Navigator, Nov 11th, 7-Day Mexican Riviera from Los Angeles...

[WAYNO]

LAX was a huge bottle neck, but once we  escaped the airport, our shuttle, Execu-Car made short work getting us to the ship.  And we were still plenty early. 

Finding the correct line at the terminal was a struggle. There was very little signage and even less usher help. But once other passengers helped us find the correct place in line, we were shoo'd right through.

After a visit to our muster station, we opted for the Windjammer.  Contrary to public opinion, this food was outstanding.  I must repeat myself.  This food was absolutely delicious.

And a view from the Deck 9 sitting area overlooking the Promenade.

[Ampurp85]

Happy cruising. I found Port LAX to be a mess.

The WJ was okay on my Nav sailing, but taste is all perspective. 

[BigKarl]

Your "Live Blog" was too short.  I need more info.  LOL   

Have a great trip!

[WAYNO]

Day one was very busy. I'll now do a little catching up..

We met with TessOr and her husband  from this forum in the Diamond Lounge and had a delightful introduction and visit. Coffee and water were the only drinks available until just before we left, when other drinks became also available. And by then the lounge was packed with guests.

MDR... 5:30 dinner was   wonderful. We had prime rib.  The wait staff and/or cook  staff was spread thin, and it took a long time to be served all our courses.  I finally excused myself at 7:20, before the rest of our table mates, as the ship was putting on a Veterans tribute in the Promenade I didn't want to miss.

The maestro of the small orchestra at the Vet's ceremony is a Marine, so between him and the cruise director, the presentation was done right.  Thanks for that. 

Luggage to our room was later than I've ever experienced, so I had to wear my traveling clothes until bed time.

 

It was the cabin attendants doing all the luggage delivery. I didn't unpack my suitcase til after midnight.

The casino... Let's just say I paid for my next cruise. The slots were tight.  The entire casino is a smoking zone. A yuck for me personally.   

This boat seems a bit aged, but the housekeeping is mostly top notch. 

It's now after noon on the next day while I'm writing.  A task for me on a cell phone.  Oh... And the VOOM works perfectly on my android phone, but not so  well on my wife's i-phone.

Excuse me now while I get  dressed and find some breakfast.  Sleeping in was a blessing.

Our Royal Up was not successful, so our most wonderful Junior Suite will remain our home for a week.

[WAYNO]

Day 3 already.  I slept in til 8.  I must be getting rested up.

This cruise has been quite wonderful.  We closed Windjammers last night and again it was perfect.  I just was not in the mood to get all dressed up for the MDR.

Today they are having us change our clocks to local time.  That's only the second time we've been told to not stay on ships time.  Not a big deal for me as I have a dinosaur watch, but many folks who rely on electronic time are already converting the time in their head.  Gee... My Fitbit says 9:30, so it must be 10:30.

We meet at 1:00 this afternoon (ship time or local time?) to be ushered to a tender and ultimately to our geezer tour. I really like these low impact excursions, especially on my first visit anywhere.  

We are thankful to be a part of all this. 

[WAYNO]

Day 3 continued... Tendered to the port and got on our tour bus.  The tour guide was a very friendly and outgoing person.  The tour would have been enjoyable even had we not left the parking lot.  I was surprised to discover Cabo is really a nice place.  Much nicer than any place on the Caribbean side.  There was a downside, only for us, at the conclusion of the tour.  As my wife stepped off the bus, there was immediately a tall and poorly marked curb.  And she tripped to the ground.  Pretty banged up, but pride won't allow her to complain.

Once on the ship,  it was long after our scheduled dining time.  We dined once more in the Windjammer. And once more, the food and service was great.  I've had few complaints with most of the Royal buffets, but I think the buffet on the Navigator has been the best of their fleet.

Time for bed.  We have an early excursion in Mazatlan tomorrow.

Good night.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Hope your wife is ok !!  I hate that kind of fall.  You hurt your pride but it really hurts your body, too !!

[WAYNO]

Day 5...

I'm running out of gas so I am behind on my live blog.

Mazatlan yesterday.  Surprisingly huge town.  Spent 3 hours off and on a trolley on a tour of old town.  Old town is pretty derelict.  Every vacant lot or building is full of garbage, everywhere.  There are so many tripping hazards on the sidewalks I would not suggest this tour to anybody even remotely unstable on their feet.  But there were also many interesting and beautiful sights mixed in.  The church for example.  It was magnificent. 

More later.  Off to our Puerto Vallarta tour...

 

7 hours later... We're back on the ship after a long but fruitful final excursion.  I thought Mazatlan was big yesterday, but Puerto Vallarta was much larger,  nicer, more modern and cleaner.  It's a town I could live in and miss very little of what we're used to up north.  

We got on a bus, rode around and stopped on beaches, took a long walking tour of marketplaces, and snack and drink areas.  We ended up at a tequila distillery.  That in itself was little different than many  other distillery tours, but this one included a pretty amazing presentation of music and dancing while we ate an actually quite nice lunch.

  As far as bus tours go, I do recommend this tour, the downtown Puerto Vallarta Tour Fiesta and BBQ.  The bus was very nice, the air conditioning worked well and again the tour guide and driver did a great job.

It's almost 4 PM.  We're sneaking in a little nap before dinner.  Haven't yet decided on the MDR or elsewhere.

Interestingly, we've been running pretty constant on this cruise and haven't been on an outside deck other than our wonderful balcony.

[WAYNO]

Day 7...

Yesterday and today both sea days.  This cruise has been different for us.  We've not seen a show of any kind, nor have we been on an outside deck.  We've met and visited with a ton of people and have stayed busy this way.  We've also spent quite a bit of time in the casino winning our next cruises.  I said earlier the machines were tight.  Not so much so on subsequent days.  This casino was different, in that we never saw a host desk and never met a casino host.

And the MDR... Apparently very understaffed.  As kind and wonderful as our servers were, orders took forever.  Even drinks were incredibly slow or non-existent.  Because this cruise and especially the crew was otherwise great, I'm only offering this as an observation.

I don't have much interest in the sales in the Promenade, but I shop with my wife.  There really were very few changes in the offerings throughout the cruise.  And their 75% off sales, which are their everyday prices, are still far more expensive than the same items at home.  Maybe for some folks around the world, this is still a good deal, as the Promenade marketing never changes.

Bottom line... I have very much enjoyed this cruise.  We are doing this same cruise two more times in the coming months.  The only thing I will consider changing is our tour excursions.  In all three ports, there are vehicles, larger than a golf cart and smaller than a Jeep, operating as taxi's. And they are substantially cheaper and far more customizable than the canned tours sold by the ship.  We talked with other passengers hiring these taxi's for the entire day and they were well pleased.  

Now, to the   before .

 

 

[WAYNO]

This cruise is complete and I am home.  I must now cook and clean without a crew to do it for me.  I am easily spoiled.

 

This was a terrific cruise.  Some things were different than other cruises, but overall I was very pleased.  We are doing this same cruise a couple more times before spring, so we can better tailor what we want to do.

 

All three ports we visited in the Mexican Riviera were far more domestic and civilized than  any Caribbean Port of Call.

 

I hoped to meet more of the  folks on this cruise from this forum, but it only worked out that we were to meet two.  We did however meet many other people.  I think this cruise, from the West Coast, and with mostly West Coast clientele, was a friendlier cruise than many others. 

 

I hate to be critical in a blog, as that's contrary to this blogs spirit, so I will only mention, the Port of LA, both at the ship terminal and at LAX, did not flow very well.  The lines into the ship terminal, and they were extensive, were poorly defined.  People did not know where to be, and there was very little help when we could have used it.  We were in a suite, so we were allowed to use the much shorter suite line.  Sounds good, if only we knew where such a line or entrance was.  We were there a long time until we found the suite entrance, only because some other cruisers knew where it was and shared that information.  Getting off the ship was also a cluster.  Folks wanting to get off the ship early and onto a waiting bus, waiting nearly an hour after the scheduled time, would be sweating if they had an early flight.  All the more reason I never trust that I can get to an early flight. 

 

Until we meet again...

 

WAYNO.

 

 

 

 

[Va4fam]

On 11/17/2022 at 11:08 AM, WAYNO said:

And the MDR... Apparently very understaffed.  As kind and wonderful as our servers were, orders took forever.  Even drinks were incredibly slow or non-existent.  Because this cruise and especially the crew was otherwise great, I'm only offering this as an observation.

IBottom line... I have very much enjoyed this cruise.  We are doing this same cruise two more times in the coming months.  The only thing I will consider changing is our tour excursions.  In all three ports, there are vehicles, larger than a golf cart and smaller than a Jeep, operating as taxi's. And they are substantially cheaper and far more customizable than the canned tours sold by the ship.  We talked with other passengers hiring these taxi's for the entire day and they were well pleased.  

 

Following along.........we are doing B2B cruises (7 night/4 night) on Navigator in February and looking forward to it.  Concerned about the comments about understaffing that have popped up on several trip reports.   Can you tell us more about the golf cart taxi and what type of experience they offer and the cost?

 

[WAYNO]

First, understaffing in the MDR only means it could take two hours for a world class meal.  An inconvenience, and maybe a person has to skip dessert to make a show.  But I won't complain when otherwise we are being treated Royally.

 

The vehicles I speak of are a pulmonia.  One couple on our ship paid 100 bucks American for an all day private tour.  The pulmonia stood by any time they wanted off, and was ready when they wanted to continue. Apparently, depending on bartering skills, the same tour can cost $60 to $150. I can only imagine the sky is the limit on what services or types of tours are offered by the individual drivers.  The one I know of, described by a couple we met on the cruise, was the driver provided an all day tour, seeing the sights suggested by the driver, with additional stops anywhere the customer wants, for as long as they want.

 

google pulmonia taxis and you'll get many hits.  Here's an example...

https://www.acoupleofdrifters.com/tours-in-mazatlan/