We chose the Navigator to celebrate my 50th birthday on the 16th and I wanted to leave on that day. Also, we hadn't been to Labadee or St. Kitts.

We stayed at the Hyatt Place for one night before the cruise. Super easy and fast check in, staff was friendly and the hotel was clean. Breakfast was good, plenty of hot and cold choices and guests were polite. Walking distance to numerous restaurants, though we had dinner at the hotel due to pouring rain. Felt secure in leaving our car parked for the duration. We used the hotel shuttle to get to the port, it leaves every hour between 10 am and 1 pm. We chose the 12 noon departure, were the only ones on the shuttle and were onboard the ship by 12:40 pm. Somehow everyone was spread out enough that boarding was super fast.

We've been on the Mariner in the past, so the ship layout was familiar. Headed to the pool bar to order our first celebratory drink and wait for the cabin to be ready at 1 pm. After seeing the drink prices, I opted to purchase the package. Drink prices have gone up a lot and they really encourage the purchase of the package without being pushy about it. By the end of the cruise, we just didn't feel like drinking enough to meet the daily cost, so I don't know if it was worth it. Bar menus are few and far between. I only saw them in Boleros and Schooners. The roaming waiters for drink service seem to be limited to the main pool area. We spent most of our sea days in the Solarium and seldom saw them and when they did show up, it took another 30 minutes before they came back. Faster to get your own drinks. Read more