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

[FloGaleRNTX]

I, too, have been a viewer only, but am so much enjoying this review!!! Your humor makes me laugh every day I read the review!!!

Barb

[gapearl]

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

 

I will be early next year! By the time I'm back on the Valor again, it will have been a year and a half since my last warm chocolate melting cake! :eek:

 

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

 

Thanks for reading! I might try to squeeze in one more installment before I go to bed.

[gapearl]

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?

 

Thanks for following along! The weather was beautiful. Our first 2 days in Rome were in the mid 70's, but it was still pretty hot. I couldn't imagine doing all the walking we did in summertime heat. We got 2 days of rain that brought a little cooler weather, but it wasn't cold or uncomfortable. October is a great time to go, just don't count on having days by the pool. ;)

 

By the way, I see you're in Las Vegas. I've been spending way too much time out there lately! :o

 

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.

 

Thanks to you too for following along! Much more to come!

[gapearl]

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!

 

Hi! I'm glad you enjoyed reading about Rome! Maybe you can combine a land vacation with the cruise like we did. ;) If not, Rome would be a great place for a land vacation. There's so much to see and do.

 

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.

 

I completely agree with what you just said. They're more alike than similar. I think you said it best saying they're just two different personalities. Stay tuned for more comparisons and thanks for reading!

[gapearl]

Loving your review.

 

Thank you!

 

I, too, have been a viewer only, but am so much enjoying this review!!! Your humor makes me laugh every day I read the review!!!

Barb

 

Thanks Barb! So glad to have you laughing! :D

[Chris41]

Great review as always and really glad you had such a great time in Rome.

We fell in love with Italy when we did our first Med on the Carnival Freedom and have since spent a couple weeks there on two seperate occasions.

 

Rome is an awesome place with fantastic people and food

[tikif6]

However, I live 25 minutes from the largest aquarium in the world, so I passed.

 

I'm so jealous!! ATL Right? I love aquariums and I want to fly down there one day from NY and go see it. Hopefully one day real soon :rolleyes:

[gapearl]

 

 

 

[yj2cute]

Hi, Kimberly!

 

I haven't cruised Carnival in a while, but I have enjoyed reading your other reviews. So glad to see writing a review on RCCL! I'm enjoying it very much! Keep up the great work! :)

[MCOgal]

So I registered for cruise critic. Now can someone please explain the basics?

Edited November 13, 2012 by MCOgal

[gapearl]

This is why we couldn't get into Nice, France today.

 

 

No, I didn't take this outside. The door was open, and I stood there and just zoomed in.

 

I was a little bummed because I really wanted to take the bus to Monte Carlo. Captain Claus did say that if the weather permitted, we would dock early in Toulon tonight instead of in the morning. That would have been great! We talked about getting off the ship and having dinner in port. Well apparently Mother Nature is going through menopause and was cranky due to nonstop hot flashes, so she didn’t allow the weather to lighten up all day. She said if I’m going to be miserable, you’re going to be miserable too. The ship was a rockinnnn and a rollinnnn. It was impossible to walk in a straight line without swaying. I was like I know I didn’t have that much to drink. :cool:

 

 

 

Nope, I wouldn't want to tender in this.

 

 

It was a really uneventful day. I eventually got up at 11 am to head to the gym and left Jackie to continue with her beauty sleep. The gym was pretty packed. Every treadmill was occupied, so I went to the elliptical for about 30 minutes. When a treadmill finally opened up I ran a few 1 minute sprints for another 20 minutes. After I was done increasing my speed for the last sprint, the treadmill gave a message that running was not recommended. The treadmills must have some kind of sensors that detect the unstableness during bad weather and give you these warnings. I never knew they did that!

 

After working out, I headed straight to the Windjammer for lunch, and then back to the room to shower and change clothes. I broke down and purchased an internet package and got online for a few minutes. You have to go to one of the internet stations on the ship to receive a signal for your wireless device. Our room was right above one of the stations, so we were able to log on without leaving. After logging off I went down to the promenade and shopped a bit. The duty free store was a bit disappointing. The Clinique clarifying lotion I pay $12 for at Dillard’s was $14, plus a 21% VAT tax. Guess what? It stayed right there on the shelf.

 

I roamed the ship some more, bored. Really bored. I went to the casino to try my luck at some $1 roulette, but the table was too packed and I left. After leaving the casino I saw two guys from the Bahrain group (the same two in the formal night picture, it was four of them total) having a drink and they invited me to join them. We talked for a while about some of everything- our travels, my life in Atlanta, their lives in the Middle East, our careers, dating in our countries, etc. They even asked me about our election. One thing I’ll say that was constant throughout the cruise is that people from all over the world were interested in it. What do you think about Barack Obama? What do you think about Mitt Romney? I gave my opinions on both, which they found interesting. (I’m keeping my opinions to myself, and kindly ask everyone to do the same. I have no desire at all to start a political debate in a cruise review. ;))

 

I left them around 7 pm to start getting ready for dinner. Jackie was already getting dressed when I got back to the room. She left before me to go to the past guest party. She got back to the room just as I was ready to leave for dinner and we walked there together.

 

Jackie as Cruella Deville.

 

[gapearl]

Elias brought him a booster seat.

 

 

What should they order for dinner tonight?

 

 

 

 

 

[gapearl]

I had the vichyssoise as my starter. It was a cold soup, but would have been much better warm. I ate about half of it. Elias brought me a salad too (didn't even have to ask!) when he saw I was unsure about it.

 

 

I think I ordered the penne with pomodoro sauce again tonight. Looking at the menu now, I wish I had tried the vegetable paella.

 

Chocolate hazelnut truffle tart with ice cream for dessert.

 

 

Not too many people dressed up for Halloween. There were some, but not a large number. I think all of the kids I saw were dressed up. I did see a group of about 25 kids and their parents with a member of the RC staff walking down the promenade, so they obviously had something for them. The Cruise Compass had a sign up for the Halloween costume parade at 11:10. Neither of us went so I’m not sure how it turned out.

 

My "costume." Read the shirt closely. :cool:

 

 

If you forget your costume, just put on your bathrobe and a mask.

 

[gapearl]

After dinner, Jackie went to the Love and Marriage Show. Surprise, surprise, I went to Bolero’s for some music and a mango mojito.

 

I ran into this crazy doctor at Bolero's. He introduced himself as Dr. Kevorkian! :eek:

 

 

Hey, man! I'm not one of your patients!

 

 

He can play the bongos?

 

 

We met up in The Dungeon around midnight. DJ Drag@n must have had the night off. The guy that was his replacement was awful! He played lots of music no one knew, and a lot of songs from the 90’s. Now I can’t hate on 90’s music because that’s what I listened to during my teenage years. However, as a good DJ, you need to know your audience. The Americans remembered Kris Kross and their hit “Jump!” The guys from Brazil and Portugal didn’t. Lots of us gave him song requests, and he didn't play a single one. The dance floor was empty most of the night. The bartenders were really busy though!

 

 

A rare moment of dancing.

 

 

Up next: Two wannabe models in the south of France, Quest, and the guy that peels the potatoes. The shenanigans shall continue.

[gapearl]

Great review as always and really glad you had such a great time in Rome.

We fell in love with Italy when we did our first Med on the Carnival Freedom and have since spent a couple weeks there on two seperate occasions.

 

Rome is an awesome place with fantastic people and food

 

Thanks for reading! I fell in love with Rome too. We're talking about another quick trip next year to see everything we missed.

 

I'm so jealous!! ATL Right? I love aquariums and I want to fly down there one day from NY and go see it. Hopefully one day real soon :rolleyes:

 

Atlanta, that's right! I've only been once and that was back in 2006 when I first moved here. They've added so much since then. You can swim with the whale sharks. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to do that! Hopefully you'll get to visit soon.

[gapearl]

Hi, Kimberly!

 

I haven't cruised Carnival in a while, but I have enjoyed reading your other reviews. So glad to see writing a review on RCCL! I'm enjoying it very much! Keep up the great work! :)

 

Thanks for the nice words and for reading! I'm glad you're enjoying it. :)

[gapearl]

So I registered for cruise critic. Now can someone please explain the basics?

 

Guess who is Cruise Critic's newest member?

 

Ladies and gentlemen, here's JACKIE!!! :D

 

This review might be getting even more interesting now that she's here to comment. :p

[tiger belle]

continuing to enjoy the review...Jackie's costume was great...and yours was quite unusual :)

[NeuroQueen]

Loving your review, as always. Where did you stay in Aruba? I love it there, but always want to cruise! Your pictures are great. Keep up the great story!!!

[R_Judy]

Just wanted to thank you again for taking the time to write an awesome review. If you can't cruise right now this is the next best thing!! :D

[donnaman43]

This is way to good. More, More, soon, soon!!!!!

[Esmerelda]

Kim, just wanted to say I'm really enjoying your review. (and I won't be gouging my eyes out anytime soon just so you know);)

 

You look as though you and Jackie are having a really good time, so glad to hear it. Both of you seem very fun and that's what makes a vacation great! I loved your formal night dresses!

 

I look forward to more of your adventures!:p

[gapearl]

continuing to enjoy the review...Jackie's costume was great...and yours was quite unusual :)

 

Thanks! :)

 

Loving your review, as always. Where did you stay in Aruba? I love it there, but always want to cruise! Your pictures are great. Keep up the great story!!!

 

I stayed at a little b&b in town, less than 10 minutes from Palm Beach. Get the best of both worlds and take a cruise there! ;) I'll be headed back next year on the Breeze.

[gapearl]

Just wanted to thank you again for taking the time to write an awesome review. If you can't cruise right now this is the next best thing!! :D

 

I'm glad you're enjoying reading. I also love reading reviews when I'm not cruising.

 

This is way to good. More, More, soon, soon!!!!!

 

I'm uploading pictures from day 5 right now. My laundry will have to wait until it's done.

[gapearl]

Kim, just wanted to say I'm really enjoying your review. (and I won't be gouging my eyes out anytime soon just so you know);)

 

You look as though you and Jackie are having a really good time, so glad to hear it. Both of you seem very fun and that's what makes a vacation great! I loved your formal night dresses!

 

I look forward to more of your adventures!:p

 

No, don't do that! LOL

 

We had so much fun. Jackie was the best travel buddy. You're going to love my dress from the second formal night. :)

 

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!