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Live from Navigator - 12/9/2016 - Ship Goes A.B.C...Drink Count Goes 1.2.3...

CruiseLifeRick
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CruiseLifeRick

CruiseLifeRick

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Preface

 

WARNING…This is my first time attempting to document (well with any proper articulation) a cruise in real time! So here I am experiencing the same shakes and sweats that I was last overcome with as a college freshman when told by my English professor that I had to prepare a 20 minute presentation on my life. Over a decade later, I once again find myself gearing up for the potential social suicide that comes with awkward first impressions as I strive to make any aspect of my life experiences entertaining enough to hold someone’s attention for more than 60 seconds, let alone 20 minutes or in this case nine days. Fortunately for my now legal age self, the content herein will be largely influenced by my most trusted and admired cruising companion. Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce to you the Long Island Iced Tea.

 

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Well as I probably only have about 30 seconds left before you click the back button, let’s get this started.

 

Some Background on Me

 

I was tempted to insert a screenshot of my Tinder profile here, as this seems to be sufficient enough for women within my five mile radius to determine if they want to interview me for marriage, but alas I will give you all a bit more information than what can be derived from a string of sauced photos, most likely from the pool deck of a cruise ship.

 

I am in my early 30s and as I referenced Tinder and not Ashley Madison you probably gathered that I am single. I was born and raised in South Florida, attended the University of Florida, where I made one of my many poor life decisions by deciding to become a CPA, and have spent the last seven years living it up on my tiny planet that doesn’t stretch much further than the corridor formed by New York City's East River.

 

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This sailing will mark my 27th cruise and 20th with Royal Caribbean, and for those of you that are feverishly sitting there trying to calculate my C&A status from my sailing history, fear not Captain Tax is here to tell you that I qualify for the Diamond Plus standard deduction.

 

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Oh boy, he is making accounting jokes and has even given a name to some work convention freebie (the mouse begins to inch closer to the back button).

 

I thought about bringing Captain Tax along on this trip, but recently his feelings of inadequacy in light of Del Rio the Rat’s fame and success have become too much for me to handle. In fact, I heard on E News last night that Del Rio actually decided to part ways with Yorkvillain and hitch a ride in A&L_Ont’s suitcase for his next cruise to enjoy the riches of the suite life…showers with curtains are so beneath him now.

 

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This will be my third time on the Navigator of the Seas and the sixth time on a Voyager class ship, but my first time visiting the ABC islands, which makes this one of the few cruises I have taken in recent years where I am equally as excited for the ports as I am for the ship itself.

 

 

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CruiseLifeRick

CruiseLifeRick

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Who Am I Traveling With

 

So for those of you that perhaps follow me on Periscope…

 

Wait, I must pause here in honor of my friend KcJarvis and start with…For everybody on Periscope and those watching the replay on Periscope...Hel-low!

 

Okay, we can resume…

 

So for those that followed me on Periscope for my last cruise, you will recall that I was traveling with Christina, my long-time friend, coworker, my dog’s secondary caregiver, and essentially the sister I never had. I will once again be sailing with Christina, this time joined by her sister, Monet, and her parents, Luciano and Desiree, all of whom are experienced cruisers. We are talking Nordic Prince experienced here people.

 

And if you didn’t already guess from my f/k/a CruiseCritic moniker and the name of Christina’s father, we are all very much Italian. Not the first generation type, but more akin to the overly prideful Bensonhurst breed, with our pomaded hair, nylon warm-up suits and our St. Anthony medallions, swinging our Jason Giambi Louisville Sluggers.

 

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Okay, so that description couldn’t be further from the truth for this crew, but bonus points for those that can tell me the movie reference.

 

Getting There

 

I will be flying into Orlando on Wednesday night for business. Christina will already be in Orlando for business as well, so we will be renting a car to make the drive down to Miami on Friday morning. We did the same thing last month for our sailing on the Empress and clocked the trip at about 3.5 hours (including the Uber from rental car drop off to port), which had us at in the terminal at around 10:30 am. I am hoping for similar timing for this trip. We will be meeting Christina’s parents and sister, who are flying into Fort Lauderdale Friday morning, at the cruise terminal.

 

 

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CruiseLifeRick

CruiseLifeRick

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The Itinerary

 

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This sailing will mark the Navigator’s first ABC Island voyage and I know there are plenty of A types reading right now that cannot wait to get their antibacterial soaked hands on the daily Cruise Compasses in hopes of spending the holidays warming up their 2017 day planners. Therefore, be sure to setup your eBay alerts accordingly and look out for my daily auctions. Port Shopping Guides will be extra.

 

This is probably a good point to also mention that I will have that little “UP” sticker on my SeaPass, so in addition to Labadee and the ABC islands, my cruise will involve frequent calls on a tropical destination of a different type…

 

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The Accommodations

 

We will have three staterooms on this sailing. Christina and Monet will be sharing a Deluxe Oceanview Balcony (Cat. E3) on Deck 7 and her parents will be following suit a few doors down. Their cabin numbers were not at my disposal at time of this publication, and in an effort to avoid having to post a retraction, we will omit for now.

 

If I remember, I will post their cabin numbers later to appease any of those out there ready with their deck plans, slide rule and feather pens to chart our daily movements along at home.

 

Where was I? Oh about to talk about myself again!

 

My goal is to lay my head down each night on one of the recently updated cement slabs in Cabin 9614, which is a Junior Suite located on the port side hump on deck…anyone, anyone…nine!

 

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I chose this cabin for a number of reasons, which included: (1) being close to the aft stairs; (2) enjoying the fantastic views afforded by the hump; and (3) avoiding the early morning noise from Deck 11 derived either from the rolling carts of yellow “egg” powder or the chair hogs arranging loungers into a V formation to ward off advancing enemy attacks most likely from the Kingdom of Windjammer.

 

However, as the saying goes…best laid plans (no pun intended)! If my ghost of cruise past has been sharing stories with my ghost of cruise future the following are also on the list of possible sleeping arrangements this holiday season:

 

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More times than I care to admit.

 

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True story – My deepest apologies to the Explorer of the Seas Deck 7 room attendant I scared half to death. It’s been over a decade so I hope all has been forgiven.

 

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Well this was actually not successful, but I would be lying if I claimed it was not attempted. This caption generally could also apply to a picture of any cabin occupied by a single female that has ever had the misfortune of being on the same sailing as me.

 

 

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CruiseLifeRick

CruiseLifeRick

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Following, since I will be on NAV on 23 Dec.

 

I didn't realize that NAV had never been to the ABC's before. We are going to A and B but not C, unfortunately....as C is my favorite.

 

Somebody will correct me if I have misspoken, but I believe this nine day itinerary is new to the brand, at least on a recurring basis.

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ptf2009

ptf2009

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We will be sure to follow your review because your pre-cruise review is a lot of fun to read! Your writing skills are excellent and your sense of humor is the best I have read on this site!

 

Have a wonderful time. We are going on NOS in March, so it will be interesting to hear all about your vacation. We've been to the ABC islands and they are beautiful, especially the clear aqua water! If you like the beach we went to Mambo Beach in Curacao and we can't wait to go back!

 

Happy Cruising:)

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Yorkvillain

Yorkvillain

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Please do not add such undue pressure to my vacation. I already live in constant fear of receiving a text from York with those dreaded words...

]

 

It's pretty hard to live up to a Yorkvillain review!

 

No pressure at all on Rick. This review is already off to a fantastic start. And his RCI & cruising knowledge is pretty impressive. I think I'll start calling him Clarea Junior.

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