Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas relocated to Port Canaveral on May 6th and made its first seven day sailing on May 12th. My wife and I, along with several neighbors and friends, booked the cruise shortly after the relocation announcement. We all live less than one hour from Port Canaveral so the Harmony will be our home port RCCL ship. The Harmony will be sailing from terminal one, a relatively modern port designed for the Oasis class ships. So we had a new ship, a new port, a new terminal and the first seven day cruise. We booked a grand suite so we have the Harmony and a suite experience from its new home port. Nice!

Embarkation: Efficient and fast. The process starts with a check of paperwork followed by a security check. Check-in begins before 11:00 am but boarding doesn’t begin until about 11:00 am. A lot of people check in early and wait in a large holding area. There is a separate, adjacent holding area with comfortable chairs and couches for suite, diamond plus, and pinnacle members. It is not real large. Check-in is done using iPads, so having checked in on line and holding a sea pass and passport are necessary. Photos may be taken with their iPads if necessary. Boarding is done orderly with the priority area boarding first followed by each RCCL cruisers’ status, so loyalty does have rewards.

We have our own wheelchair so we were met by a “pusher” at the terminal entry who guided us through the process and on to the ship. We did call ahead to ask for assistance and it was provided willingly. Dozens of passengers were in the same situation, some with their own wheelchairs and some just needing one of the RCCL’s chairs to get up the ramp onboard. Read more