HARMONY OF THE SEAS

We leave a cellphone number and go for a walk while our children pick up hammers and nails and contribute to an ever-expanding wooden structure that would not be out of place in the recent “Mad Max” remake. Splinters, be damned. Sometimes the adult volunteers who run the place offer special projects, like making mud bricks by hand, or constructing a windmill. Sometimes the children roast stockbrot, bread on a stick, over an open bonfire. Mostly they just do as they please. Isn’t that the whole idea?

Harmony of the seas Cruise ship

Cruise: Inaugural 4-Night Short Getaway Cruise

Itinerary: Roundtrip from Southampton, England, to Rotterdam, Netherlands

Cruise date: May 22, 2016

Price: Starting at $1,860

Harmony of the seas has become the largest cruise ship in the world when it makes its inaugural voyage this May. A triumphant mega ship equipped with more amenities than most ships combined, Harmony of the Seas brings a few new signature elements to the Oasis Class, including the Ultimate Abyss, a slide that stretches ten stories and a crop of thrilling waterslides known as the Perfect Storm slides.