6 Nights Western Caribbean Cruise

Harmony is Phenomenal - few issues

So my wife and I have been on 6 cruises. We just got off Harmony yesterday and overall we had a great experience. Our room was a balcony overlooking the park which is a great value and we highly recommend it. Looking back on everything, we only had a few negative things to say about it compared to our other cruises. The dining experiences is where the biggest opportunity lies. The food was not good at all compared to other cruises. The preparation was like cafeteria food…no seasoning, no “soul”, plain vegetables and a protein thrown on the plate. The desserts had absolutely no flavor. It was pretty bad and Royal definitely needs to fix this. Our servers were great but brought out each course in rapid succession which felt a bit rushed. We noticed that the staff overall were not as friendly and bubbly as usual but the service was good. The other negative in the dining room was that not many people dressed nice even on formal nights. There should be more emphasis on dress code even if it’s not enforced. I understand not enforcing it but more should be written and talked about as far as acceptable dress code because it ruins the special feel of the dining experience to have people in t shirts when you are wearing a suit. This ship did not have a fancy feel compared to some others. It was very plain looking but well kept. It was really expansive which made for a less crowded experience. The last problem exists on all of the cruises. Someone needs to fix the disembarkation process. It’s even more of a problem on a large ship like this. Maybe they could try getting off the ship by floors and scanning people out by floors and giving times but something has to be done when 6000 people are all trying to use the elevators at the same time and the lines and chaos are crazy! Overall.. a great experience and we would do it all over again

THE BEST CRUISE

This was our 3rd cruise. By far the best experience we have had. Harmony is excellent food, friendly staff, and everything professional. But the entertainers were beyond what we expected. First Grease and Columbus musicals. Many performers were from UK but sang with a New York/Philly Accent. Then the ice skaters were Olympic quality. Then the high wire/water show was beyond comparison. The Windjammer buffet food was great and main dining room was terrific. We had a marvelous time at Costa Maya, Roatan, and Cozumel stops. Well worth the money in every category. Midship is a park with live trees and plants. Then they had numerous musical acts in the middle of the park. Jorge from Argentina was outstanding. The ship's jazz band was very talented and entertaining. Shopping is shopping that my wife really enjoyed apparently (Just looking at my credit card account). We both would recommend this as the best of three cruises in every category, and we really enjoyed the other two.

Awesome time, Service and Food TOP NOTCH!

Just came off a packed spring break cruise with my husband and two older teen girls and despite it being one of the busiest weeks of the year, it was an absolute blast! Embarkation was a pain, the lines were quite long but what made it terrific was the service and food were hands down the best we'd ever experienced on sea or land resort vacations. I feel like if those two areas are top notch, any hiccups can be overlooked as the care and attention is on point to handle whatever comes. My husband and I stayed in an oversized balcony cabin on deck six that was terrific - comfortable beds, nice sheets (super important) but what made it great was that balcony - it was VERY private. I'm not embarrassed to admit we hung out and sunbathed naken with zero concern of peek overs. The first two nights on sea, we slept with the deck door open and the breeze and sound of the ocean all night was a dream to sleep to. Our girls had a boardwalk balcony cabin on 12th with a view of the aquatheatre and loved the convenience of quickly getting to the pools and sport activities. The entertainment at the different bars was really terrific, the musicians were on point and the variety was outstanding. The comedians were hilarious and karaoke at "On Air" was fun to watch. The night club was a blast, the DJ is great and did an excellent job playing musing that appealed to us 90's teens versus today. The only entertainment we really weren't impressed with was the aquatheater choreography - they are no dancers, more like divers and daredevils who throw in some awkward dance moves. The stunts were cool to see however. The gym is really nice - hubby and I are gym rats and the first two sea days it was quite crowded, you need to either go pretty early (Like 7-8a) or wait till 11am as the Tradewinds breakfast is closing (most people rush up just before). They need more free weights - severely lacking there for the size of the ship, but if you're creating on the cable machines, you can do a few exercises per machine to hit the areas you want. Cardio equipment was plentiful, and most people respected the 30 minute limit. As for specialty dining (sorry I'm jumping around, just going through stream of consciousness) we only hit Jamie Oliver's Italian as quite honestly, main dining (we did My Time Dining) was so good that it was hard to justify the extra cost for the other restaurants. The italian was excellent, absolutely on point and it was nice that you could order 1/2 portions of items to try a variety of dishes all with the same cover. My ONLY criticism on the specialty dining is the hard sell you get everythwere to buy more at other restaurants - every server is trained quite well at the two layer sale - they have to ask you twice and while they are nice, they're almost unsincerely so, revealing how well they are trained to "act" nice. They do a good job walking the line. The Tradewinds buffet for breakfast and lunch is absloutely outstanding. Can be tough to find a seat, look for that first before filling your plate, but there were usually seats at the coffee bar open so we usually ate their and it was easy to grab drinks/coffee that way. Room service is dicey - lots of people, cabins are far from the kitchen, expect cold-ish food and food that's been sitting. Ok, on to shore excursions - the first two days (Honduras and Costa Maya) we did third party and they were excellent however be prepared to walk a bit to find your operator as they are located outside of port gates. We booked through Cruises.com where we bought our cruise tickets. The sloth/monkey + zip line + snorkel was fantastic in Honduras, just be aware you can no longer hold the animals per recent changes. DO NOT EAT any tour operator provided/included food in Honduras, you WILL blow it out later (maybe that's a good thing considering the mass quantities you end up eating the two days prior). Santitation standards expecially when it comes to food preparation in Honduras are not up to even Mexico standards and far below US so come prepared with your own snacks in Honduras and wait till you get back on the ship to really eat. Also, for Chrissake don't pet the dogs. I feel like this should go without saying but the mange, fleas and mites were easy to spot and one lady claiming to be a Vet was snuggling a dog saying it was fine only to see her on the way to the medic on board later complaining of severe rash and bites. Costa Maya was awesome - super cool beach town, buy a resort pass and ejoy a fun filled day of all you can drink and play - just be prepared to say "No, Thank you" ALOT to the travelling sales folks. Cozumel we did an excurison to Playa Mia through RCCL and while it was a really nice beach with crystal waters, be prepared with the attempts to be swindled. It's recommended you bring Cash and Credit to this location however staff will attempt to overcharge you and tell you that with cash it's cheaper - super easy to see they're pocketing the cash and charging for "Included" services like an umbrella (make sure you check what your wristband includes). Also, please know if you have littles that there is ZERO safety assurancd at Playa Mia. There are no lifeguards, no security and not safety controls or standards - what I mean by this are these three scenarios: 1) Water Trikes, Jet Skis, Banana boats, Kayaks and speed boats all share the same water way - there is no traffic direction, we saw two major close calls including a jet ski passenger thrown off and almost run over. 2) a very large catamaran came in to dock at the pier that runs through the middle of the beach and next to it is the only "safe" swimmng spot for littles. This things cam barrelling in with staff on the beach waving, clapping and whistleing to an unhearing capatain who literally docked in the middle of it with people and kids running from the water. That was a scary site to see. 3) The water park is 100% at your own risk - lot's of kids means big risk of trampeling, get out there with your kids and protect them. Lastly, Tap water isn't free - those big orange igloo coolers of tap - $3 for a push of the spiggot, absolutely ridiculous. I've got a TD1 Teen who cam prepared with her own cup of ice, she has to stay hydrated with Diabetes and they refused us simple tap water. Said Tap and Bottled water was $3 and $6. I get paying for bottled but denying tap to medical condition with Medical bracelet to me was garbage. All in all though, this trip was terrific, everyone had a great time and I highly recommend the Delux bar/beverage package. Top notch alcohol brands were included and even protein shakes and smoothies at the spa/gym bar too. A $12 upcharge for Don Julio 1942 was well worth it as well, they were healthy pours!