Review/Trip Report: Navigator of the Seas January 11, 2015

[April-in-NC]

Background:

 

My name is April (33, 7th cruise) and my husband is Andy (37, 3rd cruise) and we live in Columbus, Ohio, home of THE Ohio State Buckeyes and The Best Damn Band In The Land.

 

We are cruising to escape the cold and dreary Ohio winter and to celebrate our 1st Anniversary a little bit early.

 

We elected to leave the DSLR at home this time, all photos were taken with either our iPhone 5s or our Panasonic Lumix TS4 underwater camera.

 

 

January 10th: Travel to Houston

 

We flew Southwest from Columbus to Houston-Hobby. It was a balmy 9 degrees when we got to the airport at 7:15 am.

 

Andy and I were sporting our finest Ohio State gear in support of the National Championship game being played on Monday evening. The OSU Alumni Association (neither of us went there) had chartered a plane for the game and as we were checking in the area was decked out in Scarlett and Grey and they were playing the fight song in the Southwest lobby. I did have a passing thought about trying to sneak on the charter… lol

 

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We lucked out and were directed to the TSA Pre-Check line so we could keep our shoes on and didn’t have to take liquids or laptops out of our bags. I love when that happens, it makes things so much easier.

 

As we were waiting at our gate there was an older gentleman attracting a lot of attention. It was Archie Griffin, the former OSU player who is the ONLY two time winner of the Heisman Trophy. We was smiling and shaking hands and appeared to be happy to mingle with the fans (there was a Dallas-bound flight getting ready to board in the next gate). If we hadn’t been in line to board we would have asked for a picture.

 

[April-in-NC]

We did decide to pay for Southwest’s Early Bird Check-In. The timing of flights would have made it difficult to log in right at the 24 hour mark and we had a tight connection on the way down and I didn’t want to risk getting stuck in the back of the plane. We were assigned A28-A29 and were able to get seats around row 8. The seats further up didn’t have any overhead bin space left.

 

We pushed back from the gate on time and had to go get the plane de-iced. It was unnerving for some reason even though I know it is much safer than NOT getting the plane de-iced.

 

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Here is what the ground looked like in Ohio when we left.

 

 

Both of our flights were uneventful and smooth. We landed in Houston around 11:30 and picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel.

 

I debated on where to stay (airport area, Galveston or somewhere in between) and what to do with ground transportation (taxi, one way rental car, one day rental car, shuttle, etc.) and the most economical method for us was to stay near the NASA center at a Holiday Inn Express (free with rewards points) and get a one day car rental at Enterprise (corporate rate of $23/day) and then take the RCI shuttle to the pier and then back to the airport. It isn’t the most convenient or efficient method, but it was the least expensive.

 

When we arrived at the hotel our room wasn’t ready yet so we decided to go get lunch and see what was in the area. Our original plan was to do a NASA tour but there was a light rain and it was pretty chilly at 38 degrees. We could have dealt with the rain or the temperature, but neither of us wanted to deal with both.

 

There is a decent sized mall less than a mile from the hotel, although it is a bit difficult to get there due to one way traffic, construction and congestion. There are a lot of restaurants nearby, although most of them are chains.

 

We had lunch at the food court, found Andy some new sunglasses (he forgot his in our car that is parked at the airport), bought some fresh popcorn and tried out the massage chairs at Brookstone as we killed some time off. Who wants to buy me a $4,000 massage chair or a $600 foot/leg massager? Those things are awesome.

 

After a little trial and error we did find a Target in the same area as the mall and were able to pick up some water and soda to take on board with us.

[April-in-NC]

Holiday Inn Express & Suites Houston Space Center

 

When we returned to the hotel our room was ready. We were in room 410 (top floor) and it was VERY quiet.

 

The hotel seemed to be brand new with modern decor and nice amenities. We used hotel points, so this is a free stay for us. Hotel has free wifi, free breakfast and has onsite laundry, business center, small workout area, and a nice pool area and hot tub. The room was well equipped with the standard stuff, a microwave and fridge and my favorite feature, electrical outlets in the base of the lamp so we can charge our phones overnight without unplugging the actual lamp.

 

The staff were all wonderful and I would stay here again in a heartbeat.

 

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[April-in-NC]

For dinner we decided to do Texas Barbecue, there was a restaurant across the highway (need a car to get there) called Bone Daddy’s House of Smoke. It was surprisingly good, better than we expected. It was a moderately priced local chain (entrees ranging from $12-24ish). We tried the chips and queso which was very good but not Tex-Mex. For dinner I had the pulled pork (SO TENDER) and Andy had the smoked pork and smoked turkey. We both really enjoyed our meals and considering the appetizer and drinks the bill was reasonable.

 

They had a lot of TVs up so we could watch the football game and it was a little noisy for conversation. The waitresses were a cross between Hooters girls and Coyote Ugly, the uniforms were extremely short skirts (I saw some butt cheeks) and low cut crop top vests, so it isn’t the most family friendly restaurant around if you are extremely conservative about what you expose your children too.

 

January 11: Embarkation Day

 

We slept in a bit (at least compared to work days) and woke up around 8:00 and went ahead and got ready. No sense waiting at the hotel when we could be waiting at the airport in hopes of an early shuttle departure!

 

On the weekends the hotel serves breakfast until 10:00 which is nice as we didn’t have to rush to get down there as early.

 

Breakfast was more substantial that I expected, milk, yogurt, cereal, hot cinnamon rolls, sausage patties, biscuits, sausage gravy, eggs, whole fruit, assorted breads and juices. There was a pancake station but it was out of mix.

 

After breakfast we went back and double checked our rooms to make sure we hadn’t forgotten to pack anything and that we had put on our RCI luggage tags before heading out to fill up our rental car and take it back to the airport.

 

Speaking of luggage tags… I asked for (and received) a set of the RCI plastic luggage tags for Christmas. While they were a little thinner than I expected they are still nice and so much easier than the tape/staple method or even having a porter put them on at the pier in the madness of people trying to arrive and depart at the same time. It is a brilliant idea and I hope they are making lots of money off of this product!

 

We left the hotel just a few minutes before 10:00 and made our way back to Hobby. It was raining so we couldn’t go as fast as I normally would but even with stopping for gas and dropping off the car we were in the baggage claim area by 10:35 to meet the RCI shuttle.

 

When we walked in Carnival had large signs and balloons, Princess had a small desk further down and we walked right by the RCI rep because there was no signage or anything other than a person wearing a neon yellow vest that didn’t even have the RCI logo on it.

 

We were given numbers 24 and 25 labeled “Bus 1”. The sooner you get there the lower the number. I was surprised but it makes sense that they ensure that the people who arrived early don’t get line jumped by people who happen to show up as they board the buses.

 

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The driver loaded all of our bags on the bus and the porters picked them up so make sure you have your luggage tags on. If you forget or you need to get a rolling carry on you will have a chance to get it before the porters load everything up.

 

The bus left at 11:30 (with a fireplace video showing on the TVs) for the 45 mile trip that took us just under an hour with the limited visibility. We got in line at the terminal at 12:30 and it was 1:45 before we set foot on the ship. I’ve never had to wait this long and the Gold line was just as long as the “no status/new cruiser” line.

 

We carried on a 12 pack of water, a 12 pack of Dt. Mountain Dew and 2 bottles of wine in our rolling carry on. When it went through the x-ray they directed us to a table for them to examine the contents and since it was within the allowable limits on the wine we were fine. We did see some people have mason jars of stuff confiscated (moonshine?) and larger bottles of wine examined closely.

 

Here is what our carry on looked like:

 

[April-in-NC]

Since the rooms were open we went straight to our stateroom. We have 1530, the first balcony on the port side. I immediately noticed the updated soft goods, the blues in the cabin are nice. Our bed is by the balcony and we have a full size sofa.

 

The safe is above the flat screen tv instead of the closet, which makes it so much easier to get stuff in and out. We are able to fit one iPad, one iPad mini, one Kindle, two iPhone 5s’s, two passports and envelopes of cash with a smidgen of room left.

 

We do have a “fridge” that doesn’t to much to cool anything but is better than having stuff sit out. We left the items in there and had room to add in 3 bottles of water and 4 cans of soda.

 

We took a few minutes to unpack our carry on bags and found a prominent place for my Buckeye necklace and hat.

 

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Fog rolling in...

 

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

Subscribing... Great review so far! :) I hadn't realized how nice the staterooms look after they were updated during the dry dock last year!

[April-in-NC]

Subscribing... Great review so far! :) I hadn't realized how nice the staterooms look after they were updated during the dry dock last year!

 

This was our first time on Navigator, but I really liked the curtain fabric and the fabric on the back of the chair. The carpet all over the ship felt plush and "new".

 

The artwork was nice too!

[bellabaloo]

loving your review so far-going on NOS in March!

[Strangerush]

I am so excited you are doing a review! We leave in a few weeks for our cruise on the Navigator and this will make the time go by just a little faster!!

[Ladysilver]

Great review and pictures! I will be following along also! :D

[Rita]

Thanks for the update about cokes and water. I plan on doing the same with 2 bottles of wine.

[kontraxed]

I look forward to more of your review. We're leaving on May 3rd!

[At Sea 4Ever]

Looking forward to your review will be sailing on the Navigator in April!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[jabraham99]

Looking forward to more of your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[cruiseapril]

Enjoying your review.

[April-in-NC]

The Windjammer was crowded, but not insane by the time we got there around 2:30. We ate lightly because we had reservations for Sabor at 6:00. I had a cheeseburger and fries (their fries may be my favorite fries EVER) and Andy had a sandwich and fries.

 

After lunch we started casually exploring. It was cool, rainy and fog was coming in. The pools and hot tubs were open, no one was brave enough to get in the pool but the hot tubs were occupied. They were playing the NFL playoff games on the TV and there were some hearty soles sitting under pool towels watching the games. No one was in the hot tub in the Solarium so I guess the football games were the main attraction.

 

Muster drill was at 4:00 and our station met in the Star Lounge on Deck 5. There were several stations meeting there and it was fairly quick and painless. The Captain said we would be slightly delayed leaving due to fog and getting the rest of the luggage loaded up. He promised we wouldn’t leave until all the bags were on board and everyone laughed.

 

After muster we changed into our swim suits and went up to try out the hot tubs. There were a lot fewer people now, I’m not sure where everyone went. The fog was really rolling in by this time, we couldn’t see the buildings at the pier. We ended up leaving at 5:00 and the fog horn periodically (every 5-10 minutes probably) for the next hour or two.

 

Our bags showed up at 6:15, so we were able to unpack and shower before dinner.

 

We were able to change our Sabor reservation to 8:00 which we were both happy with considering how late we had lunch. I was worried we would be too full from lunch to appreciate the food!

 

As I showered Andy went down for a free liquor tasting and then we met up for Classic Rock Trivia (Andy’s favorite genre of music). At first it was just the two of us on a team so we decided to name ourselves Team Buckeyes (you may remember there was a certain game being played in Dallas while we were on the cruise). We found two more teammates right before we started and I leaned over to the guy who was standing next to me and told him “I hope you aren’t an Oregon fan because our team name is Team Buckeyes!” He laughed and said that he was an OSU grad (class of 1980) and his wife also from Ohio. We ended up in second place with 37 points and the winner got a perfect score of 40. I didn’t have a clue what most of them were (before my time and/or not my favorite type of music). The guys carried the team and I wrote everything down.

 

[April-in-NC]

After trivia ended in the Schooner Bar we walked across the hall for our 8:00 reservations at Sabor.

 

It was delicious.

 

I do have some food porn pictures to follow, but I forgot to take pictures of our entrees and we were too stuffed for dessert.

 

They first brought out some chips and salsa, followed by table made Guacamole (you can customize the spiciness). Then we each picked an app, we tried the Queso Fundido, the Fried Calamari and then decided to go for it and also try the Bacon Wrapped Jalapeño Chicken.

 

The queso was my favorite but the bacon wrapped jalapeño chicken was a close second. I’m hot a fan of jalapeño and it was just a bit too spicy for me in the aftertaste. I don’t like Calamari but I tried it and it was pretty good, I just didn’t care for the texture.

 

We didn’t even finish the appetizers before our dinner came out. I took one bite and then felt the ship start swaying so I ran up to our cabin to take some dramamine and put on my sea bands. While I was gone they took my plate and put it back on the warmer so it would stay warm.

 

We each only managed a few bites of dinner before we were too stuffed to move. They packed up the rest of our dinner and included some dessert to-go in the hopes of us being able to finish it later.

 

The service was top notch and the food was amazing. I am usually too cheap to pay for food on a cruise outside of Johnny Rockets, but I had heard such great things about Sabor that I wanted to try it. We saved 20% by doing our reservations on the first night and it was well worth the cost. With the two cover fees and one margarita we paid what we would pay for a dinner out back home and it wouldn’t have been as good.

 

I know some ships have a la carte pricing and at first I was resistant to this idea, but the food is so filling and enough to share we could have spent less money (considering we barely touched our entrees and dessert) and still had a wonderful time.

 

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After dinner I wasn’t feeling (getting sea sick and tired) so I laid down and Andy went out an explored.

Edited January 19, 2015 by April-in-NC

[nomoreknothead]

Loving the review so far ....... 4 weeks and countin' ! Can't wait to be back on the beautiful Navigator!

[April-in-NC]

Monday, January 12: At Sea (GAME DAY!!!!!)

 

After a rough night for me I woke up about 7:15 feeling much better. The seas were calm (but forecasted to pick up later) and the sun was out and I could actually start to feel some warmth for the first time in months.

 

In last night’s Compass they confirmed that they would be showing the National Championship game on the pool deck and the Cosmopolitan Club on deck 14 (Go Bucks!) so Monday was all about killing time until the game started.

 

We went to the Windjammer for breakfast and it was crowded but not quite chaotic around 8:30. I ate a light breakfast to make sure my stomach could handle food again. I had the best watermelon I have ever had on a cruise ship (I’m picky about my watermelon, I like it crunchy and sweet) and I was excited that it was seedless!!! Some days it doesn’t take much to make me happy.

 

After breakfast we headed to the pool area and found loungers in the front row of the main pool area under the tv. It was one of the few areas that had full sun at that time of the morning. When we arrived they were playing music but somewhere around 10:00 they switched it over to RCI infomercials for the spa, Flowrider and specialty dining. They interspersed the infomercials with the at first cute, then quickly annoying “Wash Your Hands” song. The song must be fairly new because this wasn’t played on our Majesty cruise in August.

 

The morning breeze was cool and with some intermittent cloud cover it got a bit chilly (only by Caribbean cruise standards, it was “hot” by Ohio winter standards) and I got a second towel to cover my legs.

 

Lunch in the Windjammer was a zoo, we went around 12:15 and there were people everywhere and the only place we could find a seat was at one of the bar/counters scattered around.

 

After lunch we went back to the pool where we had to find new seats because our old ones were occupied. We were a few rows back but this time back by the pool bar. The breeze was a lot less in this area and I’m not sure if that is because the breeze was blocked here or if it had died down.

 

We tried to brave the pool water, but it was frigid by everyone’s standards, so we hoped that they would refill them overnight with the warmer water in the southern Gulf.

 

We finally called it quits for the sun around 3:30 and I went to the room to take a nap and Andy went of to do, well, I’m not exactly sure, but it didn’t involve being in the room.

 

We ate dinner in the Cafe Promenade (trying to stick to our normal game day traditions by eating pizza for dinner) and then heading up to the pool deck around 7:00 hoping the big screen would be on pre-game festivities, but alas it was showing an RCI commercial yet again.

 

Tonight was the first of the two formal nights. We elected to skip it so we wouldn’t miss the game. :)

 

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When they finally turned the game on it was on ESPN2 and we only heard a bunch of talking heads talking over the sportscasters and eating while on TV. After a few minutes I went back to the pool bar in hopes that a bartender could change the channel, because ESPN2 was painful to watch with the different boxes and voices overlapping. When I got back there I was about the 4th person to ask and I felt bad for the bartender because he clearly didn’t have the power to change the channel and didn’t know what to do. He was able to make a call to the broadcast department and finally get it changed.

 

I was surprised by the lack of a crowd for the game but there were about 10 Buckeye fans seated with us and a few Oregon fans scattered around. We were sitting right below the TV so we may have missed a bunch of people, we were focused more on the game than who was watching with us.

 

The game was a lot of fun to watch, but I would have loved to been home to watch with friends (and “watch” on social media as well). We were both so happy that Ohio State won, even though we did our best to lose with the turnovers in the 3rd (?) quarter. I’m proud to be a Buckeye!

 

[reallyhooked]

Food looks good. Hope you get to feeling better.

[April-in-NC]

Tuesday, January 13th: At Sea

 

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This was our view Tuesday morning when we woke up. A beautiful and warm day!

 

With nothing on the agenda today we spent a lot of time by the pool and Flowrider. I was able to get up on my knees the first time I tried (I wasn’t able to get up on my knees on Freedom) and was able to “stand” on my knees once. Andy wasn’t able to until his last ride of the day and I admit I rubbed it in since I NEVER get to beat him at anything “athletic”.

 

 

 

Tonight was our first night in the MDR (My Time Dining) and the service was good (not great) and the food was just okay. I had the steak and it just didn’t have any flavor. We were in a rush to get to the 8:30 show (Two Funny Guys) so we skipped dessert since we usually didn’t care for their desserts anyway.

 

Two Funny Guys were two comedians with a Laurel and Hardy type routine. They are brothers and I liked the show but a lot of it was too slap stick for my tastes (but I am often a stick in the mud).

[Greektreats]

Keep it coming! We leave on Feb. 15th!

[masonpips]

We're going in March - following and loving every second!

[April-in-NC]

Wednesday, January 14th: Roatan, Honduras

 

This was a strange day for us and it started back on Sunday when I received an email a little after 2:00 from Island Marketing stating that our booked snorkeling tour had to be cancelled due to issues with the boat (third party operator, just booked via Island Marketing). They apologized for the inconvenience and offered to refund us our deposit or book us on something else.

 

I really wanted to snorkel, but the other snorkel trips were booked and I had less than two hours to make a decision before I lost internet access on my phone when we left port. We exchanged emails back and forth (VERY slow to respond on their end given the situation) and we settled on a resort day pass that offered snorekeling on site, use of kayaks, and other resort amenities that included a welcome drink of beer or rum punch. It wasn’t what I wanted but it should work.

 

When we got to the meeting point we had to walk another 3 blocks or so to our shuttle service, Yonis was our driver and “guide” for the day and there was a mother/daughter duo also with us. When we got to the resort (Fantasy Island) we checked in at the front desk to get our wrist bands and paid the balance in cash. The amount due was $60.50 but they weren’t allowed to take US coins so we had to pay an extra $0.50 which irritated me on principal. If the amount due is $60.50 then that is all we should have to pay, not be forced to pay $61. I realize that the amount is NOTHING in the grand scheme of things, but by the end of the day it was just a long list of things to be irritated about.

 

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After getting our towels and wrist bands Yonis took us to the dive shop on the property to get us access to the kayaks and snorkel gear. We were told that all of the kayaks were out of commission due to damage over the Christmas break. They kayaks were the main reason the other two people booked this excursion and they were disappointed and then angry because Yonis did nothing to “make it right”.

 

We were disappointed, but I was more concerned with snorkeling so we got our gear and agreed on a pickup time of 2:00 and went to snorkel.

Edited January 20, 2015 by April-in-NC

[April-in-NC]

We were told the best place to snorkel was around the gazebo so we headed that direction. We got in the water and it was so cloudy due to recent rain that we couldn’t see anything. We were interested in going out a little further, but the gazebo was really close to the entrance/exit to the marina and there were boats going in and out. I had no desire to risk getting hit by a boat to see some fish, so we got out and headed to the beach.

 

The resort did have free wifi in the lobby, so I spent some time on Facebook, iMessaged with my Mom and sister and just caught up with the post-game fun on social media. While I was playing online Andy got another snorkel tip from some guests of the hotel. Evidently by the rocks at the edge of the cove they saw a bunch of fish, so we were off to try that location.

 

The entrance was rocky and had a lot of sea weed so it was difficult to get situated. Once we got in we did see the fin of a Lion fish and a few other things, but again, we were right next to the boating channel and I just didn’t feel safe so we got out and headed back to the hotel patio.

 

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Our welcome drink was simply fruit punch (no rum) and we were not offered rum or a beer so while we were waiting to be picked up I sent an email to Island Marketing stating how disappointed we were with the excursion and how unsafe the snorkeling was.

 

They day wasn’t all bad, there were some monkeys that came to visit the patio and one of them let me pet them and we saw a peacock, plus the wifi was a nice bonus I was able to Facetime with my Mom to say hello. The patio area and pool was nice (not ritzy, but clean and comfortable) and they had shade areas of you wanted to get out of the sun.

 

 

We had a light lunch on the patio and the prices were reasonable. We split a grilled chicken club and fries, one rum punch and a bottle of water for $19 (US). While we were eating a bird that looked like a duck kept trying to steal our food and then nipped me on my big toe when it couldn’t get food. It was more annoying than painful and actually made me laugh at the stupid bird.