Back from Navigator/ Cozumel/ Belize

[shelby]

Well we arrived home Sunday night and are just now slowing down from laundry and Christmas.

I know there are several people heading out on Navigator in the near future. So if you have any specific questions fire away.

The ship was gorgeous, the Grand Suite was perfect!(the conceirge was a joke, waste of an advertisement) We had wonderful weather.
Embarking and and disembarking were smooth as silk.

We did Snorkeling and bannister Caye in Belize and it was amazing. The only big disappointment of the trip is they wanted us back by 3:15 on the ship with even with a 3 hour snorkeling tour we couldn't fit enough time in to go into the city and back by 3;15. I think RC needs to realize people want to see the ports for more than 10 minutes. Something we will definately watch more closely when we book next time.

In Cozumel we went to Tulum, fabulous as well.
Everything as they advertised. Now a lady I talkked to the last day say they went directly west of Belize to ruins (? not sure what they would be) but she said they did not advertise the trip well, they weren't expecting the long trek with no food water. We were fully expecting the trip and brought water and snacks and RCCL sent box lunches and water for everyone and we weren't expecting that.

It is like 38 degress here so I have been daydreaming about Mexico all morning. Since this is our last vacation for over a year I guess i better hoard my daydreams.

Any questions?

[gkyagermom]

Hey Shelby, welcome back to the cold, cold world. We're doing the same cruise at the end of February. Any and all details would be great. I have just one cruise in my history, and it was on a much smaller Carnival ship. Could you pass along tidbits like which places were really crowded, what the entertainment was like, whether you ate at the specialty restaurants, etc? An actual moment-by-moment retelling would be great for us people waiting two whole months to go. ;-}

[shelby]

The Promenade was crowded anytime there was an event/ giveaway. The rest of the time it was good. This is where the free pizza, cookies, and sandwiches, cofee are- Cafe Promenade. I didn't see anywhere where it was advertised so unless you ask it takes a little bit to figure it out- it is also misleading b/c the ben and Jerrys is there too- you pay for the IC not the rest.

The ice show was really good but I heard it was by ticket this one was first come first serve. They had in total 3 showings on 2 different nights.

It really wasn't crowded much at all, other than the elevators. We didn't do Portfinos, or theChops Steakhouse.Hubby went to Johnny Rockets and enjoyed it.
We ate in the main dining room for Breakfast and dinner each night. Just remember if you have preferences- like cream in you coffee, coke todrink,etc let your waiter know the first night and they will remember all week. The staff was great on this ship.

We watched the opening show which was good, and Kenny James- a singer but we didn't enjoy this because it was all Motown hits-before our time.
We didn't go to the game shows but I heard they were hilarious.

[queenofcruzin]

The concierge was a joke ?

Tell us more Shelby....

And you missed the Quest ? Too funny, ALWAYS, too miss....

[shelby]

Well I don't know what I was expecting but we had togoinsearch ofhim. The papersaidDeck 9 but that was all it said so you have to search all of deck 9 to find it as it is not on any map.
Secondly we figured he could give some ideas and or book our excursions , so we waited until boarding to reserve them. We told him what we were looking for and asked his suggestions and he said- don't book anything just get a taxi and go to a beach. and the whole time he was searching the room and he said one sentence to us and ran off to another couple. That was it. We ended up having to stand in line with everyone else to book our excursions ourselves.

There were no ice tickets to get, we had to practically beg him for a drink and there was nothing else offered. I don't know what we missed but I was totally unimpressed. I never saw him other than that. We went in other nights but he either wasn't there or busy talking to someone or on the computer.
We asked him the weather the next day and he didn't have a clue. WHat is the purpose of this guy anyway>

[queenofcruzin]

I did find the Concierge club hard to find on The Adventure of the Seas, but very easy to find on the Enchantment. But you should never be treated like that. The concierge (guy or gal) can be very helpful, but I make sure I find a quiet time in their schedule, (not when we are all clamoring for drinks). On the Enchantmnet this time, drinks were git yer own ! Julian was SO BUSY ! But we met so many nice people, someone was always jumping up to get us a drink....gentlemnly behavior at its finest !! The excursion fiasco should never have happenendd, RCI would NOT happy to know their concierge sent you on your own. Hope the Granduer of your Grand Suite made up for some of this....

[gkyagermom]

Thanks for the info Shelby, and keep it coming! How were the pool areas? Easy to get a chair?

Also, for those who have been with RC, I'm not really sure what Quest is--I've seen photos of people scrambling for pants, I've heard it can be risque'....but what IS it?

[shelby]

We didn't have any problem with chairs in the shaded areas, the sunnest areas had lots of towels, few people, among the signs that said "RC does not allow saving of lounge chairs"

The hot tubs were always full- usually of the few teens that were on board. Even the Solarium hot tubs- they were adult only but it did say 16 and over were allowed.

I have not been to Quest either. We have typically missed the game show shows.

[Sonny V]

Shelby, I don't understand why you didn't get service from the concierge; is this the same guy?

This is the concierge on our April cruise on the Navigator

Sonny

[shelby]

You know Sonny- I think so- however I couldn't swear to it because we didn't use him for anything. I think I can honestly say the times we went there we spent about 3 minutes with him.We introduced ourselves, he got us a drink, and told us what i said about the beach. And walked away and we never could get him again.

I guess he is always there? (during his hours?) I'm not sure maybe we were doing something wrong. But when we went to order our excursions he shrugged us off and looked bothered because we wanted to look at the excursion sheet on his desk and went back to what he was doing on his computer. Maybe we didn't look like good tippers?