joshvc

I can confirm it's running, was on board last week and met several parties that had done it. Not sure on capacity though.

Just got our first successful Royal Up notification (got the rejection notice at dinner in the MDR last time) for our sailing Saturday on Mariner. Moved from a 10th floor interior to an 8th floor Ocean View Balcony. My bid was $155 each, but I actually don't remember what the minimum was- it was either $100 or $150. I had other bids at about the same price on Spacious Ocean View Balcony, Junior Suite, and Panoramic Suite, plus $100 on the Panoramic room.
I happened to check last night, and the suites and panoramic rooms are all sold out*, but there were about 25 balconies available between the various options. Looks like that was enough for us to get one. (*sold out doesn't always mean full, but I expect this ship is close).

Most arcade games are $1-2- I think the most common price was 3 games for $5. I think the table minimums are going to vary by ship, day, and region, but walking through a completely dead casino on Explorer in December, I don't recall seeing blackjack for under $10. I don't like playing at empty tables so I didn't hang around and can't say for sure if they ever moved it down from there.

You can still be a control freak! Most of the time I have my itinerary and room picked already and know Royal's price, and just send Brock (my MEI agent) the details. I do have him check refundable rates for me, and sometimes he has come back with lower prices than what Royal shows. Hopefully I'm one of his easiest customers, but I like knowing he and MEI have my back if things go sideways.

You can still be a control freak! Most of the time I have my itinerary and room picked already and know Royal's price, and just send Brock (my MEI agent) the details. I do have him check refundable rates for me, and sometimes he has come back with lower prices than what Royal shows. Hopefully I'm one of his easiest customers, but I like knowing he and MEI have my back if things go sideways.

Just got our first successful Royal Up notification (got the rejection notice at dinner in the MDR last time) for our sailing Saturday on Mariner. Moved from a 10th floor interior to an 8th floor Ocean View Balcony. My bid was $155 each, but I actually don't remember what the minimum was- it was either $100 or $150. I had other bids at about the same price on Spacious Ocean View Balcony, Junior Suite, and Panoramic Suite, plus $100 on the Panoramic room.
I happened to check last night, and the suites and panoramic rooms are all sold out*, but there were about 25 balconies available between the various options. Looks like that was enough for us to get one. (*sold out doesn't always mean full, but I expect this ship is close).

You can still be a control freak! Most of the time I have my itinerary and room picked already and know Royal's price, and just send Brock (my MEI agent) the details. I do have him check refundable rates for me, and sometimes he has come back with lower prices than what Royal shows. Hopefully I'm one of his easiest customers, but I like knowing he and MEI have my back if things go sideways.

Just got our first successful Royal Up notification (got the rejection notice at dinner in the MDR last time) for our sailing Saturday on Mariner. Moved from a 10th floor interior to an 8th floor Ocean View Balcony. My bid was $155 each, but I actually don't remember what the minimum was- it was either $100 or $150. I had other bids at about the same price on Spacious Ocean View Balcony, Junior Suite, and Panoramic Suite, plus $100 on the Panoramic room.
I happened to check last night, and the suites and panoramic rooms are all sold out*, but there were about 25 balconies available between the various options. Looks like that was enough for us to get one. (*sold out doesn't always mean full, but I expect this ship is close).

Congrats!

Good question, I plan to swing by the MDR to check on that after boarding.

The Facebook team's response matches my experience last week. 
As for the on-site test, you did the right thing. When you enter the port, you should be able to show everyone's vax card, get a bracelet, and bypass testing entirely. You may want to mention you made the appointment but will be skipping it, just on the off-chance they get to the end of the day and notice a no-show test appointment for a guest already onboard and someone hits the panic button. 

FINAL POST RECAP!
INTRO:
Anthem is a gorgeous ship - there's class and elegance in the interior design throughout. I can't stress enough how impressed I was with the design. Two70, the Windjammer, the Via are all amazing spaces. I loved the size - it was big, but the largest single spaces I can think of are SeaPlex and the Main Theatre. Everything else is 100-200 people in capacity, so it was great to have so many individual, unique venues to go to. Even with the smaller venues, I never felt cramped, or as if something had to be scaled down to fit on the ship. Everything felt sized right. The only time I felt a little cramped was during AO pickup/drop-off, the spaces are a bit small, and the low-ish ceiling doesn't help. 
ACTIVITIES:
I had hesitations going into this cruise that we wouldn't be leaving any family activities on the table - that is to say, we're doing everything we can find that's family friendly. Reflecting back, we did everything we could, and didn't skip anything. Checking pre-COVID Cruise Compasses, there are definitely activities that are missing (Bellyflop Contest, Sexiest Man, Roller Skating, Trapeze, etc) that we would definitely take advantage of, but are COVID casualties either due to lack of staffing or COVID protocols. We sincerely hope these come back around the summertime!
I definitely wanted to do complimentary iFly, complimentary North Star, and FlowRider, and due to scheduling, never got a chance to do any of them. FlowRider's boogie-boarding was either right at AO pickup, or in the afternoon when we had the kids. I would have loved to see an early morning boogie-boarding session!
As for iFly/North Star, complimentary times were only when in port, and released at 8am each day. If you weren't on the ball at 8am, you missed out. I ended up paying for the extended experience on North Star, but was disappointed in the lack of availability. I would have loved to book this in advance, or even been put in a lottery and been told when to come back (I can plan that better with kids!)
Bumper Cars, dance classes, trivia were all a blast. I can't think of an activity that we didn't enjoy!
ADVENTURE OCEAN:
As a family with three kids under 6, we really needed Adventure Ocean to pull through, and boy did it! Each time we picked the kids up, they didn't want to leave, and were eager to go back every time. Mad props to all the counselors and staff, they really do an amazing job! We're looking forward to the amplified AO on Oasis!
STATEROOM:
We did two connecting interior staterooms, and it was fantastic. Our nanny and youngest were in one room, and myself, the wife, and two oldest in the second room. Plenty of storage to go around (even some unused). We're tempted to try a Family Stateroom on Oasis, but are concerned about storage and a single bathroom. Our stateroom attendant (Raj) was personable, helpful, and fantastic at his job. 
DINING:
Windjammer was great for breakfast and lunch, nothing remarkable. It was occasionally hard to find seating, but not impossible.
On our previous cruise on the Grandeur, we had a fantastic MDR experience, so we weren't really interested in specialty dining. 
Main Dining had hits and misses this cruise - the hits were high (french onion soup, baked cod, lamb shank, short ribs, apple blossom dessert, cheesecake), the lows were low (multiple over-cooked steaks, the garlic tiger prawns were bland and mealy).  Overall a positive food experience in MDR. Our middle child got mac & cheese and a banana split every night and didn't have a care in the world! Our oldest was the adventurous one, switching between adult and kids menus each night. 
The MDR staff was the best part of this entire trip. Our waiter Jodie connected with my wife instantly, and together they ran our table like a swiss watch. Jodie would effortlessly switch between assertive (clearing plates, resetting place settings, keeping time ensure we could make a show), and deferential. She was always level-headed, a calm, quiet voice with a smile behind the mask. For one week she made dinner with three kids so painless. Her assistant waiter, Demis, was interacted with the kids every night, being the bearer of strawberries for each kid, and checking in with each one multiple times throughout the night. As parents, we finally felt like we could relax and enjoy dinner every night. 
Due to the hit-and-miss of the MDR menu, halfway through the cruise I asked the wife if she'd be open to specialty dining, and she said yes. When I told her about the UDP and the price I found it for, she was sold instantly. Looks like UDP is in our future 🙂
Chef's Table, as always, was impeccable. 
SHOWS:
The two oldest loved all of the shows - the youngest was hit-and-miss, usually depending on the showtime as we got closer to bedtime. "Frankie and the Dreamers" was good. I really enjoyed "Spectra's Cabaret". We didn't care for "We Will Rock You". We didn't see any of the late night shows.
Really looking forward the ice show and Aqua 80s on Oasis. 
POOLS:
The water was a LITTLE on the cold side all around, but the kids didn't mind. Our oldest won't stop talking about the "tornado" pool being her favorite (the mini lazy river). The wave pool for the kids doesn't really have any waves unless the ship is rocking, otherwise it's just a big wading pool. The "swim diaper area" is really too small and not stimulating enough for our 2-year-old, and that's the only pool he's allowed in. This was one of my wife's greatest complaints: How do we keep the family together when this is the ONLY pool our youngest is allowed to play in? All of the pools and hot tubs were great, and the kids loved them.
We spent minimal time in the solarium, mostly because it was had a heavy chorine smell, and was crowded almost all of the time. We almost always found an open hot tub by the outdoor pool
TIPS FOR NEXT TIME:
Leave the Yeti tumblers at home - you brought them to keep the drinks cold, but in reality you're finishing the drink before the ice melts 😄 Magnet hooks are KING! The wife got a 6-pack of 25lb magnets, and I got a 10-pack of 100lb magnets. We used them CONSTANTLY - hanging up clothes for the next day, hanging bathing suits in the bathroom to try.  I brought two wall-hanging shoe organizers, and they worked great to keep little stuff off the floor and desk: hairbands, hair brush, Kindle, phones, chargers, all the kids shoes/flip-flops, jewelry. We just hung it with the 100lb magnet hooks. Keep using the duffels for packing - when empty, they nest into each other and disappear under the bed. Use the biggest one for dirty laundry throughout the week.  Pack more underwear. Seriously, like double it.  Don't go hard on the drink package on Day 1. Trying to sleep while your body is adjusting to the rocking of the ship AND metabolizing alcohol just doesn't mix.  Downloading MANY of Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street onto the iPad got you through several mornings and naptimes. Download more episodes than you think you'll need.  The internet package was a savior at dinner when the youngest wouldn't sit still. Definitely doing Surf & Stream again.  Surf & Stream for one device was plenty for us - we just shuffled around and "took over/kicked off" the last device.  Thanks for reading! 
 

We sail Sunday, so I don't have the experience yet, but our plan is this:
Already loaded passports & vax cards in the app. Friday morning COVID antigen tests near home Print out negative test results- I've read here that shuffling back & forth betweeen the Royal app and your test results on your phone is a pain Friday afternoon flight to San Juan. Have to fill out Puerto Rico's TravelSafe questionnaire on the way, probably in the airport. Saturday, fill out Royal's healthy sail questions in the app, then just a tourist day in San Juan, will pick up some wine to carry onto the ship Sunday we'll leave the hotel about an hour before our check-in appointment, hoping we can get in a little early but not standing around for too long if we can't. I'll try to report back Monday or so with how things went.

Print out EVERYTHING!  Your set sail pass, the covid test, etc..  it is far easier to flip through a stack of papers than apps on the phone.

This is what we did, but you will not be able to board early.  Royal is really enforcing the check in times at all ports.  We arrived at the port about 15 minutes before our check in time, dropped off our luggage with the porters and breezed right in.  Any earlier than that you will be standing around waiting.  We stayed at the Sheraton in Old San Juan and much like the rest of the island, it's a quick ride to get to the port.
 
There were many people who where way too early for thier time and it causes a lot of confusion with the lines and getting people through.  We like to board as early as possible, so keep checking for an earlier check in time.  

We sail Sunday, so I don't have the experience yet, but our plan is this:
Already loaded passports & vax cards in the app. Friday morning COVID antigen tests near home Print out negative test results- I've read here that shuffling back & forth betweeen the Royal app and your test results on your phone is a pain Friday afternoon flight to San Juan. Have to fill out Puerto Rico's TravelSafe questionnaire on the way, probably in the airport. Saturday, fill out Royal's healthy sail questions in the app, then just a tourist day in San Juan, will pick up some wine to carry onto the ship Sunday we'll leave the hotel about an hour before our check-in appointment, hoping we can get in a little early but not standing around for too long if we can't. I'll try to report back Monday or so with how things went.

We sail Sunday, so I don't have the experience yet, but our plan is this:
Already loaded passports & vax cards in the app. Friday morning COVID antigen tests near home Print out negative test results- I've read here that shuffling back & forth betweeen the Royal app and your test results on your phone is a pain Friday afternoon flight to San Juan. Have to fill out Puerto Rico's TravelSafe questionnaire on the way, probably in the airport. Saturday, fill out Royal's healthy sail questions in the app, then just a tourist day in San Juan, will pick up some wine to carry onto the ship Sunday we'll leave the hotel about an hour before our check-in appointment, hoping we can get in a little early but not standing around for too long if we can't. I'll try to report back Monday or so with how things went.

The Coco Beach Club is definitely something worth considering for days where Coco Cay has multiple ships in port. 

On land every cell tower has designated frequencies that tower can use.  This allows cell towers to overlap and not interfere with each other.  It's carefully coordinated by the FCC in the US and other agencies in other countries.  
When a ship pulls up with a cell tower on board the potential to interfere with land based cellular networks is very real and significant.  
Consequently the on board cell tower is programmed to operate only at sea where it can't interfere with land networks and if it detects a land based tower signal it shuts down automatically.  

I can't offer much in the way of help with the travel agent, but for the ship navigation/tour concern, I think you may find that you can nominate one of your party to do this yourselves- there are incredibly detailed tours of each ship on Youtube, done by this site and several others. I've used these to get a feel for ships we would be on, and by the time you board, it's like you've already been there. I'd start by having this nominee do that, then they can go scout the ship on their own while the rest of your party settles in your rooms, to fill in the gaps and see things in person. In less than an hour, they'll be ready to give the rest of the party a more than adequate tour. They'll also know the unique needs & concerns of your traveling party better than anyone, so can focus on areas of concern in their guidance.
The check-in process is much like that of a hotel, just with many, many more people. This might be a place where your TA and/or working with Royal can help, if crowds & chaos represent a challenge, by helping get an ideal arrival time. In the Before Times, the advice would be to get there incredibly early, even 9 or 10 AM. Arrival times are apparently more enforced now, but nobody will be able to predict procedures that far out.
Good luck with your planning, being this far ahead will serve you well!
 
 

Day 8: Disembark
I had a 12:10 flight home, and signed up for Luggage Valet, meanwhile A & E would stay in Titusville a couple more days. Bags went out at the appointed time Saturday night, and on Sunday we got down to breakfast around 7:45. I ate quickly and walked off the ship around 8:05, right into...an 80 person deep line for GoPortCanaveral, which I booked a month ago. This was looking dicey. Fortunately, they had two buses pull up a few minutes later, so other than being hot & sweaty, by 8:40 we were westbound to MCO. I cruised through security, picked up a second breakfast, and boarded an on time flight. Luggage appeared just as it was supposed to, so I’m a big believer in Luggage Valet now. Got an Uber home, total time gangway to living room was 6 hours, 30 minutes.
Wrap-up and review-like content
Obviously, we loved the cruise and we loved Harmony. That said, the ship is just absurdly large, and to us that became a detriment over time. You’ll note that nowhere in this incredibly long writeup is “we went to the pool,” because every time we walked by, it was elbow to elbow in the water, and a towel on every chair. We never consciously said “we’re not going to bother with the pool,” but we never felt like it was the most fun thing we could be doing. We also got a bit tired of waiting for elevators (I got to where I just hiked the 5 or 6 decks to wherever I needed to go).
Other than the pool and the elevators, Harmony never felt all that crowded, which was impressive. The entertainment was top notch and the level of service we got was always impeccable. I think we’d happily sail on Harmony again given the opportunity. 
Un-Favorites: Ultimate Abyss, elevator wait times, crowded pools, too much seating blocked off in the shows (the entire balcony for Columbus? really?), long walks to refill soda cups.
Favorites: The Fine Line, open skating, ice shows, Perfect Day, Castillo San Cristóbal, MDR food & wait staff, specialty coffees from Cafe Promenade (lines were never long and the coffee is good).
Next time:
With E loving the cruise, we decided to plan another one for next year. Right now, Oasis class 7 nighters are running pretty expensive next summer, and as mentioned, we wanted to find a somewhat smaller ship to try anyway. With that in mind, we booked a 5 night Independence cruise out of Fort Lauderdale for next August. It only has 2 stops- Perfect Day & Labadee, so while it won’t exactly be a cultural enrichment trip, it should be as relaxing as it gets. We booked an aft corner balcony on deck 10, which means only one flight of stairs to the WJ and the pool, and the MDR isn’t such a long walk either. It’ll just be me, A, and E, and the corner room looks to have enough space for the 3 of us, and I expect we’ll enjoy the balcony a lot. We booked that room for about half of what an interior on Harmony or Allure would have cost us around the same time (yeah, 7 vs 5 nights, but money is money). I’m excited to try that class of ship, and see if sailing with 30% less people helps with some of the crowding we felt on Harmony. Also really excited to visit Labadee.
So that’s it, I know I’ve left some things out, so may add additional thoughts, but happy to hang out and answer any questions about Harmony on an MDR-level budget.
 

Day 5: Sint Maarten
I originally had big plans to rent a car and make a lap of the island, but now halfway through the cruise, energy levels were starting to dip and we decided to cut back to a much simpler day. We instead took the water taxi into town and made a lap of the beachfront and Front Street, doing some shopping along the way. Eventually, E and I split off to That Yoda Guy’s museum, while the ladies finalized their shopping. The museum was really neat, perhaps a little on the small side for $12 adult/$7 kid, but unique enough that I was happy to pay. We did get to meet the Yoda Guy, which was cool. Would endorse doing it once if you’re a fan of Star Wars or movie makeup/puppetry.
We decided to meet back at the ship and decide on the afternoon plans, which wound up being...going back into town to buy more stuff. A found a bracelet she liked at Kays, I bought a couple bottles from a bourbon store, and passed on a watch that I liked in a store window, because it’s half that price online. We enjoyed Phillipsburg a lot, everyone was very friendly, and look forward to going back to really explore another time.
That night we went to see iSkate, and (forgive me for repeating myself) really enjoyed that too. I do have an incredible ability to be looking at the wrong skater and miss the best stuff. A & I stayed up for Love & Marriage, which started slow but found its footing about halfway through. I was never all that impressed with Dennis, the cruise director (his schtick never really reached higher than “women be shopping, amirite?!” outside of this show), but he found a rhythm with pretty good contestants and the show was fun. I could do without the tedious “audition” part of the show, but other people seem to like it.
Day 6 & 7: Cruising
We started Day 6 with some ice skating- we got there at about 8:50 and were able to go right down and get gear. They weren’t crowded, and didn’t enforce the 20 minute sessions. E had skated before, but within 20 minutes was getting himself around the ice pretty well. We skated for about half an hour total, handed our stuff back in, then E decided he wanted to go again. We rested a little while longer, but got back in the non-existent line and skated another 25 minutes or so, before we were all thoroughly worn out. To my unending surprise, the ice rink was a highlight of the week.
Later that morning, A & I hit up the ships waterslides. Lines were surprisingly short for a sea day, and we got 5 rides in probably 45 minutes or so. I had low expectations considering how much of a bummer the Abyss was, but these are pretty solid little slides! Would definitely cruise on a waterslide ship again and not wait so long to hop on them.
The show that night was Columbus, and it was also very good. Kinda felt like it ran out of steam in the last half, but the leads were both among my favorites from Grease so I enjoyed seeing them get center stage.
Day 7 was a lot of bouncing around the ship- we went to the Central Park tour, which had some interesting stuff about how they tend the garden, but was dominated by a few home gardeners with lots of specific questions and/or desire to show that they know things. From there, we went down to the Captain’s Corner, which we enjoyed. In the afternoon, A & W split off to go see Grease, while E & I decided at the last second to go see iSkate again, then tried to do the X-Ray thing in the Royal App (you go to deck 12 and “see” into the bridge with your phone), but it wasn’t working.
We went to what was billed as the “farewell parade,” but it turned out to be the same parade, but at the end a handful of representatives from various ship teams walk through- kitchen staff, housekeeping, bar staff, maybe one or two more departments. It’s honestly not necessary to go to the parade more than once.
After that, it was time to pack up. The week went by as fast as the weeks leading up to it went slow. Before bed, I went down to guest services to cancel my arcade credit. We never found the arcade on deck 14, but the one on the boardwalk is simply embarrassing. Like, I don’t know why they even bothered- just put another jewelry store in there or something and stop getting 7 year olds excited about playing in an arcade. We also popped into NextCruise...
 

Day 2: Coco Cay!
Perfect Day is the real deal. Everything you’ve read is basically true, so I won’t belabor it too much. However, everything you’ve read probably includes long lines for the best slides at Thrill Waterpark. Those are true too. I wasn’t queued up at the gangway, but we were ready to go pretty quickly when they made the announcement. I reached the back of the line for Daredevil’s Peak at 8:23, and walked off the bottom of the slide at 8:46. By that time, the line had doubled. Anyone arriving after 9 AM would be looking at at least an hour in line. From there, I met up with A and hit the line for the big yellow raft ride, and that was probably about 20 minutes too, but I wasn’t paying as close attention. Anyway, next time we’ll go line up before the gangways go down, I think.
That being said, all the waterslides were excellent, including the medium level ones. The only ones I didn’t get to try are the ones where the floor drops out from under you- just didn’t really have time. E doesn’t like waterslides, but loves a wave pool, literally spending the whole day there. We did get 4 chairs in front of the wave pool easily, made a great home base for the day.
We lost about an hour to a lightning warning, but the storms passed by while we ate lunch. The buffet didn’t wow me, but I did enjoy the chicken sandwich and the funnel cake from the snack shack. 
We eventually dragged E out of the wave pool enough to check out the Chill Island side for an hour or so, which was uneventful. Pretty quiet on that side, at least toward the end of the day, with the water park pulling so many people in. Oddly, and not intentionally, I never so much as laid eyes on Oasis Lagoon. I’m sure it’s great, but the wave pool was enough for us all day.
After dinner, I went to Grease with A. Excellent production, but I am not the target audience for Grease and to me anyway, the show is played out. We enjoyed it, but I’m good for Grease like once every 5 years, max, so I’m set for a while. Great performers & great production though. Spent some time later trying to figure out what musicals they’ll install when they’re chasing my money and not the boomers anymore.
Day 3: At Sea
This was a pretty uneventful day- we played some trivia, played some mini golf (tiny review: virtually unplayable with the terrible rubber golf balls you have to use. But E had fun so it was a win), and I rode the Ultimate Abyss. Pro-tip: ride the Abyss before you ride Daredevil’s Peak. After the water park, Abyss was, well, abysmal. It’s slooooow. Also I got stuck 10 feet from the exit and had to “paddle” out of the tunnel. Add The Big Dumb Purple Slide to the pile with Grease in my “don’t need this for my next cruise” list.
We also checked out the parade in the promenade, it was fun. I especially enjoyed seeing the guys from the ice show bouncing around in pink pajamas. 
Our show on Tuesday night was the Fine Line, which again, was as good as advertised. Entertaining and often jaw-dropping from start to finish. I wanted to see it again, but the other show conflicted with our Headliner reservation.
Day 4: San Juan
We enjoyed San Juan. We hopped in a cab to El Morro, which saved everyone’s legs from the uphill walk, and also beat the crowds over there. The plan was to walk from there to Castillo San Cristóbal, but for various reasons not related to this review we had to get a cab back to the ship instead. We cooled down, got lunch on board, regrouped, and walked up to Castillo San Cristóbal, which is very close to the ship. While it’s not as scenic, we liked Castillo San Cristóbal a little more- the tunnels and the air conditioned museum were both really nice. Still, plenty of time to do both in a San Juan stop.
Our headliner that night was Adam Kario, a world champion juggler. His show was great, mixed really impressive juggling with friendly comedy. E was enthralled- I guess he’s never been to a real comedy show, and he just loved the whole experience. 
 

Just got home from 7 days on the Harmony of the Seas, and while live-blogging wasn’t an option, I tried to keep a few things in mind to recap. I’ve pre-written most of this, and it got a bit long, so I’ll post in chunks today. Also, this is gonna be photo-free, because honestly between the main blog and the actually good live blog gang, better pictures of all these places are readily available.
The cast: Me, late thirties, live in North Carolina, moved after 15 years of living in Orlando and never actually going on a cruise. This is my second cruise, the first was this time last year on Enchantment. A, the wife, similar age, same residence, grew up in Florida but also never cruised. E, our 7 year old (8 next week). His first cruise. W, my mother in law, lives in Titusville, has cruised to Alaska and in Europe, but I believe this was her first cruise on Royal or in the Caribbean.
We’re generally very budget conscious, so we don’t do specialty dining and try to manage our port time on our own vs. excursions, so things like suites are out, but we do try to find comfortable rooms especially when traveling with the second grader.
Cabins: 9506 & 9504, forward Ocean View, adjoining. Myself & A in one, E & W in the other. The space under the angled front of the ship is “free”, and made the room feel quite a bit bigger.
Beforehand: The cruise was booked through MEI, our agent is Brock. Prices never moved after our purchase, but he was always on top of important dates, check in, etc. Good experience there.
Pre-purchased the everything-but-alcohol package for me & A ($140 each, Black Friday). No package for E & W as neither of them like soda, and E could drink lemonade for days while W drinks tea. I had a deluxe package last year, and am in the group that a) feels compelled to over-indulge to keep up with the price of the package and b) does not drink enough at home to sustain that for 4-7 days. Happy enough to drink the sugar-coffees & sodas and order a cocktail once in a while.
Also pre-purchased Coco Cay Thrill Waterpark passes for the whole crew ($59 sometime in March), a single Voom package for me ($84, Black Friday), and a $50 arcade credit ($40, always that price. Do not do this. More later.)
Arrival & Day 1: Embarkation
Sailing out of Port Canaveral is really easy, since A’s parents live there. A & E flew down Wednesday, I followed on Friday. Saturday we picked up a couple bottles of wine and assorted travel essentials, and were ready to go bright & early on Sunday.
Arrived at the port around 10:15. No security line to speak of, walked straight up to a table person to check in, then waiting about 10 minutes for E to get a wristband. From there, directly onto the ship. Could not be easier, other than nobody understanding how to form a line for the wristband table. 
We did some light exploring, including lunch in the Windjammer sort of my accident- we were walking the pool deck, realized we were there, and decided to eat before the line formed. After that, wound up at the bionic bar watching the robots for a while, to E’s delight. Rooms opened at 12:58. 
Our rooms were very slightly mixed up, with the beds pushed together in the wrong room vs. our seapass cards, so we figured we’d just switch. This was slightly more annoying than we thought at first, since now we had keys to the wrong doors and the answer to “what’s your stateroom number?” became a confusing mess. I went down to guest services on Monday and they switched us over, problem solved. Meanwhile though, we had to ask several times to get our connecting door unlocked, not sure what that was about. 
Not much else to add about the rooms, so...
Room Review:
We did feel like our stateroom service just wasn’t quite what we had on Enchantment. Back on Enchantment, our attendant noticed we’d brought wine, and had ice and glasses for us without even being asked. When I asked our attendant for glasses this week, he just told me to call room service. We also had the morning service on a sea day missed, and one night didn’t get a new cruise compass. Nothing too bad or worth being upset about, just a little surprising. We also never actually saw him around- I think perhaps most of his rooms were down another hallway, but we saw the attendant for the block between us and the elevator us every morning, never saw ours.
Location-wise, forward was...not great. The nearest Freestyle machine was down 4 floors and over to midship, the windjammer & MDR were a haul, and while the theaters were at our end, that meant packed elevators every evening. Some of this is the inevitable shock of jumping from Enchantment to Harmony, but (spoilers!) next time we’re going to try aft.
Upsides: super quiet part of the ship! Never heard noise from neighbors or people in the hall, or even things like rooms nearby being cleaned. The forward view was really cool, especially in San Juan & St. Maarten where we docked nose-in. Also, for those ports, that meant our rooms were the first gangway you got to, saving a few minutes in the heat.
Ok, that’s the room reviewed, now...
Food Recap & Review
We’re Main Dining Room people, and will continue to be MDR people until it lets us down. I had requested a window table for the 4 of us and they delivered, we had a really nice spot with a good view in The Grande, aka MDR Deck 4. Apparently on Harmony they don’t bother waking you to your table, so it took us a minute to find our table the first night, but after that, the system saves a ton of time. We had the 5:00 traditional seating, and that made for a tight turnaround on port days, but we generally eat pretty early at home so this was mostly fine. 
I’m not going to list out everything we ate, but most of us hit the MDR all 7 nights (W wanted to eat lighter a couple nights). I don’t think I ordered anything I didn’t like, I think the biggest complaint I could come up with is that sometimes the rice comes out a bit dry. Happy to answer questions about specific dishes, we ordered a lot of them!
Our waiters, Nicholas & Jonabell, were great. They took great care of E all week, often bringing him little extras or surprising him with extra ice cream- despite him being overtired and a little surly one or two nights. Appetizers always came out quickly, and entrees & desserts always arrived quickly and at the right temperature once the preceding course was done.
We also ate in the MDR most days for breakfast. The first couple days we got omelettes, but as the week wore on we just grabbed food off the buffet. The Windjammer might have had more selection, but we like the calmer start to the day that we found there.
Lunch was usually Windjammer or Park Cafe, nothing to report there, always serviceable.
We did decide afterward that 7 nights in the MDR was probably too much for a second grader, and should have given him a couple nights in the Windjammer.  But for me personally, I don’t actually like the Windjammer at all- it’s the smells. The food is fine, but the place smells like everything and I find it unappetizing. That’s a me problem, not a buffet problem, but it’s why I’d pick the MDR every time.
Ok, that’s the room and the food recapped, now back to the itinerary.
The End of Day 1
After dinner, we had 1887, the ice show. Loved it. We had a reservation, arrived at 8 for an 8:30 show and sat in the front row near the end of the right hand side. My biggest complaint with all of Royal’s shows is that they don’t have any kind of Playbill or guide to the performers. I’d love to know who these people are and if I’d seen them somewhere else before. Anyway, I’m by no means a figure skating fan, I’ll watch it for an hour every 4 years, but really enjoyed the skating shows on Harmony. 
The other days are not this long, I promise...
 

Just got home from 7 days on the Harmony of the Seas, and while live-blogging wasn’t an option, I tried to keep a few things in mind to recap. I’ve pre-written most of this, and it got a bit long, so I’ll post in chunks today. Also, this is gonna be photo-free, because honestly between the main blog and the actually good live blog gang, better pictures of all these places are readily available.
The cast: Me, late thirties, live in North Carolina, moved after 15 years of living in Orlando and never actually going on a cruise. This is my second cruise, the first was this time last year on Enchantment. A, the wife, similar age, same residence, grew up in Florida but also never cruised. E, our 7 year old (8 next week). His first cruise. W, my mother in law, lives in Titusville, has cruised to Alaska and in Europe, but I believe this was her first cruise on Royal or in the Caribbean.
We’re generally very budget conscious, so we don’t do specialty dining and try to manage our port time on our own vs. excursions, so things like suites are out, but we do try to find comfortable rooms especially when traveling with the second grader.
Cabins: 9506 & 9504, forward Ocean View, adjoining. Myself & A in one, E & W in the other. The space under the angled front of the ship is “free”, and made the room feel quite a bit bigger.
Beforehand: The cruise was booked through MEI, our agent is Brock. Prices never moved after our purchase, but he was always on top of important dates, check in, etc. Good experience there.
Pre-purchased the everything-but-alcohol package for me & A ($140 each, Black Friday). No package for E & W as neither of them like soda, and E could drink lemonade for days while W drinks tea. I had a deluxe package last year, and am in the group that a) feels compelled to over-indulge to keep up with the price of the package and b) does not drink enough at home to sustain that for 4-7 days. Happy enough to drink the sugar-coffees & sodas and order a cocktail once in a while.
Also pre-purchased Coco Cay Thrill Waterpark passes for the whole crew ($59 sometime in March), a single Voom package for me ($84, Black Friday), and a $50 arcade credit ($40, always that price. Do not do this. More later.)
Arrival & Day 1: Embarkation
Sailing out of Port Canaveral is really easy, since A’s parents live there. A & E flew down Wednesday, I followed on Friday. Saturday we picked up a couple bottles of wine and assorted travel essentials, and were ready to go bright & early on Sunday.
Arrived at the port around 10:15. No security line to speak of, walked straight up to a table person to check in, then waiting about 10 minutes for E to get a wristband. From there, directly onto the ship. Could not be easier, other than nobody understanding how to form a line for the wristband table. 
We did some light exploring, including lunch in the Windjammer sort of my accident- we were walking the pool deck, realized we were there, and decided to eat before the line formed. After that, wound up at the bionic bar watching the robots for a while, to E’s delight. Rooms opened at 12:58. 
Our rooms were very slightly mixed up, with the beds pushed together in the wrong room vs. our seapass cards, so we figured we’d just switch. This was slightly more annoying than we thought at first, since now we had keys to the wrong doors and the answer to “what’s your stateroom number?” became a confusing mess. I went down to guest services on Monday and they switched us over, problem solved. Meanwhile though, we had to ask several times to get our connecting door unlocked, not sure what that was about. 
Not much else to add about the rooms, so...
Room Review:
We did feel like our stateroom service just wasn’t quite what we had on Enchantment. Back on Enchantment, our attendant noticed we’d brought wine, and had ice and glasses for us without even being asked. When I asked our attendant for glasses this week, he just told me to call room service. We also had the morning service on a sea day missed, and one night didn’t get a new cruise compass. Nothing too bad or worth being upset about, just a little surprising. We also never actually saw him around- I think perhaps most of his rooms were down another hallway, but we saw the attendant for the block between us and the elevator us every morning, never saw ours.
Location-wise, forward was...not great. The nearest Freestyle machine was down 4 floors and over to midship, the windjammer & MDR were a haul, and while the theaters were at our end, that meant packed elevators every evening. Some of this is the inevitable shock of jumping from Enchantment to Harmony, but (spoilers!) next time we’re going to try aft.
Upsides: super quiet part of the ship! Never heard noise from neighbors or people in the hall, or even things like rooms nearby being cleaned. The forward view was really cool, especially in San Juan & St. Maarten where we docked nose-in. Also, for those ports, that meant our rooms were the first gangway you got to, saving a few minutes in the heat.
Ok, that’s the room reviewed, now...
Food Recap & Review
We’re Main Dining Room people, and will continue to be MDR people until it lets us down. I had requested a window table for the 4 of us and they delivered, we had a really nice spot with a good view in The Grande, aka MDR Deck 4. Apparently on Harmony they don’t bother waking you to your table, so it took us a minute to find our table the first night, but after that, the system saves a ton of time. We had the 5:00 traditional seating, and that made for a tight turnaround on port days, but we generally eat pretty early at home so this was mostly fine. 
I’m not going to list out everything we ate, but most of us hit the MDR all 7 nights (W wanted to eat lighter a couple nights). I don’t think I ordered anything I didn’t like, I think the biggest complaint I could come up with is that sometimes the rice comes out a bit dry. Happy to answer questions about specific dishes, we ordered a lot of them!
Our waiters, Nicholas & Jonabell, were great. They took great care of E all week, often bringing him little extras or surprising him with extra ice cream- despite him being overtired and a little surly one or two nights. Appetizers always came out quickly, and entrees & desserts always arrived quickly and at the right temperature once the preceding course was done.
We also ate in the MDR most days for breakfast. The first couple days we got omelettes, but as the week wore on we just grabbed food off the buffet. The Windjammer might have had more selection, but we like the calmer start to the day that we found there.
Lunch was usually Windjammer or Park Cafe, nothing to report there, always serviceable.
We did decide afterward that 7 nights in the MDR was probably too much for a second grader, and should have given him a couple nights in the Windjammer.  But for me personally, I don’t actually like the Windjammer at all- it’s the smells. The food is fine, but the place smells like everything and I find it unappetizing. That’s a me problem, not a buffet problem, but it’s why I’d pick the MDR every time.
Ok, that’s the room and the food recapped, now back to the itinerary.
The End of Day 1
After dinner, we had 1887, the ice show. Loved it. We had a reservation, arrived at 8 for an 8:30 show and sat in the front row near the end of the right hand side. My biggest complaint with all of Royal’s shows is that they don’t have any kind of Playbill or guide to the performers. I’d love to know who these people are and if I’d seen them somewhere else before. Anyway, I’m by no means a figure skating fan, I’ll watch it for an hour every 4 years, but really enjoyed the skating shows on Harmony. 
The other days are not this long, I promise...
 

Day 8: Disembark
I had a 12:10 flight home, and signed up for Luggage Valet, meanwhile A & E would stay in Titusville a couple more days. Bags went out at the appointed time Saturday night, and on Sunday we got down to breakfast around 7:45. I ate quickly and walked off the ship around 8:05, right into...an 80 person deep line for GoPortCanaveral, which I booked a month ago. This was looking dicey. Fortunately, they had two buses pull up a few minutes later, so other than being hot & sweaty, by 8:40 we were westbound to MCO. I cruised through security, picked up a second breakfast, and boarded an on time flight. Luggage appeared just as it was supposed to, so I’m a big believer in Luggage Valet now. Got an Uber home, total time gangway to living room was 6 hours, 30 minutes.
Wrap-up and review-like content
Obviously, we loved the cruise and we loved Harmony. That said, the ship is just absurdly large, and to us that became a detriment over time. You’ll note that nowhere in this incredibly long writeup is “we went to the pool,” because every time we walked by, it was elbow to elbow in the water, and a towel on every chair. We never consciously said “we’re not going to bother with the pool,” but we never felt like it was the most fun thing we could be doing. We also got a bit tired of waiting for elevators (I got to where I just hiked the 5 or 6 decks to wherever I needed to go).
Other than the pool and the elevators, Harmony never felt all that crowded, which was impressive. The entertainment was top notch and the level of service we got was always impeccable. I think we’d happily sail on Harmony again given the opportunity. 
Un-Favorites: Ultimate Abyss, elevator wait times, crowded pools, too much seating blocked off in the shows (the entire balcony for Columbus? really?), long walks to refill soda cups.
Favorites: The Fine Line, open skating, ice shows, Perfect Day, Castillo San Cristóbal, MDR food & wait staff, specialty coffees from Cafe Promenade (lines were never long and the coffee is good).
Next time:
With E loving the cruise, we decided to plan another one for next year. Right now, Oasis class 7 nighters are running pretty expensive next summer, and as mentioned, we wanted to find a somewhat smaller ship to try anyway. With that in mind, we booked a 5 night Independence cruise out of Fort Lauderdale for next August. It only has 2 stops- Perfect Day & Labadee, so while it won’t exactly be a cultural enrichment trip, it should be as relaxing as it gets. We booked an aft corner balcony on deck 10, which means only one flight of stairs to the WJ and the pool, and the MDR isn’t such a long walk either. It’ll just be me, A, and E, and the corner room looks to have enough space for the 3 of us, and I expect we’ll enjoy the balcony a lot. We booked that room for about half of what an interior on Harmony or Allure would have cost us around the same time (yeah, 7 vs 5 nights, but money is money). I’m excited to try that class of ship, and see if sailing with 30% less people helps with some of the crowding we felt on Harmony. Also really excited to visit Labadee.
So that’s it, I know I’ve left some things out, so may add additional thoughts, but happy to hang out and answer any questions about Harmony on an MDR-level budget.