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Navigator 6/4/05 Review - Long!


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Friday 6-3-05

 

Almost overslept. My dad called at about 4:45 and said he was on his way to pick us up. We threw everything else together and got to the airport around 6:00 a.m. Our plane left at about 7:20, so we had some McDonald’s for breakfast. Pretty smooth flight. Nick slept much of the way, I read half of my book. We got to the Marriott quickly after getting off the plane and got to our room. We dropped off the bags and went to Camelot Spa. Took us about 30 mins. from our hotel to get there, the cab driver didn’t know where he was going. I got a manicure, pedicure and express 30 min. massage. Nick got a half Swedish and half deep tissue massage, which was 90 min. and a scalp massage which was 20 mins. We left feeling completely relaxed and very hungry. We went back to the hotel and showered and went to dinner at the hotel. Went directly to bed – traveling tires you out, you know?

 

Saturday 6-4-05

 

We woke up and saw our ship at the dock. We had breakfast about 10:00 and went to the pier about 11:30 a.m. The cab ride to the pier was about 5 mins. and $10 including the tip. We gave our bags directly to the porter and tipped him $10 to take care of them. We got inside by 11:45 a.m. and got on the ship by about 12:15 p.m. We walked around for a minute and went to Boleros and met David. This would become our favorite bar. We had a drink because our rooms weren’t ready until 1:00 p.m. We went to our room at 1:00 p.m. and it was perfect. There was plenty of room for the two of us. We had a balcony cabin, D2, I believe. We stood on the balcony for a little while and just took in everything – we were finally on our cruise! We organized the stuff we had with us and I called Chops and made a reservation for that night. We wandered around for a little while and found the Windjammer / Jade and had some lunch. We came back to our stateroom and I read for a little bit. Janice and Debbie came in to meet us quickly. We did the muster drill which took a total of 15 mins. We got back to our room and there was a bag, so we unloaded more. The other two bags came after about 30 mins. and we got everything situated. We watched the ship leave the dock about 5:15 p.m. and got ready.

 

We went to Chops. It was the best service and probably one of the best restaurants I have ever had. We tried crabcakes for the first time, we each had Caesar salads and filet mignons with baked potatoes. There was an in-between course of raspberry sorbet to cleanse you palette (as the waitress explained). We had to order a dessert to go because we were so full. Raspberry cheesecake and Mud pie. We each tried a bite of each later on in the week and they were both really good. I had a glass of red Zinfandel and Nick ordered bottled water (he was scared to drink the ship water – I was fine with it).

 

After Chops, we went back to Boleros and had a drink with our friend David. We went to the casino and there were only three people playing craps, so when they left, we left too – it’s no fun when there’s so few people. We went back to our room and sat on the balcony (a little buzzed) and went to bed. We watched a little bit of TV just to stay current on the news and fell asleep. This was probably the best sleeping of my life. The ship just rocked me to sleep! I couldn’t fall asleep when I got home because I didn’t have that rocking anymore!

 

Sunday 6-5-05

 

I woke up at 8:00 sharp! Watched the ocean float by for a while and almost finished the rest of my book. We got ready and went to the dining room for breakfast. Didn’t like the eggs benedict at all. We didn’t go back to the dining room for breakfast after that, but I wish we would have so I could have tried the blueberry pancakes (my favorite)! We met some nice people there and went back to the room. Went to the Meet & Mingle, only about 5 mins. late as I was so close to finishing my book I just wanted to be late. I put the book down. We got there and met everybody and the Captain, which was cool. We went to lunch with Janice and Debbie and Paul and Liz at the dining room. I had lettuce wraps, which were very good and Nick had the orange chicken. He ate the orange chicken every day we had lunch in the dining room after that. We also had caramel banana splits, which were very yummy. We went to the art auction with our new friends and I bought a cool piece of art – The Ski Racer. We had a few glasses of the free champagne at the art auction – that was some good stuff. We got a bottle of it to take back to our room just for sitting in the front row. After the auction, we went back to the room and got ready for the pool. We went and laid out for a while – I got a rum runner and Nick got a Corona. We jumped in the water for just a few mins., but the salt water was really burning my eyes. We got in the hot tub for a few mins. too. We went back to the room to get ready for formal night – where does the time go when you’re getting ready? It took me about 2 hours! Nick couldn’t figure out his tie, but we tried to make it look as close as possible. We went to Deck 3 and waited in line for pictures – only 15 mins.

 

At dinner we met our table mates, who we really liked and made friends with. They are from California. They had been together for 4 years and Sam was 32 and April was 25. They were very nice. I had the oxtail broth, Caesar salad and filet mignon and a glass of that red Zinfandel. Nick had the Caesar salad and filet mignon as well and a Corona. For dessert, Nick and I shared the low-fat double strawberry cheesecake, which was really good. Then our waiters came over and sang Happy Anniversary to us and brought us some more Double Strawberry Cheesecake for that with a candle in it. We ordered the Loving Cup shot – mainly just to keep the shot glass it came in – it was really cute. We had an appointment with the auction lady to work out the payment of the art we bought. I also bought another piece of art while I was sitting there – it was one that I had liked but didn’t bid on. I put the both of them on a different credit card and that began to get confusing after a while – it kept showing up on my seapass card, which I was worried I would be getting double charged for. We went to the room to get Nick’s chips (all $45 worth!) and I changed clothes and we went to the casino. We played a bit, there were about 5 people playing this time. We went to Two Poets Pub and each had a Cape Cod, shared a smoke and listened to the guitar player / singer. We went back to our room and watched TV. Filled out our breakfast room service menu and went to bed.

 

Monday 6-6-05

 

Woke up to the alarm at 9:30 a.m. and were really sleepy. Got our breakfast at about 10:05 a.m. and ate that – me in bed and Nick on the couch. We watched TV for a bit. We went to get a latte and the shopping passport and to check Nick’s school online then went back to the room and watched TV again. We saw the ship pull in to San Juan in our room and got ready to go. After waiting in line about 30 mins., we were told to go back to our room and get our IDs (passports). We had to get out of line and go back to our room (elevator actually went straight up) and get our passports! We will remember them next time! Actually, we will also remember not to try to leave right when everyone else is leaving – if we’d just wait 15 mins., we wouldn’t need to stand in that line at all!

 

We went first by cab to El Morro fort and spent about 2 hours there. It was beautiful and HUGE! It was a nice breeze so we didn’t get too hot, but we were pretty sweaty. We then walked to the San Cristobal Fort and it was much smaller. Very hot at this one – didn’t seem to get as much of a breeze. We had to leave because it closed at 5:00, so we wandered back to the ship and stopped at a few stores. We had lots of fun and should have searched out the freebies from the Shopping passport (tablemates did that). Got back to the ship at 6:30 and didn’t leave San Juan until 10:00, so we just hung out in our room. Nick checked his school stuff again and I tried the two desserts from Chops. They were very good, but very rich! I showered and got ready for dinner. Got our casual pictures taken – they were very cute. We had Italian night – I got the minestrone, chilled strawberry soup and chicken marsala. Nick had a Caesar salad and the Tiger shrimp. We finished off about half of our Tiramisu between the both of us. We watched part of the wait staff performance, and went to Boleros for a mojito for me and a Corona for Nick. We hung out with Janice and Debbie and watched the Pilot jump to the boat. That was really cool – I wouldn’t have known what it was doing if Debbie didn’t explain it to me. David was very generous with the liquor and gave Nick a free Corona. We walked around a bit and went to the casino. Lost $40 again and went back to the room to watch TV and go to bed.

 

Tuesday 6-7-05

 

We woke up at 8:00 and were already in St. Thomas. We had breakfast in bed and got ready. We left the ship around 9:30 and waited for Godfrey Tours to show up – we were a half hour early. We found Godfrey and he took us to the shopping area early so we could have some extra time. We went around to the shops and found all the free stuff. I fell down in the middle of the street and scraped my knee – quite embarrassing! I bought a $10 tanzanite necklace and went to meet in the garden park area. We got back on Godfrey’s truck at 11:45 and went to the Mountain Top on the scenic drive – beautiful sightseeing and houses. Nick and I have decided we want to live there. We picked out the houses we want to buy. Got to the Mountain Top mall area and there were only like six small shops. We got banana daquiris and a bag of chips and Nick got a hotdog. We realized we really didn’t bring enough money for the day. I found a beautiful Caribbean topaz ring. I would have bought it if I had my credit card with me. It was $900 down to $500 and then 60% off because we were on the ship, so it would have been $345. She said if I went all the way back to the ship and then came back out, she would give me a better discount – I really wish I would have done that! Also, we found a really pretty engagement three-stone ring $13,000, down to $11,500 at Little Switzerland – company of Tiffany. We couldn’t find anything for real souvenirs yet, no biggie if I don’t get anyone anything! Loved the Amolite place – I really like that stone. We then got back on Godfrey’s truck and rode to Coki Beach. We had a blast snorkeling and swimming at the beach. We had cell service here, so we made some calls, sent some pictures, laid out on our towel-for-two and watched everything around. We got back on Godfrey’s truck by 3:20 and went back down the mountain. Wonderful tour guide, wonderful tour – will use him again next year. Can’t wait to move to St. Thomas! We were dropped off by the ship about 4:00 and we got back on and showered (sand – EVERYWHERE!) and relaxed.

 

Nick fell asleep and I got really interested in my next book. I sat outside and read while we took off and watched the sunset. Very beautiful sunset, very funny book! It got dark so I came in to read more and wait for dinner to come around. Got going about 8:15 and had to wait til 8:30 to enter the dining room. We walked over and found our casual pictures and looked at them – they were cute, I had to narrow down which one to buy. We had Caribbean night in the dining room – should have worn a different outfit for it, but oh well. April and Sam didn’t show up for dinner tonight. I had pepperpot soup – it was really good and Caesar salad and jerk chicken with plantain and rice and mango salsa. Very yummy. Nick had a Caesar salad with sirloin stead and a baked potato. We had low-fat mangle strudel for dessert. I only ate about half – I was pretty full. We went back to the room and I really wanted to stay up for the pool party, but Nick was hell bent on going back to bed. I read the book some more until about 10:30 and decided to go to bed too.

 

Wednesday 6-8-05

 

We woke up about 8:00 and we were already in St. Maarten. We waited for breakfast and I read a bit more. We ate breakfast and got our swimsuits and tee shirts on and walked off the ship without a line at 9:30. We walked to the dock where Lord Sheffield tour would be. He said we’d be getting going at 10:45 and it was only 10:30. We went to the bar and got a couple of drinks – Nick got the rum runner and I got a guavaberry colada. It was delicious! And HUGE! She had to put it in two different cups for us and a glass. I chugged down the glass cup and shared the two plastic cups with Nick. We both agreed they were very good and we’d be buying some of that guavaberry liquor!

 

As Lord Sheffield took off, Captain Rob used the engines to get out and then we sailed to a beautiful beach. We got to see about all the coast of St. Martin, as well as the airport. We caught a few planes coming and went from Dutch to French side. There were crystal blue waters, plenty of unlimited drinks – rum runners and Sheffield greyhounds (made with ting and vodka). We had some bread and cheeses with smoked mussels (ew!) and bbq ribs, which were really yummy. We snorkeled for about an hour and then got back on the boat and had fruit and cookies and more drinks. Very wonderful excursion – will go on this one again too! Nick stopped back at the bar for another guavaberry colada and change to tip the Sheffield. I ran to the restroom and we were on our way back to the ship. We stopped at a couple of shops and got back on at 4:25 – we were supposed to be there by 4:30! We had to walk awfully fast to get there on time! We put everything through the X-ray machine and took our liquor to our room (surprisingly!)!

 

We went to our room and relaxed and Nick fell asleep and I read some more of my book. We went to the pool and laid out a bit (in the shade)! I read some more at the pool – it was very relaxing. We sat in the hottub and warmed up a minute in the Solarium. We went up to the room and I showered and got ready for dinner. Nick watched TV. We had dinner and Nick wanted to go back to bed. I could have stayed up for the midnight buffet, but I just decided to go to bed too – it was about 11:00!

 

Thursday 6-9-05

 

I woke up and read some. We stayed in bed until about 11:30 and Nick showered while I went to the Promenade for some lattes and breakfast breads. We ate and walked around then went to lunch about noon in the dining room. Nick had, of course, the orange chicken and a Caesar salad and I had the stake sandwich and black bean soup – the soup was delicious. We left the dining room and went back to the room. I took a 30 min. nap and got up to play bingo! It was very exciting – snowball bingo – winners got anywhere between 600 and 900 dollars! The large jackpot was for $10,000 tomorrow – definitely had to make sure and be there for that! I only had two numbers left on the last one! I stopped at Schooner bar and had a Bahama Mama drink of the day – very tasty! I walked back up to the room, took the stairs, and sat around and relaxed a while. It was already 5:00! Nick said he was bored – he was watching TV – again! We got ready for the second formal dinner and got our pictures taken with no line this time. We went to the dining room about 5 mins. late. April and Sam were there and we were happy to see them again. I had the crabcake, lemon thai grass soup and some weird spinach salad – it was all very good. The lemon grass soup was delicious – it had sea scallops in it and I had never tried those before. I had the pork chop with orange cranberry relish – wonderful! Nick had a Caesar salad with the pork chop and he liked it a lot too. Everything tasted great and the scalloped potatoes were delicious. We had dulce de leche cheesecake for dessert – absolutely wonderful. Nick got a plate with “nothing” written in chocolate sauce because he always just had some of my dessert rather than actually ordering a dessert. We decided as we were leaving dinner we would meet April and Sam in the casino in 10 mins. We went to our room, dropped off our coats and had smokes and went to the casino. We played about 15 mins. then headed to see the ventriloquist show. It was pretty good then we went back to the casino again. April and I sat in the Schooner bar while Nick and Sam gambled more. At about 1:30 the guys met up with us and we walked down to the Dungeon just to see it. Very cool place – would be fun with a bunch of girl friends. Saw David there from Boleros bar and said hi to him. Left soon after and went back to our rooms. We watched TV and went to bed.

 

Friday 6-10-05

 

We woke up around 9:30 and ate breakfast and got ready. I played winner take all bingo – very exciting, but I didn’t win anything. The $10,500 jackpot got split between two people – I did only have one number left, though. We ate lunch, Caesar salads, Nick – orange chicken and me – pasta marinara – both very yummy. We got off the ship about 2:00 and went to Atlantis. There were 3 ships in Nassau that day, it was very crowded – the Disney Wonder was there, the Carnival Fantasy and our ship. Ours was totally the biggest, though! Getting off the ship was really quite hectic and getting a cab was even worse! We got to Atlantis and Nick quickly lost his $60. We wandered around the shops at Atlantis and then took a cab back to the downtown shopping area and walked around and shopped. We went to this one jewelry store where all the workers wore white gloves. They had tons of emerald cut diamonds – something you don’t normally see. I tried on a 3.5 carat emerald cut and it was amazing! It was also $40,000, so I couldn’t possibly imagine owning it. Then I tried on a 2.5 carat emerald cut diamond and it was only $18,000 – it was very beautiful as well – we will come back here to buy my engagement ring! I had found a couple of things that were cool for friends at home, but decided just not to buy anything because it was all just a bunch of junk. We got through the main shopping by about 4:30 and just went back to the ship. Next time I will book a tour and worry about the shopping less. I did learn the best way to buy a diamond is on a cruise because they give you a better discount than if you are just staying in a hotel there. Also, if you get a loose diamond, which is what we’d get, you don’t have to pay the tax to bring it back!

 

We sat in the room a bit and went to Café Promenade for a bite to eat and then went to Boleros bar and hung out with David and Armpit a while longer. It was David’s 30th birthday. I got pretty buzzed and we met this guy and his wife from Canada. He offered to give me a Cuban cigar for Paul, but we’d have to come back and meet him after dinner – that meant more drinking! I stopped and bought our pictures and we went back to our statement about an hour before dinner to get ready. We went to dinner and saw Sam and April again. Got a card for Sam with his email address so we can keep in touch with them. We had bought a copy of the picture with Sam, April, Nick and I and they had only made one – I thought they had made two, but we had to go get the picture and have another one made. We hung out with Sam because April wasn’t feeling well and left earlier before we even had our entrees. His copy of the picture would be done by 11:00 that night, so we made plans to meet up around then at Boleros. We came back to the room and finished up all the packing and tagged all the bags because they had to be done by midnight. Nick went to email his teach and I waited in the room.

 

We went back to Boleros and drank more and more and got some more free drinks and shots and man oh man we were partying that night! We tipped David and Armpit $20 for all the free drinks and met up with the guy from Canada – he actually brought me a cigar for Paul – it was very cool. He had to explain to me how to smuggle it, but I got it. Sam, Nick and I went to the casino and Nick lost another $40, he played the last $20 on blackjack with the Cuban cigar guy from Boleros and lost that in about 3 seconds. Nick wanted to take more money out of the ATM, but I wouldn’t let him. Sam was out of money too, so we went to the Café Promenade and had some pizza and sandwiches. It was about 1:45 a.m. The pizza was really yummy, especially after all the drinking I had done! We decided to call it a night about 2:15 a.m. and Nick and I said bye to Sam and went back to our room. We sat on the balcony and had a smoke and it was really really windy. The ship was a little rockier than other days, but I didn’t realize how bad the weather was until the next day.

 

wanted to take more money out of the ATM, but I wouldn’t let him. Sam was out of money too, so we went to the Café Promenade and had some pizza and sandwiches. It was about 1:45 a.m. The pizza was really yummy, especially after all the drinking I had done! We decided to call it a night about 2:15 a.m. and Nick and I said bye to Sam and went back to our room. We sat on the balcony and had a smoke and it was really really windy. The ship was a little rockier than other days, but I didn’t realize how bad the weather was until the next day.

 

Saturday 9-11-05

 

We woke up to the alarm at 7:15 and got up and got our stuff together. We left the room by 8:00 and had breakfast in the Promenade while we were waiting for our colors to be called. We got off the ship by 9:00 and waited for about 30 mins. to get through customs. I was so scared they would find out about the Cuban cigar I had, but there was no problem. I just kept picturing getting caught and being in this room with our bags and getting in trouble – but it was fine. We walked through there and American Airlines had a check in – it was very convenient – I will always fly American on cruises now. We took a cab to Bayside Marketplace and it was not as nice as I thought it would be. We were through there very fast and we went to Hard Rock Café and ordered way too much food – I guess we were used to the ships portions because we threw away a lot and I felt really guilty. We took a cab to the airport for a nice 7 hour wait. It went by pretty quick, though, I just read some magazines and started another book. I checked my messages and my sister and my friend had both called so worried about the hurricane that was supposed to be in Miami – we had no idea! We did have a very bumpy flight on the way home, though, through Miami and through Denver because there was weather in both places. I was glad to be home – I absolutely loved the cruise – there was nothing at all that I would have changed, well, except maybe I would have made Nick stay up later to go to all the stuff I wanted to see. We also didn’t use any of the fun stuff like the ice skating rink or the rock wall or anything. I will definitely do that on the Mariner next year!

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Thanks for the review Heather. We're gearing up for our first cruise in September and have found reviews like yours, PT737SWA's, Schplinky's very helpful.

 

My questions are:

What was wrong with the eggs bennie?

Are there no lineups if you get off the ship for the port of call 15-20 mins after they initially start letting people off?

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Eggs in the Eggs Benedict were just way too done - I don't like the yolks super runny, but these were like really boiled. I still ate it without problem, but they were not as good as the Eggs Benedict I've had just about anywhere else.

 

When it's time to get off the ship - say you get in at 8:00 and the announcement is made that they will start letting people off - there is a huge line all the way up the stair cases to get down to the gangway. I did much better when we waited 10-15 mins. It didn't seem long to us, but when you are standing in line with thousands of other people and it's hot, 10-15 mins. is a long time! We just went to breakfast a little later, so we didn't have to even bother with it.

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Hi, Heather,

 

What a great review! My husband, son, and I were on the Navigator May 14 - May 21. Isn't it a WONDERFUL ship??? I felt like I was reliving my cruise through your review.

 

Myonly question now is: What were you reading? I'm an avid reader myself, and you were driving me crazy with all the reading you did. I feel a book has to be pretty darned good to hold your attention on a cruise.

 

I'd love to hear your reading suggestions <g>.

 

Thanks,

 

Lynn

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Thanks for the review. We are sailing in July. We are also planning to do El Marro and Lord Sheffield so it was great to hear such positive things. I am dying to learn what you were reading as well!

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I almost overslept because I was doing some work for my dad until 1:30 a.m.! I knew he'd wake us up at least by 5:00, I wanted to get up at like 4:15, but that just wasn't happening!

 

I was actually reading a few books - the first was one called Whores on the Hill - Colleen something - very interesting book it just sucked me in right at the beginning! Then the second book I read was the most appropriate for the cruise and my friend at work actually let me borrow it to read. It's called "Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove" by Christopher Moore - I gave it back to her and now I'm going to have to go buy it. I absolutely loved that book - Nick kept saying would you just put it down so we could leave? Then the third book, which I mostly read at the airport and on the plane is called "Wacky Chicks" by Simon something and that one's not as good, but it's good enough to finish! I highly recommend Lust Lizard for cruising, though, because it was just so funny and light! I don't usually get a chance to read recreationally because I'm in school, but I definitely took advantage of my time there!

 

We didn't see much entertainment - I thought I mentioned about the ventriloquist, but that was the only entertainment we attended - we were very lazy and definitely in bed by the time things were starting (pretty lame for a couple in their mid-20s, but we hardly ever get to sleep at home). The ventriloquist was all we saw and since we both had pretty good buzzes, we thought he was quite funny - we'd never actually seen one in person before, so that was cool. Other than that, we didn't go to the parades (there were two), the comedian (though we heard he was great - and he was on two nights) and we didn't go to the buffets (I regret that). We will definitely be doing all this stuff next year on the Mariner - at least there will be many more people so if Nick wants to sleep I can leave him there and go with my dad or something.

 

Lord Sheffield was great - I was really happy that we signed up for it. I would suggest that my parents go on that one next year - I think we'll be scuba diving in St. Maarten. My favorite place in the world so far is St. Thomas, though, so I think that will be the only place we hang out on land, the rest of the time we'll be scuba diving.

 

The Navigator was amazing! I have only been on one other cruise like 10 years ago, and of course this cruise far surpassed anything I saw on that one. I wish I was going back on it again! The balcony was definitely worth it - I loved sitting out there and reading. I only smoke when I'm on vacation, and I didn't want to find places where I wouldn't bother anyone, so I would just smoke on my balcony. The neighbors never seemed to use their balconies - I was always out there and never saw them.

 

Next year, we will also definitely get the spa day beforehand and probably do the same thing - go to some hotel and sleep for most of the day so maybe we can have more energy to stay up all night on the cruise! I think we were just trying to be very energy conservative because we knew we wanted to pack a lot into the days.

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Hi, Heather,

 

Thank you for listing the books you read. I'll have to check them out!

 

Isn't the Navigator AMAZING? I've been on it twice (2004 and 2005) and am in love with that ship.

 

It's too bad you missed the Broadway type show. It was GREAT. Yes, consider doing the shows next year on the Mariner. I've heard they're wonderful.

 

By the way, I loved looking at your cruise photos. They're WONDERFUL. Gosh, you and Nick are such a cute couple! Enjoy your cruise next year!!!

 

Lynn

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Thanks! I know I loved looking at all the pictures I could find of the Navigator before we left for our cruise. Figured I'd return the favor for other people! And yes, it was an amazing ship and I am completely spoiled now! I loved everything about it!

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