Day 6: Royal Caribbean | Harmony of the Seas with Jamaica
I have mixed feelings about Jamaica and honestly wasn’t looking forward to this port. I had contemplated just enjoying the relatively empty ship while most went ashore; however, the lack of slide onboard for my son and the amount of fun he had at the beach in the Bahamas led us to book a last-minute shore excursion. Since my son is unvaccinated, he is only allowed to leave the ship with a Royal Caribbean shore excursion. It’s basically a bubble tour where he has limited contact with Jamaicans. We checked-in at the shore excursions desk to receive our stickers which basically marked us as a family with an unvaccinated traveler. We then headed outside to meet the tour operators. Once everyone had given their tickets in exchange for a wristband, we headed to the buses. It was a short walk through the historic area and shopping district and then a 15 minute bus ride to Blue Waters Beach Club. At the beach club, there were loungers for us. Cabanas were available for an extra $80 and drinks and food were also available for a cost. We booked the transfer only option, but there was also an option that included food. Jamaica is known for their jerk chicken and spiced foods which I think taste delicious, but unfortunately for me all contain allspice which I’m allergic to. Eating on the island is tricky for me so I passed on the food here. My dad purchased a Pina colada and an empanada type thing. The Pina colada was delicious and a lot better than the drink at CocoCay. My dad also said the empanada was really good and reminded him of the ones he ate in the Jamaican area of London.
One of the things that appealed to me about this beach club was that they advertised Reggae Music would be played at the beach. There was a DJ at the beach, but nothing about the music was reggae. Instead it was American party music that you would expect at spring break with a bunch of twenty-something-year-olds. The majority of the passengers from the ship were families so I found the provocative music a mismatch with the clientele. The music was also incredibly loud. My son enjoyed the sand and water, but the loud music was not autism-friendly. The tour was supposed to last 3 hours, but we headed back after 2 hours.

The key thing with booking the shore excursion was that it allowed us to do some shopping in the historic area. I had brought back Jamaica rum for Brian the last time I was here and he really liked it. I was on a mission to find the same rum. We went into the duty-free liquor store and they had it! My dad also loves rum so we loaded up. It was lunchtime and we were hungry so we grabbed a snack to hold us over. My parents got jerk chicken which they shared with my son. I went for the safe option…fresh mango. My son also had a candy bar which was really good too. It was chocolate with coconut and like nothing I’ve had back home.
The final order of business was a toy for my son. I had told him he could pick-out one thing to take home. We went in and out of the shops looking at the different options. In the end, he chose a turtle made from a coconut shell which had a string mechanism that you pulled to have the turtle waddle along.

When we got back on the ship, we headed to my parent’s cabin and hangout on their ocean view balcony that overlooked the historic market we were at earlier. We stayed there to watch us set sail away from Jamaica. Afterwards, we grabbed some pizza from Sorrento’s and coffee and pastries from the Cafe Promenade. The pastries and pizza are both included in the fare. The specialty coffee is extra. My dad had an Irish coffee which was about $9 and I had a frozen mocha which was $5.50. Gratuity is then automatically added on top of the price. I really liked the frozen mocha which is called a Mocha Creamice here. There is also a Starbucks onboard, but I actually preferred the frozen mocha I got at the Cafe Promenade. I should also note that I’m not really a fan of Starbuck’s coffee. It tastes burnt to me.
We opted to skip dinner at the main dining hall tonight to watch the sunset instead. Our ship was sailing away from the sun so the best view was from the back of the ship. It’s amazing how difficult it was to find a good spot to watch the sun set. We first headed to the Boardwalk thinking we could catch it from here. While we could see it, the Aquatheatre blocked a clear shot to it. We then headed to the track because there is a section of it that offers a nice view. The back of the track was closed this evening in exactly the part that would have had a nice view. We ended up going up to Deck 15 which is the sports deck. We passed frozen yogurt on the way so each grabbed a small cone. Deck 15 was the perfect place to watch the sunset. There are chairs facing the back deck on both sides of the Abyss Slide so we grabbed some seats an enjoyed the view.

After the sunset, my son wanted to play some more mini golf so I helped him refine his putting skills. We then headed to the WindJammer for dinner. As usual, my parents went off to watch a show while I took my son back to the room to sleep. It was another nice day.
#westerncaribbean #jamaica #falmouth #HarmonyoftheSeas #traveladvisor #shoreexcursion #travel #RoyalCaribbean #travelblogger
About the Author
Amaris is the owner of the Ohio-based travel agency, Adventures by Amaris. Her love for travel began at a young age when she traveled to her parents' home countries of England and Mexico. She continued traveling in High School by participating in a People to People program to Italy, France and Monaco. In college, she spent six weeks in Europe studying abroad and traveling. She visited Spain, Portugal, England, Wales, Ireland, Vatican City, and Italy in a whirlwind summer. Through her adult life she continues to make traveling a priority with her family. Her young son is autistic so navigating the world of traveling with an autistic child brings on new adventures. Her travel resume includes Mexico, Turks & Caicos, Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Haiti, Jamaica, Colombia, and Cayman Islands. She is an expert in planning family vacations across the world from Disney World to Europe to worldwide cruises.
Comments