Cheapo Dad's Trip Report on the Navigator of the Seas (Maybe with few pictures added)...

[harryfat1]

Actually, to show you how clueless I am, as I was looking back at the old cruise email folder as I was looking something up, I realized I overlook an email from RCI 3 days prior to the cruise.

 

I mean I read the email but as a "veteran" cruiser, I just skimmed the info as none looked relevant at first glance.

 

 

 

Only now did I realize there is a section called "STATEROOM REQUESTS". 

 

If I click on the link, I get this:

 

 

Yeah, you can request the room door to be opened ahead of time.

 

Before getting too excited, I did some research on CC and some people posted that their requests were not fulfilled so the system is not fully operating as intended. I will see if my requests get filled in the December cruise. Just need to be on the lookout for this email 3 days prior to sailing.

[harryfat1]

The time now is 4 PM.  Time for the sail away party.  No time to be inside.  Gotta go…

 

This picture of the Royal Promenade shows you the slant of the windows from deck 8 - that's the top set of the 3 decks worth of cabins

 

 

In a previous discussion, we were talking about noise from deck 5 being an issue.  If you get these end unit rooms of deck 6 where you are over just a regular walkway, I would assume things are pretty quiet at night as very few people walk below.  Unless they are drunk and belligerent but that should be pretty rare on a RCI ship.

 

As we waited by the elevator to go up, we saw the “Stowaway Piano Player”.  Supposedly they have these on various ships where the piano player shows up at various venues.  We saw him at Windjammer at lunch and now he’s playing piano inside the elevator.  My wife and my son chased him down to be inside the elevator as he kept playing piano.

 

 

My son and wife were inside the elevator with the piano man

 

 

 

What?  You have never seen a piano player inside an elevator where you are from?  Yeah, me neither…

[FionaMG]

5 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

As RCI no longer prints hard copies of the daily compass (instead forcing you to look at the phone App), if you want a hard copy of the daily planner, you have to ask your cabin steward for it.  I tried to look for them down at guest service’s wall of papers and on the wall, there was a sign that said to talk to the cabin steward for hard copies of the daily schedule.

 

So we asked Melanie for hard copies and for the rest of the cruise, she would have the hard copy of the planner out by the door’s mail slot every night by dinner time.  

 

Although they don't put them out on the wall racks now, you can still get a Day 1 compass by asking for it at guest services. If there's someone working the line, they will be able to get it for you, as opposed to having to wait until an agent is free at the desk. It all depends on how long you are willing to stand in line to get it.

 

4 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Before getting too excited, I did some research on CC and some people posted that their requests were not fulfilled so the system is not fully operating as intended. I will see if my requests get filled in the December cruise. Just need to be on the lookout for this email 3 days prior to sailing.

 

You may also be able to access these right in the app after you board. On the first page, down towards the bottom where it says "Welcome aboards. Hints and tips as we set sail." If you click on that it opens up a whole list of things, one of which may be stateroom requests.

 

I don't know if it's available for all ships but it was on my Anthem cruise with DD in July and I used it to request that they separate the beds. When our stateroom attendant came to introduce herself she said she had received the request and would get it done for us.

[bobmacliberty]

18 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

 

Yeah, I think I saw some documentary on the Travel Channel years ago on the inner workings of the Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal on boarding day.  Some families had problems boarding due to insufficient paperwork as they couldn’t get the other notary work faxed in on time prior to the 90-minute cut-off on the shipping manifest.

 

 

Now that you mention it, I think that's where I saw the story that I mentioned. 

 

17 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

This brings up the next question – how early do most people fly in pre-cruise? 

 

When we were flying to a cruise, it was usually arriving one day early, since vacation days from work was still a concern.  We did fly into San Juan a couple of days early so that we could enjoy OSJ before getting on the ship, and the same once with Disney in Orlando, but those were exceptions.

 

Now that we live in Florida, we drive.  It's about a 3 hour drive to Port Canaveral so we drive to the port the morning of the cruise, leaving plenty of time in case of unknown traffic problems.  I still feel slightly nervous until we get off I-95 and head east to the port.  If cruising from Fort Lauderdale or Miami, it's a 6+/- hour drive with much greater risk of traffic problems in south Florida, so we'd drive down the night before.  

Edited September 1, 2023 by bobmacliberty

[2wheelin]

I keep reading about people needing to make a special request for the bed arrangement after boarding.. I understand this letter may be a new thing but I have always had the option to choose when I book the cruise or in the cruise planner later. The last time was in May of this year. The beds (on several different cruise lines) have always been arranged as requested.

[HappyTexan44]

2 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

I keep reading about people needing to make a special request for the bed arrangement after boarding.. I understand this letter may be a new thing but I have always had the option to choose when I book the cruise or in the cruise planner later. The last time was in May of this year. The beds (on several different cruise lines) have always been arranged as requested.

 

That would make sense to have it done ahead of time.  Each cabin could have a printout of their special requests and that could be handled during the change-over cabin clean.  They'd even be removing the extension cords from rooms that don't need them anymore, so then they could just use them right away in another cabin.  

I've read lots of people say here that their pre-boarding special requests were ignored.  Note, I still plan do those special requests pre-boarding.   Seems to me that if I wait until we're onboard to request for example CPAP stuff they would be allowed to say, "We are out.  Too bad, so sad."    But, if I requested it ahead of time I could point out that I requested it ahead of time and they need to find one. 

 

The cruise for us AND the cabins on either side would be ruined if he didn't have his CPAP.  
 

 

 

[broberts]

25 minutes ago, HappyTexan44 said:

But, if I requested it ahead of time I could point out that I requested it ahead of time and they need to find one. 

 

Color me a cynic, but I expect the answer will be about the same. "So sorry, request was never received. All out and we are hundreds of miles from our nearest approved supplier."

[harryfat1]

8 hours ago, FionaMG said:

 

Although they don't put them out on the wall racks now, you can still get a Day 1 compass by asking for it at guest services. If there's someone working the line, they will be able to get it for you, as opposed to having to wait until an agent is free at the desk. It all depends on how long you are willing to stand in line to get it.

 

 

You may also be able to access these right in the app after you board. On the first page, down towards the bottom where it says "Welcome aboards. Hints and tips as we set sail." If you click on that it opens up a whole list of things, one of which may be stateroom requests.

 

I don't know if it's available for all ships but it was on my Anthem cruise with DD in July and I used it to request that they separate the beds. When our stateroom attendant came to introduce herself she said she had received the request and would get it done for us.

It makes sense that they have the hard copy of the daily compasses at Guest Services.  I went down there on day 1 looking for a hard copy of the day 1 schedule as I was used to seeing it in our cabins when we first arrived.   

 

At the slots where they used to have them (red arrow), there was a message that said to ask your cabin steward for hard copies.  So that’s the direction they are pushing the cruisers toward paperless.

 

Guest Services is always busy on the first and last day so unless I really want one, not willing to stand in line to request one only for them to tell me to get one from the cabin steward after a 10-minute wait.

 

The photo was taken on day 2 morning when there was no line but you can see the red arrow where they used to have them

 

 

Good to know about the option to request it on the App.  Will look for it if I remember as Day 1 boarding is pretty hectic for me as I rush around trying to take pictures of everything. 

 

It would make sense if the App allows the request the night prior to boarding from your hotel room/home.  As then the request will show up on the ship’s system prior to 8 AM when all the guests are requested to vacate the cabins.  It would be much more efficient if the staff knew by then what cabin wants what instead of waiting for last-minute changes after people board the ship after 11:30.

[harryfat1]

6 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Now that you mention it, I think that's where I saw the story that I mentioned. 

 

 

When we were flying to a cruise, it was usually arriving one day early, since vacation days from work was still a concern.  We did fly into San Juan a couple of days early so that we could enjoy OSJ before getting on the ship, and the same once with Disney in Orlando, but those were exceptions.

 

Now that we live in Florida, we drive.  It's about a 3 hour drive to Port Canaveral so we drive to the port the morning of the cruise, leaving plenty of time in case of unknown traffic problems.  I still feel slightly nervous until we get off I-95 and head east to the port.  If cruising from Fort Lauderdale or Miami, it's a 6+/- hour drive with much greater risk of traffic problems in south Florida, so we'd drive down the night before.  

Yeah, you wouldn’t want to risk a long drive to board the ship on the day of the cruise.  Besides the risk of having any traffic incident (a big gas truck flips over and spills chemicals over the freeway that required a 4-hour cleanup with the hazmat team), you will be tired and frazzled boarding the ship by the time you arrive.

[harryfat1]

5 hours ago, 2wheelin said:

I keep reading about people needing to make a special request for the bed arrangement after boarding.. I understand this letter may be a new thing but I have always had the option to choose when I book the cruise or in the cruise planner later. The last time was in May of this year. The beds (on several different cruise lines) have always been arranged as requested.

I believe if you book the cruise with a travel agent or do the online booking, there’s typically a drop-down menu on how you like your beds to be arranged.  In theory, the request has already been made.

 

Guess on the outside chance your significant other is mad at you for not bringing her 4^th pair of shoes in your luggage and you are in the dog house and she wants to sleep in a separate bed, she can make that request last minute…

[harryfat1]

 

5 hours ago, HappyTexan44 said:

 

That would make sense to have it done ahead of time.  Each cabin could have a printout of their special requests and that could be handled during the change-over cabin clean.  They'd even be removing the extension cords from rooms that don't need them anymore, so then they could just use them right away in another cabin.  

I've read lots of people say here that their pre-boarding special requests were ignored.  Note, I still plan do those special requests pre-boarding.   Seems to me that if I wait until we're onboard to request for example CPAP stuff they would be allowed to say, "We are out.  Too bad, so sad."    But, if I requested it ahead of time I could point out that I requested it ahead of time and they need to find one. 

 

The cruise for us AND the cabins on either side would be ruined if he didn't have his CPAP.  
 

 

 

 

Yes, it doesn’t hurt to make the request as it costs nothing extra and it’s an important part of your cruise. Whether they ignore it or not is their system issue. 

 

If it’s important enough to you, make the request and bring a hard copy (where have I heard that before) to the cruise to show the request was made pre-cruise.

 

[harryfat1]

5 hours ago, broberts said:

 

Color me a cynic, but I expect the answer will be about the same. "So sorry, request was never received. All out and we are hundreds of miles from our nearest approved supplier."

Given the mixed review of the new system, you are correct in being cynical.  But there’s no harm in making the request online and just need to be vigilant with back up plans knowing the system is faulty at best.

 

What was the old system of requesting CPAP material?  Do you email them or make the request with the cabin steward upon boarding?

 

You can do the old system on top of the new method in the hope that one of the requests will be read by someone

[harryfat1]

Onward and forward on the trip report

 

+++++++++++

OK, enough fun with the Piano Man. Here are the hours of the Windjammer.

 

As I have been spending most of my trip review bashing Princess from last year’s cruise, here’s something they excel in – more open hours at the buffet.  For the Alaska cruise, the buffets were open from 5 AM to 10 PM.  NONSTOP.  They do not close their buffet for 3 hours in the afternoon like RCI does for the Windjammer.

 

 

Yes, they have a 24-hour complimentary café just like RCI.  They have free pizza just like RCI – most people (including myself) will argue that the Princess pizzas are leaps and bounds better than RCI’s pizza because Princess pizzas are made to order from a sit-down “NO EXTRA CHARGE” pizza where they serve you a bunch of other food besides pizza.

 

On top of all eateries, Princess does not close their buffet at 3 PM like RCI so you can just walk in and grab something fast or get a drink as the buffet has a lot more seats than the cafe downstairs

[harryfat1]

Scary whenever I stick my hand out over the railings to take a picture.  One slip of the hand will send my phone down to oblivion.

 

 

Alrighty, we made it outside as the ship was already slowly pushed away from the dock.

 

You don’t realize how much you miss the Sail Away event until you don’t have it.  On cruises that sail away late like in Alaska or San Juan, there’s no real sail away to speak of as people are inside for dinner at the sail away time.

 

I used to watch Samantha Brown on the Travel Channel and she mentioned that the one thing special about cruise sail away is everyone on the ship has the same start to their vacation.  Unlike land-based hotels with people coming and leaving daily, there’s no same shared feeling of everyone’s vacation starting at the same time. Part of what makes cruise vacation so special.

 

As far as I know for North American cruise sailings, everyone starts and ends their cruise at the same time.  Only in Europe on some sailings will some people leave/board at different ports within the loop.

 

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

I like this picture as with a bit of imagination (OK, fine, A LOT of imagination) you can pretend the giant crane is going to attack the ship…Yeah, yeah, I know Cheapo Dad needs therapy…

 

 

I like this little shelter place for the tug boat as you can see one hiding in there

 

 

A complete picture of the USS Iowa museum as we have now picked up the Police “escort” boat to see us out of the harbor safely

 

 

 

The waterfront view along San Pedro isn’t as pretty as Fort Lauderdale but any sailaway is a good thing to enjoy.  The weather wasn’t too hot for an August day as the West Coast ports doesn’t have the high humidity as the East Coast ports.

[harryfat1]

So if a picture is worth a thousand words then a video must be worth a thousand pictures?

 

With that in mind, here are a few videos to feel the vibe on deck during sail away.

 

Crank up the volume and dance with @BIBPhotography to kick off your vacation...

 

 

I like the moving cranes in the background...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by harryfat1

[broberts]

48 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

Given the mixed review of the new system, you are correct in being cynical.  But there’s no harm in making the request online and just need to be vigilant with back up plans knowing the system is faulty at best.

 

What was the old system of requesting CPAP material?  Do you email them or make the request with the cabin steward upon boarding?

 

You can do the old system on top of the new method in the hope that one of the requests will be read by someone

 

Definitely make the request ahead of time. Otherwise when they ask if the request was made, ones response will result in "well you should have" 🙂.

 

Years ago one printed out a special needs form that then had to be faxed. 😱 I can't recall when I last used a fax machine. They are probably classified as antiques these days.

 

 

[JamesEM]

When I was on my last cruise a request was made to the room steward to leave the Daily Compass in the cabin instead of the mail slot, apparently a group of porch pirates were on the cruise.

[momof3cruisers]

10 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

I believe if you book the cruise with a travel agent or do the online booking, there’s typically a drop-down menu on how you like your beds to be arranged.  In theory, the request has already been made.

 

Guess on the outside chance your significant other is mad at you for not bringing her 4^th pair of shoes in your luggage and you are in the dog house and she wants to sleep in a separate bed, she can make that request last minute…

My last cruise was on a Carnival ship with my son. I had requested the beds separated but they weren’t at first. I was by myself when I saw the steward the first time and asked him about it. He said, “Okay. You and husband want beds apart?” I said, no. Me and my 21 year old son wanted beds apart. He said, “Oh yes. Son not sleep with mommy.” 😂😂😂

[bearette]

I have bad news for the Vegas trip, Le Reve hasn't been in Vegas for years at the Wynn. The former dive pool is now a fancy stage that rotates. I saw the new show, Awakening, at New Years and it isn't worth your money. I miss Le Reve, it was my favorite. Mystere, Ká or O are deserving of your money.

[perfect match]

25 minutes ago, bearette said:

I have bad news for the Vegas trip, Le Reve hasn't been in Vegas for years at the Wynn. The former dive pool is now a fancy stage that rotates. I saw the new show, Awakening, at New Years and it isn't worth your money. I miss Le Reve, it was my favorite. Mystere, Ká or O are deserving of your money.

Well, now I’m disappointed! I loved that show. Do you know if it was a casualty of the pandemic, or just Vegas constantly feeling the need to reinvent itself?

 

I do agree with you about O, Ka, and Mystere. If we decide to head back to Vegas, I’d see any of them again.

[bobmacliberty]

5 hours ago, perfect match said:

Well, now I’m disappointed! I loved that show. Do you know if it was a casualty of the pandemic, or just Vegas constantly feeling the need to reinvent itself?

 

Sounds like it was a Covid casualty.

Wynn Las Vegas closes ‘Le Rêve’ for good - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper

[BIBPhotography]

15 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

So if a picture is worth a thousand words then a video must be worth a thousand pictures?

 

With that in mind, here are a few videos to feel the vibe on deck during sail away.

 

Crank up the volume and dance with @BIBPhotography to kick off your vacation...

 

 

 

I like the moving cranes in the background...

 

 

 

 

I'm a dancing brother!  Thanks for taking us along on your trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Katems75]

On 8/31/2023 at 3:27 PM, harryfat1 said:

This brings up the next question – how early do most people fly in pre-cruise?  I assume most people play it safe by flying in at least one day prior to sailing.  Especially with various airline delay issues, we saw last year and this year (we all remember the Southwest debacle from last winter), the high risk of flying on the day of the cruise is too stressful for the 8+ anal scale people.

 

Having said that, when I was younger (more clueless days), I once flew a red eye on my first Caribbean cruise in the '90s.  Back then airlines were more reliable, and I felt OK to arrive at FLL at 7 AM on a red-eye from California and take the shuttle to the port for the cruise.  No way I would do that nowadays.

 

Seeing last winter storms' impact on airline flights, arriving 2 days pre-cruise doesn’t sound as anal as once thought.

 

This reminds me of our red-eye story: Back in 2013, we were going on the Carnival cruise sailing out of Boston to see the US/Canadian Northeast region.  Having never been to the historical Boston area, I booked a 2-night hotel in the area and red-eye so I could maximize my 2 days in town.

 

Got on the plane around midnight and after 2 plus hours of them trying to start and reset the plane’s flight instruments, they declared that flight to be dead.  Everyone had to de-plane at 3 AM and we all had to call the 800 number of the airline to re-book our flights as there were no on-ground agents there to help the couple of hundred people from the plane.

 

There was a big family group of around 10 people, and they were going on the HAL cruise out of Boston that next morning after the red-eye landed.  Well, that’s not going to happen now.  So half of them were on the phone with the airline and the other half of the family were on call with HAL at 3 AM trying to figure out how to catch the cruise ship at the NEXT port of call as they won’t make it to Boston on time. 

 

During busy traveling periods, it's not that easy to find 10 empty airline seats from point A to point if most of the flights are already full.  Easier to reroute 2 people on a different flight.  Not so easy to reroute 10 people. 

 

Think all of them were ready to cry at the airport as they realized they were going to miss the first few days of their cruise as they had to deal with connecting flights on another airline to get to the port where they all could board the ship.

 

As for us, after a while on the phone with the airline, we were able to find 6 seats to Boston on a later flight but that would be at a different airport. So we all drove home and got back at 6 AM after not sleeping the entire night.  Took a morning nap. 

 

Called the hotel to explain that we can’t make it to day 1 of the 2-day hotel reservations.  The manager was kind enough not to charge us for the first night booked and just switched the reservation for one night instead of two.

 

Total mess. After that, you couldn’t pay me to go on any red-eye flights to arrive on the day of the cruise…

How could the family of ten board the ship from a later port when just a few posts before this one it was mentioned that you can't board any later than ninety minutes before departure??  This family of ten would definitely be boarding way later than ninety minutes before departure and the manifest would be closed, right?

[harryfat1]

18 hours ago, broberts said:

 

Definitely make the request ahead of time. Otherwise when they ask if the request was made, ones response will result in "well you should have" 🙂.

 

Years ago one printed out a special needs form that then had to be faxed. 😱 I can't recall when I last used a fax machine. They are probably classified as antiques these days.

 

 

Yeah, very few people use Faxes anymore.  The only people I know of that still make it a requirement for communication are governmental agencies that do not accept email communication (looking at IRS) and some financial institutions if you are dealing with loans. 

 

At home, we have a multi-use printer/copier/fax machine to fax if really necessary but nowadays not many people even have land lines anymore in order to fax something...