Royal Caribbean International sets the standard for quality food and service, fun and diverse entertainment and activities, and cruising innovation. I can vouch for this because I have always had good experiences on this cruise line in the past, but unfortunately I cannot say the same of my most recent experience on the Harmony of the Seas. My husband and I chose to sail Harmony of the Seas for our anniversary because it is the newest and biggest cruise line in the world. It also happened to be sailing from our home port (Port Everglades). We were very satisfied with the cabins and quality of the production of the shows.

However, we were very disappointed with the quality and taste of many of the food selections as well as the disorganization of some of the onboard activities. We ate in the dining room for dinner every night. The food was consistently less than lukewarm in temperature. The vegetables resembled the diced frozen vegetables you get from any grocery store. Many of the dessert selections were not tasty or well-executed. We often visited the Windjammer buffet after dinner because we were not satisfied with the dining room selections. There were faux black olives in the Windjammer, but for the most part, it never let us down.

The theatre/aqua/ice show productions did not skimp on quality, but we did not care for the storylines or concepts. Many of the small classes/activities/demonstrations were either cancelled or the facilitator did not show up or showed up late. We sailed to the eastern Caribbean visiting Nassau, Charlotte Amalie and Philipsburg. The ports of call were pretty standard. We were in Nassau for a very short time and many of us felt cheated because the ship left at 1:00 pm. There is an escape game onboard called Escape the Rubicon which was very fun and challenging. It was probably the highlight of our trip. Beside our dining room waiters and stateroom attendants the staff were not very friendly. We were also sailing at max capacity so it was very crowded. In summary, we felt that there were some significant cutbacks in quality.