2017 Cruise - Hail to the Harmony of the Seas

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February 21st 2017

Published: February 22nd 2017

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Sandy and Cory

Harmony of the Seas

Largest cruise ship of all

Aaaaahhhhh. What a week! We've been home four days from our wonderful cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas. This cruise ship is the largest one on the seas....for now, anyway. How can one be exhausted from living the high life of being waited on hand and foot? I don't know, but we are! Hope you all are back on schedule and settled into your regular routine.

Remember: we left Kissimmee on Saturday, Feb. 11th. Cory drove Sandy, Sam and me to Fort Lauderdale/Port Everglades to board this glorious ship. It holds just under 6,000 passengers and 2,000 crew members. It is twice the height of the Washington Monument. I have not been on-line for this entire week so that's why you thought we had fallen off the edge of the earth. Of course, those of you who cruised with us, knew where we were and what we were doing. Proxy Lulu was with us, of course. She's been on all the other cruises we have taken (4th now). I can't take the real Lulu because her head is too big and too heavy (aka- fathead). So, the real "Little Lulu" filled in for the Lulu you all know

Port Everglades dock

Loading the ship. Look at all those watermelons!

and love. Of course, Little Lulu was in her glory. So many sights and photo shots to partake in. She's a diva, too. Fathead Lulu was pretty jealous but she has moved on. She's strong, you know.

Before we left the RV, we had one crisis. Cory misplaced our RV keys....the ones we use to lock it up. After a frantic search, we came up empty handed. We used our "hidden" key to lock the RV and took off. Not a major problem....it can be worked out.

It's about a 3 1/2 hour drive to the Port. We made it in good time. Got the car unloaded and started for the terminal. Only problem, instead of missing keys, we were missing Sam. Up and down and all around we went. No Sam. Not an easy fix like the key problem. Sam....where are you??? Had he been kidnapped? Noooooo. We wanted to hang up "missing person" posters but had no paper. We could call a Silver Alert...maybe. Finally, Sandy found him in the handicap area.....makes sense. After we were unloaded, the 3 of us went left. The uniformed attendants spotted Sam on his scooter and made him go to

Our room

Our balcony

the right. Not matter what he said, he had no choice so off he went as he was told......further and further away from us. Alone he waited.....hoping we would miss him and try to find him. Viola! A good reunion of wife and friends. Once located, we were all hustled through the boarding process. I set off the whistles thru the scanner walk-through. Had no metal on me. I had my straw hat on to hide my bald head (remember the bad haircut I recently suffered). For whatever reason, by doing that, I passed through smoothly. Whew! No cruise jail for me.

Too early to go to our rooms so we went to the top floor Buffet to begin our continuous, non-stop eating regimen that would be our style for the next week. Very busy in this area because everyone else had the same plan. Soon, we were able to go to our rooms. We were on the same floor, same side of the ship but about 50 rooms apart. We had a very nice balcony room. What a view! At night, we leave the balcony door open so we can be lulled asleep by the lapping waters. Zzzzzzzzz.

Opposite view of our room

Lulu resting on the couch

Sam & Sandy had a room twice as large as ours because they requested a handicap room. If you brought your roller skates, you could do the Glide Waltz in their room.

While we were unpacking and enjoying our balcony, Sam & Sandy were in for a major surprise. Someone rapped on their door......Sandy answered it-- in shock. There stood their oldest son, Sam, and his wife, Jodi. They had cleverly and secretly booked their cruise on this ship to surprise their parents.....and what a surprise it was! Life is good! As we gathered for dinner, we were able to meet Sam & Jodi. So enjoyable ....they both have a fun sense of humor so Sam, Jr. kept us laughing throughout dinner and our times shared. "The More the Merrier" rang true when we were all together. This was their first cruise and they really made the most of it. Good for them!

Of course, we had to check out this mega ship after dinner. That's good --cause there was a lot of food inside our bodies to walk off. Harmony of the Seas has a lot of similarity to the Oasis of the Seas which was the

Our comfy bed

Lulu sleeping

first cruise we took for our 50th Anniversary. All of the amenities are the ultimate of all ultimates.....they really go "overboard" with elegance and uniqueness. So much to see, so much to do. I'm sure you were as awe-struck as we.

The promenade had the shops and some of the free snack places. A beautiful jaguar car set at one end of this main walking course while a huge, metal, rotating head donned the other end. Over the top! Near the jaguar, was the bar that you could ride on that went up and down passing through three floors. Every night, our travel agent (she is excellent) had made reservations for us for all the various evening entertainment plus anything else we went to. No standing in lines. Nothing. We just had to show up. This is the way to go!

Our first night, we watched a special musical of Grease. Can it get any better? Another night was a fantastic aquatic show, then a hilarious stand-up comedian, a beautiful ice skating show (1887 A Journey in Time), a trio of male musical tenor singers, and a final musical that we by-passed so we could watch a parade.

Looking up at sky through open center of boat

Dance floor

Each and every venue was of the highest quality.

Of course, eating becomes a major ritual unto itself. The main decision was where to eat? Then, what to eat....such a wide variety of choices plus whether you wanted more than one of any of your choices. OMG.....this ship might sink with just the tonnage of food I am devouring. Mostly, we ate in the dinning room so we could be waited on hand and foot throughout the entire process. Our two servers were super.

There were two formal evenings. Of course, every dining room meal (the normal 3) and any other meal around the ship that you wanted in between at anytime were exquisite. We actually got sick of eating....can you imagine that? It's seems impossible but it was real. It's a wonder we all don't have gout. One formal night offered lobster. I had 3, Sandy had 4 and their son, Sam had 7! No wonder I gained 3 pounds even with the million miles we walked. Sandy walked even more and gained nothing....luckeeee!

One day, we had two lunches: back to back. First we went to the Solarium Bistro followed by the Park Cafe. This

Cory & Jaguar

Decor from elevator

was located on the floor that was designed like NYC's Central Park. Among their huge menu, they offered Beef on Weck (a Buffalo, NY specialty), tuna melt panini, and even mulligatwany soup ......remember that soup on the Seinfeld show: NO SOUP FOR YOU said the Soup Nazi. I never did get the free yummy hot dog at their hot dog stand. Sandy did and said it was delicious.

After this week, of major, big time eating, I said I probably wouldn't have to eat again. Just the thought of food sent my stomach into contractions. Of course, once back on land....my appetite returned and I was able to eat again...Rats!

One day, Cory and I took advantage of their poolside lounges. I was like Goldilocks....having to try all the different styles. A dip in one of their pools was refreshing. We went to the solarium and relaxed in one of their infinity hot tubs the hung over the edge of the ship. It looked like you were soothing yourself in warm water above the high seas. Of course, in every place you go, you meet nice people from all over the world. It was like being in a

Carousel on ship

Back of boat...big slide rides

Spa at the United Nations.

Several times throughout the cruise, the shops would offer "$10.00 for everything" at display areas on the promenade. Unreal! It made Macy's basement sales look like an isolation room! Thousands of people crunched together, grabbing and buying whatever they could reach just cause it sounded like a good deal. You risked your life getting close to this rioting mob. We did partake on the last day of the cruise when they had their T-Shirts for $10.00 each. Cory and I got right to the front of the line and quickly grabbed 3. Took 15 minutes just to get released from this incapsulating mass that blocked us in. We felt like Lady GaGa inside the egg she was carried in when attending an awards show. Whew! We survived this unbelievable event! Hooray.

One day, Sandy and I watched the 3 top chefs create a cake. They handed out cupcakes but "no room in this inn/stomach". Rats. They had open skating on the ice rink for passengers so we watched these skaters enjoy themselves. There was never a lack of things to do if you had the stamina to do it all. Sandy had more

Huge, metal rotating head on Promenade

Moving parts....all mixed up.

than me. She was like the energizer bunny even though she was fighting a cold.....nothing kept her down! My arthritic knee was not as co-operative.....with all the hiking we did, I felt like "Peg-Leg Pete". A wooden leg would have served me better. Instead I added Motrin to my pill regime along with my Celebrex.....which is a no-no! Fortunately, I had no hemorrhaging from my mouth!

We visited three ports: Labadee, Haiti, Falmouth, Jamaica and Cozumel, Mexico. Because I have so many photos to share with you, I shall put each port on a different blog. There, I shall let my pictures do the talking for me, mostly. Hey, which one of you just hollered out HOORAY? That's ok.....I'm used to it.

Needless to say, we had a marvelous time on this cruise. Truly it is the top luxury liner.....one you have to see to believe. My many photos don't give it justice. Our friends from Tropical Palms went on abother cruise at the same time we did....their's was a day longer and they did the Eastern Caribbean. We went to the Western Caribbean. They went on the same ship as we all had done last year: the

Up & Down bar passing thru 3 floors

One snack spot on Promenade

Carnival Sunshine. We have been too spoiled by Royal Caribbean's mega ships that the Carnival ship just didn't do it for us. You pay for what you get. We paid more for this cruise but got so much more.....although we missed the fun times with this group of friends from our park. But, we were in our happy land being with Sam & Sandy and their family. Life is good. Maybe, sometime, the Tropical Palms group will think about going on a different ship to see what else is out there.

Saturday, Feb.18th, we arrived back at Port Everglades. Of course, we had breakfast in the dining room before debarking. The diet will start tomorrow....right. On the ship, Cory bought 2 three liter bottles of Crown Royal which he carried happily off the ship with glee in his eyes. No problems going through customs and we were off the ship in a flash. Cory says after he drinks the liquor, he can sell these bottles on EBay for a tidy price. What better reason for buying such BIG bottles of booze? Yeah, right. OMG! Hopefully, it will take ten years before the bottles are empty! Neither Lulu or I

The bears are driving the jaguar

Cory with golden legs and shoes. Lulu is jealous.

drink it. Anyone out there want a pop? Please, help Cory with this major consumption.

Remember how I mentioned I thought we wouldn't need to eat again but we did? Driving home, we tried a new restaurant on Rt.27 in Lake Wales. Actually, Sam & Sandy had eaten here before years ago. It is called Sizzling Grill Steak & Seafood. It's a nice, casual restaurant and if you love grouper....this is the place to go. It's kind of like Manny's with the salad made at your table and the melt in your mouth rolls but known for their seafood whereas Manny's is known for its steaks. Both Cory & I got the fried grouper dinner: delicious! Too bad it's so far away! Amazingly, we were able to pack this yummy meal into our food-swollen bodies. No more....pleeaseeee. ......and I know that's what you are saying about this loquacious blog.

Once on a roll, it's difficult for me to stop.....you all know that. I'll be following this blog with more blogs from the cruise.....trying to put 7 days into a few paragraphs is not easy. Plus there is so much to show and tell.....where do I stop? I want

All robotic bar

Shaking up your liquor drink

to be sure to share all this with those of you who ended up with sea sickness and had to spend your whole time in your cabins. Sad to say that while you were dumping around, we were living it up on the high seas! Lulu sends her sympathy. She's such a compassionate soul.

Stay with us.....lots of things yet to see and do as we reflect back on this glorious trip. You don't want to miss a minute. Don't forget to scroll way down and maybe even go to page 2 or 3 or more to see the multitude of snapshots (32). ?? Sailing, Sailing, Sailing...Over the Bounding Main ???

Additional photos below

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