Family of 6 -- Harmony of the Seas -- Dec 17-24 photo review with GoPro time lapse experimentation

[dwHokie]

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.

[js10]

Enjoying the review and looking forward to more!!

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

[mac66]

Good looking crew.  Makes me miss cruising when my kids were young. Great memories. They're all grown up now.   Always had a great time.

Edited January 5 by mac66

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

 

 

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

 

[dwHokie]

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.

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

[familycruising4ever]

Enjoying this so much. We're heading out on Harmony in March so this is definitely getting me ready for that trip!

[NaplesKnitter]

Thank you, dwHokie for a great post - you are a fortunate man indeed.

[perfect match]

I remember you and your family from your review last year when you had the whole extended family cruising alone with you. Thank you for taking us along with you again.

 

We will have our first stop in Roatan in September. I loved the resort you went to, so I may make a change in our plans for that day. Your snorkeling videos looked good. Maybe even the deciding factor for us making the switch. I’ll have to ok into it.

 

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

 

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

 

 

Edited January 6 by dwHokie

[doghog]

Thanks for taking us along on your cruise. 

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

Edited January 6 by dwHokie

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

 

 

 

[dwHokie]

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.

 

 

Edited January 6 by dwHokie

[ChristyLNDRN]

1 hour ago, dwHokie said:

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

 

OMG😂😂😂….I remember that!!!!

 

[Dolby1000]

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

[dwHokie]

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!

[Lorey2007]

Fantastic review and beautiful family!

[#1packerfan]

1 hour 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 go to Paradise every time we are in Cozumel. I just go to their website and book the all-inclusive straight from there, and then just catch a cab at the port to go over there. Very short cab ride.

Definitely our go-to while in Cozumel.

Edited January 7 by #1packerfan
Dup sentence

[dwHokie]

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.

 

Edited January 7 by dwHokie

[dwHokie]

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.  🙂

Edited January 7 by dwHokie