Our first full day on Harmony of the Seas is a sea day, which means an opportunity on an Oasis Class ship to knock out a few favorites.
We slept in a bit, but I was too excited to stay in bed for long. After getting the family up and going, we headed down to Park Cafe for a quick breakfast.
After bagels for breakfast, it was over to the Boardwalk to stop by Starbucks for coffee.
Starbucks drinks (but not food) is included with Star Class. There are few things not included with Star Class, in terms of places you can spend money. The arcade is another area where Star Class does not cover the charges there.
Speaking of Star Class, so far it's been a bit of a different experience than I thought it would be. Our genie is great, but the onus is on the guest to reach out and make requests. While the genie can sometimes surprise you with things based on conversations they've had with you, ultimately it is up to you to ask for things.
I think the "learning curve" behind Star Class just means to not assume as much and simply ask. It has become a quick lesson for me so far.
Our first group cruise event today was a Royal Caribbean version of the classic game show, "Match Game".
As an example, here is one of the questions. Please share your best answers in the comments below: "Michael just invented a talking scale. After going on a 9 night cruise it yells, '_____!'"
My kids wanted to do the Ultimate Abyss, so we headed to try it. My youngest was too short last time to try it, so we had a chance to all do it.
This time, I actually scraped my knee on the side of the slide on the way down as I tried to avoid rolling over. Luckily the scrape was not too bad, although I haven't tried swimming yet.
For lunch, we decided to go to the main dining room since sea day lunches there are always so nice.
After lunch, I took my oldest daughter ice skating during an open skate session.
Another nice Star Class perk is our genie was able to sign us up for a session without having to wait in line for it. Saving a few minutes here or there is a major source of value for what the genie provides.
Ice skating went well, although the bottom of my feet always hurt me after a bit.
Being a sea day, I decided to enjoy a time-honored cruise tradition: an afternoon nap.
After my wonderful nap, it was time for our welcome aboard party in Dazzles.
We rented out Dazzles for an hour to serve everyone drinks while getting a chance to officially say hello and thank you for cruising with us.
This is an event we typically do on every group cruise because day one can be a bit rushed, but by this point on the second day, everyone is ready to get to know each other.
Dinner this evening is in Izumi hibachi, to enjoy one of my favorite meals on every ship.
I love teppanyaki because of the combination of great food and entertainment.
We wrapped up our evening with a few rounds at the roulette table, followed by music at the pub.
Tomorrow is a sea day.
Stray Observations
The ocean conditions steadily improved throughout the day. It was still fairly rocky in the morning, but the movement onboard seemed to subside as the day progressed.
I spotted the stowaway piano player onboard Harmony.
