Suite snobs in connecting balconies...Will there be Harmony? Apr 28, 2024-May 4, 2024

[melmar02]

Our first view of her.

[Ampurp85]

I love Harmony, it was my favorite Oasis class until I went on Wonder. I was reading that Dallas is expecting extremely horrible weather. I hope that does extend or affect Galveston and your sailaway.

[melmar02]

@Ampurp85We were fortunate and didn't have any bad weather on the drive yesterday. We messaged our neighbor and he said we had rain  but no hail or high winds. When I looked this morning the forecast showed no rain in Galveston until about 7ish. Captain said it was going to be rough with 25-30 knot winds. We all just took Dramamine. This is the farthest forward we have been before, so hopefully it won't be a problem. The crew door to the bridge is maybe 6 rooms down the hall.

Recap of the day and photos coming soon.

[melmar02]

Here's the teen calendarfor the week.

TheSocial.pdf

[GregD]

Have a great cruise. We had so much fun on Harmony!

[Va4fam]

Following along.   We are sailing on Harmony for first time end of October.  

Have a great cruise!

[Carlos A.]

How are your cabins @melmar02? Did they opened the balcony divider?

We have connecting balconies as well for our summer cruise on Harmony

[melmar02]

We're waiting for the aqua show to start,  and I finally have a few minutes to catch up a little. We arrived at the terminal at 10:48am and were onboard by 11am. We decided to brave the Windjammer which didn't start to get too crowded until about 11:45. We got a variety of items and a ton of cookies.

Then we went to our muster station to check in and wait for rooms to open at 1pm. We had barely been in the rooms long enough to set down our carry on bags when there was a knock at out door. It was a crew member delivering our luggage. We got all our bags and quickly unpacked. DH decided to take a quick nap and the kids and I went to explore a bit. First stop - sprinkles.

Next up the teen club, a little table tennis, flowrider waivers, and back to the room.

We met our cabin attendant who had our beds already separated in one of the rooms and the connecting door opened. @Carlos A. we asked if he could also open the balcony divider, and he had the key on him to do so.

Then is was time for sail away. We went up to the pool deck to grab a drink and we were treated to a dolphin show as we pulled away from the dock.

There were at least 5 out there including a mama and baby.

[melmar02]

After sail away, we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner. We stopped by the crown lounge to check out the snackies too.

Roasted tomato soup, crab cake, spinach artichoke dip appetizers. Prime rib, roasted chicken, stuffed portobello mushroom, and chicken saag entrees. Key lime pie, Boston cream pie, and cheese plate for dessert.

Kids went to thr teen club and DH and I tried our luck in the casino. Down a little for the day. We all called it a night around 11pm.

[Ampurp85]

I just realized I have never tried Boston cream pie before . I think it's because I keep mixing it up with banana cream pie and I don't like bananas .

[melmar02]

Here are pics of the cabins.

12152 has the bed closest to the door. I asked 12150 to have the beds separate, but it really makes it tight between the bed and balcony door.

@Carlos A. the last picture is the divider open.

The connecting door (inside the cabin) is nice, but I wish there was a way that we could keep it open if we wanted.

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

22 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

The connecting door is nice, but I wish there was a way that we could keep it open if we wanted.

 

 

So…the connecting door can’t stay open?  Is there a reason why?  I was hoping it would since I will be in Symphony in a few weeks with my daughter and her 2 sons…I have my older grandson with me.  I was thinking I could go out early in the morning for my walk and have the connecting door open.  No?

[melmar02]

17 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

So…the connecting door can’t stay open?  Is there a reason why?  I was hoping it would since I will be in Symphony in a few weeks with my daughter and her 2 sons…I have my older grandson with me.  I was thinking I could go out early in the morning for my walk and have the connecting door open.  No?

Sorry, that was unclear, I'll go back and edit. The door inside the cabin that connects the two rooms closes automatically. It's not locked because we asked that it be opened. It's just really heavy and opens into our room blocking off the area around that side of the bed and the bathroom.

The door between the balconies was opened and locked into place by this little thing.

[melmar02]

They just announced that we are stopping in Cozumel on our way to Roatan. We're dropping the captain off for a medical emergency. He just joined the ship.

[WAAAYTOOO]

49 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

They just announced that we are stopping in Cozumel on our way to Roatan. We're dropping the captain off for a medical emergency. He just joined the ship.

Yikes !  

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

So many medical emergencies lately!  What is going on?  Hoping all the emergencies recover quickly!

[melmar02]

We're coming up on Cozumel,  we passed Mariner- here's the pilot boat with her in the background. Looks like we're headed to the usual dock. Celebrity Apex is there.

Day 2 - we went to the crown lounge for coffee and I really don't like how it is set up. There is only about 3 feet of space to walk in because of the divider making it really cramped if someone gets coffee first then food or tries to go back down the line because they forgot something. 

WJ for breakfast then the kids and I went to the flowrider. We were there about an hour and a half and headed back to the room. DH and I weren't hungry, but the kids wanted to try Mini Bites which is tex-mex snacks by the sports court. Long line and just meh.

The kids went to the teen club for thr afternoon and DH and I found our way back to the casino. I was down. He was up.

We came back to our diamond amenities. 

We tried out the Latin dance class and wound up teaching the instructor a new move or two. 

Formal night - DD ordered the escargot and liked it so much she asked for a second plate. French onion soup and a wedge salad also made it on the table. Entrees- tenderloin, salmon, and beef bourguignon. DH and I also split the lamb Rogan. Desserts- apple cobbler and cappuccino chocolate cake. 

we had Fine Line reservations for 10pm, but the show was canceled due to high waves. We were automatically rescheduled for 10pm on night 4.

 

[melmar02]

Day 3. We had our flowrider lesson at 7:45 this morning, so we decided to order room service to tide the kids over until after the lesson. We brought the desk chair in from the second room and made a table out of the vanity. Flowrider photos are on DH'S phone. I'll get them soon. I got my seated 360 on the boogie board and both the kids were able to self load standing. 

We changed and went to the WJ for brunch which is where they made the announcement we were headed to Cozumel to drop off the captain. We docked next to Apex about 11:30 or 12 and we're passing the tip of the island around 2pm. I took a nap during this time so I am not sure if they closed the shops and casino.

DD and I tried the Abyss and I went on the zip line. She was going to, and got to the edge of the platform 3 times, but just couldn't. Proud of her for even considering it and gearing up!

[melmar02]

We had a 5pm reservation to see Grease. The singing was better than some of the other RC productions we have seen, but there were definite pauses like "what's my line again". Overall, good show. 

It was Italian night in the dining room. The kids both got carpaccio, I had the aranchini  and DH had the minestrone and a salad for appetizers. Chicken parm and  lasagna for the kids. Dh and I had chicken again and steak and split the lamb kofta. Dessert was tirimisu and lemon tarts. 

The kids went to teen club and DH and I went to Dazzles to listen to the jazz quartet for a bit before turning in. 

[fireclan]

20 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

So many medical emergencies lately!  What is going on?  Hoping all the emergencies recover quickly!

On our last cruise, Anthem 3/10-17/2024, I watched 2 passengers leaving by ambulance in Orlando (our first port stop), then we were delayed leaving Nassau by several hours as we waited for an ambulance to come and pick up another passenger. When we finally left Nassau, we had been underway for what seemed like 10 minutes or so and we turned around to head back to drop off another passenger.  On disembarkation morning, while in the line to leave, I heard another Alpha call go out.

[WAAAYTOOO]

39 minutes ago, fireclan said:

On our last cruise, Anthem 3/10-17/2024, I watched 2 passengers leaving by ambulance in Orlando (our first port stop), then we were delayed leaving Nassau by several hours as we waited for an ambulance to come and pick up another passenger. When we finally left Nassau, we had been underway for what seemed like 10 minutes or so and we turned around to head back to drop off another passenger.  On disembarkation morning, while in the line to leave, I heard another Alpha call go out.

Yikes !

[melmar02]

Having fun and full days, will update when I can while at Paradise Beach tomorrow. 

I will say Escape the Rubicon was a go today! And we escaped with a few minutes to spare!

[OCSC Mike]

On 5/2/2024 at 5:20 PM, melmar02 said:

Having fun and full days, will update when I can while at Paradise Beach tomorrow.

Hope you had a great rest of your cruise and the blog just fell victim to "too busy having fun" syndrome.

If you have time, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Paradise Beach at some point.

[melmar02]

On 5/6/2024 at 7:36 AM, OCSC Mike said:

Hope you had a great rest of your cruise and the blog just fell victim to "too busy having fun" syndrome.

If you have time, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Paradise Beach at some point.

Yeah... the wheels fell off on this one. I'll recap the rest of it in case anyone wants the details or to see the pictures. Paradise Beach thoughts coming up. 

[Curt From Canada]

@melmar02 … We were away, and we are sorry we missed this blog. If you had a chance to go dancing on this cruise we would be interested in your thoughts on the dance floors.

For a large ship, the dance floors are still just average on Oasis class ships. We have danced in Dazzles, and Boleros (and end up going back to one with best band).  We have also danced in the Schooner Bar, Central Park and on an elevator (with the Stowaway Piano Player singing Crocodile Rock).  

Still, we are interested in your best dancing experiences on Harmony (we are booked on her next year … and any tips on venues would be greatly appreciated).  

Curt from Canada

[melmar02]

@Curt From Canada Dazzles and Boleros are your best bets. The floor at Boleros is larger because it is a complete circle versus the weird shape at Dazzles. Dazzles had a band, Soul Factor, that played a greater variety of music, but it would have been better suited in Boleros because of the space. Both these floors were tile, so there was a bit more traction than we are used to.

They did have a country dance in Studio B one night. We didn't go, but DS was watching the replay on the TV in the room. It looked like they were really pushing line dancing over two step or shuffle/double progressive. This may be a sail from Galveston thing.

There was quite a bit of space in front of the pool stage bewteen the pools too.

In my opinion, the Oasis class really falls short when it comes to dance space.

[melmar02]

Day 4 - Roatan 

We were greeted at the pier by the shop workers, drummers, and dancers. I don't recall this when i'm previous sailing, but I may have just missed it.

 The kids had room service for breakfast, and we left the ship shortly after it docked for our excursion. We did the 3 stop snorkel through Roatan Getaway Tours. We paid the deposit by PayPal and the balance in cash.

It is pretty easy to get out of the port for a 3rd party excursion. Go straight down the main path and turn right at the exit sign. You go through a pavilion selling tours. Keep following the path and cross the road (inside the port). The exit gate is in front of the two story blue building. All the third party tour operators have to wait across the street, but they are helpful at pointing out each other.

Here's more of a close up of where you get out. Go past the gate for cars, stay to the left in front of the building. 

I have a waterproof case for my phone, but I can't get it to work well in the water. I guess my fingers get too cold to register on the screen. Sorry no snorkeling photos. 

The van used to transport us was clean and the ac was cold. When we arrived at their boat, we were offered water and outfitted with our gear. It was the four of us and one other couple for the first and third of the snorkel stops, another one of their tours joined us for the middle stop there were maybe 10 in that group. All the snorkel locations were close to their dock. We had two guides in the water and saw lots of lobster, barracuda, parrot fish, and the shipwreck just off Coco View dive resort's property. 

At the end of the tour, the couple we were with asked to go to the beach, so we dropped them off on the way back to the ship, and the driver headed back to get them later. 

As we pulled away from the dock the same group came back out and yelled "thank you" in unison.

We got dressed for the evening and headed to the crown lounge where we ran into the Stowaway Piano Player. We had ice show reservations that conflicted with dinner reservations, so we just went to the WJ.

The skaters performed well, and there was only one little bobble, but DH and I didn't care for the show. The graphics on the ice were cool, but we felt the story line was forced. It was good, but we're ok to skip this one next time we are on Harmony next year.

We were supposed to go to the rescheduled aqua show this night, but the kids were exhausted, so we asked Ooma, the crown lounge concierge to reschedule for the next night. She was able to get one reservation and told us she would keep trying to secure the other three and let us know. She was able to get the remaining seats the next day and left voice messages for both rooms.

[OCSC Mike]

39 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

It is pretty easy to get out of the port for a 3rd party excursion.

Thanks for sharing those pics. I wasn't worried about finding it but we have a 3rd party tour in Roatan next month.

[melmar02]

Day 5 - Ship day! (Costa Maya) 

The flowrider was going to open at 9am this morning, and we wanted to be first in line. The kids got a late start after spending the day in the sun at Roatan though so we didn't leave the room for breakfast until a little after 8:30. We thought we would grab a quick bite at Johnny Rockets, but everyone else still on the ship had the same thought. After telling us it would be at least a 30 minute wait, we decided the WJ would have to do. The kids ate quickly and we arrived at the flowrider just after 9 with only one other person using it. I managed to almost get my seated and on the stomach 360s this trip. I can get all the way around, but I need to work on my landing.

When the stand up side opened, we migrated over there. Both the kids can now load themselves onto the machine, but they don't quite have the control needed for the coveted white band. We've decided we're going to get a summer pass for the family to the place near us with a flowrider and practice at least once or twice a week all summer.

We thought about golf, but it was too hot. So we changed for lunch at on the Promenade at Cafe Promenade, Sorrento's, and drinks from the tavern.

Escape the Rubicon reservations were for 1pm. We arrived to the space just outside of Adventure Ocean about 10 minutes early. There were 10 of us in total for this session. They had some technical issue they were trying to fix and said it it took longer than 15 minutes, they would need to reschedule us. Fortunately they were able to resolve the problem, and we were able to escape with a few minutes to spare.

Dinner tonight was at 150 Central Park. We went through 3 loaves of bread...might have been 4.

DS tried the tomato soup, and the rest of us had the short rib appetizer. DS liked the soup part, but not all the "stuff on the bottom". The short ribs were great.

For entrees, DD had the Lobster Thermador, DS and I had the duck duo, and DH got the lamb wellington. His portion was teeny-tiny. Maybe 2-3oz? He was disappointed in the size, and it was just enough since the short rib was substantial. It's hard to tell in this photo, but the meat was maybe 1inch in diameter and just an inch and a half tall? I had this dish on Allure last year and it was at least twice as big.

Dessert was fried cheesecake and the peanut butter tart.

[Ampurp85]

I noticed on Wonder the lamb wellington was small, tiny. I too had the shot rib, so I was full but man I remember it being 3x that size both times I was on Harmony and double that on Allure a few months earlier.

[melmar02]

8 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

I noticed on Wonder the lamb wellington was small, tiny. I too had the shot rib, so I was full but man I remember it being 3x that size both times I was on Harmony and double that on Allure a few months earlier.

Hopefully it was just a one off. Otherwise they need to swap those two dishes, lamb as an app and short rib and entree, on the menu. 

 

We also saw The Fine Line (finally) after dinner. 

[melmar02]

Day 6 - Cozumel 

We let the kids sleep in a little and had room service again before we ventured to Paradise Beach. Currently a taxi for 1-4 people there is $18.

There was only one other ship in port that day, but we went ahead an reserved all-inclusive packages plus the extra passes to use the inflatables, kayaks, and paddle boards. Both the person coordinating the taxis and our driver asked if we had reservations when we told them where we were going. The drive was only 10 minutes or so. When we arrived, we paid our balance and were asked if we wanted a spot by the pool or beach and shade or sun. This was our third time at Paradise Beach and we like to sit in a shady spot by the pool. It was pretty quiet when we arrived, but the pool area soon filled up. Our view for the day - slightly distorted by the panorama setting on my phone.

The three cabanas on the far right behind the kids stayed mostly in the shade all day. The others around the pool got sun all day, but they have gauzy/mesh panels on the sides which can be used to help block out the sun. The cabanas on the beach are all under the trees behind all the beach chairs. They also had a beach wheelchair if needed.

The kids and I headed to the beach to take full advantage of our fun passes. They didn't have the upper body strength to really climb up the inflatables themselves the first time we came, and we only used the pool last time since my mother in law was with us. This time the kids spent a good part of the day out there bouncing around.

We headed back to our chairs an ordered lunch - chips with guacamole and salsa, coconut shrimp, spicy beef and fish tacos, steak quesadillas, and two kinds of pizza. The food was all good. The kids had smoothies and we ordered a few drinks - none were especially strong. They serve Pepsi products. 

We spent a little time in the pool then headed back to the beach for more bouncing, and we tried the kayaks and paddle boards. 

We went back to the pool for a bit and DS took advantage of their floating mats for a while - I think the mats and inner tubes are a new addition from our previous visit. Then we headed back to the ship around 2pm. 

Some notes about the Paradise Beach - the beach entry close to the pier is really rocky, I would stay on the inflatable side if you don't have water shoes. They have a couple small stores - we left the kids' goggles on the ship and had to buy some there. $10 each. Lockers are available to rent for a $20 deposit. 

We like Paradise Beach, but the pool really does get crowded. If we didn't have the kids with us, we would try Nachi Cocom. With the kids, we will most likely come back again.

[melmar02]

It was dress your best / lobster night in the MDR. We had MTD, but we had a table number printed on our cards. Maybe because I reserved the same time each night? Anyway, it was nice having the same waiters and table all week. Our table was by the windows.

Vidalia onion tart, French onion soup, and escargot. 

The kids got lobster. DH and I both ordered the chicken marsala, and the waiter said he would bring our lobsters for the kids. He removed the meat from the tails for the kids, and DD explained to him how you could tell if they were male or female - something to do with their swimmerettes? 

For dessert we had baked Alaska and the chocolate molten cake. 

 We went our separate ways after dinner. Teen club for the kids, and DH and I went to our 10pm Columbus reservation. It was canceled and rescheduled due to technical issues. The 8pm show had also been canceled, and they added a show time on day 7 to accommodate. Seems like the theme of this cruise!

[OCSC Mike]

41 minutes ago, melmar02 said:

We like Paradise Beach, but the pool really does get crowded. If we didn't have the kids with us, we would try Nachi Cocom. With the kids, we will most likely come back again.

Thanks for all the pics and info. We were at Nachi last October and it was super relaxing but the frozen drinks were awful and the food was just OK... that's what led us to try Paradise Beach. I'm sure we'll walk around since we've never been there and hop in the pool or the ocean just to cool off but there will plenty of time spent eating & drinking in our daybed.

[melmar02]

Day 7 - Sea day

The kids just wanted something small so we went to Park Cafe for breakfast. Then we went to the golf course for our traditional family tournament while it was still early and cool. It did not go well for me.

DD and DH went back to the rooms for a nap and DS and I headed back to the flowrider for one last time. The lady from the couple on our excursion in Roatan was in line with us.

We had a quick lunch at Cafe Promenade and Sorrento's again and headed to the theater to see the rescheduled Columbus. It was a go this time! The kids enjoyed it more than Grease because they recognized quite a few of the songs, and the ship is really cool.

There was a second aqua show not listed in the app called Big Daddy's Hideaway Heist showing today only at 3:30 and 5:15. We left the theater at the front of the ship and headed for the theater at the back. Spotted the piano player on the Boardwalk along the way.

DS liked this show better than The Fine Line because there was a story line. I thought the performance was better in Fine Line. We got there really early and sat in the first and second rows because we thought it would be hot in the sun, but the theater was mostly shaded and is was very comfortable. One of the scuba divers in the wings and DH played rock, paper, scissors for a while while waiting for the show to start. 

After the aqua show we headed back to the room to get ready for dinner and start packing.

[melmar02]

We stopped by the Crown Lounge one more time to say bye to Ooma and then headed to dinner. She was great - we've had diamond lounge concierges not even introduce themselves in the past, and she worked the room and followed up on issues. We would love to sail with her again.

Our last meal appetizers were repeats of earlier things - French onion and salad. DS had the turkey dinner, I had the lamb, DH had the salmon (he said it was dry). I don't remember what DD got, and there is no picture? We also split the Indian dish.

Desserts were apple cobbler and the peach triffle.

After dinner we headed back to the room to finish packing and we called it a night.

[melmar02]

Each of the rooms received towel animals on nights 2, 4, and 6, and mini animals on night 7.

We decided to carry our own luggage off the ship and lined up by Sorrento's around 7:30. We were walking off by 7:45 and to the car around 8:15. Breakfast at Buccees and we hit the road. Home by 1:30pm. 

Up next we have 11 night southern Caribbean on Explorer March 2025 and Harmony 8 night western Caribbean and CocoCay from Galveston in the fall of 2025. DH and I would live to add a short one for just us this fall, but we'll have to see. 

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

Just one question…were you happy with your connecting balcony rooms?  

[melmar02]

4 hours ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

Just one question…were you happy with your connecting balcony rooms?  

Om my gosh! That was the whole point of the title, and I didn't address it!

Happy enough. The cost difference has probably pushed us out of the 2 br suite for now, and we would not be comfortable in one room all together. Is it exactly what we want...no. But it was a lot more doable than I expected. Especially since diamonds were allowed in the crown lounge for happy hour this sailing. It was never busy in there - I didn't make it to the Top Tier Event so I don't know the breakdown of passengers. 

With the points from this cruise we only need 9 more to make diamond plus. The extra cruise DH and I are considering this fall is a 5 night in a suite so we would be there before our big one next spring. As a family though, it's going to be connecting balconies, and I'm ok with that.

[Babsy47]

The suites prices on the newer ship have priced me out of the suite life as well.  My last will be in September on Harmony.  Just for kicks and comparison . . . I booked the 4 bdr villa suite with 6 adults and two kids on the day of release (way back when) for around $14,000, about $1,500 per pax for Star Class.  If you think about inclusion of UDP and beverage package at today’s prices, you can really see the increases.  I cannot find anything any more for my large crew that I can see working financially on any of the newer ships that are better for my tot grandkids.  I’m not complaining.  I just remain startled that the ships run full capacity (including suites) at today’s prices!