Beautiful boat but terrible operations

Harmony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 55

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5
Verified Review
Harmony of the Seas

7 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: July 29, 2017

Ship: Harmony of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 9672

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 7 years ago

Review summary

Beautiful boat but way too many people. Very disappointed and would not recommend! Had so many better vacations and extremely upset that I spent the money I did and did not enjoy myself or make good memories. My kids were very disappointed and upset especially since this was their summer vacation trip and it was kind of boring for them and just disappointing.

Embarkation

1 out of 5
Terrible! Way too many people and not enough accommodations. Could not accommodate everyone for my time dining...had to wait entirely too long to be sat for meals. Everything closed at 9pm including activities such as basketball, ping pong, etc. Not enough food options included with your fare. they nickel and dime you for everything. Corporate already has my multiple e-mails for every day I sent one while on the boat explaining all of my complaints in great detail.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
The food was great when we were able to actually sit in the main dining room. it was terrible trying to get in to enjoy the food. The buffets closed entirely too early limiting your options for food after 9pm. Several times only one half of the buffet was open making the lines terribly awful and could not even get in to eat.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5
The options for activities were awesome if you can actually enjoy them. The lines were incredibly too long...worse than waiting in line at Disney for an amusement ride. We waited in line for ziplining and was told my son had to be 75 lbs and I said not an issue as he just went for a school physical and was 76lbs. they weighed him on their scale and tried to tell me he was 67lbs and would not let him go. I went to the medical facility and weighed him and he was 76lbs. It took several days for the sports manager to contact me who met me 2 days before our cruise ended at the medical facility for me to show him he was 76lbs and gave him a wristband so he would not have to be weighed any longer. But the cruise was basically over and I seriously had to go through all of that when I signed the waiver any how? Rock climbing...We waited in line 3 times and each of those times my son was like 4,5,or6 in line to get his shoes and harness and they had shut down that rock climbing wall due to the fine line show. Then the next day we actually stood in line again and when it was our turn to get our shoes, we were told we had to have socks. I did not pack socks as he had the closed toed sandals (mountain shoes) not requiring socks but since we had to use their shoes we had to have socks for hygiene purposes so I asked if I could purchase some...there was not one place on the ship that sold socks. I had to wait until we got off the boat on Jamaica to get socks to then do it. Again, I really had to go through all of that and by that time the cruise was basically over. he only got to enjoy rock climbing and zip lining for 2 days out of the 7. We never got to enjoy ice skating because it was only offered specific times of the day resulting in everyone going in line to attempt to skate. It was entirely too long to wait and we stopped trying. the abyss slide....would be nice to know that you have to be completely dry and have to have long sleeves in order to be allowed to slide. That was quite annoying trying to plan your day around when you can slide. Ex. have to slide first in the day before going to the pool or go to pool first and then change clothes to go slide. All the other activities ended at 9pm. All kids under 18 had a curfew at 1am but what can they do between 9pm and 1am? The teen club was really only music playing and talking along with video games which my teens are not into.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
The Grease show was amazing! We all really enjoyed that show. We did not see the other shows except for the Fine Line show but that was only because we complained to guest services that on the IQ ipad on ship there were no other shows available to reserve and the entertainment director called and scheduled us for the show. Honestly, it was okay. It really did not have a purpose. Not my favorite.

Children's Programs

1 out of 5
My 9 year old son thought the voyagers club was very juvenile and boring. He may be more mature than most 9 year olds, but it did look and seem juvenile. My 14 year old daughter and her 14 year old friend found the teen club boring as well. Why were the pools and everything else closed at 9? not much for this age to do after 9. Very disappointed!!!!!

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Absolutely beautiful ship but too many people and not enough elevators and very poorly organized . When you close everything down and limit accommodations for so many people on the ship, it forces everyone to conjugate at the same places resulting in clusters and chaos. It really needs to be more

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Very nice rooms.

Ship tip

Don't go! Choose another cruise line or ship. Not worth the money. Feels like you are paying to go to school with all of the rules instead of a vacation.

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

4 out of 5

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

4 out of 5

Falmouth, Jamaica

4 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
The elevators were extremely packed and we had to wait forever to use them to get down to the floor to leave. We had to use the elevator as we carried our luggage off for a faster leave.
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14 Comments

Cruiserholics    7 years ago

Love all the "positive" comments about the Harmony. I always check commenters cruise bio to see if they are speaking from Experience or zealous expectations. Some cruisers don't list past cruises so not a definite barometer. Do your homework before cruising and realize after that it may not be your cup of tea.

Cruiserholics    7 years ago

Love all the "positive" comments about the Harmony. I always check commenters cruise bio to see if they are speaking from Experience or zealous expectations. Some cruisers don't list past cruises so not a definite barometer. Do your homework before cruising and realize after that it may not be your cup of tea.

printerguy402    7 years ago

Funny how different people like different ships, I loved this ship, also going back in Feb.. My fourth Oasis class cruise and always love it. We usually stay away from crowds by going to breakfast, lunch, shows etc. at off hours not at prime time. Now we didn't like the Princess Regal because it was so boring for us, even though we're 70, we couldn't sit around like all the other old people were doing playing cards, etc. Other people loved it, so I've learned all ships are not created equal and really study by reading comments and watching all the Utube videos on all the ships. I always feel bad when people have a bad cruise, been there done that. I've also learned not to blame the ship for everything just because of our taste. I would like to tell people not to sail the Regal again but I also know it was my wife and I that needs more entertainment and different kinds of entertainment to make our cruise a success. Fellow cruisers on the Regal loved it and it was their 2nd cruise on it and will do it again. That's how I feel about the Harmony. Hope your family maybe when the kids get older will give these big ships another try. :)

Dadm    7 years ago

Harmony was great. Plenty to do. The RC Staff is more limited now. Seems like longer lines for things because fewer servers. Our only complaint was our room steward. She never spoke to us....yet, she was on the phone all of the time. I would think that Harmony would improve Drink Service for the upcoming months if everyone in the cabin has to purchase.

TripofaLifetime    7 years ago

You make your cruise what you want it to be. Not the other way around. we too had a great time. Each to their own I guess. I will agree that the food in the main dining room was slightly less tasty than previously on Oasis, but wasn't a big deal. It didn't make or break the cruise. I love people that complain about the excursions. That they are expensive. They are cheap compared to what you paid for the cruise overall. Live a little. It you don't get off the boat at each port and do something, you might as well stay in your room and be miserable the whole trip. I avoid those people like the plague.

seasickcyndi    7 years ago

we had a blast on Harmony in January so much so that we are going back in November. 😁

Britluke    7 years ago

Wow!! Do a thorough research before you book a vacation. T'was no secret that the ship can accommodate over 6000 passengers.

rickierocks    7 years ago

Btw, hp5hp51983, I hope you enjoy the Harmony as much as I did. She's an awesome ship and we had an absolute blast!! Happy sailing!!

rickierocks    7 years ago

In my experience on the Harmony, the only times it felt crowded was on the pool deck, pool bars. We did have small wait times going into main dining room (even though we had specific reservations) but it was never more than 20 minutes and the complimentary champagne they handed out while guests were waiting was a nice gesture! Yay for free booze! Certainly too we may have had to wait for elevators but nothing too extreme and it really just depended on the time of day. I think with the larger ships you have to go into it with REALISTIC expectations. Things will take time, you just have to be patient. If you go into it thinking everything will be a breeze you might be disappointed as that's just not how things work all the time.

hp5hp51983    7 years ago

Even though it's stupid expensive you should try Disney Cruise Line. I've been on two and the only way to be bored is if you stayed in your room. I'm going on Harmony in 15 days (woo hoo) and now am getting a little apprehensive because your's is not the first review of overcrowded and not very satisfied.

cardamon    7 years ago

Your children , depending on age, might enjoy Anthem. Just took my children, their spouses, and our 3 grandchildren on 9 night cruise- no expressions of boredom! Something to do all the time- if they are into sports the SeaPlex is great!!

rickierocks    7 years ago

Of course there are a lot of people, the ship can carry over 6000 passengers. As far as the activities for children, there are a TON of things for them to do. Hard to fathom they were bored. I would suggest a smaller ship but that would mean less for the kids to do. Maybe cruising isn't the best type of vacation for your family. Sorry you had a bad time.

g2zanclan    7 years ago

why. What was bad. Just too many people

sandy461    7 years ago

I was talking to someone from Harmony, we were on Celebrity Equinox, docked together. She was disappointed as well. Not enough staff to guest ratio. The dining room, especially. No bar staff, waiters doing it all. For the money, I'd be disappointed too.

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