Live: Harmony of the Seas 6/23 Queens on the High Seas Summer Extravaganza!

[cruisinfromtampa]

52 minutes ago, irish2005 said:

Could you please sen me a copy of the spreadsheet.  bell.patty2@verizon.net  thanks in advance

 

I’d be happy to. Could you actually send me an email asking for it? That way I’ll see it when I get home to send it to you. queensonthehighseas@gmail.com

[cruisinfromtampa]

Day 2: Perfect Day at CocoCay

 

We got an early start this morning. We had to be off the ship for our ride on Up, Up, & Away by 8:00. By early start, I of course still mean much later than a workday! 

 

The winds were very light, so we were able to go up. I’ve read that other sailings haven’t been so lucky. 

 

One thing RC got right is having maps made, and printing them. It made it very easy for a visual person like me to figure things out. 

 

 

 

 

We got off the ship and went straight to the balloon. Because of the little bit of wind, they held us to 400 feet instead of 450. There were also only 6 of us who went up on the first trip. All I can say is, what a view! Absolutely beautiful. The pictures are from my iPhone X, and I have not done anything to them. They almost look fake. 

 

Totally worth the cost to do it once. We’ll wait to do it again until we have kids, and they’re old enough to appreciate it. 

 

 

Doing a test run:

 

 

View of the ship from up too. Harbor Beach is the cove on the right with the bridge, chairs around Oasis Lagoon in the bottom right, Thrill Waterpark center left. 

 

 

Oasis Lagoon in its entirety. 

 

 

NCL’s private island in the distance. 

 

 

Straight down. 

 

 

Massive stingray swimming past the floating bar. 

 

 

South Beach with our shadow. More to come there later in the year. 

 

 

Island Crew dorms. I can’t remember how many people he said work on the island, but he did say they work 4 weeks on, 1 week off. With the increase in ships making stops, they almost have 1 every day. In June, they only had 2 days without. 

 

[ownedbypets]

We went twice to 150 because the tenderloin was so good, but I get it medium rare.

[cruisinfromtampa]

4 minutes ago, ownedbypets said:

We went twice to 150 because the tenderloin was so good, but I get it medium rare.

That’s my temperature of choice as well. That’s one of the things I’ll try if we go back. Though it’s inevitable at some point, even if it’s another sailing. 

[Jax129]

I was just looking at pictures of your room & thinking, "Wow that looks big" LOL  you are definitely spoiled ")

Quote

 

 

 

 

The Room: The room itself feels small. I can’t decide if it’s because the room is smaller than other balconies we’ve sailed in, or if it’s because we’re used to Junior Suites. Other than Majesty, we haven’t sailed in anything less than a JS in 2 years. It’s definitely fine for the week, but not sure I’m interested going forward. Maybe we’re just spoiled...it’s like having to fly in coach after flying first for so long. It’s miserable for me. Lord help us after the GS we have booked next summer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by Jax129

[BeachChik]

1 hour ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

Day 2: Perfect Day at CocoCay

 

We got an early start this morning. We had to be off the ship for our ride on Up, Up, & Away by 8:00. By early start, I of course still mean much later than a workday! 

 

The winds were very light, so we were able to go up. I’ve read that other sailings haven’t been so lucky. 

 

One thing RC got right is having maps made, and printing them. It made it very easy for a visual person like me to figure things out. 

 

 

 

 

We got off the ship and went straight to the balloon. Because of the little bit of wind, they held us to 400 feet instead of 450. There were also only 6 of us who went up on the first trip. All I can say is, what a view! Absolutely beautiful. The pictures are from my iPhone X, and I have not done anything to them. They almost look fake. 

 

Totally worth the cost to do it once. We’ll wait to do it again until we have kids, and they’re old enough to appreciate it. 

 

 

Doing a test run:

 

 

View of the ship from up too. Harbor Beach is the cove on the right with the bridge, chairs around Oasis Lagoon in the bottom right, Thrill Waterpark center left. 

 

 

Oasis Lagoon in its entirety. 

 

 

NCL’s private island in the distance. 

 

 

Straight down. 

 

 

Massive stingray swimming past the floating bar. 

 

 

South Beach with our shadow. More to come there later in the year. 

 

 

Island Crew dorms. I can’t remember how many people he said work on the island, but he did say they work 4 weeks on, 1 week off. With the increase in ships making stops, they almost have 1 every day. In June, they only had 2 days without. 

 

 

Probably seems like a dumb question but what is all that black in the water around the floating bar?

[RG306]

On 6/23/2019 at 1:20 PM, cruisinfromtampa said:

After hitting traffic in several spots, we finally arrived after 2.5 hours. From car to ship, it was roughly 10 minutes. I can’t think of a faster process during a prior cruise. It was seamless. 

 

 

Once on board, we went up to Jamie’s to make our Lunch & Dinner reservations for the week. We were able to get every restaurant we wanted, within 15 minutes of our desired times. I call that a win. Schedule is below. 

 

Dinner Day 1: 150 Central Park

Dinner Day 2: Izumi Hibachi

Lunch Day 3: Jamie’s Italian 

Dinner Day 3: Wonderland 

Dinner Day 4: Sabor

Dinner Day 5: Jamie’s Italian 

Lunch Day 6: Izumi Sushi

Dinner Day 6: 150 Central Park

Lunch Day 7: Chops

Dinner Day 7: Jamie’s Italian 

 

I'm looking forward to trying all of the new places, and some new dishes. I do very detailed reviews of my meals, so be prepared. I’m a course by course, dish by dish guy. Lots of detail. 

 

Following reservation hour, we strolled around Central Park for a bit. What a great space. Looking forward to strolling around tonight after dinner. 

 

 

 

 

 

I found our room! Second from top, second in on the left. 

 

 

Bathroom art...

 

 

We trudged back downstairs and set up shop on Rising Tide for our traditional first cocktails. Lemon Drop Martini for me, Amaretto Sour with a splash of Diet Coke for him. 

 

 

 

Rooms are ready! Off to check it out, and then back for more. 

 

 

Were you able to UDP for lunch on embarkation?

 

[LuCruise]

Wow...very cool photos from up in the balloon.

[ashleyriley]

9 hours ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

Let’s talk food!

 

First let me say this...We all have different palates, and different tastes. I’ve eaten anything from meat on a stick on a street corner in Beijing to at a 3 star Michelin restaurant, and everything in between. I’ve had my recipes published multiple times in the paper in Tampa, and my chocolate cake was listed as the best chocolate layer cake in Tampa Bay. I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about when it comes to food. But really, it doesn’t matter. It’s all just my opinion. Food is food...what constitutes good food is different to everyone...but I just plain like food. My figure is proof of that. 

 

So take what I say with a grain of salt. Nothing I’m eating this week is at the level of Alinea (which if you want to spoil yourself while in Chicago, look it up. Absolutely incredible meal!), but I’m not expecting it to be...I am hoping it’s a step up from an on shore chain, however. If it tastes good, it tastes good...and I’m going to tell you! And if I don’t like it, you’ll know that as well. 

 

And now, without further ado:

 

Dinner Night 1 - 150 Central Park 

 

 

Forget sending a blank copy of your spread sheet, can I have the recipe for The Best Chocolate Cake in Tampa Bay??😀 

[SSMEX]

6 hours ago, RG306 said:

Were you able to UDP for lunch on embarkation?

 

 

Would like to know this as well. Additionally, is Hibachi included in the UDP? I've always read that it, Chef's Table, and other experiences weren't.

[Clarea]

4 hours ago, SSMEX said:

 

Would like to know this as well. Additionally, is Hibachi included in the UDP? I've always read that it, Chef's Table, and other experiences weren't.

 

Hibachi is now included in the newly rebranded UDP.

[Ourusualbeach]

12 hours ago, BeachChik said:

 

Probably seems like a dumb question but what is all that black in the water around the floating bar?

Seagrass

[CLE2CRUISE]

16 hours ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

Let’s talk food!

 

First let me say this...We all have different palates, and different tastes. I’ve eaten anything from meat on a stick on a street corner in Beijing to at a 3 star Michelin restaurant, and everything in between. I’ve had my recipes published multiple times in the paper in Tampa, and my chocolate cake was listed as the best chocolate layer cake in Tampa Bay. I’d like to think I know what I’m talking about when it comes to food. But really, it doesn’t matter. It’s all just my opinion. Food is food...what constitutes good food is different to everyone...but I just plain like food. My figure is proof of that. 

 

So take what I say with a grain of salt. Nothing I’m eating this week is at the level of Alinea (which if you want to spoil yourself while in Chicago, look it up. Absolutely incredible meal!), but I’m not expecting it to be...I am hoping it’s a step up from an on shore chain, however. If it tastes good, it tastes good...and I’m going to tell you! And if I don’t like it, you’ll know that as well. 

 

And now, without further ado:

 

Dinner Night 1 - 150 Central Park 

I just finished your dinner review and can I just say I LOVE it!   You do know a lot about food and your descriptions are very insightful.  Thank you for talking about texture as well as taste.  I also find it helpful to know what your husband thought too as it is very subjective, like you said.    The captions following each photo are terrific - as are the photos themselves!  GREAT JOB!!!!

 

I am very much looking forward to the rest of your review and I especially hope you go to Wonderland 😄

 

Thank you for sharing with us!!!

 

Lisa N.

16 hours ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

 

 

 

[Judyrem]

How was the food at Coco Cay?

[cruisinfromtampa]

13 hours ago, RG306 said:

Were you able to UDP for lunch on embarkation?

 

We weren’t hungry, and didn’t ask. I’ve read some people have been able to, and others have not. I’ll see if I can find an actual answer.

[cruisinfromtampa]

9 hours ago, ashleyriley said:

Forget sending a blank copy of your spread sheet, can I have the recipe for The Best Chocolate Cake in Tampa Bay??😀 

😂 My mother doesn’t even have it! 

 

I can provide a picture of it though...

 

[cruisinfromtampa]

7 hours ago, SSMEX said:

 

Would like to know this as well. Additionally, is Hibachi included in the UDP? I've always read that it, Chef's Table, and other experiences weren't.

Hibachi is included on UDP, and we are there last night. Pictures and thoughts forthcoming below. 

[CLE2CRUISE]

27 minutes ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

😂 My mother doesn’t even have it! 

 

I can provide a picture of it though...

 

Looks Like Strip Steakhouse's 24 Layer Chocolate Cake.  YUM!

 

Lisa N.

[cruisinfromtampa]

Let’s continue our CocoCay experience. 

 

After the balloon, we went into Thrill Island. Some things...

 

-Shoes of any kind were not allowed in the slides. I get it. But walking around barefooted is not something I prefer to do. 

 

-They don’t want shirts on the slides. There’s no sign anywhere stating it, but when you get up to the top they tell you to take them off. If you stand at the bottom, however, you’ll find they’re wildly inconsistent, surprise! There’s no issue with the Splash Summit Slides, but on the Daredevil’s Tower slides, they claim it slows you down. We kept ours on, and had no issues getting to the bottom quickly. 

 

We rode Sling Shot, Splash Speedway, Twister, and Green Mamba. The lines one the taller slides were longer than we were willing to wait. 

 

Green Mamba was good. Good combo of apples and turns. 

 

Sling Shot, while thrilling, is not for me. I had issues going backwards. Just makes me uncomfortable. The airtime was unexpected and added to the thrill. We only had two in the raft, so perhaps 4 would change the feel. 

 

Twister was my favorite slide. Great spread, great turns, great balance of light and dark. All around good slide. I filmed it on my GoPro, and will either upload the video or link to it later. 

 

Splash Speedway was fine. Nothing special. A warning...when you hit the bottom, the mat bounces up and down several times...but only from around the waist down. It was completely unexpected, and highly uncomfortable. Apparently it’s very common, because the lifeguard asked me in so many words how everything was doing. 

 

All in all, CocoCay was a great day for us. We are not huge water/beach people, but we definitely enjoyed ourselves. There were tons of options, both free and for an added fee. I got both the balloon and the waterpark on “sale” and felt fine with what we spent. They’ve really done a nice job with the renovations. 

[cruisinfromtampa]

2 hours ago, Judyrem said:

How was the food at Coco Cay?

We didn’t eat on the island. By the time we had done all of the things we wanted to, it was before they started lunch. We went back on the ship and explored while it was empty. 

[cruisinfromtampa]

2 hours ago, CLE2CRUISE said:

I just finished your dinner review and can I just say I LOVE it!   You do know a lot about food and your descriptions are very insightful.  Thank you for talking about texture as well as taste.  I also find it helpful to know what your husband thought too as it is very subjective, like you said.    The captions following each photo are terrific - as are the photos themselves!  GREAT JOB!!!!

 

I am very much looking forward to the rest of your review and I especially hope you go to Wonderland 😄

 

Thank you for sharing with us!!!

 

Lisa N.

 

Thank so much! 

 

Wonderland is tonight!!!

[CruiseMomTX]

2 hours ago, Judyrem said:

How was the food at Coco Cay?

 

We were there in May and thought the food was pretty good.  There was a place you can walk up and order burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, salads, fries, mozzarella sticks, cookies, brownies & funnel cakes.  There was also a place that had huge buffet stations with different salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, a Mexican food station with taco, etc., soft serve ice cream, cookies.  I can't remember everything but everything we got was pretty good.  I think there are several setups like this around the island.

[SilkySal]

17 minutes ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

Thank so much! 

 

Wonderland is tonight!!!

Our family really enjoyed Wonderland but I understand it's not for everyone. We will always try something at least once! I would definitely go there again! Don't forget to enjoy the melting chocolate ball!! Best ever!!😋

[dreadpirate3]

I am so happy to see your review! We loved our visit to Jamie's on Symphony, it was exquisite. The chicken Mattone was perfection!

 

We had the ocean view balcony on Symphony, same layout as your cabin. I also felt it was cramped.

[Judyrem]

1 hour ago, CruiseMomTX said:

 

We were there in May and thought the food was pretty good.  There was a place you can walk up and order burgers, fried chicken sandwiches, hot dogs, salads, fries, mozzarella sticks, cookies, brownies & funnel cakes.  There was also a place that had huge buffet stations with different salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, a Mexican food station with taco, etc., soft serve ice cream, cookies.  I can't remember everything but everything we got was pretty good.  I think there are several setups like this around the island.

Thanks!   Sounds great, my granddaughter loves most of  food except for salads 🤔.  I am looking forward to it.