Navigator of Seas 6th August Review

[Jollyholiday]

Hi, this is our review broken down into relevant sections:-

 

Background:

We are an English family and this was our first cruise. We booked a Grand Suite on Deck 10 for myself, DH, DS(aged 11) and DD(aged 6)

 

We flew into Miami and was transferred to the Hotel Intercontinental which was very impressive. We took a stroll down to Bayside Marketplace in the evening but retired to bed early as we had been travelling for 12 hours. In the morning we were very excited as we could see the ship from our window.

 

Embarkation:

We were transferred from the hotel at 12:30 and arrived at the port 5 minutes later. Our bags were offloaded and we joined the queue outside the terminal. After about 30 minutes we were let inside the building where we held for about 30 minutes before security. Once through security we joined the priority boarding line for suite passangers. We were on the ship by about 2:30 pm which was a bit longer than I had anticipated after reading so many reviews of people walking straight on the ship - but we didn't care because we were so excited to be there.

 

The Ship:

Our first impressions were wow!! We explored as many decks as we could on the first day but it did take us a little time to get used to the layout. By Day 3 we fully knew our way around.

 

Our Suite:

I was very impressed with the Grand Suite and especially loved the bathroom. We had lots of closet space and hangers and so many drawers that we didn't use them all. Our stateroom attendant, Marvin, was brilliant. He left us little afternoon snacks and the children were always greeted with a different towel animal.

 

Windjammer Buffet:

We ate lunch and breakfast in the windjammer everyday and found there to be plenty of choice. We never had a problem finding a table and found the staff to be very friendly.

 

The Dining Room:

We had a table for 4 on the Nutcracker level. Our waiter was Virgil from Bombay and our Assistant Waiter was Romil also from Bombay. Virgil was brilliant he entertained us all week with news of the England cricket team and made us all feel very special. Romil was very shy but extremely helpful. We found all the meals to be excellent and just the right portion size for us.

 

Chops:

DH and I had a meal in Chops on Caribbean Night. This was one of our highlights of the week we both ordered the Filet Mignon and it was superb and the service out of this world.

 

Concierge:

This was my favourite part of the cruise. Francoise was our Concierge and he was brilliant. It was so nice to be able to pop in for a Cappuccino and we had some nice evenings were we had predinner drinks once the children had gone to kids club.

 

Kids Clubs:

Both my children loved the kids clubs and we couldn't keep them out. Most nights they stayed to the late night party zone. After reading so many posts about children running riot on the ships I was very worried about kids being everywhere. There were over 800 kids on board and they must have been well taken care of because you hardly saw them. There were no cases of kids mucking around in lifts or in corridors and all the teenagers I came across were very polite.

 

Ports of Call:

In brief, we loved Labadee. We wouldn't go to Jamaica again as we didn't feel 100% safe. We climbed Duns River Falls and did the Dolphin Encounter. I wasn't happy about the Dolphins as it seemed very cruel. Loved Grand Cayman we did the Stingray City Tour which we all enjoyed. Cozomel was o.k we did the Luxury Beach Break at Playa Mia which was enjoyable as the children loved the freshwater pool.

 

Disembarkation:

This was so quick. The Concierge had arranged the earliest tags for us as we were driving from Miami to Disneyworld and wanted to be on our way as quickly as possible. We arrived at Dollar Rental Car at Miami airport by 9:30 am.

 

We had a brilliant time and our now hooked. By Day 3 DH had already booked our next cruise, Adventure of the Seas for next August cruising the Southern Caribbean. The highlights of the cruise was definitely the staff, everyone of them went out of the way to be friendly and helpful and all thoroughly deserved their tips.

 

Only 358 days to go to our next cruise........can't wait.

[4merlurker]

Welcome Home! Sounds like you had a wonderful time! Thanks for taking the time to post such a great review! :)

[cathykb]

Great review - thanks for poting! Sounds like you had a great holiday.

[kenandlaura06]

Thanks for the review.

[Skitter]

Thanks for the great review. We sail on the Navigator on Sept 10th and we are soooooo excited.

Skitter