LIVE review: Navigator of the Seas ABC Islands (1st-10th March)

[Paulette3028]

4 minutes ago, lr657 said:

 

The Cruise Director is Hugo Arenas. Can't help with the Activities Manager as haven't seen the morning show yet. I'll post when I find out.

Super thanks......we sailed on Navigator twice....between our 1st and 2nd cruises on her, they added more cabins and now from what I hear they moved the gym to the Aft of the ship and added more cabins again.  Is it true that the sauna and steam room are 'for fee'?    Our plan is to sail on her again when she returns to S. Florida taking over the 3/4 day sailings.  

[tiessa]

9 minutes ago, Paulette3028 said:

If that is the case, they clearly are not making it appealing to smokers....and since I don't smoke, it isn't a problem for me.

 

 If there is no smoking area on the pool deck....that is fine to me....since invariably I end up walking through the smoking side more than I want to getting from place to place....so that would suit me just fine.   I know smokers will hate it.  Oh well.

Yes, smokers are unhappy but they are used to being treated second class.  They don’t whine like so many others.  They just make do.  They’ll enjoy their cruise anyway.

[EmilyJay]

54 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

Hello- what are the sun decks like in terms of chair hogs? I don’t particularly want to be up before it’s light to get a sunbed! 

 

And are are they removing towels from chairs? 

I will be touching on this subject tonight! But it’s awful!!!!! 

No removing towels- will explain more later. 

[EmilyJay]

@kevnick0814 I have a solution for you. Go to deck 4 for a run. It’s spacious and quiet, once you get forward you have to go up a flight of steps which takes you to the helipad, but following this route you can do a full loop of the ship. 

 

Edited March 2, 2019 by EmilyJay

[Guest]

41 minutes ago, EmilyJay said:

I will be touching on this subject tonight! But it’s awful!!!!! 

No removing towels- will explain more later. 

That is the response I was dreading 😫 Symphony was lush in the med as it was port intensive so staying on the ship meant more seats. Even on sea day I got to the pool at 10:30 and got a seat by the pool. 

 

I dont want to do what my mum usually does which is get up and sit on the beds from 7:00am. That’s not a holiday!!! From a video I saw it looks like there seem to be the most free by the mini golf. I eagerly await your days write up!!

[The Fun Researcher]

 Granted, it is the first Sea day where everyone wants to be out enjoying the sun. However looking at twangsters video, it does look very busy, with lots of  empty chairs with towels on them 

 

Dan

[CazV]

19 minutes ago, Glitterati said:

That is the response I was dreading 😫

I'm hoping by the time we sail that they've got everything under control... Including the chair hogs.

[HaveWeMetYet]

Can you check to see if Izumi offers the hot rock plate option. It doesn't seem to be offered on all ships. It is a heated stone delivered to your table and you cook a variety of meats on it.

 

Thanks

[EmilyJay]

Day 3: Sea Day 

 

This morning I was awake at 4.17am. Not just awake, I was awake awake instead of staying in bed I should have got up then to go and get a sun lounger.... 

But I decided to stay in bed until about 7.30am. 

Once ready, we went to the Windjammer for breakfast at 8.30ish, we walked through the Solarium and at that time of the morning nearly all the loungers had towels on, but no people. 

 

The Windjammer was good, plenty of food options and loads of tables available. 

We then went to the pool, where there were barely any loungers free. 

We got 2 chairs near the pool but in the shade, I then read the Cruise Compass to see what was happening today and saw a notice saying “All pool deck chairs are first come, first served.” 

No towels were removed after 30 mins like some other ships. 

There was a lady in front of us and I heard her say she came out at 7am to reserve the 12 sunbeds for their group. The most annoying thing was some of the group didn’t come til 11-12pm! Then I noticed once a sunbed became available they would throw some clothes on the sunbed and not actually use it. 

There were people sitting on the floor as there weren’t enough loungers/ too many chair hogs. 

This being said, if you go elsewhere on the ship away from the pool you can get a lounger. 

 

We had lunch at El Loco Fresh. It’s a buffet style area by the pool, the chicken burrito was good and there’s salad, nachos, tortillas and all sorts of Mexican goodness. 

 

The main pool is very nice with ample space to sit on the edges of the pool and lots of shallow water space to sit. 

Lots of activities happening throughout the day at the pool too. 

 

After pool time, we went to explore and found the helipad. 

(Go to deck 4, forward and walk up the staircase) it was great being able to access the helipad, incredibly windy so hold onto your small children / loose items 😂 

This is also a great area to run as it’s spacious, quiet and you can do a full loop of the ship. It is the smokers deck but not many people down there smoking. 

 

We went to Playmakers this afternoon, its got a great atmosphere. You can sit there and play table top games while you have a drink or you can order food at an extra cost. Lots of TVs showing sports and just alot of fun. 

 

One of the slides was still closed today and Adventure Ocean should be open tomorrow. The Splash area was also closed for a few hours this morning, but opened before noon. 

 

Tonight is formal night! Time to start getting glammed up. 

 

Oh before I forget the drinks limit is $13, so just an extra $1 for the Bamboo Room speciality cocktails! 👍🏻 

[CazV]

Great photo! Thanks for the update 🙂 

[Cel_cruise]

Great post Emily! You are so awesome for answering all of our annoying but dying to know questions!!

Love that they moved the smoking section out of the pool deck. So little shade and it took up such a big part of the area!

Did they make the Solarium smaller than it used to be? Or maybe the crowding is just that there are so many more staterooms nearby it’s easier to grab chairs and there is gym equipment in there...

I do hope the chair hog problem gets better - I would probably visit guest services and ask to speak to the hotel director (I think that’s who I would talk to?) in that.

What did you get at Bamboo Room? I think drink pictures would be a fabulous way for us to follow along with your day! [emoji41]


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[Paulette3028]

17 minutes ago, Cel_cruise said:

Did they make the Solarium smaller than it used to be? Or maybe the crowding is just that there are so many more staterooms nearby it’s easier to grab chairs and there is gym equipment in there...

 

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I am confused by what you are asking.....I can understand the first part "Did they make the Solarium smaller than it used to be?"  The second part where you mention "there is gym equipment in there....."  where is there gym equipment --- in the solarium?  

[Paulette3028]

To anyone on this sailing......I want to hear about those waterslides!

[Cel_cruise]

I am confused by what you are asking.....I can understand the first part "Did they make the Solarium smaller than it used to be?"  The second part where you mention "there is gym equipment in there....."  where is there gym equipment --- in the solarium?  

The reports from Emily and others are that the gym isn’t finished so there is a bunch of treadmills etc set up in the Solarium for this sailing.


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[EmilyJay]

@Paulette3028 Only the Riptide is open which is the head first on a mat slide. It’s fun, not too fast unless the instructor gives you a push and not too much water in your face. I’ve been on it a few times, unfortunately the other slide hasn’t been open at all yet. 

 

The gym is also closed, so a temporary one has been set up in the solarium. 

[kevnick0814]

6 hours ago, EmilyJay said:

@kevnick0814 I have a solution for you. Go to deck 4 for a run. It’s spacious and quiet, once you get forward you have to go up a flight of steps which takes you to the helipad, but following this route you can do a full loop of the ship. 

 

That is what I wanted to hear! :)

i am not picky about where I have to run, just as long as I can get a few in while I am away. 

The flight of stairs is a nice little boost too. 

Thanks so much for this info. 

27 days......

[SF]

Enjoying reading this thread and the photos are great.😀 We will be on Navigator this summer so it's helpful to know what has been upgraded and changed. Thanks for posting and enjoy your cruise.

[TvCon]

EmilyJay, thank you for taking the time to post.

[Cel_cruise]

That is what I wanted to hear! :)
i am not picky about where I have to run, just as long as I can get a few in while I am away. 
The flight of stairs is a nice little boost too. 
Thanks so much for this info. 
27 days......

When we were on Navigator in 2015 we also used Deck 4 for our running track - it was way better than the sun deck! If the smoking was really bad - I just ran back/forth on the same side of the ship.


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[kevnick0814]

46 minutes ago, Cel_cruise said:

 

When we were on Navigator in 2015 we also used Deck 4 for our running track - it was way better than the sun deck! If the smoking was really bad - I just ran back/forth on the same side of the ship.


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Sounds perfect. Thanks for the heads up. 

[Canadian1]

EmilyJay  Hope you are having a lovely, fun, relaxing cruise so far!  I do have another question for you if you don't mind.  My family hasn't seen an ice show since they moved to Europe almost 20 years ago, so they are really looking forward to this on the ship.  I'm just wondering if you can tell me how they are handling the seating on this.  I know in the past I have gotten tickets for them in advance, first come first serve, but i think I read somewhere that people were lining up 45 minutes before.... which made me think it was first come first serve with no pre-tickets given.  Can you confirm for me how it will work?  Thanks so much if you can.  From what I have seen posted on social media this ice show looks pretty cool.  On a different note hopefully we also get the roaming piano player 🙂

 

Cheers and as always thanks for the consideration 🌴

[tiessa]

16 hours ago, Cel_cruise said:

Did they make the Solarium smaller than it used to be? Or maybe the crowding is just that there are so many more staterooms nearby it’s easier to grab chairs and there is gym equipment in there...

I think it is smaller.  They did away with where you could get little bites to eat but then they put these big double chairs in and like double loungers that take up a lot of room.  Over all, much less seating.  Add more people and forget getting a lounger unless you are there at the crack of dawn.  I am assuming the treadmills in the Solarium are temporary until the fitness center opens.   It looks nice, as do the changes in the pool deck, but it diminished capacity considerably.  I’m glad I’m not a pool fan.  

[Ronaldo807]

@EmilyJay do you know if they are offering the nightly happy hour at Hooked?

[Muerz]

Thanks again for all your updates. Two more questions: If you have the Surf and Stream package, how fast is it? Is it actually fast enough to download a few tv episodes onto my iPad over night? Have you had the chance to take a few pictures of the food menus? Enjoy your cruise!

[CazV]

1 hour ago, Ronaldo807 said:

@EmilyJay do you know if they are offering the nightly happy hour at Hooked?

 

Twangster wrote elsewhere that they're not offering it.