Incredibly disappointed
Harmony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 3
7 Night Eastern Caribbean & Perfect Day Holiday (Port Canaveral Roundtrip)
Sail date: August 28, 2022
Ship: Harmony of the Seas
Traveled as: Singles/Friends
Reviewed: 2 years ago
Review summary
The food quality and ship cleanliness is very low. I paid double on Royal Caribbean, but got better food, service and comfort on Carnival...which that should definitely not be the case. Don't waste your money at the spa if you want to relax because it is on a lower deck near the equipment for docking, etc...and the sanitation is very questionable.Embarkation
The terminal was packed and seemed to have way more than should be for the assigned check in times
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
If my brother complains, you know there is a problem! I had assigned a specific time and ours got switched without knowledge twice and we never got one of my favorite cruise experiences...having the same dining group and server, more often than not, the food was not hot, not well seasoned, overcooked, etc. We never went to a specialty restaurant and only once went to another main dining room due to it being packed because of formal night. On that night, we actually ate a but of our food because it was much better on deck 4. We were unaware that each deck has a seperate kitchen staff. Sadly, you could faintly smell cigarettes from Casino Royale.
Onboard Activities
The zipline was a cool thought, but very short, Ultimate Abyss (attendants were rude) looks much scarier than it is, but fun. I did not get an opportunity to do Flowrider, the rock climbing wall or go to any of the pools. We got up very early one morning just to go to the pool area and most of the chairs were already taken by towels, but a majority of the people were nowhere to be seen. There was a smoking area bear the pool, so that kept us away having allergies as it was not contained.
Entertainment
My favorite was the fine line in the Aquatheater as I have always wanted to see an aerial arts show. It was also a unique experience being able to see ice skating shows on a ship. I did not really care for iSkate, but 1887 was great...it is such a small rink and must be difficult for them to do some of their tricks with very little room to pick up speed though.
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
I have always had great service on all of my previous cruises, but not so much this time. At main dining, we ran out of water often, orders were mixed up, room steward going through our things and moving them and the staff just did not seem as friendly as normal. I know they are overworked on back to back cruises. We found out our stateroom steward had 17 rooms to clean twice a day, which left him with not the time to properly do everything. I was cut during my facial and developed an infection on my spine from a rash and oil during a massage. Guest services reps had trouble understanding, my account was messed up and still hasn't been fixed. I had been standing there for an hour trying to get it resolved and they ended up making me get off of the ship without resolving it, so I am having to deal with my band and corporate. We had gotten a drink package and didnt know until halfway through that we were supposed to have a specific cup, which was never left in our room nor were we given the info. We didn't know until 2 days before the cruise ended that we could get bottled water with our package because we had been wrongly told at the beginning, the drinks in the vitality health spa separated almost immediately and most of the premixed daiquiri drinks were the same...definitely not worth many hundreds$.
Ship Quality
While HOTS may seem like a beautiful ship, I think they tried to cram too much in to one, which degraded quality in other areas. Being able to smell cigarettes smoke in the dining room coming from the casino, the spa being on deck 6 near the ropes and anchor, so I constantly heard banging during my treatments and could not relax. spa services degraded and I even had to clean our room before unpacking. There was sanitizer frequently, which was great, but the ship was not very clean. There was stickiness all over, dishes left for a long time, dining tables, s&p, etc (especially Windjammer), etc. There were multiple areas where it just smelled awful! The sanitation was very lacking in the spa, but I was unaware when I booked and could not cancel without a penalty fee. During a massage taster, the towel being used on another guest was taken off of his shoulders and put on to mine, I never saw hands washed, when my hair was done-the tools were in an empty Barbicide container and I was never asked to wash my hands before a manicure where polish that is used on multiple guests was used, massage therapist did not wash hands and touched the oil bottle...who knows who else had been massaged that had not taken a shower, etc and then it was used on me. Hindsight is 20/20 after developing an infection.
Cabin / Stateroom
The room could have been amazing! We had an oceanview balcony, which was my first time being able to splurge. The room had grear storage and the shower was much nicer than all other cruises, the lighted mirror vanity was a nice touch. However, the beds were so hard, the room was hot despite keeping it as cool as possible, there was mustiness smell and there was dust and many fingerprints, broken furniture on the balcony, which was dirty as well...the last night I was thrown soda on by an above deck while trying to enjoy dinner
Ship tip
Be very mindful about your personal cleanliness or you may come back with Covid like we did
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas
LOTS of jellydiah... be careful! We also encountered stingrays and sharks in just a couple feet of water
We did the Secret Sands excursion through the ship. It was a waste of money to a public park (that was not disclosed), did not have chairs for everyone, the tour person almost left without us (he said he would walk the beach to get everyone for freshwater showers before we left) and he also was forcefully making sure we tipped him.
This was the most beautiful out of all the ports this trip. We did the Maho Beach excursion through RC, which was only a bus ride to a restaurant beach...we could have taken a taxi for cheaper and then not have had to put a towel on my head being constantly dripped with a/c water above
Disembarkation
Not able to properly settle my bill before being told I needed to leave now