twangster

That's a pretty strong statement.  Just because one sale to the next doesn't equate to significant savings compared the last promotion doesn't make it a scam.  
On any given sailing it's very common for half of the ship to have never cruised with Royal or cruised ever.  
Marketing promotions and sales target the majority which are those that have never cruised before.   They aren't booked yet, Royal is trying to entice them into booking.  Experienced cruisers like yourself understand.  Just because you personally didn't save money on each new promotion doesn't make it a scam.  On the contrary it proves you already have the best deal that has been available.

I frequently use the nature trails around Labadee.  They provide the best views of the ship and Atlantic.  I wouldn't call it hiking though, they aren't that long and are easy compared to some real hiking I've done.  They are more like walking paths but I guess if someone has mobility challenges they could become strenuous.
Your map is a little out of date.  The area #14 isn't used anymore. 
They start very close to base area 200' from the the pier.  On your map this is right after starting on the path after #1.  It's a slight uphill climb but not hard at all if you like to walk.

Soon enough there is a viewing area looking back towards the ship.  


Freedom on a different visit.

This continues around the corner. 


The ship is behind you at this point


This area is supposed to be related to spa services but I've never actually seen people here getting a massage.




At this point you are approaching the landing zone for the zip line but there is a path that continues around the landing zone.
Sometimes they close the path to the point.



Dragon's Lookout Point or #6 on your map.


There are some more paths around but this is the primary one to explore.  The other green paths on the map are really sidewalks around Labadee.  The entire area is very walkable and often I'll never use the trams but prefer to walk.
There is another path "through the woods" for lack of a better phrase but these don't really go anywhere exciting and have no views to speak of.  There are some old buildings found off them that aren't used anymore.  This is the red path labeled strenuous on your map.  You can walk it just to do it.
I'll be going 3 times in December from Oasis.  Are you on Ken's big cruise?

Cruise Summary
This was a bucket list cruise for me and I am so glad I did it.  Like my first time to Alaska I suspect this may be repeated in the future.  
The newer O3b internet platform worked great over the length of the cruise.  
Ovation of the Seas once again did not disappoint.  
The sea days flew past and the three port days in a row including an overnight stop made the rest of cruise very enjoyable.  Debarking in Honolulu was a breeze.  I'm glad we had a day in Seattle to visit as a port of call and not simply as an embarkation/debarkation city.
Cruising to Hawaii is very different compared to cruising in the Caribbean, in a very good way.  The ports are very interesting with a lot to choose from.
I picked my excursions carefully and watched some of them fill up and become unavailable so I'm glad I booked them when I did and saved quite a bit of money by watching for sales as the months went by.  
The tendering process was mostly a pretty good experience other than that one night coming back late when there was a wait.  Still it was quite impressive to see them perform such a large tendering operation as efficiently as they did.
I'm torn between picking a smaller ship next time to Hawaii to gain a few more ports that only smaller ships can visit or repeat on Ovation.     
I wish I could have stayed on for the next cruise to Sydney but that will have to wait for another year.  
I hope you enjoyed following along and I thank you for viewing.

Part of the reasoning to purchase specialty dining is the ambiance and service, not just the food.  CK also checks the ambiance and service boxes.
Let's put it this way - when I have access to CK that tends to be where I eat.  
While food taste is personal, ambiance and service are less so.  
On lobster night ask for a full tail, not the standard CK lobster dinner which is bits of lobster in a sauce.    

Royal ships always look great at night!

That's a pretty strong statement.  Just because one sale to the next doesn't equate to significant savings compared the last promotion doesn't make it a scam.  
On any given sailing it's very common for half of the ship to have never cruised with Royal or cruised ever.  
Marketing promotions and sales target the majority which are those that have never cruised before.   They aren't booked yet, Royal is trying to entice them into booking.  Experienced cruisers like yourself understand.  Just because you personally didn't save money on each new promotion doesn't make it a scam.  On the contrary it proves you already have the best deal that has been available.

Royal ships always look great at night!

Too many lenses :)
However for bucket list cruises I tend to go overboard with my photo gear even though I tend to accommodate 95% of my photography desires using an ultra wide angle lens on my mirrorless combined with the pocket camera telephoto capabilities.    

Too many lenses :)
However for bucket list cruises I tend to go overboard with my photo gear even though I tend to accommodate 95% of my photography desires using an ultra wide angle lens on my mirrorless combined with the pocket camera telephoto capabilities.    

For lunch there is also the Compass Deli and Sorrento's one deck above the Windjammer.  
Here is a recent live blog from August:
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/boards/index.php?/topic/14968-the-magic-of-majesty-august-19-2019-5-nights-bahamas/
She is an older ship that does look dated in places but if you can look past that she provides a great classic cruise experience.  I'll be going back on her soon for three in a row. 
She has a unique split design with a tween deck.  Once you get used to the ship design you can plan your movements better but until then pay attention to deck plans and understand not all elevators stop at all decks.  Sometimes you are best to transit through the Centrum and Schooner Bar before going up or down.  

Day 5 Tokyo , 
Was waiting for this port (well we arrived to Yokohama to  be more precises)   , been to Tokyo something like 19 years ago and waited to see what changed.

The ship arrived to port at 12:30 , making sure we have enough time to sleep and recover from the last night, it was very hot day , the sun was out (to make sure it will happen I bought umbrellas, this always works.
After Breakfast/lunch at 270/silver dining room we went went to get organized and catch the bumping car before going to the excursion,
we arrived to the meeting point at 12:20 (lesson learned) jut to wait to 1 PM (30 minutes post time) for the tour to depart to the custom hall, over there we had to go bag checks so it took some time but not that terrible, there were nice dogs sniffing us to see if no one brought some food from the ship , after all Japan is an island and they want to make sure nothing will harm the local producers. The ride to Tokyo took something like 30 minutes and our first station was the imperial palace, as you are not allowed in we just stay on the park near the palace , although the park is nice it was quite a waste of time which I thought will be better spend somewhere else , oh well at least we tried the golden ice-cream which a nice vanilla ice cream that they cover with a real golden leaf (which explained the 8 $ price) hey , we need to try at least once.







 
Next we went to Asakua  area to see the big temple , the temple is very nice and contains several building , we got some information about the temple from the guide that really try hard to give us information abut the places we so and in general about life in Japan.






We got some free time which we used to roam around the area , this area is part of Tokyo downtown and contain many stores , markets and restaurants, after a while we decided we should eat something and how can we be in Japan without eating sushi ? so we found a nice train sushi location and set down, do not expect to eat Makis with cream cheese or fried sushi but if you like Sashimi and nigiri  this is the place for you .Everything was fresh a tasty , the total cost for us was around 32 $ and we tried many plates.



Here you can see a view on the tree tower which is around 600 M , next to it you can see the building with what suppose to be a golden flame but if you ask me it looks like if the architect  wanted it to be like that but at the end it looks like something else , lets just said I remembered the golden ice- cream and I will leave it liked that.

As it was becoming dark we went back to temple which was our meeting point , I must say the temple looks even nicer during the evening 



 
we roam around some more and started our way back to the port to meet our lovely ship.


We went to dinner , which was at the WJ buffet , it had nice selections of food including very nice Indian food corner .
It was time for the Silk Road show at 270 so went to see it , they are selling VIP seats to the show but I saw only 4 using it, Although it was empty they kept it roped and not allowed anyone to enter , I guess they did not want to devalued it for people who paid the 29$ 

The show is OK , not so clear but lots of dancers and some acrobats , not something I will try to see again.
We continued to see again the let it be ACDC , this time there were more people , its was good as the first time .
We went up to contribute some more to the Casino and as we thought we contribute enough we went to the solarium and checked the observation deck there we saw a new concept , boat runners. It looked as if some people were missing the ship and they brought them to us (around 2 hours after we already sail , well at least I think that i what happened,




As it become late , we called it for the day .
 
 

Thank you for this interesting and beautiful blog. This cruise is definitely on my bucket list. How many lenses did you take?

That's a pretty strong statement.  Just because one sale to the next doesn't equate to significant savings compared the last promotion doesn't make it a scam.  
On any given sailing it's very common for half of the ship to have never cruised with Royal or cruised ever.  
Marketing promotions and sales target the majority which are those that have never cruised before.   They aren't booked yet, Royal is trying to entice them into booking.  Experienced cruisers like yourself understand.  Just because you personally didn't save money on each new promotion doesn't make it a scam.  On the contrary it proves you already have the best deal that has been available.

In reality you can't expect several thousand guests to all arrive precisely at the same time.  The difference is how they stated it.  
Old Verbiage: 
Main 5pm (Doors will close at 5:30pm)
Second: 7:45pm (Doors will close at 8:30pm)
New Verbiage:
Main: 5pm - 5:30pm
Second: 7:45pm - 8:15pm
It's just a less threatening way of phrasing it.  
I've never realized how the sisters varied from each other but if you back into 2017 (or as back as we can for Symphony once in America) they do vary a bit. 
Harmony:  "Main"  6pm and "Second"  8:30pm.  
Allure: "Main" 5:30pm and "Second"  8:00pm.  
Oasis: "Main"  5:30pm and "Second"  8:15pm.  
Symphony:  "Main"  6pm and "Second"  8:30pm.  
In all cases My Time had a dedicated deck from 5:30pm to 9:30pm (or 5:15pm to 9pm on Oasis.)
Around mid-May it was observed that Allure and Harmony had altered My Time Dining to start at 6:30pm.  There were no MTD reservation available prior to that.  At the same time Main seating expanded to all three decks and in so doing consuming part of MTD and reducing it's hours to start later. 
It seems on this new approach to minimize impact to MTD "Main" has shifted earlier otherwise MTD would not be able to start until 7:30pm.    
Oasis and Symphony remained on the old approach with MTD starting 5:15pm or 5:30pm.
This all has the appearance of an experiment using Allure and Harmony to test a new dining methodology.
It will be telling to see what they do with Oasis when she comes out of dry dock.  So far it appears she is using the legacy approach.  

Welcome to the message boards!
There are three dining options.  Main Seating, Second Seating and My Time.
The first two are often referred to as traditional or fixed time dining.   With traditional dining you are expected to be seated on time and service for the whole dining room proceeds in unison.  The concept is that the whole area of the dining room used for fixed time dining is at the same stage of the dinner service.  You don't have people working on dessert while some others are on their appetizer while others are just arriving - that's My Time Dining.
With My Time dining guests are seated at tables by themselves or they are seated at shared tables in groups as they arrive.   The idea being that all guests at one table with be at the same stage of dinner service while all guests at another table would be at a different stage of dinner service. If eight guests at table 1 all arrive very close to 6:30pm they all as a group would be at one stage of the dinner service while three tables over at table 3 those guests may have all arrived around 7:15pm and that table might just starting their dinner service.    Perhaps table 1 is all having dessert while table 3 is all having appetizers.  
The actual dining room and deck can change over time.  When I was on Harmony My Time was deck 5 - Silk.  Currently My Time Dining is on deck 3.  The names are irrelevant and are left over from the days when they planned to offer rotational dining that was once featured on Quantum class ships.  That concept didn't last and never made it to Harmony but they had named each deck of the Harmony dining room in preparation for it.  These days all decks of the dining rooms are the same but have different names.
In the cruise compass section of this site there is a cruise compass from a few weeks ago. 
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/cruise-compasses/harmony-of-the-seas/sun-2019-09-15-0000
The cruise compass from on board shows the dinner times as follows:

It appears they have grown "Main Seating" to accommodate more guests while "Second Seating" is smaller so it requires somewhat less space.  Perhaps that is the trend that guests have been requesting these days.
For early or "Main" seating you are expected to arrive between 5pm and 5:30pm.  Arriving at 5:45pm or 6pm won't work.  If you desire that sort of flexibility you should inquire about switching to My Time dining.  
The app is a work in progress with some minor inaccuracies or nuances.  I suspect that is what you are seeing in the app.  

Cruise Summary
This was a bucket list cruise for me and I am so glad I did it.  Like my first time to Alaska I suspect this may be repeated in the future.  
The newer O3b internet platform worked great over the length of the cruise.  
Ovation of the Seas once again did not disappoint.  
The sea days flew past and the three port days in a row including an overnight stop made the rest of cruise very enjoyable.  Debarking in Honolulu was a breeze.  I'm glad we had a day in Seattle to visit as a port of call and not simply as an embarkation/debarkation city.
Cruising to Hawaii is very different compared to cruising in the Caribbean, in a very good way.  The ports are very interesting with a lot to choose from.
I picked my excursions carefully and watched some of them fill up and become unavailable so I'm glad I booked them when I did and saved quite a bit of money by watching for sales as the months went by.  
The tendering process was mostly a pretty good experience other than that one night coming back late when there was a wait.  Still it was quite impressive to see them perform such a large tendering operation as efficiently as they did.
I'm torn between picking a smaller ship next time to Hawaii to gain a few more ports that only smaller ships can visit or repeat on Ovation.     
I wish I could have stayed on for the next cruise to Sydney but that will have to wait for another year.  
I hope you enjoyed following along and I thank you for viewing.

Day 11 - Honolulu
Up early the lights of Waikiki tell the story of how the island of Oahu or at least this Southern area is very different compared to the other islands.  It's basically a big city like feeling.

Amazing sunrise to start my last day on the ship.  

Up to the Windjammer for a last breakfast before debarking. 
A view over to the famous Diamond Head peak and the hotels of Waikiki in the distance to the left.

This was pretty much a full day excursion arriving back in port 30 minutes prior to the last tender back to the ship.
Looking back it was very informative and I feel like I know so much more about the volcanoes of Hawaii but also how life has evolved here over time.  We covered a lot on this excursion covering the early religion introduced by the missionaries, a stop for some famous Kona coffee,  a lot of lava and volcano knowledge, a beautiful beach with unique black sand and the world famous Southernmost bakery.
The people of the big island were very friendly and thankful for our visit.  Even away from Kona the news of the biggest cruise ship to ever visit the state coming to call on Hawai'i was well known across the island.  I could definitely see myself coming back to Hawai'i (the big island, not meaning the state in general). 
Back in Kona at the harbor it was time to board a tender and head back to the ship.



After a shower and a few happy hour drinks it was time for yet another beautiful Hawaiian sunset as we began to sail away.


Yikes, time for that ugly word.  Packing.  
Next stop Honolulu.  

Our last stop is the Southernmost Bakery in the USA.


Who can resist the smell of freshly baked goods?



Our last stop and restroom break before the ~90 minute drive back to Kona.  

Our next stop was Punalu'u Beach or Black Sand Beach as it is sometimes called.

Molten lava reaching the ocean would explode hitting the cool water breaking into small pieces.  Wave action over time further broke the lava down into black sand. 

The beach is frequented by Hawksbill and Green Sea Turtles which are protected.  Signs warn people to stay back at least 30' with stiff penalties for anyone who approaches or touches a turtle.  A recent visitor left a trail in the sand when they came up to bask in the sun on the black sand..





The stark contrast of blue sky and water against the black lava and sand made for breathtaking scenery that looks so much better in real life compared to these feeble pictures.



Lots of other wildlife is on hand as well resting in the branches.

It doesn't take very much imagination to picture molten flowing lava flows slowly creeping towards and into the ocean.




This would also be our lunch stop where they brought out sandwiches, chips and soft drinks for us.
We had one more stop on this tour.  A bakery used to be located here at the beach but it became so famous the small beach parking area and roads were overtaken with traffic to the bakery so they moved it closer to a nearby village.

The next significant feature of the park we visited was the Pu’u o Lokuana Cinder Cone. 
Standing on the rim along the highest point looking back into the bowl of the cone.

A trail leads down into the cinder cone itself.  

My fellow guests help to define the scale of the cone.  

It's pretty amazing to think think was at one time a volcanic vent spewing lava.



During WWII there was a secret radar station located here, the remnants of which are hard to spot now in the growth.

Looking over the landscape you appreciate how thousands of years have developed these lush and tropical rolling hills.
 

Next stop was at one of many National Parks on the island, this one is the Kahuku Unit.  

Just to set expectations, there are no active eruptions or lava flows currently.  This isn't a site where you will look down into an active volcano or walk near hot, red molten lava flows.  Much of the Volcano National Park remains closed after the 2018 eruption of Kīlauea caldera.  The Kahuku unit is far enough South of the area that erupted that it can remain open.
Knowing how the island is entirely volcanic in origin and how long it takes plant life to grow it's amazing to see an abundance of plant life anywhere on the island.

Our bus takes us to the site of am 1868 lava flow that produced tubes.  Lava tubes are produced when slow moving flows begin to cool on the surface while the molten lava continues to flow below the surface.    

This results in a skin or tube like structure that hardens and becomes solid while the molten lava continues to flow eventually draining out of the tube leaving large cave like cavities.  

In some cases these can be large enough to walk into or in this area to live in.  Historically the native Hawaiian tribes were somewhat a hostile people often at war with other tribes.  Small battles resulted in some winners and some losers.  Warriors defeated in battle would take refuge in these tubes in shame of losing a battle.  





This is a marker setup by natives that sometime ago came in search of their ancestors.  Finding tubes that displayed signs of life these markers were a means to come back year after year to pay tribute to ancestors in a constantly changing island topography.  Hawaii is home to an average of 84 earthquakes annually since it resides on fault lines.  Between new lava flows and earthquakes areas like this can change overtime so the markers help them to return to places that have special meaning to them. 

There is one tree that is critical in the lifecycle of plant growth on lava.  The Ohia tree has special enzymes that can break down lava and allow it's root to penetrate.  Over time (hundreds of years) and with enough trees an area can develop a soil that allows other plants to begin their life cycle.  
The legend of the Ohia tree is founded in Hawaiian folklore.  It is said the Pele, the goddess and fire and volcanoes met a warrior named Ohia that she wanted to marry.  Ohia had already pledged his love to Lehua.  Pele was so enraged by his refusal she turned the warrior into a tree and stuck him into the lava.  Lehue was so distraught that other gods took pity on her and turned her into a flower on the Ohia tree so that the lovers could eternally be joined together.     

It is said that if anyone plucks the red flower from the Ohia tree it will rain that day as you are separating the lovers, Lehue and Ohia.

The flower is loaded with seeds that winds will spread allowing more Ohia trees to seed and take root.


It's not hard to imagine this back in 1868 as molten laving slow flowing down off this hilltop towards the sea.


High in iron the lava is literally rusting turning a rust brown color in the process.

This wall was built to separate and define the boundary between two native tribes in the late 1800's.   

I frequently use the nature trails around Labadee.  They provide the best views of the ship and Atlantic.  I wouldn't call it hiking though, they aren't that long and are easy compared to some real hiking I've done.  They are more like walking paths but I guess if someone has mobility challenges they could become strenuous.
Your map is a little out of date.  The area #14 isn't used anymore. 
They start very close to base area 200' from the the pier.  On your map this is right after starting on the path after #1.  It's a slight uphill climb but not hard at all if you like to walk.

Soon enough there is a viewing area looking back towards the ship.  


Freedom on a different visit.

This continues around the corner. 


The ship is behind you at this point


This area is supposed to be related to spa services but I've never actually seen people here getting a massage.




At this point you are approaching the landing zone for the zip line but there is a path that continues around the landing zone.
Sometimes they close the path to the point.



Dragon's Lookout Point or #6 on your map.


There are some more paths around but this is the primary one to explore.  The other green paths on the map are really sidewalks around Labadee.  The entire area is very walkable and often I'll never use the trams but prefer to walk.
There is another path "through the woods" for lack of a better phrase but these don't really go anywhere exciting and have no views to speak of.  There are some old buildings found off them that aren't used anymore.  This is the red path labeled strenuous on your map.  You can walk it just to do it.
I'll be going 3 times in December from Oasis.  Are you on Ken's big cruise?

Wow!  Congratulations!  Quit.  Leave the casino :) 

Very interesting as I had heard China based cruises did not use $USD.  
Good luck fencing!