HOTEL INFO We arrived in Miami a day earlier. We'd done this last year as the travel agency had recommended it, and found it was a nice idea. It gave us time to relax, as well as allow for any problems. Catherine, my girlfriend had called ahead to the hotel and they had reserved a room for us before the normal check-in. It was a lovely surprise when they did this, they had done this because we are Priority Club members. We went straight to our room on one of the top floors, which gave us a wonderful view. Bayside marketplace was directly across the street from us, so we had a view of that, as well as a great vantage point for the Port of Miami and the city. We stayed at Holiday Inn again, only this time closer in town. Last time we had stayed in South Beach and found it a bit remote. The hotel seemed nicer than the other one, better kept even though it's the same hotel and room rate. Getting our luggage into the hotel was a little effort. The front doors are not automatic and the only luggage-friendly entrance is a small ramp off on the left-most side. You have to prop open a door to use it. Other doors are the center revolving doors and another singular door on the right, which offers a step. Considering all the people staying there and most of them being travelers, it could have been better handled. We found it to be comfortable and the room spacious. It was not five-star, but it was a better location and offered us the convenience of being in the center of the city and all it offered. Internet services in the room were good and we had no problem with the connection. Catherine encountered a couple problems with Guest Services while there. The vending machines were broken on our floor, and they never fixed them while we were there. We only stayed one day, but she had to call a few times for things - one of them being the vending machine. A few of the washtowels in the bathroom were soiled and yet were overlooked by the room attendant. Room service as well offered a very meager offering. You can only order it when the restaurant is open - for dinner or lunch. So basically having just gotten off our plane we had to seek out nourishment on our own. And we were both very hungry until then, sating ourselves on a few snacks we had packed and then taking a nap until we felt like venturing out. We later found out that a majority of the people staying there were fellow cruisers just like us. People from Carnival and other Royal Caribbean trekkers were doing the same thing we were, checking in a day early to collect their senses for a bit and explore before getting on the ship the next day. Steve visited Bayside marketplace a lot while we were there. He enjoyed the entertainment and loved it. When it got dark, the place seemed to really come alive, with concerts and other events. Steve discovered there was an outdoor movie theatre there, which was playing current releases. Apocalypto was playing on a massive plasma screen. Bayside Park was really nice, filled with shops and restaurants. It was an outdoor mall by the water. In addition to the restaurants within the marketplace, there was Hard Rock Cafe and other places to eat. Steve wants to visit it again, and considering that the hotel is right across the street we would probably book there again. The only downside to Bayside is it got a bit loud at night if it was really busy. For this reason another hotel (of the many in this general area) may be a better idea if you have children, depending on the time of year.

TRAVEL TO PORT OF EMBARKATION The next day we got all our luggage together and trudged out to find a cab. These were not hard to find, and we only waited a few moments before hailing one to the port. The cabs were very efficient we found, and most of the drivers we had were very friendly. Many travelers are also cruisers, so they make sure you get to the port on time. Steve really appreciated that. So even though many other people were heading to the port, we didn't have to fight for a cab or deal with traffic. We checked out early and got to the Port of Miami about 11 am. Even though the ship does not leave dock until 5 pm, there were plenty of other people who opted to be early. The cruise line had no problem with boarding people that early, and are used to it. I would guess that ¼ of the travelers onboard were early boarders. These are regular cruisers who know that being early is the way to go. We handed off our luggage to a porter and went inside with our carry-ons. After getting in line, we didn't have to wait long before heading into the terminal. They're pretty efficient at getting everyone through safely. We went through a security check, and then inside for the main check-in process. We had done our check-in online, so all we had to do was get our picture taken and go to the counter for our seapasses. They gave us this, along with another little sheet of paper with some information on it and a map of the ship. This was new, and it had some pre-boarding information like, no irons are allowed onboard and other FAQ's. Together with waiting in lines and doing all this before actually stepping onboard the ship was probably another hour till we were on deck. After we ate lunch, we went straight to our stateroom to get settled. We got all our bags right away. Services in our stateroom was good as usual. They're extremely fast in cleaning your room and seem to know when you leave and when you're there, for we never saw them. That's supposed to be the sign of a good stateroom attendant. They operated on clockwork, they were a tightly run machine. Considering all the work that must be done on all floors, we very rarely ever saw the staff and they were non-intrusive. Our personal attendant was extremely pleasant and seemed to care about our stay being comfortable and adequate. She always asked me how our day was and greeted us, asking if everything was okay in our room. She was in my mind one of our best attendants so far. There was a small problem with our safe when we first got there and they fixed it in a jiffy. Another small problem we had was the shower door wasn't sealing and leaked onto the floor, but they fixed that promptly too. Our attendant had suggested what the problem was with it and had maintenance repair it, which it was the next time we came to our room. I have to admit that I was a slob since we're on vacation, but every time I came back things were put into neat piles! Kinda made things easier for me! There are no laundering centers aboard this ship. We had a few items that needed to be ironed or cleaned, and they were very efficient about doing this. Steve needed his jacket pressed for formal night, and he put it out in the morning and they brought it back to him - that afternoon. He was thrilled. I used this service more than him and they did a professional job with it. I had one issue with a silk shirt that seemed to have water stains on it, but I cannot be sure that it was their fault or if it was there already. This was very minor. We had a Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom. I believe last time we had an upgraded room for that one was a bit larger than this one. At any rate, they design the rooms very well and have little cubbies and drawers everywhere so they are practically-minded and make efficient use of space. Me and Steve both shared closet space, and yet we had plenty of room to stow our souvenirs and shoes and everything. I found it to be very well organized. As with last time, they was RCTV in our stateroom. This is an interactive directory offered by the cruise line, where you can order shore excursions, check your account, and other things. It was a bit different this time because we couldn't order room service or wine. I didn't like this. Along with RCTV, there are a few channels offered with the regular channels where you can find out about things onboard and see taped events onboard. These are helpful and it's fun to see events you may have missed onboard. Every stateroom has a phone and you can use it as an alarm clock by setting a wake-up call on your phone. No one calls you it just rings to wake you up. So if you forgot your travel alarm, this is great! We never used this though because I used my Palm Pilot and it's pretty loud! Whenever we booked a reservation in one of the specialty restaurants, they called us ahead of time to remind us of our appointment. This is nice because you can't always keep track of these things when you're on vacation. Steve did not like the balcony as much as he did on the Voyager. He felt it lacked the privacy that it did last time. Navigator has more glass on the exterior of the ship, and the balconies are larger. I didn't see much of a difference in terms of size, and I felt it was private. But I agree that it did not have the same privacy as our old stateroom. The glass exposes the balcony much more. It opens it up so you have a full view, but it really doesn't make much of a difference aside from you see water. The only time it matters is when you're at a port. I felt you can see fine the way the balconies were last time. There's also a connecting door to our neighbor that's not completely sealed at the floor. So if your neighbor has their light on, you can see it and they can be somewhat intrusive. By leaning over just a little bit, you could see your neighbor so Steve didn't feel altogether comfortable with that. We did enjoy the upgraded bedding in the room. We found it to be more than accommodating. Steve slept al through the night and napped easily on it. We found it to be more comfortable than our bed at home, so this was great. It's a nice comfort when you're traveling afar. There was a pillowtop and duvet cover and it was like sleeping on a cloud. For this cruise, I had purchased the internet wi-fi package. I chose it because I thought I could use it in my stateroom. After all, it's that way in hotels. It would seem elementary. However, I could not use it in my stateroom. I never once got a connection from it and it irked me to no end. I needed it for some business that I had to finish onboard and I could not take full advantage of it. The only service that's offered in your stateroom in terms of internet is dial-up service, which is well behind the times by today's standards. If I had chosen dial-up, I could have used it but I probably could not use my webcam to communicate with others. I had bought a webcam earlier for one reason that I could use it on vacation, but this of course didn't become a possibility because the file transfer rate for dial-up with video services would have created a very poor connection, probably not one that supports video conferencing. Someone mentioned that they thought they say a network port in the room, but we didn't explore this. It may not have worked anyway since we did not have a wi-fi signal.

SERVICE Customer Service Altogether, service onboard was great. We found it however, not at the same exemplary level as Voyager. We sailed on Voyager last time and it was also our first cruise with Royal Caribbean. So it's our initial impression of Royal Caribbean. Navigator seemed to have a quieter feel than Voyager, even though it is a newer ship and also in the Voyager class. Service was not bad, everyone was friendly and such. But people were not as "on top" and out to do the best of Gold Anchor service as they seemed to be on Voyager. It seemed more relaxed. I don't know if anyone else felt this way. There were a few people who really stood out to us as ones who offered above-average service. In the dining room, the head waiter was extra attentive to me as a vegetarian making sure I had items I was satisfied with on the menu. He even had a meal specially prepared for me that he suggested. He had it custom-prepared and then, when we were not there at dining room to enjoy it, had it delivered to my stateroom for me. He seemed very dedicated, and we appreciated it. What he did was not anything extraordinary, he offered us service. But he did it professionally and made sure we were satisfied, and that's what good service is supposed to be. Another person was the attendant in the Connoisseur's Club (aka Cigar Bar) and she was very pleasant and personable and made sure we were comfortable while we were there, whether or not we bought anything or not. She seemed to make us feel "at home", like we were guests and not customers. And that made all the difference in the world. She was professional and did her job well, with a personal touch that made us remember her. Read more