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Navigator of the Seas - March 15 Spring Break short review


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I copy my format each cruise and do a brief review. This time, Navigator for Spring Break. Our first Spring Break cruise so I was curious to see how busy, crazy and kid-filled the cruise would be!

 

Saturday

The family left OK and I flew from SLC to DFW and they picked me up. Traffic was bad in Houston (we lived there for many years so expected that) and we ended up at our hotel (Holiday Inn Express - Webster) about 6:30 pm. The hotel was great, a Hotwire win, close to restaurants and shopping and 30 minutes from the port.

 

Sunday

It was partly sunny/cool/cloudy and we left the hotel about 10:00, stopped at Target for forgotten items, back to the hotel for a left phone charger, and finally arrived at port after an easy drive in. We parked across the street from the port in a "gated" lot and walked to the terminal.

 

There were very few porters so people basically lined up and were instructed where to put our luggage ourselves (no tips given for that!). We went into the Terminal and were through Security and checked in within 10 minutes through the Diamond line. We had friends cruising with us so we all boarded together and wandered a bit before lunch in WJ. We were on the ship by 11:30 am.

 

Luggage was very slow in coming (thinking the porters do a better job of getting "like areas" grouped together) but we got it all by 6 pm or so and sent some things off for pressing. Muster was on Deck 4 at 3:45 which seemed very early. The day had cleared up and it was actually gorgeous outside!

 

We were in adjoining Promenade cabins (dh/me, 2 kids) and it was my first inside room (ever!). We had booked last minute (December) and while getting a fantastic rate for the week, the room was microscopic! There is very little storage and very little room to walk around each other. I will be back in a balcony or great after this!

 

We did late dining at 8:30 and when we checked out the table we were seated at a table for 14. They told us there was nothing we could do (we had a group of 7) and were seated with like-aged people. HA!. We were seated with other people from OK who had toddlers. They also had wanted to be with their family so we each asked to be moved and were accommodated after the first night. After that we had Dapeek (sp) and Anquar and they were excellent. We only ate in the dining room for the 2 formal nights, the first night and one other night. The food was good and served as ordered.

 

We ate in WJ the other nights and found it relaxed and pleasing to all. We had Izumi for lunch on the last sea day and the service was spotty, plus the food wasn't the usual quality to me. Lunch was either WJ or at the ports, and breakfast was mainly the DL for me, with a quick stop at WJ for a snack if needed.

 

Weather

The weather was the BEST we've EVER had on a cruise. The first 2 days at sea were WINDY, but sunny. Every single day in port was gorgeous. The last sea day was perfect. BEST.WEATHER.EVER.

 

Ports

Falmouth - we had nothing planned. We got off, ate a horrible meal at Margaritaville and got back on. I've never been a fan of this port and usually use it as a "free" sea day on the ship.

 

Cayman - we booked the 3 stop plus beach lunch trip w/Captain Marvin's. We had a BLAST. We were cutting it a little close getting back to the ship (but the lines were REALLY long and I'm sure they knew this) but the overall trip was excellent! The food was good at lunch - fish and chicken.

 

Cozumel - we booked Mr. Sanchos. There were 7 ships in port I think and getting off the ship and through their "security" (drug dogs, 2 for every single person off Navigator and Freedom at the same time?) was SLOW but the ride to the resort and back was quick, and the place, while busy, was not that crowded. It was an EXCELLENT day and every single person in our group had a blast. We did the all-inclusive, ordered off the menu, went to the pool bar, hung in the ocean, etc. Would definitely go again!

 

Staff

Only saw the Cruise Director during Love & Marriage - the activities guy was out at the pool a lot and seemed personable. Beverly was our room steward and she was great. Nadja was the DL concierge and she was super friendly and nice. The waiters in the DL were excellent and offered many free-flowing drinks (of very limited choice). The rest of the staff was friendly and outgoing for the most part.

 

Sea Days

Our experience with Thanksgiving cruises is that it doesn't seem as crowded at the pool due to extended family members (old and young) that don't seem to "lay out" as much. The difference in a Spring Break cruise is EVERYONE wants to be outside. We were able to find seats by going out early (9:30) and the pool band was FANTASTIC! The videos were incredibly stupid on the big screen and it was nice to see March Madness on Saturday, instead of the same videos over and over.

 

Shows

I went to the first half of Love & Marriage and the first Adult comedy show. Really enjoyed the comedian!

 

Sunday

Disembarkation is chaos in Galveston. Absolute chaos. EVERYONE wants to take their own luggage off. Everyone gets Pass A. We were thrown into a line, told to wait at a certain spot for the end of it to come to us (start a new line), then 10 minutes (and 150 people added) later told to go to the end. They have NO process at all. Once off the ship, Customs moved very quickly.

 

Overall thoughts:

The ship looked great. We had cruised Navigator in 2006 and you could tell she had been refurbished, but I thought she looked as good now as then.

 

I felt that with the drink packages and Diamond drinks added onto our cards, the bar staff didn't seem as outgoing and friendly as I've noticed in the past. Maybe because everything is pre-paid? There seemed to be longer waits at each bar as well. Just an observation. The Diamond drinks were easy to get tho and the Miller Lite cans were rarely opened, just handed to us so we did grab a couple of extra for the room.

 

I also expected MANY MANY children (heck, I brought 2 of my own). I was surprised how many older teens and college aged kids there were, and NOT so many young ones. For the most part, everyone was really well behaved. There were a fun running down the hall/screaming episodes but no elevator button pushing or anything like that!

 

Holler with any questions!

 

__________________

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I copy my format each cruise and do a brief review. This time, Navigator for Spring Break. Our first Spring Break cruise so I was curious to see how busy, crazy and kid-filled the cruise would be!

 

Saturday

The family left OK and I flew from SLC to DFW and they picked me up. Traffic was bad in Houston (we lived there for many years so expected that) and we ended up at our hotel (Holiday Inn Express - Webster) about 6:30 pm. The hotel was great, a Hotwire win, close to restaurants and shopping and 30 minutes from the port.

 

Sunday

It was partly sunny/cool/cloudy and we left the hotel about 10:00, stopped at Target for forgotten items, back to the hotel for a left phone charger, and finally arrived at port after an easy drive in. We parked across the street from the port in a "gated" lot and walked to the terminal.

 

There were very few porters so people basically lined up and were instructed where to put our luggage ourselves (no tips given for that!). We went into the Terminal and were through Security and checked in within 10 minutes through the Diamond line. We had friends cruising with us so we all boarded together and wandered a bit before lunch in WJ. We were on the ship by 11:30 am.

 

Luggage was very slow in coming (thinking the porters do a better job of getting "like areas" grouped together) but we got it all by 6 pm or so and sent some things off for pressing. Muster was on Deck 4 at 3:45 which seemed very early. The day had cleared up and it was actually gorgeous outside!

 

We were in adjoining Promenade cabins (dh/me, 2 kids) and it was my first inside room (ever!). We had booked last minute (December) and while getting a fantastic rate for the week, the room was microscopic! There is very little storage and very little room to walk around each other. I will be back in a balcony or great after this!

 

We did late dining at 8:30 and when we checked out the table we were seated at a table for 14. They told us there was nothing we could do (we had a group of 7) and were seated with like-aged people. HA!. We were seated with other people from OK who had toddlers. They also had wanted to be with their family so we each asked to be moved and were accommodated after the first night. After that we had Dapeek (sp) and Anquar and they were excellent. We only ate in the dining room for the 2 formal nights, the first night and one other night. The food was good and served as ordered.

 

We ate in WJ the other nights and found it relaxed and pleasing to all. We had Izumi for lunch on the last sea day and the service was spotty, plus the food wasn't the usual quality to me. Lunch was either WJ or at the ports, and breakfast was mainly the DL for me, with a quick stop at WJ for a snack if needed.

 

Weather

The weather was the BEST we've EVER had on a cruise. The first 2 days at sea were WINDY, but sunny. Every single day in port was gorgeous. The last sea day was perfect. BEST.WEATHER.EVER.

 

Ports

Falmouth - we had nothing planned. We got off, ate a horrible meal at Margaritaville and got back on. I've never been a fan of this port and usually use it as a "free" sea day on the ship.

 

Cayman - we booked the 3 stop plus beach lunch trip w/Captain Marvin's. We had a BLAST. We were cutting it a little close getting back to the ship (but the lines were REALLY long and I'm sure they knew this) but the overall trip was excellent! The food was good at lunch - fish and chicken.

 

Cozumel - we booked Mr. Sanchos. There were 7 ships in port I think and getting off the ship and through their "security" (drug dogs, 2 for every single person off Navigator and Freedom at the same time?) was SLOW but the ride to the resort and back was quick, and the place, while busy, was not that crowded. It was an EXCELLENT day and every single person in our group had a blast. We did the all-inclusive, ordered off the menu, went to the pool bar, hung in the ocean, etc. Would definitely go again!

 

Staff

Only saw the Cruise Director during Love & Marriage - the activities guy was out at the pool a lot and seemed personable. Beverly was our room steward and she was great. Nadja was the DL concierge and she was super friendly and nice. The waiters in the DL were excellent and offered many free-flowing drinks (of very limited choice). The rest of the staff was friendly and outgoing for the most part.

 

Sea Days

Our experience with Thanksgiving cruises is that it doesn't seem as crowded at the pool due to extended family members (old and young) that don't seem to "lay out" as much. The difference in a Spring Break cruise is EVERYONE wants to be outside. We were able to find seats by going out early (9:30) and the pool band was FANTASTIC! The videos were incredibly stupid on the big screen and it was nice to see March Madness on Saturday, instead of the same videos over and over.

 

Shows

I went to the first half of Love & Marriage and the first Adult comedy show. Really enjoyed the comedian!

 

Sunday

Disembarkation is chaos in Galveston. Absolute chaos. EVERYONE wants to take their own luggage off. Everyone gets Pass A. We were thrown into a line, told to wait at a certain spot for the end of it to come to us (start a new line), then 10 minutes (and 150 people added) later told to go to the end. They have NO process at all. Once off the ship, Customs moved very quickly.

 

Overall thoughts:

The ship looked great. We had cruised Navigator in 2006 and you could tell she had been refurbished, but I thought she looked as good now as then.

 

I felt that with the drink packages and Diamond drinks added onto our cards, the bar staff didn't seem as outgoing and friendly as I've noticed in the past. Maybe because everything is pre-paid? There seemed to be longer waits at each bar as well. Just an observation. The Diamond drinks were easy to get tho and the Miller Lite cans were rarely opened, just handed to us so we did grab a couple of extra for the room.

 

I also expected MANY MANY children (heck, I brought 2 of my own). I was surprised how many older teens and college aged kids there were, and NOT so many young ones. For the most part, everyone was really well behaved. There were a fun running down the hall/screaming episodes but no elevator button pushing or anything like that!

 

Holler with any questions!

 

__________________

 

Great Review. The Navigator is my one of my favorites, I'm headed back to her this Fall, in a PR room! Ahh didn't love the feedback - but I am going solo, so it should be fine.

 

Questions - Did you happen to eat at Sabor? If so, what did you think?

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Sunday

Disembarkation is chaos in Galveston. Absolute chaos. EVERYONE wants to take their own luggage off. Everyone gets Pass A. We were thrown into a line, told to wait at a certain spot for the end of it to come to us (start a new line), then 10 minutes (and 150 people added) later told to go to the end. They have NO process at all. Once off the ship, Customs moved very quickly.

 

 

I just don't understand why Royal Caribbean can't get this under control. They do such a good job of crowd control and dispersing people until the ship arrives back in Galveston, then all bets are off.:(

 

I think Princess gets the self disembark right and RCI needs to take a look at their system. They capacity control the walk-off disembarkation, and you have to sign up for it by mid week. Everyone doing the self disembark gets a number, and it's very orderly. I cringe every time we pull back into Galveston on a Royal Caribbean ship because I know 50% of the passengers are going to be lining up to haul off mass quantities of luggage, with no organization or plan on behalf of the ship.:rolleyes:

Edited by Cindy
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Great Review. The Navigator is my one of my favorites, I'm headed back to her this Fall, in a PR room! Ahh didn't love the feedback - but I am going solo, so it should be fine.

 

Questions - Did you happen to eat at Sabor? If so, what did you think?

 

Yes, a PR room would be fine alone! Dh and I did fine, we're just used to (um, maybe spoiled...) more space!

 

No on Sabor for this ship. We had tried on Oasis and I loved it. But it was ala carte there and I knew it would be way TOO much food for a full meal. The first night was 20% off so if you're interested go then! The bacon wrapped shrimp were the best!

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I also was on this cruise and we had an incredible time. A couple of things that I did not like:

 

1. The brewed coffee throughout the ship was disgusting. I've sailed several times with RCL and never have experienced this. When adding cream the coffee did not even turn the normal caramel color, it looked more like mud (and tasted like it). Also, they no longer put out the to-go cups in Cafe Promenade and acted somewhat put-out when I requested them. Even then, they would not provide the hand protectors for the cups.

 

2. The food service in the MDR was just incredibly, painfully, slow. 30 minutes between courses was the norm.

 

On the positive side of things, Sabor was fantastic and the WJ was unusually good.

 

 

Also, I would advise most people who drink at all to get the Premium Package. The prices are now officially insane. An obvious ploy to get everyone to sign up for a package.

 

Regarding, disembarkation- we had no issue whatsoever. We arrived at the theater with our pass at about 7, the line started moving at about 7:15, we basically just walked right out of the ship and through customs with incredible speed. My family and I were at our home on the west side of Houston by 8:50AM.

 

Great trip, looking forward to the Liberty.

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Cozumel - we booked Mr. Sanchos. There were 7 ships in port I think and getting off the ship and through their "security" (drug dogs, 2 for every single person off Navigator and Freedom at the same time?) was SLOW but the ride to the resort and back was quick, and the place, while busy, was not that crowded. It was an EXCELLENT day and every single person in our group had a blast. We did the all-inclusive, ordered off the menu, went to the pool bar, hung in the ocean, etc. Would definitely go again!

 

Hello Masonpips.:)

 

Glad to hear that the cruise was good overall, except for the disembarkation process.

 

We were in Cozumel around the same time as you. We were there March 13th on Allure. We too got to experience the dog. When we were there with you, on Oasis, last fall port officials did a manual search of bags by human right when you exited the pier. I first thought the dog was for drugs. Then I started to think they were searching for fruit or food items. A tourist bringing drugs will not greatly effect the economy, compared to a tourist bringing contaminated fruit or meat products into Mexico which could greatly effect the economy.

 

Either way, the dog was much faster than the manual bag search.

 

Take care for now,

Andrew

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Just off of this cruise as well. It was my fifth time on RCL - but first time in four years....(only been on DCL the last couple years).

 

Agree, that almost never saw the cruise director. the activities manager seemed like a good guy - much more visible though.

 

gave up on MDR after second night - again so slow....and dress code enforced, which is discussed a lot on another thread- but with early dinner and small kids, not convenient. Food and service at Windjammer was just better and more convenient.

 

Formal night was on Cozumel port day....5:30 ALL ABOARD, 5:30 formal dinner -not compatible. :)

 

Overall, the drive for SALES, SALES, SALES struck me...from messages on the TV, to voicemails from dinner venues....felt like we were being continually spammed on vacation. Not a big deal but a nagging annoyance...and much more present than prior cruises.

 

I was VERY impressed with the response to the medical emergency.

 

I took the all access tour - and learned that the captain ordered the ship at full steam (all five engines, they said) to get within coast guard range as quickly as possible...in an effort to save the life of a boy with an appendix rupture. They said the ship used $50k extra in fuel.

 

Anyone know if the boy is okay??

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I just don't understand why Royal Caribbean can't get this under control. They do such a good job of crowd control and dispersing people until the ship arrives back in Galveston, then all bets are off.:(

 

I think Princess gets the self disembark right and RCI needs to take a look at their system. They capacity control the walk-off disembarkation, and you have to sign up for it by mid week. Everyone doing the self disembark gets a number, and it's very orderly. I cringe every time we pull back into Galveston on a Royal Caribbean ship because I know 50% of the passengers are going to be lining up to haul off mass quantities of luggage, with no organization or plan on behalf of the ship.:rolleyes:

 

I agree. On our Celebrity Summit cruises, we had to sign up for self disembarkation by mid-cruise. It was capacity controlled. The stewards had a list of who had signed up, and a housekeeping supervisor made sure everyone who was not on the list put their luggage out in the hall on the last evening.

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Yes, a PR room would be fine alone! Dh and I did fine, we're just used to (um, maybe spoiled...) more space!

 

 

 

No on Sabor for this ship. We had tried on Oasis and I loved it. But it was ala carte there and I knew it would be way TOO much food for a full meal. The first night was 20% off so if you're interested go then! The bacon wrapped shrimp were the best!

 

 

Thanks for the review! So is Sabor al a carte on the Navigator? What's the atmosphere there like and dress code?

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Thanks for the review! So is Sabor al a carte on the Navigator? What's the atmosphere there like and dress code?

 

Sabor is not a la carte on the Navigator. I believe it was $20 for adults and $8 for kids.

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Formal night was on Cozumel port day....5:30 ALL ABOARD, 5:30 formal dinner -not compatible. :)

 

 

I was VERY impressed with the response to the medical emergency.

 

I took the all access tour - and learned that the captain ordered the ship at full steam (all five engines, they said) to get within coast guard range as quickly as possible...in an effort to save the life of a boy with an appendix rupture. They said the ship used $50k extra in fuel.

 

Anyone know if the boy is okay??

 

OMG! Yes on formal night - in fact, I was SURE it would be Cayman and couldn't believe it when I snagged a Compass the evening before and saw it wasn't. We felt sure it was to make sure NOT as many people came so it saved them money?

 

And I agree wholeheartedly re: the medical emergency! As a mom of a son that had his appendix removed, I'm so glad they got him off. I haven't heard a thing, but loved that they updated us and then hauled to get him off!

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Hello Masonpips.:)

 

Either way, the dog was much faster than the manual bag search.

 

Take care for now,

Andrew

 

Hey Andrew!!!

 

That helps - I did see a lady with an apple standing there going "what do I do with it?". Tee hee.

 

I just wish they would have staggered the times for Freedom/Navigator a bit more! Everyone seemed to get off at the same time and filter by the two guys with dogs!

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Good review am looking forward to being back on her in Feb. I forgot wheather there is a place on the pool deck to get coffee ,can you tell me ?

 

Windjammer would be the closest place on the pool deck (Deck 11).

 

Also, the only coffee I drank was a morning cappuccino (plus espresso depending on the night before) from the Diamond Lounge and an after-dinner decaf in the MDR. Both were fine. I made a lot of hot tea at the Promenade - I adore their Chamomile!

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My family was also on this same cruise. We had a blast. Not sure if it wAs the time we had dinner (6:00 MTD) but we never had a problem with getting our food in a reasonable amount of time ( we were always finished by about 7:15). For the person asking about Sabor...it is simply delicious!! I eat Mexican food all the time and the food there was THE BEST I've ever eaten. It's a lot of food though so go hungry. At dinner the price is $25 for adults. I agree about the awful coffee. I always added hot water to mine as it was so strong it was bitter, even with creamer and lots of sugar.

 

 

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My family was also on this same cruise. We had a blast. Not sure if it wAs the time we had dinner (6:00 MTD) but we never had a problem with getting our food in a reasonable amount of time ( we were always finished by about 7:15). For the person asking about Sabor...it is simply delicious!! I eat Mexican food all the time and the food there was THE BEST I've ever eaten. It's a lot of food though so go hungry. At dinner the price is $25 for adults. I agree about the awful coffee. I always added hot water to mine as it was so strong it was bitter, even with creamer and lots of sugar.

 

 

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Boy all I keep hearing about is how good Sabor is, were a group of 4 Mexican food lovers from San Diego. (and believe me we eat a lot of Mexican food) I sure hope it's as good as yall :D say it is! Really looking forward to it.

 

Also anyone off this cruise know if the Grapes or Grains deal was offered?

 

Thanks

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