Transatlantic 2021... AWESOME!!

Harmony of the Seas Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 14
Helpful Votes: 309

Overall rating:

5 out of 5
Harmony of the Seas

13 Night Transatlantic (Barcelona To Port Canaveral)

Sail date: October 31, 2021

Ship: Harmony of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 14548

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 years ago

Review summary

This was the first passenger Transatlantic of the return to cruising for RCL. We only had about 1,100 passengers which was crazy on an Oasis class ship!! But the crew were AMAZING!!!! They were cheerful, helpful, and always askimg if we needed anything. It was like being in a 5-star hotel! The weather was a bit windy and at times 20ft+ seas, but the Harmony handled those with grace with a rhythmic smooth motion.. great for sleeping even in our cabin on deck 14 forward. The ship is amazing to explore and even though it was our 3rd time on the Harmony, I still find little details I hadnt noticed before. The food was great in every venue except the Solarium Bistro... which is weird, since it is usually as good or better than the Windjammer. Speaking of the Windjammer, the crew serves up the food on your plate. Otherwise its the same. Of course they are extra focused on cleaning and protocols all over the ship. Washy-washy... hand sanitizers everywhere, crew always wiping surfaces, and of course masks worn by all crew all the times inside and out. Passengers had to wear masks indoors unless sitting eating or drinking. Not a fan. But it is what it is. We spend most of our time outside, or eating or drinking anyway.. lol Even in the shows, you could remove your mask if you had a drink in hand. Which we always did. Lol btw.. we were tested 3x on the cruise. Once before each port and the day before arrival at PC. Each test was quick and easy... took maybe 10min max each time including the short line. We got our results via email.. Negativo!! 🙂 Embarkation and disembarkation were a breeze... nothing changed their except having to show our paperwork 5x vs 2x... lol. We were on the ship in less than 30 min, and off the ship in 20min counting customs in PC. EASY!!! This was a fantastic transatlantic cruise, and we already have 3 more cruises booked with RCL for 2022... Oasis, Harmony, and an Oct transatlantic out of Rome on the Odyssey. We are excited to be back to cruising!!! 🙂

Embarkation

5 out of 5
We had an 1130 timeslot, and had yo be tested at the Barcelona port. We arrived at 1100, and was tested and on board by 1125. It was a super easy process!!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
The food was great in all the venues except the Solarium Bistro... which is odd, because typically it is just as good if not better than the Windjammer. But the 2x we tried it, the food was luke warm and service was slow. We had dinner in the MDR 10 out of 13 nights. And it was awesome each night... Service all over the ship was GREAT!!!

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5
Even tbough they had to postpone some shows due to waves/wind.. they made up for them later, and still had more thing to do than we had time to do them all.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
The shows were really good... Grease, Headliner comedy and singing, live music across the ship, teo Ice skating shows, and the Hide Away Heist Aqua dive show was awesome!!

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
The service was AMAZING!! The staff was cheerful and happy to be sailing and heading to the USA! Anything we needed the staff tried to accommidate. Our cabin steward Lily kept our cabin clean and kept suprising us with towel animals. Our MDR waiters Mohite and Russel were FANTASTIC... even brining us special Indian appetisers to try. They were also our lunch servers in the Windjammer in the section we typically sat in... so they always had our drinks on the table before we even asked. 👍 All of the staff made this a truely remarkable 13 day transatlantic cruise!!!!

Ship Quality

5 out of 5
The Harmony is our favorite of the 4 current Oasis class ships. We have sailed all four, and each has their pros and cons... but overall the Harmony is our favorite hands down! We have sailed on the Harmony 3x now and I never stop being amazed at the design, and little things I find new on each cruise.

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
The Harmony and Symphony cabins are slightly different than the other two Oasis class ships. Better storage, and a little better design with more outlets. And better bathroom layout as well. The bed was a bit firm. So our cabin steward Lily put a memory foam topper on the bed which did the trick. I slept great all 13 nights being rocked like a baby all the way across the atlantic!! 🙂

Ship tip

1st timers on an Oasis class ship: Research the deck plans ahead of your cruise. Get your bearings and explore the whole ship the 1st day. Use the mobile app calendar to keep track of entertainment and events... you can set your alert however works best for you. And try all the dining options... each has their pros and special features! 👍

Ports of call

Malaga, Spain

5 out of 5
We did the Nerja cave tour and loved it! Amazing cave system and beautiful town as well!

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5
Love Barcelona!!! Had a fantastic time exploring the city on foot and the Boqueria market is always AMAZING!! Its a must do on La Rambla.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
We pulled into Port Canaveral at 6am, and they announced the ship was cleared to start debarking at 730am... We self debarked and was off the ship in 5 min, and through customs by 750am. Super easy!!
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8 Comments

CVCruiser    3 years ago

Nope... No mask required in any open deck areas. Central Park, Boardwalk, Walking track, Solarium, and all of decks 15 and 16 are mask free zones. 👍

HeavenLea75    3 years ago

Did you have to wear a mask when walking on the Broadwalk and Central Park?

izrgreen    3 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to write a review

AuntPinkie    3 years ago

Appreciate your detailed review. Someday we will go on a TA voyage. You made it sound awesome. Glad you enjoyed your cruise.

javawoody    3 years ago

Glad you enjoyed your cruise

Curt34    3 years ago

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

cruising2004    3 years ago

Thank you for the great review! Glad you had a wonderful experience, thanks for sharing.

jameeh    3 years ago

What an amazing cruise, and with only 1100 guests onboard! Great ship tip advice.

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