It would seem almost inevitable that following my daughter meeting some “Youtube Celebrity” on board that Harmony of the Seas would be the subject of my very first review. Ultimately the events on board Harmony of the Seas are what created modernlifeisgood & my new blogging hobby.
However; what a ship it is. I have already been twice on its older sister the Allure but Harmony has some added Wow. You would expect that a ship that is only 4 foot wider and 1 foot longer than its sisters would struggle to create any additional magic but the Harmony achieves this and more.
The ship is a stunning 330 foot longer than the Titanic, stood on its stern in would be bigger than the Eiffel Tower & carries 8800 including 2100 crew.
Like its sister ships it is split into 7 Neighbourhoods full of activities and featuring new attractions such as the Ultimate Abyss(a 10 story slide), 3 waterslides, a kids waterpark called Splashaway Bay, the Bionic Bar(with robotic bartenders) & Wonderland(A sort of Fat Duck at Sea). The 7 neighbourhoods are Pool & Sportszone, Boardwalk, Entertainment Place, Royal Promenade, Central Park, Vitality at Sea Spa & Fitness Centre and the Youth Zone. Each neighbourhood is unique bringing its own list of first class attractions.
The is plenty of new entertainment offerings on board Harmony of the Seas including the musical Grease, Columbus the Musical, 2 new ice-skating shows, 2 new diving shows, a 90’s street party and an escape room called Escape the Rubicon. Regular big ship Royal Caribbean offerings such as parades happen throughout the cruise. In addition the is the Dreamworks Experience with characters such as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda making regular appearances.
Spread across 16 decks the is an amazing 2747 state rooms. Guests on board Harmony are fed across 20 dining rooms. Each week the ship will use 9700 lbs of chicken, 15000 lbs of beef & 700 lbs of ice cream. This food is served by 91 galley stewards, 249 culinary staff & 532 restaurant staff.
If this isn’t mind boggling enough each day they get through 110000 lbs of ice. Nothing about Harmony of the Seas is small. However; despite the size and on occasions the inevitable crowds the are plenty of quiet spots across the ship including the Wonderland Bar where for 1 hour we were the only customers.
In July we boarded the Harmony of the Seas in Barcelona for a 7 day trip around the Mediterranean. The ship launched in May with some fan fare. Initially the were some preview cruises from Southampton before moving to its summer home in Barcelona. The English press love a good story of knocking something new(especially if it is expensive and owned by a big corporation) picked up that not everything was as it should have been in those early sailings. In the early weeks the press was full of stories of building work, long restaurant queues & overflowing urinals. When we boarded in July all these early hiccups seemed in the past and an efficient operation was in place.
So led by a Captain Jonny with his legendary parrot and Harley Davidson on board we started our 7 day adventure.
Over coming posts I will talk through our adventures and highlight many of the attractions on board Harmony of the Seas. To start off I have attached a short highlights video of our trip on board the Harmony highlighting some of the key attractions and neighbourhoods.
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