Harmony LIVE, March 11th - 18th. Come Sail Away!!!

[A&L_Ont]

Andrew, An absolutely amazing and comprehensive multi-media review. With the level of detail your put into your cruise reviews, I am surprised you have time to actually experience the cruise. I have a vision of you either on the Flowriders or in your cabin on your computer. However you do it, it has been a joy to follow your adventures.

 

One question with regard to disembarkation. With the "Genie substitute" taking you from cabin to customs, how was your luggage handled? In addition to coming to your cabin to walk you off the ship, did the "Genie" also have someone take your bags or did you have to carry them yourselves or did you have to do the evening before put your bags in the hall by 11PM? Will be on Harmony the end of April in Star Class and just planning ahead.

 

Again, a great review. Appreciate the honest evaluation of the Star Class service and of your Genie. I am a person who writes Corporate following a cruise, usually highlighting the positives and specific members of the crew. I will ensure to include my experiences with the pier side embarkation process. Hopefully, sufficient feedback to Corporate might result in changes and improved initial experiences for those of us fortunate enough to enjoy the Suite Life.

 

Thanks Westpac. I am a detail guy, so it comes natural in some posts. Other posts I guess you could call Gorilla Posting, quick and live. Direct from the app. I don't take my Mac, just my iPhone and iPad. It's amazing what you can do with today's phones without dragging a digital SLR and lenses. I might try a few more/new photo tricks next cruise, but I have a bit of time to test out what I am thinking of trying. Definitely no posting from the flow rider line from this guy.

 

As for your question about our luggage we did the following. We put it out the night before in the hallway. We didn't use luggage valet as our flight was at 11:15. We picked it up from the Suite/Pinnacle area while we were getting off the ship and checked it at the Delta counter.

 

Last year we used luggage valet for our 11:30 flight and it did not make our flight. We weren't going to chance it this time. We weren't given an option for the luggage to be picked up in the morning but perhaps with the substitute Genie that might have played a difference.

 

That being said, there were long lines that we slipped and zipped through with Cleon as we disembarked. I think if we were dragging more than our carry on we could not have done it as quickly.

 

I hope our experience being passed on to HQ will force them to streamline and at least clarify what is expected. Again, thanks for the kind words.

[John&LaLa]

As always John, she looks great. Give her a scratch behind the ears for me. I might just have to sail on Oasis to make her happy. :).

 

 

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She does have two flowriders. 😉

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

We went to Gilbert's last cruise.

Loved eating the Kitchen Sink cookie at 4 AM watching the ships sail in! The owner was hilarious!! We will be back.

 

 

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[cruisequeen4ever]

Another thoroughly entertaining blog by you; thank you! I have to say, after reading about your "opposite of good customer service" embarkation day in Star Class, I really would have thought they would have given you more than free chips! Hopefully no one else experiences what you did, and that guy receives some serious customer service training!

 

 

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[countess5]

Andrew,

As all have said thanks for the live report and follow up. Really like your style of writing.

 

Would you let me know where the Diamond Lounge is on the ship and your thoughts on it if you used it?

 

Thanks

[A&L_Ont]

Andrew,

As all have said thanks for the live report and follow up. Really like your style of writing.

 

Would you let me know where the Diamond Lounge is on the ship and your thoughts on it if you used it?

 

Thanks

 

Countess, the Diamond lounge is where the comedy club used to be on Oasis and Allure on deck 4. We didn't make it there this cruise. I would have liked to have seen Raj who was in the lounge as I really like him, but with Owen being with us it wasn't exactly a lounge cruise.

 

Andrew

[marci22]

Great review and details. I don't think I would ever book a Genie room so it was interesting to hear what goes on during the week.

[MattInFLL]

Andrew - finally had time to catch up with this thread. The Napoleon stories are actually kind of shocking. The man clearly has an issue that he likes to take out on guests - hard to imagine Royal wants that greeting its highest paying guests. I do hope karma pays a visit.

 

Glad to hear the rest of the cruise improved. But you put your bags out the night before? They don't have someone take your bags down that morning anymore?

 

Hope to see you on the high seas at some point....:)

[A&L_Ont]

Andrew - finally had time to catch up with this thread. The Napoleon stories are actually kind of shocking. The man clearly has an issue that he likes to take out on guests - hard to imagine Royal wants that greeting its highest paying guests. I do hope karma pays a visit.

 

Glad to hear the rest of the cruise improved. But you put your bags out the night before? They don't have someone take your bags down that morning anymore?

 

Hope to see you on the high seas at some point....:)

 

The bag thing wasn't an option nor was it mentioned to us. That being said it wasn't mentioned to us in August either. We did use luggage valet that time.

 

Hope your move went well, and we will catch up with one day.

[SeaTheWaves]

Andrew, I enjoyed your cruise review and love all the photos. I can tell you're a proud dad! Glad you were able to report the problems you had on embarkation day with class and didn't let it ruin your family cruise vacation.

 

Is there a special luggage check in area at port Everglades for Sky and Sea guests, also?

Do Sky and Sea guests receive their luggage early?

[MrFunInTheSun]

Thanks for bringing us along! 23 more days!

 

 

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[Buffett fan]

Thanks for bringing us along! 23 more days!

 

 

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Are you doing a review this go around?!? If so...some of us will be following along!

[A&L_Ont]

Andrew, I enjoyed your cruise review and love all the photos. I can tell you're a proud dad! Glad you were able to report the problems you had on embarkation day with class and didn't let it ruin your family cruise vacation.

 

Is there a special luggage check in area at port Everglades for Sky and Sea guests, also?

Do Sky and Sea guests receive their luggage early?

 

Most days I am proud, and then there is a moment here and there.;) There is no special luggage drop for Sky and Sea, and in all honesty our luggage showed up at the same time so I wouldn't worry. CLS had their luggage showing up the same time that ours did.

 

Thanks for bringing us along! 23 more days!

 

 

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Your welcome.

[A&L_Ont]

I said I'd give you any updates from RC if there were any.

 

Today I got an email from RC which was a result of our post cruise survey. We completed it last Friday night and the email came to me at 3 pm this afternoon. It appears as though they read the surveys, at least the ones that get poor scores.

 

I cut out names and my phone number and it is posted below. It feels like a bit of a kiss-off email though. Lisa is a stay at home mom, and I have been home two of the four days that "they didn't connect" with us since Monday. There were no missed calls before we returned from the cruise, by us or caller ID nor were there any messages on our answering machine. They didn't tell me to call or email them and they didn't say they were going to try calling back.

 

I guess it's one more item to ad to my letter to RC.

 

 

 

 

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[A&L_Ont]

And since I am posting, how about some local food porn from tonight. What do we have here?

 

 

 

Tony's Panzorottis from nearby London. They are deep fried and delicious. Fine china, need not apply.

 

 

 

This is a small, and that's a dinner plate.

 

 

 

That chunk of meat, it's bacon. The further in you go the more bacon and pepperoni you will find.

 

 

 

Regular cheese for me. Extra cheese isn't needed at Tony's.

 

 

 

Then dip into their homemade marinara sauce. MMM.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[#55worktoplay]

Road trip sounds great. I would very much be interested in following. Will you post here when it takes place to lead us to the thread?

[marci22]

Today I got an email from RC which was a result of our post cruise survey. We completed it last Friday night and the email came to me at 3 pm this afternoon. It appears as though they read the surveys, at least the ones that get poor scores.

 

I cut out names and my phone number and it is posted below. It feels like a bit of a kiss-off email though. Lisa is a stay at home mom, and I have been home two of the four days that "they didn't connect" with us since Monday.

 

 

I think this is just an acknowledgement of your survey answers. I would be very surprised if another person doesn't follow up with you in some way. And it may take a couple of weeks.

[A&L_Ont]

I think this is just an acknowledgement of your survey answers. I would be very surprised if another person doesn't follow up with you in some way. And it may take a couple of weeks.

 

I will wait until Tuesday or so until I email/mail RC. That will give them 7 business days, and a chance if they need to or want to investigate the back end before they contact me. The GS manager said there are incident reports on the ship. Otherwise, I don't want to wait too long until I reach out to corporate.

[A&L_Ont]

Road trip sounds great. I would very much be interested in following. Will you post here when it takes place to lead us to the thread?

 

If I do it, a link will be posted here or on the main RC boards with a link to where it can be found on the random CC boards.

[Russ Lomas]

 

 

 

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How many boards do you carry with you on your cruise now Andrew? I thought I was overdoing it taking 2 boards on our March cruise.

 

[pharaoh]

So I have another thing I will admit. I don’t have a fear of heights, after all I have bungee jumped, have no problem on the Space Deck at the CN Tower and can stand on the edge of a building with little to no concern. I do have some trepidation though when it comes to crossing large and long bridges, such as the the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan.

 

I think it exists in part due to the old Sunshine Skyway Bridge that spanned Tampa Bay. The first time I ever crossed that bridge was in December of 1980. That was months after it was damaged and collapsed after being struck by a freighter. I was almost ten and old enough to know what happened and what it meant. To see the missing span right outside my car window is a lasting memory, especially knowing the outcome of the event. Obviously it still sticks with me today. I know when we cross the bridge today I will be thinking about that day in May.

 

 

Hi Andrew!! First, I am just finally finding time to catch up on your review. Only 40 pages left! But I always enjoy your detailed and hilarious reviews.

 

Secondly, bridges terrify me to no end. You might know from mentioning it on my scopes that I am the biggest chicken in the world and everything terrifies me, but driving over bridges is probably the worst. If I'm alone, I clutch the wheel and have to look straight ahead without daring a glance on either side. If I'm with someone, I make them be silent during the duration of the drive over. I'm the legit worst.

 

My best friend lives in Tampa and I would visit her often while I was living in Miami. There are many terrible things about that drive from miami to Tampa and back, but the worst part was having to take the Sunshine Skyway bridge. TALK ABOUT TERRIFYING. It's very pretty but it's VERY TALL AND VERY NARROW AND IT HAS A HISTORY of course which you already detailed.

 

Living in Orlando now, I'm glad I don't need to use that bridge to get to visit my friend in Tampa anymore. Whew!

 

Lastly, are you on the Sept 30 Harmony sailing? I am on the sailing directly after you. Would love to say hello to you and your family and have a hand off on boarding day if possible. [emoji847]

 

 

 

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[#55worktoplay]

How many boards do you carry with you on your cruise now Andrew? I thought I was overdoing it taking 2 boards on our March cruise.

 

Sorry to hijack Andrew but I'm curious to know what ship and cabin this is taken from. It looks nice.

[crusinot]

following!

[bobmacliberty]

Andrew - Thanks again for an excellent review. I'm still a little dumbfounded that Royal didn't do something, anything, to compensate you for your issues, other than a couple of trays of potato chips and some cupcakes. You handled the situation in a very reasonable manner...better than I would have. If one of my most valued customers had the experience that you had, and discussed it with me in the manner that you did (without demanding to turn this ship around this instant :D), I would have found SOME way to show that I was sorry. Some OBC, a bottle of wine...something. The fact that they didn't even make a token gesture is disappointing. Although you didn't ask for anything, and it sounds like you weren't expecting anything, I would have done something in their shoes. Maybe Corporate will eventually address this.

[LBumb]

great pics