Navigator Review January 18 2015

Greetings all! just got off NAV in Galveston yesterday boo hiss. it was our first time on this class of ship and I was very pleasantly surprised. it was me and Mr Spook( aka Johnny_b) on a last minute( as in booked 3 weeks out) spur of the moment cruise to use up some of his leave before he will be unable to take any time off for 6 months. ( I blame the Navy)

Galveston:. the rep she has? yeah. pretty well deserved in many respects. we live in San Antonio, and he has a sister in Spring(Houston) so we drove to their place the night before for a free hotel stay (and morning donuts) and a short 75-80 minute drive to the pier as opposed to a 4 hour drive straight from home. we booked Lighthouse Parking and were very pleased. while they are not paved at all, half the spots are covered and they have at least 2 vans dropping off and picking up continuously. we pulled in to park and I could see my cabin on NAV.

PSA: when the Porters come up to you and ask if you want their assistance; SAY YES. well worth the dollar per bag tip. Why you ask? I shall tell you. Because the self service drop off is a Cluster fvck of epic proportions. you see, if you do not already have the pre printed luggage tags, you have to hunt down the guy dispensing them and then return to your spot and your ten bags, thus holding up the line of people behind you who already did have tags but we so ignored by the chick in the jacket and holding the walkie talkie that we were un able to just hand then over and go stand in line to check in. the woman REFUSED to acknowledge our questions, pointed stares and whatnot, even though had she just done her freaking job, the line would have dissipated quite quickly. yes I know this is NOT a Royal issue.

security lines were moving quickly once inside. the nice lady with the white blouse and frilly bow at her neck tried to send us down the 'gold' check in line. we quickly pointed out we were in a suite and she sent us down the correct lane. we were being waved over to a spot before we got to the end of the line. took longer to pull out the credit card to be scanned than it did to get checked in. the waiting area is on the tiny side, and is NOT divvied up at all.. just one open area where everyone basically jammed themselves as close to the two sets of doors as they could. there were a butt ton of WC assistance requests, as well as several using them, walkers and ecvs under their own power. maybe 1115 ish they called for Pinnacles to begin boarding. then they called for suites. we had to push our way through all the SRO people who insisted on standing as close as they could despite having boarding numbers closer to 9 than 1.

up the escalator and the ramp and we were 'binged' on board. being not insane( and still full of donuts) we opted to NOT head directly to Windjammer. Instead we wandered about the ship, seeing as how it was our first time on board. before too long we found ourselves on the Promenade where the enticing smell of coffee perked Mr Spook right the heck up. barely got past the ice cream when we were greeted by a voice from the past.. Ayu, the bartender in the CL on Grandeur! she was supposed to go to Quantum but a problem with her German visa resulted in her ending up in Texas. even though it has been almost 2 years since we had seen her, she still remembered us and our favorite drinks.

at this point we decided a small snack of the promenade offerings were just the thing. the sandwiches were a tad bit stale but the desserts were fine.

promptly at 1 the cabins were ready. our luggage was waiting for us.

More to come( with pictures)

Looking forward to your review!

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Love your review so far and your writing style! :D

anxiously awaiting the rest!!!

Day One, Continued.

while we are waiting for Photobucket to finish uploading all the pictures after being down half the afternoon, I shall regale you with more sea stories.

we were in 1278. GS, about equidistant from each bank of elevators. up one deck was the solarium, windjammer, and Chops/Giovannis. in the past we have done specialties, but this particular trip we only did Izumi( pics later) Chops was set aside for a small cooked to order breakfast for suites and Pinnacles. a D+ couple was turned away a coupe of days in to the cruise. on GR, the cooked to order selection included a to die for chorizo fritatta and the best stuffed french toast I have ever eaten in my life. on NAV, it was far less exciting, although the omelet with everything went over well( and one morning 'the professor' which is what the wait staff called the chef added spinach to Mr spook's, which he loved. ) I contented myself with eggs benedict. mmm eggs benedict. I also indulged in that fantabulous cranberry stollen bread with the crushed sugar cube garnish. lightly toasted, lots of butter. a couple of mornings there was ONE poor SOB having to pour coffee and OJ to all of us, and every day it was fairly full all morning.

Down one deck was the CL, tucked in behind the elevators. although TARDIS like( bigger on the inside than pictures suggested) it was SRO every . single. night. as in if you did not stake a claim for a seat by 415, you were NOT sitting down at 430 when Li Ping and her helper started pouring.

*(37 of 78 pictures uploaded! halfway there folks!)

The cabin itself: I think the balcony was smaller than prior GS on EN or GR. Johnny_b disagreed. still had the full height table and 2 chairs which saw a LOT of action( no not that kind . get your minds out of the gutter!) Many a coffee or glass of water was sipped while watching the waves. no lounger and TBH I don't think one would have fit. that's okay, I usually found a free one in the Solarium. the interior was your typical GS, bigger than my first apartment( no lie) with way more windows, the TV was wall mounted between the balcony door and the floor to ceiling window by the bed. directly under the TV was a rounded cabinet that held the DVD player( we never touched it) and a second curved cabinet under a wall mirror between he bathroom and the desk.

alas the iPod dock would NOT work with our iPhone 6s. this is what we get for being on the cutting edge of technology *koff koff* somehow , we survived. There are two knobs, one in the bathroom, one by that wall mirror, that controlled the volume of the piped in Muzak( and announcements when applicable). our cabin steward( I never did get her name) had it on barely audible every day. drove me nutsoid at night until I figured out how to turn it off.

I should mention that Ricardo, the Concierge, was waiting on Deck ten at 1 and escorted the couple just ahead of us to their cabin. we chose to not wait and did not actually 'meet' him until later that night during cocktail hour.

the bathroom.. oh how I (mostly) love the bathroom. by and of itself it was bigger than my first apartment. 2 sinks, a HUGE shelf for extras and enough storage in the drawers and behind the mirror that even Tammy Faye wood have enough space for all her makeup. I say 'mostly' because the tub walls are just too dang high. (bad knees and hips that cannot get over the lip easily at all) but it has a nice marble shelf that holds towels dry, plus any and all potions, gels and liquids a girl needs. in a pinch, you can sit on it and use the adjustable hose to rinse. hot water got hot FAST( once I figured out which way to turn the knob) and stayed hot. great water pressure too.

The closet had the usual bathrobes( the slippers are apparently MIA permanently ), more than enough hangers and 4 life jackets of varying shades of orange. one side held shelves as well

On the bar was the usual coffee maker, and kettle( single serve ones) 2 water glasses, two goblets a plate of fruit wrapped nicely in saran wrap a bottle of 'free' water and 4 cans of diet coke. this was.. shall we say.. confusing as it they were sort of but not really in the vicinity of the little placard that encouraged us in 8 languages to partake of the 'included amenities' at no cos. we WERE NOT Emerald then( we are now thanks to this cruise) so have never indicated our 'preferred' amenity/drink. also, inside the cooler were several cans, bottles of stare and the overpriced and over stale gummy bears, snack mix and the mini snickers that would break your teeth if you actually tried to chew one. to be on the safe side we never touched the cans of diet coke. the fact that we do not actually drink diet coke is irrelevant.

*(hmm stuck on 76 of 78. lemma work on that and get back to you)

The bed at 1 pm. notice it's position? yeah. about that. we come back after cocktails and dinner( MTD, deck 5) and it was separated. I was like say wha?! MrSpook was off at trivia or something, so I was left to call housekeeping. THEY claimed that we had requested the beds be separated. Nope. wasn't us. any who, within maybe 7 or 8 minutes the CA was ringing our bell apologizing up storm. took her maybe ten minutes to put everything back together, but TBH we really felt that divide for the first time in all our cruises. I guess it just didn't get smushed together just so.

the couch, chairs and marble table. to all future guests of 1278 I apologize for the ding in the table. my kindle jumped out of my hand and attacked it for NO reason whatsoever. I swear that poor table did NOT deserve to be attacked by my Kindle and it has been soundly reprimanded.

the desk. more storage behind those side mirrors. (including the safe) I know the burning questions you all have: it was grey, and was operated by code, not running a magnetic strip card. the drawer on the right held the two ( yes TWO) hair dryers

how would you like to be faced with THAT image when hungover?!

you can NEVER have enough mirrors.

see what I mean about the diet coke cans?! (yes we drank the water)

those balcony dividers rattled like a sonuvabitch on the last 2 nights when it got windy. also, the last sea day two panels fell out of the ceiling a few doors down in the hallway.

I am spoiled to have double sinks at home too, just not quite as nice...

The dispenser was empty, but our 'upgraded toiletries' were replaced about halfway through.

I have 1278 in April. I guess I'll have to change since there's a BIG DING in the table :D

Question: was it noisy being under the pool deck? I've been on this deck before but not right where I am. I'm guessing since you haven't mentioned it, it wasn't a huge issue.

I have 1278 in April. I guess I'll have to change since there's a BIG DING in the table :D

Question: was it noisy being under the pool deck? I've been on this deck before but not right where I am. I'm guessing since you haven't mentioned it, it wasn't a huge issue.

not really. first 2 days were sea days and the pools were well utilized during the day but not so much at night. NOBODY was in any of the pools or hot tubs the last sea day. one pool was completely drained for an entire day( I make no guesses as to WHY...;) )

however the big pool party at night we definitely heard. I wouldn't say it disturbed us and ended long before I would have been peeved at not being able to get to sleep.

Your suite had a dvd player?? we had GS and you needed to get some kind of play station from concierge to play dvd's. I like the idea of having one already in the suite ( we are in a GS in April on Navigator)

thanks for your post and pix. We are in 1578 in March and so excited! No ding for us! lol

First Sea day plus random pics of the ship:

we went to EST for the sea days, long before we hit our first port. hey, that just meant we got to drink an hour earlier!.

Texas law stipulates only TX stamped booze may be served while in port and for the first 12 nautical miles. this meant that poor Mr Spook had to settle for Jim Beam and coke in the CL. (JD was available the second night on) I guess a few other folks were also frustrated with not being able to get their choice, but subsequent nights I saw a plethora of lemon drops, cosmos and Bailey;s being served. I had Cranberry and sparkling wine.

Also, aside from a few younger families with young kids < I swear we were the youngest people on board.

did someone say SUSHI??!!!

Izumi offered a sushi making class on one of the sea days, that proved to be so popular that they added 2 more classes. it was $25 and you got to eat your creations PLUS get 25% off if you made a reservation. In retrospect, we could have gotten away with only ONE of us actually making the sushi, and the only thing I could eat was the spicy tuna roll. which was pretty damn tasty.

our ingredients and tools of the trade.

complete with safety equipment. just say NO to Noro!

the finished product, dressed up( and cut) by our chef/sensei

the swag I won at the Meet n Mingle. sorry to whoever tried to trade me the White Zin for it. but no ay was I gonna give this up!.

BIG crowd at the Meet n mingle. we would have hung around and chatted more, but the Santa Contingent had the Cosmopolitan Lounge next( and we were showing off our GS at the cabin Crawl)

Yes, there was a bunch of professional Santas on board. never saw so many white beards in my life. Funny, but none of em seemed very jolly, though, although most wore red or Christmas themed outfits all week( Hawaiian shirts, ties, etc)

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youmisse the guy in the scooter! heheh.

On to the Burning question that I know you ALL have:

Chair Hogs!!

we never used the main pool areas. the suite only section was rarely used, bit at least one lounge was occupied for most of the day every day. it seemed to me that most people wanted the one sin the shape or away from poolside.

inside the Solarium.. heheheh. we all have seen/heard/read th complaints about chairs being left unattended for billions and billions of years and not a soul around.

had the EXACT opposite!. on sea days, they roll a towel and stick it on the padded loungers the Solarium, so it is easy to tell if one has been 'claimed'.. th towel is unrolled. common sense also dictates that it is played neatly along the length of the lounger back or bottom half, and not crumpled into a wad at the foot, right? I mean I ASSUMED that was what everyone conformed too.

apparently I was wrong.

I was reading my Kindle( I did eventually forgive it for inflicting gross bodily harm on the table) in the center lounger of about 5 or 6. to my right,there were three, all un claimed for the first hour, until a gentleman and his wife claimed the two on the very end. and promptly went the whole whopping 4 feet to the hot tub.

5 minutes later these 2 women come by and are all sorts of offended that all the loungers along the windows were claimed( and occupied) as they were ALL week, all day long. this was mid morning on a sea day. any who, they promptly started staking their claim to the two loungers that said gentleman had dropped his towels( the 'acceptable' way) on. one was having no problems at all grabbing them and claiming the loungers until I spoke up and said they had just put them there not 5 minutes ago and were currently in the hot tub and to wave hello. well she got all snippy, took her and her friends towels and toss them into an untidy heap on the lounger between me and the other two. then they slithered off who knows where.. not into the hot tub that's for sure. 5 minutes later the pool attendant comes by and ONLY takes those towels in untidy heaps at the ends of loungers or the ones in puddle on the floor.

maybe 15 minutes later( and I swear they were dry so not in the pool either) she's all huffy again. "has it been 30 minutes already?!" Uh no, you made it look like the lounger had been abandoned, chica. by this time one lounger up against windows had freed up so they claimed that one while the other one stood there, behind the guy trying to read and carried on a conversation. Think he lasted 5 minutes before he stood up and said that they obviously wanted to sit together.

he ended up next to me.

oh, and to my left, there were 2 loungers all unoccupied and unclaimed. the entire time. I shook my head

random pics

My wife and I would love to do the Sushi class how did you sign up for it? I need to stay off this board i get more and more excited every time I read one of these reviews.

I'm enjoying your review so far. I'm setting sail on nos in a little over a week. Last time I was on this particular ship was in 2005 where I was married onboard. Looking forward to the rest!

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2 more Sunday's and it's our turn. Keep the pictures coming!

My wife and I would love to do the Sushi class how did you sign up for it? I need to stay off this board i get more and more excited every time I read one of these reviews.

we were approached in the CL on the first night. it is limited to 25 per session. there were two sessions, the morning one which conveniently ended just before the MnM, and an afternoon one. That one was definitely advertised in the Compass.

if not in a DL or CL, I bet all you would need to do is ask at Izumi.( don't bother wasting time at GS, go straight to the source)

The gall of some people never ceases to amaze me. I'm glad you stood up for the people that were in the hot tub. I would have done the same. Thanks for the pictures. We sail in April and I am really looking forward to it!

we were approached in the CL on the first night. it is limited to 25 per session. there were two sessions, the morning one which conveniently ended just before the MnM, and an afternoon one. That one was definitely advertised in the Compass.

 

if not in a DL or CL, I bet all you would need to do is ask at Izumi.( don't bother wasting time at GS, go straight to the source)

Sorry I am a Newb here CL? DL? GH? is ther a palace that list common acronyms?

Heads up for all sailing NOS in a Grand Suite. If there is no lounger on your balcony, just ask your steward for one or two. They should get a pool lounger for you. Ours refused back in Jan. and I had to have Nadja, Diamond concierge, handle it. She called the head of housekeeping and I had my lounger in about an hour. The story on the GS loungess that they were removed a few months ago because the pads were mildewed and they are awaiting new lounges. Our steward told us he was not allowed to bring a lounger, thus my appeal to Nadja. If your steward refuses, probably a call yourself to either housekeeping or GS would suffice.

Possibly a silly question, but why would only the GS loungers be affected? What about loungers on other balconies? (Namely ours, in 6 more days!)

Possibly a silly question, but why would only the GS loungers be affected? What about loungers on other balconies? (Namely ours, in 6 more days!)

The loungers in the GS are padded and much nicer than those on the balcony cabins. I hope the new pads have come in in time for our GS in March.

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The loungers in the GS are padded and much nicer than those on the balcony cabins. I hope the new pads have come in in time for our GS in March.

 

 

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Oh, gotcha! Hope you get them too! :-)