LIVE review: Navigator of the Seas ABC Islands (1st-10th March)

[EmilyJay]

Hey everyone!

 

I'm so happy to be able to write this review after weeks of uncertainty as to whether or not Navigator would be out of dry dock on time!! 🎉 After hearing the Feb 24th cruise was cancelled, I didn't hold much hope March 1st would be going ahead, but hooray all is looking good!!

I already have ALOT of questions from some lovely people here on CC, I will try my hardest to answer them all during the cruise. 

 

Itinerary 

We are doing a 9 night ABC cruise + Labadee. 

Day 1: Miami

Day 2: At Sea

Day 3: Labadee (8am-5pm)

Day 4: At Sea

Day 5: Aruba (8am-11.59pm)

Day 6: Curacao (8am-8pm)

Day 7: Bonaire (7am-4pm)

Day 8: At Sea

Day 9: At Sea

Day 10: Miami  

 

We are staying in an inside cabin on deck 7. We have stayed in an inside cabin before and it's fine for us as we're not in there all that much. But I do love a good balcony cabin, sadly it was just too expensive for this cruise 😞 Maybe next time... 

We have the Deluxe Drinks Package... This is a first for us and I'm very excited about this, I hope they have stocked up on the gin 😉. 

We fly out of Heathrow on Thursday and are staying pre-cruise near the port, time to get the ironing done and the packing sorted! Any questions, let me know.

 

 

 

[EeyoreRN]

Safe travels!  I will be following. Thanks for taking the time.

[lr657]

We'll be sailing March 1st also. See you onboard!

[kevnick0814]

Following.

Thanks for doing this. We are on Nav 4 weeks later. 🙂

My first question is based on the pix of Nav that I saw this morning.

With all the 'stuff' that's on the top decks, where are all the deck chairs going to fit??

 

[LBumb]

Bon voyage

[George C]

Love navigator and we did same cruise a little over a year ago, have a great time. 

[DancerMama25]

I’m so excited to be following along with you on your trip!!  We are booked on Navigator in June, so I am very excited to see the reviews and get the inside scoop on the Ship and it’s upgrades before we sail.   Have a great trip!  Bon Voyage!

[CazV]

Thank you so much for doing this. Looking forward to following along. 🙂

[BrandFam4]

Have a great cruise!!!

[BTHodgeman]

We are sailing on 3/15 with the same itinerary (although, our port order and times are a bit different than yours!).

 

Looking forward to reading your live review and learning all about the ship before we sail!

[FionaMG]

We did this exact same itinerary on the 23rd of November, so one of the very last sailings before the dry dock. Having experienced the "before" in person, it'll be really interesting to see the "after".

Thanks for bringing us along.

Have a great time! 

[whyrlygig]

Anxiously awaiting you review!  Have a great cruise!

[roperkim]

I would love to hear feedback on anyone who can scope out the fitness center for me 🙂

 

I've recently been doing kickboxing workouts and am going to try to spend some time in the gym on my upcoming cruise (Mar. 15) for the first time in 12 cruises! I'm hoping to find out whether the Navigator gym offers any heavy bags, speed bags, etc. that I can use. If not, I guess I'll be leaving the gloves at home.

 

Have a great cruise! I am anxious to get on board in a couple weeks.

[FionaMG]

10 minutes ago, roperkim said:

I would love to hear feedback on anyone who can scope out the fitness center for me

I don't remember seeing anything like that and I was in the gym every day.

Here is the fitness programme from my sailing and some pics I took of the fitness centre.

It's a pretty decent gym and was never crowded when I went, usually between 5pm and 7pm.

Hope it helps.

 

[LuCruise]

Oh wow...didn't realize that Mar 1 is a 10 day cruise.  What a great itinerary on a freshly amplified ship!  So glad that Mar 1 cruise is a go.  Felt really bad for those on the cancelled cruise before yours.  Safe travels and enjoy your cruise!  We have Navigator booked end of summer so very much look forward to your review.

[uday23]

2 hours ago, FionaMG said:

I don't remember seeing anything like that and I was in the gym every day.

Here is the fitness programme from my sailing and some pics I took of the fitness centre.

It's a pretty decent gym and was never crowded when I went, usually between 5pm and 7pm.

Hope it helps.

 

 

The gym has been entirely re-located and this location replaced since these pictures have been taken. There are now staterooms where these pictures were taken. The gym is now near the aft of the ship where adventure ocean used to be.

[Johnamac123]

Took this same cruise solo last December and loved it. I stayed in a Promenade View on Deck 6. Great location. I'd like to hear about your excursion plans while in your ABC ports. Have a great trip!!!

 

[EmilyJay]

Just now, Johnamac123 said:

Took this same cruise solo last December and loved it. I stayed in a Promenade View on Deck 6. Great location. I'd like to hear about your excursion plans while in your ABC ports. Have a great trip!!!

 

 

Glad you had a good trip, did you have any problems with noise in a Promenade room? I've always been curious about these rooms. 

We've never been to the ABC islands, so very excited. Any tips is greatly appreciated! 

 

Aruba- We have a morning island tour planned. Back to the ship for lunch and then we'll head to a beach for the afternoon, maybe Eagle Beach. 

Curacao- We plan on just having a wander around. 

Bonaire- Water taxi to Klein Bonaire for a snorkel. 

[cloud7cruise]

Following.  We are going to be on the same itinerary at the end of March!  Take lots of pictures!

[Johnamac123]

1 minute ago, EmilyJay said:

 

Glad you had a good trip, did you have any problems with noise in a Promenade room? I've always been curious about these rooms. 

We've never been to the ABC islands, so very excited. Any tips is greatly appreciated! 

 

Aruba- We have a morning island tour planned. Back to the ship for lunch and then we'll head to a beach for the afternoon, maybe Eagle Beach. 

Curacao- We plan on just having a wander around. 

Bonaire- Water taxi to Klein Bonaire for a snorkel. 

I've stayed in several PV's and love them as a solo. No noise issues from the Promenade below, but I'm not in there during the loud goings on below. I'll be down there having fun!!

 

Your Aruba tour maybe the Best of Aruba which I took last time. I wouldn't repeat it. There are four stops (Aloe manufacturing plant, rock formation climb (be in shape, it's a killer for bad knees), Calif Lighthouse (enjoyed) and collapsed natural bridge (why?). YMMV. 

I went on a private snorkel tour on Curacao - but the island seemed beautiful. Enjoy it. 

I snorkeled with Woodwind Bonaire and went to Klein Bonaire also. I would recommend Woodwind to everyone. They are top drawer and I've already booked a return trip for December 2019. You'll love the reef!!

Have a great cruise!!!

 

 

[FionaMG]

48 minutes ago, uday23 said:

 

The gym has been entirely re-located and this location replaced since these pictures have been taken. There are now staterooms where these pictures were taken. The gym is now near the aft of the ship where adventure ocean used to be.

 It did not even occur to me they would shift the gym. Apologies for the misleading post.

[uday23]

1 minute ago, FionaMG said:

 It did not even occur to me they would shift the gym. Apologies for the misleading post.

 

Here's a new map:

 

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/cruise-ships/navigator-of-the-seas/deck-plans/1845/12

[FionaMG]

37 minutes ago, EmilyJay said:

did you have any problems with noise in a Promenade room? I've always been curious about these rooms. 

We had a few noise issues on Navigator in 7279 but it was because we were opposite the pub and could hear the music from there on a couple of nights well past midnight. However, it was not so bad as to seriously inconvenience us.

We have also had one on Adventure, opposite the Café Promenade and had no noise issues at all in that location. And we will be sailing in another one on Adventure next November.

We like them partly because they seem more spacious (I don't think they actually are, I think it might just be because of the layout) and also because of the price. They are often cheaper than OV cabins but you still get the benefit of a window, unlike the "real" interiors.

 

[Ronaldo807]

Have a safe trip! I'm sure you will post these as they come along, but I would like to know/see the following if you have the time:

 

• Pictures of the splash pad/kids pool area (not the waterslides)
• What the limit is for the drink package on this ship? It used to be $12 for non-Oasis class ships, but some reports are saying $13 fleet wide now.
• Bamboo Room drink menu. I saw one for a different ship and they had quite a few cocktails above the beverage package limit so it will be interesting to see if they are included or not.
• Hooked Happy Hour menu

[TvCon]

Have a great trip, following this as on the March 15th sailing.  Did sweat a little with the refurb, but now on the countdown.  If you could peek into the gym it would be greatly appreciated, if you have time.  Trying to get back to strength after back surgery.  Enjoy the snorkeling, we are planning on that also.