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

[harryfat1]

22 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Great review as always Harry! Thank you for taking us along.

Thanks for reading along. Wishing you a wonderful cruise next year on the Navigator.  The weather on the West Coast is drier and not as hot/humid as in Florida so dress accordingly on Day 1. 

 

Hope you get some pictures of the sea lions early in the morning as you approach Ensenada.

[Sea Dog]

7 minutes ago, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for reading along. Wishing you a wonderful cruise next year on the Navigator.  The weather on the West Coast is drier and not as hot/humid as in Florida so dress accordingly on Day 1. 

 

Hope you get some pictures of the sea lions early in the morning as you approach Ensenada.

Will do thanks Harry. Stop by my review in a couple of weeks for my cruise on Adventure. Review will start Wednesday Oct. 18th. Until then cheers!

[harryfat1]

22 hours ago, cruiselover04 said:

Thank you for your great review. We board Navigator in January for a few cruises B2B to make it worthwhile flying from Ontario. I have made lots of notes, especially the lack of taxis at the port. Will have to research my transport options for the airport. 
 

Jenni

Thanks for reading. So are you doing a 3 & 4-day B2B or a 7-day plus 3/4? The 7-day cruise will take you much further down south to Cabo and PV and those are more interesting ports than Ensenada. 

 

Cabo vendors are very aggressive and they will jump on you as soon as you get off the tender to get you to join their excursions. 

 

January can be cold/rainy in Southern California so dress accordingly.  But coming from Canada in January, Southern CA will be pretty warm in comparison. The waters around Cabo will be rocky on your way back up north so be prepared for that. 

 

I believe @h20skibum shared a photo of the pool water sloshing around during his winter cruise in Mexico years ago so if motion sickness is an issue, be prepared for that.

 

Per @Coralc post earlier, there are cabs way on the other side so I may have missed them.  But it doesn't hurt to have some backup plans on how to get to the airport after the cruise.  

 

The West Coast Homeport forum here in CC should have some suggestions on shuttle companies for you to check their prices prior to leaving home.

 

Have a great cruise in January.

[harryfat1]

14 hours ago, loug1601 said:

Thank you for another great review Harry. I loved every funny minute of it 😁!

Thanks for the compliment.  So you didn't love the non-funny parts? 😊

[harryfat1]

13 hours ago, LuCruise said:

Awesome review Harry!  Always fun to follow along.  I look forward to reading about your Odyssey one (if you choose to do one), as we'll be on the week after you so fun to compare experiences (again).

 

 

As for the taxis, from what I remember, we had to take a shuttle to the LAX-IT area, and from there you can catch a cab.  We were originally going to try uber for the airport but it was too confusing where to get picked up with so stuck to the taxi option.

Thanks for following along again. 

 

Are you going on the 6 or 8-night Odyssey cruise?  We are on the 8-night going to Aruba and Curacao originally with Ken but he had to change to a later cruise.  If you ended up on a cruise with him and he participated in the belly flop contest, be sure to take a picture to share with the CC community.🤪

 

Yes, I plan to do my usual write-up after the Odyssey cruise.  Everyone's cruise experience is slightly different so it will be great to read about another cruiser's experience.

 

[pretty princess]

Thanks for your review. Loved following along and enjoy your humor!

[cruiselover04]

2 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for reading. So are you doing a 3 & 4-day B2B or a 7-day plus 3/4? The 7-day cruise will take you much further down south to Cabo and PV and those are more interesting ports than Ensenada. 

 

Cabo vendors are very aggressive and they will jump on you as soon as you get off the tender to get you to join their excursions. 

 

January can be cold/rainy in Southern California so dress accordingly.  But coming from Canada in January, Southern CA will be pretty warm in comparison. The waters around Cabo will be rocky on your way back up north so be prepared for that. 

 

I believe @h20skibum shared a photo of the pool water sloshing around during his winter cruise in Mexico years ago so if motion sickness is an issue, be prepared for that.

 

Per @Coralc post earlier, there are cabs way on the other side so I may have missed them.  But it doesn't hurt to have some backup plans on how to get to the airport after the cruise.  

 

The West Coast Homeport forum here in CC should have some suggestions on shuttle companies for you to check their prices prior to leaving home.

 

Have a great cruise in January.

Thanks @harryfat1for all the extra information. I’ll pack extra motion sickness medication. We’re doing a 7 night cruise either side of a 3/4 night cruise starting January 19. We’re flying from Toronto to Las Vegas for 4 nights pre cruise. Never been thought we may as well as we’re on the west coast. We then fly to LA for one night before boarding the Navigator. Looking forward to sailing on her again to see all the upgrades.. Sailed on her in 2006,2007,2008 & 2017. 
 

Look forward to reading your next live from Odyssey. We sailed on her for a westbound transatlantic last year and we’re doing it again this year.
Happy sailing! 
 

Jenni. 

Edited October 8, 2023 by cruiselover04

[JamesEM]

Looking forward to your next review, good job on this one.  Regarding your comment about the pharmacies  in Ensenada, when in Mexico you are the doctor, no script needed and in some cases the prices are cheaper.  

[harryfat1]

15 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I thought I read somewhere that for environmental reasons, you MUST be able to plug into shore power if you want to cruise out of California.  Any idea if this is true?

 

Another great review Harry!  I've missed your reviews.  They are not just reviews, but epic stories with a lot of detours into interesting side discussions.  I know that it takes a LOT of work to put together a review like this and I greatly appreciate your efforts to both entertain and inform.

 

Bob,

 

Thanks for the compliments. 

 

It's always fun to write these trip reports as each one is unique with different participants contributing and making things interesting as we always get sidetracked with non-cruise talk.

 

The next trip report will likely be much longer as it'll be 8 nights plus 2 nights pre-cruise in FLL. Planning to rent a bike to stroll along Hollywood Beach for a day to see the area as we have never been there. So we might need the old spreadsheet out by January. 

 

My trip reports are like the food at the Windjammer - not much on quality but loads of quantity and just like the buffet where Indian food sits next to Italian food next to Chinese food, my trip reports are just a hodge podge of various side topics that in theory don't mix but we somehow make it through.

 

As for shore power, per this article, it sounds like the cruise industry wants to make this a standard thing for all cruise ships by 2035, not just in CA.

 

https://maritime-executive.com/editorials/north-america-s-cruise-ports-advance-their-shore-power-ambitions

 

Looks like Port Everglades is looking at this as well

 

https://www.cruisehive.com/port-everglades-explores-shore-power-at-cruise-terminals/94284

[harryfat1]

2 hours ago, pretty princess said:

Thanks for your review. Loved following along and enjoy your humor!

Thanks for the kind words and thanks for reading along.  

 

I will tell my comedy writing staff of one that someone likes his joke writing although he's been slacking off in re-cycling the same old bad jokes from 2014 that many long-time readers have noticed as repeats.

[harryfat1]

1 hour ago, cruiselover04 said:

Thanks @harryfat1for all the extra information. I’ll pack extra motion sickness medication. We’re doing a 7 night cruise either side of a 3/4 night cruise starting January 19. We’re flying from Toronto to Las Vegas for 4 nights pre cruise. Never been thought we may as well as we’re on the west coast. We then fly to LA for one night before boarding the Navigator. Looking forward to sailing on her again to see all the upgrades.. Sailed on her in 2006,2007,2008 & 2017. 
 

Look forward to reading your next live from Odyssey. We sailed on her for a westbound transatlantic last year and we’re doing it again this year.
Happy sailing! 
 

Jenni. 

Oh, very nice.  That's a very long vacation.  If you like Cirque shows, be sure to check them out while in Vegas.  We haven't been to Vegas since Covid.

 

If you are doing both the 3 and 4 nights, you will be an expert at Ensenada by the time the cruise is over.  Maybe you can catch the sea lions on one of the visits.

 

Catalina Island will likely be pretty cold/windy in January.

 

Look into the Stone Island tour while at Mazatlan.  One of the best value tours you will ever find.  You get a harbor tour on top of a free lunch, open bar and horseback riding as part of the all-day tour for only $42/pp.

 

https://www.mazatlantours.org/stone-island-tour.htm

 

[harryfat1]

3 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Will do thanks Harry. Stop by my review in a couple of weeks for my cruise on Adventure. Review will start Wednesday Oct. 18th. Until then cheers!

Thanks for the invite.  I will be there. Looking forward to reading your report.

 

It's like throwing a party where it's more fun as a guest than a host because as a host, you have to run around making sure there's enough food/drinks and all the guests are entertained. 

 

As a guest, all I do is plop down and ask, where is the beer?

[harryfat1]

21 minutes ago, JamesEM said:

Looking forward to your next review, good job on this one.  Regarding your comment about the pharmacies  in Ensenada, when in Mexico you are the doctor, no script needed and in some cases the prices are cheaper.  

Jim,

 

Thanks for the compliment.

 

Yes, I forgot to mention that the pharmacy in Mexico does not require a prescription, which is why you will see many of them at the various cruise ports near the terminal as some people fill up on the meds cheaper there than from pharmacies back home.

[harryfat1]

On paper, this cruise was probably a “meh” type of cruise for most veterans as these short cruises seldom draw much excitement. On top of the fact it’s on the West Coast on an older RCI ship that isn’t the Oasis/Quantum class ship people will pay a premium to sail on.

 

In truth, we approached it this way as well.  We have the December Odyssey cruise which will be the big vacation event for the year.  This cruise was booked as a filler as “something to do” for the summer as my boys have school/internship obligations that prevent us from going Internationally this year.

 

But if you just look at the cruise “as is” for the West Coast people who don’t have to fly to the East Coast and deal with the sweltering heat of the Caribbean summer, this was a good cruise if you do the cost/benefit analysis all Finance people love to do.

 

Maybe I’m just sentimental as my very first cruise back in 1995 was on Carnival on this same 4-night itinerary with my parents so this route brings back fond memories for me.

 

Given all the other places on our bucket list, it’s highly unlikely we will be back on this itinerary next 10 years. But that’s not to say this was a bad cruise.

 

Catalina has the small port charm in doing the walk around and Ensenada’s Blow Hole was an interesting visit.

 

Navigator of the Seas, while not the newest/biggest ship in the RCI fleet, is still in good shape (wish they could have spruced up the bathroom floor tiles and cabins for more modern looks). 

[harryfat1]

As you all saw I enjoyed eating in the buffet (probably more than MDR) as I like variety and that’s what I like the most about cruise vacations.  It’s the ultimate buffet of vacations in that there are so many choices and options you can choose from. 

 

You can do as much as you want or as little as you want. You can do lots of fancy excursions at each port or none at all. There is no MUST on a cruise.  Well, I guess you MUST be back on the ship by All Aboard time...

 

Unlike other large group vacations like European tours on Trafalgar or camping trips with friends where everyone will more or less experience the same thing.  Whereas a cruise experience is so diverse that you will likely have had a different cruise vacation compared to someone in the cabin next door to you.

 

I was born overseas and I grew up learning the parable of the 6 blind men and the elephant story.

 

Wiki can explain the story better than I can:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blind_men_and_an_elephant

 

On any cruise, we are just one of the blind men feeling the elephant in our little world but everyone has their little stories to tell and only if everything gets added together can one piece together a whole story.

 

Just be skeptical when you read other CC reports if someone is complaining about their bad cruise experience as they may only represent one part of the elephant and your experience could be very different.

[harryfat1]

So what’s next?  As previously mentioned, we are sailing on the Odyssey of the Seas in a couple of months (yikes, already?).  Final payment has been made with Mr. K and I booked the flight to FLL but not the return flight yet as the prices are still crazy high. Maybe we are not coming back for a while..

 

Looking forward to that cruise as it’ll be our first cruise on the Quantum class and our first time going to the “A minus B plus C” island itinerary (this could be the title for my next cruise report) as we are only going to 2 of the ABC islands. Will probably take so many pictures of the ship that we won’t want to go on any Q-class ship next few years…

 

Last but not the least, thanks to everyone for slogging through 800 posts of this overly-long trip report.  Every trip report is different as besides sailing on a new ship (we make it a point not to repeat the same ship), the audience participation is different with various contributions from everyone. I thank everyone who participated in the process of writing this trip report.

 

I appreciate all the new and old friends who have read the report in its entirety.  Especially the old friends that have grind through all the old reports and are still back for more and their warm welcome at the beginning of the report.  I still have the same old jokes but at least new pictures.

 

I think that’s all I have to say as I need to do more research for the upcoming cruise as I am a 9.2 anal person, we don’t “wing it”. I’ll be here to answer any follow-up questions relating to this cruise report.

 

Hope you all enjoy your next cruise adventure wherever it may take you.

 

Cheers,

 

Harry

[FionaMG]

Thanks @harryfat1, it's been great fun and I've enjoyed following along.

Enjoy Odyssey when it comes. 😊

[h20skibum]

Thanks for the entertainment @harryfat1.  I have enjoyed your report, as always.   
 

Enjoy your cruise on Odyssey.  We did that same route on her a couple of years ago.  We like those 8 night sailings to A & C so much, we did a couple more of them since then and have another in December.  We will be like two ships passing in the night, since we will be on Symphony, sailing into port the day after you sail out.  

[LuCruise]

10 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for following along again. 

 

Are you going on the 6 or 8-night Odyssey cruise?  We are on the 8-night going to Aruba and Curacao originally with Ken but he had to change to a later cruise.  If you ended up on a cruise with him and he participated in the belly flop contest, be sure to take a picture to share with the CC community.🤪

 

Yes, I plan to do my usual write-up after the Odyssey cruise.  Everyone's cruise experience is slightly different so it will be great to read about another cruiser's experience.

 

We're on the 6 night one over new years...so one after you.  Ha ha..we often watch the belly flop if we can catch it.

Exactly...even on the same cruise, two can have a very different experience. Thanks again for the review and look forward to hearing others.  Your itinerary sounds great and 8 night would be perfect. Enjoy!

[Sea Dog]

6 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for the invite.  I will be there. Looking forward to reading your report.

 

It's like throwing a party where it's more fun as a guest than a host because as a host, you have to run around making sure there's enough food/drinks and all the guests are entertained. 

 

As a guest, all I do is plop down and ask, where is the beer?

Well said! In itinerary instead of a beer it may be a Siggy Dollar Painkiller.

[cruiselover04]

17 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Oh, very nice.  That's a very long vacation.  If you like Cirque shows, be sure to check them out while in Vegas.  We haven't been to Vegas since Covid.

 

If you are doing both the 3 and 4 nights, you will be an expert at Ensenada by the time the cruise is over.  Maybe you can catch the sea lions on one of the visits.

 

Catalina Island will likely be pretty cold/windy in January.

 

Look into the Stone Island tour while at Mazatlan.  One of the best value tours you will ever find.  You get a harbor tour on top of a free lunch, open bar and horseback riding as part of the all-day tour for only $42/pp.

 

https://www.mazatlantours.org/stone-island-tour.htm

 

Thank you @harryfat1 again for the invaluable information. This is why I love CC to read other people’s experiences and gather all the information.  I will definitely look up that tour. Not sure about the horse back back riding for me but might be something to think about. 
Taken note of weather conditions and will l pack accordingly. I’m really hoping to see the sea lions 🤞🤞

 

Jenni. 

[cruiselover04]

21 hours ago, Sea Dog said:

Will do thanks Harry. Stop by my review in a couple of weeks for my cruise on Adventure. Review will start Wednesday Oct. 18th. Until then cheers!

Look forward to following your review @seadog  

 

Jenni

[3yorkies]

On 10/7/2023 at 6:25 PM, harryfat1 said:

Thanks for reading. So are you doing a 3 & 4-day B2B or a 7-day plus 3/4? The 7-day cruise will take you much further down south to Cabo and PV and those are more interesting ports than Ensenada. 

 

Cabo vendors are very aggressive and they will jump on you as soon as you get off the tender to get you to join their excursions. 

 

January can be cold/rainy in Southern California so dress accordingly.  But coming from Canada in January, Southern CA will be pretty warm in comparison. The waters around Cabo will be rocky on your way back up north so be prepared for that. 

 

I believe @h20skibum shared a photo of the pool water sloshing around during his winter cruise in Mexico years ago so if motion sickness is an issue, be prepared for that.

 

Per @Coralc post earlier, there are cabs way on the other side so I may have missed them.  But it doesn't hurt to have some backup plans on how to get to the airport after the cruise.  

 

The West Coast Homeport forum here in CC should have some suggestions on shuttle companies for you to check their prices prior to leaving home.

 

Have a great cruise in January.

I always Uber from port to LAX.  Just did it this past Friday at 10 a.m.   Cost was $37.00

[cft8]

I always enjoy your reviews and photos! 
 

Speaking of photos, a question - what app do you use for the tilt shift effect? I think I remember that you only took and iPhone. Tilt shift is my favorite effect on my camera, but with the quality of photos I can get with my iPhone I don’t usually bother taking it, but I do miss the effects that it has and am looking for a good app to use!

[harryfat1]

On 10/8/2023 at 1:11 AM, h20skibum said:

Thanks for the entertainment @harryfat1.  I have enjoyed your report, as always.   
 

Enjoy your cruise on Odyssey.  We did that same route on her a couple of years ago.  We like those 8 night sailings to A & C so much, we did a couple more of them since then and have another in December.  We will be like two ships passing in the night, since we will be on Symphony, sailing into port the day after you sail out.  

Mark,

 

Thanks for the kind words.

 

I have started reading your previous cruise report on the Odyssey and taking notes on what to do for our cruise.

 

Are you going to be in Curacao on the Symphony on 12/20? The Odyssey will be there on 12/26, the day after Christmas. 

 

It looks like you guys are the only ship in port that day whereas we have a couple smaller ships with us that day.  I like how they call the pier "Mega Pier" as opposed to "Mini Pier" 

 

https://hms.curports.com/webx/dashb.ashx?db=curps.public&MENU_ID=WEBX-TB-PUBLIC-CRUISE

 

As an anal person, I'm bummed that they are skipping the "B" in the ABC series.  Feels like I'm missing something and now need to find a different cruise to go back on just to complete the series.