Navigator (NOS) 10/14 photos, Owner's Suite (360 movie) + review

[masonpips]

http://www.burkart.phanfare.com/album/138490

 

I do not have the "professional photo" section finished (need to either take pictures of the pictures or scan them) but the rest are there (a whole heck of a lot of them). I also have the Compasses, but haven't scanned them yet either.

 

Mini-Review:

Flew to Miami on Friday the 13th of October. Luggage waiting when we arrived (we had a nearly 3 hour layover in Atlanta, guess luggage went on flight ahead of us). Taxi to Intercontinental, walked to Bayside. DD and DH took snake photos. Tried to use gym at Intercontinental, but there was a $10 fee, decided to wait until I was onboard the next day.

 

Saturday, Oct 14

Left hotel about 10:25 a.m. Found a porter easily and walked into terminal. Were directed upstairs behind a LARGE wedding party. Had onboard photo taken (bought it!), staged in an area for awhile. Finally went through security and checked in (we were in an Owner's Suite, free upgrade from GS, check-in was painless/fast). Were given orange priority boarding ticket. Moved to yet another line where they seemed to ensure we were in the priority boarding group. Waited for quite a while (message repeated about boarding to begin at 2, were onboard by 1:30 or so I believe)

 

Went to Windjammers for lunch and then went down to see our room (movie of the kid's reaction in my pictures). We then went immediately to the pool and hung out (carried swimsuits in carry-on). VERY relaxing and nice. Went back for muster drill and sailaway. Kids/dh went back to room to hang out, I went to the gym and worked out - found the gym facilities to be excellent overall although it was always warm in there - need more fans for those on the treadmill.

 

Showered and wandered around a bit before late dinner. Had table 457 w/2 couples (retired) from England. They were fabulous and we loved them and closed down the place a few nights. Dh and I both had steak and it was super, medium rare for both of us. The kids ate with us this night and on Cozumel night, they ate at Windjammers at 6 (we went with them for appetizers at Jade's), room service or their very favorite pizza and cookies from Promendade brought up to the room on the other nights.

 

Sunday, October 15

Have no clue what we did all day since I didn't take any pictures until at night. I know there was pool time. We never had a problem finding chairs (at least 2) together at any time throughout the week. We did formal pictures w/the kids, then they changed and went to the kid's club. We had a fabulous dinner (medium rare steak again) and ended up in The Dungeon. The kids had pizza sitting in the Promenade before we went to bed.

 

I also know we went to the Concierge Lounge before dinner and loved it! We ended up going almost every night and leaving the kids in the room w/a walk-talkie watching DVDs and eating while we had a drink.

 

Monday, October 16

We were up early and on either the 1st or 2nd tender to Labadee. We had booked the 9:00 water park excursion (were the only 4 people). Note: there were never tender tickets throughout the week and we never saw the need for them. Were easily on the earliest tenders and had no issues at all.

 

The water park is HARD. Those icebergs are difficult to get up with no real foot spots. It’s mainly upper body strength (the rock wall was far easier in my opinion). We really enjoyed the whole thing overall.

 

We then wandered, took pictures, haggled a bit and had lunch. We were back on the ship early afternoon and enjoyed a quiet afternoon at the pool. I don’t remember much about dinner, but had the shrimp based on the photo. I think this was Venetian night and we voted to skip it next year and go to Chop’s or Portofino’s instead

 

Tuesday, October 17

Ocho Rios. We had no plans but to wander around Island Village. Kids opted to stay onboard at the kid’s club. Afterwards dh and I had lunch at Windjammer and then hung out at the pool. I went to the gym and we all had a try at the rock wall at 5 p.m. It was a blast and I wish we would have done it again later in the cruise.

 

We went to the C&A return guest thing and had a drink and some snacks. We had cancelled Chops as we had steaks 2 nights already and decided we hated to miss our tablemates (they were that fun!). I think I had the pasta for dinner (blue cheese tortellini?) and it was good. Dd did the pirate parade, we went to the Mardi Gras party and to the deck party. A long, but very fun day

 

Wednesday, October 18

Grand Cayman. We had Captain Marvin’s booked from 10-1, got off the ship (first or second tender again, no problems) and discovered it was 8 a.m. there. We ended up taking the 2 hour tour versus the 3 hour one, ended up being fine. I don’t have many pictures posted as I need to pick those up (the old fashioned way, drop off your disposable/underwater cameras). We then went to Margaritaville and did some shopping.

 

We saw the Freedom tendered nearby and I took some pictures. We had the ice-show at 5 p.m. and really enjoyed it. Took some more family pictures afterwards and then enjoyed the lobster dinner. It was fabulous. We saw both Quest and Love & Marriage – I think they were either Tues/Wed or Wed/Thurs nights

 

Thursday, October 19

Our son’s 9th birthday. We had planned to go to Paradise Beach but decided no one really wanted to go. Kid’s opted for the club versus getting off the ship so we took a taxi downtown and did some shopping, then returned to a most quiet ship (we really enjoyed this aspect of the entire cruise, much more relaxing than our usual, run like crazy people version)

 

We had casual pictures taken (2 nights in total) and ate dinner together, complete w/singing for DS. He then begged for the kid’s club (who are we to argue) and we finished w/our tablemates again.

 

Friday, October 20

We lounged most of the day except to eat at Johnny Rockets (enjoyed it a lot) and Portofinos (the *best*). Packing was fairly painless. I’ve decided that the larger the room you have the easier it is to pack, more space! We said good-bye to our waiter/assistant and the concierge and handed out tips. Everyone did a super job all week and it was hard to think it was going to be over

 

Saturday, October 21

We had gray tags and left the ship about 8:40 after breakfast in the Windjammer. We were out of customs with our luggage in hand by 9:40 or so I’d say. The rental car shuttle situation sucks in Miami and dh ended up sharing a taxi to the airport to get our car. We then spent a day at the Sofitel pool (very nice), dinner at Joe’s Stone Crab and a drive down South Beach.

[Cruz4Days]

Thanks for sharing. I loved the videos!! I'll be on the Navigator, again, in a couple of weeks and can't wait. Looks like you guys had a wonderful time. What a lovely family!!

[BaMARox1991]

Looks like yall had a great time! We loved Navigator, can't wait until Rhapsody next summer, hopefully an owners suite, it looked great in the video. We had our first balcony on Navigator and I dont think I could go without one anymore. Thanks for sharing!

[nedleycan]

Thanks for all the photos! We leave in 2.5 weeks with our 9 year old daughter, and our son, who is soon to be 8. I plan on showing all these photos to them, to get them even MORE excited!