MarvinS

We visited CocoCay in May while on Harmony. In my opinion, there were only really long lines for two specific water slides: The "tallest waterslide" ride, and the "slingshot" tube ride. The lines for all the other water rides were very acceptable (0-15 minutes). The "dueling demons" slide also had a slightly longer wait, but not bad at all. I would suggest doing those two rides very first thing, and enjoy the remainder of the water park.

I was on Oasis two years ago with a group of 14. They arranged 4 rectangular tables, end-to-end, with 7 on each side. We had our own dedicated server and assistant for our table alone. It worked out very well. I also just got off of Harmony the end of May with a group of 11. Similar solution... They arranged three tables end-to-end, with 6 on each side. We also had a dedicated server and assistant. This also worked out very well, with no issues whatsoever. In both cases, I simply had the reservations all linked together for dining pre-cruise. I did visit the MDR shortly after boarding, and verified the table location and arrangement. We requested early seating for both cruises.

While on Hamony last month, we did play mini-putt golf late at night. I don't ever recall seeing any hours posted. We just went on and played whenever we wanted. The only significant thing that would keep you from playing mini-putt is that the course is NOT lighted. When playing later in the evening, the only light is spilled over from the sports court or other areas on the back end of the ship. It made the course rather dark at times, and that alone would drive most people away from playing late at night.

No, we didn't specifically seek them out. We just instructed the kids that any time they posed for a picture, they were asked for their cabin number, they gave them ours. This helped to get the photos directed to the correct portfolio. Even on Cococay, there were many photographers taking pictures, so got many of the kids' pictures as they came off the of the various water slides. During the formal night picture shots, we were easily able to get 8-10 pictures per "background" doing various poses and combinations (kids only; parents only; full family; etc), so they added up fairly quickly. They even took 4 shots of our embarkation photo in various poses (standing only; waving; etc).

On my recent Harmony cruise, I purchased the "All digital Photos" package for $249 pre-cruise. I saw this also advertised "on sale" on the ship for $299, so purchasing it pre-cruise was definitely far cheaper. Had two other rooms (with minors) linked to our cabin, and got over 150 pictures. I reviewed our pictures at a kiosk on the ship a couple of times. I noticed we were missing pictures (our embarkation group photo, and some specific formal night pictures), and just spoke to a representative in the kiosk area. I gave the approximate date of time of both photo sets were we missing, and they had were able to add them to my portfolio by the next day. This worked out very easily. With the facial recognition, it most certainly isn't perfect. There was another family on board that must have had similar "digital signatures" to us, as there were about 25 or so pictures from them that I had removed from our portfolio. Again, it was easy removing them. Got a link about 3 days after the cruise, and was able to easily download all the pictures in one ZIP file. Overall, we were very happy with the digital photo package.

Yes, I would make that assumption. The waivers used to be in the cruise planner, but I haven't seen them there in a long time...

Just off Harmony. The waivers are now done exclusively on the TV screen & remote in your cabin. I was able to deal with not only my waivers, but also everyone in my party that had rooms linked together. It was relatively quite easy...it just took a bit of time pressing lots of arrow keys and an "OK" button several times on the remote.

Just got off Harmony with its very stop in Roatan. We did the Tabyana Beach Excursion and thoroughly loved it. We brought our own snorkel equipment with us. I would say this was the very best snorkeling off of a beach I've EVER been on in the Caribbean so far (haven't been to the ABC islands yet; that's next summer's cruises!). Literally just a few yards wading off shore, there were fish swimming around you that could be seen even without a snorkel. Swimming off shore just a little ways (50+ yards) there were many reefs with many dozens of different fish all around. The farther you go out, the bigger the reefs, and the better the views of fish. If you wanted one special snorkeling experience, I would wholehearted suggest you give this excursion a try. It got in on a cruise planner sale for $49.99/person which included a BBQ lunch (available noon-1:30pm), and lemonade & sweet tea to drink (all day availability). You will take about a 30 minute ride on a bus to get there. I didn't see any nearby beaches close to the port that had any sandy areas to really call a beach. The best beach areas on Roatan definitely require transportation of some sort away from the port.

+1 agree with this. Just got off Harmony, and had minor kids in two other staterooms (age 16 in one, and age 18 in another). Had to go to the "focus photo" area and talk to a rep about linking the other two rooms to mine. It was absolutely no issue at all, and got all of our photos for all of us mixed together on my room. I did have a small issue in that they use some sort of facial recognition technology to try and match you and your family members together. Of our 155 photos (yes, we took a lot!), there were a good 25 photos from other families not related or connected to us in any way that I had to individually remove and delete from my portfolio. It was very easy to do, and just took a few minutes, so was really no big deal.

After discovering that iMessage was working flawlessly when connected to the guest wifi (without VOOM), I didn't even try the RCCL app for messaging... I know I got iMessages just fine with notifications.

You can not wear flip-flops on the water slides. They make you take them off and hold them in your hands as you go down the water slide. Those that wore a tight fitting thin soled water shoe were allowed to keep them on. I wish I had known this before going to CocoCay, as I would have definitely got some thin water shoes to wear continuously. The paver brick paths you walk on are not bad, and the sand had small bits of sharp coral in it. I would have greatly appreciated having thin water shoes to walk all around Thrill waterpark.

Well, actually it is only three weeks of vacation. The last two weeks are actually a couple of back to back conferences I am attending for work. We started off the vacation flying directly to the cruise (Orlando). The next two weeks, we are visiting and staying with family that lives in southern Georgia. The conference I will attend will be back in Orlando, followed by another one in St. Louis, Missouri. Then (finally), I head back home to Alaska...

I wouldn't call any of the rides un-popular. They were all actively being used. There were 6 rides on the tall tower: the "Tallest waterside" ride at the top, next down were the two slides (facing each other) where you stand on the platform at a steep incline, and the bottom drops away and you go flying down. Next, working your way down was a green one at medium elevation, and at the lowest level were two slides (the tamest) with one open air, and the other fully enclosed (and a little darker, but definitely not black) until they opened up for exit at the bottom. The shortest lines were for the lower, tamer rides. The two vertical drop slides had extremely short lines, as they go so quick. The other group of slides were three different rides. The "slingslot" and other inner tube ride were at the very top. You used the same staircase all the way for all the rides. It was a little confusing as to which line was for which ride as they snaked down the stairs. The other ride on this shorter tower was the four racer slides where you are head first riding mats. This one started about two-thirds they way up this tower. The shortest lines were for the racers (< 5 minutes). My wife and I passed our son (standing in line for the slingshot) about 4 times as we made several trips down the racer slides, one right after the other. We also did the other tube ride (either single or two-person tubes), and this one was probably my favorite. Again, reasonable lines on this one of 5-10 minutes average. We were certainly able to go multiple times. Bottom line, the only two rides with extremely long wait times was the "tallest waterslide" and the "slingshot". Everything else was very reasonable and enjoyable.

Yes, I've saved all of the cruise compasses! I'm still on my vacation travels this month, but when I get back home (first of July), I'll get them scanned and off to @Matt for posting.

Yes, Harmony was the only ship there. The insane wait time was really for only two rides: The "highest waterslide" and the "slingslot" tube ride. These are in different areas of Thrill Waterpark. The wait time for most all of the other rides was actually very acceptable (5-15 minutes at most) with usually 5 minutes or so average. Several were with nearly zero waiting. What makes the wait time so long on the "Highest waterslide" is that they only allow one person at a time on the slide. Only after the rider is done and completely off the ride will they allow the next person on. This makes for quite a wait if there are lots of people in line. The wait on the "Slingshot" goes a little faster, as there are anywhere from 1 to 4 people on a tube at a time.

There was certainly a crowd around the pools with most loungers occupied, but with just a little walking around, and I was always able to find a chair or two to use. I don't recall NOT being able to find one. I did not go to the beach, but just around the pools (and primarily in Thrill waterpark), so can't answer that question with regards to the beach.

Yes, that was the primary use of the WOW bands for us. I left it on all the time, through pools, hottubs, etc. Made getting into the rooms extremely quick and convenient.

As far as I know (which is very limited), he randomly appears on sailings on various RCCL cruises. I don't think anyone has any schedule or knows which cruise he will appear on. He is a lot of fun, and thoroughly enjoys what he does. If found him twice in the elevators on my cruise...

I just checked when I purchased my reservations in my cruise planner and it was exactly 30 days out from sailing. All of my other entertainment options (shows, etc) all became available at 109 days out... The Escape Room was the only one that was much later at 30 days out. I started monitoring this daily starting about 60 days out.

We just boarded Harmony for a cruise on 5/26/19 in Port Canaveral. We also had differing information on our setsail passes. It was absolutely no issue. We went through check-in as a group. There were agents there with tablets scanning the barcodes of the seapass cards, and snapping a quick photo, scanning the passport, and we were waiting in line to board. Total check-in time was about three minutes. We then waited about 10 minutes for our group number to be called for boarding, and on the ship we went. We were to the port and checked in about 10:45AM or so...

For Costa Maya, we did not do an excursion. We just walked off the ship to the port shopping area and walked around and shopped for awhile, and went back to the ship. The seaweed was very bad there, and you could definitely smell it. From the ship, the entire shoreline you could see from north to south had a huge mass of seaweed on it. I'm glad I didn't plan a beach excursion because of the seaweed. In Roatan, we didn't have any issue with mosquitoes at all. We did the Tabyana beach excursion. We very much enjoyed this! We brought our own snorkel gear with us, and was able to see lots of very colorful fish right off the beach without going out in a boat. This is probably the best snorkeling off of the shore I've ever done (I haven't been to the ABC islands yet...that's next summer!). There are reefs just off shore that you can easily swim/snorkel to. Even just standing a few yards off shore (it's a very shallow beach out quite a ways), we had all sorts of fish swimming around us and visible without any snorkel gear. Lunch was included, and it was a lot of fun. I would certainly recommend it!

I don't drink at all, so never purchased any drinks, but I did go to one of the local bars a couple of times and get a soda. It was no problem at the bar with their portable reader, and I did NOT have to remove the WOW band. I assume this would work likewise for alcohol too...

Just got off Harmony on a brand new itinerary: Port Canaveral, CocoCay (2nd time this ship visits here), Cozumel, Roatan (first time for Harmony), & Costa Maya Here are a few stray observations I had: 1) I did NOT purchase Voom, but discovered that if I simply connected to the Harmony-Guest wifi (for the app updates and schedules), I was easily able to send/receive iMessages to anyone, including those back at home! 2) The Stowaway Piano Man was on this sailing. I had the privilege of riding the elevator with him! 3) First time Harmony visited Roatan. The captain changed our arrival / departure times. Roatan local time was 2 hours earlier that ship time (that remained on Eastern time). Original ship scheduled time was 8AM - 5PM (ship time). New schedule was 9:30AM - 6:30PM (ship time). Evidently, the local vendors didn't want to be there at 6AM (their local time / 8AM ship time) to open up shops, so the captain delayed the arrival / departure time. 4) Got WOW bands for everyone in our group. They worked extremely well, and could be used anywhere on the ship in lieu of a seapass card. They also worked for entry into Thrill Waterpark on CocoCay. Every station on the ship had portable readers that read either your WOW band or your seapass card. This worked for everything from towel checkout to shops to entry into reserved shows & events. You still needed your seapass card for getting off the ship, and for entry in the ports back onto the ship. 5) The Soda cups for the freestyle machines were the same old-style ones I've seen before. I did see a few of the new ones (with straw and looped carry handle), but didn't know where they came from. I had a boardwalk balcony cabin, so got complementary soda cups. Even those that were for sale on board (with various drink packages) were only the original style ones... 6) There seemed to be professional photographers on the ship most every night, and not just formal dining nights. I didn't recall seeing this many days with photographers and various backgrounds on prior cruises. 7) Did the escape room (and made it out with 5 1/2 minutes to spare!). This event was extremely popular. Spoke with someone in guest services, and they said the escape room was completely booked within two days (all days and all sessions) of it becoming available to book on the cruise planner. Glad I booked it as soon as I saw it available! 8 ) CocoCay - Two things: A) Plan on doing the "highest" waterslide and the slingshot ride as soon as you can. With the volume of people on Harmony, the lines were extremely long (2+ hour wait for these two rides) past about 10AM. The lines finally shortened closer to about 3:30PM to 4PM. B) The lockers in Thrill Waterpark were complementary to use. Cost was included in the Thrill Waterpark ticket purchase. You just found a open / available locker, put our stuff in, and locked it. We could then open it and access our stuff, and simply re-lock it as needed. I have no idea if lockers outside of Thrill Waterpark were complementary or not... 9) Cruise Director, Marc, was excellent!!! Overall, we had an awesome cruise!!!

I've done this flowrider experience excursion... Yes, it is expensive ($552), but was actually cheaper for me in my situation. What you get is a dedicated one hour session of private time on the flowrider (usually about 8:30PM or so) and it includes two trainers that help you with whatever you want (stand-up surfing or boogie boarding). I had a family private group of 10 people, and we each got several turns. $552 / 10 = $55.20 dollars, so per person, it was the better deal (compared to $69 per person each, otherwise). The trainers were incredibly patient and helpful. We had an absolute blast doing it! It was very nice having it exclusively for our family group. When you purchase it, you can have as many participants in your group as you desire for the one flat rate. If others have questions about this, ask away!

While on St. Kitts, I highly recommend Thenford Grey Tours. Our group of 6 we were traveling with all did their "Grand Tour", and had a fabulous time. You get an excellent tour and overview of the island, along with some beach time. Thenford Grey, himself, did our tour, and he was an absolute walking encyclopedia of information on the island. He was the most polite tour guide I've ever had, and would describe him as the perfect gentleman.