Harmony of the Seas – Royal Caribbean’s ship that wows on so many levels!

Harmony of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s newest ship, stealing the crown from Ovation of the Seas after a little over a month.

Harmony is also, by a small margin, the biggest cruise ship in the world (as at May 2016) at 227,000grt and big enough for 5,479 guests at double occupancy or 6,780guests if all berths are occupied. There’s 18 decks and she’s 1,188ft long and 215.5 ft wide!
Harmony of the Seas is an Oasis Class ship and therefore sits alongside Oasis and Allure as its sister ships (which are very similar in size), but it beats them by a whisker.

Harmony of the Seas has been a deliberate attempt by Royal Caribbean to keep moving things forward – by adding in some of the elements of the Quantum Class ships to the foundation of the Oasis Class, as well as adding in some completely new features such as the Ultimate Abyss – a fear inducing slide from the top of the ship down to the Boardwalk on deck 6 twisting and turning along the way.

For more information on Harmony of the Seas and her sailings, as well as other Royal Caribbean ships and itineraries visit gocruise.co.uk/sarah-and-bjarne

The ship wows you as you walk around, and keeps surprising you with its mix of sheer scale and intimacy. There are several smaller scale locations and areas to hang out amongst the big and the vast venues.

If you think of it like a town its no bad analogy, as there are 7 distinct neighbourhoods – Central Park, Vitality at Sea, The Boardwalk, Royal Promenade, Entertainment Place, Youth Zone, and the Pool and Sports Zone. There’s a mix of accommodation, dining, entertainment, shopping, space, and more throughout.

The Boardwalk is a superbly vibrant area, with restaurants, Starbucks, a fairground carousel, as well as the destination of the Ultimate Abyss, with occasional (or maybe frequent) screams being heard as people descend.

It opens out onto the innovative Aqua Theatre which will host dramatic acrobatic diving displays and aqua performances, syncronised swimming as well as water fountain fun. In this area is also found the Rock Climbing walls – including a safely netted fun one for young kids.

Up on high is the starting point for the Ultimate Abyss, the Zip Line which runs through the centre of the Boardwalk. Also there you’ll find 2 Flowriders, where you can try your skills at surfing on the top of the ship.
If you select a Boardwalk balcony be sure that you will enjoy the hubbub and activity that you’ll have going on all around you.

The Central Park neighbourhood is a brilliant space on Harmony of the Seas – with real trees and plants creating a completely different environment in the middle of the ship. A Central Park balcony will have a lovely view of a fabulous area, and there will be activity and no doubt from time to time some music to look down on. Look up and you might catch a view of the waterslides towards the fore of the ship.
The Central Park hosts some restaurants -Jamie’s Italian, 150 Central Park, and Chops Grill and a wine bar -Vintages; these are some of the speciality options and more exclusive areas – but in Vintages, although some of the wines will be more top end than available on the drinks package, you can exchange a credit and just pay the difference. And if you’re going for the speciality dining experiences, you can get better value by committing upfront to a speciality dining package.
Not to be missed is the Rising Tide bar, which you can access from the Royal Promenade or from the Central Park area – but never at the same time! This really intimate bar area, rises or descends 3 stories as you enjoy your drink.

The Royal Promenade is of an impressive scale – with great features and points of interest throughout. The Bionic Bar is there, where the Robots mix cocktails ordered on ipads. There’s Boleros or Sorento’s restaurants, OnAir bar, and the pub the Boot & Bonnet, and Schooners.

The kids facilities on Harmony of the Seas are, as you would expect from Royal Caribbean, top quality – with the Adventure Ocean age based places well equipped with materials and technology to keep the young ones happy. There’s also some appropriate teen rooms – including DJ decks and of course games consoles as well as table football if they need a break from the more active outdoor options!

Of course theres a huge Fitness Centre and Vitality at Sea spa area on board Harmony of the Seas – though tucked away on the lower decks – which is also where you’ll find the running track which may not go down so well for those determined to cover the miles. The Solarium is to the fore and top of the ship a lovely area with lots of space, including mini pools and relaxing cabanas. There’s also the lite bite oriented Solarium Bistro.

For a conference with a difference there are facilities onboard for hosting your meetings, as well as business spaces, and of course top quality acommodation and food.

Theres so much more to do on Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas- including
ice shows or ice skating in Studio B, comedy and music in The Attic or Jazz on 4. Escape the Rubicon where you can spend 60 minutes working through clues to get you out of the Escape Room. Theres the Dreamworks experience too where children meet their film heroes like Shrek, or Kung Fu Panda. There’s also the debut of Grease is the Word as the main ship entertainment production.

The ship can be a destination in itself with so much on board, but of course you get to mix this experience with the ports of call where you can participate in destination explorations.

One thing to be aware of is the location of your cabin type/choice and what this may mean for your view, ambient noise and activities around you – as you could have very different experiences depending upon the cabin you choose – we can help you think about how to match your cabin choice to the kind of holiday you want to experience.

For more information on Harmony of the Seas and her sailings, as well as other Royal Caribbean ships and itineraries visit gocruise.co.uk/sarah-and-bjarne

The initial season’s schedule for Harmony of the Seas is based in the Western Mediterranean on mainly 7 day itineraries from either Barcelona or Rome until mid October 2016 where a 13 day Transatlantic itinerary will reposition Harmony of the Seas to the Caribbean & Bahamas for the winter.