Navigator Review 12/3-8

[ritarussell]

I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell about our fabulous cruise aboard the Navigator. This was our 2nd but our kids 1st Voyager ship and were they impressed! The ship is beautiful. The crew was very friendly and hardworking. The kids had a great time. Especially the 15 year old. Kudos for RCI for the teen program. We barely saw him the entire cruise, he was either hanging out in the living room, fuel or participating in the teen activities. There were several teens on this sailing and by the end of the cruise, they were all great friends. The last cruise we took with the kids on the Carnival Sensation, by ds was bored to tears. I think we'll stick with RCI Voyager or above for this reason alone. My 10 yr old ds had a great time as well, made lots of new friends and wanted to stay in Adventure Ocean every night until 1 am! DS is 6 and enjoyed himself but wanted to stay in the room with his sister. Not because he wanted to be with her, but because they had better playstation games!

 

Embarkation was a breeze, we took a shuttle over around 12:00 from the Embassy Suites. There was a little traffic jam getting into the port, but once we were there, the lines were non existant. RCI does a FABULOUS job with this.

 

We had 2 inside cabins for our family of 5. This worked out great for us. Having 2 bathrooms and the kids having their own room was great. Our stateroom attendant did a great job.

 

The food was good. It wasn't great, but was good. Our waiter knew all of our names by the second night and was great with the kids, my ds always had his food first which he liked. We did have the fisherman's plate (lobster and shrimp) and it was pretty good, I did have second's which I shared with ds.

 

We ate in the windjammer for mostly breakfast and lunch, once for dinner, which was actually quite good.

 

We attended one show. A comedian. He was HILARIOUS!!! For any of you with kids, you will know who he is. I can't remember his name, but he plays the dad on That's so Raven and Corey in the House on Disney. He literally had me in tears. I'm so glad the we went. We didn't get to see the ice show because we didn't realize when the tickets were on sale. Oh well, guess I have to take my dd on another Voyager Ship!

 

DD and I did go ice skating, although very slowly. It was both of our first time! It was a lot of fun.

 

In Cozumel we did the Dolphin Encounter. We booked directly thru Dolphin Discovery for a lot less money. Especially since there were 5 of us. It was an experience. We got to kiss the dolphin and shake her fin. DS didn't want to kiss the dolphin so we missed out on the picture. We decided to just order the DVD since we didn't have pictures of all of us.

 

In Belize we went to Bannister Island. It was a pretty beach, but not very soft sand. My dd collected several sea shells. You need water shoes on this beach because it's so coarse. The water was also pretty cloudy. We were disappointed, the kids really liked the beach in Grand Cayman and were hoping for something similar. I'm assuming it was because it had rained the day before.

 

The weather was wonderful the whole time. Itrained the first evening but we were inside at the time so missed that. This was also the smoothest cruise I have ever had. Normally there is at least 1 night that is rocky, but itwas smooth sailing the whole cruise.

 

The only problem I had was debarkation. This was a nightmare! There was one line to get out the door and this winded through all of the piles of luggage. There were people everywhere. We barely made our flight. I have never had an issue before, especially when I book my flight after 12. We even had a limo waiting for us. The only reason we got out in time was because my dh went to the front of the line and begged for someone to let us through. We still ended up running for the plane!! AWFUL! Especially with 3 kids. This is not an RCI issue, this is the port lauderdale issue. They will never see me again!

 

All in All, we had a fabulous time. The ship, the food, the staff, the entertainment, all great for our family. I look forward to sailing the Grandeur in April, this time just me and hubby.

 

Let me know if you have any questions!