Navigator of the Seas 9/14/2014 - Random Observations From a First Time Cruiser

[Snow cat]

I like hearing feedback from someone who is new to cruising. Sometimes those who are more experienced become jaded and pick on the little things because their umpteenth cruise had a waiter who didn't smile the right way or their towel animal wasn't folded perfectly.

 

Classic!

 

Glad to have another convert to cruising and to hear another positive Navigator review. Looking forward to going on Navigator in Feb!

[George C]

Very nice review, thanks

[Paulette3028]

 

 

Other Cruisers - I was very disappointed with many of the cruisers, who seemed hell-bent on complaining. We watched an elderly woman gripe out a bartender because the bartender didn't understand her the first time, then fuss at another employee because everything in the Windjammer was "bad" - and this was early on the first day! People we talked with complained about this or that, because it wasn't perfect. People cut in lines or just walked in front of us with no sense of courtesy or respect. Children ran through crowds, careening off people, and parents did nothing to stop it. One couple literally walked between the photographer and us during a photo shoot. Just ignored us and walked thru. The photographer made a comment about it and the guy came back to get her name because he was going to report her "smarta$$ remark." We met a lot of nice folks on the boat but I was amazed at how so many people were self-absorbed and self-entitled, and just wanted to gripe and bellyache. I just hated to see people act that way.

 

 

So glad that you enjoyed your cruise on Navigator enough to book another cruise. Our first cruise was also on Navigator in 2004 and we have been on 14 more cruises since then, with our next cruise coming up in February 2015.

 

I had to leave in my reply your comment about 'other cruisers' -- it is priceless, but unfortunately those same people were on all of my past cruises as well....they must cruise quite a bit (LOL).....it is sad however that people can be so so rude or difficult to please.....but, I VOW that people like that will never have a negative impact on a cruise that I am on.

[websiteauthor]

So glad that you enjoyed your cruise on Navigator enough to book another cruise. Our first cruise was also on Navigator in 2004 and we have been on 14 more cruises since then, with our next cruise coming up in February 2015.

 

I had to leave in my reply your comment about 'other cruisers' -- it is priceless, but unfortunately those same people were on all of my past cruises as well....they must cruise quite a bit (LOL).....it is sad however that people can be so so rude or difficult to please.....but, I VOW that people like that will never have a negative impact on a cruise that I am on.

 

I'm sorry to hear that the behavior I observed appears to be all too common. I wasn't as surprised by the rudeness . . . a certain percentage of any population is going to be comprised of jerks. What caught me off guard was the nitpicking, constant griping and critiquing. I don't see people doing that at restaurants or when visiting tourist attractions. I'm not sure why it appears to be a common practice with cruises.

 

I was amazed at how well RCI did with virtually all aspects of this trip, other than the photography folks. The expectation of absolute perfection just caught me off guard.

 

I'm with you - I will try to maintain my newbie mentality, regardless how many cruises I do.

[Paulette3028]

I'm sorry to hear that the behavior I observed appears to be all too common. I wasn't as surprised by the rudeness . . . a certain percentage of any population is going to be comprised of jerks. What caught me off guard was the nitpicking, constant griping and critiquing. I don't see people doing that at restaurants or when visiting tourist attractions. I'm not sure why it appears to be a common practice with cruises.

 

I was amazed at how well RCI did with virtually all aspects of this trip, other than the photography folks. The expectation of absolute perfection just caught me off guard.

 

I'm with you - I will try to maintain my newbie mentality, regardless how many cruises I do.

 

Yes, as you say there is 'a certain percentage of any population is going to be comprised as jerks' but those jerks never, never seem to be willing to label themselves, so they therefore can't learn from their poor ways.

 

My way of maintaining what I like to think is a 'newbie mentality' is look at each cruise as if it is my first. That walk onto the ship, is a GREAT thing.

[phabric]

I had a ocean view cabin booked for my daughter and her boyfriend (his first cruise) for our Navigator cruise, after seeing your pictures of your window, I switched their cabin to #1868.

 

Did you hear noise from the fitness center?

[websiteauthor]

I had a ocean view cabin booked for my daughter and her boyfriend (his first cruise) for our Navigator cruise, after seeing your pictures of your window, I switched their cabin to #1868.

 

Did you hear noise from the fitness center?

 

Good! The view is just beautiful.

 

I didn't hear any noise from anything. I even mentioned that to my wife, that I was impressed with how quiet the room was.

[molsonschooner]

Nice review. We cruised on NOS this past May. We had a great cruise. I do agree with most of your points. I like your attitude. Much the same as mine.

[YadaYadaJodi]

Thank you so much for your review and for sharing your pictures! My DH and I leave on the Navigator in 4 weeks on this same itinerary! :) Your pictures were wonderful!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your first cruise! If you do decide to go on the Cozumel/Belize/Roatan cruise I can recommend a couple of excursions. My DD (21 at the time) and I went on the following and had a wonderful time! We went there on the Carnival Magic last year.

 

Belize - Cave Tubing with "Cave Tubing . bz"

Roatan - Zip & Dip with "South Shore Canopy"

 

Both are a bit of a drive but we enjoyed the drive through the respective countries. Our drivers were very informative. Bit of a hike with the cave tubing but leisurely pace and interesting. I was wondering how I would handle the zip-lining in Roatan both because of the heights and my weight but we had so much fun. Now that you've been adventurous enough to try your 1st cruise, you should just go for it all! :D

[PhilNDebbieAtSea]

Awesome review, thanks!! So glad you had a great time!!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[websiteauthor]

Thank you so much for your review and for sharing your pictures! My DH and I leave on the Navigator in 4 weeks on this same itinerary! :) Your pictures were wonderful!

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your first cruise! If you do decide to go on the Cozumel/Belize/Roatan cruise I can recommend a couple of excursions. My DD (21 at the time) and I went on the following and had a wonderful time! We went there on the Carnival Magic last year.

 

Belize - Cave Tubing with "Cave Tubing . bz"

Roatan - Zip & Dip with "South Shore Canopy"

 

Both are a bit of a drive but we enjoyed the drive through the respective countries. Our drivers were very informative. Bit of a hike with the cave tubing but leisurely pace and interesting. I was wondering how I would handle the zip-lining in Roatan both because of the heights and my weight but we had so much fun. Now that you've been adventurous enough to try your 1st cruise, you should just go for it all! :D

 

I appreciate your suggestions for excursions!

 

Here's my thing. My passion is travel photography. My website is familytravelphotos.com - so it's really important for me to go to places I can photograph. That's what is exciting to me. I'm intrigued with zip lining - I just don't know about the photographic potential. Long hikes could be a problem, as I messed up my knees a bit in the military. Tubing sounds fun, as long as there are photograph opportunities.

 

Was the zipline fun? I'm nutty enough to do that, although my bride probably wouldn't.

 

I'm glad you enjoyed the photos - I gotta tell you, I haven't enjoyed something as much as I liked the stingray excursion in many, many years. I was just amazed at those animals and the guys who did the excursion were fantastic.

[DaNana]

We are booked on the Navigator for a trip to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras. I may change it - I don't see much in the way of fun excursions at these destinations so far. I wouldn't mind going back to Grand Cayman and Jamaica again!

 

Going out of Galveston we don't have too many options, and RCI stops going out of New Orleans in April.

 

We will be on our second cruise to these ports. We really liked Roatan and Cozumel. Think we will find something fun in Bellies with the ship. You might check out things to do at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

Thank you for the post and pictures!

[big al]

We just got back from our trip to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica on Navigator of the Seas, 9/14 - 9/21.

 

This was my first cruise. I didn't really want to do a cruise but my DW talked me into it. I had an open mind about the trip but was honestly a little skeptical about doing it.

 

Anyway, I thought I'd just several random observations here . . . in some cases, to address questions I saw on CC in the days leading up to our trip. Remember, I'm a first time cruiser so if I say something that seems obvious to you, you'll understand why.

 

Embarkation - A bit chaotic at first. There were no signs or instructions in Parking Lot B as to connecting with shuttles. People were standing by their cars or wandering around. We asked employees and couldn't get a clear answer. Finally found a spot on the long side of the lot closest to the road where shuttles were collecting people. The terminal was crowded but RCI did an excellent job of getting people through. Security line took about 15 minutes. The next line, a massive serpentine line with at least 8 layers, only took 30 minutes to get through. They had 40+ agents working to process everyone and they did a great job.

 

Muster - life jackets not required, which made it easier. We were done in 15-20 minutes.

 

Windjammer - I hear people complain about the Windjammer food and I don't get it. Other than the scrambled eggs (really bad) I thought the selection, variety and quality of the food was excellent, and ALL of the servers in that area were very friendly.

 

Sapphire Room (MDR) - Loved the food, loved the service. We sat with two other couples who were lots of fun to meet and we had a great time. We were booked for the early seating.

 

Drink package - My DW and I bought the Premium Drink Packages. I've seen comments that bartenders ignored package holders because they don't get the tips that way. I never saw any bartender do that and I was watching for it. I was able to take both our cards to the bar and get two drinks at one time, never a problem. The packages worked very well.

 

Sodas - Bartenders never swiped our cards when we ordered sodas, as some have experienced. We'd just hand them our cups or hold up the card and they got our drinks.

 

Bars - The quality of bartenders and bars varied greatly. Bars on deck had less courteous bartenders and typically lower quality drinks. I was very disappointed with the drinks in Two Poets - I expected better there. Schooner Bar was better, and the R Bar on Deck Five was awesome. Bartenders Jelena (from Serbia) and Francisco (Dominican Republic) made a great team, lots of fun, and their drinks were tremendous. They use all fresh ingredients and make the drinks right, including some very complicated drinks. They did a martini class which we attended - it was almost a comedy show, it was that entertaining. We went to the R Bar a lot, so much so that every time we walked up Jelena would say to my wife, "Monique, dahhhling, how are you?" LOL Loved her accent. The bar directly below the R Bar had live music, and it was consistently too loud. There is just no reason to play music that loud. The service there was awful as well.

 

Johnny Rocket - a fun place, but again, when the waitstaff does their dance routine they crank the music up so loud it distorts. I think the sonic bludgeoning I suffered may have actually caused some internal injury. Loved the strawberry shake and the burger. Long lines at peak time; best bet is to go a little early. Next cruise I'll go back - with earplugs.

 

Surveys - No one asked us for a 10 on a survey. Only two people mentioned the survey at all . . . a guy on one of our excursions, and our waiter. Both asked us to fill out the surveys and said they hoped we were happy with their work. No one else said anything about surveys. I explained the survey situation to the others at our dining room table with our waiter standing there . . . you could tell he appreciated me doing that, but he didn't want to say it himself.

 

Excursions - we booked an excursion thru RCI for Grand Cayman because this is a tender destination, and it worked beautifully. We got off the boat quickly and without getting tender tickets. The excursion (Deluxe Stingray City) was fantastic, my favorite experience from the cruise. MarineLand tours was the company that did the excursion for RCI and they were outstanding. We booked a private tour to Blue Hole and Scotchies in Jamaica through Courtney Taylor tours and Courtney did a wonderful job.

 

Shopping - the stores were a little bit foo foo for my tastes, but my wife enjoyed window shopping.

 

Sales - Have you ever witnessed a shark frenzy, or hyenas fighting over a carcass, or a bunch of piranha attacking an animal? This is what you'll experience if you go to one of the one-hour sales on Deck Five. It's incredible how much energy you can generate by putting a sale price and a time limit on watches, jewelry, hats, purses and scarves. LOL I'm just teasing - We dived in to a couple of these and it was actually a lot of fun, like Black Friday on the Seven Seas. Here's a picture of the watch sale . . .

 

 

Guest Services - Really nice people, very helpful.

 

Photography - ok, I'm a photographer so I am probably more demanding than the average passenger. But I thought the photo process was a disaster from start to finish. The photographers are really nothing more than people who have been taught a few poses and handed a camera. One girl shot a picture and showed it to me so I'd see the glare in my glasses, to get me to remove the glasses. All she had to do was raise the soft boxes to change the angle and there would have been no glare, but she didn't know that. (She should have done that for all the photos, not just mine - I'm not suggesting she reposition her lighting for every subject.) The screens to review your photos are very nice - you can tag pictures as favorites or trash ones you don't like. Unfortunately, there is no way to save that information so if you order a digital package (like 15 images) you will have to re-choose whatever pictures you want on thier wonky, lame software they give you for ordering. You'll make your choices from tiny preview photos that are 360 pixels tall and covered in watermarks. So - make sure you write down which pictures you want while viewing them on the ship, or take a picture of screen to help you remember. Otherwise you may struggle with picking out your photos after you get home. Also, if you buy digital prints they're limited to 8x10 resolution and cropped to that aspect ratio. What if I want to print 4x6s or 5x7s? Why not just give us the full 4x6 image and let us crop to our preferences? And if the pictures are only sized for 8x10 (2400 x 3000 pixels), how does the ship sell 16x20 enlargements? Why are they reducing the size of the images before delivering them to you? All in all, I thought this was the worst part of the trip.

 

Entertainment - Loved most of the music on the ship. The piano player . . . if you'd billed him as a country piano player I wouldn't have objected, but a pianist in a bar typically plays all kinds of music. In this case we had two choices - country or western. Even non-country songs were country. Just didn't like the lack of variety. The comedians were good. The comedy mind reading show was a riot, and pretty amazing too. All top notch.

 

The ship itself - I didn't see the NOS before its renovations, but it is beautiful now. The art and decor are wonderful. I also thought they did an amazing job of keeping everything clean and clutter-free.

 

Cabin - We had a panoramic oceanview cabin #1816 on the 12th deck and it was awesome. I posted some pictures on the thread Panoramic Oceanview Cabin

 

Putt-Putt - that's a pretty tough mini golf course! Next time I'm bringing a 3W with me . . .

 

Other Cruisers - I was very disappointed with many of the cruisers, who seemed hell-bent on complaining. We watched an elderly woman gripe out a bartender because the bartender didn't understand her the first time, then fuss at another employee because everything in the Windjammer was "bad" - and this was early on the first day! People we talked with complained about this or that, because it wasn't perfect. People cut in lines or just walked in front of us with no sense of courtesy or respect. Children ran through crowds, careening off people, and parents did nothing to stop it. One couple literally walked between the photographer and us during a photo shoot. Just ignored us and walked thru. The photographer made a comment about it and the guy came back to get her name because he was going to report her "smarta$$ remark." We met a lot of nice folks on the boat but I was amazed at how so many people were self-absorbed and self-entitled, and just wanted to gripe and bellyache. I just hated to see people act that way.

 

Credit Cards - My DW neglected to call her bank before we left, and the bank cut off her credit card on Day 2 in Cozumel. Payment to RCI for our trip was connected to that credit card. We spent an hour plus on Saturday trying to get her card reactivated, to no avail. Fortunately, I had called about my card so I was able to pay for those expenses on mine. Lesson learned: always call your bank before you go! I wasn't upset about the mix-up - the "I told you so" value for this was priceless. ;-)

 

Disembarkation - the process on ship was excellent. Assigning different groups to the luggage and having people depart by group worked very well. We were supposed to leave at 9:30 and they actually called us to go by 8:45. The terminal was chaos. You entered on the right and went 2/3 of the way to the left to find your luggage, then went back to the right to get a porter, then back to the left to pick up your luggage, then back to the right to get in the exit line. Did the federal government plan this process? Signs would have been extremely helpful. That said - once we got in the exit line it went remarkably fast. From that point it probably took less than 20 minutes to go thru customs, get a shuttle to the parking lot and come back to pick up DW.

 

Summing it up - So how did the trip go, my first cruise that I honestly didn't want to do. Well, on the 6th day of the cruise, we went to Deck 6 and booked a cruise for next May at the Next Cruise office. Yep, I had a great time!

 

If you are going out on the NOS and want to see current photos, I've posted an album of pictures at familytravelphotos.com - you'll find lots of pictures of the ship's interior under the ship folder.

 

Wonderful 1st report here on CC!! We've done 2 NOS cruises, none since the re-fit..I am both an avid cruiser ( # 30 next month on Oasis, 13th on RCI..) , AND a cruise agent..I love the way you noticed how many passengers COMPLAIN & WHINE about stupid things...Can it be that we have done almost 30 cruises and we've only had a handful of service issues in 20 years of cruising??

 

Did you try Chops or Portifinos/ Giovanni's? If not, next time, try them..and make sure you get a table for two by a window over looking the sea- AMAZING views, quiet ( dining with 100 people vs, 1500!!), soooo much more romantic than the MDR ( main dining room) and MUCH better food...Also next time , get a balcony cabin- it is a completely different cruise experience when you can view the wonders of the sea on your own private verandah..the salt air, waves, sunsets sipping a drink, breakfast on the balcony ( talk about views & romance!!)..when you have a balcony cabin ,you CAN'T WAIT to go back to your haven..unlike window or inside cabins, which when I had them, DREADED going in there..small, cramped, no salt air, no HEARING the sea & being a part of the cruise, no WIND in your face nor sunshine...we will NEVER go back to anything but balcony or Junior Suites...

 

Did you see the ice-skating show? Did they have the 70's Retro party in the Royal Promenade? What ship did you book your next cruise on? Eventually, you should try the Oasis/ Allure or Freedom class ships...new Quantum ships arrive to NY in Nov, then next April ( Anthem)...nice job!!

 

Big Al

[websiteauthor]

Wonderful 1st report here on CC!! We've done 2 NOS cruises, none since the re-fit..I am both an avid cruiser ( # 30 next month on Oasis, 13th on RCI..) , AND a cruise agent..I love the way you noticed how many passengers COMPLAIN & WHINE about stupid things...Can it be that we have done almost 30 cruises and we've only had a handful of service issues in 20 years of cruising??

 

Did you try Chops or Portifinos/ Giovanni's? If not, next time, try them..and make sure you get a table for two by a window over looking the sea- AMAZING views, quiet ( dining with 100 people vs, 1500!!), soooo much more romantic than the MDR ( main dining room) and MUCH better food...Also next time , get a balcony cabin- it is a completely different cruise experience when you can view the wonders of the sea on your own private verandah..the salt air, waves, sunsets sipping a drink, breakfast on the balcony ( talk about views & romance!!)..when you have a balcony cabin ,you CAN'T WAIT to go back to your haven..unlike window or inside cabins, which when I had them, DREADED going in there..small, cramped, no salt air, no HEARING the sea & being a part of the cruise, no WIND in your face nor sunshine...we will NEVER go back to anything but balcony or Junior Suites...

 

Did you see the ice-skating show? Did they have the 70's Retro party in the Royal Promenade? What ship did you book your next cruise on? Eventually, you should try the Oasis/ Allure or Freedom class ships...new Quantum ships arrive to NY in Nov, then next April ( Anthem)...nice job!!

 

Big Al

 

Thanks! I hope my post was able to answer some questions people may have.

 

We booked our next cruise on the Navigator for Roatan / Belize / Cozumel. We're pretty much limited to going out of Galveston. I have photographic and medical equipment I need to carry with, so flying to another place to catch a cruise would be pretty difficult.

 

The oceanview panorama was $40 less than a balcony, but the balcony's OBC was $50 more than the oceanview - so a balcony worked out to be $10 cheaper. We booked a balcony for the next trip - my DW has cruised before but never had a balcony, so this will be a new experience for both of us.

 

We didn't do any of the premium restaurants other than Johnny Rockets - we may try that on the next cruise. Missed the ice show - we had tickets but were taking a nap and overslept! No 70s retro party that I heard about . . .

[ummgood]

Thanks for posting your review! I really loved your photos. My wife and I are escaping the kids and taking this cruise in July '15 for our 15th anniversary. This will be our first RCCL cruise. Our previous two cruises were on Disney on a much smaller ship. I can't believe how big the NOS looks.

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[lmares1968]

I was so glad to come across your review. We are new to cruising and will be on NOS November 30th. I just know my hubby is going to love cruising and hoping we'll book another right away.

Enjoy your next cruise and thank you for the positive review.

[big al]

Thanks! I hope my post was able to answer some questions people may have.

 

We booked our next cruise on the Navigator for Roatan / Belize / Cozumel. We're pretty much limited to going out of Galveston. I have photographic and medical equipment I need to carry with, so flying to another place to catch a cruise would be pretty difficult.

 

The oceanview panorama was $40 less than a balcony, but the balcony's OBC was $50 more than the oceanview - so a balcony worked out to be $10 cheaper. We booked a balcony for the next trip - my DW has cruised before but never had a balcony, so this will be a new experience for both of us.

 

We didn't do any of the premium restaurants other than Johnny Rockets - we may try that on the next cruise. Missed the ice show - we had tickets but were taking a nap and overslept! No 70s retro party that I heard about . . .

 

You MUST read my post on balconies, ESPECIALLY since you've never had one before..this has over 26,000 views AND read the replies & answers as well..some will be very helpful...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1947393

 

the ice show is a MUST to do...don't miss next time...Chops is wonderful..make it a special night & surprise your spouse! They will LOVE it...I did that with my wife & now we've gone 20x on our 13 RCI cruises...enjoy the balcony post & info...print it out or take some notes- you won't regret it..some have told me it's THE best post on why to have a balcony they have ever read...nice words...

 

Big Al

[alexkrn46]

thank you for your review, enjoyed your pictures of your cabin, you got lucky! what kind of camera do you use?

[websiteauthor]

You MUST read my post on balconies, ESPECIALLY since you've never had one before..this has over 26,000 views AND read the replies & answers as well..some will be very helpful...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1947393

 

the ice show is a MUST to do...don't miss next time...Chops is wonderful..make it a special night & surprise your spouse! They will LOVE it...I did that with my wife & now we've gone 20x on our 13 RCI cruises...enjoy the balcony post & info...print it out or take some notes- you won't regret it..some have told me it's THE best post on why to have a balcony they have ever read...nice words...

 

Big Al

 

 

 

Really enjoyed your balcony post! I'm going to have my DW read it - she's been the one who is hesitant about the balconies up to now.

 

You're making me think on the specialty restaurants. My DW will take some convincing - she's very thrifty, so paying for extras like balconies and restaurants takes some convincing.

[websiteauthor]

thank you for your review, enjoyed your pictures of your cabin, you got lucky! what kind of camera do you use?

 

We got very lucky with that cabin; I got spoiled for my first cruise!

 

I used two cameras on the trip. Most of the shots were with a Sony DSC-RX100, a higher end point and shoot camera. The rest of the shots, including the long exposures at the blue hole, were taken with a Nikon D5300 DSLR and various lenses. I normally use the DSLRs only; I bought the Sony for this trip (primarily for use at Stingray City) but fell in love with it. I used it to shoot a lot of video as well and those turned out very well too.

[ccpalmtree]

Thanks for your review. We traveled on the same cruise (2nd time on NoS) and totally agree with so many of your points. People have to remember, you are on vacation! Make it worth your while! We did find a hidden gem in Falmouth. We left the ship in swim attire with our beach bag and headed straight to Margaritaville. Spent a fantastic day in the pool and spent way less than many beach excursions. Ate jerk chicken for lunch and returned to the ship! We also totally skipped the MDR and loved our experience. No waiting for the table to show up, or the entire section to place their orders. We went to specialty dining five nights (20% off on all since we went to three+) and windjammer the other nights. Fantastic, yes it cost a little bit of an up charge, but it would have been a lot more going out to dinner at home. And again, we were on vacation!!

 

 

Send from device_name using Cruise Critic your_app_name App

[Cindy]

We just got back from our trip to Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Jamaica on Navigator of the Seas, 9/14 - 9/21.

 

This was my first cruise. I didn't really want to do a cruise but my DW talked me into it. I had an open mind about the trip but was honestly a little skeptical about doing it.

 

Glad you enjoyed it! We were all there at one time...apprehensive about being on a ship. I remember worrying about feeling trapped, but obviously I didn't have a problem with it!

 

 

Sales - Have you ever witnessed a shark frenzy, or hyenas fighting over a carcass, or a bunch of piranha attacking an animal? This is what you'll experience if you go to one of the one-hour sales on Deck Five. It's incredible how much energy you can generate by putting a sale price and a time limit on watches, jewelry, hats, purses and scarves. LOL I'm just teasing - We dived in to a couple of these and it was actually a lot of fun, like Black Friday on the Seven Seas. Here's a picture of the watch sale . . .

 

 

It's really an incredible phenomenon. People are out there grabbing merchandise like they'll never have an opportunity to save money again! They had a "Russian Bazaar Blowout Sale" on our Baltic cruise this summer, complete with a daily countdown to the sale and a ribbon cutting. I went just to take a couple pictures, then I went to lunch. Everything was still there later in the day without the crowds!

 

 

Photography - ok, I'm a photographer so I am probably more demanding than the average passenger. But I thought the photo process was a disaster from start to finish. The photographers are really nothing more than people who have been taught a few poses and handed a camera. One girl shot a picture and showed it to me so I'd see the glare in my glasses, to get me to remove the glasses. All she had to do was raise the soft boxes to change the angle and there would have been no glare, but she didn't know that. (She should have done that for all the photos, not just mine - I'm not suggesting she reposition her lighting for every subject.)

 

I'm an amateur, not a professional, but I absolutely agree! I've had varying experiences with the quality of the photography on board, but I think as ships have discovered it to be a lucrative revenue source and started taking more pictures, the quality has really gone down hill. Our last cruise was in Europe on Celebrity, and we bought the unlimited package because my mom and our 19 year old niece were with us, and I knew our niece would jump in front of a camera at every opportunity!:) Almost every picture is over-exposed, and some of the outdoor shots required a lot of work to even make them useable (blown out sky/under exposed faces). I'm no pro, but even I know how to adjust camera settings...or use fill flash...or better yet, why don't you set up in a different location so you're not shooting right into the sun?:rolleyes:

 

 

Other Cruisers - I was very disappointed with many of the cruisers, who seemed hell-bent on complaining. We watched an elderly woman gripe out a bartender because the bartender didn't understand her the first time, then fuss at another employee because everything in the Windjammer was "bad" - and this was early on the first day! People we talked with complained about this or that, because it wasn't perfect. People cut in lines or just walked in front of us with no sense of courtesy or respect. Children ran through crowds, careening off people, and parents did nothing to stop it. One couple literally walked between the photographer and us during a photo shoot. Just ignored us and walked thru. The photographer made a comment about it and the guy came back to get her name because he was going to report her "smarta$$ remark." We met a lot of nice folks on the boat but I was amazed at how so many people were self-absorbed and self-entitled, and just wanted to gripe and bellyache. I just hated to see people act that way.

 

Sigh...thankfully the majority of people aren't like that, but the obnoxious ones sure are memorable, aren't they?:(

 

 

We are booked on the Navigator for a trip to Cozumel, Belize and Honduras. I may change it - I don't see much in the way of fun excursions at these destinations so far. I wouldn't mind going back to Grand Cayman and Jamaica again!

 

Going out of Galveston we don't have too many options, and RCI stops going out of New Orleans in April.

 

Consider staying with the Roatan and Belize itinerary. We use an independent provider in Roatan and really love the island. In Belize I like to take an excursion through the ship because of the long tender ride to port. You might enjoy a photography trip to the ruins or a snorkeling trip to one of the tiny islands.

 

I loved your review and pictures...thanks for sharing!

[HouCplCruise]

Nice review. Thanks

[big al]

Really enjoyed your balcony post! I'm going to have my DW read it - she's been the one who is hesitant about the balconies up to now.

 

You're making me think on the specialty restaurants. My DW will take some convincing - she's very thrifty, so paying for extras like balconies and restaurants takes some convincing.

 

Do NOT be thrifty on vacations, as my Dad once told me..be cheap at home...pay your bills, take care of your family, save for the future..BUT, on vacation make it special he told me. and I do that now all the time...hesitant about balconies?? Make her read my post, women love balconies more than men do, because they tend to be more romantic ( sorry guys..) , and a broom closet for 7 days is no way to enjoy your cruise vacation..don't tell her about Chops, just make a reservation and tell her you have a surprise for her..BTW, Chops also has fish & chicken ( I would NEVER have chicken in an upscale restaurant..you can eat chicken anywhere, anytime, can't you? ) , and the SIDES & APPETIZERS are fantastic: crab cakes, shrimp cocktail ( much bigger & better than the MDR's) , NY Strip, Pork chops, lyonnaise potatoes, esparagus with hollandaise sauce, creme brulee, baked Alaska, and so much more AND for me, the biggie: a table for 2 by a window over-looking the sea ( you must ASK for a window by the sea when you go!) instead of dining with 1500 LOUD people with NO view and boring (IMO) menus..the meal would normally cost easily $ 75-85 pp at Ruth Chris or Morton's AND they don't give you a table over-looking the ocean...have her not only read my post, but READ the replies- people saying after trying a balcony, they will NEVER go back to anything BUT a balcony or suite ..we did 3 straight cruises in window/ insides, then tried the balcony on Princess...rest is history ..let me know what she thinks after reading my post...

 

Big Al

[websiteauthor]

I'm an amateur, not a professional, but I absolutely agree! I've had varying experiences with the quality of the photography on board, but I think as ships have discovered it to be a lucrative revenue source and started taking more pictures, the quality has really gone down hill. Our last cruise was in Europe on Celebrity, and we bought the unlimited package because my mom and our 19 year old niece were with us, and I knew our niece would jump in front of a camera at every opportunity!:) Almost every picture is over-exposed, and some of the outdoor shots required a lot of work to even make them useable (blown out sky/under exposed faces). I'm no pro, but even I know how to adjust camera settings...or use fill flash...or better yet, why don't you set up in a different location so you're not shooting right into the sun?:rolleyes:

 

I was disgusted through the whole process. These picture takers on the boats are not photographers. They're people who have been taught a few poses. They can't react to situations (like light glare in glasses) because they don't know what to do. The screens for reviewing the pictures are nice, but I didn't see anyway to pick the photos I wanted and keep that list for later reference. We spent a half hour purging our list to 15 that we wanted and ordered the CD. Then when we looked at the CD all the pix were there. Our effort had been wasted. The CD software is awful and the preview size of images are too small to evaluate the images. Their tech support doesn't help much at all, and the prices for ordering pictures at that point is more than the price for the complete package on the boat. Then the pictures you get are downsized and cropped to an 8x10 aspect ratio. Every aspect of this process was bad.

 

Consider staying with the Roatan and Belize itinerary. We use an independent provider in Roatan and really love the island. In Belize I like to take an excursion through the ship because of the long tender ride to port. You might enjoy a photography trip to the ruins or a snorkeling trip to one of the tiny islands.

 

I loved your review and pictures...thanks for sharing!

 

Glad you liked the review and pix! I'm just not sure on Roatan and Belize. I don't do snorkeling or tubing and I just don't see much else to do there. Travel photography is my passion so having the opportunity to shoot great photos of scenery, that is what would interest me. I like animal pictures if they're beyond what I can shoot at the zoo. I'm definitely interested in hearing anyone's suggestions.