Mommy and Daddy Sail on Navigator of the Seas 1-05-2013

[gambee's_mom]

Thank you, I am enjoying your review. :);)

[duncanmaria]

Wow! A detailed, well-written and fun ship report from cruise virgins! Nothing like the first time! I'm excited to be following along with you on your first cruise experience. Thanks so much for sharing. This is going to be a great one!!! :)

[liljay6915]

Thank you for this I am eagerly awaiting more. I was married aboard Navigator and love to read reviews about her. I find they are few and far between but she is a wonderful ship!

[nancronin]

Nice review - keep it coming! :)

[Ladysilver]

I can't stop reading your review! We're going on the Navigator next December...A loooog way off! But I know how those days seem to fly by and before you know it, it's almost here! I'm LOVING your review and the pictures also!! Keep it up!! :D

[The Sunset Glow]

Excellent job so far. Anxiously awaiting more as we'll be sailing her in 3 weeks!

[wocheez]

LOVE your review!!! We are going on the Navigator in March... Can't wait to read the rest. I too bring my wipes!! ;)

[lemonade-sails]

I thought i was a paranoid mom because i travel everywhere with my wipes... I have a child with heart disease that has a very weak immune system.. Yes I am that mom that will walk into the teen club and wipe everything down before my kid touches it... (wouldn't want to end my vacation early with a life flight off the boat) sheets.. now there is a new idea for me... will have to do that

 

I don't think you're a paranoid mom! As far as the sheets go, it really wasn't an issue at all. Didn't seem to bother our steward either. If it makes you more comfortable go for it!

 

Thank you' date=' I am enjoying your review. :);)[/quote']

 

Hi Gambee's mom!!

[lemonade-sails]

Wow! A detailed, well-written and fun ship report from cruise virgins! Nothing like the first time! I'm excited to be following along with you on your first cruise experience. Thanks so much for sharing. This is going to be a great one!!! :)

 

Thank you!!

 

Thank you for this I am eagerly awaiting more. I was married aboard Navigator and love to read reviews about her. I find they are few and far between but she is a wonderful ship!

 

You're welcome! I, too, found few Navigator reviews. Hope you continue to enjoy it!

[lemonade-sails]

I can't stop reading your review! We're going on the Navigator next December...A loooog way off! But I know how those days seem to fly by and before you know it, it's almost here! I'm LOVING your review and the pictures also!! Keep it up!! :D

 

 

Excellent job so far. Anxiously awaiting more as we'll be sailing her in 3 weeks!

 

Thank you both!

[lemonade-sails]

LOVE your review!!! We are going on the Navigator in March... Can't wait to read the rest. I too bring my wipes!! ;)

 

Thanks! I think you'll have a great time!

[ckmommy]

More, more, more---please!!!

[Just The 3 Of Us]

Nice - very nice!!! Keep it coming...

 

:)

[lemonade-sails]

Ok, where was I? Oh yes - our connection home. We decided to use the internet to email the children and grandparents back home each day. I originally planned to get the 60 minute package but in the end it was cheaper for us just to pay per minute for the use. We checked email once or twice each day.

 

The first step in using the internet is to go to the computer center on deck 8 and follow the onscreen directions for signing up. You will have to swipe your SeaPass card on the keyboard. We did not bring a laptop with us so the easiest and most convenient thing was to just use the ships computers. They have a brochure available at the Guest Relations desk outlining the steps and highlighting the hot spots onboard. We didn't find these brochures in the actual computer center though so you may want to stop at the GR desk first.

 

 

 

My husband signed us up and we were ready to email. We waited until day 2 though to read email as we had just phoned home to check on everyone before we left New Orleans. They were fine and playing games - getting ready for their first dinner. We put the phone into airplane mode and deposited it in the safe and left it there until later in the week.

 

We continued to explore the ship and headed first to the Swan Lake Dining Room on deck 5.

 

 

We had booked My Time Dining for the single reason that we wanted a table for two and I learned that it was easier to get that in MTD. It may have had something to do with the fact that we share a table for nine each night with seven of the most interesting people with varying degrees of table manners. We were looking forward to an intimate dining experience while on our vacation. The dining room was very elegant!

 

We continued toward the front of the ship.

 

They still had a gigantic Christmas tree on the promenade. It was beautiful.

 

We made our way to the gym area. We went out on deck to the peek-a-boo bridge, but the shades were closed. Just at that moment the captain blew the horn because we were beginning to pull away from the dock. I completely jumped from the noise and we had a good laugh. We watched us pull away and spent some time on deck as the Navigator turned around in the river and headed out past New Orleans.

 

 

 

 

 

We then went to the spa raffle. However it wasn't in the spa - it was in the fitness center. Anyway, if you have nothing better to do, go to the spa raffle. I didn't plan on using any of the spa services. I looked at the price sheet and it all seemed overpriced to me. But, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to WIN a spa service! Right?!? We heard a lot about the gym and spa, the classes they offer and the services available. I'd like to say we won a massage or something equally nice, but we didn't. Oh well, it was time to return to the room and hopefully unpack our bags.

 

When we got to the cabin, our bags were waiting outside of the door. Our case of water was also there. Yay! We brought everything in and spent the next little while unpacking. There were plenty of hangers in the closet. Also there was shelf space available in there too. The desk area had two sets of drawers that we used for clothes as well. I felt that there was plenty of space for two people. I'm not sure where a third person would keep there things. I think it would be pretty tight.

 

We emptied the minibar and put our water in the fridge. We stored their water, pop and snacks in the cupboard above the safe. Now, I had read complaints about the fridge not really keeping things cold, but I found the opposite. I was satisfied with the temperature of our water. It seemed cold to me.

 

We headed for the Swan Lake Dining Room. I mentioned we had signed up for My Time Dining but we did not make any reservations before we left home. We got in the 'no reservations' line and found they didn't have an opening until 7:45. It was just 6pm at this point. Well, because we had skipped breakfast (too busy and nervous to eat) and we had a small lunch (too late onboard to want to risk Windjammer crowds) we were hungry. So we headed to the Windjammer on deck 11 for dinner.

 

**Note** I had given myself a challenge to take the elevator as little as possible on this trip. In all we used the elevator a total of 6 times throughout the week. They just seemed too slow and/or too crowded. We're in our late 30's and relatively healthy so we got a lot of use out of the stairs. One extra benefit to this is all the artwork that can be seen in the stairwells. In fact, lots of times we would notice that we did not recognize the pictures and that was a clue that we were in the wrong spot - either forward or aft - depending on where we were heading.

 

Dinner in the Windjammer was very nice. We did not have lunch there so we had nothing to compare it to yet, but it was quiet, uncrowded and the lights were dim. We easily grabbed a table by the back windows and watched the river pass by while eating prime rib and burgers. Who could complain??

[TipsyT]

Thanks, Lemonade! Did you notice if the Riverwalk Marketplace is within walking distance from the pier? We're thinking of shopping there a bit before getting on the ship but wondered if it would be too much of a hike to get to the ship.

 

Thanks!

[lemonade-sails]

On the subject of onboard spending . . .

One thing that I forgot to mention was that we decided to go with a cash account. We did our online registration and indicated cash. I called maybe a week before sailing and purchased OBC through Royal Caribbean. I had the agent give $125 to my SeaPass and $125 to my husband's. The email reciept I recieved indicated this division of the OBC.

When we checked in on the first day the agent asked me for a credit card. I told her we were doing cash and she said that was fine. No problem.

When we got to our room there was a postcard sized notice of our onboard credit. However, it was all posted to my account. Throughout the week whenever my husband would purchase something it would show up as a negative on his account and then again as a positive and then it would be deducted from my onboard account. So, basically everything was being charged to my card although I do not know why they were doing it like that. Seemed strange but we checked it on our interactive tv in the stateroom throughout the week and did not see any charges that were incorrect.

We spent less than I had planned and budgeted for. We don't drink or collect art (more on that later). We did play bingo once and purchased a couple of virgin drinks. So on the last night we closed our account and recieved cash back from Guest Relations. They ask you to visit the desk by 11pm on the last night if you are settling in cash. There was no line when we were there just before 11pm.

If we ever get a chance to cruise again I would definitely do a cash account. I also liked the convenience of having OBC. I think it showed up on our account the second day. We had no problems with it - other then the funny way they were charging my husband's card and then refunding it and then posting the same charges to mine. And that wasn't really a problem, just seemed strange.

As far as having actual cash along for room service tips, etc., we brought $200 in cash. I had gotten small bills for this. $1's and $5's and a few $10's also. We kept it in the safe during the week. I planned to use it for room service tips and a little shopping for the kids at the ports. We spent maybe half of it and it was mostly on souveniers. We only ended up with room service twice. We tipped $2 each time.

Again, this was just our experience. As I said, we don't drink and don't generally gamble, although my husband did participate in the $10 blackjack tournament. We were too impressed with the main dining room to even think of spending more on a specialty restaurant. So, our onboard spending was next to nothing.

[lemonade-sails]

Thanks, Lemonade! Did you notice if the Riverwalk Marketplace is within walking distance from the pier? We're thinking of shopping there a bit before getting on the ship but wondered if it would be too much of a hike to get to the ship.

 

Thanks!

 

The Riverwalk Marketplace is basically right there. The ship is parked right in front of it and there are tables out there for shoppers to sit and watch the ships. It was cold and wet the day we sailed out so no one was there. I have heard that there is some kind of door connecting them, but that it may be closed off. I also have heard they are doing some construction to the building - but I do not have any details. We did not visit the marketplace as we arrived so late we did not have time. I had planned to do some streetcar sightseeing also, but that didn't happen either. The streetcars are also having some construction inturruptions I believe.

 

Maybe someone else who visited the marketplace can comment but I can tell you it is definitely RIGHT THERE! So, you shouldn't have a problem as far as distance is concerned. I hope it works out for you!

[2tall]

So are you both hooked on cruising now? ;) It hooked me on my high school trip oh, so many years ago but it took a long time for me to convince my husband. Our vacation in Key West did the trick because he saw all of the ships docked at Mallory Square...and we were on a cruise the very next year. Luckily, that first cruise together on the Radiance hooked him, too and that's now our preferred way to vacation.

 

"Hi, my name is Rebecca and I'm addicted to cruising."

[Agutaya]

We were in " your" cabin on the transatlantic in Nov. Loved it. I'm enjoying the review.

[lemonade-sails]

So are you both hooked on cruising now? ;) It hooked me on my high school trip oh, so many years ago but it took a long time for me to convince my husband. Our vacation in Key West did the trick because he saw all of the ships docked at Mallory Square...and we were on a cruise the very next year. Luckily, that first cruise together on the Radiance hooked him, too and that's now our preferred way to vacation.

 

"Hi, my name is Rebecca and I'm addicted to cruising."

 

I think we may have been hooked before we even left. So, yes I would say we are. However, we'd really like to take the kids on the next one so, we'll be waiting to win the lottery so that we can afford enough cabins to hold all of us :p!

 

We were in " your" cabin on the transatlantic in Nov. Loved it. I'm enjoying the review.

 

I bet you loved it. We discussed transatlantics while sitting on the balcony. That would be awesome!!

[cinnamongirl13]

Sailing on the Navigator next month (same ports), and can't wait! Really enjoying your review, thanks for sharing!

[lemonade-sails]

After dinner we explored some more. We stopped at Cafe Promenade for a sandwich and pizza sometime later that night. We knew that a Carnival ship was going to pass us somewhere along the river. A gentleman we met informed us that a NCL ship would also pass. We spent time on our balcony hoping for a glimpse of the Carnival ship. It never came and never came.

 

We decided to try going to deck 4. We went down and as we stepped outside, we caught the tail end of the ship passing us by portside.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We returned to the balcony and waited for the NCL ship. We were just about to go in when it went by.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry for the bad pictures! It was very exciting. It didn’t seem like enough room in the river for two ships to pass like that.

 

While we were sailing down the river we were enjoying the rocking and rolling of the ship. There are lots of bends in the river and it was just such an experience. We kept saying “Woah! Did you feel that?!” to each other. In fact, we did it all week. “I just felt a roll!” and so on. If you heard us newbies I hope you got a good chuckle out of it. We sure were having a blast!

 

We are not prone to motion sickness in cars or airplanes but I didn’t know how we would handle sailing. I was especially worried about being on the aft instead of in a midship cabin. I searched the internet for ginger candies/chews before we left but ended up buying some at our local Fresh Market. It was a good $5 spent for a bit of peace of mind. In the end we never even opened the ginger.

 

We hit the Gulf of Mexico I would estimate at about 12:30. We could feel a difference in the swaying of the ship. It was a strange feeling. A bit like being rocked to sleep sometimes.

 

We were pretty exhausted so we decided to head to bed and made plans to hit the Windjammer in the morning for breakfast. It was a great first day.

 

Next up . . . Our first day at sea

[live2cruise2011]

I love the pictures of ships while on a ship... My favorite was last year while we were on the Carnival Triumph I got a great picture of another Carnival ship we were near when I got home and put the pictures on the tv we noticed that it was the Carnival Magic that we were sailing on in May.... So cool

[mpoole3]

This review just keeps getting better and better! Thanks for the details! Sailing on the Navigator for the 3rd time this spring! :D

[lemonade-sails]

Sailing on the Navigator next month (same ports), and can't wait! Really enjoying your review, thanks for sharing!

 

I hope you have a great time!

 

I love the pictures of ships while on a ship... My favorite was last year while we were on the Carnival Triumph I got a great picture of another Carnival ship we were near when I got home and put the pictures on the tv we noticed that it was the Carnival Magic that we were sailing on in May.... So cool

 

Awesome!