Live from the Navigtor of the Seas...sort of

[texascat]

Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas – November 1 – 8, 2015

Tavelers - me, 85 year old dad, sister, her husband, oldest son and his wife, 6year and 3 year old grandkids.

Travel down – sisters family drove down

Me and dad flew our scheduled flights were from Dayton via Denver on Saturday 10/31 departing Dayton at 819am arriving Denver at 930am. Our flight from Denver was scheduled to depart at 1015am and arrive Houston Bush at 131pm. I scheduled the 4pm shuttle with Galveston Express.

My dad is having difficulty walking so I pulled up at Dayton and the porter met us at the car help him out left him, the bags, tickets, and id’s with the porter and went to park my car. By the time I returned, he had checked my bags, put dad in a wheelchair, and we were ready to go! The transport guy pushed the chair out to the gate, bypassing all lines at security and placed us right by the gate.

The gate agent allowed us to board the plane first, everyone was very helpful. Upon arrival in Denver, we were met at the gate by a porter who had dad in the wheelchair, they took us over to the cart and once loaded, we went down the terminal barley missing walkers to our connection gate. That would have been a huge walk for him and he would have had a difficult time making it. I received a text our flight is delayed and will now depart at 1110am. Ok, we have time for breakfast, no problem, we have plenty of time to get to Houston. (famous last words!)

We get on the plane, load, depart from the gate and sit…after sitting for a while the captain comes on to say that we have an issue with weights and balance of the cargo and need to go back to the gate (this is a huge 787 plane). We get back to the gate to rebalance the cargo, he then comes on and says that we have to get more fuel. We are of course locked on the plane. New text, the flight will leave at 1208pm…new text the flight will leave at 1225pm to arrive in Houston at 347pm…crap, the shuttle was scheduled for 4pm!

After landing in Houston, we can’t get to a gate, we are again sitting waiting. I called Alan at Galveston Express to tell him we are in but stuck on the tarmac, he said they would wait. After several phone calls and text Alan says he is sending me a new shuttle and it is 1 hour and 40 minutes out (that was at 419pm). Ok, we can do that, we have 1 hour and 40 minutes to get to the gate and get our bags…hum, famous last words. We finally get to a gate at 5:30pm and then had to wait for the luggage. Luggage at 550pm and Joe picked us up for our wonderful ride to Galveston!!! I cannot say enough of the service that we were offered by Galveston Express. I would recommend this company to anyone needing transportation to Galveston.

Our night ended at the Holiday Inn Express and suites in Galveston, very nice room and we were extremely happy to be at the hotel.

Sunday – November 1st

Raining in Galveston!

[Ladysilver]

I hope you and your family have a wonderful cruise! I'll be following your review! :D

[jdapowers]

Glad you made it; you will be very relaxed on the cruise.

 

You are on the last Navigator cruise out of Galveston.

She then takes a 2 day trip to FLL and we get on her in FLL.

 

We have had strange messages about boarding the ship. Some are saying she isn't due to arrive in FLL until NOON on Tuesday the 10th, some are saying coast guard inspection.

 

If you happen to hear any info while you are on the ship, can you let me know? either post here, or send me an email jdapowers@yahoo.com

 

Thank you :) Enjoy your well deserved vacation

[rudeney]

Enjoy the cruise! We were disembarking Navigator this time last week after a great cruise.

[CCC3]

The Navigator has a wonderful crew! Enjoy!

[texascat]

Sunday – November 1st

Raining in Galveston!

After breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express, my sister’s family picked us up and off to the port we went. After dropping off the family and the bags, we went to park the car. Parking at the port is $70.00 for a 7-night cruise and they provide shuttle transfer between the car and the ship. It is extremely simple park at the port.

Since ad has a walker, they whisked us into a special line to get checked in. Everyone at the port at check-in was helpful. It took us less than ½ hour to get onboard the ship. It was a painless process. The first ‘ding’ of the week, my favorite sound. After boarding we headed up to the Windjammer for lunch. Of course everyone had a good meal. Several options available, I am of course not a fan of the buffet on cruise ships.

Sister and I went up to tour the spa, went down and picked up our ice show tickets, walked around the ship, and enjoyed a snack. Since it is raining today, we did not go to the helipad for departure, but we did go up to deck 11 and watched departure. It was fun watching the dolphins play around the ship. We were blessed with a double rainbow circling the ship. We went back in and learned that we missed the parade.

Some of the group participated in the wine tasting and enjoyed some wine. My brother-in-law enjoyed the Free Liquor Tasting. Dinner was good, our server was great! She really went out of her way for the kids. Since it was late and the kids had been traveling for 2 days, they were extremely cranky. Let’s hope that the kids are better tomorrow. I had the Watermelon & Raspberry Soup, Prime Rib, and Blueberry and Peach crisp. The food was good, about the quality that I expect from Royal.

After dinner we attended the Welcome aboard show, the show featured the comedian Stephen Thomas. The show was an introduction to request you to attend the shore excursion/shopping talks. I could have missed the show and not missed anything.

Hopefully tomorrow will see some sunshine so that we enjoy the pool!

[DaNana]

We took her last year the Sunday after Thanksgiving. A group of 4 couples and we are all still talking about it. Wishing we were going soon but alas Christmas is a land vacation with our youngest grands. :D

[MinnieLinda]

Looking forward to our upcoming cruise. Thanks for taking the time to do this review.

[texascat]

Monday, November 2 – 1st day at sea.

Although the captain warned us of rainy weather, the day was wonderful!!! Sister decided we were going to the 7am stretch class. That class was about 15 minutes followed by a ABS workout. Oh boy!!! But we completed the 2 classes and proceeded to the Windjammer for breakfast, it was ok.

After breakfast we went out to the pool and enjoyed the sunshine. Of course they had so many activities on the ship for the sea day that it was difficult to decide what we would do. I went to the shopping talk, missed the Meet and great. Went to the slot pull only to find that we were not going to have it since the casino host decided that we needed to give them a percentage prior to even putting the money into the slot!

Enjoyed lunch in the dining room. Went to the 630pm show and bingo. Tonight is the formal night and it was fun to see everyone dressed up. After dinner I went to the casino and donated!

 

Tomorrow – Cozumel.

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Tuesday – November 3 – Cozumel

We docked at the International Pier in Cozumel by 7am and were able to disembark starting at 730am. Cozumel does not recognize daylight savings plan, we were informed to stay on ship time. Breakfast at the Windjammer. Now we are on the balcony waiting to get off the ship. Weather right now is partly sunny and high 85.

After breakfast at the Windjammer, we all dispersed to our daily activities. Brother-in-law and nephew’s family took a cab to see the authentic Mexico and have real Mexican food. Dad stayed on the ship and watched all the activity on the water. Sister and I took a cab over to Sunscape to enjoy some sun and pool time. We got the cab with the ‘crooked taxi driver’ she charged us $29 to on a $14 fare! Upon arrival at Sunscape, we proceed to the pool and then the pool bar for a Mango Margarita! YUM…minding our own business with our drink and the sun, we suddenly found ourselves in a water aerobics class! That was fun, we had an adorable cabana boy leading the class and he was having a blast.

We decided to take a taxi back to the Navigator after lunch. Found Dad and enjoyed more time on the pool deck. After departure from Cozumel (sister enjoyed watching the last minute folks getting on the ship) we went to the Supreme Divas show. They were enjoyable, but after seeing the Broadway entertainment on the new ships, I was disappointed in the show selection. After dinner Dad and I donated in the Casino. The Navigator casino is tiny and extremely smoky. After a short time our eyes were on fire. I’m not sure where they got such old slot selections, but the place was packed.

Tomorrow we are in Grand Cayman!

[texascat]

I went to the Guest Services and asked, I was informed that you will be able to board at the normal time, 12noon.

[DonnaK]

Subscribing. Very interested in ship/service details because I am looking towards booking Navigator for the Spring (from FLL, not Galveston, though)

[texascat]

Service is great, but I am noticing a reduction in servers, Examples, when you go to shows the only have 2 or 3 bar staff getting drinks. In the dinning room, they are not coming around with the shot glass of the day.

 

But the staff that is here has been great in meeting our needs. My Dad is using a walker and they cannot do enough for him.

[texascat]

Also, the internet is available throughout the ship, but it is VERY SLOW! I purchased the unlimited internet package.

 

Also, I booked my next cruise and the 'new special' is that you get the On Board cruise credit on this cruise, not th future cruise.

[rudeney]

Yes, I found the onboard Internet service to be almost unusable. I was able to use to text between our two phones (using iMessage and Verizon Message+ that work over WiFi). I was also able to use my laptop to check email at the office, and I did pull up the weather now and again, but that was it. Trying to send photos was a no-go.

[CRUSINGFAMILY]

Yes we were on board last week too, with our family and had a great time. Yes the internet was horrible, however we survived we try to stay disconnected as we can so we can relax and have a great holiday.

 

Seems more and more these days that people on the ship are walking around talking and texting, i don't see the need for that.

 

Happy sailing

 

Brian J

[jdapowers]

Thank you for the info on Tuesdays embarkation. I love your "donation" to casino. That's what I call it too.

 

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Forums mobile app

[texascat]

Wednesday – November 4 – Grand Cayman

 

This morning we woke up to rain and overcast. My sister and her family decided to go to Seven Mile Beach so the kids would have the opportunity to play in the ocean. Since it was raining they chose tour at the pier that was taking the to Hell, Turtle Farm, and Seven Mile Beach with a 15 minutes at each stop. The stop in Hell was fine, they then went to see the Dolphin’s instead of the turtles, but that was ok as well. The tour guide took them to Sevan Mile Beach and they thought it would be a 15 minute stop…they watch the tour bus drive away and leave them at the beach! After playing in the water and in the sand they walked ½ way back to the ship. Needless to say, the family was not happy. I told her to post a review in the tours section and to give me the info so I can add it to this review.

Dad and I went to the dining room for breakfast. We picked up a tender ticket in group #16. Due to the weather we had a break in the tenders, we didn’t get on the tender until 11am. I had a spa appointment for 145pm. In Grand Cayman we had the Carnival Magic and Breeze as well as us. Needless to say it was packed walking around. Having a person with a walker, made maneuvering difficult. But, the tender operators were wonderful with the help. We did a few shops than it was back to the tender and onto the Navigator.

We ate again at the Windjammer (tried to go to Johnny Rockets but they didn’t open until 2pm), then it was off to the spa for me. I booked the port special ‘5 Steps to Heaven’ which included –

Full body massage

Back Exfoliation

Rejuvenating Facial

Foot and Ankle Massage

Scalp Massage

And I added the Hot Stones

Total cost was $169 plus 18% gratuity. It was wonderful!!! Of course at the end they always give you the sales pitch to sell the product.

When I left the spa it was pouring rain. I went back to the room to relax for a few prior to getting a shower and dressed for the evening activities. We requested a wheelchair assistance in Galveston for our departure. Watch the Royal Singers on the Promenade, they were really good, then off to dinner for another wonderful meal. The entre was probably my least favorite. After dinner Dad went back to the room and I went back to the casino for my nightly donation.

Next stop Falmouth, Jamaica.

[texascat]

I don't have my phone on and mainly I'm updating in the evening or morning while waiting on the shower sitting on the balcony.

[texascat]

Thursday – November 5 – Falmouth, Jamaica

 

This morning when I woke up, the weather looks like it is going to be another beautiful day! We are still coasting into port. We plan to get off and take the trolley around town. After breakfast in the Windjammer, we met my sister and departed the ship. Walked to the Tour Booth or the Historical Trolley and payed our fare, $22 per person. They put us in a golf cart and over to the trolley, this tour is perfect if you are traveling with someone who does not have a lot of mobility. The tour was approximately 1 ½ hours and we drove around the area and they provided the history of the churches. They dropped us off at the Falmouth shopping area and we went over to Jimmy Buffet’s Margaretville to walk around.

It is free to walk around, however, you will be approached by everyone trying to sell you lunch and a drink. We continued around the shops and then back to the ship. After lunch we went out to the pool and relaxed. We went to the one show at 630pm and laughed our hinny’s off! On to dinner than to the casino.

 

next up -

Friday – Day 6 – at sea