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2016 Harmony Med Aug2016 Harmony Med Aug
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A 8-day adventure by Rulocal Read more
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  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 1

    Our Royal Statecupboard!

    August 7, 2016 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Well after a good flight from. Manchester, and a quick and efficient check in at the port, we got on the beautiful Harmony of the seas.
    That's when it started to go downhill.
    The first impressions of the ship were good, until we got to the cabin, or as my mate Roman would call it our Statecupboard.
    There are four of us in there, and you'd struggle to accommodate two.
    The pull out bed when extended takes up all the floor space in front of the main bed, so if you where in the main bed and needed to go to the toilet, you couldn’t get past, you would have to walk over the pull out bed.
    Also the one and only wardrobe is tiny it can't be more than 2.5 foot wide, and would be to small for one person never mind the four of us.
    I've spoken to the GSM, Alastair Inch is his name and he said he would try and rehouse us, but didn't hold out much hope as the ship is full.
    We'll just have to see what happens.
    Below is a photo of the wardrobe.    Read more

  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 2

    Diamond Lounge

    August 8, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    I must say that the Diamond Lounge on this ship is excellent and the concierge is lovely her name is Nancy Chu.
    The only downside, and with Royal, there's always a downside, is that Diamond Plus guests have been downgraded on this ship at least.
    In that we are not allowed in the concierge /suites lounge, so if the ship had a lot of Diamond guests on this lounge would be manic.
    To be honest it gives you no incentive to progress past the diamond level of the loyalty programme, as there is no difference in benefits between diamond at 80 points and diamond plus at 175 points, and then the next level which is pinnacle is way up at 700 points.
    Anyway all that aside, the diamond lounge is nice and as there are not that many diamonds and above on board, very comfortable.    Read more

  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 3

    St Charles Fortress, Palma de Majorca

    August 9, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    It's amazing what you can find right outside some of these cruise ports, without having to pay for shuttles into the town centre.
    I had planned on walking in to the town of Palma, but just outside the port I came across this military fortress called Fort St Charles.
    It turns out that it's a military museum.
    So I had a wander into the grounds surrounding the fort which are quite nice, and had a number of WWII
    heavy artillery guns dotted around, only problem was any signs explaining thing were in Spanish, and my grasp of the language is limited to ordering a beer!
    It turns out that the main part of the museum was closed that day, which was a shame, but the grounds where interesting and the café was open.
    My main point is, if you cruise to Palma de Majorca on any day besides Monday and you don't fancy a trip into the town, this museum is right there by the port.    Read more

  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 3

    Marseilles, France

    August 9, 2016 in France ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Docked at Marseilles today, went for a walk off the ship but not a lot to see.
    It took 20 minutes to walk out of the port, so I decided to turn around and head back.
    There were shuttle busses but the queues for them where horrendous so I gave them a miss too.
    Why do Royal always dock in these god forsaken places?    Read more

  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 4

    2nd Highest Cruisers!!

    August 10, 2016 in Italy ⋅ 🌙 20 °C

    Had a nice little surprise yesterday.
    We where informed by Ana Maria, the loyalty ambassador, that we where the 2nd highest cruisers on board.
    The highest cruiser is a pinnacle member from Japan 🇯🇵 who no one ever sees.
    Anyway the upshot was that we were to be presented with a bottle of champagne at the top tier event last night.
    We had a good number of officers there, but no Captain, as he was still sorting out the life boat problems, that had caused our delay leaving Marseilles.
    It was a shame as it's Captain Johnny, who I've heard lots about, but never met.
    Anyway it was a nice surprise, and except for one mysterious Japanese guy, we'd have been top cruiser, which is something that I never thought would ever happen.    Read more

  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 4

    La Spezia, Italy

    August 10, 2016 in Italy ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Today we docked at La Spezia, Italy 🇮🇹.
    But I didn't get off the ship as the weather was awful. It was quite warm, but chucking it down with rain ☔.
    So we all spent the morning in the solarium. Sheila and the girls went in the jacuzzi and I read my book.
    Later on in the afternoon Aimee and Anna finally went on the water slides, I'll get some photos of them tomorrow.
    After a pleasant evening in the diamond lounge chatting to Andy and Claire, a couple from Yarm in North Yorkshire, we went for dinner in Johnny Rockets, which was good, but they don't do the dancing anymore, which is a shame.
    We had planned to go to the ice show but it didn't start till 10pm so we gave that a miss too.    Read more

  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 6

    Civitavecchia, Italy

    August 12, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Today we docked at Civitavecchia, Italy 🇮🇹 and the girls wanted to get some souvenirs.
    So we took the shuttle bus to the port entrance, where I was surprised to see that we had docked in a different place to the other times I'd visited this port.
    I'm guessing that it's because of the size of the ship, after all it is the biggest cruise ship 🚢 in the world.
    Anyway with a decent sense of direction and the help of one local, and a brief stop at an interesting little church, well I found it interesting, the girls just sat at the back and waited while I looked around, we managed to find the local market, which is quite a good market, but Aimee and Anna decided that they would get their souvenirs on board the ship.
    It was a nice walk out though and the girls can now say that they have been to Italy 🇮🇹.    Read more

  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 6

    Naples, Italy

    August 12, 2016 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    First time in a long time I've got off at Naples Italy 🇮🇹, and I'd forgotten what an interesting city it is.
    I know it can be a bit rough around the edges and a bit scruffy in places, but there is plenty to see.
    Once again you don't have to do any expensive excursions from the ship or even by local taxi or tour operators.
    Within 10 minutes walk from the ship you come across Castello Nuovo, which is a medieval castle and museum, the Teatro di San Carlo, which was built in 1737 and is the oldest theatre in the world to have continuously shown operatic performances right up to this day.
    Further along from the theatre you come across the
    Piazza del Plebiscito, or referendum square, with the Basilica Reale San Francesco di Paola, which is a beautiful Catholic Church, with a dome and pillars reminiscent of the Vatican. On the opposite side of the piazza is the Royal Palace which is now a museum, and for a very reasonable charge of €4, you can wander around the very rooms the bourbon kings and queens of Italy used to live. And my god did they have an opulent lifestyle.
    With the fabulous main staircase of carved marble, leading up to the private rooms of the King ♔ and Queen ♕.
    These rooms where amazing with the doors being works of art in themselves, with hand painted classical designs.
    So once again for not a lot of money and just close to the port, there are lots of beautiful things to see.    Read more

  • Traveler2016 Harmony Med Aug
    Day 8

    Barcelona, Spain

    August 14, 2016 in Spain ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Well this is the last morning I'm in my usual place in the diamond lounge, having a coffee ☕ and writing this blog.
    What are my conclusions of the Harmony of the seas?
    Firstly it's a beautiful cruise ship 🚢 with amazing features and dining opportunities, having said that; we only used mainly the Windjammer which was excellent, if a tad small for the size of the ship. Also we had a great meal in Jamie's Italian, and also a great meal in Chops Grill, although our Anna struggled to find something she liked, as she only eats processed meat so real pieces of beef or chicken etc, are out of the question. Although she did say that the Hotdogs in the Windjammer where highly recommended, (processed meat again!)
    The entertainment on board is brilliant, with a great comedy club in a place called the Attic, and in Studio B one of the best ice shows ⛸ I've seen.
    The girls really enjoyed the pools and Perfect Storm water slides, also the dry slide called the Ultimate Abyss, where you plummet 10 stories from top to bottom.
    Officer visibility was good, and we did have a number of officers passing through the lounge, most evenings.
    The only real downside was our inside state room, better known as our state cupboard as it was so small. But I suppose this was not actually the ships fault, but the fault of the future cruise guy who booked it for us, telling us that it was a large family cabin and would easily accommodate the 4 of us.
    The truth is if there where just two of us in there it would have been a struggle, with the small room and tiny wardrobe which was approximately 30" wide and would have been large enough for one person if they where only staying one week and did not bring many clothes.
    The diamond lounge, as I mentioned a few days ago, is beautiful and the concierge Nancy Chu, from the Philippines 🇵🇭 is brilliant, as is her holiday replacement, Mohamed Sayeh from Tunisia 🇹🇳 , who was doing some training with Nancy this week.
    Mohamed will be the diamond concierge on the transatlantic crossing in October this year, so that will be good, as a nice and friendly concierge always makes a difference.
    So the ship, the entertainment, and the facilities get 10 out of 10. But our state cupboard gets a big fat zero.    Read more

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