Navigator - Early January 09

[flan-man]

Hello & Happy Sailing!
My first cruse coming up. A group of us are taking the Navigator to Cozumel for 4 days. Thanks for the site - been researching the ship and Coz. Need to make some decisions soon as we leave early January.

Again, I am using the site to gather info - so I am getting anxious and giddy. Question: We fly into Ft Lauderdale the day before we leave - where to stay in Ft Lauderdale? I would guess that we wont be in the hotel for more than 12 hrs so I hope I am not too cheap by saying "I dont want to pay a lot for this muffler".

Second Question: Any recommendations of what to do between check-out and 3'ish? Cruise is slated to leave around 5:00 so we will want to board a bit =) earlier than 4:59...lol.

Anything you can add is appreciated!

[Sandy]

My suggestion is to get on the ship as early as possible. Sometimes they start boarding as early as noon. Why look for something to do when you can start taking advantage of all that the ship has to offer? Think of it as another afternoon at sea, with lots of places to relax, eat, and explore.

Sandy

[penny3333]

Hi flan-man, welcome to Cruise-Chat. You will need to be on board well before sailing time. In fact, you'll probably want to get there around 1 or before. That way you can board and get some lunch and a cocktail or two. The cabins are usuaully ready by 1:30. The hotels near the port will not be inexpensive. January is the heighth of the season for south Florida, so rooms near the port will be around $250. There are less expensive alternatives. If you'll check out the Port Hotels and Transfer section, you'll find lots of suggestions. Use your "Find" feature in the upper left hand corner and type in Fort Lauderdale, it will pull up all the posts made. A lot of people have suggested the Sleep Inn in Dania. We've stayed in the Renassaince and Hyatt Pier 66, for $189. We drive down, so have our own transportation, and can stay in hotels further away for less. We'll be staying at the Sea Club on A1A for $96, December 21 and 22. Hope this helps a little. Best wishes for a fantastic cruise, and once again, welcome aboard!

Ooops, for part II, take the water taxi up and down the intracoastal, make sure you go all the way to the end and have a couple of drinks or some food at Shooters and Charlie's Crab. You can get off at any of the Las Olas stops and do a little shopping. And, of course, the Fort Lauderdale beach! I think the taxi was $10/pp for all day. You can get on and off as often as you like.

[spoheat]

We board the ship as soon as they are cleared to take on new passengers and have never been sorry for the extra time to look around, and have use of the amenities before they ship "fills up". It is fun to scout around when so few people are about.

[Dave]

We board the ship as soon as they are cleared to take on new passengers and have never been sorry

Us too, when possible. A big consideration is getting to the lunch buffet before it becomes a mob scene. More than once we have been among the first people to eat and it is nice to be able to get what we want and choose a table just about anywhere. We'll then move on to get a drink at the pool bar and then look around. In essence we are staying one or two steps ahead of the crowd by boarding early.

[Sonny V]

Until everyone has discovered the same thing. I can remember when there were short lines waiting to check in at the terminal earlier. The priority boarding use to mean something too. Now, just about everyone has priority boarding. I still get to the terminal by 11am if possible.

Sonny