Navigator Of the Seas 8/10/14

Just wanted to take a moment and share a few items from our recent cruise on the Navigator OTS.. We choose The Honduras, Belize, Cozumel itinerary as this was our 6th cruise and we were looking to see some islands that we had not visited before. We have sailed out of Galveston once before and knew it is challenging at times but we like the fact that the airfare is often cheaper since we live in Northern California. Airfare can chew up a big chunk of our vacation budget if not planned carefully.

Travel.

We flew out of SFO the day before embarkation and had one stop in Denver to switch planes.. This caused some extras stress as the Denver airport was closed due to thunderstorms for a couple of hours. Our flight circled west of Denver for 30 minutes and then we were rerouted to Colorado Springs airport for more fuel. We then landed in Denver nearly three hours late.. Thankfully all flights were delayed so we made our connection and arrived into Hobby airport just before midnight..

Transfer

After a bunch of research I choose to use the La Quinta Hobby stay and cruise package where they include the shuttle from the Hotel to the cruise terminal and return transfer at the end of the week back to hobby airport. If you are looking for luxurious accommodations then this package is not for you.. The hotel is a couple of blocks from the airport but we did not have any issues with airplane noise during our stay. There is really no place to eat near by (especially when your arrive at midnight). We ordered Dominoes pizza and had it delivered to our room. It took approx. 45 minutes for it to arrive. The hotel provides a complimentary breakfast in the morning which will not win any awards.. The shuttle vans are exactly what you would expect. Well worn shuttle vans that make hundreds of trips to and from the airport weekly. With all of that said.. I would totally use their service again. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. The drivers were safe and courteous. For $300 we received a clean room, breakfast and reliable transportation to and from the cruise ship for my family of 4. (Myself, wife and 2 teenage daughters) When we checked in Saturday night the clerk told us that we should be in the lobby ready to go at 09:30 am. We waited in the lobby for 30 minutes before we were shown to our shuttle to head towards the cruise terminal. Total travel time was approximately 45 minutes until we unloaded our bags at the terminal.

Embarkation

Upon arrival to the terminal we tagged our bags and left them with the porter. It took maybe fifteen minutes to get through security but once inside there were not any lines. We walked directly up to an agent and were issued sea pass card within 10 minutes. We had our pictures taken and were onboard the ship by 11:30. We were told by a staff member that rooms were not available unto 01:00pm so we checked out the ship and had lunch at the Windjammer while we waited. My wife loves photos while on the ship so we headed to the photo center in order to save $50.00 on the CD package. It is the same deal that you get online before you cruise but we wanted to use onboard credit for the purchase so we opted to wait. We also booked reservations for Sabor as any reservations that you make on day one are discounted by 20% even if the reservation is for later in the week. At 10 minutes till 01:00 PM we headed towards our rooms to find out that the doors were open and our rooms were available. To our surprise our luggage was already waiting outside our staterooms. We booked two adjoining balcony staterooms on deck 7 (7330 and 7332). This was our first cruise with separate staterooms and it worked out great. with door connecting the rooms we all had our privacy but still had the security of knowing what was going on next door. The location of our staterooms was perfect as we where close to the stairs and were 2 floors above the promenade deck and 4 below the pool deck. The only negative regarding placement was the view from the balcony. We were just behind the hump so you could not see the ship forward as the hump rooms are in the way.

The Ship

We liked the ship. It has its positives and negatives but all in all I would give it two thumbs up. We choose the traditional dining plan with 05:30pm seating. (Too early on Port days) Next time we will opt for my time dining as the 08:00 pm seating seems a bit late for our family. Egland was out waiter and she did an awesome job. I asked her several times when she would receive her red coat as I thought she was ready to become a head waiter. Our cabin steward did a fine job and we rarely saw her after she figures out our routine. This is the first time that we prepaid gratuities and I did not like it. I like having an envelope at the end of the week to hand the staff so that I can thank them personally. It just seemed impersonal (just my opinion).

Ports

We loved all three ports and had a blast at each. I personally like having a sea day mixed in because three port days in a row will wear you out. (just another opinion)

Honduras... we choose Tabayana Beach break which was a beautiful beach with lots of activities available. We rented a couple of stand up paddleboards and my daughters also jumped in to play some beach volleyball. This excursion also included a lunch which we enjoyed. We were a bit concerned regarding safety on this island with all of the posts and comments we have read but we did not ever feel concerned once we arrived on the island and beach area. The return buses ran every 30 minutes so you can return on your own schedule if you choose to.

Belize,

We signed up for the cave tubing and zip lining excursion and really enjoyed it. Be prepared for a bus ride through the countryside for over an hour each way. This tour also included lunch. Be sure to bring a waterproof camera to get some pictures while floating down the river. They have lockers on site to lock up your valuables while tubing. The zip line portion was a blast but passes fairly quickly.

Cozumel,

We opted to do some shopping in the morning and then take a taxi to Paradise beach before lunch time. Paradise beach is next to Playa Mia beach but is much less expensive. They have beautiful grounds as well as a fresh water pool on site. The taxi was $14 each way and entry was $3 per person. They require that each person spend a minimum of $10 each while visiting their beach. They also had an option to pay $15 more and have complete access to all water toys including kayaks and paddle boards as well as trampolines and giant inflatable in the water. We ate lunch in the restaurant and met the $10 per person very easily. The Navigator shared this port with The Allure so you need to leave some extra time to get back to the ship as the port was a mob scene.

Disembarkation

Our least favorite part of our trip. We were issued luggage tags number 26 which meant that we would be among the last to exit the ship. We were told that this would be around 10:00 am. We had a 01:10 pm flight out of Hobby airport a this was a bit concerning. At 10:00 am they had announced numbers 6 through 8.. Dang...we are never going to make our flight. At 10:30 we decided to leave even though our number had not been called. I think they were up to number 12 by this point. (sorry to anyone that got stuck behind us) My wife stood in the porter line which moved very slow but it still ended up being much faster than standing in the other line that snaked back and forth four times through the large room. By the time we exited the building we only had 90 minutes left to drive to the airport and make our flight. Thankfully our driver from La Quinta was waiting patently at the curb and rushed us off to the airport reassuring us the whole way that we would still make our flight.. Luckily there were no lines at security and we walked up just before boarding had begun.. Thank god! The employees of RCL often blame the Customs dept. for the delays out of this port but I believe that Royal could help the situation with some simple organizational steps.

In closing... We would not hesitate to do it all again.. lesson learned? schedule a later flight out of Hobby when cruising to Honduras and Belize as customs seems to be much more difficult when sailing to these ports. We experienced a few stressful situations during this vacation and all of them were related to air travel to and from TX. The whole family had a great trip and my daughters made many new friends on the cruise. Call us lucky but we have never had a bad trip with RCL so we will continue using our RCL Visa card and saving points towards another cruise. Please feel free to ask questions as I know that there are many areas that I did not comment on.. thanks

Nice review, thanks!

Agreed on Honduras and Tabyana beach, we had a great time there

Happy Days!

With your departure you can organise at pursers desk for early departure due to flight restraints. It helps in these times

Glad you had a great cruise

An unreal review

Appreciated

Greg :)

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Good review and Thanks. We will be on the NOS on 9-28 except on the other itinerary. We will be in cabin 7610 which is on the opposite side of the boat, just in front of the hump.

With your departure you can organise at pursers desk for early departure due to flight restraints. It helps in these times

 

Glad you had a great cruise

An unreal review

Appreciated

Greg :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Thanks Greg,

We did stop by and ask once we found out we had such a high number.. They reserve the low numbers for people who use the choice air program. They stated that my only option was self assist at 07:30. Looking back I should have taken that option when they offered it as it would have been much less stressful.

I am thinking on going on this cruise.

Never been to Belize and Roatan.

thanks for the information.

Thank you for the great review! We will be going on this Honduras cruise in May. Do you remember what evening is formal night? Is there one or two formals? Thanks for any help. We are trying to decide on what nights to eat in the main dining room and what nights to eat in the specialty restaurants.

Thank you for the great review! We will be going on this Honduras cruise in May. Do you remember what evening is formal night? Is there one or two formals? Thanks for any help. We are trying to decide on what nights to eat in the main dining room and what nights to eat in the specialty restaurants.

There are two formal nights. The first one is night two. The second one is night 5 or 6 (forgot).