All our tips: the Best Family Cruise for large groups

“A cruise provides opportunities for imaginations to be stirred and also gives glimpses into different cultures!” – Papa

“I loved it more than I thought and would 100% do it again!” – Sarah

“It was pretty amazing to have an ice rink and a carousel and more! Was fun to do formal dinner and watch grandkids order food in total and complete delight all day long!” – Nana

“Best time ever and you don’t get bored! Especially fun to go with a friend/cousin!” – Jude

“5/5 and you never want to leave. My favorite was the aqua theater shows!” – Hudson

“The fun goes by so fast but it was so fun! My favorite thing was the putt putt course!” – Chase

Where do I begin to give a snapshot into ONE AMAZING WEEK aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Harmony of the Seas? With 2 sisters and their families along with Papa and Nana we were set for a vacation to remember!

I’ll bite it off in chunks!

Pre-Cruise

Each family flew into Houston separately! My crew was armed with snack bags courtesy of Nana, along with iPads/tablets, handheld toys, and headphones for the airplane ride! Click HERE for a link to all our favorite travel things!
Each family rented a vehicle through Turo-we’ve found it to be similar price or lower than rental cars in the past. Pick up at the airport took a bit of time but I’m thinking that’s because IAH is a huge airport. We also have found it’s best to rent car seats at the same time – just saves a lot of hauling from home.

Due to the drive distance between the airport and the cruise terminal, I’m glad I had done research ahead figuring out combinations of renting or shuttles combined with parking lot fees during the cruise. We found that with our larger party size, even with renting a car for the week and parking the car at the cruise ship parking lot, it was still less expensive than shuttles or Uber.

Parking at the cruise ship day of was super easy and quick. Shuttles are there to help transport and make life easy. 

Below are a couple of packing items that we love and make life easier:

• packing cubes-we have used these for years (linked here)
• cord travel case-genius IMO!
• my NIKE purse/bag

Cruise

We picked Harmony of the Seas specifically for its family-friendly perks and amenities! It didn’t disappoint in that area. All activities were family oriented and super enjoyable! The attire and behavior of people on the cruise felt positive and appropriate.

Each family booked through Costco Travel- there are many options but this was easiest for us at the time and you get onboard credits to spend, as well as a Costco cash card. We felt like we got amazing customer service.

We picked Port of Galveston because it had the cruise on the dates we needed (working around school calendars, etc) and closer for flights.

I’ll mention right here a couple items we bought for the week that made all the difference for us!

• Walkie Talkies – Royal Caribbean allows these and they worked flawlessly. Each older kid, and any adult that wanted, wore one on a lanyard and we were in contact at all times. Total game changer for allowing the older kids (for our group that was 9 and up) to be on their own around the ship.
• Lanyards – to hold your RC card that gave you access to everything onboard. We bought a pack of 12! Click either picture below for links!

rooms

We had 2 side by side (adjoining wasn’t available) Junior Suites (designation J3) because they slept 5 each. They were way roomier than we expected. We asked ahead for a crib for Lucy and the closet was so huge she fit in there easily.

Micah and family had an Ultra-Spacious Ocean View room that was for 6 and she said it was great. She was a bit concerned about seasickness ahead of time because they were at the very front of the ship and up on floor 11 but I don’t think it was an issue at all.

Papa and Nana did a basic balcony room, roomier than I expected. They said honestly they were hardly ever on the balcony.

Rachel and family had 1 balcony room and 1 inner stateroom and that worked well for them. The customer service reps help you find what’s best for what your needs are. Although all our family were on different floors, it didn’t matter. You are hardly in your room. 

Extra items we brought that made life in our rooms so much easier:

• Magnetic hooks- you need about 10 and the 80 lb hooks are definitely nicer.
• Shoe/bathroom organizer- we hooked these on the wall and they held all kinds of little things from diapers to charging walkie talkies.
• Laundry sheets- we washed underwear and lightweight clothes in the bathroom sink.
• Fans- these are so helpful for sleeping kids to drown out other noises. Caleb, my oldest nephew, said they made a huge difference for him to sleep.

Entertainment

My recommendations:

The Fine Line at the Aqua Theater
The Ice Skating shows-we saw 2
The Silent disco party. This was just the best! You wear headphones with the music piped in and dance away with everyone to the music and lights! 
The Royal Theatre had shows but after attending one we skipped the next one. Felt it just wasn’t appropriate content for our kids, and honestly for us adults either with sexual innuendoes and more PG13.

ACTIVITIES

There is plenty for everyone!

Tip: sign waivers and fill out paperwork for kids as soon as you board the ship. This saves time later.

The pools were super enjoyable and we hung out there plenty.

Kid’s Clubs were a hit with our younger ones, 7 on down. You could walk in anytime. They loved going and had a great time! We even checked Lucy in a couple times (although her age required an appt) and felt extremely safe and good about her care. Most of our kids 9 and up found they had more fun with the boat activities than in the Kid’s Zone or area for teens.

Zip line: Everyone Hudson and older did it! Weight minimum was 75 lbs. Even Papa and Nana took a ride!

Flow rider: the big kids loved this. A parent or grandparent had to be present but that was easy because we loved watching the kids!

Putt Putt golf: the balls were foam and all the kids asked to do this over and over! Fun and easy for all ages!

Court games: at various times different ones of us played basketball, soccer, volleyball, ping pong with other people and more! It was a planned activity you could see ahead on the ship’s daily calendar and super fun! There are times for kids and adult competition along with family competition.

Rock walls: super challenging but 2 walls each with 3 different climbs!

The Abyss (dry slide): at the back of the boat, you went down 10 stories and oh so fun!! We did this a ton!

Carousel: this was on the Boardwalk and just as cute and fun as can be!

Different groups of us would go to special events: napkin folding, jewelry charm bracelet making, towel foldings into animals, game shows, line dancing to mention a few and really enjoyed them!

There were also pools, splash pads, kids water areas, an arcade, water slides, and plenty more for loads of fun. Heads up: if your child is in a swim diaper they can ONLY go in one small kids area. No where else for water! 

DUCKIES! How could I almost forget to mention these?! People bring rubber and magnetic and plastic duckies and hide them all week all over the ship! We found so many! Jude made some on his 3D printer and gave cousins some to hide also! It was so sweet: older couples would see Lucy and ‘hide’ a ducky in plain sight for her to find and totally enjoy her joy in finding it! Highly recommend bringing along duckies to do this! Many people attached a tag with where their duck came from (their city/state). (Link here for some small ducks)

Food and drink

Drink packages: we bought the Refreshment Package for ourselves, Eden, and Jude (to share with siblings). Highly recommend this package.

Others in our family bought the same and some purchased the Soda Package which was just sodas-you carried a cup with a chip and it activated any of the soda machines around the ship. Our refreshment package got us mocktails (we had fun trying new ones and used this a ton), smoothies, fresh squeezed juice (which was my big thing) and premium coffee! It also got us milkshakes from Johnny Rockets (everything else there costs money). Highly recommend! We drank hardly any soda with all the other fun things to try. 

Meals and food 24/7: We ate equally throughout the week at various spots:

Windjammer- the ship’s buffet: super easy, amazing display of food! (See my Instagram highlights for the complete Windjammer tour!)

The main dining room- extremely enjoyable and delicious and fun! We chose to eat there more than we expected because it was so nice to have everyone served vs. always popping up from the table in the buffet to help a child get more food. Plus you get to know your waiters and they have your drinks and high chairs and menus all ready for you as you walk in! You choose a seating time (5pm or 7pm) ahead of the cruise and you have the same dinner time and same servers every night!

Sorrento’s pizza: definitely a hit. One of the only foods open super late into the night and we thought pizza was good, plus sitting at a table and just enjoying what was happening at the moment in the Promenade (which is like a full mall on 2 levels).

The Hot Dog shop: a hit with Papa and all the dads!! It was on the Boardwalk near the carousel.

The Park cafe: different, healthier, and more unique options for breakfast and lunch plus super yummy pastries. It was a favorite with all us adults-plus you sat and ate out in the Central Park which was so beautiful, pleasant, and quiet!

Johnny Rockets: breakfasts here was included and it was a more unique menu. Lunch and dinners could be purchased here and several of us did that also!

Small Bites- this was on the side of the ship near the sport court. Easy to grab Mexican food and delicious.

Ice Cream stations- 2 stations that serve ice cream cones all day? Yes please. They were the perfect mini treat size and we had lots! 

Every place had the same daily desserts and small treat bites available each day. 

Ports of Call

We had 3 total ports and booked an excursion (through Costco travel also) on the Island of Roatan in Honduras. 3 families from our group booked the same tour and 1 did a slightly different tour. Both were great! We booked the ‘Animal Experience / Snorkeling and beach time’ so I could fulfill one of my bucket list items and hold a sloth (on my birthday no less!) and it was awesome! Did you see this video (link) I posted? We also some of the island and spent time enjoying a fun beach and snorkeling plus a delicious seafood lunch also! Highly recommend!

2nd port was Costa Maya and we enjoyed about an hour of shopping and some of the best gelato I’ve ever had in my life! The place was called Gelato!! Go figure! We honestly hurried a bit to get back onto the ship because on Port Days the ship is very empty and all the activities have zero wait time-so the boys went right to the Flow Rider and zip line as soon as we got back onto the ship.

3rd Port was Cozumel and Tim had booked an all day Scuba Diving excursion which he said was fabulous! Some of the best diving he’s experienced (he is certified). I shopped a tiny bit but got back on the ship and same routine- we did the activities that usually had a longer line. It was a win-win!!

All in all we had a fabulous time…most of the kids wanted to turn right around and do another one!! Highlight was being with family for each of us! And, of course for us moms- not making meals or doing dishes…haha! It’s one of the first vacations I felt TRULY relaxed on (as much as you can be with little kids). 

If you want to see more in depth details I have a CRUISE HIGHLIGHT on my Instagram page. Shares a ton of answers to your questions!!

PS—we went a day early to Houston to be able to tour the Houston Space Center! That was awesome and well worth our time! Fun thing to add onto our vacation week!!!

PSS—we also totally made sure we got to a BUC-EES travel center! What a treat! That place is a destination spot…haha…and we had a blast exploring the store and getting food and drinks and treats!

As always, I am more than happy to help answer any more questions on a family cruise if you are looking at booking one. We highly recommend the vacation and I hope all this info was helpful!

xo, Sarah

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