The cruise was wonderful!

We are home from the cruise and it was wonderful. Everyone we spoke to told us we would love cruising and we did. Royal Caribbean was fantastic.

Embarkation in Galveston was a snap. We parked at the pier parking lot, and were early enough to get covered parking ($70.00).  A shuttle bus picked us and our luggage up and drives you to the pier. The porter takes your luggage and off you go to check in. We tipped the shuttle driver and the porter. On the other hand debarkation was a bit more challenging. You leave your luggage outside your stateroom door the night before debarkation. Then when you leave the ship you pick it up in your assigned number area and then go through customs. It was a bit of a zoo. In the future we will self-debark, which means we will not put our luggage out and just take it off ourselves and then go directly to customs, out to the shuttle which will take us to our car. Will save some hassle and get us out about an 1 1/2 earlier.  Live in and learn, next time will be easier..

The food was always delicious and the service was fantastic. Like a 5 star restaurant every dinner. We had rack of lamb, lamb shank, steak, shrimp (almost every meal), lobster, salmon, cod, etc etc etc. And the deserts were out of this world. Fantastic. They also served breakfast and lunch. The breakfast bar had a wonderful selection of granola, dried and fresh fruits and yogurt. Omelets were special too – using prosciutto, smoked salmon etc. At lunch the salad bar was spectacular with so many unique choices. Dinner service was always the same table and the same wait staff. We were fortunate to have Attila from Istanbul, Turkey and Walter from Lima, Peru. Both men were extremely professional, friendly and made the dining experience so special. 
 

Sapphire Dinning Room

The room was great. I expected the inside staterooms to be closet size, but they were very roomy with plenty of storage. We lived in our RV for 6 years traveling the country and this room allowed us more space than the RV bedroom/bath. Carleen, from Jamaica, was our room attendant and she was great. Every time we were in and out of our room during the day, she was right behind us, tiding up, remaking or straightening our the bed covers, folding cloths if we left them on the bed, emptying waste baskets, and making sure the bathroom was always tidy and fresh.

 

The service on the ship was wonderful. The staff works so hard and extremely long hours, always with a smile and a kind greeting either when you pass by or they are waiting on you. Gratuity is applied to your sail pass card (which is also your room key) and they deserve it. We did get three envelopes from the guest relations desk and we left each of the waiters and room attendant extra tip. This is optional, but we felt they deserved it as they made our vacation so enjoyable.

There are plenty of activities on ship. Something is always happening. Royal goes above and beyond to make sure you are having a great time. Lots of activities at the poolside, on various decks, at different bars and lounges, a champagne art auction, and wonderful shows in the main theater (comedians, musical stage shows, musicians, variety acts). This Navigator of the Sea has an ice rink and they have a great “Dancing on Ice” show. You can also ice skate during the day. Of course all of this is included in your sail price.

Or if you rather you can just sit on the deck and watch the ocean pass by. We enjoyed doing a lot of this during the day. Deck 4 outside and the Cosmopolitan Club on deck 14, were great places to hang-out.

Cosmopolitan Club Deck 14

The ship was immaculately clean. At certain times of the day and evening the promenade can be a bit to noisy for my taste, but we quickly learned when to avoid this area. The Promenade Cafe is open 24/7 so that was a great place to get a quick sandwich, pizza or treat. 

Promenade Deck 5

Everyday you get a Cruise Compass which lets you know what is happening that day. I took a yellow highlighter with me which came in handy to highlight what we wanted to do.

They do provide different opportunities to take shore excursions at each port, or you can do your own thing on shore, but we chose to stay onboard at each port. Almost everyone (there we 4,000 passengers) got off at the ports, so it was like we had the ship to ourselves. Was a great thing. They still feed you in the dinning room, the pool bar is open (others open at 3pm). There is no one, or very few, people at the pool and the wonderful hot tubs. So it is wonderful to stay onboard and enjoy the solitude. So relaxing. We did not take the cruise for the port destinations (I am not a shopper and the time on shore is short), we took it for the cruise itself and what the ship had to offer, which was far and above wonderful! The Navigator of the Sea is a beautiful ship.

I look forward to cruising again with Royal Caribbean and am planning to do so soon!