Harmony of the Seas

[Cruise a holic]

While fully vaccinated and will have third immunization soon, I would be cautious before I go on any shore X- I will watch the covid stats for the country and area, before I consider any shore X or getting off the ship at any port.

 

If high covid stats and low vaccination rates- I will not chance it.  We will enjoy the ambiance of the ship.

[LanceRomance]

3 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

How disapointing about the musicals

I have seen that they have hired crew for a Grease Musical. As a lot of their crew only got out of quaratntine a week before passengers boarded. They might just not be ready for a production for the first couple weeks. I have fingers crossed that we will start seeing them next sailing. It would be odd that they would hire the crew, and not have the productions until November.

[xxHadleyxx]

1 hour ago, Cruise a holic said:

While fully vaccinated and will have third immunization soon, I would be cautious before I go on any shore X- I will watch the covid stats for the country and area, before I consider any shore X or getting off the ship at any port.

 

If high covid stats and low vaccination rates- I will not chance it.  We will enjoy the ambiance of the ship.

Italy has a higher vaccination rate than the USA. and lower infection rates.  Still smart to chek, no doubt, I do and will, but odds are you will be safer in EU ports than at home based on masking/vaccination trends in both places at this point.

[celly]

We are on board the Aug 29 sailing. Docked in the port of La Spezia today. Italian authorities all of a sudden required all passengers on the tours to be tested first. Saw 10 tour buses waiting since early morning but they only let all tours leave around 11.30 after all had been tested. Sitting on the balcony seeing tour buses return. Glad we had no plans today to go on a tour. Felt so sorry for all those waiting since early this morning. 

[Jimbo]

14 minutes ago, celly said:

We are on board the Aug 29 sailing. Docked in the port of La Spezia today. Italian authorities all of a sudden required all passengers on the tours to be tested first. Saw 10 tour buses waiting since early morning but they only let all tours leave around 11.30 after all had been tested. Sitting on the balcony seeing tour buses return. Glad we had no plans today to go on a tour. Felt so sorry for all those waiting since early this morning. 

What a bummer !!

[Kbonner]

Now we understand all the fuzz. Italy is the first country that decided to follow the EU protocol to restrict US citizen entering Italy. It is due September 1st, today.

The restrictions say that all US must have a current PCR or antigen test. On the Schengenvisa website more details.

[Brucemcdou]

4 minutes ago, Kbonner said:

Now we understand all the fuzz. Italy is the first country that decided to follow the EU protocol to restrict US citizen entering Italy. It is due September 1st, today.

The restrictions say that all US must have a current PCR or antigen test. On the Schengenvisa website more details.

Makes sense but from Celly's posting it sounds as if Royal and the tour operators were caught unprepared.  Hopefully Royal can offer quick tests onboard either the day prior or the morning of a tour and just add it to the cost of the tour.  

[FionaMG]

19 minutes ago, Kbonner said:

Now we understand all the fuzz. Italy is the first country that decided to follow the EU protocol to restrict US citizen entering Italy. It is due September 1st, today.

The restrictions say that all US must have a current PCR or antigen test. On the Schengenvisa website more details.

 

So were they testing everyone or just US citizens?

 

In my opinion (which obviously counts for nothing) this really is overkill considering everyone on board was tested immediately prior to embarkation. Still, I guess there's no option but to go with the flow. It's beginning to look more and more like we will only be getting off in Palma de Mallorca and then simply staying on board for the remainder of the cruise. I can live with that.

[celly]

They were testing everyone on the ship tours with enormous delays in the morning. Not just Americans. And while leaving the ship facemasks had to be changed to KN95/FFP2 which Royal provided.

The day before everyone had to fill in the PLF for Italy, then when we arrived in La Spezia they demanded an Antigen test before letting anyone off. They set up a testing centre in the Conference Center our friends who were on a tour told us. Royal has Eurofins on board to do the tests. We just docked in Civitavecchia. Let’s see how this day goes. We are staying on board and having a wonderful time being spoiled by a wonderful crew.

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, celly said:

They were testing everyone on the ship tours with enormous delays in the morning. Not just Americans. And while leaving the ship facemasks had to be changed to KN95/FFP2 which Royal provided.

The day before everyone had to fill in the PLF for Italy, then when we arrived in La Spezia they demanded an Antigen test before letting anyone off. They set up a testing centre in the Conference Center our friends who were on a tour told us. Royal has Eurofins on board to do the tests. We just docked in Civitavecchia. Let’s see how this day goes. We are staying on board and having a wonderful time being spoiled by a wonderful crew.

Wow, what a mess! That seems to me to be an overly zealous approach because under Italy's own rules EU citizens at least are not required to undergo any testing if they have vaccination certificates.

 

That said, everyone is supposed to fill in the form and I get the impression that Royal may not have been insisting on these, so perhaps that is relevant;  without that information, the Italian authorities would possibly not have known who was and who was not required to take a test.

 

This morning I received an email from Royal stressing that the PLF is mandatory (it actually always was) and stating that certains nationals will require this additional test while others will not. Let's see how it plays out going forward.

 

Thanks for helping to keep us abreast of what's happening. Enjoy your "Sea of Civitacecchia" day. We will be doing the same on our cruise on that day. 😊

[celly]

Tour buses left in time. No delays. Around 400 new passengers getting on today in Civitavecchia. Among them many Brits we heard. So far this cruise has mostly Spanish people, all well behaved, especially the children, as small as they are they wear facemasks. Everyone wears their facemasks as required. With so little passengers nothing is crowded, no wait times at elevators etc. It is sheer heaven.

[Sianli]

5 hours ago, celly said:

Tour buses left in time. No delays. Around 400 new passengers getting on today in Civitavecchia. Among them many Brits we heard. So far this cruise has mostly Spanish people, all well behaved, especially the children, as small as they are they wear facemasks. Everyone wears their facemasks as required. With so little passengers nothing is crowded, no wait times at elevators etc. It is sheer heaven.

Thank you so much for continuing to post. We are set to sail from Barcelona Sept 19th. Not at all the cruise we booked, but with the price we spent for our airfare we are reluctant to cancel. Our air credit would have to be used by Feb 8th, and we are not sure we could use it as we have all of our time/trips between now and then booked. We do still have jobs!. Part of me thinks if this is just going to be a cruise to nowhere, we should get on a different ship. (We are from Colorado, USA)

[celly]

41 minutes ago, Sianli said:

Thank you so much for continuing to post. We are set to sail from Barcelona Sept 19th. Not at all the cruise we booked, but with the price we spent for our airfare we are reluctant to cancel. Our air credit would have to be used by Feb 8th, and we are not sure we could use it as we have all of our time/trips between now and then booked. We do still have jobs!. Part of me thinks if this is just going to be a cruise to nowhere, we should get on a different ship. (We are from Colorado, USA)

Well in Palma de Mallorca you are free to wander on your own. For the three Italian ports at this time ship tours are required. You are not supposed to leave the bubble. For this week the following tours were offered with 50% discount:

La Spezia:

Pisa and Lucca country

Pisa by Trolley

Civitavecchia:

A taste of Rome: Roman Forum, Trevi & St Peter’s Basilica

Italian Countryside and Olive Oil tasting

Naples:

Sorrento & Amalfi Drive

Leisurely Sorrento

We do not consider this a cruise to nowhere but a unique experience and we have never been more pampered on any ship than on this one. Crew is so happy to have us back that they do not know what to do to make us happier. For me this is a cruise of a life time because of the special circumstances we are all facing and the way we are being treated. Never felt so safe since the beginning of the pandemic than on the Harmony. Also the boarding process in Barcelona and the set up for testing was great. Go enjoy your cruise on this amazing ship!

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by celly

[CaroleC]

5 hours ago, FionaMG said:

This morning I received an email from Royal stressing that the PLF is mandatory (it actually always was) and stating that certains nationals will require this additional test while others will not. Let's see how it plays out going forward

I received an email too, however, I can’t work out if we need to arrive at Barcelona terminal armed with a negative Covid test result and then get tested again there or if the mandatory test at the terminal prior to boarding will suffice. We are UK residents travelling directly to Barcelona from the UK. The email is not at all clear. I’ve emailed my TA but no response so far. 
 

 

[FionaMG]

38 minutes ago, CaroleC said:

I received an email too, however, I can’t work out if we need to arrive at Barcelona terminal armed with a negative Covid test result and then get tested again there or if the mandatory test at the terminal prior to boarding will suffice. We are UK residents travelling directly to Barcelona from the UK. The email is not at all clear. I’ve emailed my TA but no response so far. 
 

 

 

My understanding of the process (from watching and reading far too many cruise vlogs and blogs) is that the first thing you do on arrival at the cruise port is get your rapid embarkation test. You cannot actually proceed to check-in until after you get the result of this test.

So when they say in the e-mail "Lastly, to ensure you have a smooth transition to our ship, please have both your COVID-19 vaccination card and your negative COVID-19 rapid test result ready when you arrive to check-in for your sailing", they are referring to the result of the embarkation test. No other test would be needed.

 

[CaroleC]

46 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

 

My understanding of the process (from watching and reading far too many cruise vlogs and blogs) is that the first thing you do on arrival at the cruise port is get your rapid embarkation test. You cannot actually proceed to check-in until after you get the result of this test.

So when they say in the e-mail "Lastly, to ensure you have a smooth transition to our ship, please have both your COVID-19 vaccination card and your negative COVID-19 rapid test result ready when you arrive to check-in for your sailing", they are referring to the result of the embarkation test. No other test would be needed.

 

Thank you. What you’ve said makes total sense. I couldn’t understand why they would require us to provide a negative test when we’re going to be tested at the port prior to embarkation anyway. We did a couple of MSC British Isles cruises earlier this summer and their testing is done after check in just before boarding. Royal’s order of procedures is definitely more logical, pity the same can’t be said for their emails lol.

[330_cruiser]

Hi all, enjoying all your updates from Harmony of the Seas. We are booked Sep 26th. One of our party will have to work (Zoom video calls) for a few hours possibly 3 days of the cruise.

Would really appreciate any feedback on the internet speed (VOOM) onboard Harmony? Is the onboard wifi still available while in port? Anyone been unfortunate enough to have to work / zoom while onboard?!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

On 9/1/2021 at 8:58 AM, Cruise a holic said:

While fully vaccinated and will have third immunization soon, I would be cautious before I go on any shore X- I will watch the covid stats for the country and area, before I consider any shore X or getting off the ship at any port.

 

If high covid stats and low vaccination rates- I will not chance it.  We will enjoy the ambiance of the ship.

European cruises are usually enjoyed for its ports (history, art, ambiance, etc.)

No (affordable) port excursions makes a European cruise quite lame. Add to that lack of entertainment options RCI is famous for - like musicals, and the ship's ambiance levels tank down to very little. Aren't most places on the cruise closed when ship's in port?

 

Just IMHO.

[FionaMG]

6 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

European cruises are usually enjoyed for its ports (history, art, ambiance, etc.)

No (affordable) port excursions makes a European cruise quite lame. Add to that lack of entertainment options RCI is famous for - like musicals, and the ship's ambiance levels tank down to very little. Aren't most places on the cruise closed when ship's in port?

 

Just IMHO.

 

I guess it depends to a certain extent where you're coming from. We live on the "right" side of the pond for this cruise and actually only booked it as a very cheap getaway (so cheap that even all the recent price drops haven't brought the cost down to what we paid!) so we really don't care if it just floats around in the Med for the week without ever touching land.

 

However, it's a very tough call for people coming from far away, such as from the States because, unless they only booked in the last couple of weeks, it really isn't going to be the cruise they originally planned and were looking forward to. I think if I were in that situation and I could recoup all of the other associated travel costs, I would seriously consider cancelling and booking something else closer to home.

[Biker19]

34 minutes ago, 330_cruiser said:

Would really appreciate any feedback on the internet speed (VOOM) onboard Harmony?

 

 Is the onboard wifi still available while in port? 

The Stream tier of VOOM is fine as far as speed, but the reliability may not be there for a required Zoom call.

 

Yes.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

11 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

I guess it depends to a certain extent where you're coming from. We live on the "right" side of the pond for this cruise and actually only booked it as a very cheap getaway (so cheap that even all the recent price drops haven't brought the cost down to what we paid!) so we really don't care if it just floats around in the Med for the week without ever touching land.

you are very lucky indeed. We are cruising on Harmony in November in the Caribbean, and, believe me, it's far from cheap. And, yes, we are limited to cruise excursions only because of the kiddo, but it's easier to find a cheaper beach excursion in the Caribbean. And that's what we do in the Caribbean - find a beach to relax on. It would be very different in Europe or Alaska. 🙂

[FionaMG]

5 minutes ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

you are very lucky indeed. 

We are and we are truly grateful for it. We were not even planning on booking anything, I was just browsing (as you do ) back in February of last year, just as Covid was starting and inadvertently caught a fantastic promotion on Allure that gave us over $800 off in "old fogeys" discounts. I still can't believe it. L&S'ed to Harmony and here we are... 24 days out and counting down with fingers, legs and eyes crossed!

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 minute ago, FionaMG said:

We are and we are truly grateful for it. We were not even planning on booking anything, I was just browsing (as you do ) back in February of last year, just as Covid was starting and inadvertently caught a fantastic promotion on Allure that gave us over $800 off in "old fogeys" discounts. I still can't believe it. L&S'ed to Harmony and here we are... 24 days out and counting down with fingers, legs and eyes crossed!

same here. We L&S from Indy 2020 with a Kids Sail Free, which they don't do anymore. Even with that KSF promotion it's not exactly cheap, but now the prices for our Harmony cruise are really high.

[Jimbo]

1 hour ago, FionaMG said:

However, it's a very tough call for people coming from far away, such as from the States because, unless they only booked in the last couple of weeks, it really isn't going to be the cruise they originally planned and were looking forward to. I think if I were in that situation and I could recoup all of the other associated travel costs, I would seriously consider cancelling and booking something else closer to home.

Got that right  times a 100....................  2022 will be here before we know it. Let's hope things are more "Normal" then.

[xxHadleyxx]

48 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

We are and we are truly grateful for it. We were not even planning on booking anything, I was just browsing (as you do ) back in February of last year, just as Covid was starting and inadvertently caught a fantastic promotion on Allure that gave us over $800 off in "old fogeys" discounts. I still can't believe it. L&S'ed to Harmony and here we are... 24 days out and counting down with fingers, legs and eyes crossed!

We also booked our October Med sailing on Harmony as a lift and shift a long while back and for "stupid cheap"  Like you, we are just a short easy and inexpensive flight from Barcelona and are happy just to enjoy the ship...as many US based cruisers do in the Caribbean/Mexico/Bahamas