Navigator of the Seas Review 6/25/2005 - 7/02/2005

Pre-Cruise -- The planning of this cruise actually started 2-years earlier while Mary and I were sailing on NCL's Dawn celebrating my 50th birthday. While on the Dawn, we agreed that we would celebrate Mary's 50th with a cruise as well. From that point on, we were able to get 10 other friends to join us. Most of the others were also celebrating birthdays or anniversaries. Our group consisted of 12 people. Two flew down 2-days ahead, 6 flew in 1-day ahead and 4 people arrived the same day as the cruise. Our group of 6 flew Southwest from Islip (NY) to Fort Lauderdale, arriving on the 24th. The flight was terrific and we landed about 20 minutes ahead of schedule. We had arranged for a service to pick us up at FLL and drive us to the Holiday Inn-Port of Miami. After retrieving our luggage we waited about 20 minutes for the shuttle to arrive.

We checked into the Holiday Inn-Port of Miami and asked for rooms facing the harbor. We were quickly accommodated with 3 rooms on the 10th Floor with a great view. The concierge arranged for next-day transfer to the Port ($5 pp) and we spent the afternoon and early evening at the Bayside Market area directly across the street. Read more