Royal Caribbean cruise 2/9/09 Navigator of the seas. . This was our first cruise. . All reservations made through RCI by Yankee Travel Agency. . Flew to Fort Lauderdale via Delta Airlines. Security in Atlanta was quite easy, maybe 15 minutes total. Very nice flight, on time and smooth. We were met at the luggage claim and they had us listed by name and a very informative man gave us a lot of information about the process.

Bus to the terminal and processing was quick and easy. Then to security which was unobtrusive and quick. . An absolutely gorgeous ship. Even though it has been in use for some years, the maintenance and general up keep was really great. The ship might have been NEW. . Our balcony room was quite large and the view from the balcony was worth the extra money. Although my wife and I are older (70) we really enjoyed the cruise experience and had plenty to do even though we do not "party down" or drink at all. We enjoyed watching all the continuous activities. We did not go ashore in Cozumel, but staying aboard gave us a day at the pool without any crowds and almost had the area and the hot tub to ourselves. . We did take a tour of the Myan ruins in Belize. I really enjoyed the experience. It was not very strenuous since my wife has some problems with walking long distances. I enjoyed the Ruins and all was great until the trip back along the Belize River when the tour boat BROKE. We were stranded for a long time and was over 2 hours late returning to the ship. If the tour had been reserved with an independent tour operator, the ship would have left us stranded. BUT since it was made by Royal Caribbean, THEY WAITED FOR US. Wow! Was I relieved. I enjoyed the tour but did not want to be stuck in Belize, One of the poorest countries I have ever visited. The food aboard the ship was INCREDIBLE; Seating in the main dining room each night was great. The food was prepared excellently and the service was impeccable. We had brought clothing for the formal night, but to new cruisers, it is not necessary. Certainly we were comfortable, but others there were not dressed formally and nothing was said about it. They were not going to refuse service to anyone whether you were properly dressed or not. If you did not want to eat in the big dining room, food was always available in the main buffet room. The food there was also super. And no dress code required except no bathing suits or bare feet. The buffet was HUGE. The room had NINE separate and fully stocked food lines. No crowded conditions and no standing in lines waiting. Shows were entertaining every night something different was presented. Ice skating show (great), comedy show (great), comedy jugglers (OK), singing and dancing show ( good), comedy magic (not too good). . There was a couple of special things. Midnight pool side buffet. Music, dancing, and LOTS of food by the pool. Really fantastic. And a special show called "quest game" adults only show and although I can't explain exactly what it was, It was the FUNNIEST show I have EVER seen! . Everything aboard was included with no extra charge. Of course drinks were extra, as you would expect. But, since we do not drink (mainly due to medications) we did not incur any expense there. One concern first time cruisers have is how to tip. Royal Caribbean has an automatic gratuities charge which is totally optional. I selected to go with it and the charge was Only $10 a day per person. So our total charge for everyone on ship that we would want to tip was covered. I do not know if other cruise lines have this option but it takes all the guess work out of it and everyone that serves you gets his share. . Every night, a list was left in our room which listed everything going on for the next day so you could easily plan what you wanted to do without missing any shows or happenings you wanted. . We, of course, got the folded towel figure on our bed at turn down every night. These were really cute and well done! They even had a class on towel folding which my wife attended along with an ice carving class. That kept her busy while I played in the casino. I came out EVEN for two nights playing and I thought that was as good as a WIN! . This was our first cruise but I wished we had tried it many years before. Now I am thinking of a cruise to the Panama Canal maybe in April for our 50th Wedding Anniversary ! . The Old Fred