First cruise completed on the Navigator..March 15th

We can officially say we are no longer newbies in the cruising world. As the title shows we did the spring break cruise..the 15th thru the 22nd.

Sunday we arrived in port at 10:30 and check in was quick. We were onboard at around 11:30. We parked across the street and it was very easy to park and walk to terminal. Park n Cruise I believe..

Bags were very slow arriving to the room....a couple showed up 5:30 and our main bag didn't show up until 7ish.

First sea day...we took that time to try to get a routine and learn the ship. Ate breakfast and lunch in the WJ and dinner in main which was formal night. A lot of people participated in the whole dressing up as did me and my husband. But there were also a lot of people that looked pretty casual. Hubby decided to try out the spa for the mens facial and shave... he enjoyed it and said it was relaxing. She tried the sales pitch but he quickly told her that he wasn't interested in buying 8 boxes of stuff.

Second sea day... After lunch I attempted the pool deck....bad idea...crowded and quickly learned if I wanted a lounger than get one early in the morning or just enjoy my balcony. We also decided to give Chops a try. The food and service was excellent. The steaks were so tender.

Jamaica...we hired Reggae tours to take us to Doctors Cave Beach in Montego Bay. Had a great time there. The food was good, drinks were strong, and water felt great. That night we ate at Sabors...overall we were pleased but compared to the others it ranked 3rd with the specialties. I live in Texas so maybe that's why...its not what we are used to when it comes to Mexican food...not even authentic.

Cayman....tender was quick for us. We had the Dolphin and Stingray Island booked. We had a good time with the dolphins but we enjoyed the stingrays best. It all seemed over with so fast and before we knew it was back in port. The waters there are just so beautiful and would definitely want to go back. Back to the ship for a nap...That night we had Giovannis and it was ranked very closely with Chops.

Cozumel...loved it. The shops are great. We did the tequila tasting at Discover Mexico...we were greeted with a drink and were soon in a air conditioned room tasting three different tequilas... with a quick walk through the park we enjoyed a mango margarita then a taco bar and a free beer. Afterwards we did some shopping and then back to the ship for a nap. Formal night again so we did main dining.

Third sea day... just shopped and relaxed most the day. Main dining once again.

Entertainment for the cruise.... it was okay but didn't overwhelm us. We did the games shows (enjoyed those), the first comedian was better than the second (but we enjoyed both), I am still trying to figure out where a circus parade fits into the theme...lol, and the ice show was very good.

Food...choices were plentiful in the WJ, kind of weak in the café, room service was slow, main dining was just okay, and the specialties were very good.

Disembarking wasn't too bad just my patience was wearing thin...lol. It took 45 minutes from when our number was called to sitting in the car.

Overall we were pleased with our experience and booked another cruise next year so we can bring our daughter. We booked the Allure for our next one out of Fort Lauderdale because we feel our daughter would enjoy that one more so than the Navigator. We will flying into a port for the first time so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Awesome review we will be on our first cruise on the Navigator in about 30 days can't wait.

Great review, we will be there in 5 weeks and can not wait to do Stingray city for 3rd time

I enjoyed reading your recap. We will be on the Navigator for the first time next month.

I have some questions.

Can you tell me when muster took place?

What type of stateroom did you have?

Can you describe the shows you saw?

Thanks!

The muster drill was supposed to start at 3:45 but our stateroom attendant knocked on our door at 3:30.

We were on deck 8 room 8584 deluxe balcony. Plenty of space and storage.. We honestly didn't use the blacony much but it was nice to have when we did want fresh air and could just step out in whatever and not caring how we looked.

We saw the battle of the sexes and majority rules...both were very funny but crude humor. Get there 30 minutes early for shows for good seats.

First comedian was better in my opinion....funny but not as crude as the second one. The second comedian made fart noises a lot and tried talking in a woman's voice which made it hard to understand at times.

The ice show went through different genres and it was just a good entertaining show.

For the parade sit at the wine bar...it seem no one goes there and you can get a good seat in the outside section. Also get there 20 minutes before. The 70s party was awesome when they did the YMCA....gets very crowded and hot.

We went to the port shoppers talk and it turned into a jewelry seminar...We left it early.

Thanks for the review! We will be sailing on her in 5 weeks and can't wait!

One more question. Which nights were formal nights?

Thanks again!

Monday and Friday... Friday is a port day so if you do the formal make sure to set a later dinner time so you have time to recover before dinner.

We had set our dinners for 6 and wish we would have done 7 or even 730.

My suggestion for your next cruise & flying to the port would be to go a day early. I'm too nervous to fly the same day as boarding the ship.

My suggestion for your next cruise & flying to the port would be to go a day early. I'm too nervous to fly the same day as boarding the ship.

Thank You..did or does Royal Caribbean offer shuttle service to air port from port?

The muster drill was supposed to start at 3:45 but our stateroom attendant knocked on our door at 3:30.

 

We were on deck 8 room 8584 deluxe balcony. Plenty of space and storage.. We honestly didn't use the blacony much but it was nice to have when we did want fresh air and could just step out in whatever and not caring how we looked.

 

We saw the battle of the sexes and majority rules...both were very funny but crude humor. Get there 30 minutes early for shows for good seats.

 

First comedian was better in my opinion....funny but not as crude as the second one. The second comedian made fart noises a lot and tried talking in a woman's voice which made it hard to understand at times.

 

The ice show went through different genres and it was just a good entertaining show.

 

For the parade sit at the wine bar...it seem no one goes there and you can get a good seat in the outside section. Also get there 20 minutes before. The 70s party was awesome when they did the YMCA....gets very crowded and hot.

 

We went to the port shoppers talk and it turned into a jewelry seminar...We left it early.

One thing I will add is our view of the drink packages. We are not drinkers but the wife likes an occasional glass here and there. She got a couple of drinks a day and spent under $100 for the entire week and the cheapest drink package that included liquor would have cost us a ton more. SO before buying a package think about how much you intend to drink and then decide if its worth it drinks on average are $7-$9 each I believe plus gratuity. We found to get our money worth she would have had to drink about 8 drinks a day and really more considering you are off the ship for basically 3 days of the 7. We talked to a couple that for the 2 of them spent $900 on 2 all you can drink packages. Just think about how many drinks that is to break even..lol Not to mention you can bring 2 bottles of wine on board so she also had that to drink.

Monday and Friday... Friday is a port day so if you do the formal make sure to set a later dinner time so you have time to recover before dinner.

 

We had set our dinners for 6 and wish we would have done 7 or even 730.

Thanks for taking the time to read and answer my questions. It's very helpful.

Thank You..did or does Royal Caribbean offer shuttle service to air port from port?

When we cruised out of San Juan for our Southern Caribbean cruise on Jewel, Royal offered transportation from airport to ship. I am sure they offer it in Fort Lauderdale for your Allure cruise. Fort Lauderdale airport and the port are so close you could just get a taxi on your own. You might find that more efficient, because from our experience using Royals ground transportation when we were in San Juan, was that the van did not leave the airport until it was full.

When we cruised out of SJ, we flew out early on embarkation day. People wondered how we could take the risk.....we felt it was low risk -- we took the earliest flight available (booked it on our own, not thru Choice Air). Using Royals ground transportation from airport we were at the ship around noon. We had to wait almost an hour for the van to depart the airport and be on its way to the ship -- no fun hanging around the waiting area in the airport.

We did not feel the need to take another vacation day so that we could fly out the day before and incur the expense of a night in a hotel. Our cruise was in July and we were flying from Fort Lauderdale to San Juan.

Hi Cruiser

We enjoyed your review on the Navigator. We are considering this ship for our next cruise an 8 day for next Feb. You covered most of our questions. So Thank you. As for your next cruise .If it's your first time flying . We would recommend Southwest Air and go a day earlier. There's lots to do or see there, or just plain relax. We have stayed at Embassy Suites or Rodeway Inn both close to the port. or Holiday Inn Express on the Cause way .Check the reviews at hotel.com. I believe there may be shuttles . Best to check out .We usually take a taxi. Hope this helps .Enjoy your cruise.

W e might reconsider the cruise .As we looking to take our Grandchildren on our next cruise. The Allure sounded interesting.:)

Looking to cruise

kruiserunner:cool:

Hi Cruiser

We enjoyed your review on the Navigator. We are considering this ship for our next cruise an 8 day for next Feb. You covered most of our questions. So Thank you. As for your next cruise .If it's your first time flying . We would recommend Southwest Air and go a day earlier. There's lots to do or see there, or just plain relax. We have stayed at Embassy Suites or Rodeway Inn both close to the port. or Holiday Inn Express on the Cause way .Check the reviews at hotel.com. I believe there may be shuttles . Best to check out .We usually take a taxi. Hope this helps .Enjoy your cruise.

W e might reconsider the cruise .As we looking to take our Grandchildren on our next cruise. The Allure sounded interesting.:)

Looking to cruise

kruiserunner:cool:

I think we have picked southwest to fly mainly because of the free checked bags, and also go the day before. Now just have to wait for tickets to come on sale for the dates I need. Our daughter is so excited about the Allure. And it will be my first time to fly. We plan on doing some early bird thing with southwest so we will hopefully be guaranteed to board with group A and sit together on the plane.