ChristyLNDRN

Day 4 St. Kitts wrap up We left the resort around 2:30. Our original taxi driver was occupied but kindly sent someone else for us. Wandered through the shopping area at the port for some souvenirs on our way back to the ship. Lots of folks streaming back but still a breeze getting back onboard. There was ice skating available tonight from 6-8, available in 20 min sessions. Suzy and I popped in right after dinner and got some of the last few spots available for the 7:40-8:00 session, which gave us time to go back to the room and change. Note that you must have long pants and socks and must wear helmets. There were maybe 30 people on the ice with us. Towel animals to wrap up the day…never seen this one before! We have had the bat before but clearly Suzy liked it. Oh, and Dan, Mike and I made it to adult comedy tonight and it was hilarious! Next up: St. Thomas!

Yes, we quite enjoyed it😀 The boarding process for us was very smooth…but we were there at 10:00 so I can’t speak to how chaotic it got after that. It was not a mess at all at that hour. Wow! The beach was clear but there was a decent amount still in the water and piled up outside the cleared section.

With the age range of our group, I struggled a bit with what to do in St. Kitts. Taking into consideration need for shade, facilities, not wanting to go too far from port, I discovered that the Marriott resort offered day passes. While you can reserve on resort for a day, it was much cheaper to go directly through the resort. Here’s what you get and the contact info: Obligatory ship pics as we walked to find a taxi We found a taxi large enough to hold us all. It was $5pp plus tip and about a 15 minute ride. We also got our driver’s business card and made arrangements to call for him to come back for us around 2:30. We checked in at the main desk in the hotel lobby, all received wrist bands, and headed to the beach. There were tons of shade huts available. There was also a ton of seaweed (sargassum?) although a central area had been cleared. The beach was not crowded at all. However, the water looked a little rough for swimming so we ended up moving to the pool area fairly quickly and that’s where we spent the rest of the day. It was also not crowded, service was friendly and an altogether enjoyable place to spend the day for our group. Lunch menu. Restaurant right behind the swim up bar. Food a little pricey although we did get 10% discount. There was also a pizza restaurant near the pool which was a better value ($20 for a large pizza). Both pizza and food from the menu was good.

Day 4–Good Morning St. Kitts! Mike almost always forgets to pack his binoculars on vacation…not this time! Bridge wing was one of our favorite spots to watch the ship approach A good view of just how far forward their ocean view balcony 11538 is…pic taken by Allison from the balcony looking forward at the bridge/bridge wing I love the forward locations’s proximity to the solarium bistro. Another nice alternative to the windjammer. Less selection, but definitely less crowded. I piled a few plates up and then met the kids at some nice chairs just outside the top deck of the solarium. Looks like Dan delivered breakfast to the littles on their balcony…that’s the view in port I miss having the CP balcony.

LOL I like that! And yes it’s a such a treat for the cousins to see each other.

Day 3 Compass

Thanks for following❤️ Enjoy! It’s a great ship for an extended family group. Thanks for reading along😀

Day 3 (sea day) Best place to start the day! Breakfast was in the MDR this morning (deck 3) with some of our group. I recommend going close to opening (8 am) if possible as there was a decent line to get in by the time we left at 8:50. A nice relaxing option for breakfast as opposed to the windjammer. I was warned when I ordered my omelette that it would “take some time” which was fine since we weren’t in a rush. Well, actually Zach was in a rush to get to the flowrider at 9 but that’s another story LOL. My omelette did arrive after everyone else’s food but not significantly so. And it was hot and delicious so worth the wait. Check out the Suzy time-lapse from our last Harmony cruise in 2018! My beautiful Suzanna was a 28 week preemie. She was only 2 lbs 11 oz when she was born, and she’s still on the small size for her age so she surprises people that she’s almost 13. Tiny but tough…I always tell Zach not to start stuff because she will finish it! Boys entered the all-ages ping pong tournament today and survived a few rounds! Suzy and I did the abyss a few times and then watched rehearsals for Fine Line while waiting for the rock wall. Dan and Ethan had lunch at Izumi and said it was awesome! He tried to get reservations again for later in the week but it was booked solid. Always time for pools and hot tubs on a sea day! And thank you Mike for telling Sunil we were celebrating my birthday…from March 2020 when my 40th bday cruise got cancelled. Since I finally got my birthday cake on a ship I guess that means I have to acknowledge my age now😂 Central Park was a great spot for family pics after dinner And this is one of my favorite pics of the trip…finally Suzy has a girl buddy after all those boy cousins! Tonight’s show was Grease! We took the older kids while the littles were happy to hang in the kids club. Show was great and apparently so was the club…..(Insert pirate “Aaaaaarrrrr” here….) Next up….St. Kitts!

Day 2 Compass

Have a great trip! Yes, the mask restrictions on Amtrak have been lifted. Masks not required on the train for passengers or employees.

Days 2 and 3 (sea days) continued.. Early seating comes very early! Tonight was the first formal night, it was always a bit of a challenge to get the kids back to the room in time to clean up. We decided that this is our last cruise for the four of us in one cabin—I’m going to miss the lower prices! It has worked for us so far but it’s getting challenging to share one bathroom, and they are starting to outgrow the couch set up. On Mariner this December, Zach’s feet hung off the pullout, and he is actually only average height for his age. The trundle bed set up works better for them but it’s still very tight in the cabin with the trundle pulled out. We picked the CP balcony based on pricing for this cruise, and while it was fine, I really missed our usual ocean view balcony. Missed the views coming in and out of port especially. Anyway, back to formal night.. Ah, yes, the teen mirror selfie🙄😂….had to get the kicks in the picture.. We met up at the schooner bar for a quick drink, and then it was off to our first meal in the dining room! The tables were just as requested, an 8 top and a 4 top next to it. We were on deck 5. Our waiters, Sunil and Juan were AMAZING. Excellent service every single night (we ate dinner here the remaining 6 nights). Sunil always brought extra appetizers or entrees for the table to share whether we asked them or not…by night 4 we were begging him not to bring any more escargot😂. When they figured out that the kids loved fruit, there were always fruit cups waiting on the table for all the kids, as well as a giant plate of strawberries for Lexi and James. Actually, we may be single-handedly responsible for why the dining room ran out of strawberries by day 7! They were very friendly, efficient, and just all around great. Sunil had the best giggle!!! Food was consistently good. Look! We got Allison on camera! After dinner tonight we had reservations for Hideaway Heist. The aqua shows are some of my favorite entertainment that I’ve seen on a cruise ship. So unique, and amazing what they do on a moving ship. Love the slack line performers and the high dives are mind-blowing. There were plenty of showings throughout the cruise. My kids went back later in the cruise and got in standby and sat in the front row in the splash zone. Came back to the rooms later to find our first towel animals: And finished off the night with some mini-golf after dark

Days 2 and 3 (at sea) I don’t think I’ve had a cruise that started off with two back-to-back sea days. It was a pretty relaxing way to start. I can never sleep in on cruises, so my morning always starts off by popping down to the promenade for caffeine and a treat from cafe promenade…love that there are different types of croissants there every day and always chocolate donuts to bring back to the room for the kids for “first breakfast”. Favorite early am spots are in the solarium on the bridge wings or all the way aft😀 7 of us met for breakfast at 8 at Johnny Rockets. Love the free breakfast here on Oasis class ships. (Johnny Rockets is an up charge for lunch aNd dinner). It’s quite nice outside on the boardwalk in the morning. It’s a fairly limited menu but still yummy. The menu seems slightly different from our last cruise on an Oasis class. I swear there used to be omelettes…my am go-to. Now it’s all different scrambles. However, our server this morning said one of the scrambles could be made into an omelette so that worked! I think I read about the art of cruise ducks on these boards (hiding small rubber ducks for other passengers to find) and Suzy loved the idea. We ordered a bunch on Amazon pre-cruise. The kids had a “duck draft” to decide who got to hide which ones and then she spent a lot of time making tags for all the ducks. She had a blast hiding ducks throughout the cruise and then sometimes seeing who found them. Such an easy way to spread a smile. Crew members were so thoroughly cleaning though we saw a few get picked up by crew members. Case in point…they hid two in Central Park and then came back to our balcony to watch… Cleaning crew member walked by and pocketed one, and then found the other and did the same! We watched and it went in his pockets not the nearby trash so we hope he kept it! She was thrilled when she found a duck that someone else hid! She found several throughout the week and the littles loved joining in the duck hiding as well. Looks like we all spent the day exploring all the activities the ship has to offer. Teens spent the morning together bouncing from the abyss to rock wall to flowrider to ping pong to waterslides. Many of us signed up for the chat feature through the Royal Caribbean app to keep in touch. It was $1.99 per day ($13.99 was charged when you first started using it). It worked out pretty well to give the teens a measure of freedom to explore but still be able to check in. Note—you do not get a notification when messages are sent, so you would have to keep going back into the app to see if someone had sent something. I also found that my phone battery drained pretty quick when using the app. I had a few power packs, I got used to throwing one in a mini-backpack for Zach to carry around with his phone. Had to be 13 to use the app so we couldn’t sign Suzy up for it. She doesn’t roam alone so that was fine..she was either with Zach or an adult. For the less tech-inclined among us (I’m looking at you Pop😂) I also bought magnetic boards and markers sets ($8 each on Amazon) for everyone’s cabin door so we could leave each other notes. I spent a lovely morning in the solarium…my favorite spot! Much easier to get a chair here than in main pool areas. Mike and I hit Park Cafe for lunch. The famous roast beef sandwich!

He was HILARIOUS. Caught him twice, at the attic and then at the family comedy show the last night. Hope you love your Harmony cruise! It’s my favorite class of ship. Thank you!

Day 1 Compass Because last time I did a review someone asked me who the captain was and I couldn’t remember🤦‍♀️…. Teen compass for the week. Note that on Harmony teen club is 12-17 while some of the other ships I have seen 13-17. Worked out for us since Suzy was just shy of her 13th bday when we sailed. And C&A Platinum offers: And that’s a wrap for Day 1. Much more to come!

Boarding day continued… We met up aft by the giant fish head (aka ultimate abyss) for sailaway. Easy to get a spot by the rail and there are some nice tall chairs and a ledge for drinks. Looks like we pulled away right around 4:45 so I’m glad we made alternate plans for dinner this night. Hey Lexi, how excited are you?? Had plenty of time to change before dinner at Jamie’s at 7. While hanging in Central Park before dinner we spotted this guy…. Um, how did he get onboard?? Stowaway on a plant as a baby? I have no food pictures of Jamie’s but it was delicious and very filling. The 6 adults sat at a long table with the 2 littles while the teens had their own booth nearby. Our waiter brought out all the appetizers and 2 meat planks for us to share, as well as all the pastas family style for us to try which worked out great. We all ordered our own mains and desserts. Kids across the way just wanted garlic bread and then their mains. They all ordered the chicken LOL. This was actually our dining set up all week—adults and littles at one table in the dining room with the teens next to us at their own table. It worked out great and we had multiple people stop by our table throughout the week and compliment us on the kids behavior which is always so nice to hear as a parent. I think it was good for them to have to order for themselves and be able to enjoy their teen conversations all week. Central Park is so pretty at night! That’s pretty much a wrap for day 1. No shows scheduled for this night. I think the littles hit the kids club..they went every day, sometimes multiple times a day and usually did not want to leave! No reservations required, just drop in. Dan will have to chime in for any kids club questions but I know he said there were typically about 20 kids there in their group (one session seemed to have a way higher number but just that once) and they were always able to use the club whenever it was open and they wanted to. Day one compass next…

Great! Hope that works out for you. I picked that tip up from these boards so happy to pass it on. We actually inquired about the escape room onboard as we have done them here at home and loved them. Unfortunately we were told it was not open due to “technical difficulties” Oh my goodness, thanks for such kind words❤️ Thanks for following! I’m sure you will have a great time.

Boarding day, continued…. Looks like our first stop was ice cream and mini-golf😂 We found some chairs nearby and just relaxed while we waited for rooms to be ready. Some of us snacked at mini bites nearby (Quesadillas, burritos, fries, nachos, etc). There was a freestyle machine there as well but most of us didn’t have our cups yet. They used to be waiting in the room but this time you could pick them up on the promenade or I believe in a bar and they would cross your name off a list. In the meantime set sail passes worked to get soda at a bar (or any other drink). Looks like the Texans tried out the pizza at Sorrentos Hey Lexi, How’s the pizza???? There was a weather satellite launch scheduled so the boys found a spot to watch for that. It was delayed a bit but eventually it was a go! Oasis sailed right by as well, I believe on its port stop from Cape Liberty And then it was time for rides and slides and pools (although we did squeeze in our muster check in somewhere!) Kids make this look so easy LOL Rooms were ready just after 1:00–here’s our CP balcony We had our stateroom attendant open the balcony divider between our room and Pop’s…like having that option.

No restrictions. We walked back and forth to my dads room several times.

Boarding day This always makes me happy: I can never sleep in the night before a cruise. Actually I can’t sleep in on a cruise. So when you are up at 5:15 it’s always fun to watch your ship sail in.…here she comes! You could just barely get a peek from our room on the 2nd floor Dan’s room on the third had a better view We all met in the lobby at 9:30 to head to the terminal. Dan and I both checked in at midnight 45 days out and got check in times of 10:30. Dad checked in first thing in the morning at 45 days and 11:00 was the earliest for him. Lexi actually models for children’s boutique clothing, bows, etc. Her picture has actually been on a billboard in Times Square. Her boarding day outfit and accessories were on point😀 My beautiful niece in Times Square❤️ We arrived at the parking garage around 10 and we walked onto the ship just after 11. Check in was a breeze at this hour and we were able to keep our group together despite the difference in check in times. We had a bit of time to sit in the pre-boarding area after check in. I sat as close to the windows as possible and was able to make all our show reservations right there. I had our whole party linked so it was pretty easy and that crossed a big one off my to-do list. While Fine Line (aqua show) is not yet up and running yet, we were lucky to get the full Hideaway Heist aquashow rather than the “aqua theater showcase that had been running lately. We did see them running rehearsals for Fine Line during the week so hopefully that will be back soon too. Of note: I emailed rcldining@rccl.com the week prior requesting a table for 8 and an adjacent table for 4 (we had early seating). I received an email back within 24 hours granting my request. Good time to add that early dining on Harmony is waaaaay too early (5 pm?!!!) but I wasn’t attempting MTD with a party of 12, especially given reviews of late. We made it work though. We booked Jamie’s for night 1 because we didn’t want to miss sailaway. Because we made that decision rather late, I had to stagger our reservations in 3 groups of smaller parties 15 minutes apart. However, I sent Mike to Jamie’s first thing upon boarding and they were able to accommodate us as a table of 8 and 4 at the same time (7:00). Boarding started right around 11 with Suites, Key, Pinnacle, Diamond Plus and maybe Diamond. After that they skipped the rest of crown and anchor and called by check in times. We were able to all board together when they called 10:30. Here we go: This was my family’s 2nd cruise since the restart, having sailed Mariner over Christmas. First since restart for everyone else.

Thanks for following! Agree the autotrain food (dinner especially) exceeds expectations! We booked a private boat for the day in St. Thomas and went to the Marriott in St. Kitts! Have plenty of pics there—spoiler alert, we enjoyed it!

So a roomette is your place to sit, dine and sleep all in one! The daytime set up has two seats facing each other. There is a tray table that folds down from the window. At night, the two seats fold flat into one bed, and then another bunk is lowered from the ceiling. Pre-Covid the dining car was open and you went there for dinner and breakfast. This time dinner was delivered to our rooms and breakfast was grab and go (pick up cereal, fruit, coffee cake, breakfast sandwiches and coffee from dining car). Dinner was pretty good. Breakfast was not as good but adequate. We have used the auto train for Disney and that was a good option as well. We drove to Disney and then took the train back. It was nice to have our car there and the train was certainly more relaxing than driving home after a week in the parks—there’s no tired like post-Disney tired! I don’t mind the drive down since we are so excited it goes fast! We got a great deal for the trip to FL—it was maybe $500 for all 4 of us in the two roomettes. (And the car fee was like $200 of that total)Given the price of gas I was happy! The trip back would have been double, not sure why. Some roomette set up screen grabs. The bottom one has day vs night set up.

After lunch we headed to our hotel to check in. We were all meeting at the Country Inn and Suites by Radisson on Astronaut Blvd. Our room was not ready because we had been upgraded to a Captain’s Suite (cool!) and it was still being cleaned. No worries, dropped bags in Pop’s room and hit the pool. Did I mention the train is not a great night’s sleep??? We had also booked a day pass to Jetty Park ($16 per car) to watch the Saturday ships sail. Dan actually booked a picnic pavilion for $25 which included the cost of admission. Headed there a little after 3. Cousins reunited! We planned to grab a pizza and stay here for dinner, but the weather had other ideas as a storm was rolling in. Still, we got to see the Mardi Gras sail right by which was super cool. We decided not to wait for the Disney ship and moved the party back to the hotel, where our upgraded suite was ready! Had a nice pizza/beer/wine party and then we all scattered for bed. Next up….Boarding day! *Disclaimer: We all shared photos on google, so pics throughout the review are from many of us. I’m sure Pop and Dan will chime in at some point with their perspective as well!

Tried Next Cruise for the first time! My brother booked two out of Galveston (I think this December and next December). I booked one for my immediate family on Oasis out of Cape Liberty next summer😀

Pre-cruise travel: Brother’s family drove to Destin, FL area and spent the week at the beach there. My family met up with Pop and Alda in Lorton, VA and took the auto train. Before we left Friday AM, my family of 4 and Pop and Alda took our proctored tests from Emed. Easy-Peasy. Took about 20-30 mins per person, connections to a proctor were immediate. 6 negative results—Phew! I will say having to worry about testing prior to the cruise definitely took away from the pre-cruise enjoyment. My kids were in school until 2 days before we tested so I was seriously stressed out. They faithfully masked at school those last two weeks and we were as careful as possible but I was still on pins and needles. I think I was awake at 4:45 so I got up and got the testing started. I used my iPad and it went very smoothly. Results quickly available in the app and easy to print from email. Before I knew it, we were on our way! Arrived in Lorton, and hung out on benches outside the terminal with a picnic lunch until it was time to board around 3:30. If you’ve never tried the autotrain, it’s not the best night sleep you’ll ever have but it’s a fun way to skip the drive. We booked 2 roomettes for my family while Pop and Alda had a bedroom upstairs in the same car (they had their own bathroom/shower). Meals were still being served in the rooms (dining car closed due to covid or staffing). Came with complimentary wine. Here’s the menu options: Train left Lorton close to 5 pm and arrived in Sanford FL around 9:30ish the next morning. After that, it’s just waiting for your car to be offloaded. You can pay for priority($60) and be one of the first cars unloaded or you can just wait. Your car could come right off or it could be a bit of a wait. They say to allow up to 1.5 hours to allow all the cars off. We did not pay for priority and it was probably 45 mins to an hour for our car to appear. Pop’s car was quite close to the end😂. From Sanford it was a little over an hour drive to Port Canaveral. Found a yummy lunch stop along the way on the water—The Lone Cabbage. Could watch airboat rentals headed out while we ate Next up: Reunited with the Texans and pre-cruise hotel

Please join me for a photo review of our wonderful family trip on Harmony! From age 6 to 71, we had a blast swimming, splashing, flowriding, kids-clubbing and basically being stuffed silly every night by our amazing waiters. Some background: Our family consisted of 3 groups spread over 4 cabins on deck 11. My family: The Delawareans! Christy—narrarator, cruise enthusiast and crazy cat lady. Mike—tolerator of Christy’s cruise obsession, good-humoredly along for the ride. Zach—14, flowrider junkie, mr. “what are we doing next?”, and Suzy—12, sweet sunshine, laid back amateur duck-hider. Adults have previously cruised on Explorer, Oasis, Liberty, Harmony, Anthem, Mariner, one carnival, one princess and two windjammer barefoot cruises. Kids previously on Harmony and Mariner as well as the carnival. Brothers family: The Texans! Dan, Allison, Drew (15) Ethan (13) James (8) Lexi (6). First cruise for the kids. Two princess cruises for the adults. The Marylanders! Pop—best grandad EVER to the 6 kiddos on this trip, along with his significant other Alda❤️ Previous cruises on celebrity, princess, carnival, Royal, windjammer and maybe Holland? Pop and I had adjoining Central Park balconies, 11581 and 11583. Dan had ocean view balcony 11538 and inside across the hall for the older boys-I believe it was 11541. Note: because this inside was diagonal from their room (literally 2 inches from the one directly across) the older boys could not be booked alone into it. So mom and one teen were on the booking for the inside, with dad, the two littles and the other teen booked into the balcony. No problem to get extra keys made on the ship and swap where the kids slept around. We booked about a year out. Itinerary is St. Kitts, St. Thomas, and Coco Cay, along with 3 sea days. Followed pricing along the way and eventually saved close to $1000 for my brothers two cabins (and upgraded pop from an interior to the CP balcony next to mine). Black Friday/cyber Monday had the best cruise planner sales of the year so that’s when we booked most of our extras: Thrill Waterpark: $50ish/pp for 4 big kids and 3 adults Beach Club: $99 for 4 adults and the 2 littles Soda package: $6.99ish for the teens Refreshment package:$16.99 (me) I believe the lowest I saw for the deluxe beverage package was $57-63, and then it went waaay up from there. We all passed and decided to go a la carte for our drinks. I have all the compasses, teen club compass and show schedule that I will post along the way.