Nichola King

Age: 30
Occupation: Sales Assistant
Number of Cruises: 2
Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean
Ship: Navigator of the Sea's
Sailing Date: March 13th, 2004
Itinerary: Eastern Caribbean

We went on the Navigator of the Sea's in March. We did the Eastern Caribbean itinery, which had to be changes slightly due to the unrest in Haiti. We spent a day in Cocoa Cay instead. This is a private island and was lovely.

We have nothing but good words to say about our entire holiday. The ship is huge and there is lots to do. We were worried that only being in our 30's we might not find many people of our age onboard. We also didn't want to be surrounded by lots of children. As it was, it all turned out great, there was so much for kids to do that we didn't realise how many were actually onboard untill the last day when we got off, then we wondered where they had all come from !! Otherwise there was a good mix of age groups. We had second seating dinner and couldn't have been luckier with the couple who shared our table. They were our age and it turned out that we had very similar lives, so now we have 2 new friends from Atlanta, which is great.

The dinning room we ate at was called Swan Lake and was spectacular in my opinion. The food was lovely. I am a fussy eater, but they made me something every evening that I enjoyed. My husband on the other hand, likes to try most things, so this situation suits us both. The staff were fantastic, as were all the staff on board. The one thing that Is outstanding about Royal Caribbean is the politeness of the staff. After dinner our waiter would tell us where our next port of call was going to be and anything he thought would be of interest to us, which was nice of him.

He told us that St Thomas was his favourite place and after stopping there I could see why, it beautiful.

Food was plentifull, with a good choice everyday. Sometimes the Windjammer resturant gets busy at lunch time, but if you try to avoid peak times that helps.

We found there was plenty of sun loungers so there was no worries there, the pool area's did get very busy, especially on sea days. Dont bother to take towels with you as they are provided for the pool area and you can take them off the ship if you need to.You just go to the towel exchange in the pool area's when you want a clean one.

I would definatly recommed buying a soft drink ( soda ) card. At the start of the cruise you pay a set price for this card and then you dont pay anymore for your soft drinks. It costs about $55 so make sure it's going to be worth you while, depending on how much your likely to drink. Some sort drinks are provided for free, for example iced tea, apple juice, tea and coffee.

While onboard you must go and see the ice show. We thought it was very good, it's amazing what can be done in a small space.We also saw 2 shows which were very good as well.

Our rooms were kept clean and tidy, by a very good room steward. Again exeptionally polite staff.

I cant think of anything to say that wasn't good. We cruised with Carnival before and thought that we had a good time, but this cruise was really something else. This ship is in a class of it's own and I dont know how anyone could not enjoy theirselfs onboard.

Another important thing to note is the tipping. At the end of the sruise you will be given the option to buy pre paid gratuities. You pay for vouchers, which are then left in your room with envelopes for you to give to the staff. It's a great idea. Just be aware that if you are an international traveler ( not from America) the graturities may already be included in the cost of your holiday. We ended up with 2 lots of vouchers as we didn't know about this. When my husband went to pursers desk they looked on the computer and said that they had already been paid for in the UK. We got a refund on one lot of vouchers, so that was ok. We hadn't ask to pre pay in the UK, so some tour operators must just include them. Just check on the ship before you pay out for more.

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