NAVIGATOR Trip Report with PHOTOS--March 12, 2017

[kwazi07]

You are officially my favorite CC poster. Now I have to go through and see what else you have posted. Today's productivity level on a scale of 1-10 will be a -3.

 

 

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Thank you! I have those days too...aka yesterday! Should have done some stuff that I ended up pushing to today :/

 

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[kwazi07]

Hey guys, no update tonight--gotta finish up some work from school tomorrow (maybe I should have done some work on the cruise ;) ). But, if anyone has any questions, especially about the five night itinerary (the boards are soaked with info on the nine night cruises), please don't hesitate to ask!

[Lindsay564]

I'm enjoying your review! One question - do you know how much lunch at Sabor was on sea days?

[kwazi07]

I'm enjoying your review! One question - do you know how much lunch at Sabor was on sea days?

Thanks! I believe it was $25. I'll check in the Cruise Compii tomorrow to make sure, though.

 

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[krewzin]

You're doing a fantastic job! We did this same ship/itinerary 2 weeks before you and -although too short- we loved it!

[CarrieAP]

We were on the Getaway, so loving the opportunity to get the scoop on one of the ships we saw in port!

 

 

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[nonibop]

Great report with some lovely photos!

The rare roast beef looks lovely, just needs a Yorkshire Pudding!

 

 

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[sky0000547]

Speaking of coffee, they changed their coffee for the specialty beverages from Starbucks to Illy. For regular coffee they are now using Lavazza instead of "Royal Caribbean Roast", which was nice and strong (a little acidic). I like my hot coffee black so that was a nice surprise.

 

Also on the coffee note, I learned from watching a cruise vlog that super tasty iced coffee is available for free! It takes a little work, but here's how. First, ask for a cup of ice from the specialty coffee line. In a mug, add some sugar--I used four packets (they're small) and add a little coffee to melt. Add milk or cream to taste and add ice. Pour the coffee over the ice and BAM! Delicious iced coffee. I drank at least one or two of these daily in addition to my morning coffee :)

 

 

Don't they do iced coffee or other cold coffee based drink like Frappuccino?

[Teeara]

 

Speaking of coffee, they changed their coffee for the specialty beverages from Starbucks to Illy. For regular coffee they are now using Lavazza instead of "Royal Caribbean Roast", which was nice and strong (a little acidic). I like my hot coffee black so that was a nice surprise.

 

Thanks for the update. I love Illy coffee. Get it here in my office building sometimes.

[Teeara]

Well, Andy, I am now caught up on your review and I am enjoying it immensely. I am on the same 9 day NOS cruise with Dan-P. Love your pictures and your point of view. Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to the rest of your review!

[kwazi07]

Don't they do iced coffee or other cold coffee based drink like Frappuccino?

Yes, but that costs money ;)

The way I did it was the "poor man's way". I'm enough of a Starbucks/Dunkin addict on land, I don't need to continue that onboard!

 

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[kwazi07]

Thanks for the update. I love Illy coffee. Get it here in my office building sometimes.

I really like it! I didn't have it on the cruise, but I've had it elsewhere and it's very good.

 

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[kwazi07]

Well, Andy, I am now caught up on your review and I am enjoying it immensely. I am on the same 9 day NOS cruise with Dan-P. Love your pictures and your point of view. Keep up the good work and I'm looking forward to the rest of your review!

Thank you so much, I appreciate it! More coming as I speak :)

 

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[kwazi07]

Formal night!

 

I have always loved formal night. It's really one of those long-standing cruise traditions that reminds me of The Love Boat. It's fun seeing everyone dressed up, and I like going to the captains reception (more on that later).

 

On this cruise, formal night was decidedly different than that on my past ones. The attire ran the gamut--tuxedos to untucked colored dress shirts for men and evening gowns to beach dresses for women. I initially thought it may have been the college crowd, but many of the college students were the best dressed with their tuxedos, bowties, and dresses. I just think that maybe since it was a shorter cruise people planned on a more laid back time? Whatever the reason, it didn't have that special *formal night* feel that formal night usually does. Maybe it's due to the lack of announcements from Cuddy [emoji19]

 

As for me, I wore a suit, tie and dress pants. It was the most formal I have dressed on a cruise and I enjoyed it, but it was short lived--I changed after dinner to go ice skating.

 

So let's go to dinner--saffron menu!

 

Double boiled chicken consomme. It was tasty enough, but unremarkable.

 

I decided to order two entrees--the first of which being the shrimp ravioli. It had a nice shrimp flavor but few actual pieces of shrimp. The sauce was really flavorful! Small portion, however.

 

Artichoke-filled crepes au gratin. This definitely satisfied my craving for something au gratin. Super rich, but not as much artichoke flavor as I was hoping.

 

Bittersweet chocolate souffle. I was super hyped up for this dessert based on how it was described on the menu, but it was honestly flavorless. This was the only dessert that I didn't enjoy all that much in the MDR.

 

After dinner, we were thinking of going to the captains reception, but instead we decided to go ice skating at Studio B. This is a good time to bring up our "ghost captain".

 

We had very few announcements from our captain, whose name I cannot say because no one in my family knew it! Sure, we didn't go to the captains reception. But on Enchantment, we always had a daily announcement from the captain (Captain Gus, I think he's on Harmony now), and he was always visible at events and the like. On this cruise, we had two announcements from our captain--one for muster on the first day, and one on the last sea day. He offered his "safety tip of the day" which turned out to be the safety tip of the cruise. I mean, I know he got us to the ports and home safely, but maybe a little contact would have been nice. On a similar note, the at least half dozen times we tried to visit the peek-a-boo bridge, it was never open. Some fellow cruisers said they saw the shades open once, but even they checked many times before seeing it open.

 

Anyways, since we were already signed up for the rock wall and Flowrider we had also signed the waiver for the ice rink. All we had to do was swipe our Seapasses and get a little punch in our card. I have to say, all of the staff working in the ice rink were some of the friendliest on the ship!

 

Skating on a ship was fun! You could feel a little gentle rocking here and there, but nothing to cause you to fall over (which I never did onboard!). I was offered hockey skates which are easier for me when I haven't skated in a while but they have both hockey and figure skates if you have a preference. I don't have any pictures on my phone (they were pretty adamant about not using phones on the ice), but I will upload some of my mom's photos once I get to day 4 (we went ice skating again).

 

Once the 30 minute skating session was over we didn't have anything to do so we decided to check out the "Ballroom Fever" show in the main theater. The dancers were talented and the singers were very good, but some numbers in the show just didn't do it for me. On the same token however, some were awesome. Around the 35 minute mark, we left, but only because my sister was really tired (we all were at that point honestly). If we had a little more energy we would have stayed longer. Note that this show did not have a live band which I like.

 

On the first night we went for a snack in the Windjammer--just some mac n cheese, some meats, and brie. We wanted to do it again tonight, but we found out the WJ closed at 9pm? We swore we were there later the first night, but even on the day 1 Cruise Compass it says that it closed at 9.

 

With the Windjammer closed, we go down to the Cafe Promenade and get some water. We go back to the room and call it a night...almost.

 

First towel animal of the cruise!

 

As usual, I sleep like a rock so it didn't wake me up, but there was supposedly a big storm. I did hear the whistling of the balcony door and the door shaking because it was not locked, but it didn't wake me up :)

 

Apparently it was really windy, but no rain. My mom said that the lightning was pretty violent, and it even scared my sister a little bit. Now, the thing that DID wake me up was the pancake of a pillow falling off the sofa bed...Royal, please invest in new pillows!! Use that new room service fee to buy some fluffy pillows that actually provide support!

 

Well that concludes day 2! Up next is a day at sea, my favorite days on a cruise! But for now, see y'all soon!

 

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[kwazi07]

PS: Would you guys prefer me to post the Cruise Compii after each day or at the end of the report? I was initially planning on the end of the report, but I think it might be useful for each day so y'all can get some context for the things we did each day.

 

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[Clarea]

PS: Would you guys prefer me to post the Cruise Compii after each day or at the end of the report? I was initially planning on the end of the report, but I think it might be useful for each day so y'all can get some context for the things we did each day.

How about each day for the context, and then put some links to each day at the end.

[sky0000547]

Yes, but that costs money ;)

The way I did it was the "poor man's way". I'm enough of a Starbucks/Dunkin addict on land, I don't need to continue that onboard!

 

 

Thanks for the info. I was deciding whether to get the drinks package or not as I need to continue my addiction onboard ;)

[kwazi07]

How about each day for the context, and then put some links to each day at the end.

Will do :)

 

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[kwazi07]

Day One Cruise Compass

 

 

 

 

 

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[kwazi07]

Day 2 Compass

 

 

 

 

 

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[kwazi07]

Note: Our scanner is actually broken so I took pics of the Compii. If you guys can't read anything, just ask!

 

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[kwazi07]

DAY 3: AT SEA

 

 

 

 

 

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[kwazi07]

Again, we woke up at 6:30--I know, on a sea day it’s practically a crime! We’re early risers, I guess. We actually made it to the Windjammer before sunrise which was pretty nice. It was blissfully empty and wasn’t busy, even as we left. But there were some frat boys out front at the Plaza Bar already starting the day with a drink!

 

 

 

 

We did get curiously close to a cargo ship. I wonder what they thought of us, as we were MUCH bigger!

 

The art onboard Royal Caribbean is quite nice, almost all Scandinavian and has a modern vibe. We noticed all of the artworks on the ship had descriptive plaques, so we decided to take a half hour or so to walk around and check out some of the art. We learned two things:

 

1. Royal Caribbean REALLY needs a new person to write descriptions for the artworks. Instead of talking about the medium or history of the artist, the art has some of the most contrived and inane descriptions that it’s funny. Take this vase.

 

 

At least it was short.

 

2. Most of the art is nice to look at when walking down the stairs, but when you focus on them they are really stark and modern. Not sure if I like it...

 

 

 

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[jessv12]

Awesome review! Thanks!

[Cel_cruise]

Hi Andy - enjoying your review! One question - did you or your siblings spend any time in the kids / teen club? If so - how was it? And if not - any particular reason? 5 nights seems short to fit in everything navigator has to offer!!!

 

 

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