Navigator Review 12/4/2010 - long!

[Familygoboston]

Just back...still rocking a bit at the computer (stops in a day or so!)

Our second trip on NOS, this same week, and coincidentally our third cruise with Simeon (CD, who is now on a hard earned R & R!) We really enjoyed our NOS cruise last year and were happy to return this year, but we found the crowd was much livelier and friendlier this year, less drunk and fewer smokers (all of which was a positive in our book). Taking a cruise the same week on the same ship really does illustrate how much of a difference the crowd makes!

Cabin: Our cabin and the ship in general are in excellent repair given the age (and usage) of this class. Our cabin on deck 8 ocean view, amidships was clean and in good condition. We love the location of deck 7 or 8 midship on this vessel; perfectly situated to be 3-4 decks up to the pool and Windjammer and 2-3 decks down to dinner and shows (we do My Time on deck 5 and always sit in the balcony (deck 5) for shows, so if it's a stinker, we can sneak out without eliciting heckling;)) We also always take the stairs, so the elevators are a non issue for us. The only wear I noticed was sometimes the toilets buttons get "stuck" in the in position and required a little jiggle to get the button out and then you could flush. I noticed this in the some public restrooms too. Also the buttons on the safe were completely worn off, so you have to remember which numbers are where (same as the telephone if you get confuzzled). Not an issue for us as we use the same code for all safes and just know where to put our fingers! Our cabin Attendant Li was great and very friendly!

Dining: MDR was better than last year, less salty and although the menu was essentially the same I felt the dishes were better prepared. We had the same waiter and asst. throughout on the My Time deck, very attentive and some of the best according to our head waiter, Erika, because in My Time they have to be able to multi task and work consistently; no breaks between seatings to get organized! We only had dinner here, but it was consistently very good, especially the seafood.

Windjammer really was not so great, food for fuel, we kept it simple and that worked well for us. The make your own salad and pizzas were reliable, as was breakfast. But the buffet dishes just didn't have much flavor. We don't do specialty dining because we are frugal yankees and it's against our nature to pay for food we've already paid for! (except of course for Ben and Jerry's) We did go to Johnny Rockets to cash in our Two for One Milkshakes Platinum coupons (can't resist the coupons- see above ;)). I was disappointed that they did not have root beer for root beer floats. The crew in there is always lively and fun, and Ben made me a beautiful napkin rose that I transported home in an empty water bottle and now have on my Christmas tree!

Ports/Excursions:This trip was Grand Cayman (our first time) and Cozumel.

Grand Cayman is great- you could stay a week and not do it all. We tried ;)- in the AM we visited the Heroes Square (go up Fort st), not a lot "touristy" there, but I like to go see the people bustling to work (and they do hustle on this island!) and check out where the locals do their business. Also we read the placards at the remains of the fort, which is at the base of Fort St literally right by one of the cruise ship terminals. We visited the Elmslie Church- lovely. And we spent a good hour in the Grand Cayman National Museum. This was excellent; a nice video, and the building itself is historic. The displays have been all newly renovated and are very interactive. An excellent presentation of the people, cultures and natural history of the island. Worth every penny of the 6 bucks, and a great introduction to the area. Their gift shop was one of the only places we found some locally made gifts and crafts (we didn't go to the craft market though!) The whole walk a bout didn't take more than 1/2 hour (not counting the hour spent in the museum, which is also right across from one of the terminals). We then walked a bit up North Church St towards 7 mile beach, and ducked down a path next to a dive shop to get a photo of the ship from the coral shore.

At 11:30 we joined our Excursion -Cayman Bicycle Adventure. They mini bussed us to the tour company's HQ on the West End for bikes and helmets; all in v good condition. (the bikes in Cozumel looked very dicey last year!) We were led by a guy on a bike and followed by a jeep. Because it was an active trip- there were only 5 of us :D. My DH and I (avid bikers in the States) and a couple and their young son from Columbia who looked fit, but didn't bike as much so they kindly let the young fella ride the last bit in the jeep. The biking is flat and at an easy peasy pace! They made frequent stops (to see 7 mile beach, the Turtle Farm, Hell, the Tortuga rum cake store (with free samples) and a peek at the dolphins in the Dolphin Encounter. Hell and Tortuga felt like shopping opportunities, but none of our party was buying so we looked at the coral formations, or had a sample and then moved on- no pressure. We thought this was an excellent way to see not only the major tourist traps er... I mean attractions, but also gave us a peek into the daily lives of the people as we cruised through their neighborhoods waving hello as we went. The Turtle Farm was excellent...this is very nicely done, you have an opportunity to touch and hold the turtles and if you go on the right kind of excursion, you can swim with the turtles, or walk the nature trails. Being interested in conservation and animals; we definitely plan to go back with our daughters and my parents on another cruise we are planning that includes GC.

Cozumel: We had been to Cozumel last year and did a snorkel/bike /ruins/beach tour of Punta Sur (Yeah I get tired just thinking about it:() So this year we decided to beach it. I read reviews on CC about Nachi CoCom ($49 pp). CC is a wonderful place...without the (mostly) unvarnished opinions of hundreds of other cruisers, I would have been unlikely to email my credit card number to this place in Mexico...but it was entirely reputable and as reported- a lovely beach break! We spied a couple holding a Nachi Co Com reservation form in the taxi line, so joined them to split the cab ($15 each way) Just make sure you have change to pay for the split; we embarrassingly had to have them pay $10 and then make change at Nachi to pay them back :o Nachi Co Com was as advertised, just a few dozen people, chairs, palapas, restaurant, bar, pool, luke warm Jacuzzi, the sea. All drinks and food were included and you could pay to do water sports or rent a beach mat (I would do this if you have a crummy back like we do to use on the hard plastic lounge chairs) We brought our own snorkels, but there was not much to look at where we were; if you do a snorkel tour they will take you to a better reef (we hope!) This was not an Excursion through RC, so we had to watch the time to be sure we left the 15-20+ minutes to get back to port with everyone else!

 

Entertainment/Activities: Last year I mostly panned the parades, which seemed low energy to me- we skipped them all this year except for the 70's party, which had considerably more energy this year...I think performers respond to the crowd they get and this crowd was having a good time. We adore the Latin Express in the Boleros lounge...it's always a lively crowd there. We also didn't see the production shows because they were the same as last year, but heard consistently positive comments from fellow cruisers; they particularly like the Russian guest dancers, the ice show and the headliners were very good this cruise too (we did stick our head in for the headliners and caught the whole show for the comedian juggler) I think RC does a good job booking good headliners!

Several Patriots fans and few dejected Jets fans commandeered the 19th Hole for Monday Night Football; they only had one bartender on in this lounge and probably the beverage manager should have adjusted and moved one from some other venue where they were just circling uselessly with trays!

All the activities; Belly flops, Quest, sing alongs and Name that Tune's were great fun, again because of the positive energy of the Cruise Staff and the cruisers (it takes a village!) We don't buy art, gamble or attend port lectures but those who did told me they had great fun...takes all kinds! We did do the back stage tour of the Metropolis theater, which was really neat and gave the audience a chance to not only poke around behind stage, and in the sound and light booths but also grill the entertainers about life aboard. Neat and cheap for RC, but very entertaining for people like me who like to see how sausage is made!

The sports deck looked as if it had been recently refurbished...the mini golf had all new "greens".

One thing I LOVED that was new...there was a cruise planner in our room when we embarked! This listed all the upcoming nights major shows and entertainment so you could adjust your My Time reservations or at least know if a show would be offered more than once in the cruise (such as the ice show) Great addition!

Overall, a great cruise, Captn Patrik leads the way I think...I notice when you have a good executive...you usually have a great and motivated crew. He was very visible and always energetic and smiling, and I think his crew follows his lead. I am going to miss the intimacy of Navigator when we set sail next on Oasis next year (ridiculous huh? A 3000+ passenger cruise is intimate these days??!) I think this class of ship offers a lot of flow through places, the party moves from the promenade easily to the pocket lounges, and really creates a happening place where you can wander to find some action and don't have to "dead end" awkwardly into a lounge/room. And if you want to chill- the Solarium is the ultimate adult hideaway! We may be back on this class again soon!

[bravostar]

Thanks for the review. We are going on the Navigator next spring and glad to hear she is still in good shape.

[HMK]

Great review! Looking forward for upcoming sailing in Feb.

By chance do you have compasses you could forward to JetDoc2262@aol.com

 

Thanks

[cerving]

Thanks for the review.

 

This will also be our second cruise on the Navigator. We sailed on the Oasis last year. The Oasis is a beautiful ship and we had a great time. We are glad we sailed on the Oasis and experienced all that it has to offer. We are looking forward to going back to the Voyager Class ship. We always loved that class of ships. Next will be back to the Freedom class. We're begining to think the Freedom class may be the size of ship we really enjoy.

 

Thanks again for the review. Feb. will be here before we know it.

 

:):)

[enidcruiser]

We will be on the Navigator for the first time in Jan. and are looking forward to getting to know her.

We did the Freedom last Jan. so we have experience on that size. Loved it so we will be checking out her little sister.

[NotTheBatesMotel]

Thanks for the review! We'll be on Navigator in Feb and can't wait!

[Familygoboston]

Great review! Looking forward for upcoming sailing in Feb.

By chance do you have compasses you could forward to JetDoc2262@aol.com

 

Thanks

Our scanner is pretty balky for big jobs, but I will definately send you the planner, and I can post it here too for others. It has all the major shows and activities listed by day and time!

[Familygoboston]

Just posted the image as a new thread under Royal Caribbean Boards (to make it easier for people not on this thread to find) as:

 

Navigator of the Seas image of 5 night planner 12/4/10

 

Have fun! Wish I was going back with you all!:D