Outstanding Service, too crowded

Harmony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 3
Helpful Votes: 87

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5
Verified Review
Harmony of the Seas

7 Night Western Caribbean (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)

Sail date: November 03, 2019

Ship: Harmony of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 9632

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

Service at the Port is horrible. Once inside Royal Caribbean takes over and it is very smooth process. All of the food and service everywhere on the ship this cruise was Outstanding. An extra shout out to Jamie's Italian. Phenomenal. Our room Steward was outstanding. Love the toiletries. Dislike the tub, sofa, and chair. I think there are more people on this ship and not really all that much bigger in the common areas. People line up 1 hour ahead of time to see shows. Elevators at dinner time are ridiculous especially if you have a scooter or wheelchair. The buffet area in Windjammer I think seems smaller but more tables so more people? Very crowded all the time even on days at Sea or on the Island. The Dining rooms are way overcrowded you can barely fit. I miss the middle Dining room area with the big round tables and large open area. Now it is just rows and rows and rows on rectangular seating packed in like sardines. I love Royal Caribbean (Obviously we do as Diamond Members) but I don't think I would go on this ship again. I wondered how the people that this was their first cruise would like it? Maybe not? Lastly I do not like the question for Service rating. It should be separated by Dining, Steward, Guest Service, Diamond Lounge etc. Obviously in our case the rating would be a 0 for some and a 10 for others.

Embarkation

3 out of 5
Porters at Port Canaveral are so RUDE, 2nd time we have encountered this there., We were told by Royal Caribbean prior to departing to ask a porter for a wheelchair and they would help us. No that didn't happened we pulled up on the side to drop off our luggage and when asked he pointed to the front door and told us to go inside and ask. Not good service for handicapped people.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
too crowded but I do love the new policy of not letting people reserve a chair for a whole day and only be there for 1 hour.

Diamond Club

1 out of 5

Rude, rude and very rude

Entertainment

3 out of 5
The Headliner show was excellent. The Columbus the Musical was horrible.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Our waitstaff were OUTSTANDING!! Donald, Raffy and Romeo the MaitreD all incredible. Our room steward was also OUTSTANDING! I have given this category 5 stars because I do not want the waitstaff or room steward penalized by others poor service as stated below. We are Diamond Members. Once onboard I learned none of my shows had been "booked" even though every one had a reservation #. It took me two people at Guest Service to finally be told "you didn't save it". Boggles my mind .......how can you get a reservation number without actually having a reserved show??? I thought I was all set. I first went to the Diamond Lounge for assistance after my daughter on night one was told she could not go to the show Grease. We also were traveling with my two Aunts and they got into the show no problem I booked all of the shows for all of us so I thought it was just somehow my Daughters reservation.There was a gentleman at the desk name Gavin. He was the rudest person I have ever encountered from Royal Caribbean not just not helpful actually disrespectful. I showed him I was a Diamond Member and explained that I had booked all the shows for our family members and my Daughter had an issue. He said "we don't help anyone except Diamond and Diamond Plus members". I said "I understand that but I am the one that booked all the reservations and I need help" He said "Lady if you will listen to me we cannot do anything to help your daughter you will need to go see Guest Services". WOW really?? I feel he could have at least check to see if it was just that one show or what was going on. I felt responsible for the booking of these shows and what did I do wrong?? So to Guest Services I go as stated above. Well I left there with tears in my eyes after being told "you have NO show reservations". Again I have let everyone down. I got back to our cabin and told my husband what was going on with Diamond Lounge and Guest Services and that I was giving up. He said no worries he would go down to Guest Services. He was not happy but luckily got Daniella and Dinis to help him. They tried so hard and although we were not able to get all the shows we originally reserved we got a few. My husband felt that they really cared and tried very hard to make us happy. Fortunately my family members were kind and understanding about the shows.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Cleanliness Outstanding. Ship design is way too crowded. We have been on the Oasis and the Allure both more than once. These are also very large ships but never really felt crowded. On the Harmony there were lines everywhere, all the time.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Very clean, bed was very good. I like the new decor. The sofa is the worst sofa I have ever sat on. Looked to me like just a hard twin mattress thrown on a frame. Terrible. The side chair was no better, hard as a rock. The new bathroom design with a bathtub when used for showering is so narrow you can barely stand both feet side by side with your back to the shower head. Loved the toiletries!

Ship tip

Reconsider, way too crowded

Ports of call

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

4 out of 5

Falmouth, Jamaica

4 out of 5

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
smooth and fast
Was this review helpful? 56

3 Comments

wgammon1    4 years ago

Glad you had a good cruise. Thanks for the great review.

cruisereckoning    5 years ago

Glad you had a good time.

Cruiserike0322    5 years ago

Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

Other reviews of this sailing