Navigating to D+ -- Navigator of the Seas, March 22-27, 2023

[IRMO12HD]

On 3/28/2023 at 5:16 PM, JNichols said:

Thank you for the tip on the "private" balcony! I will be on Navigator at the end of May also in a VB cabin. It is on deck 10 forward so it will be easy to jump up a deck and enjoy the space. 

I will also be curious to see if the VB also has off times/issues in my cabin. 

@JNichols, I found that later in the day, and at sunset, other people had found and were using "my" private balcony.  Invariably, though, it was vacant and ready for me to use first thing in the morning.  There's one on each side of the ship.

On your VB screen, I would recommend getting your steward to demonstrate the use of the remote (and the fact that it actually works -- as I indicated, I really think my remote's issue was batteries and that they were replaced).  IT kept on insisting that the camera feed was working, even though I told them repeatedly (on the phone) that it couldn't be, because if the Bridge Cam had enough light to show its feed, then the VB camera also had to have enough light.  I was not happy with their insistence that "the problem is on the other end."

[FireFishII]

2 hours ago, IRMO12HD said:

(1) learn Danish for my September 2022 Transatlantic (Copenhagen-Boston)  It helped quite a bit in terms of understanding signs and instructions; I did also try to speak it and the Danes were (to their credit!) very kind and understanding and even appreciative of my efforts.

 

WOW!  I took French in grade school and Latin in HS.  I did a quick French refresher when I went to France on a business trip.  I knew enough to read signs and be sort-a understand a French speaker even though I really could not speak the language myself. I thought it was funny that I was translating for my husband with what little knowledge I had.   Italy is brand new for me.  I like the Duolingo feature that you can slow down the speaker.  Unfortunately, that feature is not available on all screens. 

[Ampurp85]

@IRMO12HD I knew how to work the remote, I could turn the VB on and off. On one or two nights I could see my brown railing but the other times it was just a dark screen. 

 I liked Duolingo, used it for my trip to Italy in 2017 but I find the notifications annoying. 

[IRMO12HD]

I'm baaackk!  Just to try and finish up my 2-week late live blog!  Continuing to reverse engineer, we turn to Day #6 - Disembarkation.  I woke up early because I wanted to see us come in through the harbor.  Missed the first part of it, but rapidly figured out two things by watching the Bridge cam view and the "On The Map;":

1.  We were BACKING in!  OK, I should have figured that, but it was kind of amusing that I came to the realization by watching the Bridge Cam, my VB screen, and the map.  The joys of an Interior VB.

2.  We were pretty much right on time; ended up docking at about 6:45 a.m..  I know this because that was the time on my photo.  The time/date stamp is proving to be an invaluable tool for me in terms of reconstructing my (not-so) Live Blog

 

 

Since I'd have to lug my suitcase off the ship (even though it was just a little carryon), I had put it out in the hall the night before, but had signed up for Self Assist too!  I had booked the RCL Airport Transfer ($35) because I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get to LAX in time for my 12:50 flight (having NO idea whether or not roads, bus/Uber traffic, crowds at LAX, etc. would impact me).  As it turned out, I was glad I did.  I still had a nice breakfast in the MDR, got back up to my cabin and grabbed my backpack, purse, and "personal bag," and headed to the Royal Theater at my appointed time (8:00).  This was definitely the way to go, as I was able to walk out the exit doors onto the Promenade, hang a right, and walk right off the ship.  Found my bag right away (thanks to its beautiful Dusty Rose color), walked through the line, smiled (well, no, just looked at) the camera, and was on my way out the door.  Total time:  probably about 8 minutes.

One thing that I did note on my survey was that there were NO signs to let people know where to go to get to the RCL Transfer bus.   After about 30 seconds of scanning around me, I asked a Security Guard, who pointed to the right, down near the end of the "tent," and asked me to make sure I walked in the walkway and use the crosswalk close to the buses.  So this (below) is what this area looks like with no one around; it's a little more obscured and confusing when there are about 100 bodies milling around.

But, I found the bus, and the RCL rep, who checked me in, directed me to the attention of the bus driver, who asked me my airline and stowed my (little!) suitcase in the appropriate luggage compartment of the bus.  I climbed aboard, sat on the left side JUST IN CASE (ha-ha!) I could see the ocean on the way up to LAX, and relaxed.  We pulled out at 8:25 (remember those date/time stamps??!!), and pulled into Terminal 6 (Alaska Airlines) at about 9:20.  Here's a picture of the check-in area:

After about a 3 minute wait in the TSA Pre-check line, I breezed through Security and was on my way to the Alaska Lounge.  Aaah, the life.

Some notes on debarkation:

1.  Putting my bag out the night before didn't really slow me down, but I can see how if there were multiple people with multiple bags, it might.

2.  If you don't see something you need (like a bus stop sign) make sure you ask right away.

3.  As a single traveler, the RCL Transfer to LAX made a lot of sense.  An Uber was going to be a minimum of $45 (I checked), a Lyft was going to be about the same, and it was just me to shoulder the cost.  If I had been with a couple of other people, obviously Ride Share would have been more economical.  Lyfts and Ubers CAN take you directly to your terminal; they just can't pick you up from there (you have to go to the LAX-it lot).

4.  The MDR was a great choice for my disembarkation breakfast -- oh, and I did get a latte + Bailey's on my Diamond voucher at about 6:45 that morning -- no line,either

 

 

 

 

[IRMO12HD]

On 3/26/2023 at 3:54 PM, IRMO12HD said:

Edit for Day 5 — ultra sob reason — got back up to the cabin after posting and started to get my kayaking excursion stuff together (go pro + harness, change of clothes, zip lock bags — oh the phone message light is blinking?  Maybe IT has new revelations about the VBscreen?). Sooo I press the message button  and learn that as of 8:30, my excursion is canceled (huge sobbing face emoji here)!  I guess the only bright side was that I didn’t walk into town right after breakfast as I had planned — because I wouldn’t have found out until I tried to join the non-existent line on the pier. (I encountered a couple of folks on the pier at about 11:40 who apparently hadn’t seen the message light on their phones).  Given the small ( like maybe 20?) size of this excursion, I think the Shore Excursion staff could have exercised more effort in reaching out to the affected passengers besides just leaving a message on the phone.  The couple I encountered didn’t even notice they had a phone in their cabin!

I walked over to the Riviera del Pacifico and wandered around for a bit, dodging the various tour groups, and then came back to the ship. Upon seeing the hot tubs and pool in the Solarium packed with bodies, I retreated to the 13th deck sun deck, found a vacant covered bed, and read and practiced Duolingo.  At least I got some exercise — I had to, because I treated myself to one of those “adult” spiked milkshakes!  The Beach Blast, with Captain Morgan, banana and strawberry mix, and ice cream - it was very good, but it tasted like some more, so I had to leave the ship before temptation overtook willpower;-)

My Beach Blast spiked milkshake: 

 

[IRMO12HD]

The saga continued -- and soon to be concluded!

Back to Day 2 (remember, I was going to tell you how I watched "the Game" -- Sweet 16 game between UCLA and Gonzaga).  I wore my Gonzaga BB tee shirt under my Dress Your Best blouse and jacket because I didn't want to jinx the Zags, and I didn't know if I'd have time after dinner in the MDR to run up and change before watching the game in Playmakers.  As it happened, I did have time to change, and rapidly found out that when there's a family reunion group (from California, as it happened) in front of the big screen TV in Playmakers, it's not the best venue for game watching.  I managed to put up with people standing up in front of me for selfies, little kids running around, and loud conversation for the first half, and then decided to watch in my cabin where I could relax, put my feet up on the bed, and change the trajectory of the game (well, maybe not the last one, but figured it was worth a try, as the Zags were down at the half).  So I grabbed two glasses of wine from the Star Lounge, and headed up to watch the second half.  Good thing . . . it worked!

 

After that, it was time for bed!

 And then, on to Day 3, and Cabo.

I slept in, got some coffee, and realized that I'd have to wait for breakfast as the MDR was serving brunch because it was a port day.  We weren't due in to Cabo until noon, and I didn't feel like joining the lines for tender tickets, so took my time, and ended up with Tender Ticket #39.  I realized that I probably wouldn't be off the ship until 2 or 2:30, so had a leisurely brunch, and tried to figure out the afternoon's schedule with my daughter.  Since she was staying at a resort about halfway to San Jose del Cabo, we resolved to just meet at The Office about 3:00.  I convinced myself that I could figure out the water taxis (I couldn't, as it turned out), and leapt off the tender -- welp, just going to hoof it. My map on my phone showed it was about 1/2 mile away.  Obviously that distance was as the fish (or water taxi) swam, because I walked all the way around the marina, and then realized my map wasn't updating my position (new phone SIM card, setting changes not made so not enough data).  After about a 1.3 mile walk, I was there.  Sucked down a margarita, had some nachos with my daughter and her friends, and decided it was time to catch a water taxi back to the pier.  Umm -- guess what??  The water taxis stop running at 5:00 p.m., and it was 5:02.  Despite the best efforts of the maitre d' and our waiter, we were unable to get any of the water taxis to come back and pick me up -- so we called an Uber.  A grand total of $2.00 (plus a $1.00) tip to get me back to the tender dock, and I was on my way.

 

So, lessons learned from Days 2 and 3:

1.  If you want to watch a game and be able to hear and enjoy it, probably avoid Playmakers.  If you're there for the party and the excitement, by all means find a chair and grab a beer and some onion rings.  1.a.  If the game is on the TV in Playmakers, you'll probably be able to watch it in your cabin.
2. Port days have brunch in the MDR, not breakfast, so plan your meal consumption accordingly

3.  If you want to get on an early tender in Cabo (BTW, we were the only ship in port!), get in line early!

4.  If you have AT&T and you don't see data like you should, check your cellular settings.  Oh, and you need data in order for the Uber app to work

5.  Water taxis from the Office and its surrounding beaches stop at 5 p.m.  And traffic at that time of day is pretty gnarly for getting back to the Tender pier.

 

My Sweet Sixteen viewing venue: