Eastern Caribbean Cruise Reviewed by Mary

Our recent cruise was on Navigator of the Seas to the Eastern Caribbean.
Since I used this site frequently when planning our trip, I will add my opinions and impressions hoping to help those of you who are planning a trip in the future.

This ships two great strengths are the ship itself and the service. There are many grand areas including stairways and the atrium with its beautiful chandeliers. Some of the floors were done with inlaid wood. The solarium is of gorgeous tile with insets of Italian scenes. The service was outstanding.

While I have no strong negative feelings about any part of the cruise, I would say that I was a bit disappointed in the food. The meals we ate in the main dining room, as a rule, were better than those in the less formal areas. The food in the Windjammer and the Promenade Café were comparable to most cafeterias. The food was plentiful, but I found it rather mundane.
Most desserts were unremarkable. The bread was typically dry. I certainly found plenty (actually more than plenty) of food at any time of the day, and there was a variety of food at every mealtime and during the snacking hours.
The midnight buffet was well worth staying up for. The presentation was lovely with many ice sculptures and fabulous cakes. However, much of what I ate was not remarkable. Every cake I tasted was dry, for example, despite their beauty.

We enjoyed all ports which included San Juan, St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Nassau. Nassau was my least favorite. It might be helpful to know that on St. Maarten there is a boat taxi for which you can buy a $5 pass that lasts all day. We enjoyed using that since we could then go back and forth between the boat and the shopping area and the beach. The shopping area was within walking distance at all ports. We took a cab to Magens Bay on St.
Thomas, but the water was especially rough that day. The cab driver (for an extra charge naturally) took us to a different beach. By going both places, we were able to see the island which is beautiful. The beach he took us to was beautiful, but I think it is a beach typically used by those in the condos around it. We were pretty much asked to leave, although I do think it was a public beach, though a very small one. By mid-day it was very crowded, and I overheard several people who were evidently staying in condos nearby complaining about all the cruise people on ?their? beach. We had a couple of hours there, though, and enjoyed our time. Unless you are planning to buy jewelry or liquor, there is little shopping except for t-shirts and other touristy odds and ends.

This was our first cruise after going to Europe many times on our own, so I was worried about so many people. I was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed the trip. The ?herd? issue is easily resolved if you will just not try to get off the ship as soon as it docks and not wait until last minute to go onboard. Seating for the evening meal was by assigned table which proved to be a great system. During the first day at sea, the pool area was crowded, but that was the only time I felt cramped. There were times when the Windjammer restaurant was crowded, but we soon learned to avoid those times so we could more easily find a place to sit.

We had a stateroom with a balcony which I thoroughly enjoyed and felt was worth the extra money. My husband said he didn?t think he would mind being without one. We enjoyed the ship itself and weren?t in our rooms all that much, but I still liked having a balcony and will probably always want one.
The room was predictably small as was the bathroom, but I didn?t have high expectations there.

We went to shows each night, but we didn?t participate in the other odds and ends such as ?great legs contest? for men or the equivalent of the ?marriage game.? The shows, including an ice show were all enjoyable.

I have motion sickness and worried about that issue, but I didn?t not have major problems. I definitely knew we were on a ship. Some say that the larger ships don?t have motion issues, but I felt it. We had rough seas the first night. The cruise director even mentioned that fact, and said that we were using the Bahamian channel rather than going out to sea because of the rough seas. There were other times when I saw people stumbling a bit. I was not drinking, so I was sure my stumbling was due to the boat.

Embarkation went as well as could be expected. However, disembarking seemed cumbersome. We were assigned a time, but our color was called about 30 minutes earlier than listed. However, we still stood in line about an hour.
I had prepared myself for that eventuality and didn?t get too distressed.
That is all part of the routine.

I can honestly and enthusiastically recommend the ship and the ports.