My Navigator Review w/kids, RFS, part 1

[Maria65]

Here's my Navigator of the seas review from our fabulous 10/30 voyage. We are a family of six, myself, my husband, and four kids ages 13, 11, 10 and 7. We also brought along my 13 yr old daughter's friend, also 13. My father and step-other also sailed with us, on their first cruise. My family had sailed on Voyager last year.

 

We flew down to West Palm Beach on Friday night, because I got a really great fare from philadelphia, $116 RT. Unfortunately, we sat on the runway for two hours and arrived in Florida well past midnight. By the time I got the rental car and got to the hotel, it was 2am. Not the best way to start a vacation. The kids were troopers about it all, but my patience was running thin.

 

Embarkation: I wouldn't have minded on a full night's sleep but the stress of just getting to the pier was a lot and it wasn't fun to wait an hour on a line which never moved due to the tight security with the disembarkation of the previous cruise. In the end, we got their safely and had nice people from England to chat with on the line so it all worked out. Once inside, we really appreicated the priority embarkation for suite holders. My father has mobility and vision issues and they were very grateful for the quick assistance RCI provided them. They were immediately placed in the special admiral's lounge where they were very impressed with the glowing comments frequent cruisers had to say about their previous cruise experiences. I was very concerned with my father's issues and whether he would be able to tolerate cruising and I can happily report RCI exceeded all expectations in costumer service for those with disabilities. They never even had to ask for help.

 

Our Suite, the Royal Family Suite, #9394, worth every penny. It was a long walk from the elevators and that did take some getting used to, but the suite itself more than made up for it. The layout is perfect. I loved that our bedroom had the sliding door to the living room which made everything seem so spacious, yet still gave us privacy. The kids bedroom was perfect for them with plenty of storage. The huge walk-in closet in the hall was great too. My son slept on the sofa bed which he found comfortable, but seemed hard to me. The Bose stereo system was a big plus but it was very hard to figure out how to use. The room steward couldn't figure it out and it took someone from maintenance 30 minutes to make it work manually. The remote never worked, not a huge deal. The balcony was fabulous. We enjoyed breakfast outside several times and I spent a lot of time on my lounge chair, just napping and reading. I really appreciated the peace and quiet. Yes, you can see into other people's balconies and the people above you can see into yours, but it was never an issue. My kids made friends with the kids above us and they occasionally would chat out on the balcony, but most of the time, no one was out there.

 

One problem: We dragged along our laptop so that we could keep in touch with family at home. We wanted to buy the cybercabin with unlimited internet for $100. My husband works in the computer field and he couldn't make it work. Costumer service was slow to be helpful and insisted my husband was hooking it up wrong. He waited and waited for them to send someone up, which they eventually did (during this time, we missed the meet and mingle, which I'm very sorry for, it wasn't my intention to be one of those people who sign up but don't show). By this time, my husband wanted to just chuck the whole ide of having the laptop as it felt like he was at work dealing with computer issues. We discovered that the wireless wi-fi worked just fine, which they'd only sell by the minute, not the $100 flat fee for the week. In the end, we paid $0.33 minute for $50 worth of time, just enough to keep in touch at home. It was pretty cool to email while sitting on my balcony. Hopefully, they'll have a wireless wi-fi package for a flat-fee soon.

 

 

part 2 to follow

[hstrybuf]

Maria, I'm glad your dad had such a good experience. Sorry we didn't get to meet at the M&M. I thought about knocking on your door several times since we were just three doors down, but didn't. The walk to the elevators was definitely looooong! :)

[Maria65]

Deb, I feel so bad about missing the m&m. I thought about knocking on your door too. Glad you had such a nice trip too. I trust your balcony was soot free as well? It was never an issue for us.

[hstrybuf]

No soot problem for us either! Funny thing was, I went around the ship saying "do you know Maria?" :D