Navigator questions

[ludicrous_speed]

We are looking for some advice on the following questions:

 

Our kids are 9 and 11. What type of attire do you see in the main dining room for kids on casual evenings? Is under armor shirts and shorts too casual?

 

We have heard you can purchase a drink package onboard for the last four days of the cruise. Can anyone confirm? If so, should we wait to purchase the day we want to start or the night before?

 

Will the main dining room staff share the order of the menus for the week?

 

Does the arcade take cash only or is it charged to your room?

 

This will be our first cruise as Crown And Anchor members (and I'm sure we are probably low tier if they have a status ranking.) Are there any benefits for us that I should know about?

 

Anyone have any feedback on some of the additional fee activities such as the sushi class, margarita activity, guacamole class, martini activity?

 

Can you recommend a good sail away spot outside with tables and chairs?

 

Thanks in advance, everyone!

[Clarea]

They request no shorts in the dining room at dinner time.

 

You can purchase a drink package for the last 4 days. Purchase on the day you want to start using it.

 

You can get the menu order from the dining room people.

 

Arcade charges go to your onboard account. There is no way to limit arcade charges.

 

You will get a letter in your stateroom with your C&A coupons.

[tennisandhearts]

You can look at the menus for the whole week on your tv in your cabin.

[sky0000547]

We are looking for some advice on the following questions:

 

Our kids are 9 and 11. What type of attire do you see in the main dining room for kids on casual evenings? Is under armor shirts and shorts too casual?

 

Shorts are sometimes frowned upon but for 9 and 11 years old I think they will be OK on casual nights.

 

Will the main dining room staff share the order of the menus for the week?

 

Not quite sure what you are asking. There will be different menus every day and there is also kids menu if the kids are interested. You can order as many dishes as you like. There will be some items that will be repeated and available throughout the week. You can probably ask the staff for the next day's menu.

 

Does the arcade take cash only or is it charged to your room?

 

Arcades do not take cash. You will need to buy arcade credits either using cash or add onto seapass account. You can do these in the arcade, there are dedicated machines to add credits inside the arcade.

 

This will be our first cruise as Crown And Anchor members (and I'm sure we are probably low tier if they have a status ranking.) Are there any benefits for us that I should know about?

 

You will get some discounts loaded onto your seapass card. All the discount will be listed on a piece of paper waiting for you in the stateroom. You will also be invited to the Welcome back party.

 

Can you recommend a good sail away spot outside with tables and chairs?

 

I always find one up from the pool deck to be the best sailaway or maybe on the helipad if it is opened. You probably won't get a table though.

[Deptacon]

We are looking for some advice on the following questions:

 

 

We have heard you can purchase a drink package onboard for the last four days of the cruise. Can anyone confirm? If so, should we wait to purchase the day we want to start or the night before?

 

Yes, usually last 2 days, if Sea Days, they offer a discount. They had one on Oasis last week I was on, they threw in a free lunch at Giovanni's. 90 for 2 days plus 18% grats and the free lunch. You have to buy day of. You can but the package anyday on the cruise, but they prorate. the DEAL is usually the last days, that are sea days.

 

Will the main dining room staff share the order of the menus for the week?

 

Yes, just approach the desk during non-dinner times when they are there. Breakfast or lunch

 

This will be our first cruise as Crown And Anchor members (and I'm sure we are probably low tier if they have a status ranking.) Are there any benefits for us that I should know about?

 

 

FOR GOLD (you said first time)

Buy one Get one Beer or wine per C&A members (so if your spouse is aswell, you get 2 BOGO's). If you want to save it for expensive wine, TELL baretenders when you order 2 of something thats cheap (like beer) or they will use it o nthat. We use this every cruise for 10-12 a glass wines in Vintages. get 2 of them for free between the 2 of us.

 

10% off beer or wine.

10% of internet package.

10% of $25 or more of royal labeled merchandise

Those are the major ones we use as Gold I can think of but they do have others. you will have a sheet in your room when you arrive that lists all of them. When you want to use them, you usually have to tell the cashier to use it.

 

 

answers in red

Edited September 30, 2015 by Deptacon

[spookwife]

We are looking for some advice on the following questions:

 

Our kids are 9 and 11. What type of attire do you see in the main dining room for kids on casual evenings? Is under armor shirts and shorts too casual? the suggested dress attire is for everyone old enough to be potty trained. shorts are NOT appropriate in the dining room for dinner. a collared short is more appropriate than a tee shirt.

 

We have heard you can purchase a drink package onboard for the last four days of the cruise. Can anyone confirm? If so, should we wait to purchase the day we want to start or the night before? yes but do not think you get any sort of discount.. you will still pay the full price per day .

 

Will the main dining room staff share the order of the menus for the week? what do you mean> every day the evening's menu will be displayed on the touch screens as well as at the entrance. but you will not necessarily be told what the menu on Friday is on Wednesday,.

 

Does the arcade take cash only or is it charged to your room? pretty sure no cash at all but I cannot be certain as we do not use it. and even of the card has been turned off for charging elsewhere on the ship it will charge on the arcade.

 

This will be our first cruise as Crown And Anchor members (and I'm sure we are probably low tier if they have a status ranking.) Are there any benefits for us that I should know about? as Gold you will be given list of what perks are pre loaded on to your card when you get to your cabin. usually thinks like BOGOF drinks, 10% off a drink, BOGO half off photo, etc.

 

Anyone have any feedback on some of the additional fee activities such as the sushi class, margarita activity, guacamole class, martini activity? DO the sushi class.. but it makes a lot( 2 full rolls plus 2 other pieces) so unless the whole family likes it, you may only want to have one or two pay the money. the tasting flights can be fun if you are looking to try new things.

 

Can you recommend a good sail away spot outside with tables and chairs? personally I like the observation deck forward. benches, but no tables.

Thanks in advance, everyone!

 

while Jeans are quite common on NAV while she is sailing out of Galveston, we really did NOT see a lot of shorts or very casual attire at any point on anyone.

[looking4info]

while Jeans are quite common on NAV while she is sailing out of Galveston, we really did NOT see a lot of shorts or very casual attire at any point on anyone.

the suggested dress attire is for everyone old enough to be potty trained. shorts are NOT appropriate in the dining room for dinner. a collared short is more appropriate than a tee shirt.

 

Can you please point me to where this "fact" is written. Thanks

Edited September 30, 2015 by looking4info

[Deptacon]

Some people still wear shorts, but they ask you dont, even on casual night. No open tow shoes. Many guys wear jeans and casual collard shirts on casual or semi formal nights

[Deptacon]

No one cares if you kids are in jeans a simple collard shirt or polo at that age, regardless of the night. Still encourage no shorts though... Slacks or dress pants are a plus

[rmurray847]

We are looking for some advice on the following questions:

 

Our kids are 9 and 11. What type of attire do you see in the main dining room for kids on casual evenings? Is under armor shirts and shorts too casual?

 

We have heard you can purchase a drink package onboard for the last four days of the cruise. Can anyone confirm? If so, should we wait to purchase the day we want to start or the night before?

 

Will the main dining room staff share the order of the menus for the week?

 

Does the arcade take cash only or is it charged to your room?

 

This will be our first cruise as Crown And Anchor members (and I'm sure we are probably low tier if they have a status ranking.) Are there any benefits for us that I should know about?

 

Anyone have any feedback on some of the additional fee activities such as the sushi class, margarita activity, guacamole class, martini activity?

 

Can you recommend a good sail away spot outside with tables and chairs?

 

Thanks in advance, everyone!

 

You've had a lot of great answers already, so here's my tiny contribution.

 

On the cruise we were on August 23-30, casual nights in the MDR were just that, pretty casual. I saw lots of guys showing up in t-shirts. They never seemed to say anything to anyone on those nights. Personally, I try to follow the suggestions (collared shirt, long pants) because they don't seem too outrageous to me, and it does look nicer overall. I don't "care" if someone doesn't follow the code, but I will say this: the dining room is a "fancy" place. Chandeliers. Tablecloths. Nicely dressed wait staff. A lovely spot. I think that gets diminished a bit when you look around the room and see lots of people (mostly guys) dressed like slobs. Yes, it's your vacation and you paid good money...but I think you're missing the fun of your dining experience. But that's just me. I cannot specifically comment on kids...there were very few on our cruise, and I never noticed them acting out or dressing poorly in the MDR. The slobs were the men aged 22 - 35. Good lord, I'm making myself sound and feel like an old man.

 

It was our first time as C&A members as well. Yes, there are levels, but you have to cruise a bit more to get to your next level. The specials listed above by a previous poster correspond with what we saw. These deals are loaded on your card, so sometimes it's easy to miss that you've just cashed one in. Other benefit I enjoyed...our own desk at check in. There was NO ONE else in our line, so getting checked in and handed our card took like 2 minutes. That was a nice perk. (Still took awhile to get on the ship because of the awkward process they have of getting you onboard the first time.)

 

As far as "other" activities. We never did any of the things you mention, and there are more things such as wine & tapas tastings, which obviously you wouldn't do with your kids. We found enough to do each day in our cruise compass that nothing ever significantly tempted us...but we did observe folks partaking in some of these activities, and everyone seemed to be engaged and having fun. The kinds of things you mention cost extra, of course, so i you think you're interested, be sure to budget for some. DO use the Flowrider...even if you don't want to try it, there is great fun in watching! Kids might enjoy rock climbing, and be sure to try the miniature golf. It's frustrating...the tiniest movement of the ship makes it darn near impossible to sink a long putt!

 

We really enjoyed the Navigator. I'm sure you will too.

[Cruisin Dave]

You didn't say whether you are sailing from Galveston to Fort Lauderdale. Once the Nav moves to Fort Lauderdale, the entire make up of the cruise will be different. There will be less jeans and more slacks. Less t-shirts and more polo shirts. As far as 9 and 11 year old boys, a nice pair of shorts and a polo shirt on casual nights will be just fine. There will be some that may frown on this but they are boys.

[ludicrous_speed]

Thanks for all the great info so far! I appreciate taking the time to give me your feedback.

 

For those that asked or wanted me to clarify:

 

We are sailing out of Galveston in just under 2 weeks.

 

The reason I asked about the dining room staff knowing the menu order is for us to plan what night we want to do speciality dining once we are on board. There is a menu or two in the MDR that we are not interested in.

 

thanks again!

[Clarea]

... The reason I asked about the dining room staff knowing the menu order is for us to plan what night we want to do speciality dining once we are on board. There is a menu or two in the MDR that we are not interested in.

 

thanks again!

The specialty restaurants will also know the MDR menu order.

[ARCruisinNana]

Earlier this month there was not a Welcome Back party.

[ProvoAggie]

The menu's for the entire week can be viewed on the TV in your stateroom at any time. Just use the menu's to navigate to dining>complimentary>Main Dining Room. It lists each night and lets you open the full menu for that night. We were on a couple weeks ago and I decided what I was going to eat the entire week on the first night just sitting in my room.

 

Also, the dining room attire was far more casual that I thought it would be. I wore a collared shirt and slacks on each of the casual nights and often times I was one of the most dressed up people there. I saw lots of shorts and T-Shirts.

[doublej]

Remember to check the lunch costs for eating at Giovanni's and Sabor. It will be cheaper than the cost for a dinner meal. They will have a table set up across from the Promenade Café the afternoon that you board. You can make reservations and make inquiries at that time.

[gigi65]

We have been on NOS twice in past year and I saw nice dress shorts and polo/golf type shirts on most nights except for formal . There are not the majority but definitely they won't be the only ones No one will say anything especially about your children. Our first cruise, we "followed " the perceived code but saw a vast array of outfits. the second cruise, we went more casual- I wore capris and casual sundresses- DH did wear casual shorts first and last night of cruise. . It's a vacation. Enjoy.

[Podie]

Agreed. I'm just off Freedom (Sunday) and I saw shorts on adults in the MDR every night except formal night. And even then, more open shirts and pants than suits and tuxedos for the men, and plenty of capris on the women.

[CCC3]

Sailed the Navigator last June, and saw little girls in summer dresses & sandals. I noticed boys wearing khakis and nice shirts (nicer t shirts & regular polos). They weren't what I'd call "all dressed up," but just casually smart. I don't remember seeing kids in shorts at all in the MDR.

[Grandma Dazzles]

OP - you didn't ask, but just in case you decide to go with shorts for the boys in the MDR, be aware that should they decide to try ice skating long pants are required. At least make sure you have them with you.

[BekkaW]

Can you please point me to where this "fact" is written. Thanks

 

The daily cruise compass and the signs at the entrance to the dining room. Shorts are clearly listed as forbidden, no exception is given for children.

 

Enforcement is another matter!