Harmony Trip Report April 8-15, 2017: A Cruise to Remember!

[CreativeCruiser119]

Following along, Kevin!

 

You're doing a great job - keep up the good work! I have to watch 3 more sail-aways, then everyone will be watching me (June 3). I love reading the reviews of others to get little insider tips for when we board!

 

Will keep you and your family in my prayers for your sweet kitty <3

 

Thank you so much! And thank you for your prayers for my Patches! We're hoping she'll get through it! Just for cuteness' sake, I've attached a few photos- the first 2 of her and her little sister, Pepper, and the second 2 of Puff, who we unfortunately had to put down in 2012 at the age of one and a half after he aspirated following a surgery to remove an 11-inch piece of string he had swallowed. The black and white tuxedo cat is Patches, and the calico is Pepper. Pepper is very spunky and dan be sweet as can be one moment, and then cranky and sassy the next! (She's crazy at the vet). You'd think it'd be the other way around, but I got Patches when I was 6 and had a stuffed calico cat that my parents named Patches and I liked the name, so we passed it on to the real kitty! You can see them out on our deck, which I have come to refer to as our at-home version of the Central Park Balcony. The cone is on Patches' head to allow her to recover from her surgery. The second picture of them together was taken before the trip. Our cats get along sometimes, although Patches could not stand Puff when he chased her and pounced on her :D sorry again for going off topic, I very much appreciate your kind words and prayers, as I feel that the more prayers we get, the better her chances are! We hope to have her for a few more years anyway, as she's 12 and the average life expectancy of cats is 15-16 anyway. She turns 13 this year which makes me a little worried though, since it's supposedly an unlucky number- RC clearly thought that when they built the Oasis class ships!

 

Thanks for following, I'm jealous! You'll have a great time, and don't forget to ask any questions you have along the way. Keep the countdown going!

Edited May 7, 2017 by CreativeCruiser119

[CreativeCruiser119]

Great review, I'm on the Harmony in July and your review is making me more excited if that's even possible.

 

You're so lucky! You'll have a great time. The excitement is hard to contain, so I know exactly what you are feeling! I'm glad you're enjoying the review, and I'm happy to answer any questions!

[CreativeCruiser119]

Hi Kevin, you're doing a great job with your review. I'll be following along for more. :)

 

One tip about your photos. If you are posting from your phone or tablet, you can use the Tapatalk app or the Forums app, and they both will let you upload photos straight from your camera roll, without having to edit. It makes it easier for people to see the photos (don't have to click into a separate window), and it lets you post full size so the photos aren't so small. Makes posting a LOT easier. :)

 

I'll be on Harmony later this year and I'm very excited. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

Thank you so much for the compliment, and for the tip! I'll look into that, given that I can figure it out! If not I don't mind what I am doing now, as long as you and the other readers don't mind it. But I really appreciate the suggestion, it does sound so much easier!

 

You'll have a great time. The excitement takes you over doesn't it?! Start the countdown! Thanks for following!

[CreativeCruiser119]

Hi Kevin, you're doing a great job with your review. I'll be following along for more. :)

 

One tip about your photos. If you are posting from your phone or tablet, you can use the Tapatalk app or the Forums app, and they both will let you upload photos straight from your camera roll, without having to edit. It makes it easier for people to see the photos (don't have to click into a separate window), and it lets you post full size so the photos aren't so small. Makes posting a LOT easier. :)

 

I'll be on Harmony later this year and I'm very excited. Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

 

 

 

I downloaded Tapatalk and have it figured out for the most part. One question- how do I bold text on Tapatalk? Thank you SO much for the suggestion, I think it will really help!

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Day 1 - Saturday, April 8th

Sailaway

After muster, we headed from Studio B up to the cabins and Matt and our parents went up to Deck 16 for the sailaway. I stayed behind for a few minutes to go through photos, send my last texts and share my last posts for the week. Once I was finished with that, I put everything in airplane mode and left the room to join my family, as they had texted me their location on deck before I disconnected.

 

On my way out, I ran into our stateroom attendant, introduced myself and told him the rest of my family was up on deck but they'd be back later. I told him everything was great, shook his hand and thanked him. I wish I had remembered his name, he did a wonderful job and was super friendly! I had planned to take the stairs as much as possible, but this time I took the elevator up to the deck and had a brief conversation with a fellow guest who had a drink cup with the Ultimate Abyss design on it, and told her how cool I thought that was. My family and I were situated on Deck 16, port side, just aft of the top of the cantilevered whirlpools.

 

The music was going and we waited for the moment we started moving, but it seemed to never come as we were supposed to leave at 4:30. Shortly after that Captain Johnny came on the PA and informed us that there was a heavy volume of boat traffic in the area that was preventing us and the other ships from leaving, and that they would be cleared out shortly and we would be on our way. I'm assuming people on boats with the United States Coast Guard and/or Broward County Sheriff's Office started asking them to move so the cruise ships could get though. I wonder if there was extra traffic in the area that day due to the Tortuga Country Music Festival. There were several boats in the middle of the channel. When the area was clear, Independence blew her horn, started leaving, then Holland America, then us.

 

Soon our horn blew and we were off! My mom took a family selfie and one with me (the first and third picture), and my dad took the second one, where you can see the back of the Holland America ship as it sailed away (I don't remember the exact name of the ship). The boats, as you can see, had moved off to the side and waved at us, and we waved back as we headed for the Western Caribbean! We were enjoying the sailaway when a few people with a loud boombox blaring came up behind us. My mom, still tired, turned around and gave them a look and they left- I don't think those around us were too fond of it either! I promise we're not rude people, we just don't like it when people come up behind us with loud music while we're trying to enjoy something! I noticed this a few times during the week, as I sometimes do in the school hallways and at the gym- people think other people care to hear their music, when in reality it's just rude and obnoxious. But that's just our opinion.

 

We then went and checked out the glass floor of the bridge wing off the Solarium on Deck 14, Matt was told by a crew member that you must be 16 to be in there, we explained we were just in and out- it's good to see they're at least enforcing it here, as I saw children being changed in the Solarium on Allure! And the one on Liberty was right in the middle of a common area, so no real privacy there. After that we made our way down to Deck 3 for our 6:00 dinner seating in the American Icon Grill, which is the bottom level of the Main Dining Room.

 

Next up: Dinner and our first evening aboard the Harmony!

 

 

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Edited May 7, 2017 by CreativeCruiser119

[pharaoh]

I downloaded Tapatalk and have it figured out for the most part. One question- how do I bold text on Tapatalk? Thank you SO much for the suggestion, I think it will really help!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

You know... I'm not sure! It looks like you figured it out though. :) I don't think there's a shortcut for it, but you can always use the code [ b ] bold text here [ /b ] and that will work just the same, just remove the spaces.

 

Your photos look great!

[CreativeCruiser119]

You know... I'm not sure! It looks like you figured it out though. :) I don't think there's a shortcut for it, but you can always use the code [ b ] bold text here [ /b ] and that will work just the same, just remove the spaces.

 

 

 

Your photos look great!

 

 

 

Thank you very much! What I did was I typed in regularly on Tapatalk, then went back to Safari and edited it there to bold the heading. That works for now! Thank you very much again, you were a big help! Thanks for reading along! [emoji4]

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Thank you so much! We were on the port side of the ship for sailaway waving! My brother too swims competitively, but chose to stay back at the hotel. I had originally wanted to join the high school team as well, but decided against it because of my anxiety and the schedules! But I do swim laps in my free time, at the gym in the winter and in my backyard in the summer in addition to year-round weightlifting!

 

I'm so glad you like my review. What I noticed was that the Beach Pool (saltwater) was warmer on Harmony than I remember it being on Oasis and Allure, as a matter of fact I think it was the warmest pool on this ship. The Main Pool was a little colder but refreshing, and I noticed right away that unlike the Main Pool on Oasis and Allure, the one on Harmony appeared to be saltwater during this sailing. The Sports Pool, as always, was freshwater and extra cool for water sports, but you get used to it! I did some laps in here as well when I had it all to myself, which I'll get to later in the review. I never went in Splashaway Bay but am assuming it's freshwater as well, and set to a refreshing temperature but I doubt it's freezing cold as it's meant for children. It's probably around the same temperature as the waterslides, which were also freshwater. I remember on Allure the Solarium Pool was freshwater and extra cool, but again refreshing! I'm assuming it's the same on Oasis also, but I never used that one as I was one year too young to use it at the time! (16+). I loved the rain shower in the Solarium on Harmony, but still did miss the pool. I'm pretty sure the rain shower wasn't freshwater or saltwater, just pure water that was set at a cool temperature to refresh you- I referred to it as a "splash pad for adults." As with all the other ships, the hot tubs were freshwater and warm, but definitely not HOT like the ones at my local gym (feels great after a workout). But I very much enjoyed my jacuzzi time nonetheless, and always spend a ton of time in them when I go on cruises! It's just harder to get out because you're cold getting out, especially so at night.

 

If you are curious about the depth of the pools, the Main Pool ranges in depth from 4'1" to 4'9" and the Beach Pool goes from 4'5" to 4'9". The Sports Pool is 4'7" at each end and 4'9" in the middle. I'd estimate the hot tubs at being anywhere between 2 and a half and 3 feet deep. And while I'm on the topic, I'll also add that all the pools on Freedom class are freshwater, and also a little deeper than the ones on Oasis class- for instance the deep end of the Solarium pool is 6'11"!! The ones on Oasis and Allure are 3'11" throughout so quite the difference. Even the H2O Zone pool on Freedom and Independence, from what I've heard and seen in pictures, is 5'7" at the deep end (still with a separate shallow Current Pool for kids), whereas the ones on Oasis and Allure do not exceed 3'5". They fixed that during Liberty's drydock, making the Splashaway Bay pool 2 feet deep. There is no pool in Splashaway Bay on Harmony.

 

I do apologize for always going on tangents, just felt like the information was relevant! I hope I was able to answer your questions, and thanks for following! Always happy to answer any questions!

 

 

 

I forgot to add, the FlowRiders are also freshwater and not too hot, not too cold, just right. Similar temperature to the pools, but not the colder ones. I hope I was able to help!

 

 

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[spender]

Following

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Following

 

 

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Thanks for following! More to come!

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Day 1 - Saturday, April 8th

Our First Evening Aboard the Harmony

Dinner & The Fine Line

After sailaway, we went to dinner at American Icon Grill on Deck 3 and located table 320 as indicated on our SeaPass cards, which we had just for the 4 of us. The Main Dining Room spans decks 3-5; Deck 4 is The Grande and Deck 5 is Silk. We met our Waiter Veeren and Assistant Waiter Arvin, who were both very attentive and provided top-notch service for us all week. I ordered the chilled shrimp as my starter and BBQ pork ribs for my main course- if you know me, you know ribs are my weakness so when I saw that on the menu I knew it was going to be a great week! I can't remember what I got for dessert.

 

After dinner we spent a bit of time on our balconies and took it all in: we were finally here! After 2 years of planning and almost not making it, the odds were in our favor and we made it! We were all so elated to finally be onboard the Harmony.

 

We had a reservation for the 9:00 showing of the Fine Line aqua show, so around 8:15 we began making our way to the Boardwalk on Deck 6. My brother and I ordered virgin beverages at the Sabor Bar, I got a strawberry daiquiri. After that we were sitting in the AquaTheater waiting for the show to start when a man in a dress came out on stage spinning continuously and performing tricks for about 20 minutes. It's really insane what these performers can do, although that was nothing compared to the acts we saw during the show! There was one point where a performer went on top of the Royal Caribbean logo at the top of the theater, we all thought he was crazy! Then he just shrugged and walked back down, generating laughs from the audience. How they get up there is beyond me, my guess is that there are elevators inside the diving platform towers. If anyone knows for sure feel free to comment.

 

The show consisted of high diving, tightrope walking, acrobatics, and so much more. We really enjoyed it. I will apologize in advance, my memory of specific evening activities may be a little fuzzy, but I do know which shows we saw each night and will try to remember to the best of my ability!

 

Next up: WOWbands!

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

My apologies, it appears as though I may have added too many photos and some turned out blurry, so I will post again. Sorry again for all the issues I've been having [emoji23]

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Let's try this one more time! I'll get it eventually!

 

 

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[NolaFireLI]

Pictures are great!!!! Looks like way too much fun!!!

[Jobeth66]

Day 1 - Saturday, April 8th

Exploring the Ship

 

After arriving in the cabin, I plugged in to my portable battery pack and carried it with me as I explored the ship. As always, I took some photos around the ship to share. All of these are mine. I am only able to upload 5 photos to a post, so there will be a few of these. I hope you enjoy!

 

Enjoying the review - very glad the portable battery pack worked for you! But definitely keep it in your carry-on when boarding. :)

[CreativeCruiser119]

Day 1 - Saturday, April 8th

WOWbands

After The Fine Line, I spent some time in the cantilevered and Solarium whirlpools and took a quick dip in the Beach Pool before heading to bed.

 

Right away the first day we got our WOWbands. My brother and I had one of our own, and our parents just used their SeaPasses and held onto ours so they could get into our cabin if they needed to. I keep all of my SeaPass cards and have since added my SeaPass and WOWband from Harmony to the collection in the image below, which shows my SeaPass cards from Monarch, Oasis, Allure and Liberty. I do not know what happened to my cabin key from the Disney Dream.

 

The WOWband is pretty much a substitute for the SeaPass card, offered on Harmony and Quantum class ships. They are not available on Oasis or Allure. When you purchase them, you will be given one with the muster station number corresponding to the number on your SeaPass card. They will then copy all of your information onto the WOWband and allow to you access your cabin and make purchases with it. My brother and I both had the Royal Replenish drink package, which we shared with our parents, and were able to get unlimited soft drinks and virgin cocktails. Now that's what I call luxury! (I try to limit myself to 2 virgin cocktails a day).

 

While your WOWband can be used to substitute your SeaPass card, it does not invalidate your SeaPass card, so you are still able to use it. I found the WOWband convenient because it was waterproof and could be taken on and off as many times as possible, so I didn't have to worry about leaving my SeaPass card under a towel unattended on a lounge chair while I was in the pool or jacuzzi. DO NOT lose your SeaPass card as the one location the WOWbands do not work is the gangway. You must have your physical card with you to get on and off the ship in ports of call.

 

The WOWband was very convenient, and only cost, I believe, $4.95 per band. It took a little bit to get the hang of how to put it on, but this wasn't a problem at all. I considered having one very well worth it, and so did most of the ship as everywhere I go I saw people with them on! The color of the wristband is based on your muster station; mine was a blue color. Great invention on Royal's part!

 

Next up: a morning at sea, Ultimate Abyss & Zip-Line!

 

 

 

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Edited May 7, 2017 by CreativeCruiser119

[jennybct]

Great review so far! We were on the Allure departing 4/9. We're going on the Harmony next April break with our two boys who will be 10 and 12 next year.

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Pictures are great!!!! Looks like way too much fun!!!

 

 

 

Thank you very much for the compliment! It was just as fun as it looks!

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Pictures are great!!!! Looks like way too much fun!!!

 

 

 

Thank you so much! We just kept in our luggage and took it out when we unpacked in the cabin. Thanks for following!

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Enjoying the review - very glad the portable battery pack worked for you! But definitely keep it in your carry-on when boarding. :)

 

 

 

Sorry- responded to NolaFireLI twice on accident! The post above was meant to go to you so my apologies! Thanks again!

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Here are a few photos, taken by my parents, that I forgot to add from Day 1. The one of Central Park was taken from the forward elevator lobby on Deck 10.

 

 

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Edited May 8, 2017 by CreativeCruiser119

[CreativeCruiser119]

Matt is the one on the FlowRider. He practically spends his whole day on the boogie board and usually becomes famous by the end of the week, although on this cruise he was recognized by a family in Labadee on Day 3. He has tried stand-up surfing but as with most people, had a hard time. I could never do that! I too enjoy boogie boarding, but I'm not at all as good as Matt. There is also a FlowRider at one of the waterparks that we go to in the Wisconsin Dells and that's where Matt got hooked. We're also only about a 25-minute drive from the Mall of America and the Waterpark of America (right by the airport). There's a FlowRider there as well but we haven't been there in a few years!

 

You can also see me enjoying my balcony.

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Great review so far! We were on the Allure departing 4/9. We're going on the Harmony next April break with our two boys who will be 10 and 12 next year.

 

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Thank you so much! You will love it! What did you and your family think of the Allure?

 

 

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[CreativeCruiser119]

Day 2 - Sunday, April 9th

Our First Morning at Sea

After some much needed sleep, we got up and ate breakfast in the Main Dining Room. I have always loved the Eggs Benedict on these ships, so I got just that! After breakfast we put on the sunscreen and headed up to the Sports Deck because I wanted to brave out the Ultimate Abyss dual dry slides, which go down 10 stories in 13 seconds transporting the rider from a platform above the Sports Deck on Deck 16 down to the Boardwalk on Deck 6.

 

If you have seen previous posts from me, you will know how scared I was about the Ultimate Abyss! I was asking all my friends for opinions and almost all said to go for it! I'm afraid of big drops but wanted to do this because it's a unique experience and I wanted to say I did it. Plus, I figured there was a good chance I'd end up loving it! And sure enough, I was right.

 

The adrenaline was rushing hard when I was in line. I had heard that this was the scariest part and the slide was not at all as scary as it looked. And I learned that right away, and found myself doing it 3 other times during the week. I absolutely loved it. So my advice is to go for it, and trust that it's not as bad as it seems! This was another great innovation.

 

After landing on Deck 6 I headed back up to the Sports Deck for the Zip-Line. I have somewhat of a fear of heights and was scared when I first did this on the Oasis but sure enough, loved it! I'm not making myself out to be the toughest guy on the planet am I? I get it from my mother- the other two are the exact opposite!

 

After Zip-Lining I headed over to the FlowRider and joined my family as we watched Matt show off his skills.

 

 

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Edited May 8, 2017 by CreativeCruiser119