June 24, 2018
It’s been a little over a week since we got home from our first trip of the summer….our cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas. We are big cruisers and have been on many ships over the last few years but this cruise was definitely up there as one of the BEST we’ve ever had! We always cruise with our two best friends (one of whom is a cruise expert and has been on more than 35 cruises) and my family.
Side note – there are few people in life who you can travel well with and still be friends at the end of the trip…..and we’ve found our people! It helps that Brian and I have known each other for almost 20 years and can pretty much finish each other’s thoughts. He and his partner are also our childrens’ godfathers, come to Sunday night family dinners every week, and spend every holiday with us.
Brian and me.
She adores him….and is even named after him!
Fancy cruise shot (my sister was there too but chasing the children at the time).
Back to the cruise…..we chose the Harmony of the Seas this time around. Last summer we went on the Oasis of the Seas and absolutely LOVED it! However, the Harmony had a few more things for kids to do including water slides and huge 8 story regular slide. We were so excited to try a new ship! (FYI – I don’t cruise on anything smaller than these ships now after a terrible smaller ship cruise when we sailed through a hurricane – that’s a story for a later time).
First picture on board!
Gorgeous Promenade and my favorite bar – the Rising Tide Bar! It moves between the 6th and 8th floors – you can climb aboard either place and it slowly moves between the floors while you enjoy a drink and a birds-eye view of the promenade.
They were reunited with their favorite – the Schooner Bar! Lots of drinks and trivia happened here!
Setting sail….
Happy girls checking out their beds for the week!
We took advantage of the dining package (and the drink package!) so the first night’s dinner was at the hibachi restaurant. It’s always a favorite for the girls. Somehow, though, no one took their cameras so we have no proof of it 🙁
Day 2 was our day in the Bahamas. We’ve been to the Bahamas a few times before and, since it was a rainy day and a quick turnaround, we decided to stay on the ship and explore. I would be totally happy staying onboard every day. I LOVE spending time on the ship while most other guests are out and about on the island.
Started the day with drinks and playing Scattergories.
The girls hit up the arcade for awhile and waited for pool time.
We also played a little putt putt…or something like it….on the back of the ship!
We had dinner Sunday night at one of the fancy restaurants on the ship – 150 Central Park. J wasn’t interested in going so she played at the kids club while we had dinner. Dinner was GREAT!!
Peter grabbed a cute picture with J after kids club…..and then we all went dancing at our favorite hangout – Dazzles!!
Tuesday was our 2nd stop in beautiful St. Thomas. Originally we had planned on just having a beach day but decided last minute to take one of the ship’s excursions on a catamaran to go snorkeling. It was, by far, the HIGHLIGHT of the trip!! Our catamaran was called Castaway Girl 4 and we sailed about 3 miles out to Christmas Cove to snorkel and then Honeymoon Beach for a few hours relaxing on the beach. Our sailing crew MADE the trip….and served up some lovely rum drinks on our way!
More to come on our amazing trip in part 2!
