Schplinky's E. Caribbean Navigator Report - Part 2

Day 2

Sea day and ship

I know that I’m two days in and just now mentioning the ship but Day 1 was a bit of a blur, especially for a first-timer.

The ship, in a word, was wonderful. It was like a lovely hotel at which you happened to wake up in a different port daily. Our room was comfortable and one of the nice features of the Promenade room was a second sofa which was the love seat under the window. It was actually longer than the standard sofa in the room. It was nice to be able to sit and read the cruise compass and watch the people go by [or buy, as the case might be] in the promenade shops below. I would recommend these rooms. They were the same size as any other inside room but the window and "view" made them seem less claustrophobic. The room worked well for two adults but I don’t think you could have any more than that; there were no berths or sofa beds. The room comes with a safe but I never had a feeling that we needed to use it. We left cash out a couple of times and it was never disturbed. I tend to use the safe in rooms not because I don’t trust the maids but because I don’t trust myself. I always try to put money away because I’m constantly mis-laying $20-40 and I would not want to think the maid took it and discover later it was in the back pockets of some shorts. I’ve never been a wallet person and according to Michael, this is one of my great character flaws. At one point, I could not find my wallet or passport and Michael was riddling me with questions about when I had seen them last. I finally sent him from the room so I could look in peace and it was then that I realised they were in the safe, where I would know to find them. Yikes.

I liked the art in the public areas of the ship. It was playful without being tacky or too strange. The art and ship were both designed with a great deal of flair and humour. Although the ship is very long, the corridors are not monotonous and we didn’t find ourselves bored by our surroundings. The atria and promenade made getting from one part of the ship to another very fun.

On our first sea day, Mike got up and went to the gym while I lounged a little and then went to get a chair on the deck. I was on deck by about 9:30 or 10:00 and there were an incredible number of towels for such a deserted area; the pool hogs were out in full force. I still was able to get a place overlooking the pool on deck 12 without much hassle but it was amazing to me the hours that passed before some of these chairs were occupied by those to whom it was so important to save one. Many people came and went in that time and might have liked to sit in one of these "prime" spots. I saw one or two brave souls move towels and sit down and none of them were ever disturbed by the chairs’ owners.

Originally, I had seated myself on the starboard side of the ship (I think) and then I realised I was surrounded by ashtrays. I had chosen the wrong side [for us]. I trudged on over to the port side and found a good place in the non-smoking world. Michael was surprised an hour or so later when I asked a woman to stop smoking. I had positioned myself next to a non-smoking sign so there could be no confusion. The chairs always seem pushed very tightly together to me but it seems that they try to leave a path to the life-preservers and safety cabinets on the railing so I tried always to sit next to one of these so I could have a space next to my chair for my things.

I grabbed a small plate at the Windjammer for breakfast. The breakfast was typical buffet. Nothing to write home about but, then again, I didn’t need to cook it or do the dishes so it was ok by me. I do like ham with breakfast and it was tasty and moist.

We sat out until about 11:30 and then I went to the Meet and Mingle for Cruise Critic. This was held in the Cosmopolitan Club in the Viking Crown and it was fun. Mike had a headache and went back to the room but I got to meet AnneFran and Anchors Aweigh (Jimmy). They were both really nice and it was fun to say hi to them all week as we would pass. We wound up on a tour bus with Anchors Aweigh and his very enjoyable girlfriend and it was fun to chat with the familiarity that being on these boards brings. The Captain’s wife joined us and she was nice but I had to leave before the captain arrived. The door prizes were generous but, sadly, I didn’t win one.

We had lunch that day in the dining room and then agreed that if we were on the ship, we would likely eat there. The food was really very good (I had an orange chicken and a chocolate creme brule) and it was nice for us to meet people since we had no tablemates at dinner. That first lunch in the dining room, I was seated next to an interesting guy. He asked where we were from and I told him Canada. He said "oh, Canada... I’ve heard good things and bad things about living there." I’m not sure what I should have said to a comment like that so I just let it go. They were an interesting couple but they seemed to be fighting when we got there and it was a little cool at the table. The husband was telling us about the bingo and it was his understanding that unless you won the jackpot, you just won a key-chain. The wife disagreed and the deep freeze set in again. In case you’re worried, they seem to have confused one of the bingo rules. If a CHILD wins, they give the kid a key-chain and give the cash prize to his parents, who must be there.

After lunch, I was tired and so I took a nap and then joined Michael in the solarium pool area. This is the adults-only pool. It has more shady spaces than the main pool (although there are still chairs with full sun) and more comfortable chairs. Kids must pass through there to get to one of the sets of elevators but it really was respected as an adult-zone, in my opinion; I think most kids would have been bored there. We went from there to the health club and used the whirlpool there. It was huge but seemed odd to me because there were no seats. You sort of squatted and there were bars on the side to hold onto. Maybe I was doing it wrong but it seemed awkward. We used the sauna and the steam room and both were very nice and, happily, deserted.

We went back to the room and got dressed for formal night. Both Michael and I had new suits. He just needed a new one and I got a new one because he threw my old one out, in error. I must say, we both looked great. We went to the champagne bar to toast ourselves and then had our pictures taken on the way in to dinner. We loved the pictures and we never felt like we were treated any differently because we are a same-sex couple. In fact, that would be my comment about the whole cruise. We danced in the disco, had nice dinners and went for long walks on the deck and nobody seemed to care. The only time anyone even noticed was in the disco when the dj switched songs and all of a sudden, we were the only ones dancing. Oh well, as goes one of my favourite expressions, pride isn’t just a parade.

The first formal dinner was fun. We liked seeing the nice clothes and we ordered a bottle of [cheap] champagne for our meal. The family seated next to us was dressed to the nines and it was cute to see the little ones so proud of their clothes. I would guess that about 60% of folks were in dark suits, 20% in tuxes and the rest had nice shirts or golf shirts. Everyone I saw was neatly dressed and didn’t smell and that’s my only requirement. The food this night was tasty and I have no memory of what I ate. I did have a great appetiser of grilled scallops and risotto.

After dinner, we wandered through the promenade, drinking champagne at the Captain’s reception. It was flowing very freely and there were lots of people about so it took a long time to get from one end to the other. Luckily, the waiters kept filling my glass so I had something to do while we made our way to the theatre.

The theatre in the ship is beautiful! I cannot overstate that. It is one of the places on the ship where I would regularly forget that I was at sea. The waiters were very quick at bringing drinks and the drinks were tasty and reasonably priced (about $5 for cocktails). Tonight’s show was a tribute to Broadway and they did numbers from the Producers, Mamma Mia, Fosee, Contact, Dreamgirls and the Full Monty. I’ve seen many of those shows and these numbers were really well done. We actually liked the show so much that we came back for the later seating of it, which we noticed was much less well attended. We saw one of the dancers later in the week and raved about the show. I was surprised that he knew we had been there twice and he even told us [correctly] where we had been sitting. Wow.

After the show, we went to the disco and danced up a storm. It was really fun but at some point, the music turned sharply from disco-leaning pop music (with a full dance floor) to more house-music meets hip-hop. The dance floor was suddenly empty except for one or two couples. I wondered the rest of the week if they had tipped the DJ or if the DJ just didn’t want to play too late into the night.

If you’re like me, you can never think of something to order in a bar. In the disco and at other bars, they post a list of signature drinks and I used that list to try new things. I particularly loved the BBC (Banana, Baileys and Colada) frozen drink.

We were sort of (ok a lot) drunk by this point and found our way back to the room. We had kept our formal clothes on the whole night and noticed that about ½ the people do this. I don’t care what anyone wears so long as they’re friendly. It was 1:30 a.m. and we went to bed thinking that maybe cruising was for us, after all.

I'm so happy to hear you're having a great time. Hope the rest of the week is just as wonderful.

Lee, part 2 was even better and in more detail than part 1! These are fabulous reviews. I'm so impressed that the show person recognized that you went to the show twice and even where you were sitting!! Can't wait for part 3!

Amanda:D

Enjoying your review, Thanks.

Keep up the gopod review it is making my mouth water and my knees knock justthinking about ours in a little over a month!!!!!

Great reviews!! Keep 'em coming!! :D

I am digging your review! The details are wonderful and your sense of humor is great. I can't wait to read the rest. I've got this cool feeling of "I knew him when". It's been terrific watching your progress from newbie... to well prepared first-timer... to cruise veteran.

Thanks for taking the time to write this review.

I am digging your review! The details are wonderful and your sense of humor is great. I can't wait to read the rest. I've got this cool feeling of "I knew him when". It's been terrific watching your progress from newbie... to well prepared first-timer... to cruise veteran.

I'm not sure about cruise veteran but that was quite a learning curve! We had a great time and it's been really fun to write this because it's a lot like re-living it.

Excellent review - from one Canuck to another ;)

Part 1 was great, so was part 2....I can't wait for part 3 (we go on the Navigator 4/06)

Great review, Schplinky...keep it comin'. :)

Day 2

 

We loved the pictures and we never felt like we were treated any differently because we are a same-sex couple. In fact, that would be my comment about the whole cruise. We danced in the disco, had nice dinners and went for long walks on the deck and nobody seemed to care. l.

Lee, I'm really glad to hear that. I know that you were a little apprehensive about that when you first booked the cruise. I'm so happy for you that it all worked out the way you hoped it would.

Allen

I think the dining room is the best place for lunch and breakfast. It really does not take long at all and the food is SO much better than the windjammer.

EXCELLENT review Lee, thanks!! Cannot wait for the rest :D :D

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Lee, I'm really enjoying your review! Reading it, I can see all the places you describe. *sigh* I loved that ship!

Schplinky,

So far your review/recap is very entertaining. It was good to meet you at the M&M and on the tour bus. Glad you enjoyed it since everyone on these boards hype it up so much. I actually meet some people that say they cruised once and didn't like it. They must have rocks in their heads. Anyway I posted a review too (slightly more abbreviated but not by much) go check it out.

Jimmy

mmmmmm....BBC YUM YUM my favorite!! Great review!!

I am eagerly awaiting Part 3 of your review. As you can tell, I have thoroughly enjoyed Parts 1 and 2. Also the BBC sounds wonderful. Is this a standard drink on the Navigator? If it is, I will be having a BUNCH in September.

Thanks again

Mary

I am eagerly awaiting Part 3 of your review. As you can tell, I have thoroughly enjoyed Parts 1 and 2. Also the BBC sounds wonderful. Is this a standard drink on the Navigator? If it is, I will be having a BUNCH in September.

 

Thanks again

 

Mary

It is a standard drink. My other favourite was a Miami Vice, which was half strawberry Daquiri and half pina colada. Yum.

I'm very glad you found the trip to be a nice tolerant atmosphere.

Sounds like a nice romantic trip!

It was very romantic, which I was not expecting from such a large ship. For a mega-ship, it had lots of little nooks and crannies for smaller groups to sit and chat.

found #2

great review - Thx.