Cheapo Dad's Trip Report on the Navigator of the Seas (Maybe with few pictures added)...

[3yorkies]

8 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

We've never sailed shorter than 6 nights on Royal so can't say for sure, but yes my expectation would be French night.  That menu (or a version of it)  been the first formal night on pretty much every cruise we've been on.  I really look forward to the beef tenderloin.

 

However, Royal has revamped their protocol of which menu is served when.  I think I see that French and Royal nights are only on 6 night or longer cruises.

 

IMO, Mexican is the weakest menu followed by Caribbean night.  Shame they put BOTH of those on a 4 night cruise.

Funny, obviously everyone is different.   Caribbean is my favorite, with Mexican second.  Not a fan of Italian, although I love Giovannis

[The Fun Researcher]

1 hour ago, 3yorkies said:

Funny, obviously everyone is different.   Caribbean is my favorite, with Mexican second.  Not a fan of Italian, although I love Giovannis

That’s Fair.  Just curious what are your favorites on the Caribbean night?  The bao buns have been either excellent or terrible for us. I do like the lentil soup.  I can make the shrimp or steak entree work.  So not a terrible menu but not high on the list for me 
 

I do agree the Italian night is pretty lackluster too.

Edited September 15, 2023 by The Fun Researcher

[harryfat1]

Made it back to the cabin and by now everyone was awake.  As always, tons of people at Windjammer.  Was not easy to find a table for the 4 of us.  Had to pounce on a table as soon as someone was leaving and requested the server to clean the table.

 

 

 

One and only ocean view from the Windjammer the entire cruise as the window seats are hard to get to. 

 

 

For the Voyager class ships, they really tried to pack the maximum number of chairs/seats at the buffet area and it’s hard to get to your table if all the other tables are full as you have to weave and wind your way back to the table every time you get up to get something. 

 

Especially with a boatload (pun intended) of kids on these lower-priced short summer cruises, there are strollers and kids playing in the aisle as you try to navigate a clear path between you and the food.

 

Looks like a big family group next to us with light blue colored shirts and family uniforms taking up 2 tables.

 

 

Somewhat cloudy morning looking at the Aft

 

[harryfat1]

As we were ready to grab breakfast, they were already calling group 12.  Ok.  Whatever.  Not getting off the ship hungry.  We will get off whenever we get off.

 

Only a couple of quickie photos of Windjammer as we were trying to get out of there fast.

 

Oh, I asked for the salmon again via the "secret handshake/special password" as they didn't have it out in the open.  If you don't know the secret handshake, you can also just ask the worker behind the counter directly...

 

Oh, yeah, this guy didn't give it to me on a new plate.  He asked me for my plate and just plop it on.  So it depends on the worker as to how you might get the salmon.

 

 

 

Oh, yeah, it’s Wednesday out there somewhere but to you, it’s Day 3 of the cruise

 

 

[harryfat1]

By the time we made it down to the gangway it was 9:45.  Theoretically, it was group 1 to 26 or whatever they were calling at the time but nobody checked our ticket number at the gangway as there was only a short line at the end of the gangway. 

 

Just waiting to do the security scan as it’s the first port for people to get out and Newbie cruisers sometimes get confused about what's needed to get off the ship as they don't realize every member of the family needs a sea pass to go ashore thinking it's like hotel on land and just the parents need the sea pass.

 

[harryfat1]

As we are still in the US, the Verizon cell service is still functional.  Turned on the phone and it showed that we are offshore when viewed via Google Maps.

 

[perfect match]

2 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for the info.

 

It would make sense to have helpers on site on day 1 as not everyone is tech savvy and if they are forcing people to use their Apps only and not online booking, they need some hands-on helpers in case something isn't working.  

 

Guess I will keep an eye out for the Internet Assist vests and of course, take a picture.

I needed a lot of internet help on Odyssey. Apparently the security on my iPhone didn’t want to play nice with Starlink and I kept getting kicked off line. I had no problem finding internet assist people throughout the cruise or someone at GS who could help.

[FionaMG]

9 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for the info.

 

It would make sense to have helpers on site on day 1 as not everyone is tech savvy and if they are forcing people to use their Apps only and not online booking, they need some hands-on helpers in case something isn't working.  

 

Guess I will keep an eye out for the Internet Assist vests and of course, take a picture.

 

There were a bunch of them on day 1 of my Odyssey cruise, set up on the "Via" between where you step onto the ship and where Giovanni's is located.

From day 2 onwards, there was just one desk and it was located between Shore Excursions and the Bionic Bar.

Of course, it might be different on your cruise but wherever they are it's going to be somewhere around that area.

[FionaMG]

5 hours ago, perfect match said:

I needed a lot of internet help on Odyssey. Apparently the security on my iPhone didn’t want to play nice with Starlink and I kept getting kicked off line. I had no problem finding internet assist people throughout the cruise or someone at GS who could help.

 

Yes, there's something called Randomized MAC that can have precisely this effect. The instructions left in the stateroom now say to disable that but obviously you need to know how and it's not really the sort of thing you'd normally be aware of.

 

@harryfat1 you might want to get your comp sci son to check this out before boarding.

[HappyTexan44]

I have felt that fully planning a Disney World trip is like a Doctoral Thesis of vacation planning.  So, for example, I have full confidence that I'll get us the earliest boarding possible because I'll have my phone and two different browsers ready to pounce when they open up check-in.  

 

You might appreciate this story.  I was talking to a co-worker about a new employee he has.  We're programmers and introverts.   The new employee is doing great, but confusing to us because she wants to do stuff like decorate the office bulletin board, and plan team events.   He said she even had a spreadsheet on when the people on their team are usually available.  I pointed out that voluntarily making a spreadsheet made her Our People.  

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by HappyTexan44

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, HappyTexan44 said:

You might appreciate this story.  I was talking to a co-worker about a new employee he has.  We're programmers and introverts.   The new employee is doing great, but confusing to us because she wants to do stuff like decorate the office bulletin board, and plan team events.   He said she even had a spreadsheet on when the people on their team are usually available.  I pointed out that voluntarily making a spreadsheet made her Our People. 

 

Love this. I can relate.  I usually enjoy interacting with people so I'm sometimes thought of as an extrovert, but I'm an introvert at heart.  When I need to "re-charge", I'd rather be alone.

 

Q: How can you tell if a coder is an introvert?

A: They stare at their shoes when they talk to you.

 

Q: How can you tell if a coder is an extrovert?

A: They stare at your shoes when they talk to you.

[harryfat1]

15 hours ago, perfect match said:

I needed a lot of internet help on Odyssey. Apparently the security on my iPhone didn’t want to play nice with Starlink and I kept getting kicked off line. I had no problem finding internet assist people throughout the cruise or someone at GS who could help.

 

10 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

There were a bunch of them on day 1 of my Odyssey cruise, set up on the "Via" between where you step onto the ship and where Giovanni's is located.

From day 2 onwards, there was just one desk and it was located between Shore Excursions and the Bionic Bar.

Of course, it might be different on your cruise but wherever they are it's going to be somewhere around that area.

 

10 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

Yes, there's something called Randomized MAC that can have precisely this effect. The instructions left in the stateroom now say to disable that but obviously you need to know how and it's not really the sort of thing you'd normally be aware of.

 

@harryfat1 you might want to get your comp sci son to check this out before boarding.

Thanks for all the tips.

 

Sounds like RCI is set up to help people with the phone App as they are forcing them to book via the App instead of the traditional way of making reservations online from home weeks in advance.

 

This makes sense as they are forcing people to book after boarding but with various types of phones/operating systems, not everything will go smoothly as planned. 

 

Unless they want an angry crowd of people lining up at Guest Services when they can’t get the phone Apps to work, RCI needs to have teams of Internet Helper Staff to assist passengers upon boarding

[harryfat1]

8 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

I have felt that fully planning a Disney World trip is like a Doctoral Thesis of vacation planning.  So, for example, I have full confidence that I'll get us the earliest boarding possible because I'll have my phone and two different browsers ready to pounce when they open up check-in.  

 

You might appreciate this story.  I was talking to a co-worker about a new employee he has.  We're programmers and introverts.   The new employee is doing great, but confusing to us because she wants to do stuff like decorate the office bulletin board, and plan team events.   He said she even had a spreadsheet on when the people on their team are usually available.  I pointed out that voluntarily making a spreadsheet made her Our People.  

 

 

5 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Love this. I can relate.  I usually enjoy interacting with people so I'm sometimes thought of as an extrovert, but I'm an introvert at heart.  When I need to "re-charge", I'd rather be alone.

 

Q: How can you tell if a coder is an introvert?

A: They stare at their shoes when they talk to you.

 

Q: How can you tell if a coder is an extrovert?

A: They stare at your shoes when they talk to you.

 

We can also use the same comparison to account for the new generation of teens that won’t even look up from their phones to talk to anyone:

 

Introvert Teenager: Gives you 1 Thumbs up on the text reply instead of typing actual word responses

 

Extrovert Teenager: Gives you 2 Thumbs up on the text reply AND a smiley face emoji

[harryfat1]

So we made it onto the tender as they loaded more people onto it. We had a choice of a top deck out in the open or lower deck where it was covered.  Since we wanted scenic pictures of the ship, we opted to go onto the top.

 

Before getting on the tender, while I was in line, I checked if I had my wallet with me. Back on the Alaska cruise last year I left my wallet in the cabin safe on my first port so I had no money to pay for anything.  Good thing my wife and boys had money.

 

As the ship is a cashless society (for the most part unless you tip extra cash at the bar) I typically put away my wallet in the safe on day 1 and just use the sea pass (medallion for Princess) for anything we need to buy.  Not a good feeling when you reach for the wallet in the back pocket and feel nothing there...

 

So, this time I made sure I had the wallet with me before getting in line for the tender.

 

That brings up the first music video of the day:

 

 

They said there are 4 tenders working in total for the day.  At any given time there should be 2 tenders at the ship and 2 at the pier and then they swap positions

 

 

That's Avalon - where we will be shortly

 

 

 

Looking straight up - hard on the neck

 

 

The other tender on the Aft part of the ship

 

 

I like the big white ball cushions so the tenders don't bang into the cruise ship as the ocean waves kept pushing the tender into the ship

[harryfat1]

I had been to Europe twice eons ago before the boys were born but never seen it from the perspective of a cruise ship.  Some people have said the view of Avalon (the primary town of the island) has a European flair to it.

 

 

Remember the Catalina Express ferry from day 1 when we were docked at San Pedro?  They come here regularly as that’s the primary transportation for folks to come to the island.  I believe the island has a private small airport but no commercial airline flies here on a regular basis.  For the wealthy, you can arrange for a helicopter to fly you here from LA as well.

 

 

 

What do they store in there underneath the red tarps? Anyway, the tender is full and we are ready to cast off

 

 

[harryfat1]

From the time we boarded the tender to when we finally set foot on the island, it was over 30 minutes so if you have a private excursion booked, don’t cut it too close to getting off the ship as it’s not a quick process. 

 

Since we had no tours booked, we were in no hurry.

 

These people were excited about something but I didn't know what

 

 

Is it just me being paranoid but always a little odd to see a big hole in the ship area where the gangway/tender is located as we are out in the open sea

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 15, 2023 by harryfat1

[harryfat1]

 

In case anyone doesn't know what country we are in - the Red, White, and Blue flag is proudly on display as part of the tender.  So let's be patriot and include the US flag as part of the trip report

 

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Avalon Harbor as the tender approaches the pier

 

 

The Casino building.  More on that later.  Those tiered buildings on the right remind me of Cabo

 

 

As our two tenders dock at Avalon, two other tenders made it to the Navigator to pick up more passengers so there are a total of 4 tenders in operation to serve 3,700+ passengers (and maybe crew members on their break).

 

 

 

The city of Avalon welcomes you as the tender docks

[perfect match]

9 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Unless they want an angry crowd of people lining up at Guest Services when they can’t get the phone Apps to work, RCI needs to have teams of Internet Helper Staff to assist passengers upon boarding

I really wish they would just let us do our bookings in advance so we could actually enjoy day one instead of worrying about getting our bookings set up or if the internet and app are going to work on my phone and tablet. Just a little pet peeve of mine - or is it the OCD planner in me? 😂🤪😂

[harryfat1]

11 hours ago, perfect match said:

I really wish they would just let us do our bookings in advance so we could actually enjoy day one instead of worrying about getting our bookings set up or if the internet and app are going to work on my phone and tablet. Just a little pet peeve of mine - or is it the OCD planner in me? 😂🤪😂

Yes, I agree. If we could do more at home, that's one less thing on the checklist on boarding day.  Especially since Royal forces you to use an App that not everyone is a big fan of it. 

[harryfat1]

So we made it to the city of Avalon, the primary town on the island.  The island is about 25 miles long, but other than the main town of Avalon, the rest is barely inhabited.

 

As far as I know of the major North American cruise itineraries, this is the only cruise stop that involves a US island.

 

I will assume most people on CC don’t know much about the island as it’s not as well known as the other ports on the west coast like Cabo or Puerto Vallarta.   The major cruise lines only come here on the 4-night itinerary when packaged with Ensenada.  During the 3-day sailings, they bypass Catalina and just go to Ensenada directly.

 

For 2023, only the Navigator and Carnival’s Radiance each will come here once a week. Carnival comes on Tuesdays and Navigator comes on Wednesdays during the weeks she is not out at the 7-night sailings as RCI only has one ship homeport in the west coast.

 

Next year, Carnival is adding another ship, Carnival Firenze, that will also sail the 4-night itinerary so they will be at Catalina on Mondays as well as Tuesdays.

 

Since only the short cruises come to Catalina, most distance visitors won’t see Catalina as chances are they would be in town for the 7-night Mexico cruise that sails much further South.  So Catalina Island is less known to the non-locals.

 

People come here without cruise ships from various ferry terminals throughout Southern California.  The round trip fare is $84/pp so if you factor in the cost of that versus what you are paying for a basic cruise, the cruise is a very good deal unless you really want to stay overnight at Catalina that you can’t do while on a cruise sailing.

 

The ferry takes only 1 hour to get here so you know it’s not that far but as we are on a cruise and they had to schedule a sea day in there somewhere on the cruise, yesterday we were just out in the open ocean doing small donuts until we made it to port today.

 

The red arrow was where we left on Day 1 and the purple arrow is where we are today. Less than 30 miles away took us about 1.5 days so you know we didn't go fast/far.

 

 

[harryfat1]

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

The green color area to the right is the pier.  We will drop by there on the way back

 

 

 

As it was a nice day out, we decided to visit the uncle in prison to see how he was doing (aka obligatory tourist shopping for souvenirs).  The main street of Avalon is full of shops and restaurants

 

 

[harryfat1]

As this is California, you must have surfboards.  People rent storage spaces for surfboards on the island

 

 

 

 

 

The wife went inside to check on the uncle in prison while the boys and I chilled outside as it was a women's clothing store.

 

 

[harryfat1]

Oh, yeah, forgot to mention that since this is the US island, your major cell phone carriers should have signal towers here.  We have Verizon and had no problems with connections anywhere near the main town area. 

 

Obviously, if you venture more inland away from the main town area, your coverage will be spotty.

 

 

We didn’t do any excursions here but they have the typical zip line/city tour.  They have a bison view tour where they take you to see the free roaming bison up in the mountains.  If you have never seen bison up close, that might be worthwhile although the price is a bit stiff.

 

We had seen bison during our various road trips to national and state parks in the Western part of the US but if you are not from this area, you can add it to the list as a possible tour while in port.

 

Here are a few pics from our previous road trips to South Dakota years ago:

 

Bison herd freely roam the state park area.  All traffic comes to a standstill once the bison are spotted.  They have the right away

 

 

 

 

Yeah, kids, you don't see a bison next to your car every day