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8 hours ago, T-2 said:

I cannot thank you enough for the help and the insights- I noticed the lack of fish eye and couldn't believe how much better it looked, even the audio sounded great, and the quality, just amazing- its definitely time to upgrade. Usually everyone is shooting action sports like skate boarding, skiing, I had not realized the advances in underwater and just shots you took around the ship, again, without the fish eye effect. Were any of your single shots with the goPro- like on the water obsticles or were you using something else? Again, your help is super appreciated and I enjoyed every minute of your trip adventure. Photo/video memories are irreplaceable for us when we travel as a family so again, super thanks.

So any single shot that is taken out in the water was definitely the GoPro, but there were only a few of those.  Just about all the single shots were just with my phone camera.  GoPro was almost exclusively the video and time warps.

2 hours ago, T-2 said:

I only just ran across your incredible review and pictures and was wondering which GoPro you used, I need to upgrade mine and have been reluctant to make the decision not knowing how much they had changed. Your videos are stunning. May I ask, did you change the speed any when you were snorkeling amongst the fist in Roatan? I definitely also appreciate the info on the legs to attach to a rail and the security cords. Just keeping my fingers crossed you may revisit and share which gopro is responsible for those eye dropping results- you did an amazing job!  Thanks!!!!

PS- we don't go for 7 weeks so I iwll keep checking back even if its not anytime soon. (same ports, super appreciate all the tips you shared on your excursions)

Thanks for the feedback!  I used a Hero9 for the GoPro videos and time warps.

I did play with the settings a bit snorkeling, starting with the 2.7K resolution activity setting and then moving up to 4K.  I also changed the lens angle.  The default setting for video is a very wide angle fish eye type view. I opted for a couple clicks down (narrower field of view) which is the linear which was more to my liking for the snorkeling.

4 hours ago, jammin said:

Thanks for sharing your vacation with us!  Your review was awesome to read.

 

how was your room setup with your kids?  I recall you mentioning you had a balcony and an inside across the hall.  Did you and your wife have to register as the adult in each room?  Did the kids sleep in the inside and you in the balcony?

 

we just booked 2 balcony cabins for our family of four for next Christmas. My kids are 19 and 14 but Royal required an adult over 21 to be registered in each room. We plan to just move a kid into one room and she and I will take the other. 

Adults and the 9 and 7 year old were in the balcony.  14 and 16 year old were directly across the hall in the interior.  As long as it's an adjoining room or directly across hall, you are good with this setup.  We had another cruise where we were diagonal across hall and we had to have a parent booked in each room (but then had extra room keys made and still ended up with parents in the balcony without issue).

1 hour ago, pmak said:

Hello, thank you for the wonderful review. We will be sailing on the Harmony this February. I was wondering how do you find out when the ship has a Caribbean/White theme nights for your sailing?  I don’t see any theme nights on the Royal app. Thank you 

As you get closer to your cruise it will start showing up on your daily list of activities in the app.  I think usually there was an activity entry around 4pm or so that would say the dress for that evening.  On our recent 7-night, there were 2 formal nights, 2 casual nights, a Caribbean night, a country night and a white night.

You can also look up previous/recent Compass versions for Harmony and in the upper right hand corner of the day they have the dress, pictured below.  Link here of a good place to find previous Compass versions.

45 minutes ago, Lorey2007 said:

What category cabin did you have?

Standard oceanview balcony for the adults and younger kids with an interior across the hall for the older boys.

2 hours ago, BK79 said:

With the once a day turndown service, what time would you recommend for a family?

I just realized I never addressed this in my review (other than the final summary) and meant to, my bad!  It was one of the service changes I wanted to highlight.

We met our steward the first afternoon and she gave us the option of morning (9-1) or evening service.  We initially chose morning since we had the kids in our room on the pull-out and thought it would be good to have her make it up in the morning.

We then thought better of it, knowing we would always be out of the room for several hours at the same time for dinner in the MDR.  We found our steward that first night and asked to change to evening service and she refused, saying her evenings were full.

This ended up being an issue for us on sea days (not port days) as it wasn't as easy for the 4 of us to be out of the room for an extended time in the morning (we had to be in and out a bit).  And as a result, we just got towels and didn't have her service the room a couple of those days.  We were out of the room for a couple hours those days, but she did not make the room up during those times, which was also frustrating.  I just think they have too much to cover now and have little flexibility, though I would have expected a little more of an attempt.

So for our family, since we always went to dinner in the MDR, evening service would have worked better.  Again, was not an issue on port days since we were gone, but we had to focus on it for the 3 sea days to get out of the room between 9 and 1 and I would rather not have to worry about it next time.

The last night I set up the GoPro on the balcony and programmed it to start a time lapse at 5am.  Here's the arrival of Harmony back into port, including turning around and backing in, which I thought was pretty cool:

We had our last breakfast with the older boys hitting Windjammer and me just bringing coffee and light breakfast back from Cafe Promenade for our room since we knew there would be additional snacks in the Royal Theater as we waited to disembark.  We were out of the room by 8am and headed down to the theater to wait.

Our luggage number was called right at 8:50am (which was the planned time) and we had started to head toward the elevators a couple minutes before.  It was no issue getting an elevator to go up one floor to the Promenade and we quickly were off the ship.  We were through customs with our luggage by 9:05am.  With a short walk to the South lot, the car was packed and we were on our way by 9:20am...super efficient.  We were home in Round Rock shortly after 1pm and began the crazy preparations of Christmas Eve with 4 kids.  Looking back, we will prefer to cruise after Christmas going forward vs. before...as it was a lot to catch up on, being gone the week before Christmas, even though we tried to get everything we could done in advance.

Final thoughts:

We had a great time.  A cruise is what you make of it and we enjoyed our time together...it's not often we are all sitting down for a nice meal together with all the kids' activities, so a full week of spending time together was wonderful, not to mention all the fun we had and the memories we made.

I forgot to mention earlier that we had booked the one-device surf and stream internet package, using the $100 OBC we received from the Premier Pass refund.  We just shared it between my wife and I and the older boys and it worked well all week.  Only one device could be on at a time, but we just took turns and it was all we needed.  We just shared the log-in and it would kick off whoever was on when you logged on, which we coordinated.  Performance was better than I thought it would be.

We definitely noticed some changes with the biggest impact to us personally being the service from the Adventure Ocean kids club.  After it being a favorite of our younger kids previously, I'm hoping they give it a try again, but we were not fans of the changes there nor what we saw and experienced.  Close behind that was the once per day room service and the inflexibility of our room steward.  Both of these were disappointing, but we did not allow them to bother our cruise.

The changes in process in the MDR were evident and I would say the meals there were good to very good with maybe the only drawback being our perceived slight degradation in the amount of choices that appealed to us on the menu.  Service in the MDR was great after that first night and our wait staff worked incredibly hard to keep us happy and we greatly appreciated them.

Overall service otherwise on the ship was still great.  Almost everyone would say "hello" or "good morning" as you passed them on deck and I only experienced one crew member with a negative attitude who outwardly said they were not happy there (casino blackjack dealer).  I thought the bar service was very good all week, as was the service we experienced in Chops and Izumi.  The ship was clean and in great shape with no signs of wear anywhere I noticed.

In my humble opinion, cruising is still a relaxing way for a large family like ours to vacation, with most things taken care of.  I still felt like the trip was a good overall value for our family, considering everything we got to see, do and eat and am excited for our next cruise on Oasis next New Year's with our extended family.

Thanks for following along and I'm happy to answer any questions that may be out there.

-Dan

Mom spent the rest of the day packing while the little ones headed back up on deck and the older boys did rock climbing and a few other activities.

Last night in the MDR was white night and we did stop for pictures before dinner this time and our table was still there for us when we arrived at 5:05.  😂

Service and the meal were again very good in the MDR.  Apps we tried included the seafood cake, shrimp cocktail and French onion soup and were good.  A couple of us had the lamb (which I thought was okay, but not great) and then the salmon and steak.  I think one of the boys commented that they wished they had tried the turkey dinner instead.  It was another night when there were not a lot of selections of mains that we were really excited about.  I think everybody got the chocolate brownie for dessert, including the little kids and everybody agreed it was one of the best desserts of the week.

Trying to keep the white dress white:  😂

Toward the end of the meal, they unveiled a large Texas flag from the 3rd floor railing and played "Deep in the Heart of Texas" with everyone singing.  We gave our waiter and assistant an extra tip for the week, said our good-byes and headed back to our room.  Was a pretty walk back on the promenade.

Everyone was pretty tired that last night and so other than some additional packing, getting the suitcases out in the hall and some last ping pong matches with the 14-year old and I, there wasn't a lot done.  I did head to the casino for a last session before the 16-year old texted after running 12 laps on the track at 10pm (??) and wanting to meet at Sorrento's for a last pizza date.  It was a fitting way to end the last day together.  🙂

Was up super early on our last sea day and headed to the Solarium for the last attempt of the week at a sunrise on the GoPro.  On the way down, noticed the seasickness bags were out on the stairs for the 2nd time of the trip.  Did not impact us.

No such luck again on sunrise, as rain squalls ended up moving in and stuck around most of the day, making for a wet last day at sea.  We didn't let it bother us and had a fun day regardless as temperatures were still nice out.

I did capture what would have been sunrise with a time lapse video from up on deck, but it's not that great.  You can see the rain start to move in at the end.

Boys had agreed to meet at Johnny Rockets again for our last breakfast.  It started pouring right around 7:30am, so wasn't sure if they would make it or not and if there would be room for breakfast since the indoor seating is very limited.  Was not an issue...they made it and we had the place to ourselves, with not many folks there the whole time we were there.  The staff did their traditional last day dance...just indoors vs. in the middle of the boardwalk.  Felt like it was a personal dance for us.  😄

The Flowrider opened at 9am and was supposed to be open most of that last day so the 14 year old went to do that while the 16 year old wanted to ride the Abyss and do the zipline.  I did both with him (my first time on the zipline) and then went to watch the Flowrider.  Tried the GoPro out with 4k video for the first time at the Flowrider.

There was hardly any line, so headed back and got the 9 year old and he joined his brother on the Flowrider and they had fun.  7 year old wanted to enjoy a rainy pool day and ended up riding the water slides for the first time with friends she had made over the week.

We had made reservations for Izumi lunch way in advance with my wife and the 14-year old since the rest of the family doesn't like sushi.  For the second cruise in a row, our lunch reservation got automatically converted to the sushi / sake pairing since it was occurring that last sea day.  We had gone ahead and done it last year on the Allure, even with the 14-year old (sans sake) which they did allow, but this year we preferred to pick from the menu.  I talked to the Izumi maitre d' earlier in the week and they agreed to make our reservation the traditional lunch and had us arrive at 12pm vs. the 11am start time for sushi/sake.

Meal was great...we each chose and shared an appetizer and then we each picked 2 different sushi rolls and shared those as well.  Did not really have room for dessert, but we each had the melting chocolate cake.  Everything was really good and we'll continue the Izumi lunch tradition on our next cruise as we've done it each RC cruise to date.

21 minutes ago, Dolby1000 said:

I'm enjoying your trip report, and the family pictures are turning out great. Sound like your family is having the time of the lives.

 

How did you book Paradise Beach? We are going to Cozumel in May and this sounds like our kind of day.

 

Thank You

We booked directly from their website.  They do sell out... Last year I tried to book late and they were already full...But then again that was a day when there were eight ships in port.

Just Google Paradise Beach Cozumel.

Hope you have a great trip!

Another reason it was a great day at Cozumel...only 3 ships in port and one of them was a smaller Viking ship.  Compared to the 8 ships in port last December when we visited, it was deserted!  We were the only ship at our specific port as well, so we knew security would be pretty easy getting back on as compared to the craziness last year.  So we headed back a little later than we would have and took our time shopping in port.  This would play a factor later in the evening, in a bit of foreshadowing.  🤐

We were back on board a little before 4 and had every intention of taking formal pictures before dinner by the Christmas tree since it was the last formal night.  Well, getting 2 adults and 4 kids ready and dressed in dresses/ties after a long day on the beach on a cruise ship with 2 bathrooms between the 6 of us is a feat in itself.  Before we knew it, it was already 5pm, so pre-pictures were out.  We had watched tables around us all week come in as much as 30 minutes late to dinner and were always seated at their table.  So we weren't overly concerned when we headed down to the MDR, leaving our room at 5:15.  Now I know the rules...you need to be there by 5:15 or risk losing your table...but again, we didn't think it would be an issue based on what we observed all week and also since we had dined there EVERY NIGHT.

Well, apparently on lobster night they will give your table away at 5:10.  We got down there by 5:20 and there was already a family of 6 sitting comfortably at our table with a bottle of wine...so they had been there for at least a little bit.  We stood there until the head waiter came by, with our table neighbors telling us out loud "we couldn't believe they gave your table away."

He could tell we were upset and offered to find us another table.  I told him I didn't want another table, and I didn't understand why he had given ours away in close proximity to 5:15 when we had been there all week and have 4 kids to get ready on formal night.  I know I'm in the wrong here, but it still bothered me.  He ended up giving us a table in our same section, but with different servers.  When our same servers came over to help us out, I called over the head waiter and told him it wasn't fair for them to have an extra table, as they already had too much going on.  So he swapped them and the servers who were supposed to be at our table, which I thought was much more fair to our serving team (and hopefully they appreciated it).

I thanked him but gave him a bit more of my mind, telling him I didn't think it was acceptable to give away our table after 5 minutes on a formal night when we have 4 kids, have been there all week and told him we would be dining there each night.  Also noted how we had seen others come in 30 minutes late and still get their table (although I'm sure those weren't as busy as lobster night, so I do get it).  

He offered us filet from the menu for free as a peace offering.  I told him it was lobster night and that's what we were planning on.  He left and came back (had to talk to his boss?) and offered us the surf and turf for free.  The older boys and the adults happily obliged and we were happy with the peace offering.

The lobster was very good and the filet was actually as good as the one we had in Chops, cooked perfectly to each of our asks.

As we were finishing up dessert, the head waiter came over again.  He offered us a free galley tour on the following sea day, starting at 10am.  We unfortunately had to decline since we had reservations for lunch at Izumi, but we truly appreciated the additional effort made to make us happy that night.  Great example of very good service, when by the rules, they really didn't have to do anything for us, since technically it was our fault.

Well, since we didn't get to take pictures before dinner and were wearing our Christmas dresses / ties, we decided to wait for pictures in front of the tree, which we knew was a mistake, but figured it was our only chance for nice pictures left that week.  We ended up waiting an hour and by the time we had finished, we had missed the start of Columbus, which we had reservations to that night.  Nobody really cared at that point as we did have a great day and a great dinner, after it was all said and done.

Pictures turned out okay, although the only one we loved was the last ones of the kids hugging.

I'll leave it today with the time lapse of us leaving Cozumel that evening.  Different view with the camera facing toward the back of the ship and a pretty sunset in the distance...I was happy with this one.

Drinks were not overly strong, but again, the request for a floater was obliged after they figured out what we meant.  Here's how it came out the first time...shot anyone?  Although I guess this also worked the same.  😂

Kids had a great time out in the water on the floating stuff.

There were also beach walks, snorkeling (go under the dock at the very end of the pier) shell and coconut finding, swings, more food/drink and of course, beach naps.

I have to be honest, I was probably the least excited about the day in Cozumel as any of our days on the cruise, having visited several times in the past.  Turned out to be my favorite day!  Had beautiful weather finally and had a great day at Paradise Beach.

It was one of our earlier arrivals in port with the ship getting in close to 7am.  Little kids just asked to eat on the balcony, so grabbed some things from Solarium Bistro and brought it back to the room while the older boys ate there themselves. 

Breakfast of champions...

We took our time and headed off the ship a little after 8.

Similar to Costa Maya, the port in Cozumel can be a little confusing as you have to literally walk through stores to get out.  But at least it is well marked and relatively easy to follow the "Taxi" signs.  Kids were not happy when we made them stop for a picture with the local.

Grabbing a taxi for 6 was not an issue, other than the price...$36 each way to Paradise Beach and it was probably only a 15 minute drive.  But it would have been half that for 1-4 people.  It's 50% more for 5 and then 2x for 6-8 people.  But it was no problem getting there and the taxi was a nice / huge van.

We chose Paradise Beach because it offers a good mix of everything, especially for the kids, along with good service.  The all-inclusive is pretty reasonable for what you get as the food is quite good and the menu large (and expensive if you were to go a-la-carte).  There is a nice pool (heated), a swim-up bar, nice restrooms, a very nice beach with plenty of shade (one of our requirements) and plenty of fun stuff for the kids.  The floating water park was a little extra for the kids, but well worth it as they spent a ton of time out there.

The wife and I had actually visited Paradise Beach with the extended family on our first cruise ever 18 years earlier.  I pulled a few pictures off my photo show, so the quality is not great (sorry), but it's fun to see the difference from 18 years ago.

18 years ago:

Not sure who this guy is...but note how brand new the palms are, having hardly spread out at all.

Fast-forward to now:

They meet you at the door, check you in, give you bracelets and then a server shows you around and asks where you would like to set up.  We said shade on the beach and got a great spot.  Plenty of shade, near the pool and taco truck, but also right near the water park for the kids.  Service was amazing all day.  They would come by constantly asking if they could get you anything and would simply put your order in on a tablet and out it would come 5 minutes later whether it was a drink or food.  Tacos were really good, shrimp were really good and kids liked the hamburgers and pizza.  We certainly got our money's worth throughout the day.

We wrapped up the day with those Oreo shakes I mentioned and some pictures and headed back to port.  You get to choose when you want to leave and they will have a taxi ready for you to take you back.  All in all, a great day at Maya Chan and we will happily return.

Back at port we did some shopping and explored the port a bit before getting back on board.

Once back on board, our 7-year old really wanted to hit the hot tub, so we went to one of the cantilever ones watching over the port.  And there may or may not have been a pre-dinner snack afterwards...

Dinner that night in the MDR was Mexican night.  Service and food was again good.  I had the poblano pepper soup which was excellent and others really liked the grilled corn cakes.  Mains were the chili-lime salmon and butter chicken and they were good.  We dared the boys to try the crunchy chili-crusted tofu tacos, but they would not bite.  Desserts were just okay -- tres leches cake, caramel flan and the warm cookie were tried.  Everyone was pretty pooped after a day in the sun, so everyone headed to bed pretty early except for me...I hit the comedy show that night.  The 2 comedians were okay...funny, but just alright.

I was able to capture a couple good videos of Carnival Pride and Harmony leaving Costa Maya, which I will leave you with tonight.  We were at dinner, but apparently a little rain squall came through as we were leaving...pretty sunset as well.

Water was clearer than last year, but you have to realize it's not going to be crystal clear there.  It's murky at best due to the seaweed, but they do a really good job keeping it off the beach...we didn't experience any on the beach itself.  There is a reef WAY offshore if interested, but I mean it's way out there and we've never gone out to it.  But they say it has good snorkeling.

Service was good on our last visit, but it was absolutely amazing this year.  Maybe it was our location, but I mean we never had to wait for anything and they were always asking if they could bring us anything else.  Just did a really good job taking care of us.

Lunch was again amazing.  They make fresh flour and corn tortillas and then have fresh grilled chicken, beef, fish and slow roasted pork with all the fixings.  All you want.  They happily made a cheese quesadilla for our 7-year old as well.

Kids even made a new friend...

...and created some new sports...

...while also enjoying the beach and water and toys.

Good morning Costa Maya...we arrived on our side of the ship which made for a better time lapse of our arrival:

We had plenty of time to hit solarium bistro for breakfast and coffee from cafe promenade before we got off the ship.  No issues at all on any of our port days disembarking...although we did get off early each day, there was never a problem with elevators or a wait to get off.  Was again pretty impressed given how many people were on board this week.

We again chose to return to Maya Chan resort for the day this trip.  Navigating the port at Costa Maya can be pretty frustrating, so have included the map they gave us to get out...key is to stay left and keep going around.  And realize there are no signs to help until the end...they want you to stay in the port.  😂

There are some neat things to see in the port as you walk through.  Kids remembered the flamingos from last year and wanted to find / see them again.

It's a pretty good hike to get to the fake pyramid where Maya Chan picks you up, I would say at least a half mile including the walk down the dock and through the port.  Once you get out of the port, it's a pretty easy walk down a straight road and you can easily see the pyramid in the distance.  The good news is that on the way back, they drop you off straight at the entrance of the port.

We signed the waiver and waited maybe all of 3 minutes until they had a taxi ready for us and another family for the trip to Maya Chan.  The drive is 20-30 minutes on dirt roads with lots of pot holes.  They drive slow, but it's very bumpy...just be aware it's a pretty crazy drive to get there.

Maya Chan is for you if you want a no-frills, laid-back beach day without having to worry about anything.  Everything is included...transportation, food, drinks, water toys, floats, toys for the kids, beach games, snorkel equipment, paddle boat...you get the point.  Only thing not included are the massages, but they are quite reasonable.  My wife got one this year and said it was good...just not super private as the massage area is near the main dining area.  She was literally the first one to go that morning, so it wasn't an issue.  They ask you not to tip until the end...so it's a really worry-free day.

Here was our spot for the day...

Great location near the entrance with shade, 6 chairs, tables, daybed and a hammock.  I noticed location was much better than last year, so I have to think they prioritize return visits.  The immediately serve you welcome drinks and very good homemade chips and guacamole / salsa.  It's very good.  Drinks are not overly strong, but you can order whatever you want.  We've learned to order pina coladas or daiquiris with a rum floater and that helps to make them strong enough.  😂  Kids got Shirley Temples and they make a really good Oreo shake for them I have a picture of later.

That night was Caribbean night in the MDR and we dressed the part.

Dinner service was good and food was as well.  The crispy coconut shrimp are not to be missed...I could have just eaten those for the main.  Tiger shrimp and the Caribbean chicken were the main choices.  Wife said the shrimp were okay.  There was a lot going on with the chicken on the side which was really good.  Chicken was good, but was just roasted chicken.  Was wishing I could have combined this one with the jerk seasoning on the pork chop.  Desserts were all across the board, but consensus was the Royal chocolate cake was awesome.

I'll leave it tonight with a time lapse of our departure from Roatan.  We were unfortunately on the uninteresting side of the ship for this one, but still worked out pretty well.  I think I bumped it up to 15x for this one before landing on 30x for the others later in the cruise I'll share.

Was time for lunch at that point, so we ate there at the restaurant.  They had a very large menu with plenty of choices.  We got a pizza and a few other things to share and there were no complaints.

There was another snorkeling / swimming session, the little ones finally braved the pool and then we headed back to port a little after 2pm for some shopping.

Sun trying to come out, but not quite:

It was probably a 20 minute drive to/from port and we hired Let's Go Roatan for transportation.  Infinity Bay offers their own transportation, but we got a better deal with Let's Go Roatan.  They offered to stop along way at multiple tourist stops, but we really just wanted to maximize our time at the beach snorkeling.  We did stop at the Roatan sign on the way back for pictures...and of course THEN the sun came out.

All in all it was a good day, even if the weather didn't fully cooperate.  I was a fan of Roatan.

I first headed straight out from the resort to see what I could see.  Here's the view from the beach.

Straight out in shallow water I immediately found a large school of small fish which was cool.  More on that later with the kids.  I had heard there was a break in the reef a little further down the beach that was a good place to snorkel.  So I walked down the beach a couple resorts to where I saw a big telephone pole with snorkel equipment on it.  Figured that must be a good sign so I headed out there.

I have plenty of other video if folks are interested, but I thought this was one of the better ones that showed one of the nicer areas.  There were plenty of fish and plenty of coral.  You just had to be careful not to get stuck in the coral where it gets shallower.  And that day it was pretty rough with waves breaking over you as you got closer to the better areas.  Would recommend being a decent swimmer, but I'm hoping this was just the day/weather and it's not usually that rough.

Net is the snorkeling was awesome, even if it wasn't crystal clear that day.  Would love to go back and explore more when it's clearer / calmer.

Brought the kids back to show them the school of fish and they enjoyed.  The older boys came out with me to the reef for another session while the little ones stayed closer to shore.  It was definitely more cloudy / more seaweed the closer into shore you were.  But they all had a lot of fun.

Good morning Roatan!  Where is my sunrise?  Nope.

Was up earlier than everyone else, so stopped by Windjammer to just get coffee, but since nobody was there yet and it was fully open early, walked through to see what they had...and found eggs benedict there.  I don't frequent the Windjammer much, but I don't remember seeing eggs benny previously.  Not bad!  Had some there and brought some back to the room for the wife.  Took little kids to hit solarium bistro and the older boys hit Windjammer by themselves (I think).

Was really excited for Roatan, having not been there before and hearing about the snorkeling off of West Bay Beach.  Last year I had taken the older boys on a private snorkeling excursion in Cozumel and they loved it, so I picked the Infinity Bay Resort at West Bay Beach as they have a nice pool, beach area, food as well as snorkeling right off shore at the reef there.  We made reservations in advance for their day pass (which was free for the 7 year old) and ranged in cost for the other kids up to $48 for the adults.  Pass came with 1 free drink each, access to the pool, towels, a small beach area with loungers and a security guard who kept the vendors at least out of the resort area.  The drink coupons were good for either a non or alcoholic drink and were the same for all 6 of us.  So we basically got 6 alcoholic drinks included, which was fine for the day.  We brought water and gatorade from our stateroom for the kids, which we didn't receive any questions on.

It was a really nice resort and we would definitely return.  Unfortunately, if you can't tell, the weather didn't cooperate.  It was overcast, windy and almost a bit chilly without the sun out.  The pool was cold enough where the kids would not venture in, and they are pretty used to cold water.  Fortunately, the ocean/gulf was much warmer and was fine once you were in the water.  But kids spent some time huddled under towels.  Vendors were pretty aggressive right on the beach after you stepped off the property, so be aware.

As you can see, it was a pretty rough day for the water as well...not nearly as clear and calm as I had seen from previous pictures/videos.  But the beach area was nice and I was going to at least give snorkeling a go myself first to see how rough/clear it was.

Second sea day brought another attempt at a GoPro time lapse of sunrise...but alas, with no sun.  This was the best it got:

Mom had an early (8am) massage, so I took all the kids to the MDR for breakfast to try that out.  Got there right at 8am, walked right in and service was great.  Kids loved the croissant / bread / donut service right to their seat they got to pick from, as well as the fact that they could order both Fruit Loops and pancakes, bacon and hashbrowns all at the same time.  I stuck to the eggs benny.  They were good...hollandaise just needed a little more flavor.

A donut "toast"?

Service was prompt and we were in and out in 30 minutes.  As we walked out, there was quite the line for a table...so advice would be to get there at 8am / early.  Kids were also impressed they could go to the MDR for breakfast.

Picture stop by the tree on the way back to the room since nobody was around at that point of the morning!

Rest of the day before dinner was mostly a repeat of the day before...gym and running then time out on deck in pool, hot tub, water slides, Flowrider, rock climbing, walks, ice cream and drinks by the pool.  Another mainly overcast day and a little cooler again, which again may have kept the crowds off deck.

That night was Italian night in the MDR.  The popular apps were the beef carpaccio (almost too thin -- it stuck to the plate) and the arancini, which I thought was really good.  We were all over the place on the mains with the fish, lasagna, steak and Indian dish all getting ordered.  Steak was reported to be so-so, everything else was good.  I ate my lasagna and half of my sons' as he also ordered the steak.  I thought the lasagna was really good.  Dessert wasn't as popular that night...chocolate hazelnut cake, lemon curd tartlet and ice cream were the choices at the table.

Kids passed on seeing 1887 again as they had previously and so it was a pretty relaxing evening.

Was super impressed with The Thin Line aqua show.  Last time on Harmony was soon after the COVID restart and they only had the medley aqua show available.  It was good...but the Thin Line was awesome.  Pictures don't do it credit, but here are a few.  Again, just a neat show to be a part of on a moving cruise ship...very, very different.

It did get a little loud for our 7-year old about half-way through...so my wife and her skipped out about to go ride the carousel and walk the promenade while the boys finished the show.

And of course another carousel ride was called for on the walk back to the room.

Older boys went off to do their thing, little ones and Mom were ready for bed, so I went to the casino for a couple hours before crashing.  Was my nightly tradition most nights after everyone else was asleep.  I only play blackjack, but had a lot of fun with lively tables most nights.  They had a single deck $15 table (6-5 on blackjack, don't do it!), a $10 table (6-5 on blackjack, don't do it!), a $15 table with an auto-shuffler (don't do it!) and then a few $15 and $25 tables with 6-8 deck shoes that paid 3-2.  Only played at the $15 tables and was able to tread water all cruise while having fun, which is a win.

Dinner that night was our first formal night and the Taste of France night.  We got ready, enjoyed the beginning of sunset together on the balcony before heading to dinner, stopping in central park for pictures on the way.

Service was fine in MDR and the food was quite good.  French Onion soup and escargot was quite good...sampled some of the calamari from others and thought it was just okay.  Highly recommend the beef tenderloin...was one of the best meals all week in the MDR.  Wife got the seafood linguine and liked it.  Warm apple cobbler was very good for dessert and the 16 year old tried creme brulee for the first time and couldn't believe how good it was (last picture).

A few more pictures in central park before getting changed for The Thin Line at 8:30pm.

Somehow the boys left their room at the same time, traveled different paths to Johnny Rockets and arrived 5 minutes apart.  But they made it, so I was happy.

Johnny Rockets was not too busy, but still would recommend getting there close to 7:30am as it does fill up and has pretty limited seating.  Complimentary for breakfast and is a good alternative to  Windjammer/Solarium Bistro and MDR if you want something in between.  We generally only do it on sea days.  BELT sandwich is my go-to every time there and older son always gets the pancakes and bacon.  Got a BELT to go for the wife and headed back to see if the little ones were awake yet.  They did a great job wrapping in a to-go bag for her with silverware/napkin...have had just a plate with a plate on top in the past when doing this, so this was appreciated.

Found the little ones awake and hungry back at the room, so up to Solarium Bistro we went.  Kids are allowed to eat there and I highly recommend it for breakfast vs. Windjammer especially if your room is up and forward like ours.  Really convenient and never crowded.  Doesn't have quite the selection of Windjammer, but it's got plenty in my opinion.

14 year old wanted to work out in the gym at this point, so we dropped the little ones off in the club, telling them it would just be an hour or so.  They had combined the 6-8 and 9-11 rooms into one and fortunately it wasn't as packed as the night before at 9am.  But once again, there was a 20 minute line to drop off.  They enjoyed it more this time as they were together, but were still ready to go after an hour.

Gym was a little crowded but nice.  14 year old and I worked out for 45 minutes or so and then ran 5 laps around the ship.  Well he ran and I jogged.  I only got lapped on that last lap though at least.  We did the same the following sea day, but did not find time again the rest of the cruise.

After a shower, a quick hang on the balcony and a run for food for the little ones, it was time for wife and I to have lunch at Chops.

Got the Chops lunch for $15 each during one of the sales which I thought was a good deal.  Left the older boys in charge while we enjoyed Chops.

We both had the shrimp cocktail for an appetizer while I had the wild mushroom soup as well.  Have had this before and really enjoy it.  Both had the filet for our main which was cooked perfectly and very good...much better than our last experience at Chops on Allure.  Sides were also very good.

At this point we're stuffed, so we asked for the dessert to go and shared it with the kids on the balcony.  😄  There were no complaints.

Rest of the day before dinner consisted of pool, hot tub, water slides, Flowrider, ice cream, Kraken coladas and most of that repeated multiple times.  Again, did not feel crowded on the pool deck (it was a little cool) and drink service was good around the pool.  All week you never had to wait long if you were around the pool for a drink and I found ordering from all the various bars very prompt with good drinks.  No complaints.

Got up early for sunrise that first sea day with the GoPro to try and do a time lapse...but not early enough.  I failed to calculate the amount we had already traveled East overnight and missed it by a few minutes.  Figures this would be the only morning with a decent sunrise with heavy clouds the rest of the week.  Oh well.

Older boys had promised to meet me at 7:30am at Johnny Rockets for breakfast.  I told them "we'll see" and walked around the ship for some pictures and coffee in Windjammer before heading down to see if they would show.