HBCcruiser

The Bamboo Room or Tiki Bar. Best drinks!

Soup to start. LOVE the Chops soup! Cheers!

so we were delayed at AAA but finally got it fixed BUT internet a cluster. Anyway, we made it onboard by 11. Went up to 11 for drinks then back down to 5 to explore. RAJ is onboard!! Sooo cool. He’s the best bartender. We will be doing rainbow shots there later. Promise. Tons of traffic headed in. Now at the Key lunch.

@Jetmama1 is it sunny there? It’s cloudy here RN - damn marine layer! 😱

Same here. Except I watched it from home. We are getting ready to go to AAA to see about my DDs insurance/license issue. 🙄 Ugh! Wish us luck!

It’s a beautiful sunny day! Good day for a cruise.

It’s the main pool bar that spans 3 decks. We are meeting on the upper deck, deck 12. It may have been called the Sky Bar, not sure.

Awesome!! Please feel free to post your experiences on this thread too. Are you joining the sail away party on deck 12 - Lime and Coconut bar? I hope to meet you.

My DDs United flight was actually early! No delays. Nice. Now it’s time to finish packing, have some wine and relax. 😎

Cool thanks! Let me know if you want any specific info. I’ll do my best to get it.

My workday is almost over then I leave to get my DD at LAX. Ooh and I get to sit in LA traffic for about an hour and a half. Woopie!!

Thank you so do I! It’s so weird. She had insurance!! We may have to get an attorney involved if Arizona doesn’t reinstate her license soon. They made the mistake. Frustrating.

Our letter describing our Key benefits arrived last week.

Oh yeh, on our cruise last month we fell into the duck hunting/hiding trap. WE LOVE IT! I didn't' think it would be so much fun but it really is. It reminds me of the Easter egg hunts we did as kids then again as parents. This cruise we plan on hiding a bunch of ducks so if you are on this cruise be on the lookout! Some of our ducks to look out for:

Welcome to my “LIVE from” the Navigator of the Seas. To be perfectly upfront, @Awjeez317 started a great LIVE from the NOS last week. Those of you who are following him, please understand that mine will not compare. He is a great storyteller. I am NOT. I am more of a short and to-the-point kind of writer. My job has made me that way. Sorry. I will, though, answer (or do my best trying) any questions you might have as we go along and will sprinkle lots of photos throughout. Now onto the cruise stuff. A few months ago a close friend of mine decided to give the 3-night NOS cruise out of LA a shot. We both live in Hermosa Beach, CA which is really close to the port. You must understand my friend normally hates sea days and prefers exotic port-rich cruises where she can plan exclusive, fun tours. That being said, I was a little surprised that she was willing to try this cruise. Her reasoning was that it was much cheaper to do this weekend cruise than it was to stay in a hotel in say Palm Springs for the weekend. True that! Especially with the steep rise in hotel and restaurant costs lately. IMO living close to the LA port in San Pedro has its benefits, such as being able to jump on these 3-night cruises for a short weekend getaway. I have sailed out of LA on this and similar cruises many times and really love it. I consider this my chance! If I can get her to enjoy these short cruises I have a new cruise buddy, and more chances to cruise. A Win-Win! My friend is rooming ... or is it cabining? I will go with cabining… with her mom, and I am cabining with my DD. We booked 2 spacious balconies right next to each other. I know, I know… NO SUITE FOR YOU! 😱. Yup! I am venturing out into the land of the gen pop this cruise. It is back to Steerage Class for me! 😂😂 Hmmm…Will I miss the suite life? It is only 3 days. Right? I guess the big question is – do we request early or late cleaning? I am thinking late because my DD likes to sleep in. Thoughts on that? To help control my not-in-a-suite-this-cruise anxiety we booked the Key when the price dropped. This gives us priority boarding, priority seating at shows, VOOM (now StarLink), and a nice Chops-like lunch on day one, among other perks. Sounds pretty nice. I have never gotten the Key before so we shall see how it goes. It only cost us a bit more than the WIFI which everyone in our group needs anyway. Work and such… We also booked a casita on the sea day which guarantees us a place to lay out and grab some sun-n-fun and of course plenty of adult beverages🍹🍹. Last time we were on NOS the pool deck got really crowded on the sea day. It was hard to find chairs – even in the suite area (which is a joke on this ship IMO). For some added deliciousness, we booked the Chef’s Table. I really enjoy this meal with the wine pairing and great food. Yes, I always ask to switch out the first appetizer with beef carpaccio (too many fish dishes IMO), but they never seem to take issue with that. The Chef’s Table on the VOS last month was probably one of the tastiest I have ever experienced. That chef was top notch! Let’s hope this one is just as yummy. This 3-day getaway takes us to Ensenada, Mexico. Being the wine lovers that we are, we decided to book a private wine tasting tour. A lot of Napa winemakers are expanding their wine production into the Valle de Guadalupe which is a short ride from Ensenada. Some of the wines are quite good. Should be fun! I have done the ship wine tour excursions which were just ok IMO. We shall see how the private tour compares. Our check-in time at the port is 10:30 AM tomorrow. My plan was to pick everyone up at 9:45 AM and drive to the port. A small wrench was thrown into the plan a few days ago, though. Long story short, my DD, who is a student at ASU, earned an Arizona traffic ticket in May due to having dark window tinting. She fixed it and paid that off but the officer also marked that she did not have car insurance. SHE DID AND SHE DOES! As a result they suspended her license so now we have to stop by AAA first thing in the morning to file some sort of form so her license can be reinstated. What a cluster. I have never heard of such a thing have you? Anyway, I hope to still be able to complete this chore and get to the port by 10:30 AM. Crossing fingers. 🤞

I agree. I can book a 10 day Alaska cruise out of Seattle in 2025 with the exact same Alaska itinerary (minus all the sea days) on the NCL Joy in the Haven for $6000 less than a PH suite on this cruise.

We just got off the Vision two weeks ago and were in a 2-bd Grand Suite. Breakfast is served in Chops. The staff are amazing! Also, I recommend spending time in the suite lounge. The wait staff and Concierge are second-to-none! Jaime, the Concierge, will go out of his way to make sure you have a fantastic cruise. We also thought the drinks there were some of the best onboard. Of course, we did tip well so take that into consideration. Also note that there is NO Suite sun deck area. This is the letter we received in our suite:

We did it a few weeks ago on the VOS. It includes unlimited champagne, a good brunch and the kitchen tour. It is up to you whether you think it is worth it or not. We did it as a special treat for my DDs and SIL.

On our last 9-day cruise our concierge was one of the best ever. He organized all of our specialty dining and show rezys, made sure we had the Coco Cay cabana we wanted, escorted us as listed above among other things. I tipped him $100 on day one for that. He continued to provide us with service above and beyond what we expected so I tipped him another $100 at the end of our cruise. There were 3 of us.

We always request to change the first course (scallop or tuna) to the Chops beef carpaccio. We request it when we board and have never had an issue.

Enjoy your cruise! We live in SoCal and have done this itinerary many times. Cabo is one of our favorite places so enjoy! We jump on NOS next Friday for a short 3-day long weekend getaway. It’s a great ship IMO.

Just received this letter:

Does anyone have any updates on the ship? We are scheduled for the Mermaiden voyage but the App is not functioning and I’m hearing crickets regarding our cruise and the ship from VV. Anyone in the “know”?

100% agree! We just got of the older RCI Vision of the Seas with Starlink and it was THE BEST/FASTEST internet we have experienced onboard a ship.