Joe01

Positive of being home is that the Starbucks actually tastes good here. Pics starting tonight!

Yes! Don't worry - will post ASAP.

First post cruise workout done. What happened to the saying - "calories don't count"? ?

Let's talk about crew. Harmony is no longer the newest or largest ship in the fleet, however, I would say that she has now evolved from that role into a ship with a big heart. General vibe is great and that is mainly down to a great crew. Marc Walker was CD for Week 1 and Dennis Charles was CD for Week 2. Marc is probably my new favourite CD now that Abe Hughes has left. Absolutely hilarious at L&M and great joie de vivre that really helped the atmosphere on the ship. I actually liked Dennis more than I thought I would - he still has plenty of energy and did a decent job hosting, although I missed a few events due to being sick or due to poor scheduling (not his fault, I'll mention later). He was also friendly and patient when my mother asked him a question about customs (unrelated to Cruise Directing). My criticisms would be that he talked for too long at L&M and it kinda dragged with some of the audience walking out. He also needs to stop shouting into his microphone at events, we can hear him easily. If he can cut those two things out, he would definitely be one of the best. Either way, both of these guys were SO MUCH BETTER than Bobby Brown. Moe was Activities Manager both weeks - he was good fun. Did have slight problems sometimes understanding his Fiji accent. He is moving to be entertainment manager on CocoCay after the current sailing, glad that I got to sail with him before he left ships. I have sailed with Captain Gus several times and both him and Captain Johnny are my favourites, so it's great that they are both assigned to the same ship. Both have a very upbeat presence and are probably the only two Captains active on social media. Both seem to be friendly and enjoy being around guests. Our stateroom attendant Vibert Joseph was fantastic. Such a sweet guy and did a great job. I did mention earlier that I would like a decrease in how frequent they clean the rooms, and I still feel the same way. Staff around the ship ranged. Some were excellent (shout out to team at Starbucks). Plenty of awesome crew on Harmony, although I can't remember much names. A few duds - server on Week 2 at CocoCay seemed intimidating and was quite difficult to communicate with, and I felt as if he kind of ignored me. Sorrento's staff were mixed, a few friendly ones but there was one real dud that really seemed to be going through the motions and got the wrong order one night (instead of 2 cheese slices, it was 1 cheese and 1 half pepperoni - half of the base was missing). Cafe Promenade and Park Cafe were OK, but I felt that with these 3 eateries, they needed to bring Latisha Jones from HM 2017 back to train them and improve the mood in these venues which was sometimes a bit dour. Everyone else that we met was friendly. Great crew on this ship.

FINAL THOUGHTS: Well, what a trip this was. Probably one of the longest that we've taken (18 days in total). I enjoyed every minute (almost) of it. From Orlando to the Harmony to New York. Plenty to talk about in due course, but the first question I will answer is: Would you sail Harmony again? Yes!, Harmony is a great ship with a pretty awesome crew and a great lineup of shows. I've enjoyed consistently returning to her. However, I don't think that I would do another B2B on her. I feel that doing 2 weeks on a ship that isn't new to you can get a tad stale by the end. I don't believe that Harmony will be my ship for 2020. I kind of want a break from Oasis Class but all of the Freedom Class are offering lacklustre Caribbean itineraries, and the only good Voyager Class option is Explorer out of Civitavecchia and they are having a charter during one of the weeks that we would sail so she is ruled out. So, probably yet another year on Oasis Class, but hoping not another one on a 2nd gen. Maybe a return to the 1st gen? Both Oasis and Allure will be amped by our next cruise, and both NJ and Barcelona are great departure ports for us.

Thanks. Never heard of Colin Hay, but this guy was a 20-something American with a backpack and dark hair with a few lighter dyed strips. Clearly appealed to kids judging by who was getting autographs.

Hello all. Can confirm that I am home safely - arrived home around 10am. Not too bad of a flight. We were slightly delayed due to catering issues (they should have just left without their rubbish food IMO). For the first 2 hours, I watched a movie called "5 Feet Apart" which was in theaters/cinemas back in Spring (mainly watched for the delightful Cole Sprouse). Great movie, might make some cry. Managed to then sleep for the majority of the Atlantic stretch which impressed me, never done that before. Fell asleep around Newfoundland and woke up near Ireland. Arrived in Edinburgh around 8.20am. There was some guy taking photos and autographs with kids at the baggage claim. I've tried searching to see which celeb we were sharing the flight with but no luck as of yet.

Time to go! Just about to board. Bye USA - you've been great. Will update with some final thoughts when I am back home in Glasgow. Then onto the pics!

Hello all. In Newark airport, waiting for flight to Edinburgh. Hate 757's, hate United and REALLY hate overnight flights, so wish me luck! Went against advice and took trip to NYC. Time was tight and we got 2 hours for lunch (John's Pizzeria in Times Square - highly recommended) and a bit of shopping. Managed 3 states in one day! ?

Thanks for the review. Seems as if you had fun. Your thoughts of Quantum Class compared to the other large ships are word for word my thoughts on them. Not my cup of tea. For the dreaded question - how was Mitch as CD?

Morning all. 10am update from the bridge of Joe. Left the ship around 7am in the morning. I feel like a rejected orphan at the end of the cruise. Staff are always so friendly until the last morning when it couldn't be clearer that they don't care at all about you and just want you away. Had nosebleed in the Port Canaveral terminal - always fun (not). Then took an Über to the airport and through a rather long TSA line. Pancakes for breakfast at Ruby Tuesday's (very nice) and now sitting at the gate for our 737 to Newark.

Sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy Cuddy.

Welcome back to all from the Anthem group cruise! How was Mitch as CD?

Last day. ? The final day is always the busiest so probably won't have too many posts. I will do pictures when I get home. Not looking forward to tomorrow - long day and lots of flying.

Found a NextCruise flyer for Anthem 2020 Southampton sailings in the cabin. Do you think it's coincidental that they are trying to advertise Anthem sailings to us? No chance! Why do they think that we would be interested in Anthem after Harmony? Wish that they would stop trying to flog sailings on her. If we wanted to sail Europe, it is only a 2.5/3 hour flight to Barcelona for the highly superior and soon to be amped Allure.

I'm not sure where the old floating bar was but the area around the new floating bar had plenty of deck chairs available. There is a lot of space on the island so you probably won't have any problems. Favourite show was iSkate. FineLine and 1887 were decent, still not seen Hideaway Heist. Not seen Grease or Columbus, I'm not really a fan of musicals. I find things such as dancing, acrobatics and skating much more impressive than singing or acting. And with all due respect, the Aqua and Ice casts are much more decorated in their respective fields than the majority of the Theater cast.

Roatan was another shopping area, less crowded than Costa Maya. I was surprised that Harmony could barely fit into the port. Highlight of Roatan was seeing the planes coming in from the aft of the ship. Today we are in Cozumel. Liberty is across from us. I feel as if I could jump over. Getting hungry for a return to the Freedom Class, it's been over 7 years since I was on the Independence. I keep saying that I need a break from Oasis Class yet we keep returning.

Did this tour on Harmony last week and they said that this is the last cast for Cats on Oasis. Conflicting info - but hopefully my source is right.

Favourite port has to be CocoCay. Was always a Labadee fan and was excited to see the upgraded CocoCay. Didn't disappoint - the offerings are great. Not really a fan of much other Caribbean ports - a lot of the time, they are taking you to developing countries that are just a bit run down.

Happy to announce that I am back in business! Feeling much better as of this evening, although staying cautious, so no pool tonight. Took a quick visit to Costa Maya. Nice area around the port, however it was extremely crowded and warm. We were unexpectedly accompanied by Empress in port today. Great seeing another member of the RCI family. Also with Carnival Fantasy, in need of extreme maintenance. L&M tonight! ?

Feeling worse now. Nothing of note to report today. Good night - hopefully better tomorrow in Costa Maya.

Hello all. Day at sea. Feeling a bit under the weather today. Not got much of interest to talk about. Having a good time, but dare I say that it might be time for a break from cruising? I love it but the novelty has worn off a bit. One thing that I want to mention is stateroom attendants. Why do they need to clean the room twice a day? I almost feel like an inconvenience to them. I feel sorry for them working so many long hours and wish that they could reduce their hours which would be a win-win for us both.

You won't be disappointed. There sure is something about him that makes him stand out. Make sure not to miss his Love and Marriage show. He's still on the ship this week but not front of house. Wish he was still the CD. It's early in the cruise and there is always time to warm to his style but I'm not impressed by Dennis so far.

Been to The Fine Line. Amazing production. Another recommended show, but some of the stunts are really scary. Impressed that they are talented enough to pull them off. Don't sit in the front row - you will get wet. A message to the CD - please don't shout so loud in your post show stage announcement. I can hear you perfectly fine with a microphone (I don't even have amazing hearing and often struggle in the AquaTheater).

Back onboard! Turnaround went fairly easily. Guest Services has again reminded me of why I rarely use them. They take forever to get anything done.