dwHokie

On our summer cruise on Harmony, our older boys really enjoyed snorkeling in St. Thomas (lucky enough to see lots of turtles), so we decided for Cozumel we would split up with the older boys taking a snorkeling trip with me and then Allison taking the younger ones for a beach day. Unfortunately, we made this decision relatively late (about a month out) and there were 8 (yes, eight) ships due to be in Cozumel the day we were there. As a result, our go-to spot in Cozumel (Paradise Beach) was already fully booked. After some research, I decided on Playa Mia for the kids, given the beach + pool + water slides + splash area + offshore floats. I booked it with transportation, not wanting Allison to have to worry about that. Experience at Playa Mia was mixed...more on that later. For the snorkel trip, I decided on a smaller operation, Cozumel H2O as they had glowing reviews and I wanted strictly a snorkel trip, not one of the booze + snorkel + beach trips. Communication with Loes in advance planning what we wanted to do was great. All of their southern trips to the main reefs and El Cielo were booked, so she offered a Northern group trip or a private charter. Both were very reasonable and after discussion we decided on the Northern group trip as Loes assured us either destination would be good. This ended up being a great decision...more on that later. The ship arrived early and we were cleared by 6:45am. Drew, Ethan and I hit the Windjammer at 6:30am for breakfast as we wanted to be off the ship at 7am. Our tour started at 8am ship time and we were supposed to be there at 7:45am. Note that Cozumel is one hour later than Texas / ship time right now, so I booked this as a 9am tour start time. No issues with Windjammer at 6:30am! We walked straight off the ship at 7am with no wait at all and although the International Pier where we docked was similar to Costa Maya, at least there were signage to the Taxi / exit which weren't too hard to follow. You just had to walk through all the shops...but again, at least it was marked and relatively easy to follow, especially compared to Costa Maya. I was a little worried about a tour with a 20 minute drive with an arrival time 45 minutes after our docking time, but Loes assured me it would be fine and it was. We were able to quickly secure a taxi with no wait and were at our destination of Puerto de Abrigo by 7:30am ship time. After a short walk over a bridge and around the marina, we were able to easily find the Kraken and Loes was there to meet us. We signed our waivers and we headed out shortly before 8am ship time. There were only 2 others on the tour with us, so was an amazing personal experience with Loes. On the way out, she sat cross-legged on the floor of the boat in the middle of us and showed us all the different species we would likely see today as well as taught us hand signals for many of them so she could dive down, point them out and let us know what she was showing us. Loes is from Holland, so her accent surprised us when we arrived, but she's been living in Cozumel, I believe she said for 18 years now. She knows her stuff, was very patient, told great stories and was very informative. Just a great experience. She had a captain helping her out as well. I was kicking myself for not getting / bringing an underwater camera for this, so my apologies that I don't have pictures of the snorkeling itself and what we saw. The best part of the trip...there was never anyone else in the spots we snorkeled other than our group, except one time that 2 scuba divers came by underneath us. With 8 cruise ships in port, this was amazing. Now it was early, but Loes clearly knew what she was doing in terms of the locations she selected. We hit 5 different spots over the course of our trip. We started at Paradise shallow, then Paradise deep and immediately saw tons of fish and a spotted eagle ray. The other stops were equally good and unique. One was a very shallow snorkel off the coast of a resort with man-made coral growing structures absolutely filled with fish inside. Another was over the pier pilings from the original cruise port that was destroyed in the hurricane a number of years back, then dragged out to this spot to form a coral structure. And then we snorkeled over 2 different ship wrecks. We saw 2 more eagle rays and tons of parrot fish, trigger fish, angel fish, puffer fish, eels and many other species. Throughout the trip Loes also had refillable water bottles and fresh fruit / snacks / breads for us to munch on. There was very little down time between spots and the original marina. I would say we were snorkeling for nearly 3 of the 4 hours...so be aware, it's a lot of swimming. Not a problem if you know how to snorkel as you don't spend much energy if doing it right, but wanted to call it out. The boys were pooped by the end, but they both said it was their favorite thing of the whole cruise. We return next year on Harmony the same time of year and we will be booking another snorkel trip with Cozumel H2O. We did a bit of shopping in port and were back on the ship by 12:30pm and able to take a nap...so did appreciate the early start time to maximize our day. Allison had a more leisurely start to the day with the little ones, heading off the ship around 8:30am. She had no problem with the included transportation to Playa Mia. To summarize her trip in a nutshell...kids had a blast, so check the box there. However, she said it was mobbed. She had the all-inclusive package and the buffet was included (which she said was bad / sketchy) and then you could order from another limited menu, but it was more than an hour wait for that food. Finally, there was another menu with many more selections, but it was for an additional cost. So a bit of a bait and switch here with the "all-inclusive" package. She also said drink service / bar areas were very slow and you had to work to flag someone down for a drink. I'm sure part of this was the crowds and having 8 ships in port, but can't say we recommend the all-inclusive package here, nor the resort for adults. Now, for the kid side of things...James and Lexi had a blast as there was plenty for them at Playa Mia between the beach, offshore floats (lots of time spent here), the pool area, water slides, pirate ship/splash area, etc. The beach and water was beautiful. The further out floats were quite a swim with the kids, but there was a closer in one which James had a blast on. 20221221_135851.mp4 Lexi had a ton of fun playing in the sand. Playa Mia was not bad for the kids, but when we return next year, we'll be going back to Paradise Beach instead. Allison and the kids headed back at 2pm, an hour and a half ahead of all-aboard time (330pm) with a 4pm ship time departure. When the older boys and I had come back to the International Pier a little after 12, there was hardly anyone there and it still took us 10-15 minutes to get through the security line there...just not very efficient at all. I warned Allison about this and sure enough, it took her a good 45 minutes to get through. They made it back by 3:15pm, but there were some stressed out folks behind them, apparently. This one below is literally one of my favorite pictures from the trip. Mom and the kids making it back:

That was a great area! You had the pool right there as well as one of the restrooms and one of the bars. Yet still very private and super shaded.

Thanks and see you soon Pop! It will be 70 degrees here Thursday!

You are certainly welcome...we had a great time there...very relaxing for sure. It is a well-oiled machine...you can tell they know what they are doing and cater specifically to cruises. The good news is...on the way back they can drop you at the front of the port, so at least you save that walk on the way back to the ship.

Day 3 -- Costa Maya Slept in until 8am with the ship not due to get in until at least our previously scheduled time of 10am. Took the little ones to Johnny Rockets for breakfast at 8am. This was the first time I had gone there for breakfast and not been there right when it opened (opened at 7am that day given the port stop). But there was nobody else in line and a table was vacant and just needed to be cleared, so we pretty much sat right down. The service did take a little longer than normal for our food to come out, but we were not in a hurry that morning. The kids enjoyed the waiters dancing for us and we brought Mom back a BELT sandwich again. 20221220_083448.mp4 The captain announced that we had made up ground overnight and would arrive around 10:30am and as a result, they would extend our stay 30 minutes as we had a very short distance to travel to Cozumel overnight. At 9:45, we were still a little bit out (first picture below), but we were alongside around 10:15am and cleared before 10:45am. We didn't even see the Valiant Lady until we were all the way docked as she was hiding behind the Bliss. The water looked amazingly clear at the port, which surprised me a bit as I had read about the seaweed in Costa Maya and expected murkier water. More on that later as it was not nearly as clear at our beach club, which was straight down the same coast...so still not sure why the water was so much more clear near port vs. elsewhere. To get to Maya Chan, we had to walk through and out the port area and then down the road to catch our shuttle as they were not allowed by the port to stage any closer (they really want you to stay within the port). Fortunately we had read up and were prepared for the maze that is this port...but all I can say is good luck. Even kind of knowing where to go in advance, it was very difficult to navigate our way out. No signage whatsoever and we ultimately had to walk through shops and then through what looked like a construction area to get to the exit. Just be forewarned. There were some pretty spots within the port. The walk was advertised as 1/4 mile to the pickup spot all told. I'm pretty sure it's more like 1/2 mile or more, but again, we probably didn't take the most efficient route through the port. I was carrying Lexi by the end. The new meeting spot for Maya Chan is directly behind the fake pyramid pictured below. It took us about 5 minutes to check in as there were several large groups that had arrived directly before us, but as soon as we had checked in and signed our waivers, we were immediately directed to a taxi bus for the ride to Maya Chan. We were also prepared for the ride there, but it's a good 20 minutes over very very bumpy roads...so again, be prepared. At one point, Lexi looked over at me and said, "I feel like jiggly jelly!" as the bus was rocking up and down and side to side so much. We arrived to the club around 11:45am and were promptly met with David and team to show us around the resort to get our bearings. Welcome drinks were served directly after at our spot on the beach as well as chips, salsa and fresh guacamole. I had originally tried to book Maya Chan back in July and were told they were booked for a group of 6, so I asked if they could split us up 3 / 3 or 4 / 2 and they said they would. But we arrived to find a spot all together. Now it wasn't as secluded as some of the others, but had all the chairs and the daybed, so we were happy. There were plenty of activities for the kids -- sand toys, paddle boards, ocean kayaks, floating chairs and even 2-person paddle boats. The kids tried and enjoyed all of these. There was always an employee there to help with the floats, both going out and coming back. Overall, the service was outstanding at the resort. We never had to wait long for a drink and the food was amazing. The food was all you could eat and consisted of fresh made flour or corn tortillas, chicken, steak, pork or fresh fish as well as rice, beans and other toppings for the tacos. Really, really, really good. There was a very small pool with not the cleanest water, but plenty of other activities to keep the kids entertained. There was a really neat tree house to climb up as well which James and I tried out and were glad we did given the cool view. A bit of a storm blew in toward the end of our stay, but never rained...just got overcast and windy. They came around to arrange transportation back to the port with the last shuttle at 4:30pm ship time. We asked for 4pm to have a little more time to shop in port. No issues at all getting back in plenty of time. Overall, was very happy with Maya Chan as I think it's one of the more secluded areas to be able to go in Costa Maya and the service was amazing. Only negative comments I would make -- certainly the murky water at the club was disappointing with how crystal clear it was in port, but completely outside of their control. Just be aware if this is a deal breaker for you. Kids did not mind at all. The drinks were clearly watered down...but kept coming, so just be aware. Other than that, it was a great day. We did some shopping and exploring in port before heading back to the ship. We were back on board around 5:15 and the ship was underway around 6:15. We made the way to the MDR for our 7:15 reservation and stopped along the way to listen to the brass quintet in central park. Drew plays the bass trombone in his high school wind symphony and Ethan plays the trumpet in his middle school honor band, so they enjoyed this as well as some solos later in the cruise. Service was again on point in the MDR with Adrin and Michael and again, without any special request, our meal took only an hour and 15 minutes after being seated directly upon arrival. Having not done my time before, I'm not sure if this is typical vs. set seating time, but we certainly appreciated it with 4 kids. The beef short rib was the favorite of the table and Lexi loved her mud pie. What evening would be complete without a ride on the carousel and pictures by the Christmas tree? After a full beach day and with an early arrival into Cozumel and an early half-day snorkeling excursion for half of us, we went to bed relatively early.

Thank you so much! Looks like the weather should be much better on the 30th, so should be great...enjoy it!

Day 2 -- First day at sea Woke up way too early at 5:30am as the ship was moving more than I have felt before on an Oasis class (still wasn't much though). We were sailing into a 20 knot headwind and doing 20+ knots ourselves to get to Costa Maya by 10am the following day. Everyone else was still asleep, so headed up on deck to walk around and wait for sunrise. I liked the solarium design on Allure with the pool (Harmony did not have). But the solarium did not extend as far as the sun deck was present around the front and including the bridge wings with the only way to access through deck 14 vs. though the solarium as on Harmony. With the wind we were heading into, the sun deck and bridge wings were closed as well as any of the stairs on deck 15 leading up to deck 16. Found a loophole though using the solarium steps up to deck 16 and was able to watch sunrise from there without having to look through glass. It was windy though! After sunrise, headed back to Windjammer for a cup of coffee and walked the ship a bit more. At this point it was almost 8am, so I headed to my personal favorite place for free breakfast thanks to my cruise on Harmony with Christy -- Johnny Rockets. I had told the older boys I would be there at 8am for breakfast, but did not expect any takers. And then there was Drew! We enjoyed a nice breakfast together (the bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato sandwich is my go-to here) with Drew getting pancakes and bacon. I got a BELT sandwich to go for Allison and they did a great job wrapping it in paper and then in a to-go bag for me (did not happen on Harmony -- was just on a plate with a to-go cover). More Christmas decorations as we walked back toward our room: Peeked in on our room and the little ones and Allison were still sleeping, so headed to a cool spot I learned about on these forums on our 9th floor...there are these little private balconies overlooking central park you can access through a sliding door from the elevators on deck 9, which were really close to our room. Did not notice these on Harmony, though I'm sure they were there. Enjoyed the rest of my coffee there until I got a text that the kids were awake. Took the little ones for Windjammer for breakfast, probably around 9:30am at this point. It was mobbed. The only time I felt the crowds on this ship were in Windjammer for breakfast. Not sure there is any solution here, other than to eat at Johnny Rockets, or the MDR or the solarium bistro for breakfast (all good, by the way). Sometimes you just need to do it though. Secure your table first, then grab your food, or you'll be wandering with food in your hands looking for a place to sit. The little kids wanted to go to the kids club for the remaining session until 12pm, so dropped them off then met Allison for coffee in Boleros. The Starbucks is right outside, but it's cheaper to get the same coffee from Cafe Promenade, especially if you have C&A discounts. Somehow randomly Ethan and then Drew separately walked by and joined us to hang out together over coffee. Picked up the little ones from the club and headed down to the anchors away Pirate Parade in the Royal Promenade. Quite packed here, but plenty of room for the kids to watch and enjoy the show. We missed the parade on Harmony, so was glad to catch this one. 20221219_121702.mp4 Hit Sorrento's for pizza right after the parade before it got crazy, then the rest of the day until dinner consisted of pool / splash area & hot tub hopping with the little ones, soft serve ice cream, ping pong and rock climbing for the older ones. Kids also wanted to go to the club for 90 minutes or so before it closed at 5, so dropped them off and headed to the casino for a bit. Allison also had her deep tissue massage at 3pm which she said was very good (first time at the spa on RCL) and would do it again. This evening was formal night, so we all headed back to the room around 5 to hang out on the balcony, watch sunset and get ready for our 7:15pm my time reservation. The captain advised us in his evening update that we might be a bit late getting into Costa Maya the following day given the 20 knot headwind we were up against, but that he would do his best throughout the night and update us again in the morning. Was a little concerned at this point given we were already scheduled to get in at 10am (but staying until 6) and we had to walk a bit to our pickup point and then drive 20-30 minutes to get to Maya Chan...just in terms of being able to maximize our time there. But as it turned out, we made up time overnight and it ended up being pretty much a non-issue. On to dinner...I had read plenty of reviews of concerns about my time dining and it certainly wasn't our first choice, but without early dining available when we booked 6 months out, it was the next best option for us with the kids. We had made 7:15pm reservations and I had already stopped by earlier in the day to ask the maitre d' if we could get there earlier and if so, how early without waiting. He wouldn't commit to anything, but said if we wanted to show up 15 minutes early, they would do their best. We're not into waiting with 4 kids if we don't have to, so for the 3 nights we dined in the MDR, we showed up right at our 7:15pm time. And every time we were immediately seated. There were two lines -- one for with and one for without reservations and we literally had no line and no wait each night in the reservations line. And after the first night, we requested the same table/wait staff (Adrin and Michael) and were accommodated each time. Adrin and Michael knew us by the 2nd night and asked Ethan if he wanted Dr. Pepper and Lexi her strawberries. Great to get a bit of this service without a set dining time. The manager did a great job stopping by frequently and talking to us...she was great. The French onion soup, shrimp cocktail and calamari were the highlights of the appetizers and all the table except Drew and the littles got the beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce, which was exceptional and cooked to our ask. Better than the filet we had at Chops...more on that experience later in a bit of foreshadowing 🤐. Dessert was fine, but again, the service was quite good. We had aqua show reservations at 9pm which I let Adrin know immediately when we sat down at 7:15pm, apologizing. They were incredibly efficient without feeling rushed at all and we were done our meal by 8:30pm on the dot. Really impressed for our first my time experience, having expected much worse. We headed back for the aqua show at 9. Show was amazing...plenty of comedy to go along with all the acrobatics and diving. Really amazing to be able to pull off something like this while under full steam with high winds and the ship rocking. After the show, we stopped to take our own formal pictures in front of the tree vs. waiting in all the various very long line for professional pictures. The little ones were somehow hungry at this point, so we stopped by Sorrento's for pizza and then Cafe Promenade for a quick dessert before heading back to the room to check out our towel animals. I hit the casino again for a few hours before heading to bed. We debated on this one...Snake? Swan? Loch Ness Monster?

Merry Christmas!!! 🎄 🎅 After sail away, we headed to dinner. The first night we had reserved Sabor for the whole family at 6:15pm as we wanted to go to the ice show at 8pm and our 7:15pm my time reservations wouldn't have worked. I did feel a little less flexibility in this 5 day cruise vs. all the other 7-day itineraries I had done in the past, in terms of being a little more limited in choices for the main shows. Especially with kids, there were only a few that worked for us...but really no big deal if you were willing to be flexible with your dinner plans. And we like trying a specialty restaurant or two each cruise anyway. To be completely transparent, given all the great Tex-Mex we have here at home, I didn't have super high expectations for Sabor, but did want to give it a shot. We were pleasantly surprised! You can see from the pictures we had the place mostly to ourselves. Again, a recurring theme for this cruise, I really felt like there were less folks out and about on this cruise vs. on Harmony, even though we were cruising with 6,000. It was a little cool as you can see we're wearing light jackets, but we were very comfortable. Our server asked us to call him "Juan Juan" and was incredible as has been our experience in just about all the specialty dining restaurants. The guacamole and fresh salsa with chips was amazing. I like a little more spice, so Juan brought out some finely chopped habanero to mix in mine. Tread lightly...but very good! Juan then brought us two of every appetizer to try and share between the table. The chicken tortilla soup and the queso were very good. I thought the two different types of ceviche were pretty good with the lime juice based one my preference. The chicken stuffed jalapenos (not spicy) wrapped in bacon were amazing! The only miss for us in the apps was the calamari. Just did not seem overly fresh to my wife and I. We stuck to tacos and quesadillas for the main and everyone was happy, including the kids. I had the El Juarez quesadillas which I thought were very good. Juan then also brought out four plates of the jalapeno-garlic tiger shrimp (unordered) which were the best thing I had there. We ate every one of these shrimp (4 per plate) and I ended up adding them to my quesadilla...super fresh and really good. Of course Juan brought all the desserts for us to try. To be honest, we were not wowed by any of the desserts. I thought they were okay, but nothing special and the kids didn't like any of them. But not to worry...we were done by 7:30, so Allison went to save seats for the ice show and we went to get Lexi ice cream #14 of the day from Windjammer. 😂 I had a slice of the key lime pie there which was really good. We then hustled back to Studio B just in time for the ice show. Was very impressed...just a great show and very entertaining. I thought it was better than 1887 from Harmony, especially for kids. Lexi loves to hula hoop and couldn't stop talking about the ice skater who had like 20 hula hoops going at the same time. The show was done by 8:45pm and the little ones begged to go to the kids club from 9-10. Okay, twist my arm. Brought them back to the room at 10pm and they both asked to go to the balloon drop at midnight in the promenade. I told them "sure, if you're still awake" thinking no way after the day we had. Everyone else crashed and I headed to the casino before coming back to the room at 11:45pm as per my promise to the kids. To my surprise, James was up and ready to go. We got down there with 10 minutes to spare, but the music was so loud, James said, "I think I change my mind. I'm ready to go to bed." So we snapped a quick picture to prove to all his siblings he outlasted them all on day 1 and we headed to bed.

All of our bags had also arrived by 1pm, which was great. But we held off on unpacking and headed to the kids club to register them. It does not clearly state it on the Royal app, but the club does not open until 7:30pm the first day with the early slot just for registration. One of the things I have been most surprised about from our first 2 cruises with the kids is how much the 6 and 8 year old love going to the kids club. Like asking to go excited and being bummed when our late anytime dining impacted their previous Harmony routine of heading there after our early dining time. They truly do a great job with the kids here and do all sorts of activities with them to keep them entertained. We're not leaving them all day in port or anything, but they've always been excited to go and leave happy after a 2-3 hour session, which is an amazing treat for parents of 4 with two older boys that are old enough to just do their own thing onboard. After the kids club, we headed to the Amber theater to complete our safety briefing and then headed to the boardwalk for a carousel ride, another Lexi requirement. At this point we did head back to the room to unpack. The older boys left to do their thing (rock climbing I think) and I took the littles up to the pool deck while Allison unpacked and took a nap. A couple quick pictures from our balcony looking forward and back. You can see the debarkation side of the terminal in this last picture. Pretty good design for the terminal with the front of the building set up for arrivals / drop offs and this right side when facing terminal for departures. Both very similar setups, but on different sides of the building to help with flow of traffic and people. Up on the pool deck we mostly had it to ourselves. I basically had my own pool waiter for drinks which was also great. 😀 The kids met some friends their age in the hot tub and then I can safely say that my 8 and 6 year old were the first in the main pools on this cruise...although in the first video below you can see James trying to convince his new friend Wyatt to be the first one to jump in instead. 🥶 😂 At least we gave the life guard something to do...he looked pretty cold himself. 20221218_151626.mp4 20221218_151736.mp4 What could be a better way to warm up after a nice polar swim than some nice hot choc...uh, I mean, ice cream? Wait, what? Lexi was going for the one-day soft serve ice cream record, apparently. Good thing Mom was napping. We headed back to the room for warm, dry clothes and did sail away from our balcony with James and Lexi. Drew and Ethan stayed aft and watched sail away from there before joining us on the balcony later. As an aside, the text feature on the Royal app really is great for the teens to stay in touch and check in without having to try and track them down on a huge ship. Great for peace of mind. Ropes started dropping at 5:08 and we were off around 5:15.

Short and long

Hope you have a great trip! Anything to escape this current weather we have!

Couldn't have done it without my unofficial travel agent!!!

Merry Christmas Eve! After great internal debate about what time to actually arrive at the terminal given the requested 1 hour delayed arrival, I decided to follow the incredibly thoughtful advice of my wise sister: "Just arrive an hour later than you were going to." I had no idea if others were going to actually follow the request and was prepared for mass chaos but figured we would do our part. This was especially painful with a secured 10am boarding time 😂. We started packing the car at 10:30am and hit the road for the 1 mile drive down the road. We arrived in front of the terminal at 10:45am and unloaded the bags with a porter. I had reserved a spot in the South lot (North was booked) and headed there after dropping everyone off. Just for reference, directly behind the arrival and shuttle areas in front of the terminal is the North lot with some covered premium parking, then the South lot. Around the corner is the Pier 14 lot. The South lot and the Pier 14 lot are the same price with the North lot more expensive. I think the South lot is the way to go as it's really not that far at all and you could be around the corner at the Pier 14 lot with a longer walk. The North lot is literally right there, so if you want the best, that's it. Parked the car (plenty of spots available in lot) and was walking in the terminal at 10:55am, meeting the family in the large atrium downstairs. View from the North lot covered parking: There were very few people in the terminal and tons of RCL employees helping. Nobody was checking arrival times, but from my perspective, it sure appears like folks followed their times. We had one more small glitch related to the moving of folks between rooms at check in -- my wife's passport would not save in their system -- it was showing as a duplicate on someone else's reservation (even though it was not). When they moved us between rooms, I had found our boarding documents were also changed around with one of the kids showing my wife's passport and her showing a birth certificate. I had caught and fixed all this myself in advance by editing the set sail passes / documents and saved it. The check-in employee checked everyone else was correct and directed us to a nearby desk and they quickly fixed the issue. We were walking onboard by 11:10am. Just walked right through security and right to the boarding doors, scanned our set sail passes and were allowed on board. No waiting in the main area to call boarding groups / times / Pinnacle, etc. I couldn't believe it. Apparently securing the 10am time had actually helped, so I felt validated. 😁 Again, could not have been a smoother process, which I genuinely appreciate with 4 kids. And all the RCL employees were incredibly welcoming with every one of them saying hello / welcome / have a great cruise. Big fan of the new terminal. Again, this may have been a function of the early check in time, so would recommend trying to secure one. First stop was the Christmas tree, which Lexi tolerated on the way to her first targeted stop, which she had been quite clear with everyone, in terms of her desired first thing to do on board. They had the ice cream machines up and running at 11:30am and Lexi was the first one in line 😂. Just FYI, there is one in the Wipeout cafe / El Loco Fresh where you can serve your own cones while the machines in the center of the pool deck always had employees making them for you and handing out. We set up in the chairs near the mini golf and each did different things for lunch. James, Allison and I tried the El Loco Fresh since they didn't have that on Harmony and I do prefer it to Mini Bites. They had tacos (ground beef, chicken and slow roasted pork) with chips and cheese dip (it's not queso for the Texas folks, so don't get your hopes up) as well as quesadillas. But the cool part was the fixings area with guac, sour cream, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, cheese, etc. And then a large selection of hot sauces. Nothing too fancy here, but a good snack option. Lexi and Drew wanted Sorrento's. Ethan got a hot dog from the boardwalk. All kids happy, which is all that matters. Was really surprised with the lack of folks outside really all of embarkation day and to a lesser extent on our sea days vs. what we experienced on Harmony. Yes, it was a little cool (58 degrees), but it was pretty sparse. We took care of the Flowrider waivers for the older boys immediately (lesson learned from Harmony) with no line and then caught the end of the World Cup final OT / penalty kicks on the big screens in the aqua theater before walking the ship waiting for our room to be ready. Rooms were ready right at 1pm. Ice cream #2: Our room (9534): Boys' room (9533):

No problem! I've learned so much from these forums, it's the least I can do. Will also let Christy know her review was remembered. 😀 Thank you! Plenty more to come. You bet...we had a great time and happy to share.

I just realized I've misspelled "Arctic" a couple times, so forgive me for that -- long day today. Can no longer edit, but maybe a moderator will help me at least for the title. More to come tomorrow.

Day 0 -- Travel to Galveston We packed up the car and started the drive from Round Rock to Galveston around 1pm on Saturday the 17th. We hit a little bit of traffic, but arrived a little after 5pm to the Harbor House Hotel and Marina at Pier 21. Plenty of parking with only a few cars in the lot. Surprised to not see more folks there pre-cruise as it's literally right next door to the older cruise terminal and is a great view for the ships as they leave / arrive. The Galveston cruise camera is actually mounted on this hotel. The hotel did fill up a little bit later, but definitely did not feel full. The view from our room: Family was all hungry after the drive, so we called a couple of the local seafood places within walking distance...Katie's and Fisherman's Wharf. Katie's had better reviews, but had over an hour wait already at this point. Fisherman's Wharf could get us seated in 20 minutes, so we headed there. Obligatory Christmas tree pictures... Don't know whose kid this is: Service was really good, but the meal was just okay, especially considering the price. We spent some time walking around the pier area and headed to bed, or at least attempted to as the kids were bouncing off the walls with excitement. The hotel definitely doesn't look like much from the outside, but the rooms are very nicely remodeled with very nice spacious rooms / bathrooms. But this is all about location really. Day 1 -- Embarkation As normal, didn't sleep great the night before and decided to check the cruise cam after waking up at 4:30am or so. Was super excited to catch this as I didn't want to wake everyone else up by leaving room... The new Terminal 10 is about a mile from the hotel, so the Allure is not right nearby...but the other ships are. Ruby Princess and Disney Magic were also leaving the same day as us. View from our window of the Ruby Princess as she came in that morning. Ventured out after sunrise and got the first actual glimpse of the Allure from a hall window on the other side of the hotel. Another view of the Harbor House and the perspective of how close the other terminals are: I received this email 3 days out asking all guests to arrive 1 hour later than their planned arrival time...not sure if this was just specific to our cruise or an ongoing change for Allure out of Galveston. Our departure time was also pushed back from 4pm to 5pm. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things as I'll explain later. Walked to the nearby Starbucks for coffee for the wife and I and to kill some time...it's right across the street from the other terminals.

We returned today from our 5-night Western aboard Allure of the Seas. Join me for a photo review of our fun together as a family of 6 with kids of 15 (Drew), 13 (Ethan), 8 (James) and 6 (Lexi) and I'll share perspectives on the new Galveston terminal, Maya Chan Beach Club in Costa Maya, a half day snorkel tour with Cozumel H2O, Playa Mia Beach Club in Cozumel, meals at Sabor, Chops, Izumi, Johnny Rockets and the MDR and finally some of the unusual occurrences that came with sailing through an artic front the last day, including all those beautiful plants in Central Park... As a family of 6 with 4 kids spread out in ages, we waited for the right time to take the kids on their first cruise and that was this past summer on Harmony (7-night Eastern from Port Canaveral) as an extended 12-person family vacation with my sister and Dad (see her great review of that trip in my signature). The kids absolutely loved it and so we booked two more with Next Cruise while onboard Harmony -- this one on Allure as well as a 7-day next December again on Harmony, both from Galveston. We're from just north of Austin (Round Rock) and having the Oasis class come to Galveston means a lot to us...it's just not easy to get 4 kids to Florida, no matter the route. So we were very excited to have Allure and then Harmony come home port with us here in Texas. We booked an ocean view balcony (9534) for the adults and the two younger kids and then an interior across the hall (9533) for the 13 and 15 year old. We had some fun pre-cruise as I received this email about 3 weeks out: Wasn't too worried as we had booked with Next Cruise and they should know what they're doing, right? Turns out the boys' room was not directly across the hall and was in fact the next alcove down the hall. How their systems allowed them to book this in Next Cruise is beyond me as I'm sure I wouldn't have been able to myself online. After 3 calls (during peak Black Friday / Cyber Monday craziness) we were able to move one of the adults (me) to the interior and one of the older kids to the balcony room. Again, not too worried as the older boys are very responsible and we had already cruised with them in their own rooms previously in a very similar situation where we just made duplicate room keys, moved one over and spoke with our cabin steward to explain. And as an added bonus...now we get to bring 4 bottles of wine onboard vs. 2. 😃 Now this change did drive a lot of churn down the line to other things...like existing reservations. For example, we had certain meals (Izumi lunch) booked for just some of us as well as a few others like the soda package and a massage for my wife. Each of these now had the wrong name after the room switch (Drew was signed up for the 100 minute deep tissue massage. Um no). Another call got all of this fixed except the sushi reservation, which they told me to just change onboard the first day. 45 days out I had logged on at midnight (learned everything I know from my sister) to check in and secured a 10am boarding time (woot woot!). My sister also gave me a heads up about 60 days out that some of the ships (Allure was one) now had the ability to book shows in advance. Sure enough, I logged on the Royal app and was able to book the ice show, aqua show and Mama Mia in advance. This was awesome to not have to worry about on embarkation day. When we booked the cruise 6 months out, all the early dining (our preferred choice given the kids) were booked. So we signed up for my time. What I failed to realize was I needed to book an actual time and could have on the app. I was just playing around one day and noticed the ability to make reservations for my time...but the earliest that was left was 7:15pm, so went ahead and secured it, knowing we would be doing specialty dining for a night or two anyway. With all the background and context out of the way, next up is getting to Galveston and embarkation day...and plenty of pictures.

Great review sis! Thank you for being my early morning buddy, travel agent and RCL expert, all in one. So glad you got our extended family cruising again together and looking forward to the next one! Next summer??