mpdobson

This is a review of a Dec. 2nd, 2017 sailing aboard Harmony of the Seas to the Eastern Caribbean (sorry for being so late with it)!This was only my second cruise, with my first coming in 2016 on Allure of the Seas, but I am hooked on cruising. I've only been on the bigger Oasis class ships of Royal Caribbean, and that class of ship definitely appeals to me, with its huge number of restaurants and bars and other things to do on the ship. I feel like the ship is the destination, so it didn't matter that some of our ports of call were in rough shape, like St. Thomas and San Juan. We had a boardwalk balcony stateroom, 6 staterooms from the aft of the ship, with almost a complete view of the AquaTheater from the balcony. This was great for us, because we weren't really interested in going to AquaTheater to get a seat. We wanted the opportunity to view the show for a little while from our balcony, with the option to go into our room whenever we wanted. One thing to note though, is that if you go to bed early, even with the balcony door closed, you will be able to hear music a little bit, although it never kept us from sleeping. I was really pleased with the crew on this ship. There were several bartenders, waiters and stateroom attendant staff which were incredibly helpful, accommodating, and friendly to us - everyone seemed to know our names, which was a great feeling. We visited St. Thomas, San Juan, and Labadee. This was after those devastating hurricanes in 2017 so St. Thomas was still in pretty rough shape. We got off the ship with the intentions of going to Magen’s Bay but the taxi (one of those trucks that has a taxi on the back of it and takes like 20 people) decided to not go there. Took us across the entire island to a remote beach spot that didn’t look amazing, plus it started to rain, and the taxi driver said he’d come back once to pick people up, so we just went straight back to the ship instead of risking getting stranded. No biggie. We did get to see some of the island on the drive. At San Juan, we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the lesser crowds by the pool. Labadee was our favorite port. We rented a cabana which was really expensive but well worth it. Some other things of note. We got the ultimate beverage package and we took advantage of that. If you like to drink on your vacation, that package is worth it. We also got a 5-night dining package. We really loved Jamie’s Italian. We ended up going there 4 times, and Chops twice. In hindsight, I wish I had purchased the ultimate dining package, because of that 6th time going to a specialty restaurant. You live you learn! Anyways, overall Harmony was amazing and I can’t wait to go back soon!

I went on the Allure of the Seas from Oct. 30th to Nov 6th, 2016, with my girlfriend and her immediate family. The ports were Cozumel, Costa Maya and Nassau. This was my first ever cruise and boy, did it deliver! The ship was amazing and the best part of the experience. The Allure is so big that you hardly feel any movement, which was a concern at first but not for long. It really was like a city. If you're into day drinking, there are so many bars to hop around. If you like to drink on your vacations, buy the alcohol package beforehand. So worth it. Central Park was our favorite part of the ship. Such a unique setting for a cruise ship. We Tried a bunch of the specialty restaurants and really enjoyed them too. There were extra costs for that, but hey, we were on vacation and it was worth it. Didn't try the main dining rooms. Went to the buffet at the Windjammer on only the first day. Our stateroom attendant was great. I felt our room was always clean. There's so much more I could say about the experience, we had such a good time. Going on Harmony in December! Can't wait.