CableKC

Maybe I'm missing something. If you're not purchasing a dining package, you should book everything pre-cruise in your cruise planner to save 10% and pick your day/time.

I'm considering booking a NoTS 4 Night Cruise and was looking at when to go to a Specialty Dining restaurant ( likely Chops ).
Which day do you think is the best and easiet day to try to get a Specialty Dining Restaurant reservation?
I saw some YouTube Short that suggested that it's a good idea to go to these popular Specialty Dining Restaurants on Embarkation Day since a lot of people want to start off in the Main Dining Room for dinner.
Thoughts?

You can find menus in the app. For cruise itineraries that repeat over and over the menu order basically stays the same for months and months. For more unique itineraries it's a little different.

That certainly is a valid concern.  We cannot eat 2 big meals for lunch and dinner so typically if we have a big lunch we will either skip dinner entirely or just plan on getting a light snack in the evening.  That’s the primary reason why the Unlimited Dining Plan just doesn’t work for us anymore.  It’s just too much food for us these days.  I used to be able to eat that much but I can’t do it now.  It’s nice to have the flexibility to skip a meal if you want to !   I will usually make a dinner reservation (MDR, Coastal Kitchen….whatever we’ve decided on) but if we decide to skip it, it is so nice to be able to just cancel and do nothing !

Chef's table has a set menu, it won't differ no matter what ship you sail. You can look in the cruise planner and see when it is being offered as well as the menu. 

We pick a specialty lunch on a sea day. Night 1 we like to meet our MDR team and table mates. That probably wouldn't be important on a short cruise, leaving a specialty dinner something to anticipate with pleasure.

I always say night 1 is the best night for specialty dining because the welcome abord menu is boring and usually it is chaotic. Think about it, most of the staff has spent the day preparing the ship for new guest, they are tired and learning the new pax preferences. So mistakes and long wait times can happen. Specialty restaurants don't deal in volume, so it is a much more relaxing experience. 

I stayed in 6435 (4V interior) on my last Navigator cruise. I heard nothing from below, which is the MDR. I inadvertently put myself right beside a housekeeping door/work area, which was much noisier! However, when walking around Deck 6 near the back of the Promenade, it wasn't excessively noisy 90% of the time. I never heard it from the aft hallway area near the elevators. I know you'll be more forward, but that's my experience.

It sounds like you are really sensitive to sounds when you sleep.  If you are do not take a chance.  If you are just not wanting to be next to a disco it will not be a problem.  The only place I have had issues in all my cruises is being below the pool deck.  Late at night or early morning they drag the chair around.  Also being on the Navigator I am guessing you are on a 3- or 4-day cruise with two ports.  There will be as much activity in the Main Promenade.

Please allow me to share my latest experience...
 
I'm not here to bellyache, but to share that every cruise is a different experience.
 
Feb 3rd was our 2nd voyage on Navigator in a short period.  Earlier in this thread I shared some experiences from the November cruise. 
Our airplane landed on time, we got to the port extremely early, 10-ish, and they again ushered us onto the ship early, 10:15-ish.😘  The cruise was wonderful.
Getting off this time was somewhat extended.  Because we bought the shuttle from the ship, our disembarking time was 8AM.  We were at the gangplank at 8AM, but we didn't make it thru customs til 8:30.  We walked toward the bus area, to discover the three buses were already full, and they hoped some buses might return.  There were close to two more busloads of people without their scheduled ride.  They could not promise us when, or even if,  transportation might be provided.    Really?
Our flight was 1:30 PM, so I wasn't worried beyond the inconvenience of standing and waiting for an extended period.  Other folks had earlier flights and were understandably stressed.  There was a lot of very frantic taxi and Uber calls being made.  Uber was scarce, and other shuttles that I've used were already booked. 
We finally had a smaller shuttle arrive at 10:30.  We boarded and got to the airport at 11:30.  We were okay.  Folks with earlier flights might not have been. 
My point to all this, we cannot predict transportation or traffic snafu's, so I allow myself extra time.  In this case, I'm glad I didn't book the noon flight.😉 
 
 

Va4fam,
Did you go on your cruise yet out of LA?
Let me know if you were able to disembark and get to LAX before your 105pm flight out.
Thanks,

I am guilty of nearly always arriving at a terminal, early.  Being always early, I am never late. Sometimes I share  the line with other early birds as the line trudges along slowly, other times we are ushered in quickly. 
 
Most recently, (Nov '22), after landing at LAX early on the day of our cruise, but not assigned a gate nor allowed to de-plane til an hour later, it reinforced why I get most places as early as possible.  Our shuttle got us to the ship at 1030.  There, we saw many hundreds of other early birds standing on a sidewalk, mostly obscuring any signage of where folks were supposed to be, including obscuring the entrance for suite guests.  There was no help from the ship or port of any kind to get folks organized or to direct guests where they should be.  We only found by accident, the suite entrance, with the help of other passengers trying to find their correct line.  And once we were in the correct line, and still quite early, 5-minutes later we were on the boat. 
 
My point... Even the cruise ports and ships understand, passengers do their best to be there at the correct time.  Passengers don't always have control of transportation schedules.  The ships do their best to get folks boarded in spite of being out of their scheduled boarding window. 

If your going to fly in the morning of to save money, then split the difference and at least get travel insurance.

Our flight leaving LAX is 1:05 pm.   Should be plenty of time even with typical LA traffic.

If you're sure about getting to the port at 9:45, make a note of the date you can check-in so you can go online to reserve an early time; the earliest I've gotten is 10:30. At my last sailing from the Port of LA in August, they had designated lines for different check-in times and took less than 30 minutes to be on the ship.

In July we got to the port at 10:15 and they were already boarding by the time we got through check-in.

When you select a check in time, you select a window, such as 1100-1130. That’s the leeway.  
 
Yes, I am aware that Suites and people who have purchased the Key have their own rules, and most of the time, their own lines.  I’m also aware that some ports don’t enforce the times like others do.  
Arriving earlier than the assigned time, no matter the justification, just adds to the confusion of Embarkation day. 

Boarding Voyager in Boston back in October was a disaster because of all the people who disregarded their assigned times.  

So the prices for all of that will be based on a few factors: When you are sailing and how your sailing is doing. Royal uses dynamic pricing, so more demand means higher prices. Summer and holiday sailings have more demand.
The cost for the unlimited soda package will be $8.99-13.50 plus gratuity. All prices are per person.
On a 4N sailing you could get the Chops+1 dining special which would allow you to dine at Chops plus any other restaurant you choose, and it has been about $84+ gratuity. Each restaurant on their own may be between $35-70+ gratuity.
Chef's table will probably be around $84+ gratuity.
 

We're heading out on the Navigator next week for a 7-day cruise and the earliest check-in time available was 11am. I read somewhere that you have an hour buffer (before and after) for arriving. So technically, we could arrive at 10am or noon and be fine to check-in.
I would also suggest trying to fly in at least the day before to give yourself some time in case something goes wrong (delays, cancellations, lost luggage, etc) just to be safe! I don't see them denying boarding to someone who arrives outside their "check-in window" though - especially if they're running late and it's close to sail time.
Just be sure to have all your important documents, medication, etc in your carry on luggage since it may be a few hours (they have until 4pm I think) before you get your luggage that was dropped off with the porters. If you do get there early, you can tour the ship - we always check-out the spa and make our reservations for the week then have a leisurely lunch in the Windjammer before we head down to our room to unpack. They usually make an announcement of when your rooms are ready and then they unlock the hallways. I hope this helps! Enjoy your cruise! 

I am an advocate of flying in the day of the cruise if you are solo and it's the first direct flight out. If you don't meet those requirements, you should fly in the day or night beforehand unless you absolutely can't. Also keep in mind the time it takes to get any check luggage, get to the taxi/Lyft/Uber area and then finally start the journey to the port.
That being said, the LAX cruise port is small and doesn't really have much in the way of a waiting area. They will enforce check-in times because of this. This also means getting on a ship early may not be an option because disembarkment is often delayed. So, if your flight arrives around 9:45 and you have an 12pm check-in you will probably wait at least an hour. 

You will be assigned a check in time of your choice when you do your online check in about 45 days before your cruise...thats when you should arrive at the terminal

When you check in online for your cruise, approx 45 days before, you will choose one of the available times to arrive at the terminal. 

It’s been more than a year, but when I last sailed on Nav, nobody at the port was checking arrival times. 

We went on Navigator this last spring, we got there about noon but we drove , some got on before us but not that many, the ship empties out at about 9 and starts boarding just before noon, rooms didn't open till 1 or 1:30. At 9:45, my guess is you will be sitting in a chair for two hours in the terminal then another hour or two in the windjammer. Fly in the day before and take your time. The whole process took about 30 minutes but between 9 and noon much of the crew goes ashore and it takes hours to clean the rooms, they lock the hallways so nobody gets in until all the rooms are ready. Much of the rest of this ship is closed off, the pool deck and some other areas are pretty much it until about 1 pm. With airlines today, I wouldn't risk a same day arrival especially with checked luggage , I'm nervous about a one day prior arrival but I've done it and been fine. I've never flown in same day but have flown out same day at the end of a cruise when luggage isn't an issue.

How has your experience been with taking their shuttle service?
Given that there are 7 of us, I'd have to book a bigger van / shuttle to accomodate my larger group.   
Are the vehicles clean and not dated?
It may sound shallow, but I want to be sure that if I book a transportation service that it's clean and well kept so that the trip starts off on good footing.