Life has been fairly chaotic and stressful these past few months. There has been a life-altering health concern with Chris, a few hiccups within other areas and a down right awfully busy start to our school year. So for my 44th birthday I told my parents I wanted a "Spa Day"; specifically mentioning needing time away from the hustle and bustle that is our life currently. I was semi-joking when I said this but they heard me loud and clear and gave me a gift certificate for just that.
I spent time looking for what I envisioned in my head and while there were many within reach, I eventually landed at the Margaritaville Lake Resort on Lake Conroe partially due to the Spa Specials they were offering as well as an incredible value find on Groupon.
This was exactly what I needed quite literally. Mentally and emotionally I was beat down and bruised and this little 24 hour getaway in my own backyard proved to lift my spirits and I am so very grateful to my family for this awesome gift!
It is hard to believe this is in Montgomery- just 20 miles from my house!
King Suite with Balcony Room #1816 was PHENOMENAL!
Morning Coffee on the Balcony was PRICELESS!
Resort Overview The resort itself is highly impressive and offers a little bit of everything. It has a 3.5+ acre waterpark that offers a large pool, lagoon with water slides for the kids, a splash pad, a fairly large lazy river plus an infinity pool and jacuzzi for the adults. Within this waterpark are 2 different "pool" and "swim-up" bars but due to my mid-week stay, they were not open. This was a little bit of a bummer but I can truly came for relaxation so overall it was not a disappointment.
A view of the Jolly Mon Waterpark from the 18th Floor!
Adults Only Infinity Pool (Supposedly heated but... NOPE)
The Jacuzzi- This was a WARM tub... if that!
The spa experience itself was fantastic and I thoroughly enjoyed the Massage and Facial. Separately these would have cost well over $300 but I was able to book with a monthly special and was able to get the 50 minute massage and 50 facial for only $190. Even with a generous tip, this was a great bargain. Local massage business WILL be cheaper but this provided the "resort" style experience I was in search of. However, I was a little disappointed that the spa itself was detached from the hotel and resort. It was a 4-5 minute walk outside in the Texas HEAT (or rain potentially) to get to and from the spa- which was a bit of a bummer!
The restaurant License to Chill inside the hotel and resort offered well priced food and drinks. I enjoyed the bar and drink offerings but I do wish they had some type of daily specials or Happy Hour. However, I did make my way to the Land Shark Bar & Grill which is a stand alone restaurant on the grounds of the resort for their daily Happy Hour. They offered small appetizers and daily drink specials for only $5 each. The Thursday drink was on point and I really enjoyed the 5-6PM Happy Hour with sunset views! It made for a PERFECT evening!
Land Shark Bar & Grill did not disappoint with Happy Hour! That "Island Breeze" $5 drink was ON POINT!
And the view did not suck!
I am not a "Lake Person" by any means but this was near perfect!
Check out my FULL REVIEW:
I loved this Spa Day getaway!
Thank you mom, dad and Allison for this PERFECT Birthday Gift! Here's to 44!
Diamonds are Forever Symphony of the Seas July 4-12, 2026 Galveston, TX (Eastern Caribbean)
This was a cruise for the memory books!!
After 30 cruises... we are addicted and love this form of travel as we believe it holds the best overall value. This was our DIAMOND cruise where we finally became a higher level loyalty member of Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor Society! This came with all kinds of perks and we tried to enjoy everything the Symphony had to offer as well as every loyalty perk we could find! This cruise also had several hiccups that eventually turned in to truly life alerting events (which we will elaborate on soon) but memories were certainly made and we had a GREAT time!
We have cruised 13 previous times with Carnival, 13 times with Royal Caribbean, 2 times with Norwegian, 1 time with Princess and most recently 1 time withMSCCruise Line.
This blog will contain entries of our day-to-day life aboard the Symphony of the Seasas well as all of the unique and awesome perks of being a Diamond Loyalty member! You do not want to miss these posts!
Throughout the blog posts, we will also share the lots of tips, tricks and insiders knowledge about cruising out of Galveston, information about cruising to the Eastern Caribbean as well as great information about Symphony of the Seas.
Morning We moved our clocks back one hour to return to Central Standard time but our bodies still woke up around 7AM, which meant 6AM ship (CST). I met the boys at the Windjammer for breakfast and it was not crowded at all. We grabbed a coffee at Cafe Promenade and did some people watching. TIP- Reminder, the Ultimate Drink Package allows for unlimited specialty coffee at Cafe Promenade!
I LOVE Saturdays but on a cruise ship it usually means it's almost over!
I returned to the stateroom to ensure Natalie was awake for our DiamondBehind the Scenes tour at 9AM. We were not sure if we would be able to attend this tour since there were over 300 Diamond guests onboard but they allowed everyone to attend which was really nice. We have been on a tour of the backstage area on our Navigator of the Seas 2014- Galley Tour but this was spectacular as we were able to meet the Royal Theater Manager and the lead performers of the show onboard- Hairspray! We learned that due to the nature of all of the props and effects, they often have to "stop the show" due to safety issues and then restart (or resume) the show. This actually happened on day 2 of our sailing in and not a single guest realized it. That is how fast and impressive these shows really are.
The kids with the STAR of the Hairspray show! He is from New Jersey!
The Symphony of the Seas stats page!
After our Backstage Tour, we stayed in the Royal Theater for the Captain's Corner which is one of our favorite activities on a Royal Caribbean cruise. This brief activity allows guests to meet the Captain and ask all kinds of questions about life onboard and so much more. Be sure to find it on the Cruise Compass and make plans to attend. It is usually the last sea-day onboard.
Natalie was actually able to get the Captain's signature!
This is the first cruise where the KIDS have gotten a picture with the Captain and I have not!
We then went to the Schooner Bar to wait for the Veteran's Tribute to begin at noon. Royal Caribbean does such a remarkable job with this event and I swear each of our cruises gets better and better. Jamie, the Cruise Director, did such a great job with this- especially on a July 4th holiday sailing. The playing of the Taps gets me every. single. time! Well done Royal Caribbean!
The cupcake spread on the Royal Promenade before the Veteran's Tribute!
I love that even the CAPTAIN comes to honor those who have served!
Afternoon After the Veteran's Tribute the kids went searching for last minute signatures for the Search for the Nations game while Chris and I enjoyed a rather empty Schooner Bar.Chris was not feeling well, again, and went to take a nap before our lunch at Jamie's Italian. The fever he had never returned but he was seriously down for the count and you could tell it in his behavior and even his skin color. It was around lunch on this day that he noticed the swelling of his hip and buttocks area. We were not really sure what was going on but it was very enlarged (not showing signs of redness).
The kids are getting along... It's a PERFECT DAY!
The kids Search for the Nations final card.
They did not win- a 30 something year old "nerd" won about day 3! But they had FUN! They have already decided to SPLIT UP Next time to determine our own winner!
Hello Jamie's- Oh how I love you!
We all met at Jamie's Italian for our specialty lunch. TIP- As mentioned in previous posts and cruise blogs, try out the specialty restaurants for lunch as it is usually at least half the price of dinner costs and usually has at least 90-95% of the menu offered. We paid $15.99/ person for this lunch and even with the gratuity and additional tip we paid less than $100 for this meal and it was worth EVERY PENNY!
Jamie's Meat Plank Chris- 4.0, all others 4.5
Truffle Pasta Kellie- 4.5 and Natalie- 4.0
Jamie's Dessert Menu
Rich Chocolate Brownie Luke-5.0 and Chris- 3.5
Sorbet of the Day (Caramel) Kellie- 3.0
Since we had a later lunch time of 1PM we were so tired and full after Jamie's that we ALL went back to the staterooms to lay down- even Luke. Once we felt a little revived we walked around the outside Promenade deck before meeting in the Crown Lounge to play cards. The kids played for hours while I enjoyed a more peaceful environment and a few cocktails. Chris was still not feeling well and chose to spend the majority of the afternoon in the stateroom.
Chris did, however, meet me at the Bionic Bar mid-afternoon to check it off our Bar Pub Crawl. The Bionic Bar is such a money grab and truly a "one and done" type of thing but we did enjoy our custom made cocktails. We also met the kids at the Rising Tides bar in Central Park, which is also a "one and done" for us. Be sure to do the Rising Tides Bar at least once on an Oasis Class ship but it's just not worth it after that.
Rising Tides bar Family Selfie!
A view of the Schooner Bar from the Rising Tides bar!
Check out the last few bars on our Pub Crawl:
Cheers to the last day!
Evening We all cleaned up and packed our suitcases before making our way to the Crown Lounge for Happy Hour before dinner in the Main Dining Room. Chris met us in the Crown Lounge but was having a really hard time even sitting down due to the swelling, pressure and pain he was feeling in his lower half. I was worried before it was Covid but this seemed like something totally different. I told him to go to the Sick Bay but since we were within the last 12 hours on board, he opted to just tough it out.
They are STILL getting along... someone pinch me!
We are almost home... They brought out the Texas Flag!
Unfortunately, Chris didn't even go with us to the Main Dining Room for dinner as he was in too much pain to sit down and then when he would stand up his feet and neuropathy were hurting and he was even getting light headed. Clearly something was wrong with him and I just prayed we could get home to have him treated.(Little did we know what we were dealing at the time. This turned into something so much bigger than we EVER imagined. God pulled us through for sure!)
Dinner in the Main Dining Room featured the Bon Voyage Menu and the kids and I all had a fun option on our plate. The service was, once again, some of the best we have ever had in our THIRTY cruises. The maitre'd even came over and said "I heard someone love strawberries" and brought Luke a massive plate of strawberries. This is the type of service that we rave about and truly brings us back to Royal Caribbean time and time again!
The Bon Voyage Menu
French Onion Soup Luke and Kellie- 5.0 and Natalie- 5.0+ We all seriously LOVE this soup!
Seafood Cake Kellie- 4.5 and Luke -4.0
Spaghetti Bolagnese Luke- 3.5
Pecan Crusted Salmon Kellie- 2.5 This was very flavorful but so dry!
Luke's strawberries!
It's Natalie's turn to order THREE desserts! She loved all of them!
Peach Pudding Kellie- 2.5 (yeah... that was interesting)
WE LOVE Ikadek and Kenneth! Thank you for making our cruise extremely memorable! BEST WAITSTAFF TEAM... EVER!
After dinner the kids and I went to play our round of mini-golf as this is a tradition of ours and I was sad we waited until the last night to make it happen. I actually won this time! We went to the Boardwalk to watch another match of the Finals of the World Cup and the environment and weather were just perfect for our last night on board.
We love playing Mini-Golf!
Natalie and I went and selected our FREE Diamond perk photos in the Picture Gallery and then grabbed a quick drink in Boleros before calling it a night. TIP- Be sure to use all of your Diamond drink coupons each day. We never truly used all of them but on this last night we asked the waiter how many all 4 of us had left over and we got 5 Red Bulls to take home in the morning. Thank you Royal Caribbean!
Check out our TWO FREE DIAMOND PHOTOS:
Time is a thief!
Our Last day on the Symphony of the Seas... Check it out:
It was a great last day spent onboard the Symphony of the Seas. We have really enjoyed this ship and all she has to offer. I am not sure if this overall cruise experience will top the Harmony of the Seas- February 2026 as that was the kids first Mega-Ship experience but this is definitely a CLOSE SECOND! Even with Chris getting "sick" and tired at the end of this sailing, it was a good cruise. I learned through these last few days that I can be a single mom if needed.
We've got 1 more cruise booked in 2026 and Natalie's BIG Graduation Europe Cruise in 2027! But who knows... We may book a last minute trip as well!
Up Next... Natalie's Graduation Europe Cruise 2027! Stay Tuned!
