We celebrated the arrival of 2024 with a one-week New Year’s Eve cruise on Harmony of the Seas. There were 10 of us who departed Galveston, Texas to visit Costa Maya, Roatán and Cozumel. This is our first time to cruise from the port of Galveston and we are excited to set sail. Before our trip, I noticed that we had a total of 3 sea days. I wondered if there would be enough to see and do while on board during this time.
Harmony of the Seas fun facts
Harmony of the Seas debuted in 2016 as the largest cruise ship in the world. It’s longer than the Eiffel Tower is high, contains seven distinct “neighborhoods” including Central Park with over 12,000 plants and trees. The Ultimate Abyss is the tallest slide at sea (100 ft. high) descending 10 floors. There are also water slides, a rock-climbing wall, mini golf, wave runner, zip line, music and entertainment just to name a few of the many activities on board. If you’re hungry or thirsty, there are also 20 dining options and 12 bars from which to choose. With a maximum capacity of over 6,700 guests and 2,200 crew, it’s quite the city at sea. Royal Caribbean lists more fun facts here. Trust me, you will not get bored (unless you want to).
Boarding in Galveston
We parked at the port and took the shuttle to the main entrance. Getting onboard took only 5-10 minutes after checking in and picking up our sea pass. We had an assigned check in time and things went very smoothly. Kudos to the port crew for the seamless process.
We couldn’t wait to explore the ship and grab our first cocktail. Yes, we did buy the deluxe beverage package, so we didn’t hesitate to start getting “our money’s worth”.
We booked a balcony stateroom overlooking Central Park. I wanted to try out something different, as we typically book an ocean view balcony, which we rarely used in the past. This ended up working well for us as it was quiet at night and it allowed us to enjoy the green park view. Of course, the only negative is that you’re looking out onto the balconies across the way which meant keeping your drapes closed for sleeping and dressing.
New Year’s Eve Celebration
We sailed from Galveston around sunset headed toward Costa Maya, Mexico. Our first night, we enjoyed dinner and a show so it’s now time to toast to a Happy New Year on the main promenade at midnight including the balloon drop.
We are now sailing in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico headed towards our destinations as shown on the map below. Here’s a nighttime overhead view of the ship from the bridge.
The first two sea days went much quicker than I expected. We enjoyed the relaxed vibe, entertainment and exploring the ship. Our sea pass cards were well broken in at almost all of the bars during our days at sea. Dinner, drinks and sunsets were our only agenda items. Although Danny did manage to enjoy multiple appetizers and desserts at every meal. I have no idea where he puts it all.
One of the performances in the Aqua Theatre, The Thin Line, included dare devil acrobats, high tight rope walkers and divers. You can see one of the performers getting ready for his show by bouncing on the tight rope. Of course, we couldn’t miss the World’s Sexiest Man contest. Also, two of the bar venues are very interesting. One is the Bionic Bar where robots make your drink and the other is the Rising Tide Bar which is a moving bar that elevates from Deck 5 to 8. So yes, there are many things to do that kept us busy.
The Port at Costa Maya, Mexico
We woke up to sunshine and 82-degree temperatures in our first port of Costa Maya. The water is a beautiful turquoise blue. There were lots of things to see and do at the port from shopping, bars, restaurants and exotic animals.
Mahahual, Mexico
The tiny coastal fishing village of Mahahual is about 2 miles from the Costa Maya port along the Caribbean coast, so we grabbed a cab into town ($4 per person) to walk along the oceanfront boardwalk and beach. There’s not much to town outside of tourism and I’ll bet it’s pretty deserted when there are no cruise ships. Since there were multiple ships at the port today, the bars, restaurants and shops were all open and busy. It’s a great spot for a cheap massage on the beach, a day under a resort umbrella, or lots of swimming and other water-based sports. The Faro de Mahahual, a 72-foot lighthouse, marks the start of the town’s boardwalk. There’s also a replica of Mayan Ruins in town. We decided to walk back to the port as it was only about 20-30 minutes away from the lighthouse.
Roatan, Honduras
Our second stop is Roatan. We had a half day excursion planned with zip lines and Gumbalimba Park. There was a lot of construction going on at the port, so we didn’t hang around much except to buy some Cafe Oro coffee to bring back home.
We boarded a bus on the island to the top of the mountain as we had arranged a zip line over the jungle. It was actually a series of 13 zip lines over the jungle canopy which terminated all the way down to the beach. Each line measures between 120-500 feet in length. We had an amazing time flying over the trees watching out for tropical birds, monkeys, iguanas and other wildlife.
We then toured Gumbalimba Park. The park is a sanctuary to several species of animals where they roam freely. It’s also an adventure park, and an educational place where you can learn about the history of Roatan. We had the opportunity to hold a couple of beautiful parrots and a monkey. I think one of the monkeys was up to a lot of mischief. I understand now where the phrase “monkeying around” comes from. You can see one of them knocking off Danny’s glasses and hat. What a fun game! The monkey on my shoulder kept digging in my shirt pocket looking for a treat. It was a fun filled, though exhausting day.
Cozumel, Mexico
For our final port day in Cozumel, we didn’t plan an excursion. We wanted time on the ship while everyone else was off the boat. So, we shopped at the port and walked briefly into town. There were 6 ships at port today, so it was busy everywhere.
A final day at sea before heading home
We enjoyed a final relaxing day at sea before heading home. Danny braved the Abyss, the 10-story purple slide from the top of the ship. He also spun around the green and yellow water slide. You can see in the last photo that there was a belly flop diving contest, but we refrained from participating in that.
There were a few other activities (besides eating and drinking) we enjoyed on our final day. We went on a “behind the scenes” tour of the ship’s galley to see how one of the kitchens prepares food for the day, followed by a champagne brunch. We walked around the multistoried dining room, checked out the merry go round on the Boardwalk and went to a parade on the main promenade. Our final dinner included another parade with the chefs and servers and of course Danny enjoyed 3 more desserts!
We are sad to say farewell to our friends and this beautiful New Year’s Eve cruise on Harmony of the Seas. My original worry that we wouldn’t find enough things to see and do while at sea never materialized. The week just flew by and we still hadn’t made it to all of the shows and venues on board. Oh well, it’s a great excuse to book another cruise on this ship. We hope you enjoyed peeking in on our cruise adventures and we’ll see you again next time.
P.S. I finally found out where Danny put all the food he ate…he gained 7 pounds this week!
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