Hoopster on HARMONY, Jan 7-14 2017 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[melted2002]

What is the cost of a Milkshake at JR ?

I also have a buy one get one free coupon

[Klstaack]

Great review so far. We will be on Harmony in June.

[Klstaack]

Do you know if you are able to purchase the dining packages on board on day one?

[Klstaack]

Sorry for all of the questions. Do you know if on night one were they offering discount at specialty restaurants. I know they sometimes do this. Thought that might be a good night to go to hibachi since it is not part of the package.

 

The package says you have to eat at a restaurant on night one or two.

 

Thank you!

[Hoopster95]

What is the cost of a Milkshake at JR ?

I also have a buy one get one free coupon

 

Hi melted. Thx for following.

It used to be $3... I bet it's gone up a little like everything else on board. I'd have to dig out my bills to confirm and I don't want to go there :p

[Hoopster95]

Do you know if you are able to purchase the dining packages on board on day one?

 

Hi Klstaack. I'm pretty sure there was not any dining packages offered on board. They were not offered on the Royal IQ ap nor the compass (especially Day 1) either. Also note that all the specialty restaurants were packed solid every night I was there, and the available times, if there were even any, were 5:30pm or 9pm. I booked right away when I got on board so I was good, but on Day 2 morning there was barely anything available for the entire week.

 

Now if a future sailing they are having problems filling the specialty restaurants, the on board Hotel Director has the autonomy to offer deals on board. I really doubt discounts are needed for Harmony imho.

 

 

Sorry for all of the questions. Do you know if on night one were they offering discount at specialty restaurants. I know they sometimes do this. Thought that might be a good night to go to hibachi since it is not part of the package.

 

The package says you have to eat at a restaurant on night one or two.

 

Thank you!

 

Hibachi cannot be used on any package whatsoever... you pay full and that's it. Note that by Day 2 Hibachi was sold out for the entire 7 day sailing. As per my first comment above, not one of the specialty dining venues had a discount on any day as it was jam packed every night we were in any of the specialty restaurants.

[Klstaack]

Thanks for your response. We will get the package before sailing.

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

Thanks for your response. We will get the package before sailing.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yes, various packages available and it's extremely good value to book on your cruise planner, so I suspect many cruisers took advantage of it... $100 for 4 nights rather than the individual $42 for Chops and $49 for Wonderland for example.

Edited January 26, 2017 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

Actions speak louder than words... like the Abyss earlier in the day, I tried each of the 3 slides one time each and then I was fully satisfied, didn't need to come back.

 

That's the summary... please bare with me with now as I explain my actions.

 

The weather on the Solarium this afternoon had been fair, but we were also protected by that cocoon-like cabana-type of lounger. We napped, had a drink, just plain enjoyed some R&R, but it was getting later in the afternoon and we wanted to head back to our cabin early to get ready for dinner with a ton of time for a drink in the DL first.

 

While not warm in the Solarium, it was not cool either, even though the clouds were out. I thought to myself this may be the one time where there might not be any lines for the slide and I should run out there to take a quick look. Camera in hand, I found no line at the slide staircase which was being manned by staff. After asking a few questions, it's explicitly a no-no to have anything with you when going up the slide (ie. handbag, glasses, and especially a camera!!). I told her I wanted to come back fully clothed and go up the stairs to just take pictures and come right back down, and she said simply not allowed. So I have no pictures whatsoever for this report... if any of ever get the go-ahead to go up to the top and take photos, please post them on Cruise Critic as the view down over pool deck and into Central Park is very awesome way up there.

 

So back I went to the Solarium, dropped off the camera, and made my way back... climbing up the circular staircase to the top. There were maybe 10-15 kids/2 adults ahead of me, most of them lined up to the left slide. I noted right away the yellow slide to the right and blue slide center never had a line. It was windy and quite cool up there, definitely the pool deck had cleared over the last couple of hours since the inclement weather leaving San Juan, so my timing was perfect for no lines.

 

With no line, I went first for the yellow slide on the right.... YAWN.:(

It was dark with no glass so you can't gauge the perspective of the ship. It felt like this slide was shorter than the Abyss, maybe about 7-8 secs when I splashed down at the bottom.... very very short. Looking back up I now got a better sense... it's really only 2 360 degree loops, and at that speed I was down in no time.

 

Ok, now let's try the middle yellow slide.... YAWN:(:(

Exactly the same as slide #1 except that it has a glass portion at the top so you can get a very short 1sec glimpse of the pool deck as you zip by. Again, I was down in no time as it's the exact same number of loops and distance.

 

OK, now let's try the 3rd slide. I lined up with about 10 people ahead of me... wow, it's super cold up there when you're wet!!! So I shivered and watched. This slide looked better in that it "dumps" you in a circular toilet bowl type of canister and you swirl around with the speed you get before being flushed down to the exit. I watched those in fornt of me try to gain speed and/or get stuck about 1/2 way around the toilet bowl, needing to push themselves towards the exit hole.By the time you get into the slide, they give you the go-ahead, you slide down, you vacate the exit, the staff down there gives the go ahead up top.... you get the picture?... it takes maybe up to a minute per person. 10 people ahead of me on this day took about 10 minutes of shivering to get my turn. I suspect you can line-up approx 30 people at the top, I estimate about 50 people up the steps/landing from the bottom, then who knows how long the line-up can get on pool deck on a nice day...

 

Note my picture on day 3 of this review of the line-up on pool deck maybe 20-30 people long. This means with 50 people up the stairs and another 20-30 up at the top in line, there could've been up to 100 people waiting for the slides at a max of 1 minute for each ride.... thus over an hour to wait for one 10 sec slide. Sorry.... just not worth it. 3 slides in 3 hours?????

 

Let's get back to this third slide. This one slide is excellent and lots of fun, the reason why there was a line-up obviously with others braving the cold. The slide tube is more than 1/2 glass so you can see outside as you zip down, plus the speed is excellent. Once you reach the toilet bowl, I got around fully twice with my speed and actual;ly overshot slightly the exit pipe, having to slightly maneuver my way down and out to the exit. This slide, because of the bowl and exit is more like 20 seconds. Without even thinking about it, as I exited I immediately headed to the chair where I parked my towel, dried off and headed back to the Solarium to grab my gf, leaving the slide area. Again, actions speak louder than words. One and done!

 

Mission accomplished... I can now say I've done the slides on Harmony.

I'll never have to come home and wonder what I missed, now knowing I wouldn't have missed anything.

 

So, if you have kids/teens and you wish some real R&R time while the kids frolic in the kids pool and slides, I think Harmony hit a massive home run in this area as I think any kid, younger and older, will simply have a ball with the slides. These will be absolutely 100% sure to attract more kids/families on to Harmony in my humble opinion.

 

However, has anyone ever sailed on RCL for their slides (hint hint, have they ever had slides? duh) These slides may not mean much to you, and instead attract more chaos, crowds on pool deck, kids running around, line-ups, loungers everywhere, etc. Time will tell for you and others, but for me it turns out these slides have detracted from my experience rather than adding a benefit as I thought they would this last year in anticipation of sailing on Harmony.

 

Jewel? Adventure?? .... Are either of you close by for a Hoopster airlift?? :p

[racerxspeedy]

Actions speak louder than words... like the Abyss earlier in the day, I tried each of the 3 slides one time each and then I was fully satisfied, didn't need to come back.

 

That's the summary... please bare with me with now as I explain my actions.

 

The weather on the Solarium this afternoon had been fair, but we were also protected by that cocoon-like cabana-type of lounger. We napped, had a drink, just plain enjoyed some R&R, but it was getting later in the afternoon and we wanted to head back to our cabin early to get ready for dinner with a ton of time for a drink in the DL first.

 

While not warm in the Solarium, it was not cool either, even though the clouds were out. I thought to myself this may be the one time where there might not be any lines for the slide and I should run out there to take a quick look. Camera in hand, I found no line at the slide staircase which was being manned by staff. After asking a few questions, it's explicitly a no-no to have anything with you when going up the slide (ie. handbag, glasses, and especially a camera!!). I told her I wanted to come back fully clothed and go up the stairs to just take pictures and come right back down, and she said simply not allowed. So I have no pictures whatsoever for this report... if any of ever get the go-ahead to go up to the top and take photos, please post them on Cruise Critic as the view down over pool deck and into Central Park is very awesome way up there.

 

So back I went to the Solarium, dropped off the camera, and made my way back... climbing up the circular staircase to the top. There were maybe 10-15 kids/2 adults ahead of me, most of them lined up to the left slide. I noted right away the yellow slide to the right and blue slide center never had a line. It was windy and quite cool up there, definitely the pool deck had cleared over the last couple of hours since the inclement weather leaving San Juan, so my timing was perfect for no lines.

 

With no line, I went first for the yellow slide on the right.... YAWN.:(

It was dark with no glass so you can't gauge the perspective of the ship. It felt like this slide was shorter than the Abyss, maybe about 7-8 secs when I splashed down at the bottom.... very very short. Looking back up I now got a better sense... it's really only 2 360 degree loops, and at that speed I was down in no time.

 

Ok, now let's try the middle yellow slide.... YAWN:(:(

Exactly the same as slide #1 except that it has a glass portion at the top so you can get a very short 1sec glimpse of the pool deck as you zip by. Again, I was down in no time as it's the exact same number of loops and distance.

 

OK, now let's try the 3rd slide. I lined up with about 10 people ahead of me... wow, it's super cold up there when you're wet!!! So I shivered and watched. This slide looked better in that it "dumps" you in a circular toilet bowl type of canister and you swirl around with the speed you get before being flushed down to the exit. I watched those in fornt of me try to gain speed and/or get stuck about 1/2 way around the toilet bowl, needing to push themselves towards the exit hole.By the time you get into the slide, they give you the go-ahead, you slide down, you vacate the exit, the staff down there gives the go ahead up top.... you get the picture?... it takes maybe up to a minute per person. 10 people ahead of me on this day took about 10 minutes of shivering to get my turn. I suspect you can line-up approx 30 people at the top, I estimate about 50 people up the steps/landing from the bottom, then who knows how long the line-up can get on pool deck on a nice day...

 

Note my picture on day 3 of this review of the line-up on pool deck maybe 20-30 people long. This means with 50 people up the stairs and another 20-30 up at the top in line, there could've been up to 100 people waiting for the slides at a max of 1 minute for each ride.... thus over an hour to wait for one 10 sec slide. Sorry.... just not worth it. 3 slides in 3 hours?????

 

Let's get back to this third slide. This one slide is excellent and lots of fun, the reason why there was a line-up obviously with others braving the cold. The slide tube is more than 1/2 glass so you can see outside as you zip down, plus the speed is excellent. Once you reach the toilet bowl, I got around fully twice with my speed and actual;ly overshot slightly the exit pipe, having to slightly maneuver my way down and out to the exit. This slide, because of the bowl and exit is more like 20 seconds. Without even thinking about it, as I exited I immediately headed to the chair where I parked my towel, dried off and headed back to the Solarium to grab my gf, leaving the slide area. Again, actions speak louder than words. One and done!

 

Mission accomplished... I can now say I've done the slides on Harmony.

I'll never have to come home and wonder what I missed, now knowing I wouldn't have missed anything.

 

So, if you have kids/teens and you wish some real R&R time while the kids frolic in the kids pool and slides, I think Harmony hit a massive home run in this area as I think any kid, younger and older, will simply have a ball with the slides. These will be absolutely 100% sure to attract more kids/families on to Harmony in my humble opinion.

 

However, has anyone ever sailed on RCL for their slides (hint hint, have they ever had slides? duh) These slides may not mean much to you, and instead attract more chaos, crowds on pool deck, kids running around, line-ups, loungers everywhere, etc. Time will tell for you and others, but for me it turns out these slides have detracted from my experience rather than adding a benefit as I thought they would this last year in anticipation of sailing on Harmony.

 

Jewel? Adventure?? .... Are either of you close by for a Hoopster airlift?? :p

 

Good job summing up the slides. As expected - another gimic to draw cruisers (and $) to the new ship. Hopefully RC is listening and will put money into something other than slides on the new builds.

[Hoopster95]

After a nice visit to the DL, we topped up our wine and headed out to 150 Central Park. I did not take a picture of the menu here, but truthfully every menu can be found on the web somewhere. This menu for Harmony is new, so don;t confuse it with an Allure or Oasis menu, unless they have changed there as well.

http://www.royal caribbean blog.com/menus/150-central-park-menu-harmony-of-the-seas

(note -- no spaces)

 

We were seated in Table #1 by the window with the very high-back whimsical chairs at the far end by the wine cabinet. Very cool! We were started with the standard 6 various salts to try on our breads/butter. They are all great to try.

 

 

 

I won't post everything we had for dinner, but in order here's the Roasted Butternut Soup, Lobster Gnocchi and the Lamb Duo entree (roasted loin with pistachio and pomegranate | sweet onion stuffed with lamb and apricots)

 

 

 

 

 

Looks great right? For me, it was really good, but not great. I had to look at my photos and the on-line menu to remember what I had (unlike Chops and Wonderland where I remembered the meals). Both appies above were better than the entree for me. all of gf's courses were so-so. For the surcharge price, both my foodie gf and I enjoyed Chops and Wonderland better than this experience.... this includes the service and ambiance.

 

 

We left 150 somewhat dis-satisfied. I had thought that would be the flagship venue (other than Chef's Table) that would be the best experience out of them all, taking over from Chops on the smaller classes. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

 

We had some free time tonight, with only the comedy show scheduled. We hung out a bit with another drink then headed down to the attic... but instead we were ushered into Studio B!!! I had booked this on-line on my cruise planner, but what they do not tell you on the cruise planner is that the early show is a "family" show, and held in Studio B for the masses rather than an "adult" show in the attic. There was a ton of room in Studio B, you didn't need reservations.

 

Simeon, who I've seen before, was the opening act and quite funny. Too bad he was only up for 10 minutes ... the main act was not very good and had many people who were in isle seats and up top walking out early, I felt embarrassed for the guy but what do you do? I guess he should've had better material, I don;t know. I left feeling a little cheated here, the show was just not that good and I never got to experience the cozy attic for a real live stand-up show.

 

 

 

So now it was getting into the 10:30'ish range. Keep in mind getting up waaaay too early both the last two days, and also still having a little bit of head cold issues lingering, we were trying to stay excited and up-beat as The Quest was tonight. But gf and I looked at each other and we knew we were just simply done! This was the first RCL cruise that I ended missing my most favorite event to participate in. Ah well, it was meant to be. We needed to nail and get rest.

 

Funny thing is we got to our room and it was filled with loud noise from outside. I immediately went outside the balcony to see what was up as I did not remember seeing a show scheduled i the Aqua Theatre... if you look at the compass closely it shows that Star Trek was playing on the big screens... and boy oh boy was it LLLLOOOUUUUDDD. Even with the sliding door and my earplugs in, you can definitely hear the drone and the lower tones/bass of the movie. GRRRRRR:mad:

 

We did not get to sleep right away and had to wait for the movie to finish before we could fully crash.

[Hoopster95]

 

 

 

 

[perfect match]

No doubt! Also put Anthem onto your list to perhaps try... Anthem is a morph of a RCL Radiance Class with a Celebrity S Class... plus a whole bunch of bells and whistles. I see your on Koningsdam coming up this year. She was in port with us in San Juan and I'll have her in a couple of pictures in an upcoming post when we sailaway!

 

Anthem is already on my list, my very long list! I'm glad you happened to have Koningsdam in your San Juan pics. She's new enough so I haven't seen nearly enough pictures of her yet.

 

 

Hmmmm .... That situation would've gone a whole other direction had I been on that boat with you :cool::D

 

I wish you had been there! I mostly kept my mouth shut..............

[melted2002]

Thank You

Gives me some idea which is all I need right now

[Klstaack]

When you did the escape room was there a charge. I just went to book the escape room for our cruise in June and there is a charge of $8 per person. I thought it was always included.

[4ofusreadytocruise]

When you did the escape room was there a charge. I just went to book the escape room for our cruise in June and there is a charge of $8 per person. I thought it was always included.

 

Initially the Escape Room was free, but they do charge for it now.

[Klstaack]

Initially the Escape Room was free, but they do charge for it now.

 

Good to know...I guess it was to popular or either people were reserving and not showing up.

[Hoopster95]

Good to know...I guess it was to popular or either people were reserving and not showing up.

 

Yes to both of these comments per the staff member who led our group :)

It was $8.95 per person on this sailing.

[AmyJA]

Thanks for your honest reviews on the slides and the restaurant. Maybe a one and done or I can skip it on the slides, and not feel bad at all. Was thinking maybe so…maybe not…. Do I really care? (why no….I am not a spring chicken….)

 

And Chops Grill is going to be a birthday dinner for us.

 

Because of your comments, I have added Anthem to my “to do” list.

[Hoopster95]

Because of your comments, I have added Anthem to my “to do” list.

 

Aggggh! :eek::p I hope I don't disappoint :o. Remember, Quantum Class is a totally different animal than any other ship in the RCL fleet. I would research some of the incredible photo reviews that have been posted here on cruise critic this past year, one of the very best by Mike13

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2367837&highlight=anthem

 

Sincerely, I hope you do Anthem for you, not because of what anyone else says including myself. :)

[AmyJA]

Aggggh! :eek::p I hope I don't disappoint :o. Remember, Quantum Class is a totally different animal than any other ship in the RCL fleet. I would research some of the incredible photo reviews that have been posted here on cruise critic this past year, one of the very best by Mike13

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2367837&highlight=anthem

 

Sincerely, I hope you do Anthem for you, not because of what anyone else says including myself. :)

 

Done Magic and Dream...Liked Magic better...

 

What you think?

[Hoopster95]

Done Magic and Dream...Liked Magic better...

What you think?

 

Can't help you there... never been on Carnival :)

[Klstaack]

Can't help you there... never been on Carnival :)

 

 

If your referring to magic and dream on Disney. I like the dream. Been on her four times.

 

 

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[Hoopster95]

Pleeeeeeeeeease Cruise Gods - Please!!!! Give us a great final port day here in Labadee to soak up some much needed sun and warmth... Well, waking and looking out my cabin before we docked and then heading up to the WJ for breakfast things looked promising

 

 

 

 

 

But I was a little distrusting of those "Gods"... I smelled a rat. Heading back to my cabin, and getting my back pack ready for Labadee, I checked outside my balcony several times to see if the clouds were forming and rain was falling.... hhhhmmmm nothing (yet)

 

Heading down the stairs, here's evidence of the seas we had encountered. Actually the bags had been out a couple of nights. I'll report tomorrow a bunch of facts and figures from the All Access Tour, but the Capt Johnny had initially mentioned Day 1 of the cruise that we were trying to out-run 8-12 meter seas in the Bahamas and East Coast, thus why we headed West on this alternate itinerary. Well, last night we encountered those 8.5m swells anyways... you just can't trust those weather Gods!

 

 

 

OK... it's been a total of a couple of minutes heading down to deck 3. I haven;t been able to look outside since I left the cabin. Paranoid you say? Yes! I'm desperate for a decent sunny day for once.... just once... on this cruise. We're almost ashore

 

 

 

Ahhhhhh!!!!!!! Thank you cruise Gods! What a gorgeous morning.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

 

 

 

I assume all of you have heard the saying "God giveth and God taketh away"?

Stay tuned

 

[Hoopster95]

For those of you who have never been to Labadee, there's a great map on-line on several websites that may be clearer than this one (I compress my files on photobucket else my bandwidth usage would be through the roof)

 

 

 

1st order of business was to stop immediately right of the pier's entrance at Bucaneer's Bay. This is the Shore Excursion area where you can book the various things to do on Labadee, including Jet Ski's. I've done the jet ski's twice on Labadee and have had fun both times, I'd figure we'd go out on a ride. I did not pre-book on board. Heading up to the booth, they told me all jet-skiu bookings were suspended and all morning times postponed, so they are reserving afternoon time slots for those from the morning. Why?... Unsafe sea conditions. "Come back in about an hour and check again". Ah well.... those Weather Gods were at it again!

 

 

 

Leaving Bucaneer's Bay, Gf had never been to Labadee so I took her on a short walk. We veered left past the lunch area through to path adjacent to the Dragon's Flightline and along the beach up towards Adrenaline Beach. This area had greatly changed since I was there a little over 2 years ago. I will get to this later. As you can see, although we were not off the very second they allowed passengers of the ship, we were still one of the first on shore as no one was on this side of the beach yet

 

 

 

Another interesting and crummy change.... those "roll-up" blue cabanas. I did not investigate their cost or how they worked, but I can;t imagine booking one of those for cash and then having to stare at the back of another cabana just 10 feet in front of me. Does anyone want that? Or do they want to be under a palm tree, with the sand in their toes,l looking out at the ocean and seeing the waves lap into the beach? These roll-up cabanas don't make sense to me at all and really ruined the look of the beach... more pictures later. Back in 2012 I hug out in this area all day, taking video also as I zipped down the Flightline of the beach under me... it was so much more beautiful back then

 

In the meantime the yoga class was in full swing

 

 

 

Many of you have been to Labadee, so I won't bore you with many pictures. After explaining the island and various beaches/areas to my gf and where we'd like to park for the day, we opted to cut across the pathways, passing Barefoot beach, and ending up at Nellie's Beach. One of the Beach attendants grabbed us chairs and we were parked right beside that proverbial palm tree, front row only about 15 feet away from the lapping water.... aaaaaah. Dropping our stuff, we went to explore and ended up over the pathways to Columbus Cove where Harmony comes to full view. It's still a gorgeous day out here and we were really enjoying the sun and the morning walk.