Varganator and Marianne on Navigator 1/5/18

Well, Marianne and I will be celebrating our 8th Anniversary on the High Seas. This has become a tradition with us, and last year I added to it by reviewing each night after Marianne went to bed. I wanted to start early, since the prep is long since started and is really almost done.

Neither Marianne nor I are Diamond or anything as fancy as that, but if I can figure a way to sneak into the lounges I will add my thoughts on those areas.

Marianne likes to sit at the pool and enjoy the sun, I like to do all of the crazy activities, so be prepared for reports on napkin folding and trivia as the cruise progresses.

We have purchased the 3 meal package at the up sell restaurants and a night at the Chef's table. We have also purchased our excursions before we left.

In Labedee, we will not be doing an excursion, although we did the walking tour before and it was very interesting. In Curacao we will be taking an educational tour, same for Antigua. In Bonaire we have rented a golf cart, and I hope that we have the same success that everyone else has mentioned on these boards.

Marianne has the Diet Coke package, as I like to call it. As much as I try she still will not experiment with the crazy drinks in the free style machine, but maybe this will be the cruise.

Our tags are printed, our bags are half packed (read Rich has been packed for 2 weeks), and our reservations are all printed.

We will be flying down to Miami the day before and touring around the city on the day before. We will be staying at the Cambria Suites in Miami, and in theory they have a shuttle to the cruise terminal. I have points from Choice, so the Free room is the perfect rate for me. :D

If anyone has questions they want answered while I am on board, feel free to post them and I will do my best. We are kid less, so I cannot help with those programs, but I promise to look at the kids menu every time we eat, just because sometimes the kids have cool stuff that they do not offer to the adults.

We sail in little over a week, and our meet and greet is aranged. We have about 70 signed up, so again that should be a good time.

Looking forward to hearing from any and all of you and stay tuned for more:cool:

Happy Anniversary! We board on 1/14. Enjoy your cruise!

Bon Voyage and Happy Anniversary.. Looking forward to more.

 

In Labedee, we will not be doing an excursion, although we did the walking tour before and it was very interesting. In Curacao we will be taking an educational tour, same for Antigua. In Bonaire we have rented a golf cart, and I hope that we have the same success that everyone else has mentioned on these boards.

 

:D

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to hearing from any and all of you and stay tuned for more:cool:

That should be interesting, as the ship will be going to Aruba.

Looking forward to your reports!

... Neither Marianne nor I are Diamond or anything as fancy as that, but if I can figure a way to sneak into the lounges I will add my thoughts on those areas.

I saw this last night and decided to sleep on it. Did no one else pick up on this yet? OP is openly stating they will try to sneak into the lounges?

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Happy Anniversary. You will be taking care of her before we Board on 1/14 for a B2B. I will think of some questions and get back. Thank you

I saw this last night and decided to sleep on it. Did no one else pick up on this yet? OP is openly stating they will try to sneak into the lounges?

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Took it as a joke, and if not, better to ignore.

I saw this last night and decided to sleep on it. Did no one else pick up on this yet? OP is openly stating they will try to sneak into the lounges?

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Yes, I will be using my full Card carrying ninja skills to sneak into the lounge for a look around. Actually, I was going to ask a crew member if I could look inside, since on our next cruise my wife and I will both be eligible to use them.

I am sure that the security is tighter than the pentagon, and all of the Illuminati RCCL secrets are kept in there. Read the OP and you will see that I have a good time, on board, and on the boards. Relax, this is cruising, not Life Saving surgery.

That should be interesting, as the ship will be going to Aruba.

 

Looking forward to your reports!

I guess I was hoping for a Detour. Yes, Scheduled an excursion for Aruba, I imagine the Antigua excursions would be hard to make it back to the ship on time. Thanks for noticing the first typo, your Highlighter is in the mail, :D

We just enjoyed 9 days on the Navigator....had so much fun and loved the ship...have a great time...we really liked the shows and the skaters...enjoy yourself!!!!

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We will also be boarding on 1/5! We are absolutely looking forward to this after a challenging 2017.

We will not be sneaking into the lounges...we have earned the right to be there!

Yes..I had no idea that Antigua was part of the itinerary! Okay, it begins with an "A"! Possibly Holiday overdose? Whatever...hope to see you on board!

We will also be boarding on 1/5! We are absolutely looking forward to this after a challenging 2017.

 

We will not be sneaking into the lounges...we have earned the right to be there!

 

Yes..I had no idea that Antigua was part of the itinerary! Okay, it begins with an "A"! Possibly Holiday overdose? Whatever...hope to see you on board!

Maybe I can give you my camera and you can cover this part of the review, like a guest correspondent. I didn't realize how upset the bad choice of word could make someone. I guess I needed to look back in time to MS English.:cool:

Took it as a joke, and if not, better to ignore.

...Read the OP and you will see that I have a good time, on board, and on the boards. Relax, this is cruising, not Life Saving surgery.

I am relaxed and not upset. I was just mentioning this and because I do not know you, I wasn't sure how to take your comment, is all. :)

Now the fun really begins. We leave Thursday morning, as in REALLY EARLY, to fly to Miami. We will be staying in Miami the night before, since we never seem to travel easily. As in, leaving my wallet on the plane on a connector, and having the pilot drop it out the window onto the tarmac.

Of Course, since we are leaving in 4 days my wife has decided it is time to pack. This is where the fun begins. She suddenly realized that Miami weather (64 today), is not the same as VA weather (29 today) and she needs another day of warm weather clothes.

Packing is always an adventure, no matter how many cruises you have been on. I have taken the advice of pack and remove half, and still seem to come home with clean clothes. i have been packed for at least a week now, not that I am ready to go, LOL. I soooo look forward to our annual cruise.

some, back story/history here. We took our first cruise on Disney as our honeymoon. I had never been on a cruise, and wasn't sure if I would like it. It was a 4 day, and I loved every minute of it. I am a Disney Geek, so that definitely helped. We have been on at least one cruise every year since, usually for our anniversary. We also celebrate the anniversary of my wife's 30th birthday, since it also falls in January. We have seen most of the Caribbean, but we always seem to find one that we haven't been to. Labadee is the only repeat this trip. I had been to Haiti before, but it is a little different on a cruise than in the Military. We have planned out our excursions and are looking forward to all of them.

As we get closer and once things really happen I will become much more active. Thanks for the follows and the replies.

Have fun. We (me & the bff) will be on her in 32 days!!!! Can’t wait to read your report

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We will be on her in 32 days doing the same itinerary. Can’t wait to read more

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Marianne has the Diet Coke package, as I like to call it. As much as I try she still will not experiment with the crazy drinks in the free style machine, but maybe this will be the cruise

There are no Freestyle machines on the Navigator of the Seas.

Thank you for the information Tullers. Like I said, no matter how I beg and plead, cajole and threaten, she only drinks Diet coke. I would have liked to see the Freestyle machine in action, but alas it will have to wait until the next cruise. PERFECT, an "excuse" to book another cruise!:')

So now the fun begins. With Snowmagedden 2018 barreling down on us we are leaving a day earlier than expected. The beauty of my wife and I is that we both had plan a-f in place. She was able to change our tickets to tomorrow and will be arriving in Miami 24 hours earlier. Plan A was the original plan. Plan B is flying tomorrow morning (the plan we are using), plan C-E was driving to various Airports around us, RVA, RDU, BWI, CHA, and flying from there. Plan F was to leave tonight and drive the whole way down.

I drive over 20K miles a year for work, all up and down the east coast. I can do this and would do this. I am not interested in doing it when I do not have to. Thank goodness for my wife and her quick fingers on the change screen for our flight.

In addition to Winter storm excitement, my wifes dog decided to eat almost an entire bottle of supplements last night. So, we had the fun time of checking her eyes and taking her to the dog sitters while she is still in the process of working the extra stuff out of her system.

Vacation is never simple when it comes to us. But, excitement helps us work towards future years.

I thought I would have questions...but can't think of any. Be safe and have a wonderful vacation. I would be leaving today too....

Bon Voyage.

After a very early start to the day to escape Snowmagedden 2018 we have arrived in Miami. We literally got off the plane in Orlando and then into line for the plane to Miami, could not have been a better flight down. Of course with 610AM flights, the noise is down and it was easy to catch a little nap.

Upon arrival, there was a very short wait for 3 of our 4 bags to arrive on the luggage racks. Now, with appologies to Meatloaf, 3 out of 4 is bad. Especially when the 4th is the bag that contains a strong majority of my clothes for the cruise. This was about to become the most formal cruise in the history of ships, as I did have my tuxedo, and the shirts, so I guess I could snorkle in a bow tie, but not likely.

Thankfully, Southwest was full of explenations of what could have happened, and then a form to fill out to try to get the bag delivered. One of the questions was "Name 3 specific things that are in your bag". Of course, those of you that have followed the thread know that I have been packed for about 2 weeks now. This has never been a problem until today when I was trying to remember which shorts and shirts were in the bag.

After this little detour was finished it was off to find the UBER/LYFT section of the pick up area in the airport. This section is the only section which has no shelter from the blowing wind and rain that was happening during our wait. Of course we only found this after we broke down and paid the commercial shuttle service to take us to the hotel. There is zero help from anyone at the airport to find this section of the pick up lot. The only thing they can tell you is how to pay the company people to take you where you would like to go. We had a very nice driver, in a very full shuttle Escalade, and made it to the hotel $56 later, including tip.

We checked in to the hotel and the free shuttle fromt he hotel dropped us at a local Cuban restaraunt for lunch. Casa Juan, very authentic and a lovely lunch, which my wife and I brought half uf back to the room for a midnight snack. Nap time and then off to dinner.

Thankfully, while my wife and I were at Dinner, the bag was delivered to the hotel. Speaking of the hotel, my wife and I are staying at the Cambria Suites Blue Lagoon. I have not seen Brooke Shields yet, but continue to be on the look out. We recieved 2 coasters good for a drink at the bar upon check in, and of course, with my Choice points we are not paying for the rooms. Double bonus.

Dinner was an Uber ride to and froma local Microbrewery that offered snacks and light food. Very nice selection of their own beer and a couple of guest taps. Biscayne Bay was the name. Interesting side note, since the majority of Microbrews are built in comercial/industrial tyoe areas, our non english speaking driver had a little bit of a time finding the place on the ride there. These were my first 2 ever Uber rides, and I must say that I am so far, a big fan. I am sure as the weekend progresses there will be more chances to form a more educated oppinion on this topic.

My wife is tucked away in bed, and I am typing away in the front room of our suite. Little havana for the day/ afternoon and then South Beach are the plans for tomorrow. It is noce to be away from the snow, and struggle of the Middle Atlantic and here in Sunny Miami. I look forward to boarding in a couple of days, but 2 days in Miami will be a nice warm up for the cruise.

Looking forward to your review. We sail in just 9 short weeks (3/16/18), WE can't wait. Enjoy your cruise and the warm weather. We are having a heat wave.... 10 degrees...... YUCK!!!!!:eek:

We will be boarding Navigator on March 2nd and have the coveted corner aft balcony #1388!!:hearteyes: What cabin did you get?:rolleyes: Thanks for your review and looking forward to hearing about your experiences!! I like your writing humor!!;p BTW, we were able to check out the DL before turning D ourselves just by asking the concierge but I advise going up there before the happy hours begin, as it will be much less crowded. Enjoy!!! CHEERS!!:cool:

Any chance you'll be posting the menu's from the MDR? Sailing this itinerary in March and would love to see what we are in for!

I will post Menus, although my DW and I will not be eating in the MDR for at least 4 of the nights. Special rest. deal and chef's table.

Our cabin is just an interior rear cabin. We do not have anyone directly above or below us, at least by the deck plans, and we spend very little time awake in our cabin. We don.t even have a virtual balcony, which would be kind of cool. but we keep the Front camera channel on the TV with Mute activated. It lets is have some 'natural' light in the room and I like to see the weather before we emerge into reality.

Today is starting soon, we slept in, woke up to 8 inches of snow in our front yard, and 60 degree weather here.

We were also able to get the change fee, although they do not call it that with Southwest, returned to us. That just means more $$$$ to spend on Cigars and drinks on the Cruise. It also could mean more casino money, but we don't spend money there, we MAKE MONEY, LOL.

I hope everyone on the east coast stays safe and warm and I will post later with our adventures in Little Havana and South Beach.