Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas has generated a lot of interest among Royal Caribbean fans and first time cruisers alike, and with a ship this intriguing, there are a lot of concerns and questions people may have.
We decided to list answers to some of the most commonly asked questions related specifically to Harmony of the Seas for everyone's future reference.
When can I reserve shows onboard?
Royal Caribbean has added a lot of great entertainment on Harmony of the Seas. Guests are able to reserve shows on their Harmony of the Seas cruise, although when exactly they become available varies from sailing to sailing. The truth is, there is no rule about when these kinds of activities become available for booking, and every sailing can be different.
Typically, we see enteratainment become available to reserve online around 75-60 days prior to the sail date, but your experience may vary.
What exactly is the Wonderland restaurant?
Wonderland is a specialty restaurant that has a cover charge and is an imaginative take on specialty dining, where the experience is just as important as the food offered.
Wonderland first debuted on Royal Caribbean's Quantum-class ships, but Harmony of the Seas is the first Oasis-class ship to offer this unique restaurant. In fact, it is a two-story Wonderland restaurant.
It is loosely based on the Alice in Wonderland books, and features an eccentric design motif. Dining at Wonderland is more than just another place to eat. Rather, it is an opportunity to try something completely different and the wait staff is part of the experience as much as the food.
What are the Windjammer hours?
Exact times can change, but here are the Windjammer dining hours we have seen thus far.
- 6:30-7:00am Early bird
- 7:00am - 11:00am Breakfast
- Noon-3:30 Lunch
- 6:00pm - 10:00pm Dinner
What is Royal iQ and how does it work?
Royal iQ is Royal Caribbean's smart phone app available on Harmony of the Seas for iOS and Android devices. Royal iQ already let guests track their luggage delivery status on embarkation day, manage a personal calendar of reservations and events, communicate with other guests onboard, book shore excursions and modify existing reservations.
Guests do not need a Voom WiFi plan for the Royal iQ app to work.
Ideally, the app should be downloaded before the cruise and then once onboard, connect to Royal Caribbean's WiFi network and open the app.
The app's core functionality provides the ability to track luggage, manage personal calendar and book shore excursions and dining reservations without any additional cost.
There is a communications option, which costs $7.95 for use onboard and provides the option to text or call someone else that is using the app and has activated their iQ Unlimited Call & Text Package.
Photo by Kayy McKay
Each person needs to have the app for the iQ communications package to function.
How do the stateroom lights work?
Staterooms on Harmony of the Seas feature a card slot near the entrance to each stateroom that requires a card to be inserted into it for the lights and air conditioning to work. This ensures an energy-saving means of reducing the ship's impact on the environment.
Just insert your SeaPass card (or really any card you might have) in the card slot and the lights and air conditioning will remain active as long as the card is in the slot.
What makes Harmony different from other Oasis-class ships?
There are a number of large and subtle differences between Harmony of the Seas and her sister ships, but here are the big ones.
- Harmony of the Seas offers water slides
- Ultimate Abyss is on Harmony of the Seas
- The H2O Zone has been replaced by Splashaway Bay
- Jamie's Italian replaces Giovanni's Table
- Wonderland specialty restaurant is on Harmony of the Seas
- There are different shows and parties on Harmony of the Seas
- Escape the Rubicon puzzle room is available on Harmony of the Seas
- Bionic Bar is available on Harmony of the Seas
What is the Escape the Rubicon puzzle room?
Escape the Rubicon is a puzzle game, which is a timed game where guests compete to figure out a series of clues hidden throughout one room in an allocated amount of time (usually 60 minutes) in order to find the "key" to escaping the room.
After a briefing, guests search a room for clues and hidden messages and then try to put it all together to figure out the key phrase. There are word searches, patterns and other challenges designed to get you thinking in a lot of different directions.
Each game requires at least six guests and is located near the Adventure Ocean club. Guests can sign up for it once onboard the ship (although some guests have reported seeing it available on the Cruise Planner site).
Can you open balcony partitions?
If you have a connecting balcony stateroom, often guests want to open up the balcony divider between the rooms to allow for a larger balcony space.
The key to getting this done is to ask the stateroom attendant. Talk to your stateroom attendant and ask if you can have the balcony dividers opened up because you are friends with the balcony stateroom(s) next to you.
Who will the Captain and Cruise Director be when Harmony of the Seas does its trans-Atlantic sailing?
Captain Gus Andersson will be Harmony of the Seas' Captain and Abe Hughes will be the cruise director for the repositioning cruise to Harmony of the Seas' new homeport in Port Everglades.
Eventually, Captain Johnny Faevelen will resume his duties aboard Harmony of the Seas. Each Captain takes a 10 week rotation, so Captain Johnny will be the ship's Captain once again sometime after Harmony of the Seas arrives in Port Everglades.
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