Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas has generated a lot of interest among Royal Caribbean fans and first time cruisers alike, and with a ship this intriguing, there are a lot of concerns and questions people may have.

We decided to list answers to some of the most commonly asked questions related specifically to Harmony of the Seas for everyone's future reference.

When can I reserve shows onboard?

Royal Caribbean has added a lot of great entertainment on Harmony of the Seas. Guests are able to reserve shows on their Harmony of the Seas cruise, although when exactly they become available varies from sailing to sailing. The truth is, there is no rule about when these kinds of activities become available for booking, and every sailing can be different.

Typically, we see enteratainment become available to reserve online around 75-60 days prior to the sail date, but your experience may vary.

What exactly is the Wonderland restaurant?

Wonderland is a specialty restaurant that has a cover charge and is an imaginative take on specialty dining, where the experience is just as important as the food offered.

Wonderland first debuted on Royal Caribbean's Quantum-class ships, but Harmony of the Seas is the first Oasis-class ship to offer this unique restaurant. In fact, it is a two-story Wonderland restaurant.

It is loosely based on the Alice in Wonderland books, and features an eccentric design motif.  Dining at Wonderland is more than just another place to eat.  Rather, it is an opportunity to try something completely different and the wait staff is part of the experience as much as the food.

What are the Windjammer hours?

Exact times can change, but here are the Windjammer dining hours we have seen thus far.

• 6:30-7:00am Early bird
• 7:00am - 11:00am Breakfast
• Noon-3:30 Lunch
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Dinner

What is Royal iQ and how does it work?

Royal iQ is Royal Caribbean's smart phone app available on Harmony of the Seas for iOS and Android devices. Royal iQ already let guests track their luggage delivery status on embarkation day, manage a personal calendar of reservations and events, communicate with other guests onboard, book shore excursions and modify existing reservations.

Guests do not need a Voom WiFi plan for the Royal iQ app to work.

Ideally, the app should be downloaded before the cruise and then once onboard, connect to Royal Caribbean's WiFi network and open the app.

The app's core functionality provides the ability to track luggage, manage personal calendar and book shore excursions and dining reservations without any additional cost.

There is a communications option, which costs $7.95 for use onboard and provides the option to text or call someone else that is using the app and has activated their iQ Unlimited Call & Text Package.

Photo by Kayy McKay‎

Each person needs to have the app for the iQ communications package to function.

How do the stateroom lights work?

Staterooms on Harmony of the Seas feature a card slot near the entrance to each stateroom that requires a card to be inserted into it for the lights and air conditioning to work.  This ensures an energy-saving means of reducing the ship's impact on the environment.

Just insert your SeaPass card (or really any card you might have) in the card slot and the lights and air conditioning will remain active as long as the card is in the slot.

What makes Harmony different from other Oasis-class ships?

There are a number of large and subtle differences between Harmony of the Seas and her sister ships, but here are the big ones.

• Harmony of the Seas offers water slides
• Ultimate Abyss is on Harmony of the Seas
• The H2O Zone has been replaced by Splashaway Bay
• Jamie's Italian replaces Giovanni's Table
• Wonderland specialty restaurant is on Harmony of the Seas
• There are different shows and parties on Harmony of the Seas
• Escape the Rubicon puzzle room is available on Harmony of the Seas
• Bionic Bar is available on Harmony of the Seas

What is the Escape the Rubicon puzzle room?

Escape the Rubicon is a puzzle game, which is a timed game where guests compete to figure out a series of clues hidden throughout one room in an allocated amount of time (usually 60 minutes) in order to find the "key" to escaping the room.

After a briefing, guests search a room for clues and hidden messages and then try to put it all together to figure out the key phrase. There are word searches, patterns and other challenges designed to get you thinking in a lot of different directions.

Each game requires at least six guests and is located near the Adventure Ocean club.  Guests can sign up for it once onboard the ship (although some guests have reported seeing it available on the Cruise Planner site).

Can you open balcony partitions?

If you have a connecting balcony stateroom, often guests want to open up the balcony divider between the rooms to allow for a larger balcony space.

The key to getting this done is to ask the stateroom attendant. Talk to your stateroom attendant and ask if you can have the balcony dividers opened up because you are friends with the balcony stateroom(s) next to you.

Who will the Captain and Cruise Director be when Harmony of the Seas does its trans-Atlantic sailing?

Captain Gus Andersson will be Harmony of the Seas' Captain and Abe Hughes will be the cruise director for the repositioning cruise to Harmony of the Seas' new homeport in Port Everglades.

Eventually, Captain Johnny Faevelen will resume his duties aboard Harmony of the Seas. Each Captain takes a 10 week rotation, so Captain Johnny will be the ship's Captain once again sometime after Harmony of the Seas arrives in Port Everglades.

Did we miss your question? Post it in the comments below and we will try our best to answer it!

Today is our third and final day on board the Enchantment of the Seas. The only negative thing I have to say about this cruise is that’s it’s too short!

We are docked in Nassau, Bahamas today from 8AM – 5PM.

We tried ordering room service but kept getting put on hold so we decided to eat at Chops Grill for breakfast.

On Enchantment of the Seas if you are Diamond Plus or staying in a suite, you have a perk of having free breakfast in Chops. The options are like the dining room, but you have outstanding service and not very busy either. I had the ham and cheese omelet and it was much larger than the one I had yesterday from room service. 

Nassau, Bahamas 

We got off the ship around 9AM, and headed to the Queen’s Staircase.

As you are well aware Hurricane Mathew hit the Bahamas very hard this week. First, my thoughts and prayers go out to Nassau as they have quite a recovery to go through. The island looks very bad in a few areas; I saw a lot of trees down everywhere, power lines down, and rooftops down.

Once we arrived to the Queen’s Staircase, I could not believe the condition it was in. If you recall from my last Enchantment of the Seas live blog in February, it was so beautiful. They had trees down everywhere and you were walking through branches.

My experience here did not matter at this point, it was just sad to see it first person.

Once we left our plan was to visit my favorite rum stop, John Watling’s distillery. Halfway there we saw so much storm damage we just could not do it anymore, it was so upsetting to see we turned around for the straw market. The island has been closed for almost a week, so people were extremely aggressive for sales. 

My friends have been telling me about a craft brewery here in Nassau for sometime, so I decided to check it out. The pub is called Pirate Republic and it’s the first thing you see coming off the ship if you head to Senor Frogs direction.

The pub is very cool for those looking for a relaxing spot, and they offer free wifi (with purchase of something). I went with their beer flight, which was $8, and their beer was outstanding. The service was also very good; the staff talked to you and wanted to know about our home life.

Around 1PM we decided to head back to the ship and enjoy one last pool day. 

Afternoon on board 

We headed to the Windjammer for lunch and I got the basic fish and rice. The ship was pretty empty as most everyone was still in Nassau.

Shortly after we ate we enjoyed a few hours on the pool deck. I had wish they had live music playing, but I understand why they don’t since it was pretty empty.

This is when I noticed Empress of the Seas was docked in Nassau too. She was hiding beside another cruise ship and I couldn’t see her.

I did notice they were not asking for our Sea Pass cards on this cruise when you needed pool towel. This policy seems to vary from ship to ship, but it’s mostly to prevent you from leaving the towels all over over the pool deck. 

Evening 

Tonight we enjoyed some live music in the centrum and I really enjoyed it. The last two nights I’ve been kind of disappointed with entertainment, but it was great tonight.

Around 7:30PM we were getting hungry, so off to the main dining room. We had My Time Dining and made reservations for 8:45pm each evening, but we were seated with no problem.

We left one glass worth of wine in the bottle on the first night, and our waiter brought it over to our table tonight. Dinner tonight was a unique dinner options that I hadn’t seen before. I had short rib and a small cut of filet.

Hillary went with a tomato based pasta, which was very plain tasting. The waiter noticed she didn’t like her meal and wanted to bring her something else. They really want you to have a great experience, so if you ever get something you don’t love ask them to change it. 

After dinner, Hillary watched the Presidential debate in our cabin and I went to the Quest. I was 20 minutes late to the quest, dang it if I would just read my Cruise Compass. The game was fun and very adult themed game show as usual.

After the Quest I was walking out through the Schooner Bar and the bartender called me over by name and said grab a seat. I love how the crew really gets to know you in just a short time of 3 days, it’s quite hard to believe how they remember it all. 

Well friends, this ends my 3-night live blog on Enchantment of the Seas. I want to thank you for coming along with me this weekend. It was my 8th time sailing on this ship and the memories just keep building. 

 Random Thoughts:

• Voom worked very well, kept you logged in at all times. Struggles a little on the top pool deck.
• No checking out pool towels
• Octoberfest beer offered at $8, but won’t work with any drink package nor is their a discount.
• Saw beer bucket specials “buy 4 beers get 1 free”
• The crew seem very happy and always smiled.
• The Diamond lounge is open until 9PM for happy hour.
• Park Café no longer serves Roast Beef, just pizza, pre-made sandwhiches and salads. 

 See you next month for my next live blog on Majesty of the Seas!

Royal Caribbean's Grandeur of the Seas arrived in Cape Liberty, New Jersey yesterday after the cruise line decided to divert the cruise ship there for a few days to avoid a storm in the North Atlantic.

Royal Caribbean confirmed on Twitter that Grandeur of the Seas will remain in Bayonne, New Jersey until Tuesday to ensure the safety and security of its guests.

@sttsxm Hey Meg. We've diverted to Cape Liberty for the safety and security of our guests. We'll keep you updated with any changes.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) October 10, 2016

Grandeur of the Seas was originally scheduled to depart from Baltimore on a 5-night sailing to Bermuda, but Hurricane Matthew and Hurricane Nicole changed those plans and the ship was rerouted to Canada.  This new weather system has interrupted those plans as well. 

Because of the unusual change in itinerary, Royal Caribbean will also offer guests onboard a 100% future cruise credit.

@MichelleP14580 Hi Michelle. Grandeur will now stay in New Jersey from Sunday to Tuesday . Guests will receive a 100% future cruise credit.

— Royal Caribbean (@RoyalCaribbean) October 10, 2016

Happy Sunday! It has been a busy week of Royal Caribbean news, and we have it all summarized for you in this round up.

The big news this week was all about the impact of Hurricane Matthew on Royal Caribbean's operations. A number of sailings were impacted, including one Majesty of the Seas cruise that was canceled.

At first, Royal Caribbean delayed the sailing by a day but then decided to cancel the October 8th cruise because of the path of the storm.

The massive hurricane presented too large of a problem for the sailing to operate, and thus, Royal Caribbean took the rare action of actually cancelling the entire cruise.  Royal Caribbean gave guests the choice of a full refund for the cruise fare paid or future cruise credit of 150% of the cruise fare paid.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean's CEO provided an update on damage to its private destinations.
• Guests can save up to 30% off their drink packages before the end of this weekend.
• Hurricane Matthew delayed three ships sailaway times to give guests ample time to arrive.
• Our blogger, Michael Poole, is live blogging from Enchantment of the Seas.
• Top 16 things everyone needs to try at least once on a Royal Caribbean cruise.
• Our full review of Chops Grille on Freedom of the Seas.
• Ovation of the Seas will host professional FlowRider lessons on one sailing.
• Shore excursion review of the Cozumel Food Tour.
• Our picks for the best spots on Allure of the Seas throughout the day.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 166th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, where we discuss what you need to know about choosing a stateroom for your Royal Caribbean cruise.

In this episode, Matt looks at the different stateroom categories available and provides information and tips on choosing the right stateroom for you.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Beyond Ships shared a photo feature of Navigator of the Seas in Europe.

Cruise Critic has a look at why following a hurricane matters.

Eat Sleep Cruise reports on the Royal Suite Class.

Today was our missed Coco Cay day, which is now a sea day. I didn’t really mind spending a fun day around the ship, because it is my favorite ship after all. I woke up at 5:30AM and thought let’s get this day started.

I headed up to the Diamond Lounge for some coffee and relaxing morning. I was so early they didn’t even have any of the pastries out. After relaxing for a while I decided I’d head out to the pool deck to enjoy the sunrise. This might have been the best sunrise I’ve ever seen; I can’t even describe how perfect it was. 

For breakfast we had room service on our balcony, which has become a tradition of ours. One of the perks of a suite is an upgraded room service breakfast menu. Very similar to the menu you would find in the dining room for breakfast. I had a ham and cheese omelet and no less than two pounds of bacon. 

After breakfast we headed to the pool deck, we got worried at first because all the pools were closed. Shortly, after being there the staff opened them both up as guest started to arrive. I’ve always noticed on Enchantment no matter when you try to get a pool chair it’s no problem. This is the one ship that I can think of that there is no rush trying to get up there for a prime location chair. 

For lunch, we had my favorite Park Café which is located in the back of the centrum.

For all those roast beef lovers out there (like myself) they no longer serve any at Park Cafe. So when I need my kummelweck fix I suppose I’ll be doing Oasis class. I did ask why they no longer offer it and they said due to customer feedback requesting pizza. That left me with having a salad, which was quite good, and a nice non-heavy lunch for pool time.

Shortly after lunch we both decided to take a nap, I know… what’s happening to me and my cruise styles? 

Evening on board 

Tonight was formal night, but I only saw one person wearing a suit and tie.

Often on these shorter cruises their formal evenings are not what you would find on a 7+ day cruise. I can’t really say much for myself since I was in shorts, as I forgot to pack any pants. The Crown & Anchor top tier party was combined with the captain’s reception.

They don’t usually do it this way but due to the low guest count of 1,700 only 400 are members of C&A. They have reported around 700+ people didn’t make the cruise due to the hurricane. 

We lounged in the Diamond lounge a bit to enjoy some pre-dinner snacks. They had cheese, rolls, egg rolls, and fried shrimp. I also noticed we were the only ones in the lounge and we stayed a little over an hour. 

Dinner tonight was in Chops Grill, if you are still taking notes I’m wearing shorts in Chops. I went earlier today explaining what happen, and they said no problem. The cover charge here is $35 per person, but we used our Crown and Anchor coupon for Diamond Plus members, where it’s a BOGO cover charge.

The service tonight was outstanding, our waiter was having fun with us and making us laugh all night.

For starters I had shrimp cocktail and mushroom soup.

I went with the NY Strip over the filet. I had this on my Empress of the Seas sailing last month and loved it, so I decided to give it another try. I am happy to report, I ate every bite! Just a really fun dinner, and the staff made it so much more enjoyable. 

After dinner we were really tired but I said lets at least go to the pool deck dancing under the stars party. Well there wasn’t much of a party at 11PM, so we called it day. 

Tomorrow we are in Nassau, Bahamas so I’ll be sure to report our full adventure there and the condition post hurricane.

Ever since Hurricane Matthew passed through the Caribbean, many Royal Caribbean fans have been concerned about what damage the storm had on the cruise line's private destinations.  Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley shared an update with guests aboard Allure of the Seas.

Thanks to Kathy Van Wormer Sanders for sharing this letter

Here is the excerpt from the letter regarding Labadee, "In Haiti, the area near Cap Haitien that is home to Labadee was thankfully spared the worst of the storm.  Our staff was able to remain onsite throughout the week and is making sure the facility is in a clean and safe condition.  The school we operate for local children was closed for several days but class will be back in session next week."

In regards to CocoCay, there were fewer details that Bayley shared, "There are fewer details to share yet in the Bahamas, but he need will no doubt be great, and we will do all we can to assist.  We are in contact with the Bahamian government to understand their most urgent needs and how we can help."

Royal Caribbean is also providing aid and supplies to the people of Haiti, as outlined by Bayley in the letter, "Together with our longtime NGO partner, the Pan-American Development Foundation (PADF), we are already providing relief supplies to affected areas near Port-au-Prince, and have established a matching fund for contributions.  PADF is using our seed money to purchase tarps, water, rice and beans for areas hit by the storm.  There's good news, in that hospitals are operating, but that means medical supplied will be needed soon.  We have also sent trucks with mattresses, sheets and blankets to some hard hit areas, and our ships will also be dropping off supplies."

Royal Caribbean is actively working on providing ways for its guests to donate to help support these efforts, "We expect to have our relief plans for the region fully shaped in the next few days, including ways guests can help."

If you would like to donate towards the rebuilding efforts, consider a donation to the Help Haiti Now effort by PADF.

Due to Hurricane Mathew, our cruise was delayed back into the Port of Miami. I received a text and email last night around 6:00PM advising us not to arrive to the port tomorrow until 5:00pm. Since we live in Tampa, Florida, that just means more sleep for us before we head to the port. 

We arrived to the port at 2:00PM and I noticed people were still coming off the ship, so we decided to come back at 3:45PM. Once we arrive it was actually quite empty with zero lines and boarding had already started. 

Afternoon on board 

We are jumping to afternoon already since it’s 4:00PM, but we headed straight to the pool deck to enjoy our first round of drinks. The ship felt empty as most people were waiting until 5PM to board.

I took my girlfriend, Hillary, to the two lounges available on Enchantment of the Seas for Diamond Plus members – Diamond Lounge and Concierge Lounge.

These two are beside each other and located in the part section of the Viking Crown. 

Cabin 

Well, this my friends, is where today’s blog post gets more interesting.

Yesterday I noticed Crown & Anchor had provided us with a free upgrade from an Ocean View cabin on deck 3 to a category D1 Balcony stateroom on deck 7. Since we were within 24 hours of sailing there was no new luggage tags issued. I wanted to keep this as a surprise to Hillary, so I had to play it off like I printed our wrong luggage tags.

Upon check-in, the agent had some issues finding our cabin, but I told him the new cabin number and we were off. When the cabins were opened at 5:15PM our keys did not work, so off to Guest Services. 

This is where the trouble started.

They said our keys would work in a few minutes when cabins open. Well, that did not happen and we actually saw another couple go into our cabin!

Back to guest services and explained what was happening. It took them an hour to figure out that our cabin was double booked, but they were doing the best they could.

At this point, I’m starting to wonder if we are even sailing, since we don’t have an official cabin. The Guest Services manager comes out and said someone just canceled and we could have their Junior Suite. At this moment, I started to smile.

So off we went to our new cabin, walk in and discover it is actually a Grand Suite!

We were both so excited and all our frustrations were gone. Our cabin attendant stopped by and explained we could have full dinner in the cabin and some other benefits of the suite. 

Evening on board 

Our muster drill was at 8:00PM, and after finishing, went straight to the main dining room for dinner.

We have My Time Dining, and to be honest, the dining room was not very full. With the whole day being thrown off people were likely still unpacking their rooms.

We asked for a table of two and got it with no problem by the window. It was a unique experience seeing the Miami night light while eating.

Our waiter also brought us our Diamond Plus wine they issue you every cruise.

Dinner was Italian night (Matt’s favorite) and I went with the lasagna.

To me it’s nothing special, but I’m also obsessed with Giovanni’s Table lasagna. Dinner was around 1 hour and we decided to head to bed. 

Update on our schedule 

Due to the Hurricane Mathew, we will not be stopping at Coco Cay tomorrow due to the damage. We will now have a sea day and then a stop in Nassau, Bahamas.

We also received a letter saying we would be issued on board credit for ½ a day paid. Based on my math, that’s around $80 for me, so I’m happy with that. 

Stay tuned for a fun action packed sea day!

The effects of Hurricane Matthew are still being felt with three more Royal Caribbean ships that will have a delayed departure.

To give guests more time to arrive to the ship with transportation issues for Freedom of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas.

New departure times are:

• Oasis of the Seas sailing from Port Everglades on Saturday, October 8, will now depart at 7:00 p.m.
• Allure of the Seas sailing from Port Everglades on Sunday, October 9, will now depart at 7:00 p.m.
• Freedom of the Seas sailing from Port Canaveral on Sunday, October 9 will now depart at 9:00 p.m.

If there are any questions, please contact Royal Caribbean at 866-562-7625.

Many guests with cruises booked are reporting seeing up to 30% off certain unlimited beverage packages for their upcoming Royal Caribbean cruises.

Royal Caribbean has been offering 20% the alcohol packages for a while now, but for the next 60 hours, there are now discounts of up to 30% off certain packages.

The exact discount will vary from sailing to sailing, but the Deluxe unlimited alcohol package has been spotted with 20-25% off deals and the Refreshment package has been seen with a 30% discount.

Based on the countdown clock, it appears this promotion ends at midnight on Sunday night, October 9, 2016. This promotion has been extended through midnight on October 10, 2016.

To check if your sailing has this new offer available, log into the Cruise Planner on Royal Caribbean's web site and navigate to the Dining & Beverage section to see any available offers.

If you have a drink package already prepurchased, you should be able to cancel the purchase and then re-purchase the same drink package under this promtion.

Thanks to Royal Caribbean Blog reader Michael C for assisting with this information!

Do you see a similar discount for your sailing? Share the details in the comments and if you will buy one!

Every Friday we share Royal Caribbean cruise photos that our readers sent in, as a means of showcasing great photography and giving all of us a "virtual break" to enjoy the view of being on a cruise.  If you want to send in your photo, use this form and we could feature it in an upcoming post.

Our first photo is of Independence of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas docked in Labadee.  This photo was taken by Joe L. while on his honeymoon and it is a beautiful shot!

Here is a photo of the Solarium on Allure of the Seas, by Bob Carpenter.  Bob said this is one of the most relaxing spots on the ship and I can tell you all from experience that Bob is indeed correct!

Next up is this photo of Dickensons Bay in Antigua by Pamela.  That is one really nice looking beach!

Take a look at this photo by Dan of Explorer of the Seas, as seen from the Space Needle in Seattle.  Hard to beat a view like this!

Tara Franz sent this photo of her daughter performing (she is the butterfly) in an Adventure Ocean show onboard Allure of the Seas.  So cute!

Next is a photo of Grandeur of the Seas, as seen from the beautiful sandy shores of CocoCay.  Emmanuel Mossino shared this photo and it instantly put me in the mood for a beach day.

Our last photo this week is from Richard Dreyer of Central Park on Allure of the Seas. This is my favorite neighborhood on Allure of the Seas, and a great look at how large this space really is.

Thank you to everyone that shared their photos with us this week! If you want to share with us your photos, use this form to send them in!