I spy with my little eye...Navigator from LA edition

[AlmondFarmer]

Please post upon finding availability to book new itineraries for Navigator of the Seas sailing from LA.  Follow thread to be alerted. 
Prize awarded to first person to discover*

 

*prize is a glass of champagne at an on board art auction. 

[FionaMG]

Two test cruises are currently showing, one for June and one for July, as posted by @mattymayon the good news west coast thread. 

[twangster]

Doesn't appear that CAS discounts are loaded for the test cruises. 

[Va4fam]

We may not be on the first West Coast cruise on Navigator, but we are definitely going to book this trip!   It will be "Love Boat" Royal Caribbean style.

 

 

[Cruising With JT]

Bump. This thread was about to fall off the main page. Tomorrow is the day! Let's go!!!

[twangster]

6 hours ago, johnt83 said:

Bump. This thread was about to fall off the main page. Tomorrow is the day! Let's go!!!

 

If you click the follow thread you can get email notifications when someone posts.  That's much more efficient compared to refreshing the main screen.

 

[Matt]

Typically, "week of" releases usually get loaded up on website Tuesday night and then "announced" Wednesday (if my memory serves me correctly).

[twangster]

If you really want to be the early bird, past trends have seen new releases open to travel agents Tuesday evening and public access on Wednesday mornings.  

Now is a great time to communicate what you are looking for to your favorite TA.

[Matt]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Now is a great time to communicate what you are looking for to your favorite TA.

This.

Having a plan with my TA saved me time (and sleep) with the Adventure of the Seas sailings.

[Cruising With JT]

2 hours ago, Matt said:

This.

Having a plan with my TA saved me time (and sleep) with the Adventure of the Seas sailings.

Totally! I've already sent a bunch of emails to gear up for when the sailings are released!

[AlmondFarmer]

8 minutes ago, KristiZ said:

That's what B2Bs are for...  

Twice to Ensenada in a week is almost two times too many. 

[KristiZ]

6 minutes ago, AlmondFarmer said:

Twice to Ensenada in a week is almost two times too many. 

Well, sure, but lounging onboard the ship while everyone else is off cooking in the sun? I'll take it!  

[twangster]

On 3/29/2021 at 12:46 PM, AlmondFarmer said:

Twice to Ensenada in a week is almost two times too many. 

I was on a B2B Carnival cruise about a decade ago.  First cruise went to Ensenada.  Second cruise went to Catalina and Ensenada.  High winds struck and we couldn't get back into Long Beach so we diverted to San Diego.  As a result of the winds we lost Catalina on the second cruise so I ended up with a B2B to Ensenada.

The good news is that they used buses to move debarking guests on cruise #1 from San Diego to Long Beach and then used the same buses to move embarking guests for cruise #2 from Long Beach to San Diego.  I was the only B2B guest and had the ship to myself for about 8 hours.  It was like Home Alone.  Cool at first but kind of weird after a few hours.  Some of the crew were able to relax and get some time off.  Didn't need to see some of them in their speedos.  Let's just say they were over the speedo limit.   

[Cruising With JT]

[Cruising With JT]

Itineraries will be released the "Week of 3/29" -- did they make the whole week April fools or something? I don't think I have ever anticipated the release of any cruise sailings like this one, and they are nowhere to be found! Come on Royal, stop keeping us waiting...

[SpeedNoodles]

1 hour ago, johnt83 said:

Itineraries will be released the "Week of 3/29" -- did they make the whole week April fools or something? I don't think I have ever anticipated the release of any cruise sailings like this one, and they are nowhere to be found! Come on Royal, stop keeping us waiting...

Per someone on the Royal Caribbean Blog Insider's FB page:  "I talked with Casino Royale today as the new Navigator sailings are still not loaded despite the date on the press release. The rep stated that they were sent a bulletin that says they are still working out the itineraries and that they will be delayed being put open for sale."

[twangster]

Rumors circulating that Royal booking agents can see and book Navigator from LA but travel agents and the public can not.

I struck out calling a couple times.  YMMV.

[twangster]

Latest agent I spoke with said an internal announcement went out announcing the delay.  The announcement doesn't mention a new release date but he said there are rumors it will be closer to the end of April. 

Interested in what other experience when calling.

[Cruising With JT]

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

Latest agent I spoke with said an internal announcement went out announcing the delay.  The announcement doesn't mention a new release date but he said there are rumors it will be closer to the end of April. 

Interested in what other experience when calling.

Thanks twangster, appreciate you sharing your experience. I will try calling Royal today to see what they say to me. It's a bummer if it is end of April, you lose that excitement of when they were originally supposed to get released and are just now just like whatever and hope it comes out soon. They should make that info public so people aren't wondering. We can't be the only ones out there wondering why Navigator out of LA isn't posted yet. Royal needs to do a better job with their marketing/Public announcements IMO. When they said back on 3/17 I believe, that day we would get the "news we've all been waiting for", it wasn't that sailings were going to start, it was the Nav out of LA which is exciting but their commitment for the week of 3/29 didn't even happen, and a few days later on 3/19 I believe they announced Adventure would come out on 3/24 which it did, thankfully. Can't wait until Nav out of LA comes out offiically to everyone!

[JeffB]

I'm not following Navigator's planned itinerary's out of LA. As a FL resident, flying to LA to take a west coast cruise isn't something I'd probably do, well, maybe. 

But I think the confusion is reflective of RCL struggling with negotiating port operations in the circumstances the CDC has created for them. With them, noting has been certain. It has to be terribly frustrating. Then, lets say senior people within RCL have a plan and it's being executed on a day to day basis with the usual hic-ups that occur with any plan.

There was a joke when I was on active duty in the USMC, a very old, long standing joke, that involved command level decisions about what camoflage cover you'd put on your helmet. "Brown side or Green side." Once a decision was made and worked its way down the chain of command, it would get changed 10X at various levels. By the time it got to the troops, it was 30minutes before the parade was scheduled and, invariably, there was a ridiculous mix of camoflage covers among Marines who are singularly identifiable by their uniformity.

I would not doubt that is exactly what is going on here with Navigators launch from LA and is behind the uncertainty and confusion.   

[cruisellama]

Might still be a few loose ends with the  port and municipality .  They may need to be part of the release approval chain for the release.

[Cruising With JT]

Just called Royal Caribbean, glad that the hold time was like under a minute. The lady I spoke to was very nice, she did confirm that there has been a delay in getting the Nav sailings out of LA posted on the website as they are still working on some critical details, guessing it's related to some of what was shared above. They want to make sure they get everything right when they are released but as of now no definite date on when they will be released. She did say that majority of incoming calls have been around the Navigator out of LA which in a way is to be expected given the anticipation. So a little more holding on friends, hope to see Nav bookings in the near future and I am counting on this thread being bumped when that does happen! 

[RoyalLaker]

Just got off the phone with D+ desk, First sailing out of LA is June 10th 2022 3 nights day 1 LA day 2 sea day  day 3 Ensenada no pricing was available. Asked when they would go sale no timeframe was given just said a announcement would go out once they are open.

[twangster]

33 minutes ago, RoyalLaker said:

Just got off the phone with D+ desk, First sailing out of LA is June 10th 2022 3 nights day 1 LA day 2 sea day  day 3 Ensenada no pricing was available. Asked when they would go sale no timeframe was given just said a announcement would go out once they are open.

The June 10 "inaugural" LA cruise date is one I've heard before.  

If you do the math with April 25 being the last turn around day in Miami it yields 46 nights.  That is the exact length of time Mariner took to go around Cape Horn in 2009.  

I wonder if they weren't ready to announce South America cruises, or maybe they plan to cut Navigator's  height and get her through the canal so they needed to delay while they figure that out and possibly add some more LA cruises.  

The other thing that comes to mind is possibly telling the deployment team to drop everything and find another non-US port to launch a ship from pronto.

[RoyalLaker]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

The June 10 "inaugural" LA cruise date is one I've heard before.  

If you do the math with April 25 being the last turn around day in Miami it yields 46 nights.  That is the exact length of time Mariner took to go around Cape Horn in 2009.  

I wonder if they weren't ready to announce South America cruises, or maybe they plan to cut Navigator's  height and get her through the canal so they needed to delay while they figure that out and possibly add some more LA cruises.  

The other thing that comes to mind is possibly telling the deployment team to drop everything and find another non-US port to launch a ship from pronto.

You have my vote on altering then stacks and a PC transit. I think the delay on open bookings here is probably a ripple effect on the first big announcement decisions, but anything possible.

[AlmondFarmer]

On 4/3/2021 at 2:02 PM, johnt83 said:

The lady I spoke to was very nice, she did confirm that there has been a delay in getting the Nav sailings out of LA posted on the website as they are still working on some critical details

So I don’t have a source for this, but rumors are that the twice weekly visit to Ensenada is posing some shore excursion problems, thus holding up itinerary releases. Currently the Donkey show is held once a week and the donkey is in his golden years. Two shows a week could cause exhaustion.  A replacement donkey is being sought out. 
I have never been and therefore can’t comment on the quality or demand for this excursion. 

[JasonOasis]

4 hours ago, twangster said:

The June 10 "inaugural" LA cruise date is one I've heard before.  

If you do the math with April 25 being the last turn around day in Miami it yields 46 nights.  That is the exact length of time Mariner took to go around Cape Horn in 2009.  

I wonder if they weren't ready to announce South America cruises, or maybe they plan to cut Navigator's  height and get her through the canal so they needed to delay while they figure that out and possibly add some more LA cruises.  

The other thing that comes to mind is possibly telling the deployment team to drop everything and find another non-US port to launch a ship from pronto.

Oh God I just realized I need more vacation days next year. There are so many great cruises on the horizon in 2022, I have 2 cruises already booked for 2022, I'm holding out to see what else Royal comes up with. Haven't booked anything for the fall yet still waiting to see what happens with LA.

[twangster]

Take two

NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS^® HEADS TO LOS ANGELES NOVEMBER 2021

Navigator of the Seas’ newest homeport of Los Angeles, California was announced – signifying Royal Caribbean’s return to the west coast after a decade-long hiatus. We’re thrilled to share we were presented with an opportunity to bring Navigatorto Los Angeles even sooner! Navigator of the Seas will now begin sailing year-round from Los Angeles, California as of November 2021. These new itineraries will open for sale the week of April 12, 2021. 

[Matt]

Interesting they picked November. Am I the only one reading into that decision as it relates to CDC?

[twangster]

9 minutes ago, Matt said:

Interesting they picked November. Am I the only one reading into that decision as it relates to CDC?

LA is still covered by the CDC, unless it's something about Florida they don't like?

[twangster]

It does take any sort of Cape Horn or Canal option off the table though.

[twangster]

I wonder if they'll move Odyssey down to Miami...

[Cruising With JT]

Just sharing the pic from Royal Caribbean as well. Wow they are sailing starting November 2021 and not June 2022? Crazy!! Good news Let's see if they will actually sail though... hopeful.

[twangster]

Maybe they figure it's better to cut their losses from reduced capacity fall Miami sailings and get her over to LA ready for a restart to coincide with something a lot closer to normal in November from LA?

By sailing empty they can minimize the transit time and start from LA red hot and raring to go plus capitalize on the CA holiday market.  

[AlmondFarmer]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

Take two

NAVIGATOR OF THE SEAS^® HEADS TO LOS ANGELES NOVEMBER 2021

Navigator of the Seas’ newest homeport of Los Angeles, California was announced – signifying Royal Caribbean’s return to the west coast after a decade-long hiatus. We’re thrilled to share we were presented with an opportunity to bring Navigatorto Los Angeles even sooner! Navigator of the Seas will now begin sailing year-round from Los Angeles, California as of November 2021. These new itineraries will open for sale the week of April 12, 2021. 

I got this memo from my travel agent as well. My thought is that by broadening the ports in which ships are scheduled to sail this fall will increase the number of areas negatively effected by not allowing ships to sail. One ship from LA is not a big thing to the area as a whole, but it is a big thing to the hundreds (thousands?) of people employed by its presence. Small vocal groups from around the country is more powerful than a larger singular group in Florida. 

[Cruising With JT]

The news today explains the delay in not releasing the itineraries the week of 3/29... now let's hope they actually release them net week 4/12 as they say so

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

4 hours ago, johnt83 said:

Just sharing the pic from Royal Caribbean as well. Wow they are sailing starting November 2021 and not June 2022? Crazy!! Good news Let's see if they will actually sail though... hopeful.

Not good news for me!!  I am supposed to be with my group of 30 family members on the Navigator in April 2022 sailing from Ft Lauderdale!!!!!!!

[PPPJJ-GCVAB]

To further elaborate on my above info...so Royal is offering us to rebook on the Freedom sailing from Miami same itinerary, same week.  My group has 7 JS and 5 Spacious Balconies and I checked the Freedom sailing and it says All Suites Sold out!!!!!!!!  Now what???  Three times booked on Navigator...all doomed!  Now it looks like what is being offered to replace the 2022 cruise doesn't have the accommodations available.  When I called the groups dept. the agent told me I have to wait about a week and someone should reach out to me.  Hoping for the best! 

[twangster]

10 minutes ago, PPPJJ-GCVAB said:

To further elaborate on my above info...so Royal is offering us to rebook on the Freedom sailing from Miami same itinerary, same week.  My group has 7 JS and 5 Spacious Balconies and I checked the Freedom sailing and it says All Suites Sold out!!!!!!!!  Now what???  Three times booked on Navigator...all doomed!  Now it looks like what is being offered to replace the 2022 cruise doesn't have the accommodations available.  When I called the groups dept. the agent told me I have to wait about a week and someone should reach out to me.  Hoping for the best! 

They have closed Freedom for new bookings so what you see on the website is not indicative of actual inventory.

They have basically frozen Freedom so they can move guests as cleanly as possible.

[micahd]

Well... This escalated quickly.

I am booked on Navigator out of FLL March of 22' and had hoped to add a west coast or Panama Canal (longshot, I know) for later in the year. Now here I am scrambling to keep the Oceanview panoramic suite I had on Navigator for the move to Freedom.

Just got off the phone with them and they can't lock me into that room until the 14th. The phone agent said they will start moving reservations on the 14th and should be done by the 23rd.

A little bummed because we LOVE Hooked seafood on Navigator, so not having that on Freedom stinks. But staying positive because Freedom was our honeymoon cruise and will now be our first cruise as a family of 3.