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| Harmony in Costa Maya |
OK, so let me start
off here with a couple of things.
First, I want to
send our prayers out to everyone affected by this nasty hurricane. Particularly those in the Bahamas. I can't imagine what it was like to have a
storm just sit there for almost 2 days with 150+ mph winds.
Second, kudos to
Royal Caribbean on how they handled this.
They made the best of the situation and always kept us informed. The shipboard team, led by Capt. Johnny, was
outstanding as were the communications and decisions from Royal's home base in
Miami.
Royal is committing
$1 million to Dorian relief and matching every employee and guest donation as
well. They have also already begun
carrying supplies to the affected islands in the Bahamas. RoyalCaribbean's relief efforts.
Now, on to the
review:
Full disclosure, we
don't cruise during hurricane season anymore (wonder why?). The kids are out of the house so there is no
need to. This time however, we were
cruising with family who have children which dictated the timing.
So we arrived in
Port Canaveral on Sunday 8/25, dropped off our luggage and parked the car by
10:50AM. We walked down the stairs of
the parking garage, over to the terminal, and absolutely breezed through
check-in / security (expedited boarding baby!) and we were onboard by
11:05AM. You can't beat that. Fairly soon after we boarded, there was an
overhead announcement that our itinerary had changed. This was supposed to be an Eastern Caribbean
cruise with stops in Perfect Day Coco Cay, St. Maarten, and St. Thomas. The itinerary was changed to Western
Caribbean with stops in Cozumel, Roatan, and Costa Maya. The stop at Coco Cay was still happening
since it was close by and we were to be there the next morning, well ahead of
the storm. Remember, at this point,
Dorian was just a tropical storm and it was predicted to hit Hispaniola and
break up over the mountains. Royal made
the decision to switch to the Western itinerary just to be safe and avoid any
weather related issues. Boy, was that a
good call.
Our cabin for this
cruise (12630) was a Jr Suite, our first on an Oasis Class ship, and it did not
disappoint. Loads of room and a great
layout. Very generous storage, walk in closet,
shower with tub, and a nice size balcony.
Very nice cabin. Some of our
travel companions on this cruise had one of the Loft Suites and we got a quick
tour of that. It was nice, but not a big
as I imagined. It appeared to be
narrower than our Jr. Suite, but the big plus is the 2 levels (2 bathrooms too)
and the giant wall of glass and large balcony.
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| Perfect Day Coco Cay |
So after departing
Port Canaveral we awoke the next morning (Monday) in Coco Cay and the weather
wasn't too bad. A passing shower here
and there, but nothing crazy. We spent
some time at the lagoon and then headed to get a bite to eat. The food was good again and even though we
were on a much bigger ship than last visit, the island still didn't feel too
crowded. We really, really like Coco
Cay. Glad to hear that they didn't
sustain too much damage there as a result of the hurricane. Also, the bird problem I mentioned in my last
review seems to be a bit more under control.
Not sure what they did, but the birds were much less of a nuisance this
time around.
Day 3 (Tuesday) was
a sea day and by then, the news about Dorian was becoming more and more
ominous. We were headed for what would
be our first of 3, yes 3, stops in Cozumel on this journey.
We arrived in
Cozumel on Day 4 (Wednesday) and it was packed with ships. The storm was by now causing problems with
most of the Caribbean itineraries and ships were searching for available ports. There were at least 6 ships docked in Cozumel
that day. We did not get off the ship
because we have been there before and just wanted to stay onboard and relax. Seemed like it was going to be very crowded
on shore.
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| Roatan, Honduras |
The next day, Day 5
(Thursday), we arrived in Roatan, Honduras.
Never been here before but it looks like it may become a more popular
stop in the coming years. We did not get
off the ship because there did not appear to be much at the port at this
point. A lot of the port area was still
under construction and a bit of a mess.
But, I think, once it's completed, it should be a nice little port.
Next up was Costa
Maya on Day 6 (Friday). We’ve been there
before but decided to get off and walk around a bit. We did that because, at this point, it was
already clear we were not getting back to Port Canaveral on Sunday. The storm was getting worse and worse and all
predictions of it breaking up or weakening were completely wrong. We were still hopeful we'd be back home maybe
Monday which would have been fine with me because I had to be back at work on
Tuesday. Yes, this blog does not pay the
bills. In fact, it doesn't pay any
bills.
Of course the storm
had a mind of it's own, and decided to completely stall for almost 2 days over
the Bahamas. So instead of heading back
to Port Canaveral after leaving Costa Maya on Friday, we headed back to Cozumel. We spent Day 7 (Saturday) in Cozumel and then
left at night, drifted around and returned the next day to Cozumel. The captain explained that we needed to leave
port at night because we had to take on water to be desalinated and purified
for drinking and other uses as no fresh water in the amounts that a ship like
Harmony needs is available at the port.
Also, this is speculation on my part but, I imagine extra port fees
would have been charged and they also could not open the casino at night if
they had stayed in port. So then next
day, Day 8 now (Sunday, 9/1), we awoke once again in Cozumel. Again, there were many ships docked at the
port trying to avoid the storm. Next to
Harmony was Mariner of the Seas and we noticed (later confirmed by Capt.
Johnny) that some items were being taken off of Mariner and loaded onto Harmony
to resupply us for our extended voyage.
So after 2 days in
Cozumel, we departed for good and spent Days 9, 10, and 11 of our cruise at
sea. If you looked at the chart of our
trip on the TV in the cabin it looked like a child's scribble. There were loops from going to Cozumel
several times. Then there were zig-zags
on days 9 and 10 just south of Cuba waiting to hear what was going to happen
and when we could start our return trip to Port Canaveral. Once the storm started heading North again,
we were finally on the north side of Cuba and headed back towards Florida on
Day 11, still not sure if the port was going to be open in the morning. Luckily, Port Canaveral did not sustain any
significant damage and it was officially reopened just in time, on the night of
Day 11 (Wednesday 9/3).
Finally, on Thursday
9/4, 12 days after we boarded Harmony, we awoke to a beautiful sunrise above
Port Canaveral. There were some minor
issues such as one of the gangways suffering damage to it's electrical system from
the amount of rain they had at the port.
This made getting off the ship a bit frustrating. The self-debarkation always seems be more of
a problem/challenge on the Oasis Class ships.
It was pretty disorganized.
As frustrating and
stressful as this was for us, first worrying about the hurricane and whether it
would hit home in FL, to then worrying about getting back to work in time, the
cruise itself was actually quite enjoyable.
We had great weather for most of the trip. The seas in the Western Caribbean were smooth
as glass. You wouldn't have known there
was a monster hurricane not too far away.
Service was outstanding, especially the staff in the Diamond
lounge. They are the best. The food was OK in the Windjammer. Solarium Bistro wasn't bad and we tried Izumi
Hibachi for the first time instead of the Sushi and we enjoyed it, but we'll
probably go back to the Sushi in the future.
We also visited Coastal Kitchen for the first time. It's open to Suite and Pinnacle guests
exclusively but passengers in Jr. Suites have access for dinner only. We enjoyed the meals there. Entertainment wise, the diving show, The Fine
Line, was outstanding. Best we've
seen. One of our favorite bands,
Temperature, was playing all week in Dazzles.
We love them. To top things off,
we reached a milestone of 140 Crown & Anchor points and we were awarded
with a certificate of appreciation and our first "Crystal
Block". For those who don't know
what that is, you receive your first block at 140 points and then every 70
points after that. The block is exactly
what it sounds like, a crystal block etched with the image and name of the ship
you happen to be on at the time you hit the milestone.
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| Crystal Block |
As I said earlier,
the crew on Harmony was absolutely terrific and we were never in any
danger. Sure some passengers were very
frustrated, first complaining of the original itinerary changes, then about
extending the trip. Some demanded that
they try to get back to Canaveral ahead of the storm, or even put us off at
another port. Some did decide to leave
in Cozumel and take their chances catching flights home. I imagine it must have been very frustrating
and stressful if you had flights arranged or had a long trip home. A lot of the decisions though were out of
Royal's hands as the ports on the East Coast of Florida were closed by the
Coast Guard due to the storm.
Our complaints list
is not very long. This was our first
trip on Harmony as Diamond level in Royal's loyalty program and we did not like
the Diamond lounge. The staff there are
absolutely wonderful, fantastic service.
The problem is, while it is a nice room, with decent space, it is down
on deck 4 with no windows. On most of
the other classes of ships, the Diamond Lounge is near the top with great
views. On Oasis and Allure, the Diamond
Lounge is huge (largest in the fleet), spanning 2 levels with giant windows
looking out onto the Boardwalk area of the ship, but on Harmony and Symphony,
it is down on deck 4 with no windows.
And once Oasis and Allure go into drydock, their Diamond Lounges will
also be moved down to deck 4 so that extra cabins can put in the current Diamond
Club's place. I don't like that.
Now I've known about this for a while but
what made it worse on this cruise was that, for the first time, we were able to
access the Coastal Kitchen which is up on deck 17 and shares space with the
Suite Lounge. On all other classes of
RCCL ships, this would be the Viking Crown lounge. The Viking Crown Lounge is open to everyone
and usually provides some of the best views on board. On the Oasis ships, this is off limits to all
but the Suite passengers and those with Pinnacle status. As I mentioned earlier, as Jr. Suite
passengers, we were allowed access for dinner in Coastal Kitchen which shares
space with the Suite Lounge and it was a shock.
The Suite Lounge is beautiful and the service and benefits are
outstanding. Now, here is my problem
with this. Why should someone who has
booked a Suite have so much nicer an experience than those of us who are, as
they say, "Loyal to Royal"? My
wife and I have cruised exclusively on Royal for almost 20 years but we get to
sit in the basement while people who may have never cruised with the line
before, get an amazing exclusive lounge with wonderful views just because they
spent more on their cabin. It doesn't
make sense. I'm not saying take this
away from the Suite passengers, I'm just saying the experience should be better
for those of us who have spent way more time and money over the years on
Royal. Don't get me wrong, Royal treats
their loyal passengers very well, I just think that the disparity between the
Suite Lounge and the Diamond Lounge on the Oasis class ships is too wide and
they are focusing more on money than loyalty.
Just my 2 cents…rant over. I'll
put it on my survey and we'll see what happens.
That's that. This one was truly an adventure. We're back on Harmony in just about a month,
so expect another review soon.
Hits:
- Diamond lounge service/staff. The best.
- Temperature Band in Dazzles, awesome.
- Weather was actually great.
- Captain Johnny and his crew did an outstanding job considering the circumstances.
- Ship is as beautiful and amazing as ever.
Misses:
- Stupid hurricane Dorian.
- Windjammer was so-so.
- Too wide a gap between the experience in the Suite Lounge and Diamond Lounge on Oasis ships.
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