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hoping to be reunited on harmony... (4.29.23-5.6.23 ~ harmony of the seas)


asquared17

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@Pooch i swear you better be on board by now!! 😂 our flight takes off a little after 1pm, so we will likely be in the air or just about to land when you set sail 💚. please don’t hold my messy handwriting against me. i had an injured hand 😂

 

i have a bright spot in the darkness that is miami airport!!!

terminals H and J are connected; so typically we fly out of H and it’s a hot mess because there’s carpet everywhere and the most horrifying bathrooms you’ve ever encountered with doors that hang sideways off the hinges (you know i am forever scarred by this). BUT.  since J (international) and H terminals are connected, we elected to wait in the food court area between the two terminals. it’s full of natural light and food options (some sketchier than others), but you can see planes taking off and landing and there is an abundance of seating. we camped out in a booth/banquette section, which is a definite improvement from the stiff chairs normally found in the terminal. 

the bathrooms are also newer, clean and well lit. they are a lot like the narnia bathroom tucked away at the end of terminal H, just on a larger scale. 

we’re going to begin the hike down terminal H, carpet and all, to get ready to queue up to board. thankfully we are group 2, so we (hopefully) will not have an issue with overhead space. i’m ready to get on board and sleep/doze off some more. 

hope everyone else’s saturday is going well!!

i will be posting some final thoughts/ pros and cons either tonight or tomorrow 💚

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5 hours ago, asquared17 said:

in our family we have a tradition of taking a final cabin door close video… it’s the equivalent of don’t let the door hit you 😂 on your way out…

IMG_3357.mov

Loved that little clip but the sound of the door closing just made me sad.  😞  Thanks for your blog.  It was fun reading it. 

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my god you guys, i feel like @Ampurp85!!!!

the shenanigans on this flight are HOT. 🔥

there is a woman in the exit row in front of me, and she is THIRSTY. 

she caught sight of the good looking guy i the row across from her and the two empty seats, and made an unsanctioned executive decision to jump over and sit with him. 

she angled every part of her body towards him and began eating her fruit cup, leaning wayyyyy into the middle seat to get closer. they were engaged in convo for quite some time when the gate attendant marched down the aisle and made her move back to her assigned seat. 

she put up a fuss but said she would go. i thought she was going to give the guy a hanky or something like in medieval times, as a token of remembrance. legit she moved an extra two feet away. she’s still leaning towards him like a plant reaching for the sun. 

he told her it was “‘nice talking” and she’s already asking the flight crew if she can move back. 

omg OMG. 

SHE DIDN'T EVEN WAIT 

SHE JUST JUMPED OVER THERE. 

goodbYE FOREVER. 

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@SweetPea you will be happy to know the veuve made it home safely 😍🥰😍 

after The Fall, we slowed down our alcohol intake EVEN THOUGH I WAS NOT CLOSE TO BUZZED WHEN I FELL. 

first load of laundry already in 😂 about to fully unpack and stare happily at my bed. there is nothing like your own bed, am i right??

also, regarding the love connection… when we were deboarding the plane, i had some convo with the male part of the love connection. he was like a very tall, very good looking, younger denzel washington. i can appreciate her thirst. 😂 but she was BOLD 😂

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Also, i need to tell you, like you, I'm a homeopath nut. Your link to the Charcoal tablets? It occurred to me that hospitals don't pump stomachs as much anymore because Charcoal does the trick just as well. For anyone else who clicked on the Charcoal link and found that they are unavailable.... i called the company. It's literally a single person who answers the phone (no prompts). The only reason they're out of stock is because they're moving and they have no bottles left. They'll send you pouches of pills instead of the bottles (big deal).

 

Batman and i are celebrating end of a 12-day stretch of work that included working my birthday, and we're watching movies and getting silly with wine and beer here (but please read assured, we're not talking stomach pumping silly. We're just old and have stuff do to tomorrow) A full test is ensuing later. 💚💚 Thanks for the tip. 

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3 hours ago, melmar02 said:

But did he give his real number or a fake? 🤔 

asking the REAL questions!!!

2 hours ago, SweetPea said:

As long as you enjoy it, i hope you know i don't care where you drink it! Life is too short to drink cheap

a welcome home treat 🥰🥰🥰 i still am feeling loved and spoiled. thank you again!!! 💚💚

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

Also, i need to tell you, like you, I'm a homeopath nut

when i tell you i was taking arnica montana boiron pellets (per my doctor, of course) and that by today i am BARELY sore… you would never know i fell down a flight of stairs. truly. 

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

For anyone else who clicked on the Charcoal link and found that they are unavailable.... i called the company. It's literally a single person who answers the phone (no prompts). The only reason they're out of stock is because they're moving and they have no bottles left. They'll send you pouches of pills instead of the bottles (big deal).

why do i love that you did this so much?? BECAUSE I WOULD HAVE DONE IT ALSO 😂

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

Batman and i are celebrating end of a 12-day stretch of work that included working my birthday, and we're watching movies and getting silly with wine and beer here (but please read assured, we're not talking stomach pumping silly. We're just old and have stuff do to tomorrow) A full test is ensuing later. 💚💚 Thanks for the tip. 

keep me posted!!!!!!! also please please hydrate!! they will soak up EVERYTHING 😳 so definitely want to ensure you are well hydrated too. i found a liquid IV packet in the morning worked well. 

but it’s pointless to take charcoal and then your usual supplements etc because… the charcoal will eat it all. 😂 you have to space it out haha

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I need to also tell you that I've been though the ringer with orthopedic surgeons who insist my x-rays look excellent and have diagnosed me with tendinitis in my left hip and sciatica.  I've done PT and an anti-inflammatory diet for 9 months to no avail.  

 

arnica montana 30c has helped more than PT, until i can find a better ortho doc and get in for an MRI.

I'd never heard of that before. 

 

 

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19 hours ago, SweetPea said:

arnica montana 30c has helped more than PT, until i can find a better ortho doc and get in for an MRI.

I'd never heard of that before.

arnica is a godsend, tbh. when we were on st. barts, pre-covid, they had it in a roller gel format that i've yet to find here in the states. i should have stocked up if they'd had it in st. maarten. its the best.

19 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I am here for airport shenanigans. Especially bold women, trying too get a man!!!

the entire time it was happening, i was thinking, 'where is @Ampurp85 when i need her??? this is so up her alley!! 😂

8 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Thanks for this !  ...very important ps

always. learned it the hard way when i had taken advil for some pain relief and was like... i took enough advil i should be feeling SOMETHING by now. and then i realized, oh right. i took charcoal at the same time. welp.

 

7 hours ago, jbrinkm said:

@Pooch are you doing a blog? 🥺 (apparently that's the "pleading" emoji as my daughter just helped me discover...) 

i am pretty sure @Pooch said she won't have an internet package while they are aboard harmony, so we will have to wait for more details, alas!!!

On 5/6/2023 at 7:13 AM, VACruiser said:

13 pages and counting...is there a record for the number of pages for a Live Blog?

i am not sure if there is, but we are certainly one verbose group 😆 rip to everyone who joined this journey late and had to wade through the first half of it 😂

On 5/6/2023 at 1:01 PM, FireFishII said:

Loved that little clip but the sound of the door closing just made me sad.  😞  Thanks for your blog.  It was fun reading it. 

i was sad, too!! it felt so final. but tradition is tradition, and i couldn't let it go 😅 thank you for following along!! 💚

7 hours ago, Rags1 said:

I’ve absolutely loved following all of this!  Your writing style and humor had me looking forward to more everyday. I’m glad you had an amazing time and made it home safely. Thanks for the fun read!  Take care of that finger. 

thank you so much for sticking with me!! it was such a treat to have you and the rest of the reading fam following along 💚 it made for such an interactive experience and i am truly delighted that we all stuck it out for the 13 pages of posts 😂

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time for some pros, cons, and final observations!! 💚

PROS:

  • neighbors + fellow passengers; a completely different deck 11 experience than last time. absolutely UNREAL how opposite it was. our hallway was quiet (other than the typical level of noise) and we hardly ever heard our neighbors on the one side.
  • our cabin; 11229 is one of 8 double balconies on oasis class ships.
    • trade off to that double balcony is that your one cabin wall borders a crew mess room. so when the ice or dishes needed to be swapped out or swept away, we could hear it vividly. i would say we heard it no more than half a dozen times while we were in the room, and i can't speak to what it was like during the day when we were out. we don't spend a lot of time in our cabin, honestly. but the beauty of having a non-sleeping cabin on the one side (and sort of across from us as well, because that's where the corridor broke) was that it made for an otherwise very quiet/peaceful experience. it was nice to come from the forward end of the ship and nook right into our door instead of having to face another endless lineup of doors.
  • guest services; the GS team was great. we had to go down one night and knocked out three issues in a matter of minutes. i think the one crew member who handled everything was even in training, as she had a mentor assisting with getting some of the OBC transferred over to J's account, but you would have never known it, because it was so flawless.
  • the ship; the ship is still pretty new and well maintained. the garden gnomes were even in central park!! we didn't encounter any part of the ship that looked to be rundown or rusted. they even painted certain places near the waterslides one day at sea.
  • sabor;  it was a BLAST; much preferred to el loco fresh, even with the added fee. the guac was freshly prepared, had amazing flavor and we went through two bowls of it! the fresh flour and corn tortillas were to die for. and our meal was just really, really good. i do miss it on other O-class ships (i think just harmony and allure have it now?) but variety is good.
  • jamie's; so delicious, we went TWICE!! boo on me for sleeping on this venue on symphony, but WOW was it phenomenal. i preferred our first night experience, even though we were rushed trying to get to the aqua show, because it was quieter and less frenetic than the energy of the second time, on our final night aboard. we went from twenty percent occupancy to full occupancy in less than 45 minutes and it was LOUD. still, the crew in jamie's were PHENOMENAL, and they were all too happy to help us cash in my diamond vouchers for water each night, so i will sing their praises forever. 🥰
  • coco cay beach club; i know the views on this are polarized due to fees and lunch menu options, but we always have a truly fantastic time. it is peaceful, quiet and exclusive enough that we do not feel overrun. for us, privacy is key, and any time you can escape the 6K + people surrounding you for a tranquil experience is always a plus in my book.
    • i still wouldn't pay non-black friday prices for it, but it's a good value even with the post covid markup. (rip those days of the $59-79 pass)
  • sherry; our cabin attendant was exceptional 💚
    • this is the first cruise we've taken with once a day service (being in a category below a JS) and we found that it really didn't disrupt us at all. in fact, there were nights that we'd come back early and it was to know that we didn't have to kill time for the cabin attendant to finish refreshing the stateroom.
    • even with morning only service, sherry would still check on us at night, or in passing when we saw her. she was always ready to help, and swapped out our ice a few times in the evening despite being "off the hook" with us since we'd had AM cleaning. she gave us wonderful towel animals, including a giraffe, which i have never seen before! and she kept up with our needs for many towels. (i go through so many towels, guys. 😅)


CONS:

  • vintages; one of our very favorite venues on oasis class ships -- especially as the champagne bar has been replaced by the bionic bar on every O-class but allure -- was not the delightful time we had hoped. the number one issue was that they stacked ALL of their glassware on top of their sanitizer equipment -- which gets insanely hot. so every time you'd have champagne or wine -- which was not nearly EVER cold enough, for some reason -- it would go flat/get warm within a minute or two, due to the warm glass. perhaps the crew didn't understand this oversight, or maybe they're not champagne drinkers at all; but it really ruined the experience, and was a total letdown. (yes i know this is a first world problem, 😂 but if you drink champagne, you know what this does.) i'm just glad i didn't have to pay for any of my drinks in vintages and they were all diamond vouchers, because i would have been really upset otherwise. definitely feedback i will be including in the survey.
  • The Fall; i was trying to think if there would have been a better or worse time for this to occur -- midway through the trip as we sailed away from st. maarten, certainly would not have been my choice, especially as i have such fond and wonderful memories of st. maarten over the years. but any earlier in the trip and it would have set a really dour tone to the week, and any later in the trip, and i wouldn't have been able to get home the way i needed to be physically able to do so. i still maintain that swimming in the ocean while at coco cay and all the walking we continued on doing really helped overall.   is this even a con? 😅 yes. it's definitely still a con. no one wants to fall on their cruise.
  • jazz in the park; my LORD but this was loud. we never went to play uno because it was so loud in the park that you couldn't have had a normal level conversation. while it's true our previous cabins did not face CP, we have stayed in a CP balcony before and i never remembered it being this loud, EVER. the final night they were doing a "horns" concert and holy cow was it loud. the good news was, the music usually died around 10pm. but we are sun babies, and if it had ended prior to that, i guarantee you that we would have sacked out 😂
  • disembarkation; it was a mess. we were fortunate enough to get off relatively early in the self-assist line up -- but when you consider that we weren't supposed to be walking off until about 7:30am and they had us lined up and moving to go out the door as early as 7:05... along with TONS of other people... and then we got into the terminal and the staff there was in no way prepared. there were so many bottlenecks and aborted lines and people cutting everywhere and fellow pax getting disgruntled (with good reason) because it was just chaos. and it was chaos with a caliber of passenger that typically knows what they're doing (as far as i know, most new cruisers do NOT do self-assist. but i could be wrong.)


FINAL OBSERVATIONS:

  • we found the crew on harmony was a little sloppy. NOT sloppy in a dirty way. sloppy in a, still learning the ropes and/or had been doing it for too long and was going through the motions, way. i should state this is NOT a reflection of everyone we encountered. it's just that our experience while on symphony was SO OUTSTANDING that this was an area where they outshone the crew on harmony.
    • little things like the crew at park cafe telling me the tuna sandwiches were in the cold case three days in a row, and walking me over and realizing that they weren't in fact there and that's why i was in the panini line 😂
    • the next cruise peeps double processing my reservation and charging me twice instead of noticing that i'd already come to the desk and had it taken care of the day prior. (did they forget to leave a note on the account? did they ignore the note, if there was one? unsure.)
  • we missed the sea. there is something so wonderful about being able to have sailaway and watching the ship come into port from your own balcony. while i respect that there are just as many folks who don't mind any cabin, be it interior or window, etc., we much prefer an ocean balcony. my favorite thing is to look out at that endless blue and just breathe. we couldn't do that this time around, and i also felt that the noise bleed was much more intense with an inward facing balcony than not. we often heard music from the pool deck in the early afternoons if the live band was playing and one night there was a concert/band after dark for a sailaway party that went well after 10pm, that we heard through the doors. (to be fair, my bed was more closely situated toward the door, but even so.) something to consider if you are early birds to sleeping like us 😅
  • we missed the guitar melodies in central park; it was jazz in the park almost every night, so jed and his guitar (a former, calm highlight of ours), were not there. the jazz was okay but it was a LIVELY jazz, not a bluesy, slow jam jazz 😂 it felt much more like big band music or the roaring twenties. i would have thought it more suited to an indoor venue but maybe the demand was too big for it so they moved it outside? unsure.
  • we never had issues getting seats on sea days. granted, we went HELLA early (like, 8am or earlier, EARLY) but we always chose the little section where the "toilet bowl" slide lets out and whether it is because there are only so few chairs that can be in that space in general or because we weren't with the sea (ha, see what i did there?) humanity elsewhere on the pool or sundeck, it felt relatively uncrowded. it also had the benefit of being really close to the showers, which we used a lot to cool off during the day, especially as it was so unbelievably hot. 10/10 would sit here again. while i missed the ocean views, i did NOT miss the wild wind or the people crowding on top of each other. it was like a non-suite, suite seating, if that makes sense. we'll definitely be claiming these seats again on oasis.

 

  • all things considered, i would rank this overall cruise experience better than the past two we've taken in the last six months. whether that was because we've finally gotten our cruise groove back, or we actually SLEPT this time 🙃 -- it was just a much smoother experience. while there were definitely some major wins on symphony, harmony was consistently a better experience from start to finish, even WITH The Fall. however, all of that aside, symphony is still our reigning favorite, and i am excited that we have a swank grand suite booked for her in december of 2024. looking forward to getting back aboard that beauty.

 

things i LOVED + will bring again:

  • charcoal tablets/capsules
  • liquid IV packs
  • my sleep pad/mattress (i swear i do not know how J sleeps without one???)
  • sand free towels
  • arnica montana IN MANY FORMS 😅
  • reusable drinking vessels; wow that sounds so bougie 😅 i had one for my cold brew each morning, a stemless champagne flute -- which went FLYING during The Fall, but was ~recovered -- and of course, my 40oz iron flask for water every day.
  • microfiber towel to dry my hair; if you have a ton of hair like me, please bring one of these. you can hang it out to dry with a magnetic hook at night on your balcony, but it makes the hair drying process go so much faster and made my hair less frizzy.

 

it has been so incredibly fun having you all along!!

thank you all so very much for joining me, for sticking it out on all 13 pages, for the side tangents, the rogue observations, the solidarity in packing lists and more. whether you were a lurker, or you came out of the woodwork once or many times to comment -- i appreciate you so very much.

a live blog is a fun thing to do, but when you have the interaction and feedback among friends, it becomes something truly magical... and none of that would be possible without Y O U !!

 

until next time, my friends!!

-- ali aka "A"

 

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1 hour ago, Robert M said:

I for one can’t wait for you to write your book you mentioned pages ago lol, you live and experience such an interesting life ha !

i really should get to work on this 😂🥰 it would be a honor to let my cruise fam know i had a book coming out!!

thank you so very much for the kind words and support 💚💚

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40 minutes ago, Sweety said:

Thank you for taking us on your journey. I am thinking about taking a cruise on Allure. My hubby’s credit card is in my hands again.

do it jewish GIF

rip your husband's credit card... 😂

allure 😍🥰 she still has the champagne bar, my favorite!!! and no "purple monster" (as twangster correctly calls it) aka the abyss slides in the back, blocking the view. and sabor!! so much to do on allure. she is a beautiful ship.

i hope you book it and get to go!! 💚

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My next group cruise is on Allure out of Galveston in Oct. I am excited for Sabor. It was closed on both of my Harmony and Allure sailings in the past few years.

I enjoyed all the little tangents we went on for this blog. I learned a lot and enjoyed all the twist and turns.

But airport shenanigans......

I flew to Palm Springs today, from Chicago it requires a connection. First flight was a poor wee baby crying the last 30min behind us. A guy in the next row decided he would shoot his shot. He told her he has magic arms and tried to hold and comfort this random baby. Of course she was offended and then the next row over the husband made a point to say something. He nearly knocked this vintage lady over trying to get off the plane in a hurry.  I keep laughing at people trying to make love connections on plane 🤣 😂. Then on our last flight this guy, clearly in his 40s, was flirting hard with my grandmother. He asked her if she wanted to change social media info and she was so confused, it was hilarious when he found out she was in her 80s.

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GOOD MORNING!!!  I have a short window here but wanted to let you all know we all made it on board.  Issue with the shuttle that was my fault but we were able to arrange alternate transportation and boarded about 11am.  Sorry I can’t post more right now but love you all!  Oh, oh guess who is on board?  Super Mario!!’  He has a roped off office on the pool deck and is holding court there!  
And I have presents!!!  My little peeps are so cute!  Thank you my friend.❤️

IMG_1710.jpeg

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11 hours ago, asquared17 said:

do it jewish GIF

rip your husband's credit card... 😂

allure 😍🥰 she still has the champagne bar, my favorite!!! and no "purple monster" (as twangster correctly calls it) aka the abyss slides in the back, blocking the view. and sabor!! so much to do on allure. she is a beautiful ship.

i hope you book it and get to go!! 💚

Booked three day cruise on Allure. Getting the card ready for Alaska 2025. I now have 11 cruises booked. My awesome mentor @WAAAYTOOO.

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10 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

He nearly knocked this vintage lady over trying to get off the plane in a hurry.  I keep laughing at people trying to make love connections on plane

oh my god i’m dying 😂

10 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

on our last flight this guy, clearly in his 40s, was flirting hard with my grandmother. He asked her if she wanted to change social media info and she was so confused, it was hilarious when he found out she was in her 80s.

IM CRYING TEARS 😂😂😂😂 but also YES GRANDMA 💃🏻💃🏻

10 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I enjoyed all the little tangents we went on for this blog. I learned a lot and enjoyed all the twist and turns.

it really made it special; i love a tangent 😂

1 hour ago, Sweety said:

Booked three day cruise on Allure. Getting the card ready for Alaska 2025. I now have 11 cruises booked. My awesome mentor @WAAAYTOOO.

AW YIS!!!!

and we love @WAAAYTOOO💚💚😍🥰 she’s the best 💚💚

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16 hours ago, asquared17 said:

FINAL OBSERVATIONS:

Thank you for your eloquently written live blog.  I really appreciated all the effort and since I have to wait till 2024 to take my next cruise, it allowed me to travel through your eyes.

I did have one question.  I do understand not liking tomatoes, but enjoying tomato sauce as I do as well.  But how can you not like mushrooms but like truffles!!!!!

Thanks again, hope your arm feels better soon.

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3 hours ago, Sokko said:

Thank you for your eloquently written live blog.  I really appreciated all the effort and since I have to wait till 2024 to take my next cruise, it allowed me to travel through your eyes.

thank you for following along!! 2024 is going to come so fast!!

3 hours ago, Sokko said:

I did have one question.  I do understand not liking tomatoes, but enjoying tomato sauce as I do as well.  But how can you not like mushrooms but like truffles!!!!!

omg i haaaaaaate mushrooms. they put me over the edge. i LIVE for truffles 😍

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

The same way you can love Dom Perignon but hate Korbel. 🤣🤣

i can't even put these two in the same category  😆 i immediately thought of andre 🤣

1 hour ago, SweetPea said:

Truffles or bust! I will ask for no mushrooms or pick them out before i touch a bite

this is why we are the same 💚💚

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6 hours ago, Sokko said:

I did have one question.  I do understand not liking tomatoes, but enjoying tomato sauce as I do as well.  But how can you not like mushrooms but like truffles!!!!!

 

I am in the opposite court - give me mushrooms - stay away from truffles.  Mushrooms == good.  Truffles == bad. 

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