As promised – our top deck photo tour! We kicked things off by the main pool.


Here’s Splashaway Bay


During her amplification, the Freedom’s pool deck was renovated to have tropical resort feel, including the addition of these colorful daybeds and casitas.

On Day 6 of our Harmony of the Seas cruise, we were back in Cozumel - this time as originally scheduled. Once again, no plans to leave the ship!


Rachel and I went to work out this morning. The gym was the least crowded I had seen it. I had plenty of room in the free weights area, and there was no wait for the Smith machine.

We had to hurry and finish our workout because we had made plans with Judy and Stove to eat breakfast at Johnny Rockets. The breakfast at Johnny Rockets is actually not included in the specialty dining package - it's free for everyone on the ship! A nice upgrade to the Windjammer, that's for sure.

All aboard!! Hello, and welcome to my trip report for the Shinglebells' 11th Annual Christmas Cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas!

Back in 2009, my family (the Shingletons - but during the holiday season we refer to ourselves as the Shinglebells.... as in Shinglebells Shinglebells, Shingle all the wayyyyyy!) decided to set sail on a cruise over Christmas, and it's been a holiday tradition ever since. We've sailed the Caribbean - Eastern, Western, and Southern, as well as the Panama Canal (one partial transit from Florida, and one complete transit from Los Angeles to Florida). Often, we'll choose our cruise based on the ports of call and where we would like to travel. However, due to work schedules, we were limited to a 7-day cruise, which meant that most ports of call on the itineraries would be places we've visited many times before. So rather than choosing our cruise based on ports of call, we decided to choose based on a ship we wanted to explore.



Are you new here? Need a refresher? Meet the "cast" of the Shinglebells -

Me/Victoria - I'm 28 years old and live in Los Angeles. I'm currently pursuing my license in architecture. I've also been sticking a camera in everyone's face to document and meticulously share our family vacations for over a decade.
Sister/Rachel - She's 26 years old and lives in Atlanta. She works in construction as an assistant project manager for a general contracting company. Rachel is the planner for our cruise vacations. She reads cruise blogs, reviews, and Cruise Critic!
Mom/Sharon a.k.a. Judy (it's her personality, she's a Judy... you'll see) - Not sure if she'd want me to say her age, but sorry, Judes, we're doing this for everyone.... 58 years old and lives in Anderson, South Carolina. A Judy is prepared for everything. Got a problem? A Judy will solve it.
Dad/Boyd a.k.a. Stove (his personality name... you'll get it) - He's 65 years old, living his best life with my mom in South Carolina. He was retired this time last year, but now he's back to consulting because a Stove doesn't slow down. You'll see him on the waterslides, zipline, and even the Flow Rider.

At the end of Day 7 in Bonaire, Mom was not feeling well (we made her take "medicinal shots" of whiskey). She woke up today completely sick - stuffed head, sore throat, achy body... she wasn't coming out of the stateroom. It really sucks to get sick on vacation (I think we've all been there at some point... except Dad).

Rachel and I went to workout in the gym that morning and decided to check out the sauna and steam room in the ladies' locker room that Rachel had remembered. They're probably redone this layout in the drydock, but the Navigator had gender-separated sauna and steam rooms, which isn't as common on cruise ships anymore.

We ran into Dad after our workout and decided that today might be a good day for Johnny Rocket's (though we felt guilty because Mom loves Johnny Rocket's).

So Johnny Rocket's has been slowly climbing in price over the past fifteen years. There was once a day when it was less than $5 per person. The price for our sailing was listed as $6.95 per person, which we found to be a little ridiculous considering it's fast food burgers, and they're getting closer and closer to their "on-land" price. I'm wondering if Royal Caribbean is reconsidering their partnership with the Johnny Rocket's franchise because Rachel said she got a survey from RCCL asking about what kind of burger she'd like to have on a cruise, having her choose between Johnny Rocket's and other brands.


So we sat down thinking this is kind of pricey, we should get all of the things while we're here.

Service wasn't great.  We were seated for maybe ten minutes before anyone came to take our order.
 We all ordered milkshakes and made the plan that Dad would ask for a to-go milkshake for Mom before we left.

We awoke in port next to the Ruby Princess, whom we had been sailing along with from Fort Lauderdale.



St. Maarten was flooded with tourists today with six cruise ships in port. I'd be interested to do a study on population spikes in port cities when cruise ships dock.

At the newer dock, I could see the Norwegian Getaway and Holland America Line Zuiderdam (who was badly in need of a paint job).

Our second sea day consisted of another anticlimactic morning of sleeping in.  Also, we forgot to put out our Do Not Disturb sign and didn't flip the dead bolt, and based on a few awkward interactions with our cabin steward, we're fairly confident that he walked in on us while we were snoozing.

Johnny Rockets

Already sick of the Windjammer, we decided to eat lunch at Johnny Rockets. There's a $5.95 "dining fee" per person. I swear this used to be $4.95, and I think charging $6 for a burger is a little ridiculous. You do get to order whatever you want from the menu (Except milkshakes which are additional... and there is a Crown & Anchor Society credit which gives you buy one/get one shakes.  Also, soda is included for those with the soda or beverage package).

The next day, we woke up to the rain. We took our time getting off the ship because of the terrible weather.