Royally Consistent

Royal has been our go-to cruise line forever. Every time we go on a cruise, it's always fun. Harmony is an amazingly beautiful ship. The staff was courteous, the rooms were beautiful, the beds comfortable, the shows top-notch. 

That said, there are some issues. Some minor, others problematic. 

The bionic bar was down a robot the entire length of the cruise.

The rising tide bar had no tide under it. It was simply a bar on an elevator. That was disappointing, since it was a focal point of the Promenade.

The Promenade on this ship, their newest one, was not nearly as nice as the one on Allure. There are small differences, but they were missed. No bakery. No champaign bar or a place to get caviar.

The comedy club was much larger, but with pillars throughout, and an entire section that has to watch the show on a TV because there are no sight lines, it's poorly set up.

The bartenders seemed overwhelmed. They were running around in circles, missing new patrons, and serving others that just arrived while those that had been waiting were bypassed.

The other issue I'm starting to find with RC is the price of their excursions. 

Excursions that are handled by 3rd party vendors are one thing. But at Labadee, the price of their zip-line and rollercoaster is insane. The price on board was $170+ a person. That's pure insanity. 

Also, at Labadee, the sheer amount of local vendors is enough to throw you off from wanting to stay on the island. "Hello! May I ask you something!" "Hello!" "Hello!" After the 30th person coming up trying to get us to look at their crap, my wife and I had enough. We ended up going back to the ship.

The other thing we noticed was the quality of the dinner service at the main dining room. I don't know if they are trying to persuade people to explore their $$ restaurants, but the food was just blah. The servers (specifically Joven) were also quite dismissive and at times rude. 

None of this was enough to ruin our vacation. Royal is still amazing, and will continue to be our go-to cruise line.