Mommy and Daddy Sail on Navigator of the Seas 1-05-2013

[devilbob]

Wow, 5 days and 2 hours till we sail on the Navigator. We have been on the Voyager before so don't expect a lot of differences. Really looking forward to a week of being disconnected! The review is GREAT!. Keep it up Lemonade.

[lemonade-sails]

This review just keeps getting better and better! Thanks for the details! Sailing on the Navigator for the 3rd time this spring! :D

 

Thanks! Third time, huh? Not sure I have anything new for you but I'm glad you're enjoying my review! :D

[lemonade-sails]

Wow, 5 days and 2 hours till we sail on the Navigator. We have been on the Voyager before so don't expect a lot of differences. Really looking forward to a week of being disconnected! The review is GREAT!. Keep it up Lemonade.

 

You're so close!! It sure flies by!

[lemonade-sails]

Before I move on to day 2 - I forgot to include some of the pictures I took from the balcony of our first night sailing down the river.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[lemonade-sails]

And here is one last one that I took during the spa raffle through the fitness center windows. We were looking back at the bridge we had just left downtown New Orleans.

 

[Loves_Dogs]

Waiting :rolleyes:....hehehee. In regards to your cleaning wipes, you are not the only one. I always bring lysol spray. I spray down the cabin or hotel room (thoroughly in the bathroom), let it sit for a few minutes and wipe it clean. Makes me feel more comfortable.

 

I am really enjoying your review :D and will check back later for updates.

[ltzol]

Thanks so much for the review! We just made our final payment today. Spring break on the Navigator - here we come :)

[Cupcrazy]

Thanks for posting your review and pictures.

[lemonade-sails]

Waiting :rolleyes:....hehehee. In regards to your cleaning wipes, you are not the only one. I always bring lysol spray. I spray down the cabin or hotel room (thoroughly in the bathroom), let it sit for a few minutes and wipe it clean. Makes me feel more comfortable.

 

I am really enjoying your review :D and will check back later for updates.

 

Glad you are enjoying!

 

Thanks so much for the review! We just made our final payment today. Spring break on the Navigator - here we come :)

 

Congrats on final payment and enjoy your vacation! :)

[lemonade-sails]

Thanks for posting your review and pictures.

 

You're welcome! Going to start Day 2 soon!

[luvscruising2007]

I am enjoying your review, also. Always love looking at the pics.

 

About the way Royal handles the on board account. They have always consolidated our account. Whoever is the one who is responsible, in our case DH, holds the account. Any charges I make, are zeroed out and added to his account. We don't usually do cash. I think it happens if you share your on board account. If you each had a different credit card or one of you had cash and the other a cc, then I don't think that would happen. Hope this makes sense.

[Strangerush]

Thank you so much for the review! We are going on the Navigator at the end of February and I love seeing the pictures! Keep them coming!!! :)

[Marelaine]

Lemonade, I'm enjoying your review. My husband and I are new to cruising. We've been on two Celebrity cruises and are looking for different line for our next cruise. Thinking about RCI. I hope you'll share your opinions of the food and the entertainment.

[lemonade-sails]

I woke up at 6:15 am. I couldn't figure out why.

 

**Note** We did not bring an alarm clock with us. We just had a watch with an alarm. There were times that we missed just having a clock to look at on the desk, but we survived. There were only two outlets on the desk and we used them both. We did not bring a surge protector along and I thought we did fine. Remember though that we did not have a laptop with us so we only used the outlets for charging the phone and the camera battery once. **

 

I was able to fall back asleep and woke up again at 7:45.

 

 

I began each day by taking a picture of the day on the Compass. I learned this tip from someone here on Cruise Critic. Lots of people take pictures of the day of the week sign on the floor of the elevator. However, that didn’t work for us as we went whole days without stepping on the elevator and also I seemed to be taking pictures right away in the morning before getting dressed or leaving the cabin. So, it was very convenient to use the Compass to help me organize my photos for each day.

 

I took some pictures from the balcony and we showered and got ready for the day.

 

 

 

 

 

I never got over how big the ocean is. I had been to the ocean before, but never out in the middle of it. I could just stare out there all day. I took a lot of pictures hoping to be able to share it with the kids when we got home. The pictures are nice but it just isn’t the same as being there. It made me feel very small.

 

 

We had yet to meet our room steward. We knew they had turned down our room the night before but we didn’t see them at all. Not even in the hallway. So I left a note on the bed to ask for some extra towels and some ice and extra glasses for the bottle of sparkling grape juice we brought onboard. (remember we don’t drink alcohol). A note about the bottle - we had it in our carry on that went through the security scanner. They didn’t ask to see the bottle at all. No problem whatsoever. I also let them know that we had emptied the mini bar fridge and where we had placed the things.

[lemonade-sails]

We headed to the Windjammer for breakfast. It was busy but not terrible. There were no available tables by the window but we found an open table and sat down.

 

 

We loaded up our plates with fruit. I also had sausage, eggs and a little hash. Not too crazy.

 

 

My husband had a similar breakfast. We tended to grab glasses of water in the Windjammer.

 

After breakfast we went down to deck 5 dining room to make dinner reservations. It was formal night so we wanted to make sure we would have a table. We chose 6pm and requested a table for two.

 

We headed to the Cafe Promenade (I just realized I spent the week calling it the Promenade Cafe - hmmm) and grabbed coffee and hot chocolate (no surprise). A funny thing happened to us on Day 1 in the Cafe. We were grabbing coffee and hot chocolate and one of the nice ladies who works there was watching us put lids on our cups. She said “You like to drink coffee like a baby?” and then she giggled. We were puzzled by what she meant but laughed along to be polite. I didn’t catch her home country from her nametag but we thought maybe we had misunderstood her meaning. Later we thought maybe she was trying to make a reference to the fact that the coffee lids are like sippy cups? We weren’t sure but had a good laugh ourselves and every day would tease each other about drinking ‘coffee like a baby’.

 

It was time for the ice show ticket distribution outside of Studio B. There was a huge line of people going down the stairs toward the theater. I thought this was the line so I got in the back of it. We came to realize that it was the line for the Port Shopping Talk. So we maneuvered around them and headed through the casino and had to ask directions to Studio B.

 

One of the things we had the most trouble with navigationally was finding Studio B. It’s in the middle of the ship on Deck 3 but seems impossible to get there - especially considering my goal of avoiding the elevators.

 

We chose tickets for the 3pm ice show that afternoon. Then we headed up to the Metropolis Theater for the Port Shopping Talk. They really should rename this the I’m Interested In Buying Jewelry or Watches in Every Port Talk. It didn’t take us long to discover that we didn’t belong in the Port Shopping Talk. We had no intention of buying jewelry or watches during our vacation. We also did not feel like chasing after the free bracelet and charms. Now, if you are interested in those things, that’s great! It just wasn’t for us.

 

We skipped out early and headed to the Photo Gallery for the Digital Photography Seminar. My husband had purchased a new Canon DSLR for me several weeks before the trip. I was, and still am, learning about aperture and shutter speed. We felt it would be more beneficial to learn about photography than diamonds. Who knew??

 

The seminar was fun and informative. There was one important thing I learned that I tried to put into practice throughout the week. I think they called it the Rule of Thirds. It has to do with dividing your photo into thirds to draw the eye, etc.

 

Here are a couple of examples from later in the week . . .

 

 

You can see that I have placed the horizon directly in the center of the picture. It’s an okay picture.

 

 

Here I have tried to use the rule of thirds - dividing my shot into thirds and having one third of sky above two thirds of water. It’s more pleasing to the eye. (remember I'm still learning!) Anyway, I learned that at the seminar and tried to remember the rest of the week. Try it sometime.

 

Then we headed back to our room.

 

Lunch time was approaching and we decided to head to the Main Dining Room. I had talked up the Tutti Salad Bar to my husband and he agreed to go.

 

When we got there they said they had no tables for two available but they would seat us at a 6 top and add people as they came. They pretty much said the same thing to the people behind us who were following. When we came to the table they looked surprised to be expected to sit with us. I guess we’re not the only people who like to eat alone. Anyway, we all sat down and started looking at the menu. A short time later they brought another couple who also began to look at the lunch choices. No one said anything. So I decided to break the ice by asking the first couple where they were from. They were from California. The second couple was from Illinois and they were on their first Royal Caribbean cruise. They said they were enjoying it. We did a little small talk and finally our waiter came to take our order. Several of us ordered the salad bar for a starter.

 

The Tutti Salad Bar is unique in that you point out what you want and they mix it up for you in a large bowl. It really was a lot of food and could be a meal on it’s own. I can’t remember exactly what I had but it was very delicious.

 

 

I ordered the Grilled Open Steak Sandwich medium well. Yes, those are eggs on the top. Yes it was interesting. It was good although the steak was a little bit tough. I'm not complaining though, just made a mental note to order steak medium or medium rare next time.

 

 

My husband ordered the Moroccan Style Grilled Pita. He enjoyed it

 

We finished lunch and the second couple gave pleasant goodbye’s and left. The rest of us ordered dessert. My husband ordered the Decadent Chocolate Slice and I ordered vanilla ice cream. We ended up sharing and it was very good. Remember this was our dining room debut as we had missed dinner in the dining room the first night.

 

After we finished we exchanged pleasant goodbyes with the couple from California and went our separate ways. We had made it through lunch with two other couples who probably wanted to eat alone also. In fact, after lunch I realized that none of us had offered our names to each other. How funny! We’re not the best at socializing but I hope they wouldn't describe it as their worst lunch ever. I hope they can look back and laugh at the awkwardness! The funny thing was that we ended up seeing one of the couples several more times that week in passing.

[lemonade-sails]

I am enjoying your review, also. Always love looking at the pics.

 

About the way Royal handles the on board account. They have always consolidated our account. Whoever is the one who is responsible, in our case DH, holds the account. Any charges I make, are zeroed out and added to his account. We don't usually do cash. I think it happens if you share your on board account. If you each had a different credit card or one of you had cash and the other a cc, then I don't think that would happen. Hope this makes sense.

 

Hi! Yes, we figured that they were consolidating them just seemed a little strange and I did not remember reading about this on CC. :)

[lemonade-sails]

Thank you so much for the review! We are going on the Navigator at the end of February and I love seeing the pictures! Keep them coming!!! :)

 

Yay! You'll love it.

 

Lemonade, I'm enjoying your review. My husband and I are new to cruising. We've been on two Celebrity cruises and are looking for different line for our next cruise. Thinking about RCI. I hope you'll share your opinions of the food and the entertainment.

 

Thanks! You've got more experience than we do! I'll be talking more about the food and shows from our trip too!

[wolfganghowell]

Subscribing. Welcome to Cruising! WOW - 7 kids, you guys definitely earned a week alone! I'm sure you missed your kiddos but congrats on re-connecting with each other!

[lemonade-sails]

Subscribing. Welcome to Cruising! WOW - 7 kids, you guys definitely earned a week alone! I'm sure you missed your kiddos but congrats on re-connecting with each other!

 

We did miss the kids. We talked a lot about what they would like or what we would like to share with them. On the other hand, we also spent some great quality time together!

 

Thanks for following along. More day 2 to come!

[lemonade-sails]

We went outside on Deck 4 and walked around outside.

 

 

This became one of our favorite places. It was windy and cloudy that day though.

 

 

We found our muster station and generally bummed around.

 

 

 

We went back to our room and ran into our room steward in the hall. For the life of me I cannot remember her name but she was very sweet and efficient. Always smiling when we saw her in the hall and very happy. We used the door card to communicate with her. We would put up ‘Do Not Disturb’ when we were inside and ‘Please Make Up Room’ when we went to breakfast and dinner. It worked out so well. She was like a Ninja Steward and always had everything fantastic for us!

 

We had a little time to spend on the balcony before the ice show was scheduled to start.

 

We went to Studio B a little before 3 pm. I was worried that we wouldn’t find a seat but we found two seats in the front middle of the rink. The show was fabulous.

 

 

 

[lemonade-sails]

More ice show pictures . . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped in the computer center on the way back to our room to check email and send a message back home. The kids were fine. Grandma and Grandpa were fine too.

 

We returned to the room and lounged on the balcony some more. Then it was time to get ready for formal night.

 

We were looking forward to our first dinner in the dining room.

[alexkrn46]

Really enjoying your review, we have been on the Navigatot it is a great ship.

[mtsublueraider]

Might be the best photo review i've ever read and it makes it BETTER that it's the same ship and sailing we're taking in a matter of weeks!

 

Keep it coming!

 

I can't wait for the next posts! I am checking back to CC HOURLY eagerly awaiting the next set of pictures and descriptions. It's like a page turning novel that they only give you a few pages of at a time!

 

Please take a day off work and finish the whole thing! HA HA HA!

 

But seriously, great works!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the ports!

[lemonade-sails]

Really enjoying your review, we have been on the Navigatot it is a great ship.

 

I agree! The ship was beautiful and the crew was awesome!

 

Might be the best photo review i've ever read and it makes it BETTER that it's the same ship and sailing we're taking in a matter of weeks!

 

Keep it coming!

 

I can't wait for the next posts! I am checking back to CC HOURLY eagerly awaiting the next set of pictures and descriptions. It's like a page turning novel that they only give you a few pages of at a time!

 

Please take a day off work and finish the whole thing! HA HA HA!

 

But seriously, great works!

 

I'm looking forward to seeing the ports!

 

Wow! Thanks for that! I'm about to finish up day two . . .

[lemonade-sails]

I mentioned that it was a last minute decision to bring our formal wear. It was a decision that we would not regret. I put on my new dress. My husband put on his suit.

 

***Note*** We brought along the tripod for our camera. We had planned to avoid the ship photographers because we didn't want to spend extra money on photos. We thought with our tripod we could take as many photos of us as we wanted for free. It was not a pain to bring it as it fit in our large duffle bag and we drove to the port. We set it up on the balcony and took pictures of ourselves together throughout the week. This was important to us as we only have one photo of us together from our honeymoon. I didn't want to make that same mistake. ***

 

We got down to the dining room just before our 6pm reservation. The photographer who was set up in the lobby by the dining room was the same one from the Photography Seminar we attended earlier in the day. He recognized us and invited us to have our photo taken. We couldn't say no so we sat for a few formal photos anyway. It costs nothing to have them taken. It was fun. In the end we viewed them in the Photo Gallery but didn't end up purchasing anything.

 

We went into the dining room and were taken to our table - 607 by the railing.

 

 

You can see the table in the center of that photo where the railing curves out a bit. We had a nice view of the dining room and a little bit of privacy provided by the solid wood part of the railing.

 

Ryan was our waiter and Carmelo was our assistant waiter. We had sourdough rolls with butter, water and lemonade. My husband had iced tea.

 

For our appetizer we had the scallops. For the main course I had the Shrimp Ravioli and my husband had the Roasted Duck. Everything was delicious. For dessert we had the Double Strawberry Cheesecake. Fabulous!

 

We left the dining room and headed to Cafe Promenade for coffee and hot chocolate. We took a short walk on Deck 4 but it was very windy. We went back to the cabin to find our first towel animal.

 

 

Then we changed out of our formal clothes and checked out the schedule for day 3. We highlighted the things we were interested in and went to play minigolf. My husband won - as he would throughout the week. It was fun.

 

We skipped the Welcome Aboard Show on Day 1 and also the Production Show Ballroom Fever on the second day. We just didn’t think they sounded too interesting.

 

Also, we were happy to run around exploring.

 

 

 

Our Deck 7 mascot!

 

Not to mention that our balcony was lonely without us!

 

The first day at sea was very windy and cloudy so we did not spend much time on the outside decks. We did check out two towels this day and used them on our own balcony loungers. While the upper outside decks were windy, our aft balcony was not, so we spent a lot of time out there.

 

Next up . . . Day 3 Cozumel