Navigator of the Seas February 25 Cruise Review

For any who may be interested here it is:

We arrived at the pier to see the lineup to get on the ship out the
door. We were surprised since on our last cruise we arrived at roughly
the same time (11am) and were able to walk right up to the second level.
That being said, embarkation was fast and efficient. We were on board in
30 minutes. Have your online check in done beforehand and you'll be on
quickly. Ate our first meal at the Windjammer and it was the usual
Windjammer quality- no complaints. Our dinner reservations were a little
mixed up. We had asked for a table for 8 on the second level near the
railing and we ended up with a table for 4 on the first floor over in
the corner. This was quickly rectified with no trouble and we ended up
with a table for 8. As it turned out, only one of the three other
couples showed up but I have to say we had a great time with our other
two table mates. A very nice couple.

I have to say that the food was quite nice on the NOS but the dinner
menus were almost the same as what we had on the Explorer of the Seas
two years earlier. Lobster tail, jerk chicken are two evening meals that
come to mind. I was disappointed to see the same food pretty much but it
was still delicious and our waiter and assistant water were quite nice.
Also, the alternative menu was the same every night. My wife is not a
great seafood fan so on 3 nights she had to select from the same
alternate menu. A little variation is needed here.

The slot machines still pay out as well as they normally do - barely
nothing and we played them far less this time than last time. I
discovered roulette on the last day and next time I get back on any ship
I'll be saving all my slot money for that game. They push bingo a lot on
this ship and the money they make off bingo is scandalous really. When
you look around the Theatre and see how many are playing and how little
money they give back then you'll understand. We played near the end of
the week when the jackpot was riding high and once for the free cruise
they "gave away". However, considering there was about 100 people in
there playing at $20 a head one quickly realized RCI wasn't giving
anything away - the players were. I wish they would drop this game - it
is the only negative of the entire cruise for me but as my wife would
say, you can always stay away.

San Juan was a pleasant surprise for us. We really expected nothing from
this stop other than an opportunity to stretch our legs but we were
really impressed with the architecture and the town. We wandered for
hours in and out of shops and around the town. Took lots of pictures and
really enjoyed our day. That evening we spent a few hours in the Casino
downtown (contrary to previous reports shorts were ok in there) and had
a little more luck in there than on the ship but not much.

St Thomas was beautiful. We spent the morning at Coki Beach swimming and
snorkeling. After you exit the taxi you'll be met by one of the local
guys who runs the little shop renting snorkeling gear and beach chairs.
No hard push just an offer. We took the snorkeling gear for $10.
Snorkeling with the little doggie biscuits out near the rocks was
amazing. I've never seen so many fish. The beach was safe, quiet and
clean. Get there in the morning if you was to enjoy the beach with a few
less people on it. The afternoon was spent shopping at Havensight (got a
good deal on a watch at the Royal Caribbean Store) and we took the sky
ride to the top of St Thomas for a beautiful view of the port. The
highlight of the day for us.

St Maarten was a little disappointing for 2 reasons. It rained in the
morning which put the stop on our plans to go out to Simpsons Bay beach
to swim and watch the jumbo jets land - next time I guess. The second
reason is the newest scam - scratch and win tickets being pushed by
every scumbag on St Maarten. Everyone is a winner of course and to get
your $500 all you need to do is listen to a talk about timeshares or
Windjammer cruises. Thankfully the first person to really get our
attention on this also happened to be a heroin addict (as witnessed by
the thousand or so needle marks on her) so we quickly learned that this
was a scam. We wandered around town, bought some booze (included
Guavaberry) and spent the afternoon on the beach near the pier. It was
ok but not what I had hoped to see. Next time we would go back for sure
but would visit one of the outer beaches.

Day at sea on Thursday was spent relaxing around the pool, eating,
enjoying the entertainment. It was a nice day and I really enjoyed the
chance to rest after the last 3 days.

Friday in Nassau was ok. We went to Paradise island and visited the
beach. We had been there before but in hindsight this was a mistake. By
the time we got off the ship (slow clearing in the Bahamas) and got out
to the beach it was almost 3pm. We had to be back on the ship at 6:30.
But anyway, we spent some time there, grabbed a taxi and then spent some
time in the town and in the straw market. Nassau is a nice city and
nobody bothered us. Would go back for sure. Friday night we ate at
Chops. It was without a question THE food higlight of the week. The
steaks were incredible and it was nice to spend a quiet dinner with our
table mates.

Saturday leaving the ship was incredible. We were off the ship, looking
for a taxi and wondering where it all went by 8:15am and were were not
the first color tags called! Unfortunately, I based our air return
flights on the last cruise where we didn't get off until 11am. So we had
to wait until 3pm to fly out. Next time I'll book a 1pm flight back
home. Also note RCI now allows you to check out at 6:30 am if you are
able to carry your own luggage. Its something new.

Overall I would give the cruise a 9 out of 10. The ship was beautiful,
clean and well taken care of. The food was delicious (although a little
repetitive when compared to EOS two years ago), the entertainment was
well done and we had great calm seas. A wonderful time!

"Mike" wrote in message
...
For any who may be interested here it is:

Mike, thanks for your interesting review...Sorry to hear that Royal
Caribbean has not done anything about the quality of their food..It is
ashame as their ships are so beautiful

I have heard others speak of the sky ride in St. Thomas and as many times as
we have been there, we have never taken it..Just where is it located?

As far as slots are concerned, I think the pay off is slim to nothing on all
the cruise ships that we have taken..I think that I have done the best on
Carnival.

Sorry about your visit to St. Maarten..maybe next time you will luck out
weather wise.

Thanks for an enjoyable read.

--Jean

Jean O'Boyle wrote:

I have heard others speak of the sky ride in St. Thomas and as many times as
we have been there, we have never taken it..Just where is it located?

You can see it from the ship and Havensight

Across from the Port of Sail Mall,
http://stthomasskyride.com/location.html
provides interactive mapping

Thanks for the review. I love the Navigator. One of my favorite ships
to date. The crew has to be some of the best that I have encountered on
a ship.

Gordon
http://cruisingator.smugmug.com/

"Jean O'Boyle" wrote:


"Mike" wrote in message
...
For any who may be interested here it is:

Mike, thanks for your interesting review...Sorry to hear that Royal
Caribbean has not done anything about the quality of their food..It is
ashame as their ships are so beautiful

I have heard others speak of the sky ride in St. Thomas and as many times as
we have been there, we have never taken it..Just where is it located?

My pictures of this are at
http://69.63.134.90/gallery/view.php?id=2594

And some explanation at
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/tt/73804/#TL

As far as slots are concerned, I think the pay off is slim to nothing on all
the cruise ships that we have taken..I think that I have done the best on
Carnival.

Sorry about your visit to St. Maarten..maybe next time you will luck out
weather wise.

Thanks for an enjoyable read.

--Jean



grandma Rosalie