Varganator and Marianne on Navigator 1/5/18

[Sunshine-lady]

 

For those who are interested, I was able to purchase a drink card yesterday. $86 for 10 drinks. As long as I don't use it to buy a soda I think I have made out with a fairly good deal. .

 

On what day did they have this deal, and how did you find out about it? We sail the same itinerary in just 9 short weeks. Very excited about this cruise. We are really enjoying your review.

[aubreyc1988]

OK, looks like the drink card is the hot topic tonight. It was $86 out the door with the gratuities! That means the Margaritas I bought for my wife and I after we returned to the ship were only $8.60 and they are listed at $12. OMG What a bargain.

 

The casino is mid ship on deck 4. It is between Boleros and Schooners. Schooners is the bar where the majority of the activities ie trivia, napkin folding, are held.

 

We had an amazing day in Bonaire. We rented a Golf Cart through Bonaire Cruisers. Best thing we have ever done to see an island. We drove the sothern loop. Stopping at a couple of monuments and the slave huts. Very eye opening when you see the slave huts in person. On the way back north, we drove through the Donkey Sanctuary. I know what people have said. It is a bunch of Donkeys, what's the big deal. It was awesome. It was made even better because we were in the golf cart. The donkeys are VERY friendly, VERY Smart, and a lot of fun. My DW has worked int he Non Profit world for a long time and it was very nice to be able to purchase some tickets to help a non profit and of course shop for souvenirs in the shop to further help their message.

 

We had a great time and I would Highly recommend it to anyone going to Bonaire. Both the Golf cart and the Donkey Sanctuary.

 

We then headed to the 'down town' area. This is a very small section, and there is no DIAMONDS INTERNATIONAL! I was unsure how we could get off the ship without a DI on shore. Turns out there is a lot to do besides shopping. My wife and I headed to a local Microbrewery, very nice. It is named Bonaire Brewery, so even I didn't have trouble finding it.

 

The flight of beers was all 5 on tap, and 4 out of 5 were very nice. The 5th is a style I do not like, so I am not going to do the full review on here, out of fairness to the brewer. While we were sitting there, we were talking to everyone, and the bartender mentioned a Heffeweisen on tap in the restaurant attached. He bent a couple of rules, much like me mentioning sneaking into a lounge, and brought a Heffe for my wife. She is not a big beer drinker, and Heffes are the one style she likes. I have to admit that in spite of myself I liked this one too. I even tried the "Beer Cocktail" they had as a special. I will admit here the only thing I think should be added to beer is a glass, but this drink was really quite good.

 

Back on board we had our first unimpressive evening in the MDR. Nothing on the menu really lit a fire for us, so after a bowl of chilled soup, some cantalioni and a chees plate for dessert, my wife and headed to the casino.

 

Due to some amazing play I was able to walk away $10 ahead. So again, talk to your travel agent, because I am not sure that RCCL can handle the hit I am putting on their wallet.

 

After the little casino session DW and I headed to the Late Main Headliner show. Amazing show. David Lucas is listed as a 'juggler'. This is like saying Liberace could play a little piano. This guy jugled, balanced any number of items on his head, while the ship was underway! and told jokes the whole time that had us all laughing and some of us even crying.

 

After the show DW and I headed back to the casino, and guess what? All of your cruises are back on. Sat at a table for 30 minutes with a guy hitting on 15 with 14 showing and any other number of dumb moves, I lost the $10 I was up, and my starting base. Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

 

Headed into Aruba. We have a tour planned through an outside agency and of course, Aruba is a shoppers paradise- so I am sure there will be a DI visit in our future.

 

Keep the questions coming, and I look forward to reading about your cruises coming up.

 

I will tell you that my DW and I try to not go on the same cruise twice, but I would do this one again, and I mean not get off the ship and do this itenerary back to back. We have never talked about going to a cruise island for a longer vacation, and that is the conversation we had this afternoon after returning from Bonaire.

 

We are doing the 6 hr off road adventure with Bonaire Cruisers...I hope it's as good as the golf carts!

[tullers]

Where can I find your review of the brewery & beers? Like you, I believe that the only thing that should be added to beer is a glass. I always said, if your beer needs fruit, there's something wrong with your beer.

[Nessa1dc]

What table games does the casino have?

[tullers]

What table games does the casino have?

 

Craps, three card poker, Ultimate Texas hold em poker, one poker table, a Carribean Poker table, roulette and several blackjack tables

[varganator]

Beer reviews will only be in my own, beer journal. Sorry, my days of writing and publishing about beer are long behind me. We did miss the northern loop, but my wife and I have already talked about returning to either this cruise, or to Bonaire as an individual island for a vacation.

 

Drink cards are available after about day 5. I asked David, a bartender in 2 Poets. He is a super nice guy and allthough I only order beer from him, he is one of my favorites on the ship.

 

Table game list was complete to the best of my knowledge. I only play Black Jack. I do know there are 16 different tables and 23 different dealers on the ship.

 

Yesterday we did the "Discover Aruba Tour". It was a very nice almost 4 hour tour and did hit the majority of the highlights of Aruba. We saw the Aloe Vera Factory, the Chapel, California Lighthouse, Natural Bridge, Gold Smeltering ruins, and a huge section of the countryside.

 

The Aloe Vera Factory is a guided tour and then of course, exits through the gift shop. The chapel was very interesting. Founded in 1750, according to the sign, I simi read. It had the 14 stations of the cross posted on the road up to the building. Very crowded and busy. California lighthouse was beautiful.

 

We went to Iguana Joe's for lunch. place is highly recommended on Travel Critic sites so we decided to give it a go. Nachos and "Island Patties" later. DW and I were very full and very pleased. Prices were reasonable and food was plentiful.

 

Aruba was very warm and windy. When we returned to the ship we went to the stateroom for a quick refresher.

 

Dinner in the MDR, another nice night of cold soup (apple); Roasted Pork loin (Dry, but tasty.) and Creme Brulee, and of course my cheese plate.

 

After dinner we went to the Casino and then it was off to the Headliner Shows. Tonight's headliner show was "All Access" with the RC Dancers and Singers. When you cruise and see this act on the schedule, do not feel badly if you miss it. My DW and I are season pass holders at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg. It is by no means Disney, but they do a nice job. Having said that I do not believe that anyone we saw last night would get a job at BGW. The singers and dancers were average at best. Nice show, but nothing to go out of your way to see.

 

After this show was the love and marraige show. Great show, cruise regular, none of the usual "Favorite Condiment" jokes and Cuddy did a super job of creating laughs. There is a hug on this cruise, part of a large group of cruisers who sit int he front row of the theatre. He was pulled up on stage by the ventrolaquist, and he and his wife won the raffle to be up there as the 40+ year couple in the game tonight. Everyone wins and everyone has a good time

 

My wife and I returned to the casino, looks like your cruises may be back on, since I walked away down $20 after both of the sessions. We did stay in the second session until almost 3am, which made for an interesting seesion of stretching this morning at 7am.

 

Day at sea today, which will be filled with activity. Guacamole, cocktail, napkin folding, beer tasting, are all of the schedule. Also a new comedian on board for tonight and Formal night for dinner. A few cruises back my wife and I visited Bermuda and I was able ot purchase a formal Bermudan suit. This will be my attire this evening and I hope it is as big a hit as the last time I wore it.

 

Keep the replies and questions coming and I will raise a glass of happiness to all of you from the high seas today.

[Nessa1dc]

Please toast me....as I am leaving from work in less than an hour and flying to Miami tomorrow morning.......leave some money in the casino for me please.

[NewfieGuy1972]

I too was in the camp of “wouldn’t do the same cruise twice” but this cruise changed that. We did this exact cruise last Feb and we are doing it again on Feb 2nd. Too bad y9u missed the northern loop in Bonaire, it was awesome countryside and the distillery was excellent.

 

Is Julia still a server in the casino? I had lots of luck on the machines, several hand pays :)

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[varganator]

Nessa- You will be toasted by Bloody Marys at breakfast. No promise on the leaving money in the Casino. Started the evening badly, DW loaned me $6 to keep me there while she played, walked out with $150.

 

Newfie- Julia is not serving in the Casino, it is a little guy who is a ninja, shows up out of nowhere and gives you a drink. He is awesome, but scary in his stealth.

 

So, questions out of the way, here is the Sea day review. AMAZING. If you don't looking and don't complain to me. My day started at 7am with stretching. This doesnt seem like it should be hard for a formet NCAA athlete, but trust me, with a 3am last call the 645 wake up was a little rough. The spa crew are amazing in their ability to just work out all day long, and are very nice guys.

 

Next up was a staircase art scavenger hunt. Not done, since I went back to bed, full disclosure, but it was highlighted and I was planning on doing it.

 

DW and I did go to the Guacamole Demonstration. "Free" Margarita and lunch included at Sabor. Very interesting and a LOT of food. We missed the Cocktail making class because lunch ran long, but I have done this class on 2 different cruises on 2 different classes of ships and it is well worth the money. I am not a mixed drink guy. Beer needs to be mixed with a glass and Bourbon needs to mixed with one block of ice. That is as fancy as I get. But these classes are fun and you basically get 5 drinks for the price of the class.

 

I then missed beer tasting, not that there is a beer on the ship I haven't tasted extensively.

 

DW and I went to the MDR for Dinner. Lobster night. I had Prime rib, as I was burned out on Lobster when in Egypt for 6 months and every thursday was all you can eat of the stuff.

 

The Main show was The Alley Cats. If you like music from the 50's and 60's go. These guys are very good and even a little funny with their banter between songs.

 

Late night comedy was a different comedien, and he was almost as funny as the first guy. Very funny, but not as good as comedian #1.

 

DW and I have been doing the Crew nationality scavenger hunt for a couple of days now and I will say it has been a blast. It is what it sounds like and it is what you make it. We have had a good time meeting a lot of crew members that we never would have otherwise, and it is very interesting talking to the 1 up to 3 people from certain countries. Bonuses for Senior staff, and we are only 2 away from completing that section. I could tell you the secrets, but that would take your fun away.

 

Back into the casino to close the place down. Results listed above. Anyone playing black jack and reading this review, please do me a favor. The first dealer bust yell "TOO MANY". The strong majority of the dealers will smile and just know it is a little shout out to me. Long story, but I have become Mr. Too Many, and when I am not playing, but my wife is, she gets asked where I am. She sheepishly tells them I am folding napkins or trying to win another key chain. We have had a great cruise so far, one more Sea day and then on home and back to reality.

[varganator]

Last seas day was one for the books. Activity after activity and then that evening my wife hit a Jackpot on the slots. We netted enough to go home with our portfolio paid and a little money in our pocket.

 

We had a great cruise. I was a little unsure about the ship from previous postings, but I did not see any of the "run down", "needs some work", "dirty" areas that people talked about. I also did not ever run into a crew member who was not helpful or seemingly excited about helping me or DW.

 

One of the activities we did was the International Scavenger hunt. New one for us. This was a list of countries with slots for crew members to sign. What a GREAT Idea. We were able to talk to a huge amount of crew members we never would have otherwise. Example, a line cook in the Windjammer who is from NEPAL. One of 2 crew members from Nepal, only other one being a light tech in the ice show.

 

We did not do the "quest", we were too busy winning money in the casino. I did attend the final show,and the comedian again was funny. Just a note to those of you who do not speak English, Spoken word shows are much better if you understand the language. The comedian did some work with people in the audience, and they were not very helpful to the show since they did not know a word of what he was saying.

 

On a related note, if you are going to attend a show, show up on time. The show started late so that people could get from Aft to Fore for the show, and people arriving late (20 minutes!) really threw the guy off his game.

 

We ate at Chops one last time and it was again amazing. My wife and I alwasy take advantage of the deals on these meals, but I truely feel they would be worth the money at full price. That being said, I cannot imagine not finding a deal, as they were offered the whole time we were on board.

 

My wife and I did the Ultimate Miami Tour and Tranfer for the last day. 730 show time at the Star lounge, 810 we were on the bus, pulling out for a very nice tour of Miami. Walking tour of South Beach, Walking tour of Wyngate neighborhood. Lunch that was incredible and authentic in a Cuban Restaraunt and then a drop off at the FFL airport.

 

All in all the RCCL cruise was all we have come to expect. The crew was great, the ship was the perfect size, and DW and I are already talking about going on the same itenerary again.

 

Thank you for all of the views and I hope everyone has as much or more fun than us.

[joustingarch]

I just wanted to comment and say that I really enjoyed your review over the past two weeks! My wife and I are heading out at the end of this week for 8 nights on Freedom of the Seas, so it's been fun to read your posts knowing that soon I will be living the good life just like you did. :-)

BTW - I'm a fellow VA Beacher...you did the right thing by getting out ahead of the storm. We got walloped - and you know this place can't handle snow like that! We are flying out Saturday AM for a same day departure (not my first choice but it's a long story) - so hoping we don't need plans B-F on this one. We have cruise insurance and also booked through Air2Sea so I suppose that's somewhat of a backup plan - but I'll feel better once we're wheels down at FLL.