We flew into Miami the day before the cruise as we always do. Stayed at the Hampton Inn in Brickel. The hotel was very nice and included breakfast. On the day of the cruise (my birthday, by the way!) we were up early, ate, and made our way to the port. Got there about 11:30. There were not too many people in the suite line so we were on our way very fast. In about a half-hour we were aboard Navigator! Our first stop was the dining room to see our table for dinner. It looked fine. Our next stop was the spa to make a massage reservation. We already had one for the end of the cruise, but always like to start our cruises with one. They were able to accommodate us when we wanted it, our first port day. The rooms were not ready so we went to the Two Poets Pub and had an excellent Bloody Mary. When we finished we went down to the Promenade Café and got a sandwich to hold us over. We did a little exploring until 1:30 when the rooms were ready.

The cabin was beautiful! It was a Junior Suite on deck 9, 9254. There were only four things wrong. First, it didn't have a coffee table. Second, there was no lounger on the balcony. Third, the coffee maker and tea kettle did not have an outlet where they were located. They had to be moved to the desk area to plug them in. Small problem. Fourth, the instructions to set the password on the safe were in every language except English! Luckily my high school French finally came in handy! The flowers I had ordered for Priscilla came promptly. She thought they were beautiful! We met our cabin steward CherryMarie from the Phillipines. She was perfect in every way. The room was always made up and clean, and we rarely saw her, but we knew she was there. The luggage arrived slowly but eventually everything was delivered.

Muster went smoothly and before you knew it we were sitting in dining room awaiting the arrival of our dinner mates. Now, we were seated at a table for eight. I thought with that many people we would always have a lively conversation going. It turns out our dining companions were only another couple, Henry and Erica. What we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality! Henry and Erica turned out to be a lovely couple! The conversation was always going! We had dinner in the Main Dining Room every night except two. On one night we went to Izumi's for diner. It wasn't the best Japanese food I've ever had, but it certainly wasn't the worst. Another night we went to "The Chef's Table" which was excellent! I highly recommend it. Read more