Here are some thoughts on our Xmas & New Year's cruise on the Navigator of the Seas -- departed Miami on Friday 12/24/04 for 9 nights. In summary, we (my wife & I plus our son, who turned 9 on the cruise) had a fantastic time. This won't be a comprehensive review but I wanted to share some experiences that may be valuable to future cruisers.

OUTBOUND FLIGHT -- When people discuss flying to the cruise port a day early, they have usually been discussing the risks of missing the ship. Our story adds the risk of cruising without luggage. We arrived in Miami at about 6 p.m. on Wednesday evening (12/23) on US Airways on flights from Washington National via Charlotte. None of our six bags managed to make the trip with us. (Before I get questions about why 6 bags, we did have snorkel equipment with us and both Xmas and birthday presents for our son....) We were assured by US Airways that our bags would arrive on the next flight and be delivered to our hotel that night.

OVERNIGHT -- We stayed at the Holiday Inn -- Port of Miami: convenient to the port and to the Bayside Marketplace -- we had an enjoyable late dinner there. But we were disappointed that they failed to provide a Non-Smoking room as booked. Read more