BellaCaps

Ship - Navigator of the Seas

Deck - 2

Stateroom # - 2578 

Stateroom Category – Oceanview

Starboard or Port Side - Port side

Quiet Stateroom? (With comments on problems) –  NO!!!!!  It was at the end of a long hallway, near a crew area, and underneath studio B.  Studio B played loud music until past 2 am each night of our 4 night cruise.  To the point where we could feel our cabin vibrate. I complained each night and was met with a snarky response.  On night 3 they finally offered to move our cabin, but this was at 1am and at that point we only had that night and one other left.  I was in tears that night.

Also wasn't very clean.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? - No

Balcony View - Give comments on view, noting if location of any obstructions was an issue. – N/A

Balcony Size? Normal or oversized for class? - N/A

Was wind a problem? - No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? -N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Aside from the noise, it was also at the end of a long hallway where there was only one way in and one way out, so we had a long walk to our cabin.

Any other comments? - No

Due to a few high readings of blood pressure my Dr put me on a low dose of a blood pressure med, an ACE inhibitor, and of course I leave Saturday for my cruise on Monday.  I have an appointment to go back tomorrow because I am having some side effects (just started the med) and want to see if it is alright if I hold off until I return from my cruise, as long as I can contact Royal and make arrangements to keep my sodium as low as possible.  

Anyway it got me wondering about the RCI medical facilities?  One of the possible side effects from my meds is a swollen face, or at worst, a tongue (which would be an emergency).  Is the ship equipped to deal with things like that?

Hello!

Our first cruise out of Miami is coming up in June, on Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas!

We have never been to Miami and I have a couple questions.

A flight we are looking at leaves Fort Lauderdale at 153pm on a Friday afternoon.  This flight is significantly cheaper than ones from Miami and it flies on an airline I have a rewards card for, so we won't have to check bags either.

Our ship gets into port at 6am. 

Generally speaking, would we have enough time to disembark, get a taxi/Uber/Lyft to Fort Lauderdale airport, and make our flight?  I don't know how long it takes to disembark a cruise ship these days, I have only been one one other cruise and it was on a much smaller ship that ported close to my home.

Also, any ballpark ideas of how much it will cost to get to Fort Lauderdale?  It is only two people, we will have one medium sized bag and two carry-on duffel types of bags, so I don't think we need an UberXL.

Thank you so much in for helping out this newbie!  🙂

1 hour ago, JohninDC said:

Don't stay at any hotel out near the MIA airport for 2-days - the area is not fun/attractive and you'll spend your savings on cabs and Uber.

 

Check out the Hampton Inn Mary Brickell - downtown, much closer to POM than the red Roof, and with lots of local dining/nightlife options within stumbling distance.  Prices in June should be reasonable. 

 

Happy 40th birthday - 40 was a long time ago for me   Have a great cruise!!

 

Thanks for the advice!  And...I'm from Northern VA/DC as well!  Will be flying in from DCA.  

And thanks for the birthday wishes.  It's going to be a rough one but being on a cruise ship will make it easier.  😉 

Hello!  

This June will be my 2nd cruise and first one out of the Port of Miami.  I have never been outside of the airport in Miami, and this is my 40th birthday cruise.  Our cruise leaves on a Monday and we wanted to fly into Miami on Saturday and hit up some restaurants/pubs and maybe take a cab to South Beach.  The people we are cruising with are driving from Orlando on Sunday and staying at the Red Roof Inn.  Looking at the map that looks a little far if we plan on spending a day in Miami.

Does anyone have any recommendations for some relatively affordable hotels closer to the Port or even South Beach?

Has anyone stayed at the Red Roof Inn?  Would it be ok for a 2 night stay or is it a better one-and-done hotel?  I do not need a 4 or 5 star hotel, just somewhere decently priced (looking at trying not to spend no more than $140 a night - and that is on the high end) and relatively close to downtown, if not in downtown, and in a safe area.  We do not need to worry about parking as we are not renting a car.  We also don't want to stay too far away from downtown where a cab/lyft will erase the savings that we would get from staying further away.

Thanks for any help!  Happy cruising to all.  🙂

hello! I have only been on two cruises before, both on Grandeur of the Seas, and we have been lucky our cabins were towards the middle of the ship. We have booked a cruise on Mariner in June 2019 and our cabin is towards the very front, 8113. We have friends staying in cabins nearby which is the reason for the location. I have never experienced seasickness, and actually like a little bit of rocking, but I am a little concerned about it since we are so close to the front. Has anyone stayed in a very forward cabin and are able to offer some tips? The destination is the Bahamas from Port Canavarel. It is a short cruise, just 4 nights.

One of our grandeur cruises was also to the Bahamas and it was in May, the roughest part of the cruise seemed to be sailed from Baltimore and also on the trip back to Baltimore.

Awesome news! I was on the same cruise as RadioRob, so we just missed the aerial show. Would have been nice to see.

No Arial Shows.

 

Movies were Big Hero 6, Theory of Everything, Filed of Dreams, ET, Imitation Game, Wedding Ringer

Same movies we had last week on cruise ending yesterday.

Just got back yesterday from a Grandeur Cruise. I wasn't a fan of the Park Cafe. Never went for breakfast, the salads looked ok at lunch but the sandwiches were dry. The pizza, obviously frozen, was soggy. I never tried the make your own pizza they started about day 3 but I heard that was better however there is a wait. The wait staff there was slow late nights, the line would build up and it would take sometimes 20 plus minutes. I'd opt for room service for late night or stick to Windjammer during their hours.

As for the card players, I didn't mind them. Always a table somewhere. Some nights were windy, I think people wanted to play cards indoors by the pool. Perhaps the staff could mark off a section of tables and designate them for eating only but finding a table was never a problem.

Wow! Awesome tips everyone, thanks!

10 days, I can't wait!

Cruising on Grandeur for my first cruise in 2 weeks. Leaves from Baltimore and goes to Port Canavarel, Nassau, and Coco Cay. Will be in a group of 10 people.

Reviews of Grandeur scared me at first but it being a small ship doesn't bother me since I have nothing to compare it to.

I'm purchasing a beverage package through the website. Will I need to bring anything with me when boarding to show I have it?

We are staying 3 in a large Oceanview Stateroom. I am prepared for how small it will be. We actually measured a place in our house to visualize how small it really will be. I already mapped out where the closes public bathroom is lol.

I heard that people stay away from hot tubs on cruise ships. Is that true?

Anyone have any tips for a first time cruiser? Any kind of tips - from what to bring, or places to see, favorite parts of the ship, etc?

Rangers beat my Caps which makes me sad but I love hockey and will be cruising on Granduer during the Cup Finals. Heard Casino bar may have some games on.

I'm cruising on the Granduer on May 29th and was told I am NOT eligible for the BOGO half off. It's for later sailings. Not sure when it starts.

Thanks for the review. The drink prices, what were frozen cocktails going for?

On our first cruise, we saw this one couple who dressed up every day with 2 different outfits. There was a rumor that they had over 10 checked suitcases for a 10 day Caribbean Cruise. I believe I heard up to 20 cases! I could believe it when I saw their outfits. Each outfit (she made them all) came with matching shoes, hats, & bag & they matched each other. They were a very nice couple but I can only imagine their cabin with all those clothes & suitcases. I saw them again on a 8 day Bahama Cruise. They had to have been able to drive as I don't think they could have flown with all that luggage.

Oh wow! That is crazy! Too much. I admit I tend to over pack especially when I haven't been somewhere before, but nowhere near that level. I plan on bringing "mix and match" items to make different outfits so I can get away with bringing less. I'm not against wearing the same shirt 2 days, etc.

Just a note that there is no difference in alcoholic beverages covered between the Premium and Ultimate packages. The Ultimate package only adds specialty coffee, fresh squeezed OJ, and bottled sparking water to the Premium package.

Thanks! I did find that out, I called the cruise line directly a few weeks ago before I discovered how helpful everyone here is. :) That is the reason for the Ultimate for us, all the options for non-alcoholic as well as the alcohol options.

Question about the beverages....how many go above that $12? We were going to get the Ultimate package, even though pricey. We are mainly a beer/vodka lemonade crowd. Occasional glass of wine or shot. We like Frozen Drinks but those may be a one a day kind of thing.

Most of us understood your point from the beginning. Just take what you are planning and don't worry about it. Posts get really out of control on here at times.

Thank you. :) :)

Shorter people don't have style. :what:

 

I'm just under 6-2, and my shoes are pretty much the same as someone 5-10

It has nothing to do with style. I wear size 13 shoes (women). They take up more room in a bag than a size 7 shoe for example. My boyfriend wears size 13 men. Those take up more room in a bag than a size 10.

I had a 5'4" roommate in college. My shoes took up significantly more room than hers and we had the same number of shoes. We went on a trip to Vegas one time for the weekend, packed pretty much the same things - a dress, an extra pair of jeans, a pair of flip flips and a pair of sandals as well as a couple shirts. Almost the exact same items save for the size, mine took up more space in my carry-on suitcase than hers did. Our clothes take up a good amount of space. I'll be trying to bring the lighter airier clothes, but at 6'2" and a bit, shall we say, chunky, my clothes definitely take up some space, in addition to my shoes.

:)

We each had a large suitcase and a small rolling carry-on for our last 7-day cruise in the Med, but we had several days pre-cruise and post-cruise so we were really gone for over 2 weeks. There was no problem. Everything fit under the bed when we unpacked and we had plenty of room in the cabin without carrying all the extras like over-the-door organizers, collapsible laundry baskets, etc. We didn't miss the extra items for the cabins at all and will not be bothering with them on future cruises. We used zip-lock bags of all sizes to help with the packing and unpacking. We even used the 2-1/2 - 3 gallon ones for shoes and outfits that we could compress the air in and keep everything in the one bag without anything getting dirty. That enabled us to put our shoes in the bags with our clothes :D. Worked out great.

GREAT idea with the zip loc bags, particularly for shoes. Thanks for the tip.

Hello again!

Does RCCL limit the number of bags you can check for a 7 night cruise on Grandeur? We only have rolling bags that are airplane carry-on size. My parents are letting us borrow one rolling bag that is bigger than carry-on but not huge. Our plan is to use that, one of the carry-on size bags and another bag we have to check, and then bring on our backpacks, so it would be a total of 5 bags between the two of us. We are both over 6 ft tall so our clothes and shoes take up a lot of space no matter how we fold them/roll them, etc. We are trying not to have to purchase another "mid size" bag.

Also any problems getting the checked bags to the cabin? Do they open all the bags and search them?

Thank you!

The far better place for your research would be the RCI board, here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=83

Thanks, Will do

Hello!

I posted this in the first time cruiser forum but someone recommended posting here. I see a few beverage package threads but I have a question on the gratuities that I can't seem to get a straight answer on. We plan on the Premium or Ultimate beverage package. Our travel agent gave us the pricing, the $49/$55 a day plus the 18% gratuity. My question is, is that the ONLY drink gratuity for drinks we will be paying? Or will there be an additional gratuity for each drink we consume on board?

I have heard that you pay the package price plus you still have to pay additional gratuity for each drink you have. So lets say I have a $10 mixed drink, will the sea pass account reflect $1.80 gratuity for it, or was that part of the prepaid gratuity?

I hope this makes sense.

Hello again!

I will be cruising on Grandeur out of Baltimore. I live in Northern VA so we will not be flying into Baltimore. I read on the port website there is a parking garage where you prepay for $15 a day and it's secure. The website indicates it has plenty of parking. Has anyone actually driven to B-more and utilized the garage? Is there really ample parking? Our plan is to drive there since 3 of us in the car can easily split the $15 a day.

Any good places to eat around the port that people recommend?

Thanks!

Hello everyone! First time cruiser here.

We plan on getting a beverage package, likely the premium one, for a cruise in May on Grandeur of the Seas. The price is $404 including the 18% gratuity. Has anyone purchased one before? I can't seem to find a definitive answer, but I'm wondering if our sea pass account will have additional gratuities for beverages when we leave the ship? I know that if we don't get a beverage package there is a gratuity charged automatically to each drink. Even though we have the package, will we be charged additional gratuities per drink?

So lets say we drink $450 worth of alcohol....will our sea pass reflect an additional $81 for gratuities for the actual drinks we ordered?

Does that make sense?

Thanks everyone for your time. :)