Harmony vs Allure

[Burgermom]

Hi,

I am trying to decide between RCC Allure of the Seas and Harmony of the Seas.
Harmony is slightly more expensive but not enough so that I feel strongly either way from a price perspective at this time.
My main questions are as follows (but any advice on which ship people prefer is totally welcome):

1. Which has a better solarium? We plan on spending a fair amount of time here and from what I understand Harmony has a bigger solarium but no pools. Can someone tell me more about the Allure and Harmony solariums and pros and cons of each.

2. Harmony has water slides and a "dry" slide while Allure has no slides. How fun are the slides; are they worth swaying me in one direction or the other?

3. How are the shows on each? Does one have better shows than the other?

4. Restaurants/Food: I know that Harmony has Wonderland (which I would like to try) but I believe Allure does not. Other than that how much of a difference is there between the Allure's restaurants/main dining room/Windjammer and the Harmony's restaurants/main dining room/Windjammer

Any other thoughts on trying to decide between the two ships would be greatly appreciated.

 

[starvenger]

1. Haven’t spent time in either but worth noting that on Allure, the solarium cafe becomes a Brazilian steakhouse at night.

2. Abyss (the dry slide) I find to be like AquaDuck - good to try once, but that’s about it. Water slides are fun, but as there are only three I doubt you’ll be on them all the time.

If you have kids, the Harmony splash area is better than Allure’s. However, Allure has a kids pool.

3. Haven’t seen Grease or Mamma Mia so I can’t compare. Allure has some Dreamworks-themed shows. Aqua shows are both good, but Harmony has “the spinning guy”.

I liked Harmony’s Columbus: the Musical better than Allure’s second show, but that’s comes down to taste I think.

4. Wonderland aside, I think the food is about the same. Granted, Harmony has Jamie’s Italian, but at the end of the day it’s still Italian food.

I think the rooms on Harmony are slightly smaller, or at least it felt that way.

Finally, I think Harmony’s casino smoking side is better ventilated. Less smell coming out of there vs Allure.

 

[Frozen2014]

Have only been on Allure but people on cruise critic complain of lack of a pool on Harmony.

Mamma Mia on Allure is amazing. I'm sure Grease is great too. Loved the Aqua shows on Allure (regular plus DreamWorks one), ice shows great and cirque f Soleil type show. Allure also has extra DreamWorks ice show. But I think k Harmony has similar style.

Can't comment on slides and Abyss. Are these important to you? If so, may becworbe the extra cost.

Ports the same? Leave from same port? Think both are Sun to Sun, right?

I'm sure you can't go wrong with either.

 

[nkereina]

1. Which has a better solarium? We plan on spending a fair amount of time here and from what I understand Harmony has a bigger solarium but no pools. Can someone tell me more about the Allure and Harmony solariums and pros and cons of each.

We did Oasis but from what I have seen, Oasis and Allure solariums are identical. The pool in the solarium is more like a hot tub but with pool temperature water It's waist deep, small, round, and can get crowded. There is a bench around the edge of it so since its adults only, people just sit on the bench and edge of the pool all day. There are some fountain features in the middle. That said, we really enjoyed hanging out there on our at sea days.

Its true there is no pool at all in the Harmony solarium. There are walk-through misters instead, which is a bummer IMO.