Navigator of the Seas *LIVE* 11/23/2018 - 12/2/2018

[molsonschooner]

7 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

Meet and Mingle concluded.

 

 

 

 

I know 2 years ago, I won a bottle of champagn at the meet and mingle.  But now, I don’t even remember seeing it as a prize any more.  

 

Not that it matters to me.  I don’t drink much.  

 

Much more to come

I have never been to a meet and mingle. Judging by the bored look on some of the peoples faces I don't think I am missing much.

 

[FionaMG]

2 hours ago, luvscruising2007 said:

Fiona and/or Rogue--  Question

Who is the CD?  Current list says Rob McNally. What is he like?  We will  be on cruise Dec 7.

He is from Liverpool, England. He was quite amusing at the welcome aboard show last night and he has a very good singing voice. He did an excellent performance of "Sweet Caroline". He also introduced his entertainment staff, most of whom are also from England, along with a Lithuanian lady and a Brazilian lady.

[FionaMG]

1 hour ago, molsonschooner said:

I have never been to a meet and mingle. Judging by the bored look on some of the peoples faces I don't think I am missing much.

 

Prizes at the meet and mingle were pretty rubbish. The best by far were the seapass holders made by someone else from our roll call.

[luvscruising2007]

26 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

He is from Liverpool, England. He was quite amusing at the welcome aboard show last night and he has a very good singing voice. He did an excellent performance of "Sweet Caroline". He also introduced his entertainment staff, most of whom are also from England, along with a Lithuanian lady and a Brazilian lady.

Sounds good.  We have had some excellent CD's so it is nice to know he is amusing.  I also like the British CD's, because they have a great sense of humor.

[Biker19]

On 11/23/2018 at 12:25 AM, Rogueperson said:

  Wifi here is cruise quality, except its free.  

 

 

It is far from ship quality - that 10 ms ping rate (which is the main thing that determines performance for most tasks) is 60x!!! better than on the ship.

 

Biker, who would be very happy with 1/10th the download speed if the ping rate of 10ms was available.

[Rogueperson]

Day 2 at Sea.

 

After the meet and mingle, we dallied pointlessly around until lunch.  Lunch was a surprise for us.  A buffet was offered in the MDR.  We generally avoid the Windjammer.  So you had a choice.  Buffet or menu or both.

 

 

I found my fresh mozzarella at the salad bar.  I toss it with Olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  One of the things i really look forward to on cruises.

 

 

I also ordered a beef carpaccio and lamb skewers.

 

 

Both were delicious.  My wife figured it out.  Whenever possible, order Indian.  Its quite good.

 

For Dessert, it was the tort and the Brazi thingie.

 

 

This tort was awful, I took one bite and shuddered.

 

The buffet was pretty cool.

 

 

 

 

Especially the giant Nacho dish!!!  I’ve never seen such a large Nacho!

 

 

After lunch, we went ice skating!!!  We lasted 10 minutes.  We had not ice skated in over 30 years!!!  I was 16 the last time i did it i think.

 

 

 

Okay.  FYI, this post actually took me about 2 hours to post.  The net speed plummeted during the day today

 

It would fail to execute the speed test multiple times.  However, persistence is rewarded.

 

Fiona, if you add the photo to the text, it will actually save it if you start getting errors uploading the photo like i did and have to reload the page upmpteen times.

[Rogueperson]

On 11/22/2018 at 4:39 PM, Gonflipin said:

Sailing Navigator for a 2nd time in a month. (Sailed her last year). Can you please confirm that the Guitar Hero game is still at the entrance of the arcade? My 10 year old son thanks you!!!!! 

Got pictures for you, in case you thought i was pulling your leg.

 

I got used ti Grandeur’s bad excuse for an arcade.  This one is quite nice actually.

 

Edited November 24, 2018 by Rogueperson

[Rogueperson]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

It is far from ship quality - that 10 ms ping rate (which is the main thing that determines performance for most tasks) is 60x!!! better than on the ship.

 

Biker, who would be very happy with 1/10th the download speed if the ping rate of 10ms was available.

I forgot about the ping.  I just play like I’m IT savvy just because i know that many things get fixed by turning it on and off.

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

I forgot about the ping.  I just play like I’m IT savvy just because i know that many things get fixed by turning it on and off.

 

When it comes to Voom, ping is king.  

[Rogueperson]

On 11/21/2018 at 11:38 AM, BillOh said:

 

 

I'll watch for your report here.  My first Diamond cruise on a Voyager class was on Adventure and that was my favorite Diamond Lounge so far.  I'm to lazy to go check the Navigator deck plans to see if the Diamond Lounge is in the same place, so I'll watch for your report. 

 

Sorry, I should have answered this one earlier.  The Diamond lounge is behind the door on deck 14 behind the Cosmopolitan Club/Viking Crown Lounge.  They use the lounge as an overflow during happy hour.  There is also ab outdoor patio element to the lounge too.  I don’t have a picture of it yet.  I will get one later.

[Gonflipin]

4 hours ago, Rogueperson said:

Got pictures for you, in case you thought i was pulling your leg.

 

I got used ti Grandeur’s bad excuse for an arcade.  This one is quite nice actually.

 

Ooooo this just made my sons night! He’s super excited now to see his Guitar Hero!! Thank you! 

[FionaMG]

On 11/22/2018 at 5:57 PM, NateUpNorth said:

Boarding Dec 6th, looking forward to photos and reports!

 

(If anyone happens to wander into the liquor store and grabs a snapshot of the price list for whiskey/scotch that would be amazing.............. 😁 )

Here are a couple. If there's a particular brand you're interested in just say and I will see if I can spot it for you.

 

[FionaMG]

The pool area was busy today and we were not alone on the high seas.

 

[FionaMG]

Spotted this "lady" taking pics of the sports court.

 

[Rogueperson]

We met our dinner companions for the first time tonight.  We have late seating dining.  I still have not made the plunge to My Time yet.

 

Here’s the menu.

 

My other love on cruises is escargot.  I usually get two orders a night.  

 

 

I also got the Lobster Bisque and more beef cappracio.

 

Dessert didn’t wow me tonight.  This is their creme brulee.  Fair warning, their apple pie has raisins in it.  I hate Raisins.  They will not get me a second time!!!

 

 

I’m so full.  The production show about ball room dancing.  Not really out cup of tea.

 

After dinner, we hung out at the Schooner for a bit.

 

And soon after, we did hit the ballroom show.  It wasnt bad.  This guy was rocking a mohawk.  I thought they died out in the 80s.

 

 

We returned to the room with this guy waiting for us.

 

 

Good night all.

 

 

 

[FionaMG]

Dinner tonight was at Giovanni's and it was very good.

I tried to take a pic of the menu but failed miserably. 

And although I remembered to take pics of our starters (antipasti and mussels) and desserts  (tiramisu and chocolate hazelnut cake), I once again forgot about the mains until they were more than half way done. 

My filet mignon was absolutely outstanding and Fernando said the mushroom risotto was delicious too. 

[Rogueperson]

Just now, FionaMG said:

Dinner tonight was at Giovanni's and it was very good.

I tried to take a pic of the menu but failed miserably. 

And although I remembered to take pics of our starters (antipasti and mussels) and desserts  (tiramisu and chocolate hazelnut cake), I once again forgot about the mains until they were more than half way done. 

My filet mignon was absolutely outstanding and Fernando said the mushroom risotto was delicious too. 

 

 

 

 

Our dinnermates said that contrary to their specialties, The steak is amazing at Giovanni’s and the lamb is the best thing on the menu.  I’ve been to both before but never tried the lamb.  We might try it this time around.

[Rogueperson]

Since I’m still awake and remembering, here is Day 3 Cruise Compass.

 

Hopefully, tomorrow’s net quality improves.  Today, i burned 60% of my phone battery life trying to upload my afternoon thread.  Yay for spare battery...

[FionaMG]

5 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

Hopefully, tomorrow’s net quality improves.  Today, i burned 60% of my phone battery life trying to upload my afternoon thread.  Yay for spare battery...

I'm switching between phone and tablet. Our towel animal is a ray.

It's gone midnight and there's still loud music going on in the pub, which is opposite our room. Hopefully they'll stop soon. 

 

[FionaMG]

I went to the gym at around 6 pm. This is my favourite time to go on a cruise because it's usually quiet; 1st seating dinner are already eating and 2nd seating are having pre-dinner drinks.

There is a big indoor hot tub at the entrance to the gym.

The gym itself comprises an aerobics room wherr classes are held and where you can do floor exercises and stretching; and a cardio/weight training room with a very decent selection of cardio machines. I didn't get the chance to check out the weight training side today, so I will try and do that tomorrow.

[Rogueperson]

Ugh, dinner did not agree with me. I might have gotten food poisoning.  I’m just laying in bed right now.  So if I’m a little quiet today, thats why.  Just very tired and nauseous.  

[FionaMG]

7 minutes ago, Rogueperson said:

Ugh, dinner did not agree with me. I might have gotten food poisoning.  I’m just laying in bed right now.  So if I’m a little quiet today, thats why.  Just very tired and nauseous.  

Oh no!  Hope it passes quickly and you feel better soon. 

[FionaMG]

Rogue, hope you are feeling better?

 

Today we made diamond. Shame it doesn't count till the next cruise. 

 

Today we had our first port of call on this cruise, Labadee. For us it was a first time visit. We had breakfast at about 8.30 and the Windjammer was already buzzing. I don't know why but I just don't care for the layout of the WJ on this ship. I preferred the layout on Serenade, which we sailed last year. 

 

Our first view of Labadee from the ship:

 

 

[FionaMG]

As recommend by many posters here on CC, we took the tram all the way to Columbus Cove. It was very pretty and the water was nice and warm. We enlisted the help of another guest to get a pic of both of us with the ship in the background. 

 

Columbus Cove:

 

[FionaMG]

Lunch was from 11.30 am to 1.30 pm and a massive line formed as soon as they started serving so I wasn't able to get near the mains to take a pic. When we went to eat at 1 pm there was absolutely no line. There was still plenty of food but not pretty enough any more to take a pic. By that time too there were three different types of cakes where the cookies had been before.

The hot dogs and pork ribs were very good.