Harmony of the Seas is a member of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis class of ship. Measuring 1,181ft 1in overall and with a gross tonnage of 226,963 this ship can accommodate 6,296 passengers in total with 2,300 crew members. Aside from the size there are 3 key features that distinguish Oasis class from other classes which are: the Central Park area on deck 8 forward, Boardwalk area on deck 6 aft and the 8 different neighbourhoods the ship has.
Royal Caribbean is a US based cruise line which was part of the reason we decided to go on holiday to Orlando the week before. As the cruise sailed from Miami we got a private transfer down to Miami on Friday 18th August and stayed at the InterContinental overnight.
Saturday 19th August dawned and we prepared to embark on our cruise. When we got to the cruise terminal me and my sister were surprised that we would be staying in one of the Aqua Suites, As we were in one of the Aqua Suites it meant that we got assigned a ‘Royal Genie’ as well as earlier access to the ship and our cabin. For me personally this really helped as the early access was only for Suite guests so the only real people around were crew members; it also helped as the Royal Genie takes you to your Suite. As a blind person this helped me to memorise the way to the cabin in a less stressful and quieter environment.
You can read more about the suite experience in the post Harmony of the seas-Aqua Suite experience.
We entered the ship in the promenade area which is home to many of the bars such as Bolero’s, On Air and Boot and bonnet there are also some food options on this deck including Café Promenade and the infamous Sorrento’s Pizza.
As an Oasis class ship Harmony of the Seas had a plethora of activities for guests to engage with. Granted a lot of these activities are universal across the oasis fleet but that didn’t make them any less enjoyable.
There are two main places to look for activities on an Oasis class ship the first is the Lido deck and up which would be decks 15 and 16 and potentially deck 14 if you were interested in the kids clubs. The other place to look would be the entertainment place which is on decks 4, 5 and 6.
Starting off at the entertainment place on decks 4, 5 and 6. on deck 4 there is an ice skating rink, art gallery, casino and of course the royale theatre. On this cruise their where two shows on at the theatre; at the start of the cruise Grease was on and then towards the end Columbus the musical was on. At the ice skating rink there were also to shows; at the start of the cruise there was a show called journey through time and towards the end of the cruise it was the ISkate ice showcase where the skaters performed to there favourite songs. The ice skating rink was also open at certain times for guests to use. There was also a silent disco and comedy nights which were based in the Attic also located on deck 4.
As I stated earlier Deck 5 (the promenade) is where a few of the bars were; however, deck 5 is also host to lots of different activities all the way from quizzes to games shows, karaoke to dance classes. Deck 5 also hosts the parties on board such as the welcome aboard party and balloon drop or the 70s disco party.
Deck 6 is where the Boardwalk is located at the aft of the ship, with a carousel, rock climbing walls, netted climbing for children and the aqua-theatre. This is also where the Ultimate Abyss slide ends which can make deck 6 a busy place especially with the shops, hot dog house and Johnny Rockets.
Going up 9 Decks we reach Deck 16 (there is no deck 13 as it is seen as unlucky). Deck 16 is where the Ultimate Abyss slide starts; it is also where the zipline and flowriders are located. The zip line goes diagonally across the boardwalk and is quite fun but can also be quite busy. The Flowriders produce stationary waves where guests can boogie board, body board or surf.
Deck 15 is where the pools, waterslides, minigolf, sports court, teen area and video arcade are located. there are 3 pools for guests to use and a splashpad known as splashaway bay which babies and children can use. Access to the waterslides can be gained on deck 15; there are 3 waterslides known as the perfect storm these slides are called Cyclone, Typhoon and Supercell. The minigolf is located at the aft of the ship and has 9 holes and a variety of obstacles to get through. The sports court can host anything from Volleyball to football and anything in between. The living room is the designated teen area where teenagers can go and do activities designed for them or play things like video games; the main video arcade is around the corner from the teens club and holds all kinds of different games.
Deck 14 is home to the other kids clubs from the nursery all the way up to pre-teen. Deck 14, 15 and 16 all have the adult only solarium at the front of the ship.
I mentioned earlier about the shows that where put on but there was also bands and soloists playing at different points throughout the ship. There were also a lot of different dinning options which I look at more in depth in my Suite blog post.
Overall I really like Harmony of the Seas and whilst she isn’t the biggest cruise ship she is still big enough to host everyone comfortable; it didn’t feel as if you were being squashed in even on sea days when everyone was in the same places it still felt comfortable even if there wasn’t as many seats.
The AWord 