Last month I spent a week onboard the Harmony of the Seas. I used this opportunity to document the ship with over one hundred photos featured in this tour alone.
The Harmony of the Seas is the 3rd in the Oasis-class vessel, debuting in 2016. She can be considered the first in an enhanced Oasis-class as her super structure differs slightly from the Oasis and Allure. We rank her as the current 10th largest ship in the world.
Royal Caribbean Group contracted with STX Finland to build two Genesis-class vessels in 2006, the Oasis of the Seas and the Allure of the Seas. When it came time to place an order for a third and fourth vessel, Royal Caribbean did not like the offer from STX Finland and instead went to STX France under more favorable terms. The Harmony of the Seas was in fact the largest passenger ship to be built in France since the Norwegian Epic.
As with all other Oasis-class vessels, the ship is split into seven different neighborhoods. These range from the quiet, tranquil, plant filled Central Park, to the happening Boardwalk, to the ever-active Sports deck. This review will cover all neighborhoods and public areas.
VIEW HARMONY OF THE SEAS DECK PLANS
As with all our reviews, we start out with the obligatory photos.
Random hallway photo.
Stairwell and carpet shot.
Elevator lobby artwork.
The stairwell and elevator lobbies on the decks with cabins all have this aesthetic and design.
Deck 03
Deck three has the conference center midships.
At the back of the deck is the bottom floor of the dining room. For those that have My Time Dinning, this is the restaurant you dine in. This level alone can serve around three thousand guests a night.
Deck 04
Deck four starts with the main entrance to the Royal Theater.
Past that is the start of the forward Atrium. This starts on deck four and goes all the way up to sixteen. Royal Caribbean ships are quite famous for having tall, glass topped atriums that span as much of the ship as possible.
Past that is the Entertainment Place. This is a collection of several venues. There’s the Attic for comedy shows.
The Diamond Club for those with among the highest status with Royal Caribbean.
There’s Jazz on Four. I loved the tables and chairs here.
At the back end of the Entertainment Place is the Studio B ice skating rink. This is a real ice rink onboard. They offer free skate as well as ice shows throughout the cruise.
Surrounding the skating rink, on both sides, is a walkway to go past it that contains the art gallery.
Past both sides of the art gallery, put you right at the ships casino, the Casino Royale.
The casino ends at the aft elevators. On the port side is Izumi. This is Royal Caribbean’s Hibachi and Sushi restaurant for Teppanyaki style dining.
At the end of the deck is the second deck of the three story tall dining room.
Deck 05
The front of deck five is the bottom deck of the Vitality Spa. This is where most of the treatment rooms are. This is accessed from the deck above.
Something surprising to find on the new, state of the art ships let alone one of the largest, is a jogging track that completely encircles a deck. Deck five has this jogging track. This is actually the boarding area for the ships massive lifeboats.
Back in side, the forward most normally accessed area is the second tier of the main theater.
Past that is the start of the Royal Promenade. With the introduction of the Oasis and Quantum-class of vessel, it saw a slight reformatting of the Royal Promenade. Until then, the Voyager and Freedom-class has a very symmetrical, vertical type space throughout the center of the ship. The new version may only be three decks but it’s wider and has more variety of spaces on there. You can get a better view of it all from the deck above.
At the start of it is the Shore Excursion area where you can research and book yourself via these tablets.
On the port side is the On Air club and on starboard is the Boleros Salsa bar.
On the starboard side is the On Air club. This bar acts as the sports bar onboard.
Past that starts a lot of the shops that you can find onboard. They are mostly scattered through the promenade.
One of the two entrances are here. It’s quite the first impression that the ship makes on you.
Walking down the promenade is the Boot and Bonnet bar. This English-stlye pub contains the best variety of brews on the ship.
Opposite the pub is Sorrentos, the pizza place.
Next to Sorrentos is the Café Promenade. The café features rotating daily sweets from cookies to cakes as well as custom made espresso based drinks using Starbucks coffee.
Guest services can be found past the Café.
At the end of the promenade is the Rising Tide Bar. This open air bar actually travels vertically between deck five and deck eight. It moves quite slowly and makes about two trips an hour. You can only board it from deck five or eight.
Past that bar is the bionic bar. The ships other high-tech bar features robotic arms that make your drink by pressing the cup up against the alcohol at the top.
Past the promenade is the top floor of the three deck tall main dining room.
Back outside at the very aft of the deck is a very quiet area at the fantail of the ship. It’s very peaceful to sit here while underway in some of the deck chairs that are around the corner.
