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Just Back from Navigator 02/05/05 sailing...Any questions?


joeyancho

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Hi Cruisechic2005, We sailed the Western Caribbean. The ship was magnificent. My favorite thing was the food. It was superb. They are trying out some new things in the dining room and they were all fantastic. The food has been really upgraded. I think you will love it. The windjammer was also fantastic. As for shore excursions, try the 4X4 jeep safari in Jamaica. It was our second time on this excursion and it was fantastic. We had a blast. If you have any further questions feel free to email me at joeyancho@yahoo.com.

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Just back from a terrific vacation on the Navigator. If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them. I will post a review later in the week.
How often is the ice skating rink open? Is it open while at port? And how long is it opened during a period of time? Was it too crowded to enjoy it? How did the ship compare to others, if you've cruised in the past. Thanks for your help.
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We, too, just returned from the Feb. 5th sailing of the Navigator of the Seas :cool: and have to agree with joeyancho about the food, except for the last night they had NY Strip Steak which I believe is the old and famous ranch steak.:( We all (8 of us) ordered it and had wished we had ordered the turkey. The black angus on the alternate menu was much better.

 

Carol

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How often is the ice skating rink open? Is it open while at port? And how long is it opened during a period of time? Was it too crowded to enjoy it? How did the ship compare to others, if you've cruised in the past. Thanks for your help.

 

It is open a few times during the cruise. About 2-4 times. However the kids must sign up the first day to participate. Only 40 kids are allowed to sign up. I don't think it is open while in port. The sessions are 45 minutes each. I think the only open skate is on the 7th day. The ship is beyond what mere words could describe. It is magnificent. I could not find one negative thing to say about it. It is head and shoulders above any other ship, and I have cruised 14 times.

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THere seemed to be some sort of hold up, so we could not board until 1:30 pm. This was also the case on disembarkation also. We could not leave the ship until 12:30 pm. We were so late in getting off the ship that we missed our 1:20 pm flight and had to fly standby on the next flight. Luckily we were able to get on that flight. The formal nights were Sunday and Wednesday. However your cruise may differ. Hope this helps. Would you please email me after your cruise and let me know how you liked that itinerary as we are going on that one next year. Thanks. joeyancho@yahoo.com Bon Voyage.

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We are doing the Navigator in June. Any help you can give on port excursions and anything on-board would be real helpful. We have two adult couples and a group of seven kids ranging from 17-21. We have cruised once before, Mexico. Thanks for any advice you can send my way.

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Hi Susan, First let me say that you and your children will just love the Navigator. It is a magnificent ship. There will be tons of stuff for them to do. As for excursions, Swimming with the stingrays in Grand Cayman is a must. It is a great experience. In Cozumel we went to Chankanaab Park on our own. This saves a ton of money. Just grab a cab at the dock and ask to be taken to the park. The fare is just $10.00 for a party of 4. The admission to the park is $12.00 per person. The park has a beach, great snorkeling with equipment rental available, a botanical garden, a replica Mayan village to explore, bars, restaurants and a whole lot more. You can Google the park name and check it out for yourself. We spent the entire day there. It was great. In Jamaica you should take and organized tour rather than wandering about by yourself. We took the 4X4 Jeep Safari offered by the ship. It was a blast. You can also book with Peat Taylor online, he offers a nice tour and it is cheaper than the ship. I think you can Google him to get his email address. Hope this helps. Bon Voyage............

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We sail on Saturday :D - going Eastern. Two questions: what time did you embark? I have heard so many different situations, I'm trying to get a handle on timing. And, which nights were formal? Thanks in advance.

On NOS's Eastern itinerary formal nights are the 2 sea days - Sunday & Thrusday. As far as boarding... Typically anytime between 11-11:30am and Noon, but if there are Customs & Immigration delays in getting everyone off the ship it could be later. That's one of those questions that can't really be answered because it can vary so much from week to week.

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We also just returned from the Navigator of the Seas, 2/5/05, Western Caribbean itinerary. I will say I agree with most comments I've read about the ship -- generally immaculate and kept very clean. The use of wood, marble, glass, granite and marble throughout the ship is very impressive, as are the theater, dining (!), and other public areas. The cabins are also very nice - we had adjoining balconies on the eighth floor and the cabins are wide enough to go around the bed with no problem, both rooms had couches our steward could convert to additional at least queen size beds w/no problem, and the rooms and bathrooms had lots of built in shelving and storage spaces to hold everything. Luggage easily fits under main bed and balcony is all glass below rail which is neat for viewing. Table on balcony is too small but it's easily swapped with coffee table in room if you take room service outside. Food on this ship has very mixed comments but we generally found it varied and good in the main dining rooms, fairly poor (except breakfast) in the cafeteria (Windjammer). We also tried both Chops and Portofino - best steak I ever had at Chops and I don't usually like the tenderloin cut and Portofino has great service and very good food too (the two upgrade restaurants on this ship are managed respectively by a wife husband team -- charge for each is $25 pp but includes tip -- we brought wine to both and $12.50 corkage fee was waived in Portofino, but not Chops; also brought one bottle 5 other nights in main dining room and corkage was not applied at least by our waiter every night -- note we brought fairly premium wines not on wine list viewable on RC site). Only negative comments I can make about this cruise is the guest relations/purser desk staff is poorly trained (only poor service I encountered in an otherwise very very well run ship -- example, asked purser for 30 one dollar bills for next day in port, and was met with reply that "well, then there won't be enough for everyone else so I can only give you ten"). Also, the ports on the Western Caribbean tour are not as nice as many other port cities in the world -- this itinerary is best for those who want a beach oriented trip, or are into shore excursions - restaurants and shopping are spotty and tend to be fairly expensive and not prone to bargaining, also Cayman is devastated after hurricane except the core shopping district of watch and jewelry shops. The glass bottom boats in Cayman are awesome on the Land and SEa tour, but Hell and the turtle farm (commercial enterprise more than ecological preserve and rest of island are depressing given devastation of hurricane. The beach horse riding in Jamaica is also awesome and there is still plenty of time to go taxi over and climb Dunns River Falls. Cozumel is best for shopping off the main beach road, only place we found we could haggle prices on this trip. Labadee really is part of Haiti and we found that neat, but were reminded of those far less fortunate as we were on beach with UN helicopters crossing just overhead -- also Royal Caribbean should have staff when you get off tender boats to explain options and what their private beach offers - a bit confusing and lots of folks there trying to nick a few bucks to help you get settled, but not much structure or explanation which would have helped. What else... shows on ship were remarkably good, we saw a broadway review -- light entertainment but perfect for this setting and high quality singing, also saw the Platters who were flown in -- excellent! and the Ice show-- getting tickets no problem if you do as you are told in terms of getting on line on time. we brought a one and two year old on our trip and my parents - easy to take kids around ship -- not so easy in tendered ports b/c tender operators are not RC staff and not all that helpful. Lots for seniors to do on ship too. Wife and mother did lots of spa things which they liked but were very expensive, ouch. Please email any questions -- would be happy to explain any of above which was relatively stream of consciousness b/c not lots of time. -Lou.

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