My Navigator review, w/kids, RFS, part 2

[Maria65]

Dining Room: We weren't seated with my father and step-mother initially which took some time trying to get fixed. I don't understand why so many people have to go through this. I had called in advance to make sure we were seated together. In the end, we had the best service imaginable. Henry from India could not have been more helpful and kind towards my children. Some nights they had three appetizers as their dinner. he was very encouraging for them to have whatever they wanted and was quick to offer to replace anything they didn't like. This made for a convivial atmosphere and some very happy children. The food was excellent. I noted the lobster was very much improved over my pervious experience, tender and sweet, yumm. Henry gave us surf and turf as we enjoyed the lobster and filet mignon together. Dinner was a highlight of our day as the whole family gathered to enjoy fine food and each other's company. It was a pleasure to see everyone dressed so nicely on the formal nights. I did notice an occasional man in tee shirt and shorts on casual nights but they were few and far between. Most everyone looked elegant and well put together.

 

Entertainment: I only went to one show, which was a Broadway review. It wasn't great, the MammaMia medley at the end saved it from getting a bad review on my book. My husband enjoyed the karaoke idol shows but I just couldn't keep my eyes open at night and was once again a party pooper.

 

Sports: I did one ice skating session which was fun. I'm not built for the rock wall but the kids had fun trying it. My husband and I and our youngest had great fun playing miniature golf. I'm not sure if this course is different than Voyager's but it seemed better to me.

 

Adventure Ocean: My younger kids had so much fun, lots of activities and games to keep them happy and occupied. They made friends and stayed for the late night party three times. The two 13 year-olds faced more of a challenge. I'm very glad we decided to bring a friend for my daughter. The 12-14 year old group tries to give the kids things to do but either too few kids come to them, or they were geared towards boy-girl stuff that my daughter just didn't want to participate in. One of the first activities was giving the kids cameras and telling them to go around looking for babes and photographing the "talent" on board. That really turned them off. My daughter doesn't watch MTV and isn't into the whole dance and music scene so that didn't interest her either. She's more the bookish type kid but she would have liked some of the science activities they do with the younger kids, just geared towards middle school aged kids. I guess a lot of kids would think that's boring. In the end, my daughter and her friend spent their time going to the shows in the theater or checking out other things to do onboard. Fortunately, they're good kids and didn't cause trouble. On the other hand, some of the other kids in this age group weren't so good and there were some issues with bullying and fighting that were reported to me. Kids in this age group are free to come and go as they please which means they are unsupervised and there are a few who could have used some definite supervision. My girls told me about one boy who was a serious instigator of trouble and how he ended up playing the victim when the tables were turned on him. He manipulated his parents into blaming everyone else, when he was the entire problem himself. I felt really badly for the kids staff who have to deal with this sort of thing. They do such a great job with the younger kids. I think it would be better to have the 12-14 year olds to be better supervised if they are in the kids club areas.

 

 

part 3 to follow