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

[EmilyJay]

Day 10: Sea Day. 

 

Last night we had dinner in the MDR for Formal Night, we didn’t have a reservation and we were seated immediately. The staff that seat you at your table have had some stress this cruise, because all the tables have been moved and re-numbered so this week they’ve been trying to get used to it all, hats off to them as there are alot of tables to memorise!  

It was lobster night, so of course that’s what we had with baked Alaska for desert. It was all delicious.

We then went to the headliner show which was The Modern Gentlemen; they used to be back up singers for Frankie Valli & the 4 seasons and they were amazing. Probably my favourite show along with the ice skating. 

 

And now onto today, the last day. 

Another day at sea, today the weather has been alot less windy but feels alot hotter. 

We spent a bit of time at the pool, where finally notices are up about not reserving chairs, and towels were being removed. 

Although it’s always going to be an on-going battle, I think they should implement the 30 minute rule. 

Lunch was at El Loco Fresh, it’s just so convenient to grab something and go back to your chair. Equally the Windjammer is very accessible from the pool deck. 

 

Now, it’s time to pack the suitcase, ready to be kicked off bright and early tomorrow. 

 

[Getting out there]

thanks for you tip and a great review

[Paulette3028]

46 minutes ago, EmilyJay said:

Day 10: Sea Day. 

 

 

And now onto today, the last day. 

Another day at sea, today the weather has been alot less windy but feels alot hotter. 

We spent a bit of time at the pool, where finally notices are up about not reserving chairs, and towels were being removed. 

Although it’s always going to be an on-going battle, I think they should implement the 30 minute rule. 

Lunch was at El Loco Fresh, it’s just so convenient to grab something and go back to your chair. Equally the Windjammer is very accessible from the pool deck. 

 

Now, it’s time to pack the suitcase, ready to be kicked off bright and early tomorrow. 

 

If they would have put up the notices and removed towels on the first day, that would have set a better tone for the entire cruise....doing it on the last sea day......is like DOING NOTHING AT ALL.

[CazV]

Thanks again @EmilyJay for all your photos and information during your cruise and taking the time to answer questions. 

 

Courtesy of @twangster here's a link to a full set of the Cruise Compass for this cruise for anyone interested: 

 

https://issuu.com/hochmania/docs/navigator_9_night_southern_caribbea

 

Emily, you can ignore my previous request to post more of the Compass pages when you get home. 🙂 

 

Enjoy what's left of your last day. 🙂 

Edited March 9, 2019 by CazV

[Muerz]

I read on Facebook that one of the pools is apparently leaking. Any onboard info regarding this?

[SeekingSun13]

We are going on the March 15th cruise with the same stops. Did you find the beaches nice and sandy? Or do you think we would need water shoes?

 

We are also going to Klien Island on Bonaire! Can't wait.

[EmilyJay]

1 hour ago, SeekingSun13 said:

We are going on the March 15th cruise with the same stops. Did you find the beaches nice and sandy? Or do you think we would need water shoes?

 

We are also going to Klien Island on Bonaire! Can't wait.

Labadee if you go to Nellie’s Beach it’s lovely no shoes needed, the other beaches would require water shoes. 

Aruba- hit and miss, I was fine without shoes at Mooma Beach, but probably would have made life easier to have them. 

Klein Bonaire 100% for water shoes, I cut the bottom of my foot on the shells. It’s so beautiful, but on the main part it’s covered in shells, stones, old bits of coral, once you skip over them it’s fine, but then again getting into the sea the whole shallow part is covered. 

Make sure you take a bottle of water and plenty of sun lotion to Klein Bonaire and there is no shelter from the sun. 

 

 

 

[EmilyJay]

2 hours ago, Muerz said:

I read on Facebook that one of the pools is apparently leaking. Any onboard info regarding this?

All pools open and working. There is a small rectangle coned off on the Promenade, outside the Bamboo Room/ Gift Shop area due to a leak, it was quite a bad leak yesterday but seems fine today. 

[CRUISEFAN0001]

Terrific job of sharing your information and experience on Navigator!

 

Bravo.

[MrFunInTheSun]

What a super week and live report. Whens your next cruise? 🙂

[PhoenixCruiser]

What a super week and live report. Whens your next cruise? [emoji846]

Agree! Thanks again

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[samissosweet]

i get on her tomorrow

[Muerz]

1 hour ago, samissosweet said:

i get on her tomorrow

 

Enjoy it! Do you also plan on doing a live review?

[CazV]

@EmilyJay thank you again for sharing so much of your time to update us all here. I'm sailing on Navigator in April and can't wait. 

 

Safe travels home 🙂 Is your flight back to the UK a late night one tonight? If so, I'm interested to hear how you spend the day today. 

[CntPAcruiser]

On 3/2/2019 at 3:11 PM, Paulette3028 said:

Super thanks......we sailed on Navigator twice....between our 1st and 2nd cruises on her, they added more cabins and now from what I hear they moved the gym to the Aft of the ship and added more cabins again.  Is it true that the sauna and steam room are 'for fee'?    Our plan is to sail on her again when she returns to S. Florida taking over the 3/4 day sailings.  

 

Any more word from those who've been on board whether the fitness center has locker rooms (without sauna/steam room), and the spa has a thermal suite now with the only sauna/steam room?

[cot427]

16 hours ago, CntPAcruiser said:

 

Any more word from those who've been on board whether the fitness center has locker rooms (without sauna/steam room), and the spa has a thermal suite now with the only sauna/steam room?

Not sure they would know...I haven't seen any reports saying the fitness center has opened yet, as it was closed for that cruise. I only saw that Adventure Ocean finally opened. 

 

@EmilyJay Can you confirm that the following were still closed on your last day: Blaster Slide, Fitness Center, Splash Pad? 

[LBumb]

Thanks for taking us along

[EmilyJay]

13 minutes ago, cot427 said:

Not sure they would know...I haven't seen any reports saying the fitness center has opened yet, as it was closed for that cruise. I only saw that Adventure Ocean finally opened. 

 

@EmilyJay Can you confirm that the following were still closed on your last day: Blaster Slide, Fitness Center, Splash Pad? 

Yes, all of those were still closed on the last day. No idea what is going on with the Splash Pad as it was open most of the cruise, then closed randomly, open again and closed for 2.5 solid days I think. 

 

[EmilyJay]

Day 11- Time to get kicked off.

 

We chose a RCI shore excursion once we got off Navigator, as 1. Our flight wasn't until the late evening and 2. Day Rooms + transportation soon added up cost wise so it worked out cheaper to do an excursion.

Unfortunately there were only 3 to choose from, usually there are about 5 or 6. The Everglades we did on our last cruise, so we opted for the Hop On Hop Off Tour.

 

We had to be in the Star Lounge at 7.15am, so we grabbed a quick breakfast in the Windjammer and then went down to the SL for about 7.05am. At 8am, people for this tour were still turning up... Which is when we were supposed to be leaving on the bus. It baffles me as to why they weren't there for 7.15 like the ticket states. 

Eventually by 8.10am we were getting off the ship and into the terminal to collect our luggage. As we walked into the terminal our suitcases were going round the conveyor belt so we grabbed them quick and breezed through customs.

A Hop on Hop off Bus was waiting for us in the bay, and we handed our luggage over to a man who would take them to the storage unit at Biscayne Market Place. At 9am we finally left and were driven to Biscayne Market Place which is where the HOHO depot is and we could transfer to the blue loop- the beach loop or the red loop- the city loop. 

We had plenty of time so did both loops, the blue loop is about 1hr 30 minutes and the red loop was about an hour, you can get on and off as you please and another bus will come by around 20-30 minutes later.

Once we had done both loops, with the blue loop being alot more interesting we went into the market place and grabbed a Five Guys for lunch before having a look around the shops.

On this excursion, you can choose a 1pm, 3pm or 5pm shuttle to the airport, these times are for Miami airport but you can also choose Ft Lauderdale however I think the timings are slightly different. 

After sitting by the harbour to catch the last bit of sunshine, we went and collected our luggage from the luggage store, it's located opposite the Hard Rock Cafe, near the HOHO bus stop and caught the shuttle to MIA.

The journey took about 30 minutes if that and before I knew it we were through security and sitting at the departure gate.

 

Our night flight home was a little bumpy at times over the Atlantic, but thankfully all good and we arrived back into London a little earlier than scheduled. I love landing into Heathrow as the views of London are spectacular, especially on a sunny, although cold morning. 

Now, we are back home to a very happy doggy!! Time to unpack and think about the next cruise..... 

 

Thanks to everyone who came along on this journey. I have to say live reviewing is ALOT harder than I thought it would be, especially on a ship that I've never been on. But they have been so helpful to me in the past, so hopefully this review can be of help to some others.

 

Now comparing Navigator to the Oasis Class ships, I thought I'd struggle going to a smaller ship having only been on Oasis Class but this wasn't the case at all. Most the time I didn't even notice Navigator being smaller, I did miss Park Cafe and the Aqua Show, but, Navigator had alot of entertainment and most of it was different each night. I'm so glad we chose this cruise and I would definitely sail Navigator again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[EmilyJay]

Wow, photos upload alot quicker off the ship!! 

The London photo from the air, is an old photo of mine but figured I’d add it to show the view of landing into Heathrow. 

[FionaMG]

Thanks for bringing us along. It's been great. 

[BrandFam4]

You did a great job! Thank you!

[Grandma Dazzles]

Thanks for doing such a great job. 

[cot427]

Thanks so much, it was great! Glad you enjoyed your trip and made it home safely! 

[The Fun Researcher]

This must have been a ton of work for you, so thank you so much! 

 

I can tell you that I personally looked at this thread multiple times a day in preparation for the 9 night itinerary on the Navigator starting this Friday!  Super excited now, in no small part thanks to your thread, and Twangsters...

 

Dan