Happyreb

Sail Away Day - Port of Los Angeles.  The cruise terminal in LA could use some love.  Don’t expect something equivalent to what you might find in Florida; but it’s functional and gets the job done.  More importantly, Royal had their team VERY well organized and check in was a breeze.  We flew through baggage drop off and the check-in in about 10 minutes max.  I was pretty concerned given all of the additional paperwork and precautions that are required; but no worries.  If you have all of your documents ready, you’ll be on the ship before you know it.  Inaugural sailing (though there was a media sailing a few days earlier) so cabins were available immediately.  Certainly our easiest boarding procedure to date.

Sail away day!  

Hey all - I just wanted to close out this thread by confirming that it is calculated by days, not hours.  If you test 50 hours before sailing, rather then 48, that’s totally fine.  No worries.  Happy sailing!

My family and I have been greatly enjoying this getaway.  Thanks to many past recommendations from others on this board, we are in an aft JS - 1694 - and we adore it.  The balcony is HUGE - basically like having a second room.  Can highly recommend on any Voyager ship.   We are on deck 10 - which has a slightly less obstructed view than 7 or 8, I believe.   I will post pics later today.  For now, I wanted to assure everyone that Navigator’s return to service has been absolutely successful and delightful.   This is our first sail in Voyager class - our previous two ships were Harmony and Anthem.  I LOVE both those ships and was really concerned that I wouldn’t want enjoy a smaller ship with fewer activities.  I get bored and restless easily.  Thankfully, the 2019 amplification addressed this issue pretty well.  The water slides (a personal favorite) are clean, charming and fun.   Long enough to be satisfying.  Also, we appear to be sailing at about 60% capacity - which is once-in-a-lifetime GREAT!  No lines for anything.

Since RCI hasn’t sailed to these ports in over a decade, I wanted to say that they are all charming and worth your time.  Cabo San Lucas has incredible fishing and water sports, as well as very friendly people.  In Mazatlan, we hired a cab to show us around and visit the sights with us.  He was VERY friendly and helpful.  It’s an easy city to explore on your own; but hiring a driver for the day is inexpensive and makes it easier to see more.  The crown jewel, IMHO, is Puerta Vallerta.   WOW is it BEAUTIFUL, clean and safe.  Huge expat community and we felt as though we started making new friends the second we stepped off the boat.  Once again, super easy to explore on your own; but we hired a driver for a couple of hours to help us explore the sights at our own pace and in the order of our own choosing.  We will definitely be back to explore this city in more detail.  Don’t listen to the “don’t get off the boat in Mexico” crowd!  The people are friendly and SO happy to see RCI return.   It felt safer and cleaner than where we live in the USA, honestly.

Typing this in the Diamond Lounge which is smaller, but very quiet and well attended.  Feel blessed to have access to this quiet little corner of the ship.  Masks aren’t required in here because they serve food and it is a vaccinated only space.  Honestly, given that you don’t need a mask in your cabin, on deck or in any eating/drinking establishment, I feel like I am barely ever wearing the mask.  Maybe just in the hallways or the occasional show?  It’s a tot non-issue.

Pics to follow.  Happy to answer questions.  RCI rules.  

Hey all - My family and I are scheduled to board Navigator tomorrow at 2pm.  My husband and daughter took their COVID tests last night - only about 36 hours before sail time.  I, however, took my test yesterday morning at 11 am and we aren't scheduled to board until 2pm on Saturday.  So my test is definitely 2 days before sailing, but a bit over 48 hours.  Do I need to re-test? 

RCI's website says two days; but I keep reading 48 hours elsewhere.  What has your experience been?

Thanks!

So strange to see this update because we are scheduled to board Navigator on Friday!

Thank you, DMWT - but she isn't old enough to drive.  There must be some alternative option for the under-16 crowd. 

Edited to say that I've now read the link you provided and it appears that her birth certificate and (still valid) passport should be sufficient.  Thank you!

Thanks, Biker.  I don't know you, but you've provided some truly invaluable information to me and my family in the past.  And now again.  Appreciate you.

Hi all - We are planning to sail on Navigator to Mexico for Thanksgiving; but I just realized that my daughter's passport expires in mid December.  I know that we are supposed to have six months remaining on our passport, but there is no time to get it renewed before we sail.

Customs and Border Patrol told us that it will be fine with them so long as we also bring her birth certificate and social security card to prove citizenship.  Has anyone else been in this situation?  Will RCI refuse boarding? 

All responses appreciated.  Thanks!

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With Surf you'll likely get .5 Mbps down and less up; with Stream maybe 4 Mbs down and maybe 2 Mbps up; you'll get 600+ ms pings with either tier.

Perfect - that's the info I was seeking. Thank you!!

It's entirley depending on position in the ocean and satellite coverage

Okay. Any thoughts about the southern Med near Greece?

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Does anyone have some recent upload and download speeds from Vision? She is sailing an itinerary I like, but I need to be in touch with my business while traveling.

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<<Hi

I paid the social package $20 for the week. It was fast and what's app and Facebook both loaded pictures fast.

I have European phone contract so had 4G in every port. So I didn't need to pay for the full internet. >>

Great to hear! Thank you!

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Thanks for this review! I'm excited to check out the ship!

Did you use the wifi? And, if so, how did you find the speed and reliability?

Just did my status match with MSC over the weekend. I'm Diamond RCI and was quickly granted Black status on MSC. It was quick and easy - comes with some great perks! I think this is a wonderful marketing feature for MSC. No need to sail with Royal just to get your loyalty perks.

I'm Diamond on RCI and was matched to black. Quick and easy process, too! I really appreciated the ease of the match process.

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Other than very first BOGO in May 2014, virtually all the "sales" since then have been marketing spin. Prices very much depend on inventory, are individual to each ship/sailing and very little else.

Exactly. Just today, I repriced two future sailings that I had booked a few months back. One was cheaper by quite a bit. For a family of three, I've saved over $800 for rebooking one today. RCI customer service were very helpful.

But it didn't work for all itineraries. Our Alaska cruise price for June 2017 didn't budge at all. Alaska prices seem very stubborn, IMHO. But our May 2017 sailing to Norway went down considerably. But that sailing seems very far from full at present.

Sadly, we are past final payment date for our most expensive cruise, but I was already able to snag a couple of price drops on that one.

It's just a bummer that getting the best price truly requires such vigilance!

We were scheduled into a panoramic ocean view for March. Spoke to my Royal Vacation Planner. They upgraded us to an aft balcony and we got the future cruise credit (25% I think ?) - which we will be applying towards the cost of our already booked Alaska cruise for summer.

So I'm fine now. The credit makes a big difference! And since there were still some very nice balconies left on our sailing, I can compromise.

Even though we were originally sailing on that cruise solely to try out the new rooms!

We got our 11-year-old a WOW band on our last sailing and it was so great! Much easier for everyone.

If we were leaving the ship, she would be with a parent and we would be responsible for handling her Seapass card.

She's pretty responsible, but I just didn't want to have an additional risk/worry.

We have a 9 night booked for Grandeur next summer, and the deluxe package is $38!

Yes! I just grabbed the same price on our Adventure sailing in March! I've never seen it that low!

I can see why they offer these sales. I would never consider a drink package at $50+/night; but I am seriously considering it at $38. Probably helps them to test the price point tolerance of various customers sailing at different times on different ships etc . . . I'm sure there's a master algorithm for all of this somewhere . . .

Wow! We have three future sailings booked. For all of them, I was able to get surf & stream for $8.99 per night! That's a great price! And I'm seeing Deluxe beverage for only $38/night? Really? Very excited.

Many thanks for the heads up! You've easily saved us more than $100 . . .

Those "best of" ratings seem super subjective. We sailed Harmony in the Med found it absolutely delightful. I was honestly surprised that it didn't win, but I realize it isn't everyone's cup of tea.

To each their own. The competition gets a bit more fierce each year!

I honestly think that the only risk of changing your cabin would be the small possibility of developing the dreaded "balcony addiction". Other than that, if you sail based on price, take the cheaper cabin! Even an obstructed view balc is fun. I would still enjoy just smelling the sea air and such.

The only issue you raise is that your inside cabin might be bigger - and I don't know how much you value those few extra feet. But, even if you're bumping into each other a bit, I would still recommend the balcony - just to mix things up a bit!