About to walk off the Navigator 1st time cruiser

[TXBBQDUDE]

my wife and I just finished 7 great relaxing days on the Navigator. We are sitting in the theater waiting to self embark I will have a full review coming soon. Really enjoyed our cruise a few things could be tweaked I have compasses and took notes day by day for a full review.

[lbjen]

Looking forward to hearing about it!

[robtx100]

Looking forward to your review. I board NOS June 7.

[gambler]

Can't Wait!!

[Vidakatten]

So excited!! We are boarding June 14 and looking forward to the review. :)

[Katbeatina]

Leaving shortly on Navigator - looking forward to your review !

[Wilson]

We leave on Nav one week from today. Looking forward to your review.

Interested to hear about bar and poolside service.

Please post a link if it's not going to be in this thread.

[britty1]

We were on the Navigator in March - liked the ship and look forward to reading your review, it's quite a while before we cruise again. In need of a Navigator cruise review :D

[Lerin]

After a 1 year "cruise drought" we are taking 2 this coming winter; Navigator being 1 of them!

Never been on her so will be following this thread intently. :)

[TXBBQDUDE]

Sitting at home been home for a few hours as Galveston is only an hour from the house. I am going to review this from a day to day so it maybe easier to read instead of one big post. Disclaimer this review is from the perspective of two adults traveling without our kids first time cruise for me second for the wife. I was not sold on the idea of going on a cruise but I love my wife and she wanted to go so I booked it. We did not fly so I do not have any information on transfers but I do have information on parking and getting on the boat.

 

We left the house about 9:00 am and hit Galveston right after 10:00 am. Traffic was bad due to some sort of all woman's 10k run going on. We parked at EZ-Cruise got on the shuttle and was on the boat all before 11:05 am. We got on board and went walking around taking in the boat. We got to walk all around and find all of the cool stuff, walk the deck, take pics and have lunch in the Windjammer. The windjammer was not packed yet when we went but when we walked by only about half an hour later it was very packed. Right before 1:00 PM they made an announcement that our rooms was ready so we went to check it out. I booked Interior Room 7117 my first impression was OMG this is the smallest room I have ever seen but after a few days it did not bother me at all. After exploring the room we started to head out to see more when we noticed out luggage was being rolled over to us. We went back in and unpacked enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on the deck where people were starting to have fun very early. We had booked the Mystery Dinner so for the first night that is what we ate. The dinner was delicious the show was pretty good especially after several glasses of free wine. I had the beef tenderloin my wife had the garlic shrimp. The antipasti appetizer was OUTSTANDING. The Mystery dinner took about three hours then we went to the first show of the evening (Comic Kivi Rogers) and we had an absolute blast. Headed back to the room I noticed I did not see one frown on a guest I knew that we would be in for a good vacation at this point.

 

So the key for Day 1 is to go ealy and get on the boat as soon as you can. We talked to people who said it took 1 1/2 hours in line to get on the boat we had no issues. Feel Free to ask Questions I will hit on Day two in a bit.

[Summerknight]

Following.

 

It is always fun to get a new perspective.

[js]

Thanks so much! When did you book he Mystery Dinner. I would like to do this our first night in January.

 

Also, what are the specialty restaurants?

 

Thank you.

Edited April 26, 2015 by js

[cincicruisers]

Looking forward to your review

[CCC3]

Navigator...May 31! Did you/others bring on your own bottled water?

[Ladysilver]

Looking forward to reading your review. :)

[bilyclub]

Kivi is a rung above most of the comics on the Royal circuit.

[marcy0912]

Did you find the makeup of passengers to be diverse? We were on NoS the week before Easter and it was 2/3 from Mexico.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[kontraxed]

We're going on the Navigator in seven days (May 3rd). We live in Spring, TX so we're a little over an hour away from Galveston too. I think we'll use your same timing - leave our house at 9:00 and get on the ship as soon as possible. I'm looking forward to your review. We are also doing the Mystery Dinner the first night. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it. Which itinerary did you do? Did you eat at Sabors?

[Spring]

Cant wait to hear a review from a 1st time cruise.

[TXBBQDUDE]

Day 2 Full Sea Day

 

I knew this was a vacation when we got to sleep in. If there is one major advantage to a interior room it is super dark and sleeping in is so easy with no light. When we did wake up we went for pastries at the Cafe Promenade Then walked around the Deck for a bit until it was time for the meet and mingle. I was a little nervous about the meet and mingle/cabin crawl my wife and I did not fit the demographic of everyone else but after the ice breaker everyone seemed like old friends. The cabin crawl was cool especially for someone who has not been on a cruise before. Saw lots of rooms and meet people who we seemed to run into all week long. After the cabin crawl we donated our cabin credit to the casino then went up to the Solarium to sit in the Hot Tub. Quick afternoon nap turned into a long afternoon nap and we skipped the dance show "Ballroom Fever".

 

We went to the MDR for the first formal night. I wore a shirt and sport jacket the wife wore a summer dress we were about the norm a few Tuxes and a few polos thrown in. Lots of pictures being taken all over the place. We were looking forward to a big table full of new friends but RCI decided that we were special so we had a nice table for two waiting for us. After reading all of the negative things on the MDR I probably went in expecting the worse. The service was exceptional our wine was chilled and befre we were finished they were pouring us another glass. Never once did we receive a cold meal, and everything we ate was well prepared. Shanisa and Tania were excellent and by the second night they knew our names likes and dislikes.

 

After dinner we went to the late show again and it was the same comic different set once again he was funny. We went to sleep ready for day 3. I will try to post the rest of the cruise tomorrow too tired to type anymore today.

[TXBBQDUDE]

We're going on the Navigator in seven days (May 3rd). We live in Spring, TX so we're a little over an hour away from Galveston too. I think we'll use your same timing - leave our house at 9:00 and get on the ship as soon as possible. I'm looking forward to your review. We are also doing the Mystery Dinner the first night. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it. Which itinerary did you do? Did you eat at Sabors?

 

We live in Spring too off of Cypresswood. We did the Roatan, Belize, Cozumel. Did not eat at Sabors.

 

We leave on Nav one week from today. Looking forward to your review.

Interested to hear about bar and poolside service.

Please post a link if it's not going to be in this thread.

 

Pool side service was good. Always someone waling around with a smile looking to help.

[TXBBQDUDE]

Thanks so much! When did you book he Mystery Dinner. I would like to do this our first night in January.

 

Also, what are the specialty restaurants?

 

Thank you.

 

Booked it online about 60 days before but several people booked it the day they got on the ship. The specialty restaurants are Chops, Giovanni's Table, Sabor, and Izumi.

 

Navigator...May 31! Did you/others bring on your own bottled water?

 

Did not bring water but saw several people who did. I did bring on a 4 pack of Monster energy Drinks.

[TXBBQDUDE]

Did you find the makeup of passengers to be diverse? We were on NoS the week before Easter and it was 2/3 from Mexico.

 

Seemed pretty diverse to us. Most were from Texas a few from Mexico but I would say less than 10%. Not a lot of kids on the boat at all. There was a small group called FES looks like some sales people who won a cruise.

[Vidakatten]

Thanks for sharing! Looking forward to read more. :)

[TXBBQDUDE]

Day 3 second day at Sea

 

Day 3 was very similar to Day 2 with the exception of we did the Sushi class. The Sushi class was probably our favorite activity we did on the ship that we paid extra for. We were planning to eat at Izumi anyways so why not learn how to make our own sushi rolls while we were at it. After Sushi I enjoyed a fine cigar in the Connoisseurs club then we went to visit next cruise just to see what it would cost to bring the whole family. I will admit by this time I was already hooked on cruising and I had not even been to a port yet. We had an appointment at Next Cruise and booked Liberty of the Seas for 19 June 2016 for us and our 3 kids for a price that I was willing to pay. (it was cheaper than taking them to Disney) After Next Cruise we took an afternoon nap (best part of cruising). Next we went to the Ice skating show I had my doubts if I would like it but I was wrong it was very well put on and I enjoyed it very much. At this point I turned to my wife and said just when you think the last show you saw was the best you go to the next. Hint if you want good seats for the ice show you owe it to yourself to take 15 minutes out of day one and pick up tickets to the show you want. The seas were choppy this evening it was the only day my wife felt a little Sea Sick so she skipped the evening entertainment. I went solo and it was maybe the best show of the week (you will hear me say this more than once) If Joel Mason is on your boat make sure you go to his show it was awesome. Dinner and turn in early getting ready for our first shore day.