Today we boarded Harmony of the Seas with about 6,000 others for a week sailing the Caribbean.

I have decided to start keeping track of our trips by using a travel blog. \240I usually make a shutterfly book of our trips, but I have about 25 and don’t know what I will do with them when we downsize in a few years.

I thought I might be able to send it out for people to follow as we go, but with not being on the internet all the time, and it being somewhat unreliable, I will write it while offline and then finish it when we return. \240I did this trip to learn how to use the app and plan to use it for several big trips we have planned in 2023.

I am going to use this blog to give some tips and tricks that might be helpful if you ever decide to sail, especially on the big ships.

We stayed on the ship for awhile in the morning and enjoyed being on the ship with less people around! We went to the island for lunch, went in the water then went back to the ship. We don’t really like just sitting on the beach all day, but if that’s your thing, then you would probably like this stop.

There was another Royal Caribbean ship docked. The island is big, and they’ve done a good job with having different areas for many people and it \240doesn’t feel very crowded. \240There were plenty of empty beach chairs with umbrellas. There’s an area with water sports, kids activities and several places to eat. There are trams to take you between locations. \240

There is also an exclusive beach club with specialty food. You have to book it way in advance online as one of the excursions. When we looked into it, it was already sold out, but the price was $250 a person! I’d rather get several spa treatments for that price! \240There are also cabannas that can be booked in advance. \240They were pretty expensive too, but some were pretty big and included food. \240If you had a large group it might be worth looking into.

It pays to be loyal!

Today we went to a captain’s loyalty reception. \240Passengers earn \2401 point for each night of the cruise, double if they’re in a suite. We have been mostly loyal to Royal Carribean since the early 1990’s and have earned diamond status. \240After this cruise we’ll have 161 points, 14 away from being diamond plus. \240The highest level is Pinnacle-700 nights! Don’t think we are making that any time soon! \240On this ship there are 609 diamond, 348 diamond plus and 71 pinnacle members. Two couples just became double pinnacle, which is 1400 points. One couple on the ship has 4800 nights! \240I think they basically live on a cruise ship. There are a lot of older people on this ship. \240We’ve met several from The Villages reitirement community \240in Florida. We also noticed many more walkers and scooters than we’ve seen in the past.

There are quite a few benefits to being diamond. The biggest is probably being able to go in the diamond lounge between 5-8pm for drinks and light food before dinner. \240Diamond members get 4 drinks of up to $14 each added on their card to use anytime during the day. Diamond benefits also include a free photo, free day of internet, spa and other onboard discounts.

We hung around the ship for awhile, then got off and walked around a little. This is the first cruise where we haven’t made any plans for excursions. \240Besides getting stuck in a few spotty rain showers, it was a good day.

Waiting for the rain to stop

We were in St. Kitts today. We’ve been here several times before and decided not to do an excursion. We did get off the ship and walk around. There were just many of your typical carribean shops.

If you haven’t cruised much before, and don’t like the idea of paying for a crowded and expensive excursion from the ship, most ports will have many taxi drivers waiting when you get off the ship. They will take you on a tour of the island or to a beach if you would rather spend the day there. \240 We have done this before and we’ve really enjoyed having an island tour with a local guide.

Harmony was constucted \240out of 5,000 individual pieces 27 times the parts used to assemble the Eiffle Tower.

Harmony of the Seas is 362 meters upright twice as high as Eiffel Tower

Harmony weighs more than 17,000 African elephants.

Just one of the Harmony of the Sea’s 4 bow thrusters has more power than 7 Ferraris.

With 7 distinct neighborhoods,Harmony has more boroughs than NYC. \240The neighborhoods on Oasis class ships include the Royal Promenade, Central Park, Boardwalk, Entertainment Place, Pool and Sports Zone, Fitness Center and Spa and Youth areas.

Central Park has more plants than there are \240the great Pavillion Exhibits at Chelsea Flower Show.

Carousel on the Boardwalk.

45.72 meters above sea level,the Ultimate Abyss is taller than Buckingham Palace. It is a 10 story slide. We opted not to try it!

Harmony of the Seas has more works of art than the Louvre has paintings. There’s a big art show and auction on most ships, but we’ve never seen much that we like.

Chops is on most ships and has great steaks!

150 Central Park is on the bigger ships that have a Central Park neighborhood.

Bigger ships have Jamie’s while smaller ships usually have Giovanni’s for Italian.

One of the most unique specialty restaurants is Wonderland. Don’t let the interesting menu keep you away! \240The food is awesome!

Here are some pictures of food from Wonderland

The Bird’s nest

Crispy Crab Cones

Desserts

Video of a unique dessert

Izumi has sushi and other Asian food. They have also recently added hibachi tables in half the restaurant. It’s not included in the ultimate dining package and costs extra. It was sold out for the entire cruise when we made our reservation, but we weren’t planning on going there anyway. We really like Izumi Sushi. \240It isn’t just sushi, and with the dining package they give you so much food!

Savor is the Mexican specialty restaurant on the Boardwalk. We could have gone there for dinner, but we chose to just use it for one of our lunches. We feel like the \240other specialty restaurants are much better for dinner. They are known for their excellent guacamole.

Pros and Cons of a big ship

As I sit relaxing on my balcony on the last day at sea, I’m thinking about some of the things we like and dont like about sailing on a big ship.

Harmony of the Seas is in the Oasis class, the larget ships in the world. Each new ship is just a little bigger than the one before. Harmony \240holds 6500 passengers. This week there are about 6000 with 2800 crew. \240Many of you may be thinking, I would hate to be on a ship with that many people! Yes, that is a lot, but Royal Carribean does a pretty good job managing crowds, and if you know a few tips and tricks you can have an enjoyable cruise.

If you feel like you have to sit on the pool deck, get there early on sea days, especially if you’re looking for shade. \240Although they’re not supposed to reserve chairs, many people put towels down then go to breakfast or do something else, and come back. \240That can be a little frustrating if you’re a rule follower. \240If you want shade and don’t care about being on the pool deck, there are a couple of other good places. \240There is a track on deck 5 that goes all the way around the ship, which is great for walking or running. \240There are 2 areas on the side with chairs overlooking the water. \240It’s very peaceful without many people. \240There are also a few chairs along the track in the very back of the ship facing out towards the water which are pretty peaceful.

As soon as you get on the ship, after making dinner reservations, make reservations for the shows that require them. \240Harmony does a full Broadway production of Grease, and it is great! \240There is also a water show and ice show that require reservations. \240Each of these shows are done several times during the cruise, but reserve early so you get the time/days you want.

We have been very impressed with the entertainment on Royal Carribean over the years. We enjoy listening to the ship’s orchestra when they play around the ship. In the evening there is a lot of music and other activities and some can be very crowded. \240If you dont like crowds, you may want to avoid being on the promenade during special parades and other music events. \240If you explore, you can probably find a floor overlooking everthing where you don’t have to be in the middle of it. \240We found Central Park to be very nice last night with classical guitar music. \240We found a nice table to sit and listen to music before dinner and it was very peaceful.

As the week goes on, people begin learning their way around the ship and begin to spread out a little so main areas are not quite as crowded. By the end of the cruise it doesn’t feel like there are as many people because they are so spread out.

The bigger ship may not be for everyone. Most people either love them or hate them. \240If you reserve and purchase excursions, meal packages and other things online ahead of time it will make things easier once you board. Overall Royal Carribean does a good job managing large amounts of people and wants to make your cruise as smooth as possible.

All good things come to an end. 🥲. It was a great week!

We got an extra hour on the ship thanks to the time change! \240This was the first time we kept our luggage and just walked off with it when we were ready. Usually we put it outside our door by 10:00 the night before, they take it and you have to wait until they call your baggage tag color and number so your luggage is ready. Everything was very organized getting off the ship.

Looking forward to our next cruise in January from Argentina to Antarctica on Celebrity.