review was boring at all!;) Thanks for sharing your experience! Our family, friends and I are very anxiously looking forward to our October cruise on Harmony!!:cool:

[pinkandgreenmom]

Thank you for the review! I especially like the comparisons between Oasis (which we did a few weeks ago) and Harmony (which we will do in June). Thanks again!

[apocalyps3]

We were on the Harmony the same week. I'd agree with you on most points. Although we both thought The Fine Line was pretty awesome. Grease was okay, but not really our type of show.

 

We didn't care for the MDR and only went once. The specialty dining was mostly excellent though.

 

To me the Rising Tide Bar seems like a waste of space. I rarely saw more than a handful of people inside of it.

 

The number of rude people (in our experience) was out of control. Not the Harmony staff, but the actual cruisers. Especially within the senior cruisers. Their behavior was just unbelievable. I went into the cruise thinking kids might be an issue, but their politeness was leaps and bounds ahead of the 65+ crowd. Line cutting, seat saving, seat stealing, rude comments, hitting us with wheelchairs/motorized carts, yelling at each other during and after shows, standing in the middle of hallways and walkways and refusing to move, complaining... constant complaints about everything. I'm about a patient a person as you'll find, but by the end of the cruise I was at my limit. We enjoyed the cruise, but in the future I would much prefer a younger, more well behaved cruise community.

[birdlord]

The number of rude people (in our experience) was out of control. Not the Harmony staff, but the actual cruisers. Especially within the senior cruisers. Their behavior was just unbelievable. I went into the cruise thinking kids might be an issue, but their politeness was leaps and bounds ahead of the 65+ crowd. Line cutting, seat saving, seat stealing, rude comments, hitting us with wheelchairs/motorized carts, yelling at each other during and after shows, standing in the middle of hallways and walkways and refusing to move, complaining... constant complaints about everything. I'm about a patient a person as you'll find, but by the end of the cruise I was at my limit. We enjoyed the cruise, but in the future I would much prefer a younger, more well behaved cruise community.

 

There seemed to be a MAJOR 65+ crowd (maybe even older than that) on this cruise and I'd agree there was a lot more rudeness than I've experienced before. The rudeness, however, didn't just end with one particular group. It was disappointing to see just how many people think they own the ship just because they paid a cruise fare. So did everyone else (well, practically). When we sailed on Mariner some years ago, we had a bad crowd experience and we shied away from cruising for a while after that. We do have a cruise booked next year on Adventure - this time for the itinerary. If I don't wind up canceling it, I'm hoping the "smaller" Voyager class ship (which used to be considered huge) is a nice break from the mega Oasis class and hopefully not a repeat experience. Yes, I expect a certain amount of rudeness - but there was an over abundance last week. The couple sitting next to us in Grease and talking the ENTIRE time was over the top. Not to mention the constant coughing all over us. I'm starting to get used to that (not that I should have to)! Anyway, I have a lot of other things going on in my personal life that may have affected my level of satisfaction with my co-cruisers, so I'm trying to be open minded. But I'm glad we weren't alone in our observations/feelings.

[FunCruiser56]

thanks for a good, non-boring :) review! We are looking forward to our Harmony cruise April 1

 

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[easyboy]

That was an exciting read! Thanks for the review.

[Grandma Petania]

Thanks for your comments. I would like to respond to one paragraph, but didn't want to quote your entire post. You wrote:

 

"We were in a category D5 ocean balcony (midship, but more forward ship) on the 12th floor. .....Oddly, every night very late (maybe 4am), I would hear this “thumping” sound – it wasn’t coming from the cabin directly above – and above them is the pool decks........."

 

As with many hotels, there is no 13th floor/deck (due to superstitions of many people). Therefore, the pool deck (14) was directly above your cabin. I have no idea what caused the noises you heard, but they wouldn't have been from passenger cabins above you.

[peacefrogdog]

Pool deck is 15

 

 

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[apocalyps3]

Pool deck is 15

 

True, but I think the pool extends down through two floors, so it would take both the 14th and 15th floors. At least, that's how it looks if you look over the side to the balcony's below it. There don't appear to be balcony rooms on the 14th floor directly under the pools.

[A&L_Ont]

Birdlord, a very thorough and well written review. Not boring at all.:) I'm glad to read that your steward improved over the week and that there was no lice.;):D

 

Hopefully your cruise on Adventure shines in the areas where this one didn't as much as it could have.

[Clarea]

I agree with Andrew, not a boring review at all! Thanks.

[flyingandcruising]

Wondering what you thought of the IQ. I've heard mixed things about it. Did you pay for the up-charge and use it for texting/chatting?

 

Where did you go on embarkation day for lunch?

 

Thanks

[birdlord]

Thanks for your comments. I would like to respond to one paragraph, but didn't want to quote your entire post. You wrote:

 

"We were in a category D5 ocean balcony (midship, but more forward ship) on the 12th floor. .....Oddly, every night very late (maybe 4am), I would hear this “thumping” sound – it wasn’t coming from the cabin directly above – and above them is the pool decks........."

 

As with many hotels, there is no 13th floor/deck (due to superstitions of many people). Therefore, the pool deck (14) was directly above your cabin. I have no idea what caused the noises you heard, but they wouldn't have been from passenger cabins above you.

 

On the Harmony, deck 14 is a cabin deck. Deck 15 is the pool, as is Deck 16. So it went deck 12 (my cabin), deck 14 (cabins) then the pool deck. I just double checked the deck plans to make sure I wasn't misspeaking!

[birdlord]

Wondering what you thought of the IQ. I've heard mixed things about it. Did you pay for the up-charge and use it for texting/chatting?

 

Where did you go on embarkation day for lunch?

 

Thanks

 

The IQ app was great to have on hand, but I carry my Compass around with me all day anyway. You can indeed make reservations right from the app if you are lucky enough to catch a time that still has an opening. I could not access the MDR menus from the app, but rather checked them from the room television. I did not do the upcharge for texting as we can use Facebook messenger to communicate.

 

We wound up going to Park Cafe for embarkation day lunch and surprisingly, had a small line and we found a table! Though, what was strange was they were using two tables inside to pile all the dirty dishes on, which made for two less tables inside. I don't know what they were thinking.

[birdlord]

Birdlord, a very thorough and well written review. Not boring at all.:) I'm glad to read that your steward improved over the week and that there was no lice.;):D

 

Hopefully your cruise on Adventure shines in the areas where this one didn't as much as it could have.

 

The lice thing is too much, right? I can't imagine what RCI's person thought when they saw that in my title! :-)

[birdlord]

True, but I think the pool extends down through two floors, so it would take both the 14th and 15th floors. At least, that's how it looks if you look over the side to the balcony's below it. There don't appear to be balcony rooms on the 14th floor directly under the pools.

 

So my actual room was 12572, and 14572 directly above it.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?deckCode=14&shipCode=HM&shipProfile=1698&sailDate=1161224&hasNavigation=false

[flyingandcruising]

The IQ app was great to have on hand, but I carry my Compass around with me all day anyway. You can indeed make reservations right from the app if you are lucky enough to catch a time that still has an opening. I could not access the MDR menus from the app, but rather checked them from the room television. I did not do the upcharge for texting as we can use Facebook messenger to communicate.

 

We wound up going to Park Cafe for embarkation day lunch and surprisingly, had a small line and we found a table! Though, what was strange was they were using two tables inside to pile all the dirty dishes on, which made for two less tables inside. I don't know what they were thinking.

 

 

Thanks for the info and review.

[apocalyps3]

Concerning making dining reservations with the IQ app, on several occasions when we checked the IQ app there was nothing available. Yet if we showed up in person to make a reservation (for the next day or later) there were plenty of times available.

 

So don't entirely rely on the IQ app if you're hoping to get dining reservations. Its either not accurate or they leave open spots available for in-person reservations.

 

Also, one thing I thought was lacking in the app was a deck map. The big interactive touch screens at all the elevators were pretty awesome though.

[apocalyps3]

We went to Park Cafe on embarkation day for lunch too and managed to find a seat. When we got there the line snaked outside. A lot of the outdoor tables were pretty wet from the rain. About 10 minutes after we sat and started eating they ran out of bread for the roast beef sandwiches.

[birdlord]

We went to Park Cafe on embarkation day for lunch too and managed to find a seat. When we got there the line snaked outside. A lot of the outdoor tables were pretty wet from the rain. About 10 minutes after we sat and started eating they ran out of bread for the roast beef sandwiches.

 

Well we went kind of "late" for lunch -- my best guess would be about 2pm (give or take a few minutes). No issues with the roast beef sandwiches or the bread. It wasn't raining at that particular time either -- I guess we got very lucky.

[apocalyps3]

So my actual room was 12572, and 14572 directly above it.

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacruise/ships/ship/decks/deck/home.do?deckCode=14&shipCode=HM&shipProfile=1698&sailDate=1161224&hasNavigation=false

 

Hmm... not sure what those noises would be. We heard some terrible banging noises while in the Royal Theater on Day 2/3, but that's way down from where you were at.

[birdlord]

Hmm... not sure what those noises would be. We heard some terrible banging noises while in the Royal Theater on Day 2/3, but that's way down from where you were at.

 

I was something I could not identify -- some kind of big heavy flap or door opening and closing... it wasn't all night long either. It was consistently the same time every night. So odd. I thought maybe the first two nights I was just hearing things, but I was awoken every night.

[cruizinmimi]

Wondering what you thought of the IQ. I've heard mixed things about it. Did you pay for the up-charge and use it for texting/chatting?

 

Where did you go on embarkation day for lunch?

 

Thanks

 

We were on the HOTS last week, also. Our family of 5 paid the upcharge for texting/chatting and it worked beautifully all week. Well, worth the $7.95 charge for us.

[birdlord]

Concerning making dining reservations with the IQ app, on several occasions when we checked the IQ app there was nothing available. Yet if we showed up in person to make a reservation (for the next day or later) there were plenty of times available.

 

So don't entirely rely on the IQ app if you're hoping to get dining reservations. Its either not accurate or they leave open spots available for in-person reservations.

 

Also, one thing I thought was lacking in the app was a deck map. The big interactive touch screens at all the elevators were pretty awesome though.

 

Interesting about the reservations. Also, I did mean to mention that those interactive touch screens were great! A definite plus.