Harmony of the Seas Review: Like a Floating City

This past summer, my mom and I embarked on an Eastern Caribbean cruise that was leaving from Miami, Florida. The cruise went to three ports, and although this was my first time cruising and I was a bit nervous pre-cruise, I walked away loving the experience, and I cannot recommend cruising enough. Furthermore, I can’t wait for my next cruise as this one was phenomenal. Read on to find out my experience in this Harmony of the Seas Review.

Harmony of the Seas – Itinerary

Day 1: Miami, Florida
Day 2: Perfect Day at CocoCay
Day 3: Sea Day
Day 4: St. Thomas, Virgin Islands
Day 5: St. Maarten
Day 6: Sea Day
Day 7: Sea Day
Day 8: Miami, Florida

Harmony of the Seas – Booking Process

We booked this cruise in 2020, as there was some amazing deals in the early days of the pandemic. For a 7 day cruise, I think we originally only paid about $100 each per day, working out to a total of about $1400. Then, since that cruise got cancelled, we rolled it over to 2021 and got a credit for 125% But, in the end, it worked out best to roll the cruise over to 2023. With that being said, it meant that we did lose some money with change fees, and in the end the cost was around $1000 each, which given the quality of accommodation, service, and food we got, I thought that this was a fair price.

With that being said, if you are interested in booking a cruise on Royal Caribbean, or any other cruise line, I would be more than happy to help. Feel free to email me at [email protected].

MGM-Royal Caribbean Partnership

One rather little known travel partnership is one between MGM Resorts and Royal Caribbean. If you book your cruise with MGM, then you can receive a $125 onboard credit, an entertainment tour, a welcome amenity, as well as the SeaPass Cash Advance Fee waived.

Also, if you happen to have Royal Caribbean status, then you can also match it to MGM status. If you have Platinum status with Royal Caribbean (which takes 30 lifetime nights, or 15 lifetime nights in suites), then you can match to MGM Pearl. The higher Royal Caribbean statuses match to Gold, which does provide some solid benefits at MGM properties, such as waived resort fees.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Embarkation Process

I found the Harmony of the Seas process to be incredibly easy. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that it was easier than boarding a plane. To start, we took an Uber from our hotel, the Hyatt Centric Brickell. Starting 45 days out, you can check in, which allows you to select an arrival time, starting at 11AM. In my experience, they were all suggestions as times were not checked. It was likely so they could make sure 5,000 people weren’t coming at once.

We arrived at 1PM, as that was the earliest available time. Overall, I think this is a great arrival time. Rooms become available at 2, so this means that you only have to carry your stuff around for an hour before your rooms are ready. We checked our large bag, but kept my small carry on so we could keep valuables as well as our bathing suits.

When we arrived at the terminal, there was a friendly bellmen who greeted us and took our bag. From there, you walk into the terminal, take the escalator up, then wait in a short check in line. They took my mom’s credit card for any onboard purchases we make. After that, they gave us our SeaPass cards, and we were done. We then went through a quick security check, and after that, we were onboard!

Harmony of the Seas Review – Stateroom

Our room, 10102, was located in the front of the ship. This did mean that it tended to be a bit of a walk from our room to the main dining room, or anywhere else in the back of the ship. But, besides that I thought are room was excellent.

When you enter the room, the bathroom is on the right. It is only marginally bigger than an airplane bathroom, and the toilet is also very loud, but it served its purpose for our cruise. The toiletries were wall mounted and Royal Caribbean branded.

Further down in the room, there is a desk on the left as well as a pullout couch on the right. In between the couch, there is two storage cabinets. Across from the couch is the desk, which is rather small. But, I assume not a lot of people are going to be working on the ship.

Next to the storage cabinets is the beds. Our room was originally setup to be 1 king bed, but upon asking our stateroom attendant, she converted it into 2 twin beds. Across from the beds is the television, which only has about 8 channels. The connection was spotty, but we are in the middle of ocean after all.

Now to the highlight of our room: the extra space. We booked a guaranteed ocean view stateroom, but we were randomly assigned 10102. Due to the curvature of the ship, our front-facing room had space that couldn’t be used for furniture, so we really lucked out. This is similar to the Pyramid rooms at the Luxor. The extra space was a great place to let our swimsuits dry, and it was also a great place to put our suitcases. As far as I can tell, extra space is also available on front facing ocean view rooms in Decks 7 through 11.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Ports of Call

Our cruise visited 3 ports: CocoCay in the Bahamas, Charlotte Amalie in the Virgin Islands, and St. Maarten. Overall, I think I would also rank them in that order from least to greatest. It was raining in CocoCay, but I found it to be very overrated compared to what many other websites have said about it. I really enjoyed St. Thomas, though we didn’t have as much time there, and then St. Maarten was amazing. I found it to have amazing beaches, great plane spotting, and it was also quite easy to get around.

CocoCay

CocoCay is where went on Day 2 of our sailing. I was really looking forward to it, but unfortunately there was some major thunderstorms that day. In addition, I found the island to be rather underwhelming. At one point if I’m not mistaken, they even told everyone to get back on the ship. For what its worth, we were also the only cruise docked that day.

Once we got onto the island, we walked over to the South Beach. I found the area to be empty, but there was more people when we got to the beach. Right by the beach was a small food stand where I ordered a burger and fries. I found them to be great. However, there was one very annoying issue: seagulls. If you left your food unattended, they would be there within seconds.

Seagulls were also near the pool which had a buffet, and they were swarming that area.

Regardless of that, I didn’t enjoy the ocean water and I found it rather cold and murky. That’s especially true when compared to St. Maarten.

Charlotte Amalie

We visited Charlotte Amalie on Day 4. Once we got off of the ship, we wanted to go to Magen’s Bay, as I had heard a lot of great things about it. Rather than take a taxi, they had these large open-air buses that would take you to Magen’s Bay, Downtown, among other places. It was around $20 each roundtrip, which is on the high side for sure.

Once we got to the beach, there was a $5 entry fee for all non-residents. I found the beach to be very nice, though since there was only two of us, watching our stuff was a hassle so we did have to stay close. We were able to use towels from the ship, which, provided that you return them, are at no extra cost.

This beach was also very nice, and there was very little wave action. It was a super hot day, so my mom and I elected to head back to the ship.

St. Maarten

We went to St. Maarten on Day 5. My mom booked a bicycle tour around parts of the island and we both thought that it would be a great introduction to St. Maarten. That was a great call for sure. The tour left at 8, and we had two wonderful tour guides, both of which were native to the island. They had also both known each other since middle school, so I can’t recommend that tour enough if you are given the option for it. We also got to see some local iguanas, which was very cool to see. Not only that, but we could also see St. Barth’s Island, which was stunning as well.

The tour lasted for 3 hours, and once it was done, we went our separate ways. From there, we took a shuttle from the cruise port to Maho Beach. The cost for that was only around $5 each roundtrip. Not bad compared to St. Thomas!

Maho Beach

I was a bit underwhelmed by Maho Beach. I had rather high expectations, but the nearby restaurants were packed. In addition, the size of the sandy part of the beach was very small. That being said, I did still get to see a small turboprop plane land along with a KLM A330. Not bad if you ask me! One of the nearby restaurants has a arrivals board, which is a pretty cool feature. And with all things considered, I am still glad I went and would recommend going, as it is still a very cool setting.

Since we were there over the summer, we had gotten very hot and wanted to swim in the ocean. So we took a bus back to the cruise port and then took a water taxi to Great Bay Beach for $4 a person.

This was an excellent beach that wasn’t even crowded. Not only that, but you could get 4 sodas, water, or beer along with a pair of beach chairs and an umbrella for only $30. That’s not a bad price, especially considering its the Caribbean. We also got a bottle of water and they were only around $2 at a local store. That’s probably cheaper than Miami!

My mom and I then swam in the ocean and we found it to be perfect. This was by far my favorite port of the 3 we went to on this cruise, and I can’t wait to go back.

Sea Days

We had 3 sea days on our cruise, with one between CocoCay and the Virgin Islands, and the other two between St. Maarten and Miami.

I did find the ship to be a little bit busier on sea days than non sea days, but it was nothing particularly noteworthy. There was also plenty to do, regardless of if it was a sea day or not. Nonetheless, there was more onboard activities as people didn’t have stuff to do in the port.

Harmony of the Seas: Food and Beverage

Next up is the Harmony of the Seas food and beverage options. In my opinion, from what I’ve read, Carnival Cruise Lines has the most options for free dining options. If this was a longer 14 day cruise, food options might have gotten boring, but for our length of a cruise, the food changed frequently and I thought the options were good.

Ice Cream Stand

Located on Deck 15 next to the Windjammer buffet is an ice cream stand. It was open for most of the day, but closed around 6PM. There was also a line throughout most of the day, but I found it always moved quickly. There was 3 options: chocolate, vanilla, as well as half chocolate half vanilla. You really can’t go wrong with ice cream, and I found it to be very good.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Johnny Rockets

Johnny Rockets is located on the boardwalk area. I didn’t get a chance to eat there, but it looked no different than one would on land except that there is waiter service. A rather odd thing about the Johnny Rockets on Royal Caribbean cruises is that only breakfast is complimentary. Having said that, food at lunch and dinner is a flat $6.95, excluding soda, milkshakes, alcohol, and ice cream. Soda is included if you have one of the 3 soda packages, milkshakes are included in the refreshment and deluxe beverages packages, and alcohol is included in the deluxe package.

Main Dining Room

There are multiple main dining rooms throughout Harmony of the Seas. We were assigned the one on Deck 3, but there is a larger one on Deck 5 and one that is the same size on Deck 4. Some people think there has been a decline in the quality of food since COVID on Royal Caribbean cruises. My mom and I aren’t the biggest food critics and we are also not big seafood eaters either, so take that for what its worth.

We visited the Main Dining Room once during lunch, and all but two nights we ate dinner there. Each night had its own theme, with one night being Mexican night, and another being French. There was always some staples on the menu though.

Mini Bites

Right next to the Ice Cream Stand is Mini Bites. That is the first place we ate at when we got onboard, and the food was great. It was basically the same food each day, as it was a buffet where you could either make a bowl, quesadilla, or nachos. I’m basically happy with any Mexican food, so I thought the food did not disappoint. There was also some dessert options, such as Strawberry Pound Cake and Peanut Butter Moose.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Park Cafe

The Park Cafe is found in the Central Park “neighborhood” of the ship. This is not open for dinner, but we would go here for breakfast, as they offered both yogurt and bagels, in addition to burritos, oat meal, and english muffins. Provided it was not raining, it was also very nice to sit outside. For lunch, they also offered food such as salads and sandwiches.

Windjammer Buffet

The Windjammer is the main buffet and is found on Deck 16. The food area is basically split into two with both sides emulating each other. I found the food to be amazing, and although I didn’t get a chance to try it, I have heard very good things about the Indian food.

Besides that, the food stayed similar throughout the cruise, but one station would change. For example, one day it would be a ramen station and the next it would be a mediterranean station.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Solarium Bistro

The Solarium Bistro is located in located in the front part of Deck 15. It is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The buffet spread was very similar to the Windjammer, albeit smaller. Solarium Bistro is technically for ages 18 and up, but I never found them enforcing that rule.

Café Promenade

Café Promenade is located on Deck 4. This cafe is right in the center of the deck, so it was always crowded. Café Promenade offers coffee, including Starbucks, as well as some other pastries that rotate.

Sorrento’s Pizza

Sorrento’s Pizza is located on Deck 4. They offer two options: cheese and pepperoni. The pizza was fine, but nothing amazing. It is also possible to order a box to go so you can bring it to your room or the pool.

Harmony of the Seas Review – The Boardwalk Dog House

The Boardwalk Dog House is located on, you guessed it, the boardwalk. Hot dogs are not extra, and then you can top it with the following:

• Buns:
  • Classic
  • Everything
• Dog Type:
  • Classic Hot Dog (what I got)
  • Chicken and Apple Sausage
  • Smoked and Bavarian Bratwurst
  • Sicilian Pork Sausage
• Top It Off
  • Sauerkraut
  • Onions
• Sidekicks
  • Coleslaw
  • Potato Salad

I did it find it a bit odd that they did not offer fries or chips. But, I found my hot dog to be good and the service was fast yet friendly.

Beverage Packages

On most cruise lines, soda and alcohol are not included. But, if you buy a beverage package, they are. My mom and I enjoy drinking seltzer at night, and having a soda or two is always nice as well, so we bought the classic soda package when it was on sale for about $13 a day, which is as low as it gets. We got cups when we boarded the ship which have a chip embedded in them. You have to make sure to place the cup right on the soda fountain sensor to fill up the cup.

Paying $13 a day isn’t great, but considering it was $3 if we were to have any drink besides water, a couple of juice options, regular or decaf coffee, as well as iced tea, I thought it was worth it since we both used it 4 to 5 times today. So overall, I thought for our cruise it was definitely worth it. You can also bring an allowance of beverages onboard, so that might be worth looking into as well.

My only complaint with the soda package is that I would have liked for there to be more stations throughout the ship. There is only 7 total, one by Mini Bites, two on each side of the Windjammer Buffet, and two located in Sorrento’s Pizza. That being said, it is possible to go up to a bar and have them refill your cup, and you can also get it refilled at the Main Dining Room.

Royal Caribbean App

Before getting into the next section, I want to highlight the importance of the Royal Caribbean app. The app is very useful for figuring out things to do, as well as booking shows. The app was also helpful on the day of departure and arrival, and you can also use it to text other people onboard.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Things to Do

Pool

I personally never swam in the pool at all because it was always crowded. The maximum depth was only about 3-4 feet, so that was another reason it didn’t look to appealing. There are three pools in total, all of which are on Deck 15.

Hot Tubs

There is a total of 6 hot tubs on Harmony of the Seas, all of which are located on Deck 15. They are all supposed to be 16 and up, but there was no one enforcing the rule and at 6’2, I can pass as being over 16. That being said, the age for 16 and up attractions has been raised to 18, meaning that things have changed for age requirements.

The hot tubs can all be found on Decks 15 and 16, with two found in between inside the solarium, two near the pool areas, and then two on the left and right sides of the ship. I preferred the hot tubs on the sides of the ship, as they slightly extended off, allowing for great views below. They did tend to get crowded on sea days, but it never got too bad. Plus, there was multiple occasions where I had the whole tub to myself.

Casino Royale

Located on Deck 4 is Casino Royale. They didn’t have any issues with me walking through it, which I was surprised by. Overall, I found it to be relatively nice and it never got too crowded.

Although it is rather under the radar, Royal Caribbean also offers cruise offer matches. The link for that is here.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Aquatheater

Located in the back of deck 6 is the Aquatheater. We didn’t see any shows, sadly, but I did see the NHL Finals there. This was bad thinking on my part, but I thought the lack of availability for The Fine Line (the show performed there) on the app would mean no availability. Instead, you can just show up at the theater before the show starts and take whatever’s left.

Fitness Center

The gym on Harmony of the Seas can be found on Deck 3. Like other amenities, it was always more crowded during sea days. But, it was quite large, and there was a lot of both cardio machines and weight machines. A level below is the running track, which goes around the outside of the ship.

Fitness Classes

My mom enjoys doing exercise classes such as yoga, so one of the things we did when we got onboard was look at the class options. Upon doing so, one of the gym employees told her it might make sense to get the Ultimate Class Pass, which was around $20 per class. Unlike other classes, you didn’t need both people in the room to get it. Some classes weren’t as good as others, but she enjoyed them overall.

FlowRider

The FlowRider can be found in the back of Deck 15, and there is two. I went on it once and found it to be a lot of fun. If you are interested in going, I would recommend checking out the Royal Caribbean app as they might be reserved and/or there is lessons on how to use it, which can be useful for some.

Ice Skating Rink

The Ice Skating Rink can be found on Deck 3. It is not as big as a regular ice rink that you would find on land, but it’s impressive for a cruise ship. I used to play hockey and I figured it would be good exercise. I found the rink a bit too small and also crowded for my liking. So if you can, go at an off peak time (like during dinner) and it will likely be a lot better.

There was also a show called iSkate that we saw on our last night of our cruise. This was a very small rink, and seeing what they could do given what they had was pretty impressive. I thought this show was excellent and I would recommend it.

Boardwalk

The boardwalk is located on Deck 6. It is where the Boardwalk Dog House is, as well as Starbucks, Johnny Rockets, the rock climbing wall, a merry ground, and the Aquatheater. This deck is sort of open air, and I never found it to be that busy.

Central Park

Central Park is located on Deck 8. We didn’t eat at any of the restaurants here except Park Cafe, as all other restaurants are not included in the cruise fare.

Zip-Line

The zip-line is located at the back of the ship on Deck 15. I rode it on the last day, and it was relatively fun. It’s not that long, but I still enjoyed it.

Mini Golf

Mini Golf is located on Deck 15 in the rear part of the ship. This is at no extra charge, and it is a great activity, particularly if you have young kids.

Rock Climbing Wall

Going up from the boardwalk is the Rock Climbing Wall. I didn’t use it personally, but it was always crowded and looked quite challenging.

Sports Courts

In the back of Deck 16, Harmony of the Seas has two sport courts. During my sailing, they were used for basketball games during some parts of the day, and then were usually converted to or from volleyball courts.

Ultimate Abyss Slide

In addition to having waterslides, Harmony of the Seas also has a regular slide that spans from Deck 16 to Deck 6. If you can, I would recommend going on the first day of your sailing, particularly right when you get onboard. This ensures that the line isn’t too long, as I did notice it tended to get longer as the sailing went on.

With that being said, I think the slide wasn’t anything that blew me away. Yes, it was fun, but it didn’t feel that long and although there is supposed to be audio, I never noticed that when I slid down.

Trivia Games

Royal Caribbean had a number of trivia games during our cruise. I didn’t go to those except for one, which was on airline logos. I figured I would do good on that! 😉

I was a bit nervous about the competition though, but it was actually very easy. I was able to figure out all but one, and that one was Aloha Air. They went out of business before I was born, so I’m not sure how I should have known that one! No one else came anywhere close to me, so I got 1st. The prize was super skimpy. That being said, I still had fun, so I can’t complain too much.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Service

I can’t say enough good things about the service on this ship. Overall, in my experience, American hotels (Hilton, Hyatt, etc.) in Southeast Asia tend to have the best service. But I would say the crew on Harmony of the Seas came pretty close to that. Our waiters in the Main Dining Room, Richard and Julia, were impeccable. They were super friendly, gave us some great food recommendations, and I also really enjoyed hearing about where they were from. Our stateroom attendant was also excellent, and came in once a day and created some “towel art” throughout the cruise. So overall, I give the service a solid 10/10 and I’d love to sail with this crew again.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Disembarkation

We woke up rather early on the last day, went to breakfast at the buffet which wasn’t very busy.

Sailing into Miami was stunning.

After that, we got our stuff, and waited until our group was called. You could stay in your room, but from what we could tell, it slows down the “turnaround” process for the housekeepers. They called groups, but it was more for organizational purposes.

After that, you walk through the gangway and off the ship. There is then two lines: one if you are reeentering the US with your birth certificate and the other one is for your passport. The latter line was way faster, as all you have to do is look at a machine and you are all set.

Once immigration formalities are done, you can collect your bags.

We paid about $18 each for a bus transfer back to Miami Airport for our flight. Yes, taking an Uber is likely a bit cheaper, but this is very convenient. Plus, with 5,000+ people disembarking, there might be surge pricing.

There was multiple buses waiting for us, so it was no issue at all. About 20 minutes later, we made it to Miami Airport. If you were departing on American, they would pull into the bus area of Concourse D, and then after that they would go to the “other” bus parking lot for all other airlines. This is located at the entrance of Concourse J. It might be closer to walk to Concourse E or F from D, so keep that in mind.

Harmony of the Seas Review – Final Thoughts

Cruising is definitely not for everyone. In addition, no one cruise line is good for everyone, so it is important to see which cruise line fits you best. With that being said, my mom and I really enjoyed our cruise on Royal Caribbean. I found that there was a lot to do, the service was phenomenal, and we really enjoyed the ports of call. And best of all, despite being a 5,000 person ship, it didn’t feel that way as everything was orderly. Thus, I would be happy to sail with Royal Caribbean and I look forward to doing so.

What are your thoughts on Royal Caribbean? Have you sailed with them before? Let me know in the comments!