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Mini TR-11 Days in Mexico on Navigator-the Good, and not so Good


Va4fam

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Returned last week from our B2B (7 day/4 day) cruises on Navigator from Los Angeles.   Got to see all 5 of the West Coast ports on one trip.    The 7 day trip was booked back in 2019 but cancelled due to COVID and then we rescheduled because of family conflicts.   Decided to add the 4 night Ensenada/Catalina trip just a few months ago since we would already be on the West Coast and it would get us closer to the next C & A tier.

This was our 2nd time sailing Navigator but first since the amplification.  Really like the improvements.

Embarkation# 1- San Pedro.  Arrived 30 minutes early to join several hundred people that also arrived early.   Very long lines almost to the Battleship parked behind Navigator terminal.  No signs, no checking arrival times, very little organization.   At some point one line became two (carry on items or checked bags) but 2 lines became 3....then 4 as new arrivals from the parking lot frequently cut in line near the front.   Finally reached the porters to check our bag about 45 minutes after arrival and the rest of check in took less than 10 minutes.  

Room-JS on deck 11 near the front.   This room may have been added during amplification and had modern decor.    No walk in closet and perhaps the smallest bathroom we have ever had.  I can only describe the balcony with one word....ENORMOUS.   It was twice the size of our stateroom, you could easily host a game of beach volleyball out there.  2 loungers, 2 chairs, and a table.   The only drawbacks were the extra screening glass above the balcony rail prevented some nice pictures, and the wind really whipped around on a couple of sea days.   The location of the cabin on deck 11 was awesome, just steps away from Solarium, and pool deck.   Very quiet.  

Joseph, our room attendant, was very friendly and left us wine glasses, 4 sets of towel animals, cruise compasses, and took good care of us.  

Pool and Bars-wow!   Looks nearly identical to Oasis now.   Plenty of room to spread out, great bar service, solarium was perfect for several chilly days.

Dining Room-very disappointing.   We went 3 times, the tenderloin on night one was so bad that nearly everyone in our section didn't eat it or returned it.  Our head waiter and assistant waiter were also disappointing.   No salt/pepper, no butter, no water refills, no checking on our food, extremely slow to take orders and deliver food, and frequently nowhere to be found.  Many of the tables in front or behind us had different wait staff that seemed to perform more efficiently than our duo.  

Chef's Table-we did this on the last night of the first cruise.  Outstanding.  Food, Wine, Service.   (I am not expecting Chef's table quality at main dining room)

Windjammer-Navigator has 2 greeters during breakfast and lunch that sing songs you might know....except they insert Washy, Washy in the song when they can.  Think "Dancing Queen" except it became "Washy Queen."  They were great.   We had multiple meals at the WJ and think they did a nice job.   Plenty of food choices.  What happened to the waffles at breakfast and chocolate chip cookies during lunch and dinner?

Izumi (sushi only)-Went for Valentine's Day.  Great views and service.   Sushi rolls were tasty.

Playmaker's & the Pub- went several times for pitchers of beer and appetizers, shuffleboard and large connect4.  One night a family was playing the jumbosized Jenga and had a big crowd on the Promenade watching.    The Pub featured a great singer, Darla Fox, who played just about anything you requested.  

Cafe Promenade-great place for a quick breakfast bite or late night pizza and cookies.   The pizza tastes a lot better than the pizza on Brilliance last summer.

Gym and Jogging Track-the gym was modern (but hot) and a little undersized.   Went 6 of the 11 days.  Jogging track looked nice but not very practical during daytime hours.

Navigator Dunes-this might be the nicest cruise ship mini golf course we've played.  And we play all of them.   Don't miss it.

Cruise Staff-The captain was nice and always ended his announcements with "See You Around."   Cruise Director Thiago was energetic and seemed to be everywhere all the time.  Andy "Elton John" did a great sing a long in the Schooner Bar.   Guest Services were top notch and solved two issues for me that had nothing to do with the ship.

Entertainment- We went to the Showgirls-past, present, future peformance.....costumes and music were great.   The main singer could have dialed it back a couple of notches.   Also went to the iSkate ice show....just wanted to see the drones but the entire show was top notch with great music and skating.  Don't miss it.   Saw the World Champion Juggler, he was good too.   70s and 80s dance parties on the promenade were well done and fun. 

Casino-smoky at times but not overwhelming.   We used our free slot play but nothing else. 

Ports-Los Cabos (tender) was an interesting experience.   We waited 2 hours for the tender and it was Super Bowl Sunday in Cabo.  Entire beach turned into a SB party.   We did a beach massage and ate and drank at the bar but had to walk all the way back to the pier since water taxis stopped running at 4 pm.  Lesson learned.  Back on the ship we watched the 4th quarter of Super Bowl on the pool deck and ate Johnny Rockets. 

Mazatlan-did the Deer Island kayak excursion through Royal ....it was nice but the actual kayaking part was just okay.   Had enough time to do hire a Pulmonia (golf cart) driver for a tour of the city including taking us to El Faro lighthouse (we climbed it) and ran into the Captain and his wife.   Our driver took us to a locals only taco place on the way back.  Great day.  Next time we will tour Mazatlan on our own.

Puerto Vallarta-shared a van with family to the Los Puertos beach area.   Walked the boardwalk and paid for beach chairs/umbrella/tacos/beer on the beach.   Did not venture into the ocean, water was cold and current was strong.   Super busy area with lots of people on beach for a Tuesday.   We liked PV so much we may try to do a land based rental next time.

Cruise # 2-about 35 of us gathered in the Star Lounge and disembarked, went through Customs, and got right back on the ship.   Took less than 30 minutes.   We were switching rooms to a GTY Balcony.  Our room attendant moved our bags to the new room.  Our stateroom on deck 6 was nicer than the JS on deck 11.   Lots of room, more storage, bigger bathroom, but tiny balcony.   We were right above the Star Lounge but it was very quiet, convenient to walk down one flight of stairs to the Promenade.

Our new room attendant, Christina, was energetic and personable.   This 4 night cruise was chilly so we asked for a blanket.....it was waiting for us when we came back from dinner.  She was awesome and serviced the room 2x each day except the one day when she had the afternoon off and we told her not to worry about it.   Several towel animals and cruise compasses.

We did not go back to the dining room again, but received nightly phone calls asking us to come and join them.   They even invited us to the "Key" breakfast on the last morning but we declined.   Mostly Windjammer, Cafe Promenade, El Loco Fresh, and Playmakers for dining.

Ports-Catalina Island (tender)-was beautiful but another super long wait for the tender to leave and return to the ship.   Sunny but chilly day.   We walked around, took pictures, and ate at a Mexican eatery.

Ensenada-we did the Taste of Mexico and Margarita Madness excursion through Royal.   Bus ride out of the city to a beautiful site located in wine country.   We had a chef teach us how to make guacamole, tostadas, and enchilada and they served us unlimited margaritas.   Then back to the city for a tequila factory tour and tasting.   Great group of people on the trip and very fun day.  Highly recommend this excursion. 

Disembarkation # 2- left the ship with our bags at 7:45 am, walked down one flight of stairs (tough to get an open elevator) and breezed through customs to the parking lot.   Met our Lyft driver and were at LAX at 9:00 AM in plenty of time for our 12:45 pm flight.

Random Thoughts-Navigator is a great ship.  Big enough to have lots of food and fun options but small enough to easily get around.  Never felt like we were more than 3-4 minutes away from everything.   Crew and staff were excellent (wait staff at MDR not so much), ship looked good, waterslides were great, rooms were comfortable, entertainment was good.

--Don't miss the water coaster water slide.  Really fun and you don't get very wet.

--Both cruises seemed at full capacity but ship never felt crowed except on tender days.   We've tendered before but don't remember having to wait so long.

--We met a balloon animal maker guy on the ship and thought Royal did a great job hiring him only to find out he volunteers on his own (3 hours each day).   With all of the kids on board, would be a great idea to have someone like that on staff.  

--Chef's Table was a real highlight and something we may try again. 

--Went to the Diamond Lounge twice but didn't spend much time there.   Many people sleeping on the chairs during turnaround day.   At night it was busy with no place to sit.

--The Cosmopolitan lounge (think that's the name) is spectacular and has great views of the ship and sea. 

--The Living Room is hidden away at the back of the ship and a great spot for teens to hang out.

--The weather was nice for the first 5 days and then turned chilly for the remainder of our trip.   I think it got even colder after we left.   Next time we bring more long sleeves.

Would like to do this itinerary again in the near future.  Our next cruise will be April on Odyssey and it will take us to D+ status.  

 

If you have any questions or comments, I am happy to answer them.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Your sailing sound pretty good but yes, the port is a mess. They don't seem to have enough staff to direct the flow of traffic for parking or check-in.

I did a B2B on Nav last Sept, a 5N and a 3N. Luckily, I was in the same room a VB, so no moving but I did get a different steward. I really enjoyed Playmakers and other restaurants, but I found the casino to be very smokey.

I also agree that she doesn't feel full even with full capacity unless you are trying to navigate the WJ. 

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1 hour ago, Va4fam said:

Returned last week from our B2B (7 day/4 day) cruises on Navigator from Los Angeles.   Got to see all 5 of the West Coast ports on one trip.    The 7 day trip was booked back in 2019 but cancelled due to COVID and then we rescheduled because of family conflicts.   Decided to add the 4 night Ensenada/Catalina trip just a few months ago since we would already be on the West Coast and it would get us closer to the next C & A tier.

This was our 2nd time sailing Navigator but first since the amplification.  Really like the improvements.

Embarkation# 1- San Pedro.  Arrived 30 minutes early to join several hundred people that also arrived early.   Very long lines almost to the Battleship parked behind Navigator terminal.  No signs, no checking arrival times, very little organization.   At some point one line became two (carry on items or checked bags) but 2 lines became 3....then 4 as new arrivals from the parking lot frequently cut in line near the front.   Finally reached the porters to check our bag about 45 minutes after arrival and the rest of check in took less than 10 minutes.  

Room-JS on deck 11 near the front.   This room may have been added during amplification and had modern decor.    No walk in closet and perhaps the smallest bathroom we have ever had.  I can only describe the balcony with one word....ENORMOUS.   It was twice the size of our stateroom, you could easily host a game of beach volleyball out there.  2 loungers, 2 chairs, and a table.   The only drawbacks were the extra screening glass above the balcony rail prevented some nice pictures, and the wind really whipped around on a couple of sea days.   The location of the cabin on deck 11 was awesome, just steps away from Solarium, and pool deck.   Very quiet.  

Joseph, our room attendant, was very friendly and left us wine glasses, 4 sets of towel animals, cruise compasses, and took good care of us.  

Pool and Bars-wow!   Looks nearly identical to Oasis now.   Plenty of room to spread out, great bar service, solarium was perfect for several chilly days.

Dining Room-very disappointing.   We went 3 times, the tenderloin on night one was so bad that nearly everyone in our section didn't eat it or returned it.  Our head waiter and assistant waiter were also disappointing.   No salt/pepper, no butter, no water refills, no checking on our food, extremely slow to take orders and deliver food, and frequently nowhere to be found.  Many of the tables in front or behind us had different wait staff that seemed to perform more efficiently than our duo.  

Chef's Table-we did this on the last night of the first cruise.  Outstanding.  Food, Wine, Service.   (I am not expecting Chef's table quality at main dining room)

Windjammer-Navigator has 2 greeters during breakfast and lunch that sing songs you might know....except they insert Washy, Washy in the song when they can.  Think "Dancing Queen" except it became "Washy Queen."  They were great.   We had multiple meals at the WJ and think they did a nice job.   Plenty of food choices.  What happened to the waffles at breakfast and chocolate chip cookies during lunch and dinner?

Izumi (sushi only)-Went for Valentine's Day.  Great views and service.   Sushi rolls were tasty.

Playmaker's & the Pub- went several times for pitchers of beer and appetizers, shuffleboard and large connect4.  One night a family was playing the jumbosized Jenga and had a big crowd on the Promenade watching.    The Pub featured a great singer, Darla Fox, who played just about anything you requested.  

Cafe Promenade-great place for a quick breakfast bite or late night pizza and cookies.   The pizza tastes a lot better than the pizza on Brilliance last summer.

Gym and Jogging Track-the gym was modern (but hot) and a little undersized.   Went 6 of the 11 days.  Jogging track looked nice but not very practical during daytime hours.

Navigator Dunes-this might be the nicest cruise ship mini golf course we've played.  And we play all of them.   Don't miss it.

Cruise Staff-The captain was nice and always ended his announcements with "See You Around."   Cruise Director Thiago was energetic and seemed to be everywhere all the time.  Andy "Elton John" did a great sing a long in the Schooner Bar.   Guest Services were top notch and solved two issues for me that had nothing to do with the ship.

Entertainment- We went to the Showgirls-past, present, future peformance.....costumes and music were great.   The main singer could have dialed it back a couple of notches.   Also went to the iSkate ice show....just wanted to see the drones but the entire show was top notch with great music and skating.  Don't miss it.   Saw the World Champion Juggler, he was good too.   70s and 80s dance parties on the promenade were well done and fun. 

Casino-smoky at times but not overwhelming.   We used our free slot play but nothing else. 

Ports-Los Cabos (tender) was an interesting experience.   We waited 2 hours for the tender and it was Super Bowl Sunday in Cabo.  Entire beach turned into a SB party.   We did a beach massage and ate and drank at the bar but had to walk all the way back to the pier since water taxis stopped running at 4 pm.  Lesson learned.  Back on the ship we watched the 4th quarter of Super Bowl on the pool deck and ate Johnny Rockets. 

Mazatlan-did the Deer Island kayak excursion through Royal ....it was nice but the actual kayaking part was just okay.   Had enough time to do hire a Pulmonia (golf cart) driver for a tour of the city including taking us to El Faro lighthouse (we climbed it) and ran into the Captain and his wife.   Our driver took us to a locals only taco place on the way back.  Great day.  Next time we will tour Mazatlan on our own.

Puerto Vallarta-shared a van with family to the Los Puertos beach area.   Walked the boardwalk and paid for beach chairs/umbrella/tacos/beer on the beach.   Did not venture into the ocean, water was cold and current was strong.   Super busy area with lots of people on beach for a Tuesday.   We liked PV so much we may try to do a land based rental next time.

Cruise # 2-about 35 of us gathered in the Star Lounge and disembarked, went through Customs, and got right back on the ship.   Took less than 30 minutes.   We were switching rooms to a GTY Balcony.  Our room attendant moved our bags to the new room.  Our stateroom on deck 6 was nicer than the JS on deck 11.   Lots of room, more storage, bigger bathroom, but tiny balcony.   We were right above the Star Lounge but it was very quiet, convenient to walk down one flight of stairs to the Promenade.

Our new room attendant, Christina, was energetic and personable.   This 4 night cruise was chilly so we asked for a blanket.....it was waiting for us when we came back from dinner.  She was awesome and serviced the room 2x each day except the one day when she had the afternoon off and we told her not to worry about it.   Several towel animals and cruise compasses.

We did not go back to the dining room again, but received nightly phone calls asking us to come and join them.   They even invited us to the "Key" breakfast on the last morning but we declined.   Mostly Windjammer, Cafe Promenade, El Loco Fresh, and Playmakers for dining.

Ports-Catalina Island (tender)-was beautiful but another super long wait for the tender to leave and return to the ship.   Sunny but chilly day.   We walked around, took pictures, and ate at a Mexican eatery.

Ensenada-we did the Taste of Mexico and Margarita Madness excursion through Royal.   Bus ride out of the city to a beautiful site located in wine country.   We had a chef teach us how to make guacamole, tostadas, and enchilada and they served us unlimited margaritas.   Then back to the city for a tequila factory tour and tasting.   Great group of people on the trip and very fun day.  Highly recommend this excursion. 

Disembarkation # 2- left the ship with our bags at 7:45 am, walked down one flight of stairs (tough to get an open elevator) and breezed through customs to the parking lot.   Met our Lyft driver and were at LAX at 9:00 AM in plenty of time for our 12:45 pm flight.

Random Thoughts-Navigator is a great ship.  Big enough to have lots of food and fun options but small enough to easily get around.  Never felt like we were more than 3-4 minutes away from everything.   Crew and staff were excellent (wait staff at MDR not so much), ship looked good, waterslides were great, rooms were comfortable, entertainment was good.

--Don't miss the water coaster water slide.  Really fun and you don't get very wet.

--Both cruises seemed at full capacity but ship never felt crowed except on tender days.   We've tendered before but don't remember having to wait so long.

--We met a balloon animal maker guy on the ship and thought Royal did a great job hiring him only to find out he volunteers on his own (3 hours each day).   With all of the kids on board, would be a great idea to have someone like that on staff.  

--Chef's Table was a real highlight and something we may try again. 

--Went to the Diamond Lounge twice but didn't spend much time there.   Many people sleeping on the chairs during turnaround day.   At night it was busy with no place to sit.

--The Cosmopolitan lounge (think that's the name) is spectacular and has great views of the ship and sea. 

--The Living Room is hidden away at the back of the ship and a great spot for teens to hang out.

--The weather was nice for the first 5 days and then turned chilly for the remainder of our trip.   I think it got even colder after we left.   Next time we bring more long sleeves.

Would like to do this itinerary again in the near future.  Our next cruise will be April on Odyssey and it will take us to D+ status.  

 

If you have any questions or comments, I am happy to answer them.   

We were on the 7-day segment with you, and would like to reinforce several points:

The kitchen/chef did not "have it together" regarding food quality.  Ordered beef medium rare and got served well done once, and rare (cold in the middle) once.  Most other entrees were in the adequate range.  Undercooked (almost raw) vegetables.  Missed items on plates two evenings.  Windjammer food not warm/hot on several occasions. Chops good. The other side of the dining room coin: wonderful service throughout!  Room service spotty: got orders correct, but several times delivered 30 minutes later than the promised one-half hour window!  Terrific stateroom service throughout.

Boarding WAS an absolute disaster.  Casino host excellent.  Bar service good.  Ice show and special effects spectacular!!!  Guest services always friendly and helpful.  Our port tours were good, especially the LA tour with airport dropoff at end of cruise.

One issue that was troublesome (for us): The Loyalty Ambassador forgot to send our invitation to the "lunch with an officer" event.  We had passed 340+ nights in December, and were looking forward to this perk.  The Ambassador did not act very concerned when we went to ask.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I'm surprised at your check-in experience - I was amazed in October 2022 and January 2023 how quick, efficient, and nice the process was. Maybe because I got there at 10:00-10:30? 

Love so many of the things you mentioned. Darla is terrific. Her family was sailing in January when I was aboard and kept telling everyone to go hear her. ❤️ I also adored the iSkate show!

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I agree about Navigators ice show, it is not to be missed. I’ve seen it three times now and it’s one of my favorites. 
Also agree on PV. After visiting on our Christmas cruise we decided to do a land based week long vacation. It was spectacular, highly recommend Casa Carole if you need somewhere to stay. 
Also agree about the Catalina tender situation, what a nightmare that was!

If you’re doing a Mexico cruise in winter you should really try whale watching. We saw so. Any whales breaching during mating season it was just incredible.  

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10 hours ago, Luly said:


Also agree on PV. After visiting on our Christmas cruise we decided to do a land based week long vacation. It was spectacular, highly recommend Casa Carole if you need somewhere to stay. 
Also agree about the Catalina tender situation, what a nightmare that was!

If you’re doing a Mexico cruise in winter you should really try whale watching. We saw so. Any whales breaching during mating season it was just incredible.  

Thanks @Luly for the PV recommendation.   We spoke to many people that had moved there from colder climates.  Cost of living seems reasonable.

We didn't do any whale watching excursions but spotted multiple whales on our way into Cabo.  The first was the best, a large whale shot straight out of the ocean off the starboard side of the ship and I was on the balcony when it it happened.   Several times we saw a pod of whales but mostly could only see them "side swimming" or waterspouts.   As we got closer to Cabo, multiple small boats would form a triangle or circle around an area and it was easy to spot them.   Also saw multiple dolphins including at least 12 swimming near the ship near Catalina.  

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12 hours ago, Cactus527 said:

I'm surprised at your check-in experience - I was amazed in October 2022 and January 2023 how quick, efficient, and nice the process was. Maybe because I got there at 10:00-10:30? 

Love so many of the things you mentioned. Darla is terrific. Her family was sailing in January when I was aboard and kept telling everyone to go hear her. ❤️ I also adored the iSkate show!

Hopefully our experience was unique and most people are boarding more efficiently. 

Darla is truly a gem.   Spoke to her a couple of times between sets and she is very down to earth.   Hopefully she has a bright future to look forward to.

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@Ritchie....they did a great job with the amplification and Playmakers was huge improvement.  Great location on the Promenade and the size seems appropriate for the ship.  If you are a beer drinker, the 60 oz. pitcher for $18 might be one of the best deals fleetwide. 

 

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Being from Southern California and only a 30 minute drive from the pier we take this Cruise Ship every opportunity we can.  We were also given a totally free 3 day cruise in a Balcony Cabin for their "Mock first West Coast sailing Covid Cruise."  There were approx.  200 Guests and we had the solarium to ourselves every night. I have taken the full selection of Itineraries and a couple of back to backs.  I agree that the ship is fantastic and I also agree that the port services and boarding needs a lot of work. I believe that they need to bring back the Suite and Diamond +/pinnacle Lines but fear this will not happen because of "The Key."  The ports and excursions are very Lackluster but we have still taken them all (at least twice).

Just my 2 cents!   or is it more due to inflation?

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On 2/28/2023 at 2:56 PM, Va4fam said:

Ensenada-we did the Taste of Mexico and Margarita Madness excursion through Royal.   Bus ride out of the city to a beautiful site located in wine country.   We had a chef teach us how to make guacamole, tostadas, and enchilada and they served us unlimited margaritas.   Then back to the city for a tequila factory tour and tasting.   Great group of people on the trip and very fun day.  Highly recommend this excursion.

Couldn't agree more.  Ensenada gets poo-poo'd (mainly because of downtown), but wow -- get out in the wine country in Valle de Guadalupe and it's super nice.  High end wineries, excellent food, local cheeses and olives.  Very worth doing a grub & wine excursion out there.  About 45 minutes from the port.  Because of import taxes, those of us in the US don't really have access to Mexican wines.

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