Carnival Cruiser Sails Royal Caribbean ~ Navigator to Italy, France, Spain ~ 10/28/12

[gapearl]

Oooh I've never done one before but have been thinking about it since 2 reviews in particular (one from Sherri AKA Middle Aged Drama Queen and one from Stacy Gregorski AKA stacycakes1 on the Carnival boards) helped me out so much and actually convinced me that I had to book a Med Cruise!

 

I loved Stacy's review as well. They take a lot more time to write than you think so be prepared!

 

very interesting and fun review...will be on Navigator this upcoming Saturday for its first cruise out of NOLA for the season after being across the Atlantic...it will be my first RCI cruise, having just been on Carnival before...even though our itinerary is a Caribbean one, I am especially enjoying your comments and reviews of the ship itself...look forward to more!

 

Thanks Tiger Belle! You're going to have a TON of fun! It's a nice ship and was pretty easy to find my way around. You'll see a lot of similarities but also a lot of differences between them and Carnival. Let me get back to it since you leave in a few days! :)

[jobell]

where oh where did our gapearl go...where oh where could she be?!?!

 

(waiting impatiently for more). ;)

 

but seriously...I know you are getting back to work and do hope you are well. :D

[gapearl]

where oh where did our gapearl go...where oh where could she be?!?!

 

(waiting impatiently for more). ;)

 

but seriously...I know you are getting back to work and do hope you are well. :D

 

I'm actually sitting in the airport in Orlando now before my last flight of the night uploading pictures. :)

[jobell]

I'm actually sitting in the airport in Orlando now before my last flight of the night uploading pictures. :)

 

Hello, Orlando!!!!

 

I hope you have a safe flight. :)

[gapearl]

Sorry for the delay in posting. My work schedule the last few days hasn't allowed for me to get back into this.

 

Time for dinner!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jackie had the minestrone for her starter.

 

[gapearl]

I had the strawberry bisque as my starter and LOVED it! It had the taste and consistency of a juice. This might sound silly, but I told Jackie it would have been really good in a glass with some rum. Elias, our waiter, brought me over a second serving later with my dessert. I'd recommend this as a dessert if there's nothing on the dessert menu that interests you.

 

 

Rigatoni with pomodoro sauce. Really good.

 

 

For dessert, I had the warm chocolate cake with a side of ice cream and Jackie had the tiramisu.

 

This was good, but can't touch Carnival's warm chocolate melting cake. Not even slightly.

 

 

 

Elias brought us over this riddle. It completely stumped us.

 

 

Our waiters sang for us tonight.

 

 

The video of that-

 

[jobell]

I had the strawberry bisque as my starter and LOVED it! It had the taste and consistency of a juice. This might sound silly, but I told Jackie it would have been really good in a glass with some rum. Elias, our waiter, brought me over a second serving later with my dessert. I'd recommend this as a dessert if there's nothing on the dessert menu that interests you.

 

How would you say the strawberry bisque compares to Carnivals? I could put their's in a super big gulp and drink on it all day. :eek:

[gapearl]

From 11-11:30 pm, there was a 70's disco inferno street party down the promenade with the cruise director, Simora, and the Royal Caribbean dancers. I watched from our room for a while, and eventually went down to join in the fun.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Jackie watching from our room.

 

 

Nothing like a conga line with a cowboy leading the way. :)

 

 

 

The cop is cruise director Simora.

 

 

OMG this was sooooooo much fun! Both The Jackson 5 and The Village People went through the crowd, dancing with passengers and taking pictures. It was funny watching cougars from all over the world pounce on guys. Every popular 70's song that you can think of was played. Yes, that includes YMCA. :D Whenever I might find myself on another Royal Caribbean ship, I hope there's another 70's party like this!

 

After the party, I headed to Bolero's for another one of those awesome mango mojitos and listened to Latin Express. There was always a crowd of people and a full dance floor of people dancing. If you're headed on the Navigator any time soon, and you love a little salsa or merengue, don't miss Latin Express! After Bolero's was The Dungeon for some late night dancing.

[audrey]

this is a great review we will be sailing on this ship next march and I enjoyed seeing the picture of ship

[gapearl]

I have no idea what happened to Day 3's Cruise Compass. Here are the Cruise Specials instead.

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

Today would be our first day of the trip so far where we didn't have anything planned. I didn't find anything really interesting that jumped out at me in Genoa, so Jackie and I agreed to just wing it when we got there. We slept in and didn't get off the ship until 11ish. I had no idea it was raining, so I went back in for my umbrella and we set out walking to find something to see and do.

 

She finally broke down and bought an umbrella too.

 

 

There's our ship!

 

 

Once we got out of the port area, there was nothing to do. A couple of those hop on, hop off buses passed. We ran into some other girls from the ship also looking to go into town and hung out together for a while. We asked a man in a shop where could we go for some shopping and sightseeing, and he pointed us to the metro and told us to get off at the second stop. It was 1.50 euros for a 3 hour pass.

 

Us being silly while waiting for the train.

 

 

New friends from Turkey, Mexico, and Nigeria. Meeting people from all over the world- that's what international travel is all about!

 

 

 

[gapearl]

We really wanted to find something fun to do on our last day in Italy, but couldn't. Once we made it to the city center, there still wasn't much there. The Genoa Aquarium is the largest one in Europe and is a popular attraction for tourists. However, I live 25 minutes from the largest aquarium in the world, so I passed.

 

We went and took some pictures of this boat. Two of the girls we were with went in.

 

 

 

 

We had been out walking around in the rain for an hour and decided to just head back to the ship. There weren't even any souvenir shops to buy a t-shirt or magnet. This is a port where I'd recommend booking a tour or doing a ship excursion because there's just not much here.

 

Back at the ship.

 

 

Cold and hungry, we headed to the Windjammer for lunch. Apparently a lot of other people didn't find anything to do either because it was packed! It was almost impossible to find a table.

 

Genoa did give us some scenic views while eating.

 

 

 

We took necessary post-Windjammer naps. I set out Schooner Bar to quench my craving for one of those mango mojitos I adored. I had no idea there was tv theme song trivia taking place. They played the music and I was like "Duh! That's Family Matters!" Suprisingly no one was writing down the answer, so I told the people at the closest table to me what the answer was. I joined their team for the rest of the game, and guess what? We won with a score of 18 out of 20! They were from England and weren't familiar with most of the American shows they had to guess. Actually most people playing weren't American. My being a tv addict finally paid off!

 

Later I headed to the gym for some time in the sauna. When I came out, Captain Claus came on the intercom and informed us we wouldn't make it to Nice, France, the next day. Nice is a tender port and the high swells would have made it impossible. He was very good about keeping us updated with announcements and new information. We were a little disappointed, but of course it's best to be safe. Not much time to dwell because I had to get ready for our first formal night.

[gapearl]

 

 

 

Potato curry. MMMM-MMMMMMM, THIS WAS GOOD!

 

 

Jackie's double strawberry cheesecake.

 

 

My bittersweet chocolate souffle with a side of ice cream.

 

[gapearl]

Remember how our flowers looked the first day? Well now they've bloomed! Check out the Sprite can.

 

 

We went back to our cabin for a few minutes after dinner and found our first towel animal.

 

 

We headed to The Metropolis Theatre for the show tonight.

 

 

Simora opening the show.

 

[gapearl]

I don't remember the name of the show since I don't have a Compass from today, but it was a tribute to different Broadway shows.

 

The Producers????

 

 

 

 

Dreamgirls.

 

 

 

Mamma Mia.

 

 

This show was fantastic! I haven't been to a Carnival show in a few years because I thought they were, well, cheesy. This production top notch. Totally blew Carnival's shows out of the water (no pun intended).

[gapearl]

Jackie and I after the show.

 

 

A couple of new friends all the way from Bahrain.

 

 

Everyone really went all out for formal night. I didn't see anyone that wasn't dressed up. Men all wore suits and a lot even wore tuxedos. Ladies all wore cocktail or evening gowns.

 

We stayed in our dresses the rest of the night for some music at Bolero's and dancing in The Dungeon with DJ Drag@n. He didn't let us sit down all night because he played such good music. He was also good about playing my requests, usually within 20-25 minutes of asking.

 

Looking up at the people on the top level of The Dungeon.

 

 

Around 2:30 am, the heels came off, flip flops came on, and the party continued. Since we now had a sea day coming up, no one was concerned about going to bed and it was packed all night. A 90 year old woman rocked the dance floor with another new friend of mine, 20 year old Kyle. It was hilarious. Good times! :p

 

 

Up next: A lazy day at sea and Halloween!

[gapearl]

How would you say the strawberry bisque compares to Carnivals? I could put their's in a super big gulp and drink on it all day. :eek:

 

I haven't tried it on Carnival yet. I could drink RC's all day too!

 

this is a great review we will be sailing on this ship next march and I enjoyed seeing the picture of ship

 

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a great time when you cruise.

 

Where did everyone else go? Lots of people lurking (almost 11,000 views in less than a week) but the comments have slowed down. Don't be shy! Say hi and leave some feedback! I like knowing that people are enjoying reading. :)

[jobell]

I haven't tried it on Carnival yet. I could drink RC's all day too!

 

What, what?!?!? Get thee on a Carnival cruise stat. lol. ;)

[nancronin]

Glad you're back posting - the wait was worth it. :D

[bencruzN]

GaPearl, this is an awesome review! Love the pictures, you ladies look beautiful. DH and I are planning med cruise sometime in 2014. We were thinking about October also, what was the weather like at that time?

[Sea Viewer]

Where did everyone else go? Lots of people lurking (almost 11,000 views in less than a week) but the comments have slowed down. Don't be shy! Say hi and leave some feedback! I like knowing that people are enjoying reading. :)

 

I'm one of the "Viewers". love the Navigator, I was on the TA this year, and will miss her big time when she doesn't come back to Fort Lauderdale this year. Your photos are great, really seem to have captured the essence of the ship. I also love the potato curry and the mojito's at Bolero's.

 

Keep posting please I'm really enjoying the review.

[MomtoCCC]

Another "viewer" here really enjoying your review! I especially liked all the info on Rome. We are debating a future Med cruise vs a land vacation in Italy...

 

Looking forward to more!

[Princessdimd]

Excellent review! Navigator was my first Royal Caribbean ship, and I loved it. I'm ready to hear more of your comparison between Royal and Carnival, especially since youre a Carnival cheerleader.

 

I sailed Carnival for the first time in July. It was interesting. Many people compare the two lines to Walmart and Target. I disagree. I simply think they have two different personalities. You tend to stick to the personality "cruse line" that you're most comfortable with.

[donnaman43]

Loving your review.