NAVIGATOR Trip Report with PHOTOS--March 12, 2017

[kwazi07]

We went to Mr. Sanchos on our last visit to Cozumel and are considering Nachi Cocom or Paradise Beach next time. Have you been to either of the others? If so, how does Paradise Beach compare? Were umbrellas on the beach readily available? An extra charge?

 

Thanks!

Brad

 

I have not been to either of the others, but Paradise Beach is not all inclusive so it may be a different atmosphere from Mr. Sanchos. And it is definitely les sedate than Nachi Cocom. We got there pretty early and left early too and it was not crowded at all. I thought the beach was nice and the pool was great!

 

I don't recall seeing any umbrellas, but on the beach there are lots of palm trees to sit under, and it think that's nicer than a little umbrella :)

[kwazi07]

Sorry for no posts yesterday! I planned on posting last night, but I was at a Relay for Life from 6pm to midnight. For sure will post tonight!

[kwazi07]

DAY 5: AT SEA

 

Cruise Compii

 

 

 

 

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[Russ Lomas]

Thanks for the review. We travel on the 5 day Navigator cruise in March 2018. It is good to know that there is a higher proportion of college students on the 5 day sailing in March - I will warn those traveling with us what to expect, and that said, we will set our expectations and probably be fine with it.

 

We were on the Freedom docked beside you and sailing along side you all day on your last sea day. We love the Freedom and sailed her in March 2016 and 2017 and are booked on her for March 2019. We are taking a year away from her to be on the Navigator in March 2018. We went to Nachi on the day you were in Cozumel. It is very laid back there, but everyone we went with (26 of us) had a fantastic day. If you do not mind a laid back atmosphere, I recommend you try it one time there. As for you mentioning that your ship had the rowdy crowd going back on the ship and us on the Freedom looking down on you, we never noticed that. We were too busy with one of our group who had a little too much to drink at Nachi and had to be wheeled in a wheelchair back to the ship (oh yeah, he is 60 years old, so it is not just the college kids who like to enjoy their time in Mexico).

 

I love to surf on the flowrider. I was wondering if you could tell me if the lines were long for stand up surfing on it. I assume they would be in the afternoon sessions since the college kids would be out on it, but the mornings would have not been bad since many of them sleep in late since they were out late the night before. Is this accurate in your observations? I also noticed there was no Best of the Best competition mentioned in the Compass on your sailing on the Navigator on the last sea day. Was there one? Reason I ask is that I enjoy competing in them when I get the chance to (I was in the one on the Freedom this past March).

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, opinions, and photos.

[JMCruiser111]

I love to surf on the flowrider. I was wondering if you could tell me if the lines were long for stand up surfing on it. I assume they would be in the afternoon sessions since the college kids would be out on it, but the mornings would have not been bad since many of them sleep in late since they were out late the night before. Is this accurate in your observations?

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, opinions, and photos.

 

I was on this same sailing and we pretty much planned the whole cruise around the flowrider times, especially as our scuba excursion got canceled. You are correct, in the morning, no lines at all. My DH and I were practically the only ones present for advanced surfing- and this is only our 2nd flowrider cruise (know enough to push ourselves off and stand on board for 1-2 minutes). No best of the best on schedule at all. The last day was cut short a few minutes by an accident on stand up too. This was the only upside we could see to cruising at spring break - all the college students were off getting their first mimosas/tequila shots as early as 8 AM!

[kwazi07]

Thanks for the review. We travel on the 5 day Navigator cruise in March 2018. It is good to know that there is a higher proportion of college students on the 5 day sailing in March - I will warn those traveling with us what to expect, and that said, we will set our expectations and probably be fine with it.

 

What week are you going? Usually early March has more college kids than later March or April.

 

We were on the Freedom docked beside you and sailing along side you all day on your last sea day. We love the Freedom and sailed her in March 2016 and 2017 and are booked on her for March 2019. We are taking a year away from her to be on the Navigator in March 2018. We went to Nachi on the day you were in Cozumel. It is very laid back there, but everyone we went with (26 of us) had a fantastic day. If you do not mind a laid back atmosphere, I recommend you try it one time there. As for you mentioning that your ship had the rowdy crowd going back on the ship and us on the Freedom looking down on you, we never noticed that. We were too busy with one of our group who had a little too much to drink at Nachi and had to be wheeled in a wheelchair back to the ship (oh yeah, he is 60 years old, so it is not just the college kids who like to enjoy their time in Mexico).

 

Very funny! We're actually going to be on Freedom next spring, so that's funny how you're taking a break from Freedom and going on Navigator when we aren't going on Navigator but going on Freedom! We're doing the six nighter.

 

I love to surf on the flowrider. I was wondering if you could tell me if the lines were long for stand up surfing on it. I assume they would be in the afternoon sessions since the college kids would be out on it, but the mornings would have not been bad since many of them sleep in late since they were out late the night before. Is this accurate in your observations? I also noticed there was no Best of the Best competition mentioned in the Compass on your sailing on the Navigator on the last sea day. Was there one? Reason I ask is that I enjoy competing in them when I get the chance to (I was in the one on the Freedom this past March).

 

I don't recall there being a competition, sadly. But the line was not bad at all. I'm about to post my sea day report and there was maybe 5 people in line for boogie boarding when I went on the last sea day, and about 3 people in line for stand up on the first sea day.

 

Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts, opinions, and photos.

 

Thank you! Responses above.

 

Edit: what is so special about Freedom? I've seen so many posts with "we love Freedom" or "Freedom is one of my favorites" and it has a higher member rating than Liberty or Indy.

 

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Edited April 2, 2017 by kwazi07

[kwazi07]

I was on this same sailing and we pretty much planned the whole cruise around the flowrider times, especially as our scuba excursion got canceled.

 

Were you going to do the scuba in Cozumel? My dad and brother were also going to, but that got cancelled.

 

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[kwazi07]

We were exhausted from last night and woke up a little later, around 7:30 (emphasis on little!). Since it was a sea day and we were up later than usual we went to Windjammer quickly so it wouldn’t be too crowded. It was still nice and relaxing, and we got to say hi to Jack and Heather. Guess we’re not the only early birds!

 

At 10am we made our way down to the Schooner Bar again for morning trivia...and we met up with Jack and Heather again! We didn’t win yet again...notice a trend?

 

After trivia we went back up the Royal Promenade to go shopping for a little. I had been eyeing some stuff in the shops the whole week, but somehow once I actually wanted to shop I couldn’t really find anything. I like the logo stuff, and there wasn’t a lot of it. I eventually conceded, hoping that I might spot something later that night.

 

I grabbed a panna cotta and a coffee from the Cafe Promenade before heading back up to the room to sit on the balcony for a while. I did a little (again, emphasis on little) homework and watched some TV before we got hungry and decided to go up to the Windjammer for a more laid back lunch, instead of going to the dining room (my brother and dad went to the dining room and liked it a lot).

 

Cloudy morning.

 

I had my first Windjammer burger of the cruise at lunch--it was okay, but I put lots of toppings on it so that might have made it better. I honestly had a simple American lunch of burgers, fries, and pasta. But I did try some of the Indian food they had and it was surprisingly good!

 

Farewell cake. Did not try.

 

After lunch we decided to go ice skating one last time. We got dressed for it, but once we went down to Studio B there was a looong line of little kids there and it just seemed too crowded to be pleasant, so instead we changed back into our bathing suits and went to the Flowrider for boogie boarding.

 

This was my sister’s second time on the Flowrider and my first. The line was not long at all, especially for a sea day. It was SO windy and a little cold, and the spray from the Flowrider didn’t help. My sister went first, and she lasted for a little bit before wiping out (she said she did better the first time). I went after her and it took two tries for me to get the hang of it (the concept of jumping in sideways while facing forward was somehow difficult for me at first), the third time was the charm. I was having fun and learning how to move across the “wave” before the lady working the Flowrider told me to get up on my knees. I was almost there before I slipped and fell.

 

I kind of regretted not doing the stand up, but I throw out my back pretty easily and I didn’t want to get injured on vacation. Next time I cruise, I will be spending some more time on the Flowrider!

 

Sunny later.

 

We loved the aft hump and booked the same one on Freedom!

 

 

We ran down to the pool deck to grab towels before hurrying back to the room to change back into ice skating clothes. Again, we made it down to Studio B before seeing a huge line of people and, the woman at the check in desk said we’d have to come back at the next session. Oh well, no big deal. We already went twice, so we just went back to the room and packed.

 

My sister and I saw another photo scavenger hunt in the Compass so we decided to do that before dinner. We decided that our strategy was to go from top to bottom--it worked well, but we almost died running from Deck 4 to Deck 12. We got soooo close to winning, but again one group found a high point item that no one else could find.

 

I went up to the Cafe Promenade to grab some more iced coffee, and I got ready for dinner. We had some time to kill before dinner so we did the world landmarks trivia, which AGAIN we got so close to winning. This was out last trivia game of the cruise, so we were a little sad that we didn’t win.

 

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[kwazi07]

Dinner tonight was pretty good. It was the pomodoro menu which I didn’t expect to like but I actually enjoyed quite a bit.

 

For an appetizer I ordered the eggplant and kalamata olive tartare. The flavor was pretty good and I liked the little breadstick things that came with it, but there was a really odd kind of peppery flavor that was not particularly pleasant.

 

I was craving some Thanksgiving turkey so I tried the roasted turkey. I don’t like dark meat, so I gave that to my parents, but the white meat was pretty tender and juicy. The gravy was good, and while the stuffing had an odd texture, it had a good flavor.

 

For a dessert I got the Williams Pear Chocolate Crisp, which is a little different from my usual order (I don’t like pears that much, but I decided to try it anyways).

 

Tonight, the waiters sung after taking our dessert orders again. It made us nervous because we wanted to make the 7:15pm show. The song was cute and the speech that the head waiter gave was nice but a little sad--only 12 hours left!

 

The farewell show was good. The comedian, Derrick Cameron, was so funny! I kind of wish he was the headliner on the first night, but I guess a disappointing comedian would have been worse the last night. The singers and dancers sung a song "Until We Meet Again" which was not super exciting and actually downright depressing. I wish they would have done something upbeat and fun.

 

No towel animal picture tonight because there was none. Guess you know that's when a cruise is over--no towel animal or Cruise Compass :(

 

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[kwazi07]

We decided to take one last walk around the ship. Coincidentally we got up the the Viking Crown to watch the last two songs of karaoke: Set Fire to the Rain (8/10) and Hopelessly Devoted to You (7/10).

 

We worked our way back down the ship, checking out the windy helipad where we could see the Keys (!!) and the Star Lounge, where they were having "A Night of Jazz".

 

Secret tip: if you want to get to the helipad without going on the outside promenade, go in the Star Lounge and go to the right. There's a door and go straight outside. When you're coming back in, it says do not enter but we still went in anyways ;) be warned there is a cigar smoke gas chamber in between the door in the lounge and the door to the deck as it is connected to the Connoisseur Club.

 

Finally, we sat on the balcony for just a few more minutes before putting our luggage outside the door. Goodnight Navigator :(

 

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[kwazi07]

DAY 6: DISEMBARKATION

 

We woke up around 6 and went to the Windjammer really early before the crowds came. It picked up really quickly. It was so sad seeing the Miami skyline which I admired just six days ago...

 

We walked around the Promenade a little and snapped a few photos before we had to be out of our rooms. We sat on the balcony for one last time and said goodbye to good ol' 7628.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We did the normal disembarkation, and we waited in the dining room. We went to the top floor just so we wouldn't be sitting around. They have a nice view up there! Maybe we might do MTD next time.

 

On a side note, Rhapsody in Blue played while we were waiting to go. It's one of my favorite compositions and it was so sappy hearing it--I love it, but it would have been nicer during our first dinner [emoji56]

 

Once they called our group we walked right off (30 minutes early), down to baggage claim which took approximately 10 minutes, waited in customs (10 minutes), customs (1 minute), and walk to car (6 minutes). All said and done, we were off the ship and at the car before our scheduled time to get off would have been.

 

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[kwazi07]

See the similarity? :(

 

3/12, embarkation :)

 

3/17, disembarkation :(

 

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[kwazi07]

After a traffic-less drive, we were back to St. Pete around 3 (we made a lengthy stop in Fort. Meyers for lunch).

 

And that's it folks! Hope you enjoyed! I'll be posting a summary along with some weird quirks in a 5-4-3-2-1 star format in a few!

 

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[JMCruiser111]

Were you going to do the scuba in Cozumel? My dad and brother were also going to, but that got cancelled.

 

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Yes, Cozumel. Too windy for small scuba boats to leave out of Caleta Marina. Thought about moving to a beach but decided to enjoy a quiet ship with all the kids off the boat. Turned out to be great- saw the hot tubs empty for the first time. Only downside- this was day 4, and the bars had run out of everything by then.

 

Next time try stand up- I find it actually hurts less than boogie boarding when you wipe out!

[kwazi07]

5 STARS FOR:

Activities: there was just SO much to do on this ship. All of our cruises have been relaxing, but this one was relaxing in a different way. I felt like we were almost always out and about doing something, and I was NEVER bored.

Viking Crown: the Viking Crown on Enchantment was just okay and almost always dead. But this one was much more inviting, frequently busy, and didn't smell like dirt. :halo:

Hot tubs and pools: aside from late sea day afternoons, the hot tubs and pools were always pleasant. I really loved the giant ones under the shade!

Our room: we LOVED our room! We were debating between 7688 (the corner aft) and 7628 (ours). We were happy with our choice because the super easy location to the elevators, the extra space we had in between the bed and the balcony due to the hump, and being able to see all the way aft. It was always quiet, and the almost double sized sofa bed was definitely better than the Pullman over the heads of the people in the main bed that most E1's have.

Richy, our stateroom attendant: he was so friendly and always on top of everything. We saw him every day, and getting his card with his extension on the first day was a nice touch.

MDR waitstaff: after just okay wait staff of EOTS I was so happy to have the waiters we did. Dickson was the professional (but still warm) one who always brought us extra food, and Damion was the funny one who would always joke with us. Loved them!

Windjammer layout: there we no long lines, just little islands which made it really easy to grab something and get out, even during peak times.

[kwazi07]

4 STARS FOR:

MDR food: most of the food in the MDR was tasty and well done. Some were exceptional (like the gooey chocolate cake from the shiitake menu) and some were downright bad (like my mom's dry as chalk salmon on the last night). But overall the dishes were tasty, and we always left with full bellies.

Entertainment: the productions shows were pretty good. I liked the Broadway one more than the dancing one, as the dancing one needed to pick up the pace at some points. As mentioned earlier, the first night comedian was just okay, but the farewell show one made up for it.

Royal Promenade: this was my first cruise with a Royal Promenade and I loved it! It was blissful in the morning, when no one was around. In the evening it was popular and had a whole new life!

The men's bathrooms on deck 11: I know, I know, it's weird. But I was so surprised when I walked in, and there was a whole wall of floor to ceiling windows!

Cafe Promenade: I thought this place would have been my second home, but it wasn't. That doesn't mean that I don't love it, however. It's just that there was always a really long line, especially in the afternoon. Sometimes it stretched out of the Cafe and into the Promenade, wrapping around to the coffee bar!

[Russ Lomas]

I was on this same sailing and we pretty much planned the whole cruise around the flowrider times, especially as our scuba excursion got canceled. You are correct, in the morning, no lines at all. My DH and I were practically the only ones present for advanced surfing- and this is only our 2nd flowrider cruise (know enough to push ourselves off and stand on board for 1-2 minutes). No best of the best on schedule at all. The last day was cut short a few minutes by an accident on stand up too. This was the only upside we could see to cruising at spring break - all the college students were off getting their first mimosas/tequila shots as early as 8 AM!

Sorry to hear your scuba was cancelled. I dove in Costa Maya and loved the diving there a couple weeks ago (but the seas were very rough). Hopefully, that will be the same for me on the flowrider next March. I like the short lines and getting an hour or two in each morning, then doing other stuff in the afternoon when the first-timers tend to come out to ride.

 

 

What week are you going? Usually early March has more college kids than later March or April.

 

I teach in Ontario so we always are off the 2nd week of March, so we will sail March 11, 2018 - prime time for the college kids, but we have no choice. Oh well, you get used to it.

 

Very funny! We're actually going to be on Freedom next spring, so that's funny how you're taking a break from Freedom and going on Navigator when we aren't going on Navigator but going on Freedom! We're doing the six nighter.

 

We heard you were going on our Freedom next year, so we thought we would rather not be on it ;) - just kidding. Actually, we book ships according to price and itineraries. We just found that the Navigator offered us a FAR better price (about half) of what the Freedom would cost us next March for one less day, so Navigator it is.

 

I don't recall there being a competition, sadly. But the line was not bad at all. I'm about to post my sea day report and there was maybe 5 people in line for boogie boarding when I went on the last sea day, and about 3 people in line for stand up on the first sea day.

 

Sounds like I may get some good riding time then. Hope it is similar for my cruise next year.

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[kwazi07]

THREE STARS FOR:

Cuddy, the CD: I was not impressed at all with Cuddy. He was charismatic at the opening night show, but other than that he was just average. There weren't any announcements from him (yet they still managed to have shopping/bingo announcements), and he never came out on stage before the production shows (both of our past CD's have). Also, his morning show was far too advertising focused.

Schooner Bar: I love the theming of the bar, but it was always wayyy too crowded, especially during trivia games.

Windjammer food: ALWAYS. THE. SAME. EXACT. THINGS. I got really bored of the Windjammer breakfast. The food was fine, but at least change it up a little! Would have liked to see some more pasta dishes, chicken nuggets, and salads at lunch.

[kwazi07]

TWO STARS FOR:

The port of Miami: Embarkation was really annoying and slow. I sure hope that the new terminal is open for Symphony in time... However, disembarkation was really easy.

The captain: Of course, a captain is there mainly to pilot the boat and get us home safely...but I love when the captain is really active and present. That's the way it was on Enchantment, but definitely NOT the way on Navigator. The captain was barely there, and only gave one announcement the whole cruise. We didn't even know his name or anything!

[kwazi07]

ONE STAR FOR:

ADVERTISING!!! There was SO much advertising on this ship, which seems to be the trend across the fleet. Lets see all of the advertising there was.

1. Constant solicitation in the Royal Promenade. You were always approached by people at the kiosks or at storefronts. A "no thank you" drove them off, but I don't want to have to say that when we are paying to be on a cruise!

2. People coming up to you in the Windjammer from Chops or Giovannis.

3. A commercial played after the lights dim, before the show started for all of the production shows.

4. At least 5 channels dedicated to advertising on the stateroom TV.

5. A worker from Sabor talking to us for a good five minutes while we were sitting on the "sidewalk" of the Cafe Promenade before launching into a sales pitch for the Sabor guacamole making class.

6. Morning show with Cuddy and Mark (AD) focused on revenue generating "activities".

7. Kiosk outside Windjammer daily, be it for spa treatments or specialty dining.

8. A long table just inside the Windjammer advertising all of the specialty restaurants.

9. No announcements regarding ship location, daily activities, or the like, but they managed to have announcements for shopping seminars and bingo.

10. "Invitations" to gaming classes and shopping "opportunities" left at our door (never saw this on past cruises).

 

The solicitation was definitely the most disappointing thing about this cruise.

[kwazi07]

Overall, this was a great cruise and my favorite to date. There were a few issues, but there were many more great things. I give this trip 4.25 overall (better than 4, but not quite 4.5, haha ;) )

 

You've reached the end of my report! If you guys have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

[Yorkvillain]

Outstanding job Andy. This was one great review.

[kwazi07]

Outstanding job Andy. This was one great review.

Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed!

 

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[louieebee]

We are traveling on Nav in October from the U.K. Have only been on Celebrity previously so was unsure what to expect. Thank you for such an informative review I feel like I have been on her before :)

[eagle12901]

Great review. I am glad to gave found it. I'm on a 5 day on Navigator Feb 20 2018. I'm also doing a 3 day on Enchantment 4 days prior.