Well I have been home a week now from one of the best cruises I have ever been on. I am of course talking about the Maiden Voyage of Harmony of the Seas which left Southampton on 29th May. We travelled to Southampton on Saturday as wanted to avoid the rush on Sunday as there were 4 ships in port. We travelled to Southampton by train and had a lovely stay at the Grand Harbour Hotel. When we arrived I had a nice surprise waiting in our room as one of my clients had left a bottle of champagne for me to thank me for arranging her cruises. It’s nice to feel appreciated.
I also had another client of mine staying at the hotel so we arranged to meet in the bar for a drink and it is always great to be able to put a face to someone that you speak to on the phone all the time.
Embarkation on Sunday was amazing and from arriving at the port to getting on the ship took about 15 minutes. There was plenty of check-in staff outside the terminal ready to check us in on i-pads and then off we went. The air bridge to get us onto the ship had also been decorated with beautiful flowers and they even had it lined with a red carpet.
We were also given a few welcoming gifts when we arrived with baseball caps, flags for the sailaway and a lanyard for our cards. It didn’t stop there though because during the cruise we were given a gift every day which was a lovely touch.
Whilst we were on board we only dined in the main dining room once as we had booked to go to Sabor, the Mexican and Tequila Restaurant, and to Wonderland. We enjoyed Sabor so much we went there twice, the tortillas and salsa was to die for! We also dined in Johnny Rockets and the used the Windjammer Buffet Restaurant twice as there was a great selection to choose from.
Starter in Sabor- Chicken and Bacon wrapped Jalepenos
Wonderland I have to say was my favourite dining experience. It was like being transported into some magical world and the food was amazing. We were asked if there was anything we didn’t like and then they chose the menu for you and then you were served about 5 courses and they explained what everything was and how it had been made.
Steve borrowed a jacket from the waiter in Wonderland!
Unfortunately I wasn’t brave enough to try “The Abyss” but my husband did. The slide takes you down 10 storeys and you end up on the Broadwalk. I did use the waterslides though and I did have a ride on the carousel. That’s as adventurous as I got!
The entertainment on board was brilliant and we got to do something different every night. Grease was the theatre production on board and it was like seeing it in the West End, everything was so professional. The Ice show was the same although I didn’t quite get the story but the effects and costumes were amazing.
The Aqua theatre is one of my favourites having seen it on Allure and Oasis and this show definitely didn’t disappoint. The production was called “The Fine Line” with high flying feats and mind blowing stunts with physically demanding acrobats.
Bobby Davro was the comedian on board and having seen him before on a P&O cruise I thought his show may have been the same but it was a completely different show and very funny.
The “Tenors of Rock” were also performing and although I have also seen these before on Queen Mary and Ovation of the Seas we enjoyed the show so much we went to see them twice. The fact that they are nice to look at might have had something to do with it too!
One of the highlights for me was the Silent Disco! The Attic which is the Comedy Club was turned into a nightclub once the show was finished and on 2 nights they had 1 hour where they had a Silent Disco. When you go in you are given a headset which had 2 channels on. Both channels had different music playing so you could tune to the one you like best. It was really funny watching people dancing around to different things and you only knew what channel they were on by the colour of the head set. If was even funnier when you took them off and all you can here is everyone singing to what they are listening to but no music in the background at all. It’s an ingenious idea!
I even managed to drag one of my managers along as she was also on board with her husband and son!
We had 2 ports of call on the sailing but we didn’t bother getting off in Vigo as we had been there before. We did get off in Malaga though and we joined 2 of my colleagues who live in Spain for lunch and we had a lovely couple of hours together, although my husband did say his ears were bleeding after listening to us chatting for 2 hours!
Lunch with the Lovely Jess and Sam
A cruise of course wouldn’t be complete without some towel art so here are a few of the ones we had made for us.
I have to say I loved every moment of the cruise and the only thing I can say I that it wasn’t long enough. I will definitely be booking another cruise on harmony soon.!