Cheapo Dad's Trip Report on the Navigator of the Seas (Maybe with few pictures added)...

[Another_Critic]

2 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Good to know that the earliest time slot opens at midnight (is it east coast time?) ahead of my December cruise.

12 midnight local time at departure port.

[Coralc]

2 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Good to know that the earliest time slot opens at midnight (is it east coast time?) ahead of my December cruise.

Yes. A couple of times it has worked a 9PM here. Last Florida cruise it didn't, and I had to do it in the morning. But times weren't enforced in Tampa. 

[Coralc]

1 hour ago, harryfat1 said:

August 6 (Sunday) Day 0

 

Always exciting to wake up to get ready to leave the house.  Unlike the Caribbean cruises where we have to fly across the country, cruising out of LA means we can “load up the fam” and drive 400 miles from San Francisco Bay Area to LA and board the ship.  Much easier than flying 3,000 miles to the east coast and no time zone changes.

 

 

When you think of California what are the images that come to mind?  Hollywood/Beaches/Silicon Valley? Anyone said “Farming”?  Yeah, Farming.

 

You can probably win a lot of bar bets if you ask people to name the state with the biggest farming production by dollar value.  How many people would guess it’s CA?

 

https://ruralstrongmedia.com/top-10-agricultural-producing-states-in-2022/#:~:text=1.%20California&text=It%20is%20recognized%20as%20the,in%20terms%20of%20farm%20income

 

Farm land along side the Interstate 5

 

 

 

Those are almond trees, our most profitable crop. Pronounced aamonds by the growers. ☺️

Edited August 21, 2023 by Coralc

[JamesEM]

Hi Harry, hopefully you are not under water. Happy to see your trip report and photos, I'll be following along.  

[perfect match]

23 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

 

I bet I am not the only person here on CC that brings a hard copy as a backup. If anyone else prints out hard copies of the set sail pass, leave a comment below. We anal people need to unite.

Joining the group who prints out their set sail pass. I have enough else in my hands on boarding day to want to be juggling (more likely dropping) my cell phone during the boarding process, putting the phone down somewhere and ending up losing it or having some other phone related disaster take place during boarding. I’ve also had several cruises where internet was not working and was able to board a lot easier with my paper copy. 
 

Once we’re on board all of the paper and everything else I’m carrying goes  away and the phone comes out so I can book anything I wasn’t able to book prior to boarding.

[perfect match]

4 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

 

Besides the last-minute Costco run, I ordered these luggage tags from Amazon that are specifically made for RCI and Celebrity cruise tag sizes.  They are rated highly but note that other cruise lines like Carnival or HAL have different size tags.  It’s funny that the many 1-star bad reviews on Amazon are from irate cruisers that complained their non-RCI/Celebrity cruise tags won’t fit when the front page description clearly said these are specific RCI/Celebrity tag holders.

 

These are very sturdy and at $9 total in a group of 8, they are not that expensive.  They are by no means mandatory purchases. In the past, when I checked out of the hotel, I ask to borrow their stapler and staple 6 tags onto the luggage right before boarding.  In theory, you can get this done at the pier by asking as well as but I rather have things done ahead of time.  More of the 9.2 anal scale person speaking…

 

 

 

I’ve had those luggage tags for years now and they have held up very well. We have sailed on Princess and HAL in addition to RCI brands so we have the ones that fit the Carnival group brands as well.

 

We’ll be back on Allure for next cruise so I’ve pulled up your 2014 Allure report to see what you’ve discovered on her that I haven’t found yet. It should be a fun read.😎

[Biker19]

8 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

So RCI is enforcing the arrival time policy on all ports now?

Hardly, San Pedro is the exception rather than the rule.

[bobmacliberty]

13 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

I wonder if your profession prior to retirement made you more confident in technology working when needed. 

 

The hard copy folks are partly distrusting the technology will fail at the most crucial moment like boarding the ship.

 

I also find reading things on paper is easier to absorb into the brain.  At work, I prefer to print things out and use a highlighter to mark key points like when I was in college.  Reading things on the computer screen just doesn't do it for me in terms of ideas "sticking to the brain" compared to highlighting the hard copies.

 

Anyone else feels the same?

 

I've always been one to trust technology.  Now I'm one who understands too much about how to do bad things with technology, but also how to prevent that happening to you.  Now that I'm retired, I don't think about it nearly as much.  

 

I agree that you absorb better when you read paper.  I picked up a bad habit while working though that I still haven't shaken...I no longer actually read.  Unless it's an important contract or something like that, I just scan.  You don't absorb nearly as well when just scanning.

 

And for those who say that it's faster to have paper in hand, I "rehearse" what I will do with my phone ahead of time. I have all of the various docs open and ready, and I know exactly how I will switch between them. Very fast. Doesn't everyone do that? 😁

 

I do find a printed Cruise Compass easier overall.  An app is only as good as the programmer who made it, and some apps are better than others.  The Royal app still lacks a bit and there's only so much you can do with a small phone screen, even with reading glasses.  

 

Maybe I should break out the old spreadsheet.  You're over 100 posts and still haven't even reached day 1 yet. 😜

[loug1601]

@harryfat1

When you retire from your accounting position, please become a writer. You are so darn witty and fun!

Have a great cruise!

[wolfganghowell]

Where'd you go?  Come back come back!  Hope Hilary has nothing to do with this!

[harryfat1]

20 hours ago, Coralc said:

Those are almond trees, our most profitable crop. Pronounced aamonds by the growers. ☺️

Hi Patti,

 

Thanks for the info.  I always wondered what those trees were, an expert like you can tell at a glance.

 

What does it sound like with a Southern or New Yorker Accent?

 

Not surprisingly almonds are a big profit maker as a small can of almonds costs quite a lot.

 

There are also cherry tree farms as well as numerous grape farms along the central valley.  But these are not great wine grapes like in Napa Valley. 

[harryfat1]

18 hours ago, JamesEM said:

Hi Harry, hopefully you are not under water. Happy to see your trip report and photos, I'll be following along.  

Hi Jim,

 

I was hoping to catch up with you on this trip report. Hope everything is well at SC. I see you are still keeping the night owl schedule in being awake after midnight daily.

 

We are fine in the bay area as southern CA took the direct hit and then the storm veered east to Nevada, bypassing us as Vegas got pretty wet. Thanks for the concern.

 

Yeah, it’s been a long time since 2017 since my last trip report – the cruise world has changed a lot since we last sailed. 

 

Always appreciate you following along.

[harryfat1]

18 hours ago, perfect match said:

Joining the group who prints out their set sail pass. I have enough else in my hands on boarding day to want to be juggling (more likely dropping) my cell phone during the boarding process, putting the phone down somewhere and ending up losing it or having some other phone related disaster take place during boarding. I’ve also had several cruises where internet was not working and was able to board a lot easier with my paper copy. 
 

Once we’re on board all of the paper and everything else I’m carrying goes  away and the phone comes out so I can book anything I wasn’t able to book prior to boarding.

Thanks for your response.

 

Interesting that I’m seeing more people responding that they are using the hard copies of the Set Sail pass as the “primary” boarding ticket.  Whereas I use the hard copies as a “backup” in case my phone didn’t work. 

 

So even if people print out the hard copies, their reliance on it could be different.

 

Another interesting topic you brought up is taking out the phone post-boarding.  As I sound like a crusty grumpy old cruiser by saying, “In the old days when we cruised, after boarding, I put away my cell phone in the cabin safe after the ship sails as I won’t have cell connections for a week”.  Nowadays with everything running through the App and the phone camera being my primary tool for taking pictures, I am using my cell phone more on vacation than at work.

 

I could start a new informal poll asking what people think about the usage of cell phones while on a cruise but at that rate, I will never get this trip report off the ground if I get another 20 more responses and then I respond…

[harryfat1]

17 hours ago, perfect match said:

 

I’ve had those luggage tags for years now and they have held up very well. We have sailed on Princess and HAL in addition to RCI brands so we have the ones that fit the Carnival group brands as well.

 

We’ll be back on Allure for next cruise so I’ve pulled up your 2014 Allure report to see what you’ve discovered on her that I haven’t found yet. It should be a fun read.😎

Wow.  Double Wow. 

 

You are really digging deep into the archives if you are going back to my 2014 trip report.  Are the old pictures still working?  

 

In the old days, CC didn’t host any travel pictures, so all the reviewers had to cut and paste the link from Photobucket or Shutterfly and then manually “cut the bad part” in order to post pictures. It was a labor of love as you must REALLY want to show people the picture because each picture takes like a minute to get the link, cut it, preview it, and then post it.

 

It’s not as simple as the current days of the simple drag and drop. So not sure if those links even work anymore.

 

I know for sure they got rid of the “secret balcony” so you won’t see that anymore.

 

The experts on these boards can tell you what has changed on the Allure since then.  But I believe that is the only Oasis-class ship that doesn’t have the ugly purple slide blocking the view of the back.  Not a fan of the “new and not so improved” look.  Just more of a grumpy old man talking about how things used to be better…

[harryfat1]

15 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Hardly, San Pedro is the exception rather than the rule.

Interesting.  I wonder if it’s because the LA cruise terminal is too small to handle the barrage of folks that could show up at once versus the Fort Lauderdale terminals that could seat many more people even if lots of people show up.

 

LA cruise terminal seating

 

 

Fort Lauderdale cruise terminal seating (from 2017). Much higher seating capacity

 

 

 

Also, the LA cruise area is situated like an oval race track with parking in the middle and the 2 cruise buildings on the outside of the track along with the USS Iowa battleship museum.  To get to berth 92 where the Navigator is docked regularly, you enter the oval at a couple of openings and go on the one-way traffic (think Indy 500 racing) and the first stop after the USS Iowa is the luggage drop-off area.

 

People are asked to drop off people/luggage at the first set of buildings and then the driver goes back on the loop to park and join the party at the luggage area and proceed to the tent city about 100 feet away.

 

Wonder if too many people show up at once, the traffic along the oval could be back up and interrupt the people wanting to visit the USS Iowa as they all share the same parking lot.

 

 

Anyway, I will get more into the parking and arrival info when I get to Day 1 (whenever that will be as BobMac is counting on his spreadsheet and telling me to MOVE IT MOVE IT).  That was an old reference to the old days when RCI and DreamWorks had partnered together to provide an entertainment venue onboard the ship but not anymore. Another old photo...

 

[harryfat1]

11 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

I've always been one to trust technology.  Now I'm one who understands too much about how to do bad things with technology, but also how to prevent that happening to you.  Now that I'm retired, I don't think about it nearly as much.  

 

I agree that you absorb better when you read paper.  I picked up a bad habit while working though that I still haven't shaken...I no longer actually read.  Unless it's an important contract or something like that, I just scan.  You don't absorb nearly as well when just scanning.

 

And for those who say that it's faster to have paper in hand, I "rehearse" what I will do with my phone ahead of time. I have all of the various docs open and ready, and I know exactly how I will switch between them. Very fast. Doesn't everyone do that? 😁

 

I do find a printed Cruise Compass easier overall.  An app is only as good as the programmer who made it, and some apps are better than others.  The Royal app still lacks a bit and there's only so much you can do with a small phone screen, even with reading glasses.  

 

Maybe I should break out the old spreadsheet.  You're over 100 posts and still haven't even reached day 1 yet. 😜

Do you do this at home ahead of time to rehearse?  

 

Like having someone on the other side with a hairdryer pointing at your phone and making a pretend “beep” sound to simulate the actual occurrence so you feel confident that you are holding the phone correctly? 

 

Do they dress up as dockside workers as part of the “Cosplay”? How many times before do you rehearse that? Inquiring mind wants to know… 

[harryfat1]

9 hours ago, loug1601 said:

@harryfat1

When you retire from your accounting position, please become a writer. You are so darn witty and fun!

Have a great cruise!

Thanks.  I will let my joke-writing staff of one know that his humor is appreciated.  As part of his employment contract, he gets 5% of all the royalty money that CC sends to me for writing this.  As the money s generated from everyone’s annual membership fees to CC, I thank everyone is advanced for their support…

 

Is anyone looking at the credit card statement now to see how much CC charged them for the membership renewal?

[harryfat1]

5 hours ago, wolfganghowell said:

Where'd you go?  Come back come back!  Hope Hilary has nothing to do with this!

Huh?  I’m sorry.  Not sure I understand the comment.

 

My cruise was two weeks ago.  I am not on this week’s cruise to Mexico.  I am not talented like many folks here on CC that can do a live cruise report. I can only write after I get home. 

 

Can’t vacation and write at the same time – as in too dumb to walk and chew gum at the same time…

[harryfat1]

Onto the trip report with day 0

+++++++++++++

In my rush to get to Day 1 yesterday, I forgot to queue up the old Willie song to signify we are on the road…

 

With a name like Seasick Steve, perfect to kick things off...

 

 

 

 

I also forgot to ask what shirts do y’all wear on travel days?  Do you wear something that looks nice or something that feels nice but looks “meh”?  I have this favorite Ketchikan t-shirt bought from the 2002 Alaska cruise that has been through more washes/drying cycles than I can remember.  Comfortable as heck.  Fit my fat physique at the right places but the collars are frayed and the colors are somewhat faded.

 

My wife always asks me why I wear that to go on vacation when I have tons of new shirts.  But that’s the point.  New shirts don’t have the comfort level of old shirts.  Besides, who am I trying to impress sitting in the hot van driving for 8 hours?  Who cares what the worker at the hotel thinks of my shirt at check-in?  I feel comfortable and that’s all it matters - not like I'm wearing that at MDR on a formal night...

 

Central Valley is typically hot in the summer.  This day was no exception. Already 97 degrees at 12 noon.  It’s gonna be a hot one.

 

 

Time to break for lunch. So where did we eat lunch?  Denny’s.  Yeah, I know the Foodies out there will scoff at Denny’s.

 

Not the fanciest place in the world but in a land of vast farmland as far as the eye can see, there are far worst choices for food.  Especially when you get the senior meal from the menu.  This is less than $12 and if you have AARP membership, there’s a 15% discount on top of that. The sizzling skillet costs a few dollars more but the AARP discount is off the entire family’s bill, not just the seniors' meal so everything is 15% off the menu – did I mention I’m cheap?

 

 

 

[harryfat1]

Historically California is typically amongst the top 5 states in having the highest gas prices and especially on Highway 5 where many stations are at least 20 miles apart with no nearby towns, the gas prices can be exorbitant unless you know where to get your gas.  Use the App “Gas Buddy” to find reasonable gas prices while on the road.

 

Yeah, Cheapo Dad not paying $6/gallon.

 

 

While $4.84 isn’t cheap when compared to other states, it’s one of the better values along Interstate 5.  There are slightly cheaper places but you have to fight the long lines and less-than-stellar bathrooms, so you have to balance out trying to get the cheapest gas within 75 miles versus crowd/clean bathrooms.

 

 

This could be the difference between men and women.  Men are probably likely concerned with the quality of the bathroom versus women just given the nature of different anatomy. Women probably are more picky about restrooms.

 

Can’t say anymore before CC will ban me for life but if you can listen to some classic Richard Pryor, he gets really into how men and women use bathrooms differently.

 

From my experience in driving around various western states, I like truck stops like TA or Loves, or Flying J.  They typically have a bigger restroom/snack area on top of shower rentals if you need to really freshen up during the drive.

 

Here’s one of our favorite TA stops.  Big AC inside and cleaner bathrooms and shower rental if needed.

 

 

 

 

 

My wife was looking at my pictures from the cruise and she asked – you took pictures of the men’s room?

 

Yeah, Why not?  What’s wrong with that? Doesn't everyone take pictures of bathrooms?

 

To this date, my favorite bathroom picture of all time was from The Allure of the Seas.  I bow down to the genius that created this picture in the men's room. I hope it's still there after all these years.  Any ladies can confirm this?

 

[Another_Critic]

2 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

To this date, my favorite bathroom picture of all time was from The Allure of the Seas.  I bow down to the genius that created this picture in the men's room. I hope it's still there after all these years.  Any ladies can confirm this?

 

 

You missed a good one ...  https://www.urinal.net/voyager/

 

Unfortunately, they removed it.  

[JamesEM]

Wow, $6.00 for a gallon of gas, I got gas today and it was $3.30 a gallon, after Labor Day the price usually goes down once the tourists leave town. I'm doing well, and did a b-3-b on the Harmony this past May to celebrate my birthday. 

[bobmacliberty]

11 hours ago, harryfat1 said:

Do they dress up as dockside workers as part of the “Cosplay”? How many times before do you rehearse that? Inquiring mind wants to know… 

 

I think I'll leave that part of my marriage off Cruise Critic. 😜

 

And I forgot to answer your earlier underwear survey question:

<=7 days is +1

>7 days is +2

The longer the trip, the more "insurance" that I need.  

 

[ch175]

Thank you for taking the time to write words and post pictures.

 

When you showed the “fancy” luggage tags, I thought about how I make my own luggage tags by printing them out, encasing them in clear packing tape, and then attaching them to my luggage with zip ties.

 

I spent some time wondering if that makes me more or less anal than you, and more or less cheap than you. I have no answers. I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway.

[wolfganghowell]

harry, I meant where'd you go as in no posts for several hours.  😉  Enjoying your style.