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realspeed
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30-09-2018, 01:59 AM
1

Navigator of the Seas ship

Main "street" down middle of ship



How big are these ships close up?



huge floating hotels ,you would not know you are on a ship.
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30-09-2018, 07:03 AM
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Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Great photos, Realspeed. That looks more like a floating skyscraper than a ship!
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30-09-2018, 10:44 PM
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Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Never been tempted by Royal Caribbean TBH. I've heard plenty of bad tales about them and esp that ship.

All comes down to what one wants from a cruise though.

The main problem I've heard with that ship and the others is that people stroll about in different dress codes in many of the areas. What's the point dressing up on a Black Tie night in Tuxedos etc if there are lots of other people strolling around in shorts and T-Shirts and the like?

Each to their own of course. When I'm paying £1000s for a cruise holiday I want each evening to be and feel special, like I am going to a silver service restaurant (which the main ship restaurants used to be). When its all mixed and dress codes aren't policed or enforced in enough places around the ship then it's more like eating out at your local Weatherspoons !
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30-09-2018, 11:20 PM
4

Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Realist


My arguement is if you have spent £5000+ on a cruise you should not be prevented from these areas any time even on black tie nights. Often even paying more than those who dress up for the evening.

My wife and I hate dressing up prefer casual wear for meals which still look smart. No in my opinion black tie nights should be banned, it is not fair on other passengers.

I agree wearing shorts and flip flops is not right one should make some sort of effort


the stuffit buffet does us nicely (note dress code notice)


The last Royal Caribbean ship we went on started looking tatty and lack of attention to detail.

Serenade of the Seas was great ,the first of the line we went on, but the next Navigator of the Seas the standard had dropped drastically.

So we swapped to P&O and on both the ships Azura and Aurora we could not fault. Even the captains made an effort to meet their "guests" on deck let alone formal handshake time. I even got to chatting to one for some time on one of the decks.
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01-10-2018, 08:56 PM
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Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Originally Posted by realspeed ->
My arguement is if you have spent £5000+ on a cruise you should not be prevented from these areas any time even on black tie nights. Often even paying more than those who dress up for the evening.
I disagree entirely I'm afraid. A cruise is a very unique holiday because you are having to share a confined space with 1000-3000 other people. The behaviours of one affect the experience of all others so one has to approach the whole situation with the understanding that despite what anyone pays, it actually isn't your holiday at all. It is a co-operative experience in which all much respect each other and exercise some levels of conformity and moderation.
Cruises can be utterly ruined by a few badly behaved people which is why cruise lines take drastic measures such as putting entire families off at the next port of call.

There are many different cruise lines to suit different tastes. At one end is the entirely liberal party cruise with the likes of Easy Cruise and Ocean Village. If you go on those you expect zero formality and a lot of p1ssed up people "avin it large" 24x7.

At the other end are the 5 star and better cruise lines where formality is the norm, you go to dinner in a jacket and tie on ordinary evenings and there are many black tie events.

Then of course there are various cruise lines in the middle of those two extremes. P&O and RC being examples.

If you elect to go on a cruise line with multiple black tie nights then really you ought to participate imo but some prefer not to and in such cases those people should most certainly respect the experience of the rest and stay away from the designated areas. P&O enforce this which is good. On Back Tie nights those not participating are not allowed in the Crows Nests, posh bar/lounges and other areas.

Originally Posted by realspeed ->
My wife and I hate dressing up prefer casual wear for meals which still look smart. No in my opinion black tie nights should be banned, it is not fair on other passengers.
Yep as above, completely wrong thinking. If you and your wife don't like the formality then you should choose a cruise line that favours no formality, rather than wishing to change the dress codes of more formal cruise lines.

Originally Posted by realspeed ->
the stuffit buffet does us nicely
Here we differ. We would never frequent the "smash 'n' grab" buffets except on very specific special themed evenings. It's the primary place on the ship where you will pick up Norovirus and other bugs from all the chav's and unhygienic people who finger the food and let their kids run riot. And again, I find it incredible that people paying £1000s for a cruise would want to eat in such a buffet when there are top restaurants with great service available.

Originally Posted by realspeed ->
So we swapped to P&O and on both the ships Azura and Aurora we could not fault.
Very familiar with both those ships. We always cruise with P&O and Aurora, being our favourite ship has seen us travel with her probably about 20 times now. Azura is also great, definitely the best 2 in the fleet imo. But again you have to be careful in your selection. Aurora was a very glam ship, always very well attended and much dressing up, lots of posh frocks and glitzy tops from the ladies and smart jackets and trousers from the chaps. Sadly P&O succumbed to USA pressure from Carnival and dumbed down their dress code much to the despair of many loyal cruisers. It's a bit of a mess TBH.

The result is that there is a very mixed fleet in P&O.

Aurora, Oriana and Azura are the more formal ships where as Ventura is positively chavy and lax. You have to pick the right ship for your level of formality and that causes issues because P&O is a singular brand so some people sail on Ventura and then expect life to be the same on all the other ships which it most certainly isn't. I would never willingly elect to sail on Ventura TBH, just personal preference.

And all this said, I am currently packing my suitcase ready to take this year's long cruise. Happy days !
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01-10-2018, 10:17 PM
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Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Originally Posted by realspeed ->
Realist


My arguement is if you have spent £5000+ on a cruise you should not be prevented from these areas any time even on black tie nights. Often even paying more than those who dress up for the evening.

My wife and I hate dressing up prefer casual wear for meals which still look smart. No in my opinion black tie nights should be banned, it is not fair on other passengers.

I agree wearing shorts and flip flops is not right one should make some sort of effort


the stuffit buffet does us nicely (note dress code notice)


The last Royal Caribbean ship we went on started looking tatty and lack of attention to detail.

Serenade of the Seas was great ,the first of the line we went on, but the next Navigator of the Seas the standard had dropped drastically.

So we swapped to P&O and on both the ships Azura and Aurora we could not fault. Even the captains made an effort to meet their "guests" on deck let alone formal handshake time. I even got to chatting to one for some time on one of the decks.
I agree, I wouldn't want to be poncing around like James Bond either. Smart but casual is just fine. You are meant to be on holiday not on show.
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01-10-2018, 11:07 PM
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Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Originally Posted by Longdogs ->
I agree, I wouldn't want to be poncing around like James Bond either. Smart but casual is just fine. You are meant to be on holiday not on show.
Then it behoves people of that persuasion to select a casual cruise line does it not?!

But my previous dilemma still applies. Would you be happy to walk into Nandos and be charged £50 for an evening's meal?

Why pay £1000s for a cruise only to find the experience no different to your local Weatherspoons? Just makes no sense.
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03-10-2018, 01:02 PM
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Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Since all these super large cruise liners ride so high out of the water, they have an awful lot of 'windage' which makes them 'roll' in any heavy swell but for the anti-roll equipment. If that equipment failed and the ship was caught in a storm or hurricane, there is likely to be a large amount of very sea-sick passengers - not something to contemplate.

Given the large numbers of passengers these ships carry, if one of these cruise ships foundered, the loss of life could be horrendous (it takes an awful lot of time to fill and launch life boats, and in 'rough' seas the task is even more difficult or impossible). If the ship took on a 'list', all those life-boats on the 'high' side would be rendered useless as they would be unable to be launched.
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03-10-2018, 04:09 PM
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Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Realspeed, I am glad you enjoyed your cruise. I've learned to be very savvy about considering all the parameters involved:

Itinerary: Warm weather cruises will always be much more casual. On this side of the world, West Caribbean and Mexico tend to attract families, young couples and a more of a t-shirt crowd. Formal nights tend to be less formal - men in summer suits and women more likely to be in chiffon than long-sleeve sequins. Going to Alaska, I am breaking out the black, low back, velvet gown that would be absurd to wear in the Turks and Caicos. Bahamas cruise that include the cruise line islands? You are going to be cruising with a tsunami of kids and the beer-bellied guys who bought the all-you-can-consume alcohol package before they paid their cruise tickets in full .

Point of departure: People tend to leave out of the ports closest to them. If you leave out of Puerto Rico, the clientele and entertainment will be more Latino. I meeting people and learned quite a bit by meeting the PR locals when departing from there. If you leave from New York, you are going to get the Jersey crowd. My last cruise was ruined by Big-Loud-Hairy-Gold-Chain-Guy who would walk into every venue - including the find dining restaurant- and shout, "Let's get this party started!" Unfortunately, he was also on every excursion I chose. (This fact still disturbs me no end because we apparently have more interests than I would like ).

New York departure? Never again - reference to BLHGC guy. That said, this crowd is more likely be on point for formal nights than those out of Galveston or Port Canaveral. Leave for Mexico during March out of Los Angeles, and the spring break college kids are going there in force. You will recognize them as the ones who are half-naked, woo-hooing, with umbrella drinks being waved over their heads and swearing like sailors while their parents are slamming down tequila in the lounges playing trivia games . My BIL says you get what you go for - meaning where you leave and where you are headed. Ok, that's admittedly all an exaggeration. Most college kids and teens I've seen behave just fine.

Cruise line: Of course, you also get what you pay for and the cruise ship lines are starting to understand that demographics do matter. We took the kids on a RC cruise on a new ship several years ago. It had a climbing wall, tube slide, an ice skating rink, basketball courts, etc. It was perfect for two teenagers and a mid-class size so it it didn't feel like a herd ship. No way that I was going to force my son into a tuxedo on a warm-climate cruise, so we opted for private dining and steered clear of the more formal events that night. RC is smack dab down the middle for middle and upper middle class demographics. It a far better experience than we expected but I wouldn't want to do this cruise in my seventies. Celebrity is for the middle age and older demographic, but even it isn't quite what it used to be, and they too are sailing mega-fleet ships.

Carnival has figured out to split their lines into the more party/family/casual Carnival crowd with Holland that tends to attract the latter (and calmer) of the "newly wed and nearly dead" crowd. While they do have activities for kids, Holland has none of the garish colors and kid-revving-up on activities on Carnival. Cruise with Holland and you will see a lot of people using wheel chairs, walkers, and "Hardly Ablesons ". Kids and teens will tire of this demographic. Formal nights on this cruise are usually women in sparkly tops and pants. If elegantly dressed men and women are what you are looking for, budget-friendly Carnival is not for you.

Time of year: If you don't like kids, keep an eye on the school calendar. That said, one of the best cruises I ever took was during Spring school holidays, and it was loaded with middle class families with their children. Cruises during that time of year are more expensive, which meant that there were plenty of moms and dads unafraid to rein in kids going bonkers. More, the cruise had so many well-planned activities that the kids were actually rarely seen or heard during fine dining and the formal events. Dress is always more formal in the cooler months.

Ship: Some are horribly dated and worn, while others are sparkling new and massive. The new size-of-a-small-European-country-class ships have balconies are so small that three, let alone four, could never order room service and dine outside, but they offer a wider range of amenities. I have never cruised on a mega-ship, but I am astounded at how well the ships sort and manage people on the mid-size ships. I don't think I've ever felt overwhelmed by the numbers, but then again, I tend to get up early to run, dine late, prefer the less popular strenuous excursions, and am generally contented to be off on my own (not at the pool belly flop contest) in my own little corner with a good book in a quiet corner of the ship just watching the ocean. Odd little duck am I.

Some absolutely love vast ships and the feeling of being in a crowd. The mega-ships are for them. Others, including a man who wrote my all-time favorite cruise review wrote, "There were 5,000 cattle in the adults-only pool and 1,800 were kids." Haha, I loved that - and heeded the warning.

Size matters: These days, I thoroughly enjoy the smaller ships - and have one planned on Windstar at the end of the year. I've graduated and enjoy the elegance of the smaller class of ships since I am more about the experience of the actual sailing and ports than the ship experiences. The downside is that some of the smaller ships don''t have balconies which is probably the number one must-have on a cruise for me.

As my favorite cruise reviewer wrote, "If you are having a really bad time on any cruise, it's probably your fault." I think this is probably true. Sort yourself according to your likes and dislikes, try not to let loud-hairy-gold-chain-guy sear into your neurons, ignore the worn spot on that chair, and you'll have a fine time of it.

While I miss the days of teak and formality, I'm just happy to be at the rail with a breeze an a moon on the water.
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03-10-2018, 05:11 PM
10

Re: Navigator of the Seas ship

Black tie evenings alternative name is "Parade of the penguins"

Always makes my laugh seeing these parades.
 
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