Sweet Harmony

Sweet Harmony and she was.  Drum roll please,  Weighing in at 227,000 Tones and 363m in length she was in the Docks at Southampton and ready to sail. Royal Caribbean’s latest new ship The Awesome Harmony of the Seas.

The long anticipated wait for me was over. A brand new ship and the biggest in the world was due to have it’s inaugural sailing and there we were having the extreme privilege to spend two nights on board before he first sailing. Wow. This ship is awesome.  It certainly has everything you can think of to have at sea. Numerous swimming pools, Hot tubs, Rock climbing walls, Flow-riders, 1400 Seater theatre, Bionic bars, Bars, Restaurants, Ice-Rink, The 10 storey high dry slide. Just to name a few. Where do I start? I had an amazing two nights on board and I would certainly recommend this ship for stays of at least 7 nights to really appreciate all that she has to offer.

I found it surprisingly easy to get about considering her size. I didn’t get lost and with the interactive wall maps around the ship you can’t go wrong. A clever design to make it idiot proof for anyone. Just fabulous.

Ok, let’s take this from the beginning and have a little look back at my experience.

This was my cabin. A Boardwalk view Balcony. Nice and spacious and certainly an improvement on the bathrooms. I did like the new glass doors on the shower. Plenty of space and a good design.

This was a view from my balcony over the Boardwalk. Great view of the Abyss slide and my favourite junk food the American Diner Johnny Rockets.

Personally I wouldn’t through choice book one of these cabins. I do prefer the Ocean view and I felt that these cabins were a nice but not very private. You would have to draw the curtains for some privacy here. It’s quite easy to see into other cabins.

Now Boardwalk has some bars and restaurants and of course the 10 storey high dry slide the Abyss is here. The atmosphere is nice and you would still find it very hard to believe that you are in fact at sea. It’s like a floating resort. I had lunch here and of course I just had to go to Johnny Rockets. It’s well known I love America and I am a big fan of their 50’s style diners.

I do have to say I like the idea of how both Boardwalk and Central Park work. I like the concept of the open space and when you look above it’s the sky you can see like you’re out on top deck. Not like the Promenade where you’re covered. However I do have to criticise this a little. The restaurants are fabulous and as you can imagine on a nice hot summers day it’ll be lovely being there. Real trees and plants in Central Park, the sky above you and the Sun shining on you. But when it rains, you’re going to get wet. I’m certainly not bothered about a bit of rain, however if you we’re going to have lunch like we did at Johnny Rockets you would think that with having seats outside as well as inside they would have things in place to keep people dry. I mean for example, why not something simple like a canopy that they just unwind and those who wish to dine outside still can without getting wet. I mean who wants to eat and have wet food?!

I noticed here that if you sat outside the servers would come to you straight away but there was always a queue to get inside to be seated. You could potentially get wet waiting. I found it hard to believe that something simple like this has been overlooked. Perhaps it hasn’t but they weren’t going to use for this weekend and maybe on future sailings they have them and will get them out. If anyone travels on Harmony in the future and should you have a down pour please let me know what they do with these restaurants. I’d be interested to know. Not that I want you to have a rain of course but you know it can happen anywhere you go.

I love how the ship has done this with Central Park. The real Trees and Plants is just amazing. I love America so seeing sights like this I really appreciated. Almost like being there. The attention to detail is incredible and a lot of effort has gone into this. A few nice shops along here and again a few speciality restaurants if you want o book into one of these as an alternative to the main dining.

This was a beautiful restaurant. Food was very nice, the staff were excellent and would be well worth the cover charge. Steak was delicious.

There are others but this is where we ate and I’d recommend the Chops Grille for sure.

Other places to eat like, Jamie’s Italian, Sorrento’s and the Amazing Wonderland. You even use a paint brush to reveal the menu. Beautifully decorated inside.

As always on the larger Royal Caribbean ships there is the Royal Promenade. Shops, Bars, Restaurants, cafe’s and wonderful street entertainment with live bands in the evening. Great atmosphere and fun for all to enjoy.

You’ll find nice casual pubs, designer shops like this from Kate Spade. I kept that quiet from my Girlfriend or she’d have been wanting a new bag.

The ship throughout has beautiful décor and it’s just stunning. The pictures don’t do it justice and you really have to get on board to see it.

Another nice bar was the Schooner’s bar. The Solarium bar, and The Rising Tide bar. I’d never seen this before on a ship. Limited spaces but it actually rises like a lift. You can board on either floor. However there are only certain drinks served in this bar. Amazing all the same.

The Bionic bar is awesome. Have a couple of Robotic arms serve you your drink. What’s the World coming to? We’ll soon have no staff, this could be the first step to having Robots do everything for us. Perhaps not that drastic but this is very impressive to watch.

Fancy some other entertainment? Instead of a Theatre show or an Ice Skating show at Studio B

There are alternatives like a relaxed atmosphere at a Jazz bar.

 

Myself I’m quite a fan of Karaoke, Just One Coke-Cola and I’m first up. No shame and don’t need alcohol to participate. The On-Air club would be great fro me. Unfortunately due to other plans I wasn’t able to participate but I will make time on my next cruise.

All around the ships as mentioned before they have these digital dashboards which are most useful and will certainly help you if you get a little lost or jst need some help.

A great idea. I had to try it and put “Find my cabin” It showed me where I was, where my cabin was and how to get there. Just perfect. Not sure I’d attempt to use it had I perhaps had one too many.

Like all cruise ships, there is a casino. This being no different. Vegas style. Plenty of room at the Casino Royale. Lots of tables, bars for drinks and a great atmosphere.

 

 

Of course for fun and entertainment on top deck or away from everything inside, you have the Floe Rider, The Abyss Slide and many more.

The Flow Rider has become very popular recently on Royal Caribbean ships. I personally didn’t try it and I do think the more confident and perhaps some show-offs will like this. Not really my cup of tea as I’m not into surfing anyway. Maybe a poor excuse for not trying it but it’s the best I got.

The Abyss slide looked  a lot of fun. This I would do but again wasn’t able to. 10 Storey’s high and the only dry slide at sea. Just looks great. I could see this from my balcony and you can race each other as it does permit two persons at a time. So if you like a slide and don’t want to get wet with a big plunge at the bottom then this is for you.

 

 

 

So there you go. Two days on The Harmony of the Seas and I absolutely loved it. I would certainly recommend it to anyone as there is something on here for everyone and all age groups.

I look forward to booking your place on here soon.