Jump to content

Just back from Harmony 6-2 to 6-9....I don't think cruising is for us


Recommended Posts

Family of 4, me, wife (late 40's and 2 girls 12-17)

My main take away is, RC has a line management problem.  Overall, i didn't get the feeling Harmony was a gigantic ship.  Seemed the same size as the Disney Wonder from 10 years ago.  I mean that in terms of public spaces you could go.  The difference to us was in the extra 5 decks of cabins.  Making everywhere you went on the ship crowded and just one line after another.  I call this a line management problem because RC either doesn't care, or doesn't know how to efficiently deal with this congestion.

Embarkation was quick and easy.   From the moment our Uber dropped us off at the terminal around 11:30am, to the time we were on deck 5 was maybe 15 minutes tops.  This was not an issue at all.  The problems started from there.  All the people they have set up to do dinner reservations or excursion things we just painfully slow.  There was no sense of urgency to move things along.  And for every "worker" doing the actual work, it seemed there was another just standing by watching instead of trying to thin out the crowds.

Drink Package  was a great buy.  Zero complaints here.  Loved the top shelf booze.  Between water, soda, wine, and drinks we easily got our moneys worth.  But this is also part of the line management problem.  Way to many bars had just one bar tender, and they were all working on island time.  Again, no sense of urgency to help the guests.  You had 2 strategies here.  patiently wait for them to acknowledge you and make you drink.  But then have 3 or 4 other rude guests jump in front of you buy yelling out orders to the bar tender.  or, be one of the rude guests and just be the loudest person at the bar so they make your drinks next.  there was no happy median.  This was true on Coa Coa and all over the ship. 

Entertainment was awesome.   Grease was great.  Columbus was great.  the Ice Show (something in time) was great.  Both aqua theater shows were great.  the stand up comics were great at both family night, and the adult shows in the attic.  i will say at all these venues, the wait staff did a great job to get drink orders going.

Food was good, not great.  Jamie's Italian was the best meal we had.  Chops was decent, but no where near the "high end" steak house the try to make themselves out to be.  the quality of meat was just not up to standards with any steak house on the mainland US.  Izumi Hibchai was good.  Pretty much your standard hibachi experience.  For what it was, wind Jammer, small bites, and the solarium bistro were great.  Solid cruise / resort buffet food.

Pools were way to crowded on sea days.  It was just very gross people soup.  Way to many people to try and cram into that space.  

Things to do on ship were ok, except the zip line.  What a waste of space.  Way to much work for a 10 second experience.  But things like the rock wall,  mini golf, and flow rider all suffered from the line management problem.  One one occasion, i went to do the Flow Rider with my daughter, knew there would be a line.  Was totally fine with it.  The problem was, after waiting in line for 30 minutes, they just decide to stop allowing guests to ride, so the could do a 20 minute show of "tricks".  this was 2 people before it was to be our turn.  If the could have simply closed off the line, we and many others would have known not to stand in line and waste our time.  These are the little execution problems that remain a memory of our trip more then then anything else.  Mini golf, no management.  just 100 people doing what ever they wanted on a small 9 hole course.

Perfect day Coa Coa Cay was a tale of two swords.  We spent the morning and early afternoon at South Beach in a private bungalow.  This was well worth the money.  There were the perfect amount of people for the space.  We never felt crowded, and everyone got along.  Except the bar.  Again, only one bar tender and he could not keep up with the work load.  Went back to a shouting match over other people to get his attention.  the water park side was fun in the afternoon.  For the most part, the lines were ok for everything but the highest lides or the family raft ride.  The pool area was a big crowded mess.  We decided to avoid the people soup and focus on the rides.

St. Thomas was nice.  Did a taxi ride to the shops down town.  Was very enjoyable.  Then paid a guy in a taxi to takes us on a tour of the island to see most of the views and sites.  very enjoyable day on St. Thomas.

St Maarten was the highlight of the trip.  We paid BOB THE BOAT GUY prior to the trip for a 7 hour excursion, separate from anything RC was doing.  We were matched up with 3 other people for a total of 7 of us in a 36 foot scarab with a captain and first mate.  They took us to 3 separate snorkel / beach spots including Pinnel island.  Allowed us to hook our phones up to the boats awesome stereo, and just had a kick ass time all day.  Plenty of beer and booze for the day.  Good food and great staff.  Again, this was one of the best vacations days we have had in a long time.

Disembarking the boat was easy.  I paid the extra $25 per person for luggage valet.  Put out bags out at 10pm Saturday night, and didn't see them until we picked them up at the baggage carousel at our home airport.  this allowed us to leave our room at 8:00am, and we were through customs and waiting for our Uber by 8:20am.  We made it to MCO by 9:30 for an 11:55am flight.  very stress free.

in closing, we had a good time.  Just not great.  Maybe the act of cruising where you book your trip over 12 months in advance, and you have so much build up to the rip sets the expectations so high.  It was very hard to live up to all the youtube videos and podcasts.  Again, it was 10 years ago, but our memory of the Disney Cruise was great.  We do think if we cruise again, it will be on a smaller ship, and probably a Disney Cruise.  We felt the customer service level, and food were just a notch higher with standards the RC.  Enough that the extra $4k in price would have been justified.

Thanks for reading.  I will try and answer any questions.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear the cruise did not meet your expectations.  I understand megaships are not for everyone.  Did you purchase The Key?  That may have help alleviate some of the line/crowd issues that you experienced on your cruise.  What stateroom category did your family stay in?  Could an extra $4k buy you into one of those coveted Loft Suites?  That might enough to change your next experience on OA class ship.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear about your cruise but it really does sound like you had a good cruise.  I think you have to realize that every vacation both cruise and land has changed from 10 years ago.  It sounds like you had a very good cruise outside the lines at the bars and the flowrider.  I tend to have high expectations in my mind about the cruise.  I do agree about bar service as that can be a source of major frustration for me too but I've learned to find a roving server and tip a few $ to make sure they come back. I wonder what happened at the flowrider as I've seen them shut down the line at say 10:30 if it closed at 11 to make sure everyone who was in line was able to ride.

My family has aged beyond Disney and while we like WDW, a Disney cruise is not worth the premium to my family.  Similar to what @Rose City Cruiser said, for the price of a DCL balcony, my family can live the suite life on OA class.

  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry to hear the cruise didn't live up to your expectations.  You did a great job of detailing your experiences.  Based on what you said we would probably have come back commenting we had one of our best trips.  I think it boils down to your individual tastes and expectations.  If you try again sometime I would offer a couple of ideas that work for us.  We spend the first day or so finding our bar.  By that I mean there is usually one that seems to have the right mix of crowd and bartender.  For us it is not the pool bar as that is almost guaranteed to give you the experience you had.  Secondly we usually do a cash tip of a few bucks up front to the bartender that we like.  It is amazing how quick they recognize you for the rest of the cruise.  I'm a planning nut so one of the things I like about the large ships are the amount of things I can pre-reserve.  Maybe you'd like one of the smaller ships as they tend to be open ended as far as scheduling is concerned.  Hope you give it another try someday

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with the previous comments.  My experience is that RC cruises are good experiences, but they are only epic when the people factor is good and the ports are awesome.  I just can't compare the Caribbean to Europe, Europe is, well, incredibly historic.  The Caribbean is, well, mostly fun and beaches.   The sense of value I perceive comes from the way I spend my money.  I avoid pricey excursions, beverages, or services unless I really, really want them.  I can't believe the value I got from a simple coffee card (about $5/day with tax) that guarantees me a couple of nice coffee drinks everyday.  For me, Disney lacks the value proposition - too expensive for what you get -- unless your goal is to have an epic trip for your kids.  That said, our son grew up with Adventure Ocean and later teen groups and still talks to friends he met in high school.   RC certainly met his needs.  In summary, I try not to have overly optimistic expectations about any vacation, but look for value and make sure my trip plan seems to meet my needs.  I've been disappointed by weather or missed ports on occasion, but I've always found RC passengers friendly to talk to throughout my trip.  The Oasis class ships have a great concert location in Central Park that can be very relaxing.  Best of luck with your next trip!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@goblues38 you touched on something that I have some concern about too...we are sailing on Harmony in November...it will be our first Oasis class ship...I have wondered all along about the pool areas.  Of the cruises we've been on so far, there is never room in the main pool.  I have wondered how they deal with that on the larger ship with so many more people and not, at least in my estimation, pools that would also be that much larger to handle the crowds.  Even in the Solariums, we have NEVER been able to snag a seat in the sun around the pool.   If we want sun, we have to go up a deck...then to cool off we walk back down to find a not croweded space in a pool. 

"very gross people soup" make me LOL then gag a little. ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, goblues38 said:

 

Drink Package  was a great buy.  Zero complaints here.  Loved the top shelf booze.  Between water, soda, wine, and drinks we easily got our moneys worth.  But this is also part of the line management problem.  Way to many bars had just one bar tender, and they were all working on island time.  Again, no sense of urgency to help the guests.  You had 2 strategies here.  patiently wait for them to acknowledge you and make you drink.  But then have 3 or 4 other rude guests jump in front of you buy yelling out orders to the bar tender.  or, be one of the rude guests and just be the loudest person at the bar so they make your drinks next.  there was no happy median.  This was true on Coa Coa and all over the ship. 

 

 

Amen to that....I am glad someone else feels this way. But I am not sure its just a Royal issue. Seems like bar service is like this quite often anywhere. I have just learned to either suck up and be really friendly to the bartenders....or tip....or be one of the loud ones if you want to get service.

 

Sad......but true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, goblues38 said:

Family of 4, me, wife (late 40's and 2 girls 12-17)

My main take away is, RC has a line management problem.  Overall, i didn't get the feeling Harmony was a gigantic ship.  Seemed the same size as the Disney Wonder from 10 years ago.  I mean that in terms of public spaces you could go.  The difference to us was in the extra 5 decks of cabins.  Making everywhere you went on the ship crowded and just one line after another.  I call this a line management problem because RC either doesn't care, or doesn't know how to efficiently deal with this congestion.

Embarkation was quick and easy.   From the moment our Uber dropped us off at the terminal around 11:30am, to the time we were on deck 5 was maybe 15 minutes tops.  This was not an issue at all.  The problems started from there.  All the people they have set up to do dinner reservations or excursion things we just painfully slow.  There was no sense of urgency to move things along.  And for every "worker" doing the actual work, it seemed there was another just standing by watching instead of trying to thin out the crowds.

Drink Package  was a great buy.  Zero complaints here.  Loved the top shelf booze.  Between water, soda, wine, and drinks we easily got our moneys worth.  But this is also part of the line management problem.  Way to many bars had just one bar tender, and they were all working on island time.  Again, no sense of urgency to help the guests.  You had 2 strategies here.  patiently wait for them to acknowledge you and make you drink.  But then have 3 or 4 other rude guests jump in front of you buy yelling out orders to the bar tender.  or, be one of the rude guests and just be the loudest person at the bar so they make your drinks next.  there was no happy median.  This was true on Coa Coa and all over the ship. 

Entertainment was awesome.   Grease was great.  Columbus was great.  the Ice Show (something in time) was great.  Both aqua theater shows were great.  the stand up comics were great at both family night, and the adult shows in the attic.  i will say at all these venues, the wait staff did a great job to get drink orders going.

Food was good, not great.  Jamie's Italian was the best meal we had.  Chops was decent, but no where near the "high end" steak house the try to make themselves out to be.  the quality of meat was just not up to standards with any steak house on the mainland US.  Izumi Hibchai was good.  Pretty much your standard hibachi experience.  For what it was, wind Jammer, small bites, and the solarium bistro were great.  Solid cruise / resort buffet food.

Pools were way to crowded on sea days.  It was just very gross people soup.  Way to many people to try and cram into that space.  

Things to do on ship were ok, except the zip line.  What a waste of space.  Way to much work for a 10 second experience.  But things like the rock wall,  mini golf, and flow rider all suffered from the line management problem.  One one occasion, i went to do the Flow Rider with my daughter, knew there would be a line.  Was totally fine with it.  The problem was, after waiting in line for 30 minutes, they just decide to stop allowing guests to ride, so the could do a 20 minute show of "tricks".  this was 2 people before it was to be our turn.  If the could have simply closed off the line, we and many others would have known not to stand in line and waste our time.  These are the little execution problems that remain a memory of our trip more then then anything else.  Mini golf, no management.  just 100 people doing what ever they wanted on a small 9 hole course.

Perfect day Coa Coa Cay was a tale of two swords.  We spent the morning and early afternoon at South Beach in a private bungalow.  This was well worth the money.  There were the perfect amount of people for the space.  We never felt crowded, and everyone got along.  Except the bar.  Again, only one bar tender and he could not keep up with the work load.  Went back to a shouting match over other people to get his attention.  the water park side was fun in the afternoon.  For the most part, the lines were ok for everything but the highest lides or the family raft ride.  The pool area was a big crowded mess.  We decided to avoid the people soup and focus on the rides.

St. Thomas was nice.  Did a taxi ride to the shops down town.  Was very enjoyable.  Then paid a guy in a taxi to takes us on a tour of the island to see most of the views and sites.  very enjoyable day on St. Thomas.

St Maarten was the highlight of the trip.  We paid BOB THE BOAT GUY prior to the trip for a 7 hour excursion, separate from anything RC was doing.  We were matched up with 3 other people for a total of 7 of us in a 36 foot scarab with a captain and first mate.  They took us to 3 separate snorkel / beach spots including Pinnel island.  Allowed us to hook our phones up to the boats awesome stereo, and just had a kick ass time all day.  Plenty of beer and booze for the day.  Good food and great staff.  Again, this was one of the best vacations days we have had in a long time.

Disembarking the boat was easy.  I paid the extra $25 per person for luggage valet.  Put out bags out at 10pm Saturday night, and didn't see them until we picked them up at the baggage carousel at our home airport.  this allowed us to leave our room at 8:00am, and we were through customs and waiting for our Uber by 8:20am.  We made it to MCO by 9:30 for an 11:55am flight.  very stress free.

in closing, we had a good time.  Just not great.  Maybe the act of cruising where you book your trip over 12 months in advance, and you have so much build up to the rip sets the expectations so high.  It was very hard to live up to all the youtube videos and podcasts.  Again, it was 10 years ago, but our memory of the Disney Cruise was great.  We do think if we cruise again, it will be on a smaller ship, and probably a Disney Cruise.  We felt the customer service level, and food were just a notch higher with standards the RC.  Enough that the extra $4k in price would have been justified.

Thanks for reading.  I will try and answer any questions.

I Think Disney might be a good fit for you. If you are willing to spend the extra money for the really awesome customer service Disney has then go for it. But I wouldn't write of cruises completely I just think you didn't find the right line for you.. Disney is coming out with brand new ship I think in 2022 You should look into that. If I could afford it I would totally do the new Disney ship. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cruises aren't for everyone. I've done a few and, honestly, I'm still not convinced. I kind of treat cruising as a way to find a place I like to which I can then spend a week on a land vacation. The first cruise I went on, I hated...then I was convinced to try it again several years later and it got a lot better. The smaller the ship, the better to me.

Maybe try it again...but maybe not. Life is too short to have vacations you don't like. If you don't think cruising is for you, don't let anyone else convince you otherwise. Take your money and do what makes you happiest.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Uber has an online fare estimator.  Try it this weekend at the time you would need Uber.

There are also shuttle companies like Cortans that have reasonable shared shuttle buses.  They pickup at the airport or a number of hotels near the airport in Orlando and offer round trip or one way service.  It isn't as fast an Uber but a whole lot less expensive.  $20 one-way, $40 round trip per passenger.

https://www.cortrans-shuttle.com/

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, monctonguy said:

OUCH!..was that with surge pricing  or something....I am thinking of doing Uber/Lyft and when I looked into it, about $55 from MCO to the port...am I missing something here?

Dont think we were in surge.  Standard uber was like $85....so an extra $15 for the xl...but we needed the room.

"shuttles" were $45 a person each way...with 4 people....uber was the way to go...plus.....i dint want to be part of a shuttle cattle call.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

@JennyB

Took the Harmony last month, and no pool in the Solarium (Solarium Bistro instead), just hot tubs.  In prime time, the other pools are crowded, but in the early AM I saw someone doing laps in one of the pools.  My wife and I had no problem finding lounge chairs in the Solarium, and there are about 3 different levels to sit, read, and relax. 

The pool congestion on the Harmony was no different than on Freedom or Explorer.  One can cool off by taking a dip, but you can't swim unless you go to the beach on port calls.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As a frequent Disney cruiser (15 DCL cruises since 2000, 1 with Princess… and future cruiser on Harmony next August), I can say that pools are packed as well on Dream and Fantasy. I haven't been on their smaller ships for a while, since they don't sail the Carribean any more. Plus Disney has a tendancy to close them for cleaning purposes  every hour, so that you never manage to go to the pool when you wish to. Actually, it is one of the few "cons" I dislike with Disney (although I am a huge DCL fan!)

I do not know about bartenders, since I don't order alcohol on ships. But one thing I love about Disney, is that most everything is all inclusive, hassle-free, hakuna matata style. But for alcohol, that you have to buy seperately. But since there is no such real "all you can drink" package on DCL, people drink less, they do not try to reach their break even on beverages.

One question: do you also have to order your soft drinks at the same time as the cocktail drinkers, and thus experience the "drink battle"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, FroggyFlo said:

One question: do you also have to order your soft drinks at the same time as the cocktail drinkers, and thus experience the "drink battle"?

Yes.  Some ships also have the self-service Freestyle machines, but you need the souvenir cup that comes with the package to use them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 hours ago, goblues38 said:

Dont think we were in surge.  Standard uber was like $85....so an extra $15 for the xl...but we needed the room.

"shuttles" were $45 a person each way...with 4 people....uber was the way to go...plus.....i dint want to be part of a shuttle cattle call.

Interesting....as online it quotes about $50ish for Uber or Lyft......or hire a private SUV and driver is only about $85 each way from airport to cruise which you can arrange ahead of time...seems awful pricey to me based on my experiences...no savings at all to use them....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I loved your write-up and your honest opinions.  

 

I haven't sailed Harmony (next April), but have cruised Lady O twice and am absolutely in love with her.  

I'm new to cruising (57 and my first was only 4 years ago), but have loved all four we've been on.  

 

I guess with us, we don't have super lofty expectations and just want to spend time together and away

from all of the issues at home.  There are enough bars onboard that you should always be able to find one

that you can claim as your own; just be nice, patient, and toss 'em a little cash and you'll be surprised.

 

320 days until we go on Harmony and I'm dying having to wait.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...