Lack of family activities

Harmony of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 8

Overall rating:

4.1 out of 5
Verified Review
Harmony of the Seas

8 Night Western Caribbean & Perfect Day (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 17, 2024

Ship: Harmony of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 7678

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 2 months ago

Review summary

There are too few children and family group activities in the main deck. I understand there are some in the adventure ocean but there should be a lot more in the main deck. I have been to Norweigan and there are a lot more family games on the main deck than this cruise ship, you guys should take a look at their daily compass. When I went to norweigan, we ran out of time to do the family games because there are so many, but on this cruise, this is the 1st time my kids and I had "free time" when none of the activities fit us, so is pretty bad. We don't find ourselves busy enough. There are 7 of us, 3 of them are aged 11, 10 and 3. I have been to anthem of the seas 6 years ago with royal and it was better then too. There is also a female Filipino restaurant supervisor who usually stands outside deck 3 dining hall during dinner time. She checks customers in. She has glasses and a bit chubby. Her customer service is not great. Of the days we have been there, she barely smiles at all the customers as people start checking in and lining up for dinner. She could have improved her friendliness and be more welcoming and at least put on some smiles and greet people. I thought it was just that one day, but for all the nights when we have dinner at main dining on deck 3, she has always had that poker face on her. Please speak to her about it. There is also one lady who works at the 3-6 years old group on adventure ocean. She is white. She is also very unfriendly. We were late 7 minutes from picking up my 3 year old after the session ended because there was a long wait at the elevator all of a sudden. While i was already rushing because I know I am couple minutes late and I also dont want my toddler to feel scared when other kids are already gone, this lady, whom is one of the instructors, scolded us for being late and said this should not happen again. Instead of saying is okay just to act friendly even if she doesnt mean to, she never smiled. You said in a cold voice saying you cannot do this again and sounded like we are doing this on purpose. That was my 1st time sending my 3 years old to the group and that experience had stopped me from sending my child to the room again for the rest of the cruise because i am worried she will not be kind to my child. I feel that she should at least try to act nicer and tell the parents is okay. I apologized 1st thing when I opened the door and she is still being very unfriendly. Please speak to the staff about this. Finally, there were 2 nights when I cannot go to my designated time and dining hall for dinner and so i had to do early dining. I was sent to deck 4 and deck 5 on those nights respectively. I feel that when that happens, the new waiter is very inattentive and not so welcoming to people who randomly shows up. One waiter was a bit nicer but the other waiter on deck 5 was basically rushing us out. We were half way done eating and he keeps coming and trying to pick up our plates several times even though we told him we are still working on it. All of a sudden, he brings us desserts and start taking away some forks and knives and basically giving us the signal that we need to leave. We had a group of 7. My 3 kids went to the bathroom with 2 other adults and without asking, he grabbed everyone's plates without even confirming if we are done or not. My 3 years old was playing with the the sugar packets and had them laid on the table. He shook his head and never had a smile to any of us since we walked in. I understand the waiters want to get tips from the same customers they serve on all those nights from designated timing. But when we have to change or switch our dining times due to watching shows and stuff, all the waiters should still provide the same level of friendliness and attentiveness to the customers. This is very critical as I have heard the same from other friends and colleagues when they go on cruise with royal. They basically think that customers who show up randomly for a night of dinner will not tip anyway so they don't need to provide the same level of customer service and don't give a damn. They made us feel we are inconvenienceing them.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

4 out of 5

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Children's Programs

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Our house keeping guy was awesome, very friendly and attentive.

Ports of call

Cozumel, Mexico

4 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

4 out of 5

Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
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7 Comments

Bertfish     2 months ago

Hmm quite the review. Maybe Disney is a better choice for non stop kid activities? I’m not sure because we’ve never cruised Disney but it seems if kids activities is your focus anthem a kid focused line may be your best bet. Employees are well trained but also human. Having bad days happen to all of us. Being late to pick up your kids means the person who has to wait for you has less time to prepare for their next assignment. If you’re not 10 minutes early…..you’re late! Applies to most things in life.

Gwbigdog     2 months ago

Thanks for sharing

cruising2004     2 months ago

Thank you for your review.

AuntPinkie     2 months ago

Appreciate your detailed summary. Sorry this cruise didn’t meet your expectations.

CruisersWeAre     2 months ago

Cruise with another cruise line, maybe not cruise at all.

banaford     2 months ago

Just FYI, cruiseline will not see this post of complaints. Please email cruise line directly with any concerns or suggestions.

TheVegasSphere     2 months ago

When we have sailed on NCL, the crew generally acted like they are regularly taken below deck and beaten. Maybe it’s because there are so many passengers ready to post long negative diatribes about them online over the smallest perceived slight, so they gave up hope. Just a thought.

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