Navigator of the Seas March 9 - 16 Review

[wc74]

Background

 

This is our second cruise with Royal Caribbean. Our first was last February on Mariner out of Galveston. We visited the same ports, but in the reverse order. We brought our two boys (aged 10 & 12) and both sets of grandparents. My parents were on their 13th cruise with RCI and DW's parents were on their third cruise. We were all in balconies on the 7th deck, starboard side.

 

General Observations

 

Having the four of us in a single cabin was snug, but not completely unmanageable. Our biggest issue was having enough room in the closets/drawers for all our clothes. When it came to sleeping, it really wasn't bad. The kids slept on the fold-out sofa and said it was much more comfortable than the fold-outs at both Hampton Inns we stayed at Thursday and Friday night prior to the cruise.

 

The service was outstanding. On our first cruise, our waiter was new, so he was still learning the ropes and getting comfortable. This time our wait staff team of Allwyn and Michael was superb. They were very patient with the kids, our drinks were seldom empty and their food recommendations were always excellent. Our room steward Arlex was very efficient. We seldom saw him, but our room was always prepared exactly so, and if we left a note or had a special request, he always took care of it for us.

 

The food from the new menus in the MDR was superior to the food we had last year (which is not to say it was bad, the quality was noticeably better.) The one comment I will make about the new menu is the last couple nights, the selections on the menu were a bit underwhelming. The food was good, but I felt like I was settling for something to eat that wasn't exactly what I wanted, when on previous nights there were multiple entrees that sounded really good. More on the food with the daily reviews.

 

While on-board the ship, we all pretty much did our own thing, including the kids. Our youngest was a little hesitant about the Adventure Ocean program, but once he gave it a try, he met several other kids who he hung out with for the remainder of the cruise. Our oldest is at that awkward tween age; too old for Adventure Ocean, and really too young to comfortably hang with the teens. The kids had a curfew each night, and to their credit, they were in the cabin at or before curfew each night.

 

Arrival in New Orleans

 

We left Dallas on Thursday evening after work and drove to Natchitoches, LA, where we stayed in our first of two Hampton Inns. Friday morning we got up, partook in the breakfast at the hotel and hit the road for N'awlins. The drive was pretty uneventful. The only traffic to speak of was in Baton Rouge and again once we hit the vicinity of the New Orleans Airport in Kenner. We stayed at the Hampton Inn Garden District. There was a trolley stop right out in front which after meeting up with the grandparents, we rode to Canal Street. We wandered around a bit trying to decide on where to eat, but ended up at Mulates. Dinner was outstanding. Getting back to the hotel proved a little more difficult.

 

We waited at a trolley stop for what seemed forever and when a trolley finally arrived it was packed and he only had room for a passenger or two. No problem. There was another trolley immediately behind. The trolley stopped at the traffic light but the driver didn't open the door. Several people tried getting on and he just shook his head at them. The light turned green and he drove on his way. As it drove away, we noticed a sign on the BACK of the trolley that stated it was reserved for a private party. To me, it would have made more sense to have that on the front of the trolley, but whatever. We waited for a bit more before we started walking. We followed the trolley tracks down to the circle and caught a mostly empty inbound trolley and just rode that around until it headed back to the Garden District.

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Day 1 - Sail Away

 

We got up and ate breakfast at the hotel. Our cab was scheduled to arrive at 11am. We caught our cab shortly after 11 and made our way to the port. Since there were 8 of us, we had to take 2 cabs. We met up with the rest of our party and breezed through security. Check-in went smoothly and we were on the ship before noon. The rooms were not yet ready so we headed up to the Windjammer and grabbed our first meal on-board. Amazingly, we found a table large enough to accommodate 8 of us without much effort. After we were done eating, it was decided that the ladies would head to the Explorations desk to make arrangements for our excursion in Grand Cayman. While they were gone, they announced that our rooms were available. We dropped off our carry-on and took the kids on a whirlwind tour of the ship. Our checked luggage all arrived to our rooms before 2:30pm. We had it all mostly stowed before it was time to assemble for the muster drill.

 

We reported to our muster station (B15) which was in full view of the gangway. It amazed me that people were still filing on to the ship throughout the entire muster drill. One family was stopped by a staffer and asked where they were going. The woman said they were heading to their cabin. The staffer informed them that they would need to head to their muster station and that it was not optional. Needless to say she was less than happy. Oh well. After muster, we headed up to the helipad to await sail away. It was very breezy. We finally started pushing away shortly after 5. After we had turned around and started down the Mississippi, we headed for the shelter of the inside of the ship, we decided to go grab a drink before we headed to our staterooms to get ready for dinner.

 

 

On our first cruise, we spent most of our time in the Schooner Bar listening to Phil Anderson play the piano. Unfortunately for us, Phil is still aboard the Mariner. We had read here that Herman Harper II was the entertainer in the Schooner Bar on the previous sailing of Navigator. We had searched and found some clips of him on YouTube and weren't terribly enthused. We decided to give it a try and see if it truly was as bad as the clips lead us to believe. Sadly, it was worse. He looked like Al Roker, before he lost all the weight, and when he sang he sounded like Ethel Merman. He sang a medley of When the Saints Come Marching In, Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore and He Has the Whole World in His Hands. What was funny was the bartenders were goofing on him while he was singing and always greeted the end of every song with sarcastic applause. While this was amusing we decided we were going to have to find ourselves a new hangout this cruise. No offense to anyone who enjoyed Herman, but it just wasn't our cup of tea. It turned the Schooner Bar into the Snoozer Bar.

 

We met up with the rest of our group shortly before 8 and waited for the MDR doors to open. We had already found where our table was during our explorations earlier, so once the doors opened we made our way to our table. We were greeted by our wait staff for the week. Our waiter's name was Allwyn and our assistant waiter's name was Michael. The menu theme for the night was 'Mojo'. Our eldest son didn't find anything on the menu to his liking, so he settled for the Linguini Pomodoro off the 'Classics' menu. Our younger son, the adventurous one, ordered the Seafood Pasta, which my DW also ordered. I had the Prime Rib.

 

After dinner, we all headed back to our rooms to change into some comfortable clothes. We scanned the Cruise Compass looking for some place we meet up to have a few drinks before bed. We were going to give the Two Poets Pub a try, but when we walked past, the singer was on a break. We walked through Boleros and decided it was too noisy. We decided to head up to the Cosmopolitan Club on 14. The band was on a break, but we decided to sit down and have a drink and wait for the band to return. This turned out to be a great decision.

 

The band came back and the show was on. In truth, that night, there were two shows. The music the Sunlight Band performed was OK, but the real attraction were the 2 female members of the band. The bass player was an attractive brunette in a very nice blue dress. The lead singer was a cute blonde in a slinky blue/green dress. She had an okay voice but she liked to dance around on stage while she sang. This was a pleasant distraction from the other show that was taking place on the dance floor. There was an older couple, in matching outfits who spent most of the night dancing. And I use that term loosely. I mean it looked like they knew how to dance, but the woman preferred to shuffle her feet in little baby steps and wiggle her hind quarters. It was amusing at first, but quickly became embarrassing. I focused my attention on the band and tried to ignore it as best as I could. The band finished up their last set shortly before midnight.

 

DW and I returned to our room to find both our boys in the room, the eldest fast asleep. The younger one was on the bed watching TV. We made him get into bed, got ourselves ready for bed, and turned out the lights. None of us were awake terribly long.

[wc74]

Day 2 - At Sea

 

We awoke in the early morning hours to the feeling the ship was swaying. I wasn't awake enough to care at that point and went back to sleep for a while. We ate a light breakfast and set out to wander about the ship. At 11:30 we headed to the Dungeon for our Meet & Mingle. The turnout was light, even though we had over 30 folks registered, but it was nice to put some faces with names. After that, we met up with DW's parents and decided to have lunch at the MDR. We missed out on the tutti salad on our first cruise, and DW wasn't about to miss it again this time. It lived up to the billing and we decided we'd have to go again. After lunch we headed to the Ixtapa Lounge for some Bingo action. Our first cruise, DW and I opted for the paper cards, and didn't win anything. This time I told her to spring for a machine, and it paid off. First game out, DW's mother split the pot 6 ways (ended up being about $50). Second game, lady luck was on our side, and we won the pot solo. (a couple hundred bucks). Flush with our winnings, we wandered around the ship and relaxed the remainder of the afternoon.

 

It was formal night, so we got all dressed up and headed up to the Royal Promenade for the Captain's Reception and a little people watching. We met the family at Vintages, had a couple glasses of champagne. We decided to find a photographer before dinner and have a family photo taken. Then it was time for dinner. Tonight's theme was 'Saffron'. Our picky eater (the eldest son) ordered the Angus Beef Sliders off the Classics Menu, the younger son and DW had the Beef Tenderloin and I had the Roasted Duck. After dinner, we turned the kids loose and scurried back to our rooms, changed out of our formal wear and headed for the Metropolis Theater for the Production Show. It wasn't bad. After the show, the 6 of us headed up to the Cosmopolitan Club. The Sunlight Band was once again playing... and the dancing couple was once again there. This time in matching red outfits. After a drink or two, we said good night and headed back to our room, where we found both kids already asleep.

 

[wc74]

Day 3 - At Sea

 

We slept in. We had promised the kids we'd head to Johnny Rockets for lunch and headed up at 11:30. We were able to get seated pretty quickly. The kids and I each got a milkshake. DW settled for a sip of my milkshake. DW and I each ordered a single patty burger. The kids looked at us funny. They proceeded to order Rocket Doubles. I knew they wouldn't finish, but they both put in a valiant effort and polished off about half. After that the kids were off, and DW and I wandered up to find the Peek-a-Boo bridge. We had missed this the first cruise, and made sure we didn't this time. It wasn't quite what I was expecting (a lone officer sitting at the controls), but interesting, none the less. After that we went and played some more Bingo. Sadly, none of us won, but we were still ahead of the game. After dinner, DW and I headed to the C&A Society Welcome Back Party. Nothing exciting, but hey, at least the drinks were free. After that, we met up with the family and headed to go watch the Headliner Show. The headliner was Ed Alonzo, a magician. His was more a comedic magician whose humor bordered on the side of bawdy, but was enjoyed by all.

 

 

After the show we stopped off at the Schooner Bar for What's that 50's and 60's tune. We ended up doing OK, but were a couple songs off from the top score. Then, it was off to dinner. The kids weren't interested in the main dining room that night, so we left them to their own devices. The youngest wanted to go to the evening program at Adventure Ocean (Boys vs Girls) and the eldest didn't see anything on the menu that tickled his fancy. The menu theme of the night was 'Pimento'. DW and I both had the roast pork (Filetto di Maiale Arrosto con Saliva). It was very good. After dinner, we headed to Studio B for Battle of the Sexes, followed by the 50's and 60's Sock Hop Party. After the Sock Hop, we headed back over to the Metropolis Theater for the Late Night Adult Comedy stylings of Al Romas. He was very funny. It was slightly awkward watching raunchy comedy with your parents, but everyone was laughing and having a good time. After that, we we turned in for the night so we were rested for our day in Jamaica.

 

[wc74]

Day 4 - Jamaica

 

My parents had decided not to get off the ship. They were going to enjoy some peace and quiet on the pool deck. Since DW and I had been there just a year ago and already 'experienced' Dunns River Falls, we weren't exactly wild about going again. Additionally, we had a full day ahead of us in Grand Cayman so we wanted to take it a little easy. We opted to take the Falmouth Heritage Walking Tour. It ended up being a very smart decision. It was interesting learning about the history of Falmouth and seeing a part of Jamaica that tourism and commercialization had not yet corrupted. Our guide Taneisha lead us on a winding path through Falmouth stopping off at various points of interest. The highlights of the tour were the Courthouse, Anglican Church and we were invited into the home of Anne Hyatt, a US expat who gave us a glimpse into life in Jamaica. Our tour guide Taneisha was very personable and had lots of interesting stories to tell us about the places we visited. I'm an avid photographer and took plenty of pictures. If you're looking for a way to kill a couple hours while in port in Falmouth, I highly recommend the tour.

 

 

 

 

After the tour, we wandered around the shops in the port for a bit and then decided to head back on-board, grab a bite to eat and relax. DW and I took a rather short-lived nap (interrupted multiple times by the kids' comings and goings). We showered and got ourselves ready for dinner a bit early since we had tickets for the ice show. We got seats right near center ice. The show was very enjoyable. There were 7 'acts' to the show, the themes of some were a bit odd, but still enjoyable. By far though, the hula hoop girl stole the show. She was stunningly beautiful and skated around hula hooping. I lost count of the number of hoops, but it was quite amazing.

 

 

 

The theme for dinner was 'Basil'. DW and I had to rack our brains to figure out what we had that night, because it was the one night I did not get a picture of the menu. The kids ate with us, but I don't recall what they ended up having. I had the Orecchiette Pasta with Beef Short Rib Sauce. DW had the Braised Beef Duo. We were both happy with our meals. After dinner, we changed and headed to the Metropolis Theater for the Love & Marriage game show. It wasn't as good as the last cruise. The couples they had were OK... but not nearly as good as before. After the game show, we headed to bed. We had a early morning facing us in Grand Cayman and a full day of activity on our excursion. Before turning in, we filled out our room service card and hung it on the door handle in the hallway. (More on this later.)

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Day 5 - Grand Cayman

 

The room service we ordered, never showed up. I'm guessing someone stole our tag off our door the night before. The kids were not happy. Since we waited around until almost 8am for our room service to arrive, we didn't have enough time to head to the Windjammer for a quick bite before leaving. On our previous cruise on Mariner, in Cayman, they had everyone assemble in the Theater and dismissed people to their tenders by excursion number to ensure everyone could get on land when they needed to. This time, we weren't so lucky. We were all standing in line like cattle. Conditions were a bit rough, so boarding the tenders was slow. We made it ashore about 8:15. Our scheduled meeting time was 8:30. Perfect. We quickly found our excursion group and stood around waiting. at 8:45 (our scheduled departure time) we were still short 4 people, and the head honcho had them lead us to our bus. Let the fun begin.

 

For those of you who haven't been on one of these buses before, there are 2 seats on the right side of the bus and one on the left. There's a 'jump seat' that pulls out into the aisle after all the other seats are filled. They literally pack you in like sardines. After a few issues with getting everyone situated, we were on our way to the boat to take us out to Stingray City. The boat ride out to Stingray City was uneventful. Once we were finally achored, we got into the water. The water was a bit of a shock getting in at first. It was fine once you were used to it. Unfortunately we were out there during high tide, so the water was chest deep. It made it difficult to observe the stingrays under water. Two of the tour guides collected a couple of stingrays and everyone got to touch the stingrays and those brave enough, could feed them. The one problem was, only one of the two stingrays was hungry... So you had to wait around a bit to get to feed a stingray. My parents had bought me a new 'rugged' camera for Christmas, and I got to give it a try here. It seemed to hold up OK in the water. A few of the first photos I took came out a little cloudy, but I think that was just due to the cold water and warmer air temperature. After everyone had their chance to see the stingrays, we boarded the boat and headed back to shore.

 

 

 

 

Once back on shore, we figured we were going to take the same bus to Dolphin Discovery. We were wrong. They brought in an old school bus that was painted brown. The one plus was we had a bit more room on the school bus. The one negative was the driver drove it like it was a stolen Maserati. I seriously thought we were going to flip a couple times when we took corners at speed. We made it safely to Dolphin Discovery. We were a bit early and had to wait for the group ahead of us to finish. My parents were going swimming with the dolphins with the kids. The rest of us sat in the observation area and waited. One thing of note was they were allowing us to use our personal cameras to take photographs. I was totally not expecting this. Groups started getting in the water... and my folks and kids were nowhere to be found. They were lead over across the cove from us and were getting in the water. They walked through an area, pausing and then got out. We were confused. Turns out, someone in their group had a package that included pictures with stingrays.

 

I was hoping they'd be in the water right in front of us... and luck was with us once again. They walked back across and got in the water right next to us. I was able to get some decent photos and videos of them in the water with the dolphins. Once that was over, we went into the gift shop and started looking at the photos that the 'professional' photographers took. They got much better pictures of them up close with the dolphins... so we purchased a DVD. Thankfully the DVD came with full resolution photos, that weren't copy protected or anything. These coupled with the photos & videos I was able to shoot made for a great memento of this excursion. We finish up in the gift shop and head out just in time to catch our bus to Tiki Beach.

 

 

We were kinda hoping to be able to skip this, but once we arrived, we were told they had no way to get us back to the dock until our scheduled departure time. I'm being a bit kind in my description. The woman in charge wasn't terribly tactful in how she told us. None of us were terribly wild about going on the beach, so we opted to stay up in the restaurant area and order some food. It was VERY pricey (as is most things on small island nations), but it was very good quality. Maybe it just seemed that way because we were all very hungry. A bit later we hopped on a bus and headed back to the dock. We arrived at 3pm to find a HUGE line that wrapped all through the area. Our scheduled departure time was 3:30 and it was looking like we might not make it. Thankfully the line moved fairly quickly and before we knew it we were back on-board Navigator. It wasn't long after we got back to our stateroom that we were on our way.

 

 

We were beat. DW and I showered. I was laying on the couch watching TV, and she was on the bed reading. We both fell asleep. We slept through the headliner show that night and woke with just enough time to get ready for dinner. The theme for tonight was 'Shiitake'. The kids were off on their own, and it was just the 6 adults. DW had the Pork Scalloppine Oscar and I had the Rack of Lamb. We also split the Shrimp Gyoza. I'm not exactly sure how that is an entire entree... it was 5 Asian style dumplings. Typically an appetizer order from any Chinese restaurant you go to. Everything was excellent. This was, for me, the best meal of the entire cruise. The rack of lamb was cooked perfectly. After dinner, our parents went back to their rooms and turned in early. DW and I headed to The Liar's Club. It was pretty funny. After that it was back to the room, and to bed.

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Day 6 - Cozumel

 

Before our previous cruise, we had heard a lot of great things about Nachi Cocom. We thoroughly enjoyed our day at Nachi. It was VERY relaxing and wasn't terribly crowded. After we booked this cruise, my wife went out and immediately made a reservation for the 8 of us. With it being spring break, we figured a lot of the other beaches would be crowded, so Nachi's limit of 100 people sounded great. We got off the ship and were in our chairs shortly after 9am. It was very breezy, but luckily the sand is very coarse and wasn't blowing around much. A guy came around selling massages and both sets of parents and my DW all scheduled massages. We started in on the margaritas while we waited for their scheduled times. Around 11am, the waiter came around and took our orders for lunch. The food was just as we remembered from last year, delicious. After lunch, we lounged around a bit. The kids played in the sand and got in the water. It was a little cool for my taste to really enjoy, especially with the wind. I was content to sit in my lounge chair, margarita in hand, watching the clouds roll by. At about 2pm we caught a cab back to the port, did a little shopping and were back on-board with plenty of time to watch the running of the drunks.

 

 

 

 

For the most part, it was uneventful. There was a group of guys from Jewel who roused cat calls from both ships. One guy had his huge sombrero blown off his head and had to chase it down. He finally recovers that and manages to drop everything else he had in his hands... Finally he got his act together... and then one of the guys from his group lost his baseball cap. Sombrero guy to the rescue. He got the hat before it got too far away. Our scheduled departure time was 5:30pm... At 5:30 the captain blows the horn... and they pulled the gangways most of the way up... but we were still firmly moored to the docks. Around 6pm a group of 4 people come running down the pier. Then they stopped running... and took their sweet time getting onto the ship. Finally... the ropes are removed, the gangway closed and then the battle of the boat horns began. Navigator blew its horn... and Jewel blew its horn back in response. It was amusing because we could see the crew on Jewel pushing the button from the bridge wing.

 

 

DW and I got ourselves showered, dressed and went to the production show. It was pretty good. We have watched enough Dancing with the Stars and So You Think You Can Dance to know the different dance styles, so we were playing "Guess that Dance". I think we got more right than wrong. My parents had a reservation at Chops that night, so it would just be DW's parents, us and the kids. This was formal night number 2, which means it's lobster time! (The theme was Jasmine) Our oldest son (the picky eater) has wanted to try lobster for some time. We kept telling him to wait for the cruise because it's 'free'. First night on the cruise, he saw the Maine lobster on the menu and wanted to order it (at a $29.95 up-charge). We told him to hold off until the second formal night when it was 'free'. Lobster night finally arrives and he chickens out and orders the Angus Beef Sliders. Our waiter even brought up an extra lobster tail, that he still refused. I gladly made sure it didn't go to waste. Our younger son, DW and I all ordered the lobster. It was a much larger tail than on our previous cruise, and appeared to be Maine lobster rather than the Caribbean spiny lobster tails.

 

After dinner we met my parents at Boleros and enjoyed a few drinks and then went to bed. We totally forgot about Quest and missed it yet again. Oh well. We have something to look forward to next cruise, I guess.

[wc74]

Day 7 - Last Day at Sea

 

After 3 days in a row in port, we decided to really take things easy on our last day at sea. We slept in late (until 10:30 and finally decided we needed to get up and get moving. We had planned on playing some Bingo since today was the day the snowball jackpot was going to end. DW and I decided to partake in the shirt sale at the logo shop on our way to the Metropolis Theater. Unfortunately it was mob scene and we were late getting to there and the games had already begun. Our parents were both playing and my mom won again (she had won on a previous day as well). The snowball jackpot carried on to the afternoon session. After that we figured we could check out the Poolside Barbecue (that had been moved to the Royal Promenade due to the wind). The line was already a mile long and there was nowhere to sit and eat. We decided discretion was the better part of valor and headed up to the Windjammer for some food. After that we just killed time until the afternoon bingo session.

 

We made sure we got there plenty early to guarantee both a machine and a seat. We were joined by both sets of parents. None of us ended up winning anything, but two lucky cruisers split the snowball jackpot of $5200. Then it was back to the room to relax a bit on the balcony and then get ready for dinner. DW and I went to the farewell show. Both the comedian (Carl Banks) and the acrobats (Duo Claudio) were great. After the show, we ran down to the picture place and picked out our photos we wanted to purchase. It was the last night and they were closing at 8pm. It was now or never.

 

 

It was then we came to the cold realization that our cruise would soon be over. We were about to eat our last meal with our waiters. The theme for the night was 'Pomodoro' for those of you following along. The kids both had the roasted turkey, DW had the Fish, Seafood & Mash, and I had the Lamb Shank. It wasn't a bad meal, but definitely not my favorite of the cruise. After dinner, we got changed and met my parents at the Schooner bar for drinks. After the first couple drinks I tuned out Herman and just enjoyed the company of family and chit-chatting with the bartenders, who were great. It got to be about 1am and we decided to call it a night. DW and I had most of a bottle of wine waiting for us back in the room. We sat on the balcony and drank that while watching the Mississippi river flow by.

 

Disembarking

 

We met the family at the MDR at 7am for breakfast. After breakfast, we headed back to our rooms one last time to pick up what luggage we were carrying off and headed to the Ixtapa lounge to hang out and wait for our time to be called to disembark. We were #22, which meant 9am. At 8:30 they announced there was a bit of a back-up in the terminal and they would begin calling numbers again soon. Shortly after 9, our number was called and we made our way to the gangway. The line was short and moving quickly and before we knew it we were making our way back down into the terminal building. It took us about 10 minutes to find our 4 pieces of luggage. We then breezed through customs and made our way to the cab line. We piled into 2 cabs and made our way back to our hotel to pick up our vehicles. After we said goodbye to our parents, we were on our way. We had made it back on to I-10 by 10:30am. Talk about efficient.

 

The trip home was fairly uneventful. Things got a little dicey in and around Baton Rouge, but after that it was smooth sailing. We made a couple stops for gas, a stop for lunch at Cracker Barrel, and we were home in Dallas by 8pm.

[wc74]

Sorry for the information overload. Feel free to ask questions and I'm sure my DW will speak up to add in any of her commentary or correct any of my errors.

 

For those of you interested in the rest of the photos I took, they can be found here:

 

http://www.wileycoyote.org/gallery/index.php/hauber/bch/2013/Spring-Break-Cruise-2013?page=1

[cathep]

We made a couple stops for gas, a stop for lunch at Cracker Barrel, and we were home in Dallas by 8pm.

 

I've printed this out so I can read it, but this caught my eye. We tend to stop at a meat and three place like Cracker Barrel for the first meal off the ship because we want comfort food after a week of steak, shrimp, and lobster. Good to know we aren't the only ones.

[wc74]

I've printed this out so I can read it, but this caught my eye. We tend to stop at a meat and three place like Cracker Barrel for the first meal off the ship because we want comfort food after a week of steak, shrimp, and lobster. Good to know we aren't the only ones.

 

Cracker Barrel is a family favorite when we travel. We often base our routes by where we can eat at Cracker Barrel. Great comfort food at a reasonable price.

[slvrbllt]

Cracker Barrel is a family favorite when we travel. We often base our routes by where we can eat at Cracker Barrel. Great comfort food at a reasonable price.

 

And we generally don't get complaints from the kids by going there. Because while I don't base my decisions around them, when you have a long road trip, I will happily make concessions to keep them quiet :D

[Tennessee_Cruiser]

Great review! Counting down the days until my Navigator cruise!

 

We are still up in the air about our excursions, but your review gave us a few ideas. Thanks!

[LBumb]

great job

[slvrbllt]

The Hampton Inn Garden district does offer free parking for the length of your cruise. I could never get the cruise package coupon code to work from this website, new orleans hampton inns DOT com /specials/ (no spaces) but I called Clara and was able to get things squared away. The cab ride was $7 per person each way.

[sailingawaysoon]

Thank you for your review. We were on the Navigator a week before you. Sad to leave. We also experienced some windy weather and some things that were to be held by the pool deck was moved around the ship. Happy future cruising!

[wc74]

Thank you for your review. We were on the Navigator a week before you. Sad to leave. We also experienced some windy weather and some things that were to be held by the pool deck was moved around the ship. Happy future cruising!

 

 

All 3 of our sea days were very windy. It wasn't too bad in Jamaica & Grand Cayman.

[jewel825]

Background

 

This is our second cruise with Royal Caribbean. Our first was last February on Mariner out of Galveston. We visited the same ports, but in the reverse order. We brought our two boys (aged 10 & 12) and both sets of grandparents. My parents were on their 13th cruise with RCI and DW's parents were on their third cruise. We were all in balconies on the 7th deck, starboard side.

 

General Observations

 

Having the four of us in a single cabin was snug, but not completely unmanageable. Our biggest issue was having enough room in the closets/drawers for all our clothes. When it came to sleeping, it really wasn't bad. The kids slept on the fold-out sofa and said it was much more comfortable than the fold-outs at both Hampton Inns we stayed at Thursday and Friday night prior to the cruise.

 

The service was outstanding. On our first cruise, our waiter was new, so he was still learning the ropes and getting comfortable. This time our wait staff team of Allwyn and Michael was superb. They were very patient with the kids, our drinks were seldom empty and their food recommendations were always excellent. Our room steward Arlex was very efficient. We seldom saw him, but our room was always prepared exactly so, and if we left a note or had a special request, he always took care of it for us.

 

The food from the new menus in the MDR was superior to the food we had last year (which is not to say it was bad, the quality was noticeably better.) The one comment I will make about the new menu is the last couple nights, the selections on the menu were a bit underwhelming. The food was good, but I felt like I was settling for something to eat that wasn't exactly what I wanted, when on previous nights there were multiple entrees that sounded really good. More on the food with the daily reviews.

 

While on-board the ship, we all pretty much did our own thing, including the kids. Our youngest was a little hesitant about the Adventure Ocean program, but once he gave it a try, he met several other kids who he hung out with for the remainder of the cruise. Our oldest is at that awkward tween age; too old for Adventure Ocean, and really too young to comfortably hang with the teens. The kids had a curfew each night, and to their credit, they were in the cabin at or before curfew each night.

 

Arrival in New Orleans

 

We left Dallas on Thursday evening after work and drove to Natchitoches, LA, where we stayed in our first of two Hampton Inns. Friday morning we got up, partook in the breakfast at the hotel and hit the road for N'awlins. The drive was pretty uneventful. The only traffic to speak of was in Baton Rouge and again once we hit the vicinity of the New Orleans Airport in Kenner. We stayed at the Hampton Inn Garden District. There was a trolley stop right out in front which after meeting up with the grandparents, we rode to Canal Street. We wandered around a bit trying to decide on where to eat, but ended up at Mulates. Dinner was outstanding. Getting back to the hotel proved a little more difficult.

 

We waited at a trolley stop for what seemed forever and when a trolley finally arrived it was packed and he only had room for a passenger or two. No problem. There was another trolley immediately behind. The trolley stopped at the traffic light but the driver didn't open the door. Several people tried getting on and he just shook his head at them. The light turned green and he drove on his way. As it drove away, we noticed a sign on the BACK of the trolley that stated it was reserved for a private party. To me, it would have made more sense to have that on the front of the trolley, but whatever. We waited for a bit more before we started walking. We followed the trolley tracks down to the circle and caught a mostly empty inbound trolley and just rode that around until it headed back to the Garden District.

 

Great review! I loved the Navigator. The crew on that ship is so friendly and they work so well together. Lots of Bingo on that cruise but no casino time?

[mtsublueraider]

We got off the ship and were in our chairs shortly after 9am. It was very breezy, but luckily the sand is very coarse and wasn't blowing around much. ......At about 2pm we caught a cab back to the port, did a little shopping and were back on-board with plenty of time to watch the running of the drunks.One guy had his huge sombrero blown off his head and had to chase it down.

 

 

HA HA! We were on the same cruise as you were. AND we actually were by the pool for the most part (because the hot tub was filled with kids) at Nachi Cocom. It really was windy that day!!!

 

Check out my review HERE for some great shots of the sombrero guy! That was so funny when he saved the ball cap of the other man.

 

Great trip! Sorry we didn't catch the meet and mingle. I totally dropped the ball on that one. :confused:

[wc74]

Great review! I loved the Navigator. The crew on that ship is so friendly and they work so well together. Lots of Bingo on that cruise but no casino time?

 

We did our free pull and about $20 apiece at the slots... Bingo was far more rewarding. :)

[wc74]

HA HA! We were on the same cruise as you were. AND we actually were by the pool for the most part (because the hot tub was filled with kids) at Nachi Cocom. It really was windy that day!!!

 

Check out my review HERE for some great shots of the sombrero guy! That was so funny when he saved the ball cap of the other man.

 

Great trip! Sorry we didn't catch the meet and mingle. I totally dropped the ball on that one. :confused:

 

Yeah, we noticed all the kids in the hottub the couple times we headed over to the restroom. We were probably the 2nd or 3rd group there and were most of the way down the beach from the pool. I recognized your name from the M&M Roll Call. I lurked there mostly and let my wife (slvrbllt) be the social one. My wife laughed out loud when she saw your picture of sombrero guy. We had a blast on this cruise... now to figure out when/where we're cruising next!

[mtsublueraider]

Yeah, we noticed all the kids in the hottub the couple times we headed over to the restroom. We were probably the 2nd or 3rd group there and were most of the way down the beach from the pool. I recognized your name from the M&M Roll Call. I lurked there mostly and let my wife (slvrbllt) be the social one. My wife laughed out loud when she saw your picture of sombrero guy. We had a blast on this cruise... now to figure out when/where we're cruising next!

 

 

HA HA! We had a ball cheering him on as he made his way to the ship. I got a video I'm hoping to post in the next week or so.

 

REALLY felt bad about the M&M but I honestly and totally forgot until it was 12:15 and i was sitting in the room.

 

Oh well, whatta ya do!? I guess you cruise again!

[mpoole3]

I just read every word of your review! Thank you for posting such a detailed review. Now I'm really excited for my Navigator cruise in 10 days! :D

[imnocleaver]

Thanks for the review! We'll be heading out during Spring Break next year on the Navigator out of Galveston. Only we'll be ditching our kids at the grandparents, since we are neglectful, selfish parents. :p

 

Actually, seeing your kiddos in some of the pics reminded me of our boys. They were the same age as yours when we took them with us! Now, as I said, we tend to abuse them by leaving them behind. :rolleyes: Poor things.

[slvrbllt]

Oh trust me... We'd leave those two in a heartbeat. ;-) we're awful like that, too. This was their first cruise and unfortunately they already want to go again!

 

They're good kids really, but sometimes it's nice to just have the two of us to deal with. With having both our parents there, too... Well, let's just say I need a vacation from my vacation. Everyone else relaxed but me j/k :-)