Navigator of the Seas 12.8.2012 Pictoral Review

[kepster]

Thanks so much for taking the time to post pictures and review... Just what we needed to get excited about our March sailing on the Navigator. (not many other reviews - good ones, anyways - lately)

[jv_nyc]

Yeah it was. I'll see if I have the flier when I upload the compasses. You could sign up for it at the same tables as the coke pass tables.

 

Awesome - thank you so much!

[jewels89]

Keep them coming! Can't wait to read more! NOS will be my first RCCI cruise! :)

[kruzerci]

Day 1 Compass

 

Day 2 Compass

 

Day 3 Compass

 

Day 4 Compass

 

Day 5 Compass

 

Day 6 Compass

 

Day 7 Compass

 

Day 8- As you depart

[Cupcrazy]

Thanks for the report and fantastic pictures!

[cathep]

Thank you so much for posting this! This great to get pictures along with your narrative.

[kruzerci]

Viking Crown... the nightly band played just to the right of the steps.

 

[kruzerci]

We did our morning routine again Thursday morning. Gym, steam, shower, breakfast on the balcony. It was a gorgeous morning when we got back to the room for breakfast.

 

 

Is there a better way to start the day?

 

 

I went rock climbing that morning and strolled around the back of deck 13 while I waited for it to open.

 

 

Mini Golf

 

 

 

Full size basketball court behind the rock wall.

 

[LuckiStac13*Majesty*]

Your pictures are great, it looks like you had beautiful weather...skies are so clear!! Love the Navigator.

[ARCruisinNana]

Thanks for the great review and pictures. I'm looking forward to being on Navigator January 19.

[kruzerci]

I made a lap or two around the promenade deck before heading back to the cabin and then on up to solarium. It was such a pretty day.

 

 

 

 

 

It was so nice, the pool deck nor the solarium were ever crowded, even on sea days. With the exception of the last day at sea, you could practically pick any area you wanted, sun or shade, all over the outside decks. It was polar opposite of summer Caribbean cruises like we are used to! It could have had to do with the older crowd on this sailing?

[kruzerci]

I just realized that something happened with page one of this thread. I would have thought I had a little too much to drink before posting, but we've been detoxing this week :eek: ;).

 

It wont let me edit anymore, so ignore the random New Orleans shots mixed in on the first day at sea and Cozumel :(

[StlGal]

Thanks for the review!

 

By any chance did you get a chance to go to Vintages for tapas?

 

Thanks again,

Angie

[kruzerci]

Nevermind... it looks like the pictures are just mixed up when I look at safari from my iPad. Just to prove I'm not losing my mind...

 

 

[kruzerci]

StlGal- you must have read my mind. Coming right up.

 

Anyways... back to the review.

[kruzerci]

We left the solarium when the sun started going down and went back to the room to shower and get dress for the evening. Tonight was the second formal night. Yet another incredible sunset on the balcony.

 

 

 

We headed down to Vintages to have a bottle of wine. We declined the tapas because we wanted to be hungry for dinner, but they were offered and looked really good. Vintages is empty in the pictures because I took them in the morning, but it was pretty crowded around 7 at night.

 

 

 

 

The specials, which we didn't try. We tend to stick with what we know we like on vacation.

 

[kruzerci]

The end of the cruise "sales" were already starting in the Promenade as we made out way to dinner.

 

 

After dinner we went to the production show, "Ballroom Fever". It was good, your typical cruise music and dancing show. We spent a little money in the casino before going back to the room. It was starting to sink in that tomorrow at this time, we would nearly be back to New Orleans.

[cathep]

Your picture of the Vintages specials helped me decide not to buy the wine package. We'd rather choose what we want and there are many on that board that looked great at < $30.

[kruzerci]

If you haven't noticed, after quite a few cruises under our belts, we've sort of become creatures of habit in terms of our morning routine and routine on sea days. Once again... gym, shower, breakfast and coffee on the balcony.

 

It was a little bit cooler out today. It was warm, but much less humid than it had been most of the week. As much as I love hot weather, it was nice for it to be a little less humid. It felt perfect sitting in the shade on the balcony sipping on coffee. Plenty warm enough to be outside in a bathing suit as long as you were in the sun.

 

We were up to Deck 12 by 10 AM to enjoy our last day at sea, in the sun of course. As you can see in the pictures, the ship looked empty. Lots of people must have been sleeping in on the last day.

 

 

 

A few more people made it out by noon.

 

 

I don't know where the day went. It flew by faster than any other day of the cruise. It all of a sudden started to get chilly right after 4 that afternoon. That's when we headed inside and the reality set in... the cruise was almost over :(

[kruzerci]

Once again, we ordered an ice bucket for our last bottle of wine and a couple of appetizers from room service. By the time we had showered and changed clothes, the ice was there and the sun was starting to set. The pictures don't do this sunset justice, it was gorgeous.

 

 

 

 

 

[kruzerci]

We had to go down to the photo shop to get our free pictures from the Diamond coupon book before dinner. The photo gallery closed at 8 or 9PM in order to close before the ship entered the Mississippi. They meant it, they were pushing people out when we were wrapping up our purchase.

 

We had dinner at Portofino to finish a great cruise. The service and food was excellent, yet again. Before we went ot Portofino, we went by the dining room to drop off our tips. They looked pleasantly surprised to see us. I assumed it was because we only ate in there a couple of times, they may have thought we weren't going to tip. We got there towards the end of the first seating and the dining room was half full. I wonder if others were less than impressed with the food and service, like we were.

 

After dinner, we went back to put the clothes in the suitcases and put them in the hall.

 

Back up to the Viking Crown for one last round of drinks and to say goodbye to friends before turning in for the night :(.

[kruzerci]

We entered the Mississippi around 10 PM and it was neat to see the side of the Mississippi that we missed on the first night of the cruise. I sat up for a while on the balcony before going to bed... in disbelief that our vacation was coming to an end.

[Mrs.Woody]

What a fabulous review!! We will be on NOTS for the January 19th sailing (our first cruise). This review has helped tremendously!! (Oh, did I say THANK YOU!!) :D

[kruzerci]

I woke up at 6:45 the next morning to the TV still on, we were docked behind the Carnival Elation in New Orleans.

 

 

I walked up to the helicopter pad after I had showered and dressed. Reality hit when I turned on my cell phone to twenty texts and over a hundred emails.

 

 

We were in Group 7 to depart. We went down to the Ixtapa Lounge to wait, they had coffee and pastries in the entryway.

They announced soon after that disembarkation was delayed because of a large amount of passengers carrying off their own luggage. Our group was called shortly after it was supposed to be called and we were on our way :(.

 

Things went smoothly until we got down the escalator, when the line stopped. This is when the chaos began. There was luggage everywhere in baggage claim. It was totally disorganized. There were hundreds of us in the baggage claim room and we were all supposed to get in the single file line to proceed to customs once we found our luggage.

 

There weren’t enough porters to go around and people were getting angry within ten minutes of waiting in baggage claim. They finally made an announcement that if you needed a porter, you would have to wait in a separate line, but you couldn’t keep your place in the customs line. You would have to get a porter from the porter line, bring him to the back of the customs line, and start over. This caused people in the customs line to begin throwing money at the few porters that were coming back in the building, bribing them to cut everybody else in line. To make a long story short, people were angry, the workers at the port had no idea what was going on or what to do.

 

Once we finally got a porter, we started over in the customs line. There were two customs workers working. Apparently, since there were two ships in port, the two port facilities just split up the usual 6 customs agents between the two ships, instead of bringing more in. What made even less sense, is our that the Carnival Elation (half the size of the Navigator) got 4 of the agents, and we got 2.

 

I cannot stress enough what a disaster it was. After two long line filled hours after stepping off the ship, we made it to the front of the customs line. It was smooth sailing from there, it was a short walk to the car and after showing that we paid for parking before the cruise, we were on the road.

 

Taking a break... still to come... whatever I forgot, more picutes, and final thoughts

[joanfred]

Thanks for great review. Live in your area and AU fan also. Is there an outdoor movie screen on Navigator. Will be on during super bowl.