Review - w/ pictures - Navigator OTS - March 2 to 9, 2013

This review is long and because of all the pictures take a long time to fully post, so I'll post a day or two and continue to add to it until it is complete ...

NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS – March 3 -> 9, 2013

First a little about me. This will be my 22nd cruise. It is my eighth cruise on Royal Caribbean and for the first time in 22 cruises I am repeating a ship. I was on the Navigator of the Seas back in August 2004. At the request of someone who wanted more details, I decided to write my review while on the ship when things were still fresh in my mind. Then, at the request of several, I loaded photo editing software on my laptop so that I could edit the photographs and add the photographs to the review on the main boards. I also post my review to the review section, but I cannot include the photographs in the review section. I post to the review section so that those searching for a review can find it easily. I post to the main boards so those that want to add comments or ask questions can.

I am bringing three cameras with me. I have a Nikon D5100 that I will use mainly on the ship, a Canon A1300 that I will use mainly on dry land off the ship (I call it my travel camera because it is much smaller than the DSLR so it is much easier to carry around on shore excursions) and a Canon D10 waterproof camera that I will use in the water, such as in Cozumel and Grand Cayman.

Thursday, February 28, 2013 – Travel day

I am currently at LAX waiting for my flight to New Orleans. I made reservations for a taxi to take me to the Fly-Away Bus which will take me to LAX. Total trip cost - $26 including tip. It comes to about $100 if I take the taxi all the way and about the same amount if I drive and pay for parking. I’ll use a share-the-ride van to return home, which costs about $48 because the Fly-Away Bus takes a long time to show up and when it does, since United is the last stop, sometimes it is full.

At any rate last night I called the taxi company to confirm my reservation and verify that they have the special instructions I gave them. They wanted to know if I was ready to go (what twelve hours early – NO!). The next morning I get a quick call, “The taxi has arrived” CLICK. I run outside – no taxi. I call and I’m told the taxi is on his way. Ten minutes another call, “The taxi has arrived” CLICK. I’ve been standing outside all this time and still no taxi. I call again. This time I get someone who is rather rude. Still no taxi. Then another call to me. This time the person says she has the driver on the phone. Once again the special instructions I gave them are ignored. This happens every time because I am not physically located on the same street that is my street address. I’ve got to give a different taxi company a try. I go through this every time with this company, though this is the first time I ended up with someone who was rude.

All that said and done, I make it to the bus on time and despite the famous Los Angeles traffic, we make it to the airport in a reasonable amount of time. The security line was not too bad except my lower right leg need a pat down. Just the lower right leg, nothing else. What does my right leg have that my left leg doesn’t have? Who knows? So here I am, in the United Club (thanks to a day pass I have) at LAX typing this and boarding will begin in about ten minutes. So I’ll get back to you after my arrival in New Orleans. Unfortunately I’ll be spending a long time at the New Orleans Airport before the return flight (working on this) and there is no United Club in the airport.

Well the flight to New Orleans was uneventful. The in-flight entertainment was Chasing Mavericks, a film about a surfer named Jay Moriarity, a very good film in my opinion. I am in an Economy Plus seat. I’ve been in first class and it is not worth the extra cost. All I want is the extra legroom and Economy Plus offers that for a very reasonable price over the cost of knees in the back of the seat in front of you coach. My two seat mates are great. One is from New Orleans but now lives in Southern California and the other is also taking a cruise on Carnival. My one checked bag is one of the first to come of the plane that is not marked priority (first class and those willing to pay extra for the service get their bags marked priority). One mistake I made was to exchange my camera bag (with the camera in it) for my computer bag, after the movie was over. So now the camera bag is in the overhead bin and I have a window seat with a great view of New Orleans – RATS! I have a Sudoku book in the computer bag that I used to pass the time until we land which is why I made the switch.

I must admit, I was surprised at what I saw of the Mississippi River. I was expecting a very wide blue tinted, fairly straight river. Instead what I saw was much narrower than I expected the color of mud, full of barges and with more switch backs than a steep mountain road. No wonder it takes eight hours to get from the gulf to the city, the ship has to travel three times further than a crow would fly making the same trip.

On the way out of the airport I see a hotel shuttle service. It costs $20 one way ($38 round trip – I’m taking the ship’s shore excursion tour back to the airport). I estimated a taxi would cost $100, so I try it out. Each van holds fourteen people and I am number seventeen in line. Ahead of me is someone else from Southern California and someone from Australia. We chat for a bit which helps fill the time until the next van arrives. All in all I spent 45 minutes in line. It is the price one pays to save $80. I’m not in any rush, so the delay is not that big of a deal. But then I get lucky. I’m last one dropped off, so I get a free tour of the downtown / French Quarter area.

I’m in the Courtyard New Orleans Downtown. It used to be the Iberville Suites. It is a two room suite and a very nice hotel room. I highly recommend it. I “won” it in a bid on one of those sites where you don’t know what you are getting until you get it (picture the former captain of the Enterprise and you’ll know which site I used). It is located one block from Bourbon Street and one block from Canal Street, so it is a great location. There is even free Internet access. Usually the more the room cost, the more the Internet access costs.

I drop off my luggage, grab my travel camera, and head off to a nearby (walking distance) steakhouse. I get a 24 ounce rib eye (I haven’t eaten except for a sandwich on the plane) all day, so I have no problem finishing off a very good steak. The steak, ice tea, three good sized shrimp (the term large shrimp is an oxymoron) and a pecan pie plus tip comes to $77. Expensive, but well worth it. The steak house is Brennan Steak House and it is about two blocks from the hotel.

After dinner it is about 7:30pm and I decide to checkout Bourbon Street at night. The street is blocked off from traffic, so people can walk down the middle of the street. For the most part the street is filled with bars, restaurants, jazz halls and places where you can learn some new pole dancing moves (if that is what you are into). They all say no cover charge, so watch out for the drink prices.

Finally I head back to the hotel to check out one of the two large wide screen TVs in the large sitting room. Discovery Channel and the History Channel offer some things to keep me entertained until it is late (here – my body is still two hours behind) and then I update this.

Well, tomorrow I am meeting several people I have been corresponding with for the last six and a half years on one of the cruise forums I belong too. We will meet, for the first time, for a two hour tour, on the Steamboat Natchez. So, until tomorrow morning, well, actually later this morning, good night.

This store has no t-shirts or souvenirs, but does have kid's clothing ...

Bourbon Street ...

The steamship Natchez ...

We passed by the Carnival Conquest on its way back to New Orleans ...

We also passed this NCL ship, but I did not get its name ...

March 9 - early morning ...

My hotel room ...

I would like to read your opinion of Simona.

Friday, March 1 – Visiting New Orleans

Since I stayed up late, I slept in late, getting up in time to shower and still have time for lunch and then off to the 11:30am lunch tour on the Steamboat Natchez. I decide to catch quick lunch at McDonalds. Unfortunately I arrived at 10:25am and lunch is not until 10:30am, so I have breakfast. I went to McDonalds because I know where it is, it is close (just down the block) and it is quick. I know there is another McDonalds just around the block from the one I am in. However, upon arriving back at the hotel I realize there is also a McDonalds across the street from the hotel.

I grab my camera, catch a cab and head over to the Steamship Natchez. It is an $8 cab ride including tip. I board the ship no problem. I meet up with some of the people I’ll be cruising with. Then I head out to take some pictures. But the camera refuses to take the picture. A quick check reveals the problem. When I uploaded the pictures last night I took the memory card out of the camera and put it in the computer. Unfortunately I forgot to reverse the process – stupid mistake. I have over one hundred gigabytes on over ten memory cards. Unfortunately they are all currently in the hotel room. Fortunately one of my future fellow passengers had an extra memory card.

The tour is great. First I check out the ship and they let us into the engine room. One of the people in the engine room sees how interested I was in the goings on and gave me an information sheet on the ship. Then I head back to the person who lent me the memory card to tell him about the engine room. Soon we are both touring the engine room. Then suddenly it seems half the passengers on the ship show up in the engine room. About the time I finish checking out the ship it reaches the halfway point. The ship turns around and I get the chance to see the goings on around the river on the way back.

After departing the ship I check out the river walk. There is an IMAX Theater and an aquarium. I would check them out but they are $20 plus each, and I don’t feel like spending that kind of money right now.

My little walk has lead me to the Cable Street street car. It is only $1.25 to get back, but I end up waiting about twenty minutes until one of the electric trolleys, going in the same direction I want to go, shows up.

Back at the hotel I just relax until it is dinner time. Tonight I am going to try an Italian restaurant I found last night when walking up and down Bourbon Street. One thing I notice when walking to the restaurant is that Bourbon Street is more crowded tonight (Friday night) than it was last night. I end up ordering lasagna with a shrimp appetizer. I also had ice tea, but the tea was pre-sweetened. It was too sweet for me; I ended up having to water it down with water. Total cost, including the tip is $44, and that is the problem. Once a week I get an equally good Italian dinner at a restaurant home for half this price. This is why I tend to avoid the Italian restaurants on the ship. For the most part pasta is pasta. However, there are different qualities of meet (select, choice and prime) and methods of cooking that do make a difference so I do like to go to the ship board steakhouses.

After dinner I am back in the hotel room watching TV, uploading my photographs and working on this. I’ve enjoyed New Orleans and would not mind coming back here again in the future. But for now it is 2am (again) and I’ve got a very important meeting I have to make later this afternoon, so until later this morning, good night.

My cabin ...

My balcony is the one with the green dot ...

Bathroom ...

Walk-in closet ...

I'll be back later to post more from my review and additional photographs

Nice hump JS! :)

Great review so far! We visited new Orleans last year and my favorite things were Antoine's restaurant and the Maison Bourbon jazz club. Highly recommend them if you get a chance to go :)

Nice cabin photos!! Is that a Junior Suite?

I'm staying in a Junior Suite on the Indy in May, I guess it will be similar.

Nice review! :)

Thank you for posting this review! I need something to help calm the excitement for my upcoming cruise on the Navigator in 12 days...

Nice start, just started following your review.

Thank you so much for doing this! We're on the Navigator at the end of October and I really appreciate reading what you have to say about the ship. I'm enjoying following you along.

Nice cabin photos!! Is that a Junior Suite?

 

I'm staying in a Junior Suite on the Indy in May, I guess it will be similar.

 

Nice review! :)

Yes, it is a JS. I put that in the review, but this is the first time I haven't finished a review in one seating. :o

Continuing the review ...

Saturday, March 02, 2013 – Embarkation day

I’m up at 8am. I check out the Internet for the last time. I don’t do Internet on the ship unless there is a lot of interest in the ship, and there isn’t that much interest in this ship at this time. Then I pack. Just before I am ready to shower and dress housekeeping knocks on my door. It is only 10am and I am planning to leave at 10:30am. Checkout time is noon, so I tell her I’ll be leaving pretty soon. I’ve learned to bar the door from the inside when I am showing because these people (on land or sea) knock, and if they don’t get a reply they use their pass key. Well, if I’m in the shower I am not going to hear them knock.

At any rate I leave the hotel at 10:30am, just like I planned, and catch a cab. My plan is to get to the port at 11am and hopefully board by 11:30am. To my surprise, the cruise ship that was there yesterday (the Oriana) is still there. We are directed to a different location to unload and board. The driver was great, so I ended up giving him a 33% tip. He was asking about the recent cruise ship problems and I we eventually compared plane crashes to ships sinking. I ended up telling him that there were a lot more planes in the ocean than ships in the sky. He laughed and then said he had to agree with me on that. We keep up this back and forth the whole trip, it was quite entertaining.

Well, at any rate I start walking toward the terminal and it looks like people are already boarding. I am both diamond and in a (mini) suite. It is the suite line that is boarding and fifteen minutes after giving my checked bag to the porter I am on the ship.

It is a strange feeling, as this is the first time I have ever repeated a ship. In 2004 all I had was a 3.2 mega pixel camera with a two to one zoom. Now I have a DSLR (16 mega pixels) and the lens I am using to photograph the ship has a six to one zoom (plus I have an even more powerful zoom giving me a total zoom range of about eleven to one). At any rate, I sneak into my cabin, find my cabin steward, tell him I am dropping off my carry-ons, and go about photographing the ship, and this time I know what I want to photograph and where it is from experience (I took over 500 photographs today). Just as I get to the Windjammer they announce that the cabins are ready. What luck, with everyone leaving the Windjammer I have no problem getting a table.

By this time I have photographed everything I want on decks eleven through fourteen. So after lunch I head back to the cabin to see if my luggage has arrived (not yet). So I head over to the cabin of the guy who lent me the memory card. I knock – no answer. I start to leave and look who is coming down the hall (my timing seems to be perfect today). I give him the memory card (with the pictures still on it) plus interest (I gave him an extra one I have – don’t worry, I still have ten or eleven with me totaling well over one hundred gigabytes).

After that I go to the common areas on the lower decks (decks three, four and five). After all of that it is back to cabin where I find my luggage waiting for me. I put it in the walk-in closet and sit down and rest for a bit. Then I see the sign that if I want ice I have to ask for it and my room steward is nowhere to be found. So I have to drink the not so cold water from the tap. Just in case I put a glass of water in the mini fridge and then photograph the cabin. Once I finish that it is time to unpack. Now it is after 3pm and I figure the muster drill is at 4pm (I was right). So I decide to just rest and have some more water. To my surprise, the water in the cabin refrigerator is cold. For the first time in my cruising history I’ve got a refrigerator that actually works.

Soon the dreaded seven short and one long horn sound. I put my shoes on and open the door just in time to find my room steward checking up on me (they put a red card in the card key slot to indicate that the cabin has been checked. Why, they take roll at the muster drill. At any rate I ask for ice, which he says he will get for me after the muster drill. At the muster drill I am told to stand in a place that allows me to be the first one in the door when the muster drill is over (like I said, my timing is great today – too bad they don’t sell lottery tickets on the ship). We are having our sail-away in the Viking Lounge, so I take an elevator from deck four to deck fourteen.

At the sail-away I have a mudslide (complete with state sale’s tax) and watch as the captain uses his thrusters to move away from the dock and then spins the ship so that we can go down river. At this point the Mississippi River is only a little wider than this ship is long. So we are headed down river, a trip that will take about eight hours. As the sun sets I can no longer tell were the river banks are and soon land and river blend into one. I’m not sure how the pilot can tell, since ships don’t have headlights.

Finally I leave the sail-away to take a few night time shots (it is dark outside and the lights are on inside, making photography through the windows of the Viking Lounge a bad idea. Then back to the cabin as dinner will be ready soon (I have late seating). I turn on the TV and what do I see, a program on the George Smith incident. At first I wonder why Royal Caribbean is showing this when I realize this is just a regularly scheduled program (Nancy Grace Mysteries).

I don’t know if she solved the mystery of how George Smith died (though she seems to be leaning toward blaming the Russians) because I had to leave to go to dinner. There were lots of good choices, so I decide to have both the chicken and the extra cost, cooked to order, filet from Chops (which comes to $18.54 including tip and tax). The chicken was good and the steak was excellent. My tablemates, as well as those at the table next to me, are all part of the group I am in. Great group by the way.

After dinner I am dead tired and head back to the cabin to upload the pictures and work on this. I decide to venture out on my balcony to see what I can see (which is not much) when I notice a big ship headed toward us. It is the Carnival Conquest on its way to New Orleans. I run back into the cabin to grab my camera and I take a few pictures. Then back in the cabin to upload the pictures and continue to work on this. The next time I look up there are a whole bunch of balconies just outside my window. I grab my camera again and run outside again. This time it is an NCL ship. I didn’t get the name, but I am guessing it is the NCL Sky. All of this occurred between 11 and 11:10pm. Given we are still in the river, the ships are passing each other at about two hundred feet apart (my estimate – at the Captain’s Corner I learns that the ships are actually 400 feet apart).

It is now midnight and it is too dark for me to tell if we are still in the river. Oh wait a second, there is a clue. The pilot boat is right below me. Okay, we must be ready to say goodbye to the river pilot and set a course in the Gulf of Mexico for, well Mexico (Cozumel to be exact).

At any rate, it is late, I’ve covered the highlights for today (now yesterday) and I am tired. So, until later today – good night.

Taken from my balcony ...

The following two pictures were taken from my balcony ...

Taken from the Viking Lounge ...

The following two pictures are from the MDR ...

Sunday, March 3, 2013 – Day at Sea

I wake up at about 6:35am and suddenly realize my mistake. I forgot to check on the status of the sunrise when I first opened my eyes earlier. Still, I do get a couple of good sun risen photos, just to show I was there. Also, either the river has become extremely wide, or we are in the Gulf of Mexico, doing about 17.5 knots on our way to Cozumel. We were going about 15 knots in the river. However, the reason we didn’t make much progress in the first eight hours is that the river has many switch backs. Now in the open ocean we are on a straight SSE course and have traveled much further in the last seven hours then we did during the first seven hours.

According to the ship’s information channel, we have traveled 243 miles since leaving New Orleans. We are only about one and half miles from land; though that land is straight down (we don’t want to go in that direction). The ship’s information channel gives all sorts of good information except for one very important bit of information – the air temperature. Still it felt nice when I was taking the pictures, at least ten degrees warmer than what we were experiencing in New Orleans. I expect we will see temperatures in the lower seventies soon, as the sun is quite warm (though there is a lot of cloud cover). Okay, that was the 7:30am forecast. The 9am revised forecast is nice and cool due to heavy cloud cover. Most of the passengers will not be happy, but I am, I like it cool.

It is single t-shirt weather for me, which is good, because I’m wearing my favorite cruise ship t-shirt. It shows a deer in a forest with arrows stuck in all the trees. The caption reads vegetarian, Indian word for lousy hunter. I bought it on my first cruise in Sitka, Alaska in 1999.

Last night I was so tired I forgot to begin charging my camera batteries. No matter, this junior suite has two plugs. Now all I have to do is find my little camera bag. I don’t see it and I do remember packing it when I left the hotel. After double checking all the places I remember putting things in it suddenly occurs to me that behind the side mirrors on the desk is some storage room that is the perfect size for my small camera bag. Sure enough that is where it is.

Well, it is 8am now. Time to shower, get dressed, perhaps get some breakfast and maybe a short video from the bow. Then at 10am we are having a gift exchange followed by a Meet and Mingle at 11:30am in the Dungeon (the disco). What a terrible place for a Meet and Mingle as it is dark down there.

I decide to bring my breakfast of bacon, eggs, rice and milk back to the cabin to eat on the balcony. And yes, that is a banana in my pocket, except it is in my back pocket. The plates are big, but there are no trays, so things like silverware and the banana have to be transported in my pockets.

After breakfast I update this and then it is off to the helicopter pad for a short video. On the way I take more pictures of the Royal Promenade. I also check out the stores. This is not a good time to go to the stores because this is when they first open and EVERYBODY wants to check them out. Though I’m not going to buy anything, I do get to see what I might be interested in, and it’s not much. This of course is a problem with the number of cruises I have taken. I pretty much have everything I want. Maybe later in the week they will have something that interests me.

Now it is 9:40am and time to get ready for the gift exchange. First I tried to give away some of the discount coupons that I received in my diamond coupon book. I couldn’t give away all the coupons I had no intention of using. One coupon is good for a fifteen percent discount on $1,000 or more jewelry purchase. If you really like your bedding, I’ve got a fifteen percent coupon if you are interested in purchasing it. I didn’t find any takers either of those two coupons. However, I was able to get rid of my free spin and match play coupons. After the gift exchange I ended up with a mug from Minnesota, which just happens to be the location of the headwaters of the Mississippi River.

Then we went to the stairs near the Metropolis Theater for a group photo. Many of us then went to the Dungeon for another Meet and Mingle event. Though I knew the time and place, I did not receive the invitation – until I returned to the cabin with my friends AFTER the Meet and Mingle. There was also an invitation to a behind-the-scenes Theater Tour. I did this on the Enchantment of the Seas and I did not find it that interesting. I’ll wait until I’m diamond plus when more interesting tours are offered. Finally there is an invitation to a diamond event tomorrow late afternoon.

As I suspected, the Dungeon was not a good place for the Meet and Mingle as it is dark down there. There were a few small prizes given out, than then a friend won the grand prize, which was one of each of the prior prizes in a small backpack. We then spoke for a long time and then went to my cabin followed by my friend’s grand suite for our own private, and limited, cabin crawl. They then headed to the ice show and I went back to my cabin where my lack of sleep caught up with me. But prior to that someone came by to check the mini-fridge see if I had used any of the items. I showed him that I moved things too make room for my orange juice and glass of cold water. However, nothing was missing.

After a much needed two hour nap I went up to deck twelve to catch the sunset. I was not the only one there for that purpose. However, the sun set behind the clouds. In short, the sunset was a bust. Then it was time to get dressed for formal night.

I posed for three pictures and then used one of my two for one drink coupons. Then I got in line to have my picture taken with the captain. I was the third or fourth person to have my picture taken with the captain and thus ended up on the DVD, so I paid the $30 for the DVD.

After the introduction of the senior staff by the captain, it was time for dinner. I had the chicken salad with apple slices and walnuts as an appetizer and ravioli with shrimp as the main course. Both were very good.

After dinner I decided to just go back to the cabin, upload my photographs and work on this. It is now a little after midnight and I am going to be swimming with a manatee in about ten hours. So until later today, good night.

Concierge Lounge entrance (deck 9) and inside ...

Just a small remark. The pic you posted is definitely not the Navigator of the Seas.

After my 23rd cruise I repeated ship for the first time which was the Mariner of the Seas.