My View: Family of the Seas takes on Harmony...again (Semi-live)

[APDMOM]

Day 5: Cruise Compass

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

That is it for tonight.  Hope to finish uploading my pictures from Trikes Cozumel to post here tomorrow.

 

Happy cruising!

[perfect match]

7 hours ago, APDMOM said:

 

Interesting...

 

 

 

I think I’d go to Roatan just to see that building with the giant sea turtle on top!

 

Great review, as always! Thanks for doing it. I can’t wait to hear about your trikes tour! I’ve heard great thinks about the trikes tours. 😎. We’ll have to try it one of these days. 

[Ren1216]

Very interesting about the Ships excursion.  Not sure if you did this, but I may have been inclined to have a chat with excursions desk (if there's actually any staff floating about the new set-up) regarding those attempted charges.  Seems shady to me.  If I understand correctly, tours are contracted with local operators, right?  I'd think RCI would be interested to know how this tour is being conducted.  Sorry you were disappointed, but still seems you had a decent day.

 

Thanks for the little bits of info... including about the time difference.  Glad the injured man made it safely on board!

[Arzeena]

Enjoying your review as always. Looking forward to more.

[cravingthis]

On 11/16/2019 at 10:28 PM, APDMOM said:

 

I had the same thoughts as you when I was using the D40x.  I only had the two basic lenses and wanted to upgrade.  When I saw what a new lens would cost, I went back to the drawing board and did my research in Superzoom cameras.  That is how I came upon the P900.  It is not an SLR, so it is easier for me to travel with.  Go look at one at your local Best Buy and look at reviews.  I absolutely love the camera.  I love it so much that I gave my “older” P900 to my sister and bought it again for myself in August this year.  Look at what it can do with the moon... 🙂

 

Your P900 delives stunning photos.  I have the 3200 and find the colors are quite bland.  Thanks for the suggestion, I'll take a look at my local camera store!

 

21 hours ago, AlohaBoundHK said:

Just got off Harmony this morning...we were along for the ride with ADPMOM.  Thanks for your posts...awesome to review after our trip!!

Just wanted to pitch in and help...WJ chocolate buffet was evening of Day 6 (Cozumel).   We got there later and they were starting to run out of items...but it was great!   We were also able to reuse WOW bands at no charge...they were from Symphony...no muster station.

Thanks for the info.  What were some of your favorite cakes?  

I know it's a chocolate buffet, but did they have any vanilla, coconut or lemon cakes?

[AlohaBoundHK]

3 hours ago, red-dragon said:

 

Thanks for the info.  What were some of your favorite cakes?  

I know it's a chocolate buffet, but did they have any vanilla, coconut or lemon cakes?

Honestly, I think that Royal can be a bit hit or miss with their desserts and pastries.  They always LOOK good, so you just have to try it.  I recall seeing a lot of chocolate at the buffet, but do not recall seeing anything else you mentioned.  As APDMOM mentioned, it was also Mexican night, which I love...and we did not hit the dessert first!  
 

I can tell you that the following night (7) they had an awesome dessert bar set up in WJ with most/all of the items you mentioned.  This is where I had my favorite!  Raspberry cream cake...delicious!!  It also did not hurt that I put warm cherries jubilee over it AND a small scoop of raspberry sherbet...WOW!!
 

 

[APDMOM]

15 hours ago, Ren1216 said:

Very interesting about the Ships excursion.  Not sure if you did this, but I may have been inclined to have a chat with excursions desk (if there's actually any staff floating about the new set-up) regarding those attempted charges.  Seems shady to me.  If I understand correctly, tours are contracted with local operators, right?  I'd think RCI would be interested to know how this tour is being conducted.  Sorry you were disappointed, but still seems you had a decent day.

 

Thanks for the little bits of info... including about the time difference.  Glad the injured man made it safely on board!

 

I had considered talking to the excursions desk, but decided to leave my comments for the survey.  We did indeed have a fun day, all things considered.  🙂

 

Yes, excursions are run by local operators in Roatan.  If you read the fine print, Royal really does not guarantee the safety during excursions.  They pretty much state that they are not responsible for injury, etc. on excursions.  As far as I can tell, the only benefit is that you will not miss the ship.  

 

In fact, we had two vans loading during our excursion.  One of them had threadbare tires.  Ours was pretty bad too.  Wish I had taken a picture of those tires...

[APDMOM]

1 hour ago, AlohaBoundHK said:

Honestly, I think that Royal can be a bit hit or miss with their desserts and pastries.

Absolutely agree! The only consistent is the crepe station.

 

We thought it was gone, but finally found it on day 5.  It was way in the back of the Windjammer right next to the closed off side.  The display across from the crepe station was empty, so it was easy to miss.  

 

So, Tip for those who love crepes:  Walk all the way to the back of the Windjammer to find them, or ask a waiter where the crepes can be found.  They are not available every day, but most evenings. 🙂

[APDMOM]

My View:  Day 5 - Cozumel, Mexico

 

 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

Morning arrival views:

 

 

 

 

My view of Cozumel - the only one before Liberty of the Seas blocked the view:

 

 

 

Those slides!

[APDMOM]

After a week of keeping an eye on the weather, we thought for sure that our Trikes Cozumel excursion would be cancelled.  A winter storm was hovering over Cozumel, bringing solid rain for about 2 days.  The night before, the prediction was still at 80% rain.  We decided to show up at the meeting point, and fully expected to be disappointed by the weather. 

 

On the morning of the trikes tour, it was clear, yet with wet roads and puddles everywhere.  Thankfully, the winter storm had passed, and the only prediction was for rain around noon.  We decided to go for the tour.

 

We met the amazing guides from Trikes Cozumel at the Hard Rock Cafe.  They arranged a Taxi for us (included in our fee) and all 5 of us ventured to the Trikes office.  After a small amount of paperwork and paying for the two trikes, we divided up with my dad and DH on one trike, and me on another with my mom and DS.  Since my parents are licensed in Namibia, they were not comfortable driving the trikes, so I was a designated ‘driver/rider’.  It was an amazing feeling!  (Although I still prefer being a passenger with my camera out in full force).  Most of the pictures were taken by my mom or the tour guide.

 

About the Tour:

These guides do an amazing job of helping  you feel completely comfortable with the trikes.  They repeatedly helped us with our helmets after stops, and even provided an extra back cushion for me, as I am a bit height challenged.  

 

Without further ado... Here are (probably too many) views of our day in Cozumel:

 

 

 

A bit of off roading in the mud of the 2-day rain:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My dad:

 

[APDMOM]

A visit to Cedral (Original Mayan Community):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black coral is protected, and can only be harvested with a special license:

 

 

A beautiful tree that grew on top of a building:

 

On my red Trike ❤️

 

DH and my dad:

 

[APDMOM]

Some Beach Views:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 19, 2019 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

A stop at a beach: (El Mirador)

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the Road again!

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Tequila Tasting and Lunch (included with the tour):

 

 

 

 

My mom’s first ever taste of tequila... at 73!  😁

 

[APDMOM]

A few final views on the way back to the ship:

 

 

Geeky Fact:  Cozumel means “swallows”/ “Island of swallows”

 

Norwegian Breakaway:

 

Downtown:

 

...and back to our meeting place:  Hard Rock Cafe (right across the street from the port):

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

My View:  Leaving Cozumel

 

 

[APDMOM]

We finished the day off with a delicious spread of Mexican (maybe Tex-Mex) 

food.  

 

Tip:  There were several stations that were not busy at all in the back of the Windjammer.  There was a long line at the start of the buffet, but if you walk past to the back, you can get the same offerings spread out, without a long line.

 

Chocolate Buffet!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our Family’s collection of favorites (although the mousse was not that good)

 

[APDMOM]

My Favorite View: End of Day 6 - Cozumel

 

A definite win for us... Trikes Cozumel!

 

 

Edited November 19, 2019 by APDMOM

[APDMOM]

Cruise Compass:  Day 6 - Cozumel

 

 

 

 

 

 

[APDMOM]

Coming up tomorrow...Our second sea day, including some geeky facts 😁

 

Thanks for cruising along on our trikes and ship!

[Coralc]

I am really impressed that you drove one of those! We thought about doing them on a visit, but I always imagined that I would be the rider and not the driver. Good job! 

[Ren1216]

1 hour ago, Coralc said:

I am really impressed that you drove one of those! We thought about doing them on a visit, but I always imagined that I would be the rider and not the driver. Good job! 

Ditto!!

[cidymom]

Great review as usual!  Question: where did Harmony dock in Cozumel?  Was it near downtown Cozumel?  I didn't get to explore downtown Cozumel on the last trip so hoping the ship would be docking nearby and I don't have to get a taxi into downtown.  Thanks for your helpful tips.