LIVE #queensonthehighseas Navigator of the Seas 3/15: A Spring Break Extravaganza

[vacationbunny]

awesome foodie pics!! My moth is watering. Thanks for all of the helpful tips!

[CityChickCruising]

Love this so far. Sailing on a 3 night Navigator trip over Memorial Day weekend. Would love your thoughts on the bars and best drinks; it's my mom and myself (23 y/o female) sailing, we have the deluxe drink package and want the down low!! Enjoy! 

[cruisinfromtampa]

Our door is decorated! Off to the casino for $2 mimosas and lighting money on fire!




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[Jasonmom]

Thank you for doing this.

Following.

Will be on same trip 4/12/19.

[CazV]

Thanks for the fantastic review and photos of the food at Jamie's. Excited to eat there on my cruise at the end of April. 🙂 

[Muerz]

I already saw it on the Cruise Compass that twangster posted: on embarkation day, there’s no mention of Chops being open but they still sell it on the cruise planner... why?

[MsJersey84]

Following.. Thanks for the review.

[whyrlygig]

Anxious to see more!

[blueridgemama]

20 hours ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

Our door is decorated! Off to the casino for $2 mimosas and lighting money on fire!




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Adorable! Happy St Patrick's Day. Enjoy your cruise. By the way, I totally got the reference to the 🌈 hammock😊

[EmilyJay]

The Jamie's Italian meat plank is insanely good! We had it on the 1st March sailing and I'm already craving it again. I love your door decoration 🙂 Happy St Patrick's Day! I will be reading along and reminiscing of my trip on Navigator 2 weeks ago which was the same itinerary. I'm sure you will have a wonderful trip and enjoy!!! 

[catella02]

Love the door decorations. We always decorate ours. Love to see people doing it.

 

Thanks for doing this review. We will be on Navigator on March 29th so this will be helpful.

[itsanita]

On 3/16/2019 at 10:39 AM, rikkimiller said:

Love this so far. Sailing on a 3 night Navigator trip over Memorial Day weekend. Would love your thoughts on the bars and best drinks; it's my mom and myself (23 y/o female) sailing, we have the deluxe drink package and want the down low!! Enjoy! 

 

We are doing the same in the fall.  How much was the drink package? 

 

We are usually on Celebrity, and have been getting it as a perk.  VERY spoiled, may have to spring for it that weekend!

[mimi7ccr]

Slightly off-topic question for Queens:  Why so long from Tampa to Miami??  We are making the same drive VERY early on a Saturday morning, end of April.  Which way did you go?  DH wants to drive over to Yeehaw Junction and get on Turnpike and take it ALL the way down.  What's your advice?  Thanks so much.

 

[cruisinfromtampa]

I’m back! Yesterday flew by, and I was best by the time I got back to the room. Picking up where I left off...Day 2: At Sea

We met for breakfast in WJ around 9:30. Tables were somewhat scarce...lots sleeping in a bit and eating late.

The Meet & Mingle was at 10:30, and fairly well attended. They raffled off bottles of wine, bags, pens, highlighters, and dinner for 2 at a specialty restaurant.

From there we ran down to the Diamond Lounge to talk to the concierge about our cabana in Labadee. Full disclosure: This is our first cruise after making diamond, so I have nothing to base this on from personal experience, just pictures I’ve seen. With that said...This thing is TINY. I didn’t count yet, but there cannot be more than 25 seats in the whole thing. We haven’t been during happy hour, and I can’t imagine it’s a pleasant experience. Pictures and seat count to follow when I get back there.

The traveling piano man also made an appearance today!



At noon, my favorite part of sea days: $2 mimosas in the casino! You can’t beat the price!



After lunch we all went back to our rooms for a “quick” nap before dinner. That quick nap turned into almost 4 hours, and it was glorious.

Up next: Dinner at Chops


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[jojoshumate]

 We are on the Navigator in June—thanks for the heads up about the mimosas!!! Will definitely check that out!  Enjoy your St Patrick’s day and the entire cruise☘️🥂. Cheers!

[cruisinfromtampa]

Chops:

We had reservations at 5:30. Our group gets matching shirts for each cruise, and we decided to wear them to dinner. One of my friend didn’t like how they looked with his khakis, and changed into shorts. When he arrived, they sent him back to change. On some ships, I don’t think they would have said a word.

Menu:





The bread basket was different than we remembered. There were pretzels and an onion roll. The pretzels were a darn good pretzel. I would have been happy with mustard or beer cheese to dip them in, rather than butter.



Wedge Salad. It was ok. The bacon was so hard I was afraid I was going to real a tooth.



Mushroom Soup. A Chops staple. As good as always.



Black Pepper Bacon. The greatest disappointment of the night. I have always loved this app. They let me down. It was dry and crusty. I should have sent it back, but the next time the waiter came by our table was to drop off entrees.



Entrees and dessert up next.


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[cruisinfromtampa]

I forgot an appetizer: Crab Cake. It’s fine. I always forget it has corn in it, and that’s not something I enjoy. Flavor is good though.



Entree. 9oz filet mignon. Meh. It was a steak that they overlooked. I had bernaise and peppercorn sauces. Peppercorn was good. The bernaise was too thick.



Sides. We ordered a bunch and shared. Nothing terribly bad, nothing terribly good.



Dessert: Red Velvet Cake. The best part of my meal. Rich and moist. Creamy frosting. As someone who owns a cake company on the side, it was a good cake. Not as good as mine of course (Which is an Irish Car Bomb Red Velvet), but acceptable. [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]



One in our group orders the Key Lime Pie. She enjoyed it. I wasn’t a fan. If I don’t get a pucker in the back of my cheeks from it, it’s not key lime pie. The merengue was also gritty.




We’ve been to Chops on 5 different ships, and I think we’re officially done with it. We just never enjoy the experience, whether it’s the service, or the atmosphere, or the food. There are definitely some tasty things to eat, but overall it’s just underwhelming time after time. We’ll stick to others moving forward.


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[cruisinfromtampa]

After dinner, we decided to walk around the pool deck to explore and take some pictures.

 

I must say, the view from the urinals in the men’s room outside the WJ is pretty great!

 

 

The signs are out...whether they’re enforcing them or not, I do not know.

 

 

Some of the lounge options around the deck.

 

 

 

 

Slides at night.

 

 

I know there have been a lot of opinions about the new pool deck, but after seeing it in person, I really like it. The vibe is just cool. Retro. Fun. With Navigator moving to the short sailings, I think it is perfect for it. My two cents anyway.

 

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[cruisinfromtampa]

We made our way to the theater for the first show of the cruise: “Showgirl”. It’s a brand new show that journeys through the Past, Present, and Future of showgirls, from the Follies to Vegas. The costumes were great! But then again, I live for anything with feathers and rhinestones.

We enjoyed the show very much. It felt much more updated when compared to shows on other ships. Some of the songs they used are still on the radio. The cast was very talented, and very consistent. I have two music degrees, so when the singers are off, it bothers me. These 4 were fantastic. If it’s on your sailing, I highly recommend going to see it.












That wraps up Day 2. Thanks for continuing to follow along. I hope you’re enjoying it. Please feel free to ask questions. I’ll do my best to get them answered.

Goodnight from the helipad.




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[Paulette3028]

26 minutes ago, cruisinfromtampa said:

Chops:

We had reservations at 5:30. Our group gets matching shirts for each cruise, and we decided to wear them to dinner. One of my friend didn’t like how they looked with his khakis, and changed into shorts. When he arrived, they sent him back to change. On some ships, I don’t think they would have said a word.

Menu:

The bread basket was different than we remembered. There were pretzels and an onion roll. The pretzels were a darn good pretzel. I would have been happy with mustard or beer cheese to dip them in, rather than butter.

Wedge Salad. It was ok. The bacon was so hard I was afraid I was going to real a tooth.

Mushroom Soup. A Chops staple. As good as always.

Black Pepper Bacon. The greatest disappointment of the night. I have always loved this app. They let me down. It was dry and crusty. I should have sent it back, but the next time the waiter came by our table was to drop off entrees.

Entrees and dessert up next.

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In the MDR, I am sure there would not have been a problem wearing shorts.....but perhaps Chops has set its own dinner standards for dress and they stick to it.  I can't say for sure, since Chops is NOT one of the specialty restaurants that we go to.

[VPIcruiser]

Great live review.  Thanks for taking the time. 

 

[SAmome]

Thank you for your review.  

 

Is the Solarium hot?  I love the idea of an adults only area but seems like on most RCCL sailings I've been on, feels like windows need to be openned and some more breeze let in.  I'm usually too warm sailing and absolutely roasting trying to use it on a port day.

[Monk86]

Did ye meet any of your students yet!? What age group are they?

[Getting out there]

Are both slides open?

[cruisinfromtampa]

Thank you for your review.  
 
Is the Solarium hot?  I love the idea of an adults only area but seems like on most RCCL sailings I've been on, feels like windows need to be openned and some more breeze let in.  I'm usually too warm sailing and absolutely roasting trying to use it on a port day.

We haven’t been in it during the day yet, but walking through last night was very pleasant. It is not enclosed like some of the other ships. We found it to be stifling, even at night, on Rhapsody in December.


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