Last July when deciding where to go for our pre-Christmas vacation my wife and I looked at several options we finally decided to try a Western Caribbean cruise and after looking at several ships and intenerates we decided since we have not been to New Orleans and after not getting the response we wanted from Carnival we decided to book our cruise on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. Since our departure was in mid-December and we were not sure of what the weather would be and we wanted to see some of New Orleans before leaving on our cruise we decided to fly in the night before our cruise. After leaving our home at 11:00 AM on Friday, December 14, 2012 we arrived in New Orleans around 6:30 PM and were in our hotel room at the Drury Inn by 7:30 PM. We found the Drury on the forums on the Cruise Critic. The hotel was excellent and after waling over to the French Quarter to have dinner at the Bourbon House and stopping at a local CVC to get some last minute items that we needed for our trip we had a nice night. On Saturday morning we had a wonderful breakfast we went out and walked around the French Quarter where we visited Jackson Square and stopped at Cafe Du Monde for coffee and beignets then it was back to the hotel to pick up our luggage and to check out. At 12:15 PM we were in a cab and heading to the Julia Street cruise ship terminal. By 12:30 PM and after waiting in line we were at the entrance to the terminal and since we had all ready tagged our bags we dropped them off with the porter and made our was in side the terminal where we waited on four lines was to show our ticket and id to enter the second line which was for security these lines went pretty fast the third line was to enter to line for check in to combat the Norovirus everyone had to use hand sanitize before proceeding to the line for check in as part of the check in process both my wife and my self had to fill out a heal form stating we were not exposed to the flu or any flue like virus after that was done we received our SeaPass cards and it was off to the gangway where the cards were activated and welcome photo were taken. We then headed to deck 10 where our cabin was ready and we found our shore excursion tickets, tickets to Sundays Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle. After dropping off our carry on bags we went up to the Windjammer on deck 11 for lunch around 2:00 PM. Before heading to the buffet I bought the unlimited soda package. However it should be noted that the soda selection are limited on the Navigator has the ship has not been outfitted with the new Coke machines that Royal Caribbean is rolling out through out its fleet. After checking out the menu for Chops the ships steakhouse it was off to the buffet which featured two identical lines beginning with Jade the ships Asian buffet then the Windjammer line which featured a salad bar, pizza, sandwiches then an area with various hot foods and desert bar. We found that some of the hot food was not has hot as it should have been. I had two Hot Dogs that were nicely grilled but that the ship used sandwich rolls instead of buns for the food. After lunch we headed back to our cabin where we found our bags had been delivered so we began the process of unpacking. The closet in the cabin had plenty of hangers and there was ample space all of our clothes the only problem was storing our luggage since the storage space in the cabin was limited so one our carry on bags were stored in one of our larger pieces of luggage. At 4:00 PM we headed to our muster station for the life boat drill. Unlike our previous two cruises attendance was taking at the drill I could not determine if this was done in response to the Costa Concordia disaster. At the conclusion of the drill the ships Captain Frank Martinsen gave a briefing on the ships course and departure time we then processed up to deck to get some photos and to watch the ship depart. Since we had to wait for the Carnival Elation to depart and to get down river. We finally pulled away and were underway at 5:05 PM about thirty five minutes after departure the ship used it reversers to pull away from the dock it then made a 180 degree turn in the Mississippi River to head south to the Gulf of Mexico after watching New Orleans disappear in the distance we went down to the Royal Promenade on deck 5 to have a drink and watch the Circus Parade which featured the ships entertainment staff and Jimmy Rhodes our cruise director. After reviewing the menu for dinner and being tired we had dinner at the buffet and went to bed early since we were both tired. Before going to bed I did check out the ships on board TV which was quite limited and was really geared to times when the ship is cursing the medterian since it had 4 different channels for moves in foreign languages and no CNN International in English.

Sunday was the first of three Sea days we both got up and were well rested after getting dressed we then headed to the Windjammer deck where we had a nice breakfast but what we also found was that the Omelets were premade and most of the hot food was not hot at all which was a pattern that continued for the rest of our trip. After breakfast we wanted to work our on the treadmills in the fitness center but all of the treadmills were in use so we walked on the walking/jogging track on deck 12. At 9:30 AM I left my wife to wait on line to get tickets to one of the 4 Ice shows in Studio B the ships Ice Rink. After working out we changed and did some shopping along the Royal Promenade for souvenirs which we bought. At 11:30 AM we headed to the Cruise Critic Meet and Mingle which was in the Dungeons the ships disco which was rather small and cramped for the size of the crowed and there were not enough food or gifts for every one who attended. Since we arrived late our gifts were derived a day later to our room. After the meet and mingle and having made our way to the bow of the ship on deck 5 we went and has a delicious lunch in the Nutcracker Dinning Room after lunch and checking out that evenings dinner menu we returned to our room while I checked the lone NFL game available on the TV then we had a delicious snack at the Cafe on the Royal Promenade. We then got dressed for the first of two formal nights on the cruise where we went to the Captains Reception and got our photos taken with the Captain along with several of the other photo stations before going to dinner and that evenings show Ballroom Fever which my wife enjoyed but I found to be rather slow. Before going to bed since the ship was heading into the Eastern Time Zone our clocks had be set forward one hour.

Monday was also spent at sea since I wanted Eggs Benedict and it was not available in the Windjammer we had a much better breakfast in the main dinning room. After breakfast we checked out our photos from forma night and bought a water camera. After setting up the new camera we went to the sports deck where we played some minnture golf. After playing golf I had lunch at Johnny Rockets which was well worth the $4.95 cover charge since I had a meal that if I bought it on shore would have cost me around $10-12.00 including tip was a great deal. Since I had Johnny Rockets my wife had her lunch at Jade and had a massage at the ships spa. While she was at the Spa I went and checked out the observation window into the bridge where there was not very much activity going on since we were just cursing along at sea and I went to the Viking Crown to have a drink in the lounge. After picking my wife up at the Spa we had a snack on the Royal Promenade and went to the evening's show which was El Gaucho which was a little bit of music, comedy and some work with the rope. We then had dinner and later that evening we went to the 70's disco party on the Royal Promenade which we found since the shows were sill open to be rather small and cramped for a party which may have been better to have had on the upper deck by the pool. It was then to bead as the next day was the first of three port days. Read more