mom2mybugs

Harmony is out of Miami the last week in October and moves to Galveston I think the first week in November (2023 is what I meant! ) I will go edit that. I’m glad to hear all the ease of Galveston! Jane

Never mind…just saw it’s updated! Jane

We are booked on our next cruise! I’m so excited for the experience! Jane

Ok…new question. I’m helping my daughter plan her honeymoon cruise and it looks like harmony might be what she goes with…weird after her dad and I booked but just how it is working with her dates in October 2023. My question is that harmony does a western itinerary that is $500 less than the eastern. What’s significant (she likes the eastern better but can have fun at either) is that the cheaper cruise goes out of Galveston. Can anyone share their opinion on that port? We’ve never cruised out of Galveston. How much of a pain is it to get to the port? If you fly in at least a day early, where do you stay (near the airport or the port)? Is the getting to open sea a big deal with the limited bar? Are there any pluses to Galveston vs Miami? Thanks for any input! Jane

Would you keep these reservations and go ahead and buy the udp, and then cancel on board? I’m worried about losing the hibachi. Jane

We stayed in an Airbnb near segrada familia and it was great. Easy to get to the port and easy to get to the metro station. Jane

Ok…I was playing with it and now am convinced! I was going to fly in first flight the day before our New Year’s Eve cruise, but I was stressed about weather too. Now Add on the travel issues and I’m flying 2 days early. Im worried on the return, but will book an early afternoon on that Saturday and hope. Driving from Chicago to Florida straight is just not gonna work. I will say, I flew Chicago to Orlando in February and Chicago to LA in march and there were no delays at all. Seems like things are getting worse though…. Jane

I did my first red-eye in March and ended up sleeping like the dead. I felt awful the next few days! I’m definitely too old for this lol! Jane

It depends on how full my suitcase is. Like someone said earlier, the shoes are the killers. We kind of avoided the mdr most of last trip due to my time being awful and the europe itinerary long days, but we do dress casual/semi-nice even at specialties. Usually I’m in a nice dress, but not gown or full out, and my husband usually does a sport coat because he doesn’t love how he looks in just a dress shirt. He’s likely to have more polo nights and more casual this time I think, but we will see!

This is good to know. Right now I have wonderland, hibachi and Jamie’s booked. Udp is at 219 right now, but if it hits a real sale, I would buy it, keep hibachi and try not to feel guilty if we underused it. It is so much food! Though the idea of sea day lunch sounds good…normally I don’t move out of my deck chair in the sun but with all very traveled ports, I might spend those days by the pool and actually do stuff on sea days. I’m happy to hear seating at coco cay wasn’t bad! I would reserve a day bed but I might want to save that money for the udp lol! Jane

Good to know. We have early dining this time, but my time was such a fiasco last cruise we kinda gave up on mdr. I will look forward to it this cruise! Jane

Thanks everyone. In all my cruises, I hadn’t seen the departure time listed as “boarding time” so I was very very confused and figured it was a weird thing due to New Year’s Eve. I will now try to get the earliest time I can in November because we are always first on trying not to waste the whole day! Gotta use that drink package! Jane

Hi, Forgot (well, working on my computer and it got deleted) to check on this. Boarding time on my Harmony Dec 31, 2022 cruise is 430 pm. Is that because it's Dec 31? With starting being that late, will I have to have a boarding time? And when is likely sailaway? Eventually will be trying to make dinner plans etc. I haven't been on a cruise since boarding times were assigned--how much in advance can you usually sign up? Jane

and thus no charge Thanks...I know i looked up how to do it and my samsung had about a gazillion steps. I could always go into the stupid t-mobile store and have them do it (I really really really miss sprint!) Jane

the whole wifi calling set up on my android phone is so confusing! Quick question...once it is enabled, does it make sense to turn it off when you are on land and don't need it? I mean both on and off a cruise actually. I just wondered if it's a "one and done" deal, or i should enable it everytime. I have never used wifi calling, but does it mean you could actually receive and make calls on the ship without fees other than wifi? Jane

Do you still make reservations for the unlimited dining pkg? Make the first one online like the other pkgs and then make reservations the first day when you get on the ship? Good to hear about coco cay. I have seen some pretty pricey stuff and I wasn't sure how crowded it would be. I haven't checked yet to see what other ships we will be encountering on this cruise! Jane

bummer--i want to be festive, but don't want to pay way much for it! Maybe we will just party in the windjammer lol! Thank you so much for the info!!!! Jane

Hi everyone!!! It has been forever again. We tried to book earlier in the year, and couldn't pull things together with my college student and my father-in-law passing away. We looked at odyssey and an amazing itinerary, but just couldn't decide. Prices got higher, and then I was on 2 days ago and the prices were actually 150 lower, so I decided to move. Daughter finally decided she wasn't coming with us and now my husband and I are booked for December 31, 2022 on Harmony of the Seas (or will be as soon as my travel agent gets my confirmation email). The odyssey one was out since it was longer and we were worried about having to count on flights back that sunday with no cushion before work. I have soooo many questions, worries and excitements. We were trying to decide between Harmony and Symphony. There was only about a $100 difference...not enough to be significant. I really actually wanted to go on Symphony...it seems like a much prettier ship, and the solarium seems much nicer (Harmony's solarium in pics at least doesn't look nearly as interesting and no pool). Also I wanted to try playmakers for the first time, and with a new years cruise, I thought that would be good for bowl games! However, I definitely liked the flow of the itinerary better on Harmony. Harmony goes out of fort lauderdale (which i find tends to be slightly cheaper for me than miami and i like the hilton we have stayed at). Harmony also hits nassau on new years day--since i figure it will be a late morning, and i have no interest in nassau and nothing probably will be open, this seemed to work a bit better than a cruise day . Finally, I just don't see us spending a lot of money on excursions this trip (been to all the ports and we stretched $600 to do a balcony) and Harmony goes to Costa Maya instead of Roatan (so no excursion needed, just enjoy the little port area and take the shuttle to the beach if we want). We are going to cozumel, and I will have to decide if we splurge for a resort in cozumel or costa maya, or do something at Coco Cay. Talk to me about Coco Cay--we probably wont do the slides, but are there areas you really love to splurge on? My husband is a shade seeker, while I live for the sun. We can totally not spend a dime, but we did really enjoy the clam shells years ago at labadee. The last time i tried to go to coco cay, we couldn't tender lol. It's a whole new world, and while I will go research what is there, I'd love imput from people So we are looking forward to trying some of the specialty dining that is new to us. Wonderland and Jamie's Italian spring to mind. We won't do chef's table this trip to save money and we've done it twice before. Should we book a specialty restaurant on new year's eve (our embarkation first night?). And speaking of, I've never done a holiday cruise before and i'm not sure how much they plan in terms of main dining room specialties, parties, shows, "ball drop" etc. Is there a lot of stuff or is it just first night as usual? I'm very torn if we do MDR (and maybe 2-3 specialty restaurants) or just book a couple my time reservations. Our last trip we did Europe, and almost all our dinners were just in the windjammer because we were tired. I felt guilty having the MDR seating and not using it. And heck...we decided so late to book this cruise (i've never booked only 6 months out) there might not even be dining available Our last cruise was in June of 2019. So much has changed and I'm, frankly, worried I've forgotten how to do everything and/or it's all changed and I will miss stuff. While I hope covid will be gone in terms of any requirements, I'm very stressed about the testing time frames. And I have to even remember how to get on the cruise planner:) I'm hearing/reading that the days of 48 dollar drink pkgs is gone, but I want to at least stay on top of stuff! ArIe show reservations done on the ship and not before? I know I will stress about that but it is what it is! I usually use old cruise planners to figure out show times and then figure out dining, but I don't know what is "normal" at this point, so I don't know that that will help. So that's where i'm relying on recent cruisers!!! So I'm excited, little worrried, and a touch overwhelmed. But I can't wait to get on Harmony. I'm still a tad bummed we aren't doing symphony, so i'd love to hear about what you loved about Harmony, tips for all of the above questions, and anything else! I'm so excited to come back to reading about cruises, but still nervous that Covid will rear its ugly head and mess stuff up again! Crossing my fingers and toes! Jane

Central Park... Day and night was my favorite... It's such a beautiful area. We loved vintages (now Giovanni's) and the trellis bar. Simply give yourself time to enjoy the neighborhoods and the peace and beauty of the ship. We also loved 150 Central Park :). The aqua show and theater shows (when they come back) were not to be missed! Jane

Don't being beach towels... You totally don't need them! They are big, you can take several, and always have dry (and washed clean) ones. I have never been charged, but if you are worried, ask them at the last time you drop off towels or check your bill before disembarking. Jane

Thanks so much! It looks beautiful. I did read your whole live blog! Thank you for posting! I wish ours (if we go) had late Curacao and short Aruba like yours. Jane

I think I will miss that openness... But I did see that the solarium on wonder is also all enclosed... Guess this is their solution to cold cruising. Thanks for your input...I may punt and just make my husband decide! Give me a drink and a pool deck and I should be fine! Jane

Thank you everyone! I guess I have to decide how much I would miss the neighborhoods vs the extra night and better itinerary. @Sharla has given me some great options... Now I just need to make a decision! And seriously... Won't be my last cruise! I'm worried still about crowding on Odyssey but frankly, all pool decks are crowded on sea days. And heck, with FOUR sea days, I can hope people would head to the ifly and other stuff. Random solarium questions... Does the solarium on Odyssey feel very "enclosed" ? Can you still tan? Are there sunny spots that stay sunny all day? I like the relaxing in the solarium and being close to the pool, but am afraid I would miss fresh air? Anyway, thanks for listening to my ramblings! Jane

Awww... Thank you. Yes, we made it through with some hiccups but overall ok! My last 2 cruises have been on vision class so I'm anxious to try new venues and amenities. I should look at voyager class though since we did enjoy adventure. Jane