Harmony Inaugural Cruise to Nassau, Bahamas

We cruised on Harmony for her inaugural passage out of Port Everglades in Florida with all the fanfare fitting the largest passenger ship in the world.  It was quite a send off.  Normally, she'll cruise seven nights in the Caribbean, but we took advantage of this one-time, three night, shakedown cruise to Nassau, Bahamas.  

Port Everglades had some issues to work out with the embarkation queues to board the ship.  Minor hiccup.  The subsequent departure was delayed an hour or so, but they'll figure that out at the port over time.  

The ship, oh the ship.  It is so grand.  Everything about her is a marvel of engineering, style, and design.  She is absolutely amazing.  Once onboard, the ship absorbs all passengers easily (up to nearly 5500 for double occupancy), and one never feels crowded at any time or any place on board.  There's so much to do.  We rode every slide, including the Abyss on the back during rough seas, and swam in every pool.  We had a drink in every bar, which is a daunting task, but is much easier with a drink package.  You've heard the phrase, a kid in a candy store?  That's this cruise for adults.  There was a mix of age groups; some kids, some teenagers and 20 somethings, some at the opposite end of the spectrum, but predominantly there were mature adult couples I'd say in their 40s, 50s, and 60s having a good time.  

Our stateroom was incredibly large, with a sea-side balcony.  It was larger than some NY hotel rooms.  Unbelievable.  The bathroom had plenty of elbow room for both my wife and me to get ready at the same time.  We were on deck 14, which is the highest, excluding the suites, I believe.  There's no deck 13, so, take that into account.  The view of the ocean, especially at night, from our balcony is something I will remember forever.  Very soothing.

The cuisine, oh, the food.  I had smoked salmon every morning and my wife Mimosas, with a grand buffet of the usual breakfast foods and the not so usual; snacks anytime throughout the day; and a late dinner time, before our even later show time, that served exquisite entrees, like NY Strip, filet, escargot, lobster, and on and on.  The couple next to us one night had three orders of lobster brought out, each.  He said they were small, but that was just an excuse to indulge.  And RCI did indulge.  They couldn't order desert.  They missed out.  It was so good.

The staff, the staff were so professional, courteous, knowledgeable, and especially friendly.  They really know how to pamper you, and make you feel at home.  Quite an impressive crew.  Trained well to server you.

The entertainment is world-class.  Our headliner was a ventriloquist.  We took in an ice show, and of course, the aqua theater is something right out of Vegas.  Quite impressive.  Despite mother nature throwing high winds and heavy seas at us, the ship took it in stride.  We were so busy, anyway.  

One thing I noticed when we returned and took "one last lap" around the deck before disembarking, is the ship is designed to be cleaned.  Workers cleaned every inch of glass, and there's a LOT of glass.  There are rails that I didn't even notice were there until I saw them being used that allow workers to move outside the perimeter of the upper deck, just to clean the outside of the glass.  Everything was cleaned after our cruise in preparation for the next group of lucky travelers that chose their next trip on this great ship. 

Did I mention the hygiene?  The somewhat ubiquitous Windjammer cafe has a row of sinks for handwashing before anyone can enter.  Quite a novel idea.  Also, there are Purell hand sanitizer stations everywhere food is served.  It's just automatic to slide your hand under one as your walking by, just to be safe and ahead of the germ warfare game that RCI wages so well. 

The only "issue" I had was I paid for wifi access, but apparently they opened it up to everyone.  They refunded us, but that slowed it down for everyone that had paid, I think.  It was a bit sluggish at times.  Coverage was impeccable though all throughout the ship.  That's quite impressive in and of itself.  There are thick steel walls floors and ceilings everywhere.  It's a ship.  They must of had some great signal engineers because I never had a problem with wifi at sea bouncing around all those steel surfaces.  With wifi calling, I was able to send and receive calls to home just like a landline or cell call.  Can you hear me now?  Sure can.

We could only break away for a long weekend to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary this month, but I am really looking forward to the day I can take a cruise on Harmony to the eastern Caribbean for a week.  I just got back a few days ago, but I'm already looking forward to an extended stay on the biggest passenger ship in the world.  RCI knocked it out of the park with this one.