We chose this cruise because we wanted to check out the ship. We always purchase the drink package and three dinner specialty dining package. With those packages, our cruise is paid in full minus gratuities. We always leave an additional tip when visiting the specialty restaurants because service is top notch. This cruise we didn't enjoy the food at Jaime's but the service was great. We had a terribly meal at Chop's, which was a first for us, but they had us back for free on another night and the food was terrific. For reference, we have been on over 10 RC cruises and have never had a bad meal at Chop's. We were a group of four and sides were forgotten, steaks were all cooked incorrectly, shrimp was overdone and tasted like rubber and the sides we did receive were cold. They made it right and I am happy they did because we'll continue to eat at Chop's. RC, PLEASE play some music in the Solarium....for goodness sake, there are no kids so you can go all in and, instead, there is NO music. It sucks! Also, PLEASE do something about your pizza. It's terrible and since it is the only late night food available other than room service, it impacts us party cruisers greatly! Do go to the Vitality Spa and enjoy the smoothies and juices. I didn't care for the smoothie I got there but the juices were incredible. I started every day with one! Breakfasts are pretty bad on this ship too but the Windjammer staff was great and I always found someone to bring me a mimosa. My favorite breakfast on the ship was a pineapple, strawberry, cucumber and mint juice and a mimosa (while my husband had weird eggs). Must check out the tutti salad lunch on sea days in the main dining room...only runs from 11:45-1:15. They have the best desserts and buffet on the ship. They always had a flavorful curry and the caramel cake is to DIE for! Flan was good here too. No pool in the Solarium on this ship, a little disappointing and no music, as stated earlier. Loved the casino on this ship....the bartenders and the drink runners are all fantastic. Won bucks on the slots and tables here, which is always fun. The red party and white party were just okay. Karaoke is fun and the band Temperatures at Dazzles was fantastic!! Our favorite bars were Rising Tide and Trellis (went here every day for a before dinner drink). Oh, the specialty dining 150 was GREAT!!! That was my favorite specialty dining spot. The grey goose martini, bread, entree were the best. The fried cheesecake was off but not terrible. Give Harmony a shot! We all had a great time. Read Less

Just completed my ninth cruise overall and my first as a solo cruiser. Was very disappointed at the solo gathering. No one showed up the first gathering. At the the first solo and and single lunch two other people showed up (Roy and Sara). Sara was delightful. Never say Roy again. This Asthmatic hated the smoking in the Casino. This is a problem across all Cruise Lines (except Disney (no Casino)). Royal Caribbean is a more laid back atmosphere that Holland America. I believe they are trying to compete with Carnival. The food (in the main dining room) and entertainment is on par with Carnival. If you can afford it, I recommend that you buy the Key package (to get reserved seating section at the shows and the Speciality Dining package. Recommended Shows: The Fine Line (Aqua Show) Headliners: Revoiced Columbus the Musical Was turned off by the hard sell tactics after my massage. Not going to book spa treatments anymore on any future cruises, The beverage packages were a nice feature on Royal Caribbean, I would have liked to have had that on other cruise lines. Bottom Line: If you want a ver casual cruising environment, Royal Caribbean is recommended. If you're looking for something a little more elegant, try a different Cruise Line. Read Less

What a great ship, this was our second time on Harmony and she continues to impress. This time around we opted for the 9 night itinerary and I don't know how we can ever go back to a 7 night cruise. One of the reasons Harmony continues to impress is the staff, the ship is great don't get me wrong but the staff from Captain Johnny, Mark the cruise director to our cabin steward and everyone else was great. We stayed in a Grand Suite which was perfect for three people, plenty of storage space and lots of room in the cabin. One of the perks of being in a suite was that we get access to Coastal Kitchen which was fantastic, Aysun the manager and the entire staff was very helpful and extremely friendly, the food was great, quite a few steps up from the dining room. We also dined at Park 150, Chop's and Jaime's which were fantastic as well, absolutely no complaints about the dining. The only entertainment we watched was the aqua-theater, comedian and the magician and all were great. We didn't attend Grease because we have seen it before and I find it to be to long of a show. The night life on the ship was okay but the nightclub almost never opened before 11pm and by the time it did open it wasn't very lively. On this 9 night itinerary we went to Nassau, St. Thomas, St Maarten, San Juan and Labadee. Nassau is nothing special, you can walk the downtown in an hour, and Atlantis is extremely overpriced, $200 to enjoy the water park is a bit steep. In St. Thomas we walked the downtown on our own which is always nice but you can see that not all of the stores have reopened after the hurricane. In St. Maarten we decided to book an excursion to Maho beach so we can watch the planes fly overhead, this is my only complaint about the entire cruise, the tour was advertised as being 4 1/2 from the time you leave the pier until they drop you back off at the ship. The entire excursion took us 6 1/2 hour leaving us no time to see anything else in St Maarten which happens to be my favorite of all the ports. The two extra hours were due to lots of traffic and our tour operator not being in any rush to get back. Maho Beach, the beach itself was overly crowded making it almost impossible to navigate around so we decided to grab a table at the restaurant to enjoy some drinks and watch the planes until we were rudely told that if we were not eating we could not sit at a table, we took a look at the menu and everything was extremely overpriced so we went to the outdoor bar instead, again at the bar everything was overpriced 2 mojitos and a pina colada was $30.00 and it didn't contain much alcohol, the entire experience felt like I was in a tourist trap. In San Juan we booked a city tour with a stop at the mall, the city tour was great, we learned a lot about Puerto Rico's vast history the stop at the mall was nothing special but I definitely recommend a city tour. We also walked around Old San Juan which is beautiful. In Labadee we kept it simple and spent the day at the beach, Barefoot Beach which is only for suite guest was beautiful, not crowded with plenty of chairs, access to the beach, its own bar, buffet and restrooms so we had no need to leave. The ship overall was great, we had no complaints about the ship, the service and the crew. One thing that continues to bother me though is the drink package policies enacted by RCCL. For those that don't know, if you plan on purchasing a drink package everyone in your cabin must purchase one as well, whether it be an alcohol package or soda package. I know the cruise line is trying to prevent people from abusing the package but when you book a suite you have access to The Suite Lounge and Coastal Kitchen were drinks are already provided so it seems a bit redundant to make everyone purchase the package if you're in a suite. Read Less

Harmony of the Seas is HUGE - and has something for everyone! We are an active family of 5 (with 3 teenagers) and all really enjoyed our cruise. We scored a 9-day itinerary instead of the usual 7 days, and loved the extra ports plus felt like we had time to relax and enjoy the ship. Embarkation - we flew into Ft. Lauderdale the night before, the airport / hotels / cruise port are very close and easy to get to. Boarding the ship was quick and easy thanks to completing info online in advance, and then picking up SeaPass cards at our staterooms after boarding. Disembarking was also smooth and easy. Ship Activities - So much to do! We enjoyed the zip line, flow rider, rock climbing wall, water slides, Abyss slide and did the Escape Room just to name a few. Fitness center is excellent. Teen Activities - they have a separate Cruise Compass with teen activities, broken down by 12-14 and 15-17 age brackets. My son especially enjoyed the sports court with teen basketball, etc and the flow rider. The kids have a nice "living room" area to hang out with ping pong, the Mini Bites restaurant, and stuff for them to do. Entertainment - We enjoyed all the shows. Grease was great, Columbus was a little wacky (had tap dancing sharks!) but fun; we loved the ice skating show and the Aqua Theater Fine Line show. All of the entertainers were extremely talented and did a great job. Reserve shows online as early as you can - the reservations fill up and some (Aqua shows) have long lines of people without reservations waiting. If the seas are rough the Aqua show will cancel and reschedule. Main Dining Room - we really enjoy the MDR, we ate there every night. It had something for all of our different tastes (including our kids), and if we didn't care for something we just got a different item instead. Waitstaff was great about making sure we enjoyed the food, and gave excellent service. Breakfast buffet in MDR was also great. Windjammer - crowded and hard to find an open table, but lots of food choices and we liked the food. It's shaped like a long narrow "U" shape, and it's really hard to find a family member if they are already sitting somewhere. VOOM internet - the ship is so big we paid the $ to get internet for all of us & texted A LOT to touch base when we wanted to find each other. Even when searching for each other in the Windjammer. Internet was very good. Watch for pre-cruise discounts on VOOM internet in Cruise Planner in advance, you can get a 4-device package (4 people can use) for a good discount. Since we had 5 of us, I booked a Deluxe Beverage with VOOM package for myself to get the 5th internet connection. Deluxe Beverage Pkg - I thought it was worthwhile for me. I got a couple hazelnut latte's each morning in Cafe Promenade, and soda in the afternoons. Every time I went to the bar I got a water bottle and stockpiled in my room fridge so I always had a cold bottle - very convenient. Afternoon frozen drinks by the pool, wine with dinner, a drink at a show or bar in the evening - it's pretty easy for them to add up. Every time I got a drink I also got a water or soda so I didn't load up on too much alcohol and I never had a problem with drinking too much but I felt like I got my money's worth. Pkg works on Labadee too. Consider what other "paid" drinks you would get (vitamin water in the spa, fresh squeezed OJ at breakfast, soda, coffee, bottled water) and add that to alcoholic drinks when deciding if it's worthwhile. Plus once or twice I got drinks I didn't like so I left them behind and got something else. Shore Excursions - We booked through Royal Caribbean for 3 of the ports. Nassau - Balmoral Island beach break - rode ferry to the island which had a really nice beach and 2 pools. It rained on us, but would have been great and relaxing if the weather had cooperated. St Thomas - fantastic! Did the Fast Cat catamaran snorkel and beach break excursion - loved it. Great crew. Clean safe friendly port area. St. Maarten - awesome! My guys did Loterie Farm Zipline Excursion - very active & included ropes course / climbing. They had a great time. My daughter & I did the horseback riding excursion at Lucky Stables, trail riding and rode horses into the ocean. It was great - horses were well cared for, our guide was great, we really enjoyed it. We walked from the cruise port to the town area with shops and restaurants along a beach. Nice and easy to get around. Still some hurricane damage. San Juan - we explored on our own; toured San Cristobal fort ($7 each) - lots to see, we really enjoyed it. Could have gone to El Morro fort with our tickets as well, but we skipped that one and did some sight seeing in Old San Juan. "Umbrella" street was neat to see. We bought some souvenirs and stopped in a cafe for a snack. Everything was easy walking distance from ship. Labadee - great beach day!! Went to Columbus Cove beach (the farthest) it had nice sand and calm water for floating around and relaxing. We took our own inflatable floaties. BBQ lunch was good. Lunch, a bar, and bathrooms were all close and nice. Loved Labadee. Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle - it was fun! There were prizes and giveaways. We had a large group. They had coffee & breakfast there - if I had realized that I would have gotten there earlier and skipped the long coffee line at Cafe Promenade. I wish there had been a little more "mingling" afterwards, but a big group had pre-planned a casino outing right after the Meet & Mingle, so most headed out. It was really nice connecting online in the Roll Call forum before the cruise; the ship is so big I wish I had run into the people we met more often but that's the downfall of a huge ship. We didn't see some of our "new friends" again for the last half of the week. I hope my review is helpful! I read tons of reviews, articles and blogs before our cruise and really appreciated the info when I was planning. Read Less

We chose to sail on the Harmony of the Seas because we had not been on Royal since 2011, when we sailed on the Monarch of the Seas. We were tired of going on Carnival over and over again and we needed something different. That's exactly what we got on the Harmony. This was hands down the best cruise I have ever been on. The ship was absolutely stunning. If you have not been on an Oasis class cruise ship, you should really consider making it your next cruise. The Harmony stood out in so many ways... The staff on board were amazing. Much better than what I have experienced with Carnival and Norwegian. Our room steward would clean two times a day, every single day. He also never had a problem with stopping what he was doing so he could have a conversation with you about your day ashore or about the ship. The next big thing that stood out to me was the room. The cabin on board the Harmony was noticeably bigger than on other cruise ships that I had been on. It was tastefully decorated. There was tons and tons of storage. It was perfect. We stayed in a standard balcony room (ocean facing). The food. The Harmony of the Seas had some of the best food I have ever had, period. The food was absolutely amazing. From the buffet, to the dining room, to the specialty restaurants. All of it was perfect. Regarding the specialty dining... we went to Chops and Wonderland on the ship. Wonderland was fantastic. Our server, Elton... was one of the best crew members that we had the pleasure of meeting on the ship. The food was presented in really neat ways, it was all really good. Overall a great experience. The embarkation process for the Harmony of the Seas in Port Everglades was amazing. We arrived at the cruise terminal at 11:15 and we were on the ship at 11:30... no lie it took only fifteen minutes to give our bags to the porters, check in, get our pictures taken and walk right onto the ship. The entertainment on the Harmony was really good. We only decided to see a couple of shows. But the one that really stood out to me was "The Fine Line" aqua theater show on the back of the ship. The things they were doing was absolutely outstanding. Read Less

First of all sorry for the bad english :-) 3 years ago i got cruising on Oasis of the Seas and i was so well impressed that i decided to sail on another Oasis Class ship. We were 6 women (around 50 yo) from Rome, Italy. It was my 4th cruise with RCI, and 1st for my friends. I could find some differences from Oasis of the seas, more kids on the Harmony maybe caused by the introduction of the Abyss and waterslides, so you couldn't find sometime a place where to be quiet except for the solarium area that is adult only but has not a pool. The many whirlpools were to much hot than on the other ship. The internet voom connection went lost many times and for more than 1 day it didn't work. I noticed there were less people working on the ship, difference underlined in the main dining room where was missing the excellent service i found on the Radiance and then Brilliance of the seas. We arrived at the terminal in Port Everglades from Miami around 11 am and in about a hour we were on the ship. They were well organized and all went quick. My friends were excited entering in the ship from the Promenade at deck 5, they didn't know exactly what to expect. And i was happy to look at their faces. The first day on the ship was more crowded than the others 'cause people had to organize and chose their loved place to stay. We had chosen traditional time at 8.00 pm in the American Icon grill to have always same service and the same table. The food at the main dining was good but not excellent, a few small in choices. The service was good but i think under exstimated for the many people having dinner. For breakfast we went to windjammer and solarium 'cause we wanted to have a seat in the adult pool and the closer place where to eat staying away a short time were these two. (you can't go away rounding on the ship leaving your pool seat reserved) I think that if your group is numerous the windjammer is the best place where to have lunch or breakfast because you can find many different choices. I also loved to go at Park cafè in the fascinating Central Park, so quiet and beautiful surrounded by many plants. We tried the different activity the Abyss, the rock climbing wall, the mini golf, the zipline and we had fun. The shows were great and we loved first of all the Aqua Fine Line, then the show in the studio B, Grease, Columbus.... We had 3 interior cabins and even if they are without window they are comfortable, with the needed space to stay. The cabin attendant also was great. About ports of call, we booked a couple of excursions with Royal on Labadee. The port was a big village well organized even if too much crowded for having lunch. When in Falmouth we reserved a private car with a guide, we went first to Blue Hole (we planned to go to the Dunn's Falls but too crowded) and it was a good choice, then the driver brought us to a market and finally in a public quiet beach to stay laying at the sun and having a swim. In Cozumel, that we liked really deeply, we had friends waiting with their cars and we went to Punta Sur, beautiful place, and then in a private beach. Cozumel has the best sea where to see and swim with fishes. At the end of all i can say that it has been a great cruising time on an amazing Royal ship, and we are already ready to book our next cruise on the same Oasis Class. Read Less

Always heard from earlier cruisers that once you go cruising, you can't go back to your beloved "all-inclusive destinations" and now I know why. Only thing that I can't stress enough is always, always and always take a direct flight no matter the cost. Even though I had planned well,our connection was delayed 8 times ( not a typo ) before it really took off. Never again AA. Speciality restaurants may not be worth extra. Great work was accomplished by the cruise crew. Tired but always smiling and welcoming. Cabin size was not humongous but good enough to have 2 catch asleep after a long tiring / relaxing day. Different dining options made us gain weight. I only wish that port and shore excursions were little longer. Dun's river experience in Jamaica is just breathtaking and a MUST DO. We did all excursions on our own and don't regret saving quite a bit. Read Less

This ship was great, since we are now doing the suite life, the suite lounge and staff were great, from the time we got on till we got off. I would recommend this cruise to anyone. We had the dining plan so only ate once in the main dinning room. The food was great at every venue. Found our new favorite restaurant was Wonderfand. The food was both fun and amazing. The wemsical and happy attitude of the staff was great. Even though we had a group of 5 thus having a odd number of people at the tabl. Food at the coastal kitchen was both well presented and tasted outstanding. Told the family that they had to try something different that they had not eaten before with every meal. While at Labadee we had a Cabana on barefoot beach, this was. One of the best days on the trip. Best no paperwork when disembarking. With luggage valet we were off the sip in less than 5 minutes. Read Less

We planned this vacation around visiting family in Florida and were so excited to cruise with Royal Caribbean again after many years. The ship was large, fun and the staff was very professional. Since it had been many years since we cruised with RCCL we didn't know what to expect. The food in the main dining room was better than we had read in cruise critic reviews. We enjoyed Chopped Grill and the lunch salads/sandwiches at Park cafe for lunch. We are adults (60) and tried the Abyss slide, zip line, flow rider and enjoyed the entertainment. wish there were more adult activities like a cooking class, ship kitchen tour, book discussion (tell passengers title selected for each month, retirement skills Our biggest complaints were the ship staff DID NOT make people wash nor purell before entering the dining rooms and at the eating establishments (despite all the signage and videos). We were fastidious about cleanliness and abstained from buffets but on the second formal night (after my husband ate the lobster dinner) he and I both felt very sick. We were up sick all night and we had to go to the medical compound on deck 2, which was 2 hours backlogged with other sick patients. While I was feeling a bit better by the time we got to see a doctor (3 hours) my husband required intravenous fluids and meds, requiring quarantine status of our cabin. neither of us could eat much and we missed the Labadee port, as that was our quarantine day. That night when we went into the main dining room purell use was mandatory (thank goodness) as the virus was spreading quickly. RCCL offered us a credit only for my husband for one day, which we feel was insufficient and our cruise was negatively impacted as we could not eat nor drink much. our other issue was the "nickel and diming" through the cruise. We felt the cruise was a sales event at every turn. I would prefer to pay more and not have to be constantly up-sold. also, often we could not participate in nightly activities as the venue choice was too small and so many people were turned away, i.e. Karaoke (held in ON Air) no seats and dangerously crowded. BINGO - i tried twice and could not participate as again it was held in ON AIR and no seats or even standing room. Why not use overall, we enjoyed the ship Read Less

I traveled with my wife March 1st. . We had an amazing time. Got to and on the boat with absolutely no issues. T he boat was full and loaded families with kids. Later I was told it was still spring break not aware of that it booking time but it Didn’t matter we were able to escape to the solarium where we spent our days, The reality is though the the pool area was overrun with children. This is kind of a vibe killer but again, the Solarium saved the day. We love the boat and the layout. We were never bored and always kept busy We both work out and use the track and gym and both were phenomenal. The food is cruise food. Remember you’re going on a moderately priced cruise not the queen Elizabeth. If you understand this and look for good food options you will be more then satisfied. The windjammer is a bid crowded at most times try the solarium bistro or some other options for lunch. We always have a balcony this time we just got a large window it was more than fine for us and we saved a lot of money. The evening entertainment and shows ware spectacular I work on Broadway in New York City they were comparable to shows seen there- some even better. Saint Martin, Labadie, and San Juan Nice island stops we didn’t need to do excursions and had a great time anyway. We did a self disembarkation took our luggage off of the boat ourselves And we’re at the airport in minutes. Personally I'd only go on this cruise again if we had kids coming along but that does not mean without them you could not have a ball. BTW the casino is awesome, albeit there is a smokey smell. All of the service was great !!!!! Enjoy. Read Less