Joe01

Hi all, was on the Harmony this past week for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing. Arrived home less than 24 hours ago, from the cabin on Harmony to my apartment in Glasgow it was about 22 hours worth of travel so definitely tired. But it was a great trip.
I'll review the trip in it's entirety, but to give some context first - this cruise came about as my sister was working in a Summer camp in America for 2 months, and the opportunity to go on a Caribbean cruise after she finished came up. I didn't have my summer vacation booked so I figured why not. On this one, I travelled solo for 4/5 days, visiting Boston, New York & Miami before finally meeting her for the cruise.
Itinerary was as follows:
August 21st - Fly from Edinburgh to Boston August 22nd - Full day in Boston August 23rd - Amtrak from Boston-NYC, dinner & evening in Times Square August 24th - Fly from LaGuardia to Miami August 25th - Full day in Miami August 26th - Embark Harmony of the Seas August 27th - Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas August 28th - Sea Day August 29th - Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas (stayed on ship) August 30th - Philipsburg, St Maarten August 31st - Sea Day September 1st - Sea Day September 2nd - Debark Harmony/fly from Miami-JFK, overnight to Edinburgh September 3rd - Arrive back in Scotland Most definitely a packed 2 weeks, lots of fun had! Next up is the day by day blog/review.

Hi all, was on the Harmony this past week for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing. Arrived home less than 24 hours ago, from the cabin on Harmony to my apartment in Glasgow it was about 22 hours worth of travel so definitely tired. But it was a great trip.
I'll review the trip in it's entirety, but to give some context first - this cruise came about as my sister was working in a Summer camp in America for 2 months, and the opportunity to go on a Caribbean cruise after she finished came up. I didn't have my summer vacation booked so I figured why not. On this one, I travelled solo for 4/5 days, visiting Boston, New York & Miami before finally meeting her for the cruise.
Itinerary was as follows:
August 21st - Fly from Edinburgh to Boston August 22nd - Full day in Boston August 23rd - Amtrak from Boston-NYC, dinner & evening in Times Square August 24th - Fly from LaGuardia to Miami August 25th - Full day in Miami August 26th - Embark Harmony of the Seas August 27th - Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas August 28th - Sea Day August 29th - Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas (stayed on ship) August 30th - Philipsburg, St Maarten August 31st - Sea Day September 1st - Sea Day September 2nd - Debark Harmony/fly from Miami-JFK, overnight to Edinburgh September 3rd - Arrive back in Scotland Most definitely a packed 2 weeks, lots of fun had! Next up is the day by day blog/review.

Hi all, was on the Harmony this past week for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing. Arrived home less than 24 hours ago, from the cabin on Harmony to my apartment in Glasgow it was about 22 hours worth of travel so definitely tired. But it was a great trip.
I'll review the trip in it's entirety, but to give some context first - this cruise came about as my sister was working in a Summer camp in America for 2 months, and the opportunity to go on a Caribbean cruise after she finished came up. I didn't have my summer vacation booked so I figured why not. On this one, I travelled solo for 4/5 days, visiting Boston, New York & Miami before finally meeting her for the cruise.
Itinerary was as follows:
August 21st - Fly from Edinburgh to Boston August 22nd - Full day in Boston August 23rd - Amtrak from Boston-NYC, dinner & evening in Times Square August 24th - Fly from LaGuardia to Miami August 25th - Full day in Miami August 26th - Embark Harmony of the Seas August 27th - Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas August 28th - Sea Day August 29th - Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas (stayed on ship) August 30th - Philipsburg, St Maarten August 31st - Sea Day September 1st - Sea Day September 2nd - Debark Harmony/fly from Miami-JFK, overnight to Edinburgh September 3rd - Arrive back in Scotland Most definitely a packed 2 weeks, lots of fun had! Next up is the day by day blog/review.

Hi all, was on the Harmony this past week for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing. Arrived home less than 24 hours ago, from the cabin on Harmony to my apartment in Glasgow it was about 22 hours worth of travel so definitely tired. But it was a great trip.
I'll review the trip in it's entirety, but to give some context first - this cruise came about as my sister was working in a Summer camp in America for 2 months, and the opportunity to go on a Caribbean cruise after she finished came up. I didn't have my summer vacation booked so I figured why not. On this one, I travelled solo for 4/5 days, visiting Boston, New York & Miami before finally meeting her for the cruise.
Itinerary was as follows:
August 21st - Fly from Edinburgh to Boston August 22nd - Full day in Boston August 23rd - Amtrak from Boston-NYC, dinner & evening in Times Square August 24th - Fly from LaGuardia to Miami August 25th - Full day in Miami August 26th - Embark Harmony of the Seas August 27th - Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas August 28th - Sea Day August 29th - Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas (stayed on ship) August 30th - Philipsburg, St Maarten August 31st - Sea Day September 1st - Sea Day September 2nd - Debark Harmony/fly from Miami-JFK, overnight to Edinburgh September 3rd - Arrive back in Scotland Most definitely a packed 2 weeks, lots of fun had! Next up is the day by day blog/review.

Hi all, was on the Harmony this past week for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing. Arrived home less than 24 hours ago, from the cabin on Harmony to my apartment in Glasgow it was about 22 hours worth of travel so definitely tired. But it was a great trip.
I'll review the trip in it's entirety, but to give some context first - this cruise came about as my sister was working in a Summer camp in America for 2 months, and the opportunity to go on a Caribbean cruise after she finished came up. I didn't have my summer vacation booked so I figured why not. On this one, I travelled solo for 4/5 days, visiting Boston, New York & Miami before finally meeting her for the cruise.
Itinerary was as follows:
August 21st - Fly from Edinburgh to Boston August 22nd - Full day in Boston August 23rd - Amtrak from Boston-NYC, dinner & evening in Times Square August 24th - Fly from LaGuardia to Miami August 25th - Full day in Miami August 26th - Embark Harmony of the Seas August 27th - Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas August 28th - Sea Day August 29th - Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas (stayed on ship) August 30th - Philipsburg, St Maarten August 31st - Sea Day September 1st - Sea Day September 2nd - Debark Harmony/fly from Miami-JFK, overnight to Edinburgh September 3rd - Arrive back in Scotland Most definitely a packed 2 weeks, lots of fun had! Next up is the day by day blog/review.

Hi all, was on the Harmony this past week for a 7 night Eastern Caribbean sailing. Arrived home less than 24 hours ago, from the cabin on Harmony to my apartment in Glasgow it was about 22 hours worth of travel so definitely tired. But it was a great trip.
I'll review the trip in it's entirety, but to give some context first - this cruise came about as my sister was working in a Summer camp in America for 2 months, and the opportunity to go on a Caribbean cruise after she finished came up. I didn't have my summer vacation booked so I figured why not. On this one, I travelled solo for 4/5 days, visiting Boston, New York & Miami before finally meeting her for the cruise.
Itinerary was as follows:
August 21st - Fly from Edinburgh to Boston August 22nd - Full day in Boston August 23rd - Amtrak from Boston-NYC, dinner & evening in Times Square August 24th - Fly from LaGuardia to Miami August 25th - Full day in Miami August 26th - Embark Harmony of the Seas August 27th - Perfect Day at CocoCay, Bahamas August 28th - Sea Day August 29th - Charlotte Amalie, St Thomas (stayed on ship) August 30th - Philipsburg, St Maarten August 31st - Sea Day September 1st - Sea Day September 2nd - Debark Harmony/fly from Miami-JFK, overnight to Edinburgh September 3rd - Arrive back in Scotland Most definitely a packed 2 weeks, lots of fun had! Next up is the day by day blog/review.

I like what they're doing with Icon.
Because it frees up the Oasis Class from being so expensive and full of kids.

I like what they're doing with Icon.
Because it frees up the Oasis Class from being so expensive and full of kids.

I like what they're doing with Icon.
Because it frees up the Oasis Class from being so expensive and full of kids.

I like what they're doing with Icon.
Because it frees up the Oasis Class from being so expensive and full of kids.

I like what they're doing with Icon.
Because it frees up the Oasis Class from being so expensive and full of kids.

I like what they're doing with Icon.
Because it frees up the Oasis Class from being so expensive and full of kids.

I like what they're doing with Icon.
Because it frees up the Oasis Class from being so expensive and full of kids.

When there are 40 ships a day departing to and from your destination, you can compare this situation to airlines. Till then it's nothing like airlines. 
The amount of things to change, refund, rebook, etc. It's just too much for some. Flights, hotels, car rentals, pet accommodations, tickets to pre and post cruise events, WORK. No, this kind of "mistake" just doesn't fly for some.

I knew it was popular since my Harmony cruises from there were full but I never really understood why, it's not a short distance from MCO and only a few Southern states are really driving distance. The South Florida ports and Bayonne are the most convenient easily.

Seen some really cheap fares going for the Allure from Galveston in August compared to the other Oasis Class ships in the Caribbean. What's the deal there?

I received this very generous message whilst walking the dark and rainy streets of Glasgow, Scotland at 8.40pm. Of course, I would absolutely love to be attending a muster station as it would mean being on a ship. However, last time I checked, all ships in the Royal Caribbean International fleet are at least 3000+ miles away from me at this present moment. Aviation has evolved considerably in recent decades however not even Concorde would get me there in 30 minutes so I'm afraid I am unable to attend. Sorry in advance to whoever is onboard and has to endure the passive-aggressive announcements from the Cruise Director about people not attending their muster station.

Didn't get any in the cabin on Oasis over New Years and there were also none at Guest Services either. I can understand not putting them for everyone in the cabin but none at guest services is inexcusable IMO. To get the compass though the app, you basically have to pay for their WiFi service which is insanely expensive, that part pissed me off. Unless you're in port of course but sea days are where the compass is most useful.
Odyssey at least had compasses but they also wouldn't allow you onto the North Star on sea days without booking it on the app, which is so easy to do when in the middle of the sea between Greece & Italy.
I think this over-reliance on the app is going to be my new bête noire of cruising.

I'm currently onboard Oasis and went to the whirlpool after dinner. I got a towel from the towel station (with my SeaPass card), left it and my belongings on a deckchair. When I returned after 30 minutes, my belongings had clearly been tampered with as my shoes, SeaPass & mobile were under someone else's clothes and my towel had completely disappeared. A minute or so later, a woman picked up those clothes and also had several unused towels on their arm so I'm suspecting it was her. However, I can't prove it and frankly the optics of a 20-something guy confronting a woman decades older wouldn't have looked good so I didn't say anything.
What should I do just now? I want to avoid being fined for not returning it as it is not my fault, I would never take one myself and not return it but if someone else has taken it, I can't return it with my card yet it will show up on the system as not being returned.

There are areas in every major city in Canada and the US where if I walk into the wrong part of town my life is in real danger.  Best case is getting mugged or robbed, worst case is significant risk to life.  
Labadee is nothing like that.  I am safe walking around Royal Caribbean's Labadee.  
No one is so considerate to map out the danger areas in American cities.  Perhaps our government should issue domestic warnings. 

Well, they've thrown in the kitchen sink, kettle and the toaster with this one. That top deck looks like a floating CocoCay, there is so much there.
In general, it appears to me to be an evolution of the Oasis design which is good and I think will definitely appeal to me. Hopefully can sail her at one point. Though I reckon all of these ships are Caribbean bound and we won't get one in the Med.

ITINERARY:
July 1st - Fly to Barcelona July 2nd - Barcelona, Spain July 3rd - Embark Wonder OTS in Barcelona July 4th - Palma de Mallorca, Spain July 5th - Marseilles, France July 6th - La Spezia, Italy July 7th - Civitavecchia, Italy July 8th - Naples, Italy July 9th - Cruising July 10th - Debark Wonder in Barcelona/Take train to Aix-en-Provence July 11th - Aix-en-Provence/Marseilles, France July 12th - Lyon, France July 13th - Lyon morning/train to Strasbourg afternoon July 14th - Strasbourg, France July 15th - Morning train to Paris/afternoon Paris, France July 16th - Morning Paris/afternoon train to London July 17th - London, England July 18th - Arrive home in Glasgow, Scotland July 19th - 27th:  A quick cruise onboard "Glaswegian Apartment of the Seas" (chance to recharge my batteries) July 28th - Fly to Rome July 29th - Rome, Italy July 30th - Rome, Italy July 31st - Embark Odyssey OTS in Civitavecchia August 1st - Cruising August 2nd - Santorini, Greece August 3rd - Kusadasi, Turkey August 4th - Mykonos, Greece August 5th - Cruising August 6th - Naples, Italy August 7th - Debark Odyssey OTS/Fly home

Just made it back from Rome after a fantastic sailing on Odyssey of the Seas. I was also on Wonder of the Seas at the start of July so this means I was able to sail on both of the new ships in Europe this summer. Going to do a trip report of both cruises alongside the land segment in France in the middle. Will discuss my experiences on the two ships and how they differed however note that these are two very different types of ship so can't really be compared. Just enjoy each for what they offer, right?
Let's go!!

Currently onboard Odyssey. We moved on from the scene after a couple of hours as another ship (seemingly a cargo ship) was able to assist. Captain Sindre updated us earlier that all on the boat are rescued and safe.

ITINERARY:
July 1st - Fly to Barcelona July 2nd - Barcelona, Spain July 3rd - Embark Wonder OTS in Barcelona July 4th - Palma de Mallorca, Spain July 5th - Marseilles, France July 6th - La Spezia, Italy July 7th - Civitavecchia, Italy July 8th - Naples, Italy July 9th - Cruising July 10th - Debark Wonder in Barcelona/Take train to Aix-en-Provence July 11th - Aix-en-Provence/Marseilles, France July 12th - Lyon, France July 13th - Lyon morning/train to Strasbourg afternoon July 14th - Strasbourg, France July 15th - Morning train to Paris/afternoon Paris, France July 16th - Morning Paris/afternoon train to London July 17th - London, England July 18th - Arrive home in Glasgow, Scotland July 19th - 27th:  A quick cruise onboard "Glaswegian Apartment of the Seas" (chance to recharge my batteries) July 28th - Fly to Rome July 29th - Rome, Italy July 30th - Rome, Italy July 31st - Embark Odyssey OTS in Civitavecchia August 1st - Cruising August 2nd - Santorini, Greece August 3rd - Kusadasi, Turkey August 4th - Mykonos, Greece August 5th - Cruising August 6th - Naples, Italy August 7th - Debark Odyssey OTS/Fly home