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Today marks 25 day until we set sail! Traveling with my wife and daughters (10 & 14), my mom & dad, my wife's mom & dad, and my bother & sister in laws with their son (21). We are driving in from Indianapolis. We are leaving here on Friday March 15th. We plan to be in Ft Lauderdale early enough to watch the ships leaving port on Saturday from the beach. We did this on our last cruise and it was a lot of fun. The rest of our family are flying in later Saturday night. Some highlights of our plans; We have booked the Guacamole class at Sabor for day 2. We have my father in law booked to take the behind the scenes ship tour on day 3. We also have booked Escape The Rubicon for day 6. We have also booked the Bottomless Brunch and Galley Tour on day 7.We have also made reservations for all our onboard entertainment. In St. Maarten we have booked the famous Leo Brown as our driver for the day. We have a couple places we know we want to see like Maho to watch the planes land but, for the most part we want Leo to show us the must sees! San Juan we have booked Old San Juan Food Tour. By Flavors of San Juan. We are very much looking forward to this. On our last cruise we did a culinary tour in Falmouth that was amazing so we are hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. Everything I have read about this tour makes me think we are in for a treat (or 5 or 6). Our plan for Labadee is to get off the ship early, enjoy a few Labadoozys, a little shopping and then get back on the ship for lunch and to enjoy the ship with fewer people on board.

Does anyone have an idea about booking the Escape Room on Harmony of the Seas. I'm on an upcoming sailing (5/26/19). I'm still about 70+ days out, yet. I've looked everywhere in the cruise planner. I see that I can book all of the entertainment options, but nothing on the Escape room. Voom, the Key (it just reappeared!), flowrider stuff is all there and available... I've also looked all over the RC app, and have not figured out any way to book it there, either. Actually, the RC app doesn't even have any of my entertainment reservations in it yet. It does have one shore RC excursion, but is missing all of my CocoCay stuff (Thrill waterpark / zipline). Anyone have any ideas booking this pre-cruise? Or will I have to wait until onboard???

Who’s all coming on the harmony on April 28th. Also is anyone attending a lgbt meet up ?

We plan on taking full advantage of using the wowband instead of the seapass card on our harmony cruise. Staying in a suite. For shows, is it easier to carry the seapass to show our suite class to access the reserved seating? Or is wow band just as easy? I’ve only been on oasis (no wowbands) where suites had to show sea pass to access reserved seating. Thanks

Hey All, First time in the forums! Got a couple of questions: I am sailing next week on Harmony of the Seas (Feb 24th 2019) and have not been assigned a cabin yet, I booked the Suite Guarantee (XS). Does it make sense to contact RC or just wait till its assigned/check-in? For the set sail pass, I checked in using the mobile app and I can see our Set Sail Passes (they do no show a room as it has not been assigned) however I can not obtain any set sail pass when I log in to their site. Was wondering if this is due to not yet being assigned a room?

Looking forward to live Blogging my first RC cruise on Harmony next week. Countdown has now reached 7 days. Now if this week of work would just fly by.

I'm from Portugal 142 days to my next cruise

We are booked on Harmony, April 2019. We would like to know how early can we disembark. We are trying to buy our return flight from FLL. Thank you for your help.

Hey All, looking into booking a massage on Harmony in July. Can anyone tell me what they've paid if booked on board? I'm trying to get a general idea. I've checked the website $89-$129 + 18%. Just wondering if I should book ahead of time or are the specials onboard decent. Every time I try for costs $129 + 18% which means about $150 and change. I'll take any advice, even if you've never used the spa on Harmony. Thanks in advance!

Have no fear @Lovetocruise2002 I will indeed being doing my live blog in hopefully all its usual glory. Finally, my turn again to set sail! As you might have guessed based on the topic I'll be setting sail onboard Harmony of the Seas. This will be my second time onboard Harmony and sailing ninth sailing on an Oasis class ship. Itinerary brief, Eastern: Ft. Lauderdale, Sea Day, Sea Day, St. Maarten, San Juan, Labadee, Sea Day, Eviction in Ft. Lauderdale An idea of what is to come can be seen on my last LIVEish from January on Oasis Only one new toy this time around, a new laptop. While my Surface Pro 3 has been a great travel companion, it has started to show its age. Last month I was able to get a deal on a discontinued display model Lenovo Flex5 at Costco. Only difference the new model has is a better GPU. Only other thing tech-wise this cruise will be an experiment that involves nonstandard use of tcp/5223. It’s Friday and the day just started, plus I still have a long day of travel ahead of me. I’m sure I’ll still be up for some time with final packing and other tasks. Keep an eye open on the Twitter and Periscope feeds listed in my signature. Can’t guarantee I’ll be active on those platforms, but I might do a few quick scopes. Ohh yeah, forgot. The 360 camera was replaced and I'll make plans to use it early on this cruise, maybe.

Shamelessly promoting my favourite class of ship again. I came across this video tonight and really wanted to share it. @Matt has some great blog posts comparing the 4 ships but this video was so well put together and gives a great comprehensive visual. Whether you are a first timer or you've sailed all 4, it's still worth a look, especially if you are deciding between them as I find many people are. Also, there are some really good shots of the new features on Symphony, including food shots from Playmakers and Hooked. It's 20min long and there is an ad in the middle but have a look. Can't wait for my next Oasis class sailing!

Hi again folks, What are your top picks for specialty dining? Any input will be great...maybe rank venues from best to worst (although it sounds like Sorrento's has a lock on that). Also would like to hear about that favorite dish you absolutely must have when on board. Thanks, Jane

One more question from a first time cruiser regarding Harmony of the Seas. Does the ship's comedy club offer any shows that would be appropriate for teens? Show reservations for our May 2018 cruise just became available, but the RCCL website will not allow us to include our teenage children on the reservations. Thanks for your input. Jane

Thinking about doing an Eastern Caribbean cruise, would be flying from Manchester, England. The price of the whole cruise comes out at £3939 for Allure and £4029 for Oasis, so not worried about the price. Are there any differences in service/food quality or any noticeable things that differ these ships from one another?

Curious if anyone has stayed in Cabin 11175. There are 4 of us so wondering the room layout. Also if it is a Virtual Balcony or just Large Interior. I know the deck plan says it is a large interior but that’s what it says for Cabin 9175 and via a YouTube Cabin tour I found out that one is a VB.

Title says it all. I'm on the Harmony in pretty much 2 sleeps. My first time in a Star Class suite. I'll do my best to take pictures of the daily literature they drop off. If you have any questions, let me know..I'll do my best to check in daily.After that, I'll compile a lengthy review.

Years ago I visited San Juan on one of Royal Caribbeans newer ship (at the time) called "Song of America". Yes, I admit that was a long time ago but back then, Royal Caribbean offered an excursion of "Old and New San Juan" that is very similar to the one they offer today except one of the stops was at the Bacardi Factory. This year we are going on "Harmony of the Seas" in early October and since my husband's favorite drink is "Bacardi and Coke", I thought what better way to celebrate his 50th birthday than to take him there. My problem is that, in the list of available excursions, I see the excursion that will tour old and new San Juan is still offered but this time, I see no mention of there being a visit to Bacardi (which is a real disappointment). Can anyone who has recently taken that tour tell me if the Bacardi Factory is an unmentioned stop on that tour? If it's not, does anyone else know if RCI offers another excursion that will visit Bacardi? I've been reading through the descriptions for any excursion that looks like it might be a fit but so far am unable to locate one. I know there is another excursion or two that offers tasting of the various rums from San Juan, but, admittedly, he is someone I would classify as being a "Bacardi Bigot" when it comes to rum. Any help on this would be greatly appreciated.

USA Today : Harmony of the Seas versus MSC Meraviglia https://usat.ly/2tfjzun While they don't really draw any conclusions, the photo tours of each ship are worth checking out. And while I am booked on the Meraviglia next year because of it's itinerary (Arctic Circle, which Royal doesn't offer), the Harmony wins in my opinion if for nothing more than space. The Harmony carries fewer people and is nearly 60,000 GRT bigger. More space with that many people is definitely needed and that's what the Harmony offers. And while the full size bowling alley is pretty cool, it's not original and it's a couple of lanes only. I also wonder how many people actually bowl anymore. At least her in California near where I live, 3 of the 5 bowling alleys within a half hours driver of my house have closed.

Hey, all you blog group cruisers on the 16 Sept. Harmony western Caribbean cruise !!! I am organizing the Cruise Critic cabin crawl for our sailing. Even if you do not use Cruise Critic, I am hoping to get as many of "us" as possible to participate. Most likely the crawl will be held in the early afternoon of Day 2 - probably 1 or 2:00. Day 2 is a sea day and cabin crawls are best done on sea days early in the cruise. I am not smart enough to do an online spreadsheet, but I am keeping a spreadsheet on my computer to track the participants. Please let me know if you want to participate. There are 2 ways to be involved: 1. Be a crawler only. These folks want to see other peoples' cabins but don't want to show their cabins. 2. Be a crawler and a shower. These folks want to view other peoples' cabins and are also willing to have others come to see their cabin. The best cabin crawls are the ones with a variety of cabin types so that everyone can see the different room categories. I will need to know your online handle (name) and what deck you are on, at a minimum, if you want to show your cabin. If you want to give real names and your cabin number, that's ok, but not required. Some people don't like giving out their cabin number. Please let me know if you want to be a crawler and a shower or just a crawler. I suppose you could be just a shower too....but what fun would that be ? My Cruise Critic handle is RFerrington Thanks !! Raye

Hi Everyone, If you were to pick one speciality restaurant on Harmony for a 30th Birthday Celebration, which one would you pick? We never splurge on speciality restaurants, although came to absolutely love Coastal Kitchen while on Anthem a while back. We usually have a great time in the main dining and hit the buffet a few nights, but are looking forward to trying something different. While the atmosphere at Wonderland seems really fun and unique, I'm not sure the food options are what we are looking for. Chopes Grill looks like it is has the best menu, but the wine and atmosphere of Central Park 150 might win out. Has anyone tried Central Park 150? I know there are several Chopes Grill fans here! Thanks! Mel

OK, so it is Thursday and like me I have to even start packing. Well, my clothes at least. Camera gear and most of my electronics are packed on the other hand. Travel to the port plans are as followed. Taking RedCoach (upscale bus) from Tallahassee to Ft. Lauderdale Friday morning. This will be the third time using the service, second to Ft. Lauderdale. Cost was $168 round trip with a refundable fare, cheaper than flying (from Tallahassee) and would have been a bit less if choosing one of the other fare options. Friday night, I'll be staying at the Embassy Suites on 17th street. In the morning, thinking Uber or Lyft to the port to be there by 10:00-10:30am. That is it for now, if you want to get an idea of what to expect see my previous LIVEish posting from January 2017 on Oasis of the Seas: As a bonus, I can stay I've stepped foot on every Oasis class ship in service with in the last twelve months. Was on Allure when Harmony came into service. It isn't every day you can claim being on the Worlds largest and second largest cruise ship... Once I hit the road Friday, or maybe sometime Thursday, I'll replace the contents of this post.

This popped up in my Google feed yesterday: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/05/sponsor-content-royal-caribbean-gives-thrill-seekers-a-shot-at-winning-the-world/. @Matt shared information about the contest on the blog in March: https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2017/03/27/royal-caribbean-holding-contest-find-world-trekking-instagram-stars. I didn't know about this contest until yesterday (I must have missed that post!) But if you knew about it and checked #AdventureSquad on social media, you probably saw contest entries from many thrill seekers who shared their adventures. Royal Caribbean recently announced the finalists in the contest's five categories. The finalists will compete next week on Harmony of the Seas. They will participate in more heart-pounding, white knuckle activities onboard and in port. They will also be posting to Royal Caribbean's social media channels during the cruise. The winners will receive more cruises to have more adventures. What a great prize! Best of luck to the finalists!

Year 2016 First Hump Stateroom on starboard side forward. The last photo isn't of a stateroom but people from the south will recognize these people. They always come with us for Thanksgiving. lol

Howdy folks!! For out Harmony cruise next week I ordered the 3 night dining package. I understand that night one (or 2) is picked for us and we pick the 2 subsequent nights. The system seems convoluted when ordering and appears there are no reservation available. Do I make our two subsequent reservations on the Planner, or can I just make them on day one once onboard?? Thanks Mike T

Cruising for the first time in a LONG time and fired up to be on the largest in the world--anybody else going on this trip? Any cruising vets (Harmony of the Seas in particular) have some Do's and Don'ts to share? Loving the inside info I've found so far on this site! Ben