My Navigator of the Seas Review-- 2/23/13-- Let's Party!

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Some more photos from east side of Cozumel.

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Our guide told us a cold front was passing through Cozumel and we really felt it on our last day at sea. Temps dropped dramatically, probably down to the low-mid 60’s. Even more importantly we were going full speed into a very strong northerly wind. They closed off the very front of the ship on deck 5 due to high winds. I’d guess the implied speed on the pool deck was probably continuously in excess of 50mph. Nobody was really sitting around on deck because it was so chilly. We hung around in one of the hot tubs for about 15 minutes but the breeze killed any chance of staying comfortable. For grins we played some mini golf, which makes for some serious entertainment value when your ball never really comes to a complete stop. We ended up spending some extra time in the casino that day and looked like several others had the same idea.

 

We were getting to that sad point in every cruise where we had to pack our luggage up to leave it in the hallway overnight for pickup. I waited until after dinner to fully seal up the bags so I could change into something for going out later. We stayed out for awhile that night but frankly the lack of sleep was catching up to me again and in spite of my desire to make the last night keep going well into the morning, I packed it in around 1:00.

 

Our flights were in the noon hour, so we were assigned one of the later disembarkation groups (#22)—meeting in Studio B at 9:00. This let us sleep in till about 7:15, then wandered up to the Windjammer for a leisurely breakfast. We stayed there for awhile as the crowd slowly filtered out. Now that we were back in port, I turned my cell phone on to check e-mails/messages. (It’s an office phone, and I’ve heard horror stories about roaming charges after leaving it on traveling abroad, so I just locked it in the safe for the duration after sailaway.) Within 5 minutes of getting to our meeting point, our group was called and we walked off the ship following that last sad SeaPass “ding.” In customs, they quickly eyeballed our declaration forms but didn’t bother checking passports. I found my 2 bags in the luggage area pretty quickly but Steve could not find one of his and started freaking out. After about 15 minutes of frantic searching, he finally found his other bag in a separate section that had been designated lost and found. We assumed the luggage porters didn’t see the group # tag on his garment bag because it wasn’t around the handle where people usually place it so assumed it was numberless.

 

We then took the long hike down to the then-ginormous taxi cab line. While we were waiting, one of the line staff asked us, $10 for a ride to the airport in a shuttle? (I knew it would be more than that sharing a cab and the cruise had just been offering shuttle rides for $20 at a kiosk.) We said what the hell and he walked us down to a shuttle bus and waved us over to the driver who was loading luggage onto the bus. We got on the shuttle and debated internally if we’d been scammed since we didn’t know if they were going to check tickets or something like that before pulling out. Turns out… no problem and we saved ourselves a few bucks. My guess is the bus drivers/line guys have a tacit understanding with the other port guys to make a little cash by walking up dudes like us that look like they might want to make a deal or at least won’t narc on them to somebody. So we finished on one final win, better than the casino! Steve and I were flying separate airlines, and the MSY airport has their terminals all spread out so we said our goodbyes and headed to the gate. No problems flying home, and even had a bonus of an empty seat next to me on the ATL-MKE flight home.

 

Final thoughts:

n The captain runs a great ship. Service was virtually impeccable at every level of the crew.

n The ship appeared physically to be in great shape.

n Food was great, both in the buffet and the main dining room.

n While we followed a pretty regular daily routine, there are plenty of entertainment options for all kinds.

n They don’t pay much attention in the security lines when you first board so if you want to bring on 4 bottles of wine/champagne for the cruise, just go through a separate line from your companion with 2 each and will be no problem getting them all through.

n Hotel Kenner in NOLA sucks.

n The ship is big but plenty of spaces if you want some quiet time.

n Yeah, they try to nickel and dime you but cruising is still a great value if you plan what you want to spend.

 

Overall, a great trip! Hope you enjoyed this report and I’m happy to answer any questions you may have about my experiences or anything I might have overlooked. Happy sailing!

[TerriDHair]

A little later as we were heading out for dinner, we ran into a group from Canada right outside our room that had many of the aft suites on our deck. They were a lot of fun and we often ran into them at the Dungeon (dance club) late in the evenings and around the ship. Their tour agent invited us to check out her corner aft balcony and it was incredible with all that space. If you go balcony, go that route and you won’t be sorry!

 

So you met Carol, Steve, Louise, and company! Carol is the one who had the corner cabin. We have cruised together three times now, and one time prior with Steve. My DH and I were on board and were in the Dungeon every night, sometimes dancing and sometimes overlooking from deck 4. I was the woman with probably the longest hair on the ship, and we were always wearing flashing pins. :)

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So you met Carol, Steve, Louise, and company! Carol is the one who had the corner cabin. We have cruised together three times now, and one time prior with Steve. My DH and I were on board and were in the Dungeon every night, sometimes dancing and sometimes overlooking from deck 4. I was the woman with probably the longest hair on the ship, and we were always wearing flashing pins. :)

 

 

You're correct, Terry, we did hang out with those guys. I just didn't mention them by name so they weren't publicly humiliated by being linked to us. :p If you and the hubby were there every night, I'm sure I saw you too!

[cathep]

Final thoughts:

n The captain runs a great ship. Service was virtually impeccable at every level of the crew.

n The ship appeared physically to be in great shape.

n Food was great, both in the buffet and the main dining room.

n While we followed a pretty regular daily routine, there are plenty of entertainment options for all kinds.

n They don’t pay much attention in the security lines when you first board so if you want to bring on 4 bottles of wine/champagne for the cruise, just go through a separate line from your companion with 2 each and will be no problem getting them all through.

n Hotel Kenner in NOLA sucks.

n The ship is big but plenty of spaces if you want some quiet time.

n Yeah, they try to nickel and dime you but cruising is still a great value if you plan what you want to spend.![/font][/size]

 

Loved reading your review, but loved this summary even more. I'm such a bullet point kind of girl!

[locky22]

great review,loved reading it and gave us first time cruisers a insight to daily life on NOTS...Well done,we're sailing out of rome in july. Thanks for the info