Last day wrap up (Navigator of the Seas day 4 and 5 trip report)

Guess what disappeared again today? Give you 2 chances. If you guessed money, yeah you would be right, of course I spent money, but that isn't it! The sun was once again gone! It was cold and yucky, with no end in sight! Our stinky room smelled good, figures it was close to the end of the cruise...no problems there, thank goodness. We are getting used to and have started gathering the animals 2 by two..anyone know where we can get cheap lumber?

Ok, so day 4 we watched the most incredible ventriloquist. His last name was Lucas, and if you can catch him on his regular gig at the Rio in  Las Vegas do so. He involved the audience, made us laugh, cheer and even cry. He told a story and had great characters, and if given the chance I would watch him a third time in Vegas. He was funny, entertaining and very PG, you could take anyone to this show. Go see him...do not miss it, and I will look it up and post his name when I find my Compass. Who knows where I have put them.

We were only 1 number short and the first people to stand for the BIG bingo game. It was a fill the card final game and we were missing one number for the longest time, and did not win! Oh well, better luck next time! Below is what a winning machine would look like. The person in charge pressed something before the game started and everyone's machines gave a winning message. To bad it wasn't real :(

We went shopping. Now here is something that all experienced cruisers know. The cruise line discounts everything the night before the last night, and puts it on the promenade. Anything on the promenade the 2nd night will be on sale the last night for cheap. Everyone thinks it is a clearance thing, but it is the same stuff every cruise, so wait on those t-shirts and some of the costume jewelry you see on sale there. Also, get your last minute alcohol or cheap cigarettes.

The last night of the cruise is tip night. One thing people need to know is that the people who provide a service for you on the cruise are not getting huge salaries. They are making more on tips than wages. Many of them are shipping this money home to family. Our waiter James was from India and had a wife and kids at home. He had been on the ship for 2 year and was planning on staying for two more. His kids were 3.5 and 1.5 years old.  He has seen very little of them only when he has gone home on leave, but this is the only way his family can survive right now. Please do not skip the tip for these people. They work very hard for their tips, and they really do make cruises special! Every cruise line leaves a suggestion of what to pay. If the service is good, leave that. If the service was exceptional leave them more! These people really do earn their tips!

We said goodbye to our table mates on the last night. I was going to post a picture of all of us, but I have not heard from them, so I do not want to post the picture without their permission! Hope they read this! We really enjoyed their company.

So, on the last morning we woke up and said goodbye to our awesome corner balcony room!  Above is the picture of Miami at 5 am in the morning. If you can get one, it is well worth the extra steps to the back of the ship! The balcony is huge and perfect if you have 4 people in the room! We will be back, hopefully for the Oasis in the next 2 years.We took our own luggage off and off we went to Disney! Yes, of course it was pouring all the way to Orlando! As usual we checked into the Swan Hotel in Disney World! If you are a teacher check out their teacher rates!!!!

Will be back with the Disney portion of our trip....hope you are enjoying!

Next cruise is the Norwegian Epic July 2-4 for the inaugural cruise out of NY!!!!

What is that big yellow thing in the sky??? (Trip report)

We woke up this morning and we were ecstatic to see the sun shining through the drapes. We opened the drapes and low and behold we had bright sun. We were pulling into Ochos Rios, Jamaica and it was a beautiful site. After 4 days of rain so far we were extremely grateful to have sunlight. So, as quick as we could we threw on our bathing suits, lotioned up and off we went for our excursion.

Now we have been to Jamaica before and had done the Dunn's River Falls and tubing before. The falls were a lot of fun, and so was the tubing but once was enough for us. So we tried the Jamaican bobsleds tour. It was not more than 10 minutes from the ship by tour bus. We got out and we were escorted to a ski lift that brought us up the mountain. Below us as we went up was the rainforest. We did not see and animals, but there were many sounds from the forest. The flowers and trees were beautiful. We were at the top in about 15 minutes. They have lockers at the top of the mountain. They take a deposit which all but $1 is returned when you return the key.

At the top there was a beautiful garden you could walk around in. A few artists selling things, a small store and then the entrance to the bobsleds, and the pool. Now we had paid for each of us to ride the sleds once on the cruise ship tour. we each got our own sleds. Now if you have a child or anyone who feels uncomfortable driving the sled themselves two sleds can be connected with the first sled doing the driving. The sleds are on a track, so the only thing you control is the speed and the breaks. There are cameras on the tracks so they do not let people go until they get past certain points so no one can crash into each other. When you get to the bottom, you go back up the mountain on your sled. We immediately purchased 5 more rides for $50 when we got to the top. On the lat ride we did not have enough ticket for me to go, and the attendant was kind enough to let me go on the last ride with my kids. I tried to get video, and will try to upload it from my phone, but it may not happen. There are lots of pictures though, which I will upload and add later to this post. After riding 4 times each, we took a dip in their endless pool. They had a nice size water slide and whirlpool there too. From the pool you had great views of the Navigator and Ocho Rios. We spent about 5 hours there. We could take as long as we wanted as busses came and picked up every 20 minutes. As we rode the ski lift (that holds 4 people comfortably) down it started to sprinkle. In all our excitement we had not noticed that it had become overcast and now the rain was coming in.

We got on our bus and met Phil (the DH) on the road that leads to the ship. We did some shopping (Pandora bracelets) at the ship approved stores and went back to the ship as it started to rain. We showered and went down to dinner.

Our table mates had enjoyed their limited sun as much as we had. The ladies had gotten their hair braided (ok, I was a little jealous I didn't) and had gotten a good amount of color. The men had been offered to have their hair braided too by people. They really were a great group of people to eat with. They had been on a carnival cruise the week before coming on this one and it had rained and been cloudy on that cruise, so they deserved this warm sunny 1/2 day!

Bye Jamaica!

We were so tired we zonked out early....tomorrow our last day at sea!

If you want to have all this fun...call us at Second Star Travel 1-508-808-5995


Secondstartravel because today's vacations are tomorrow's memories!

And the rain came down........(trip report)

and it wasn't just any rain. It was a delude...cats and dogs...buckets....There isn't much to say. We attempted to get off at Labadee, Haiti. Ten seconds later we were soaked. If it had been warm, it would have been fine but within 15 minutes we were shivering. We went to the straw market it is so different than it used to be. Much more organized and lots of vendors. Wish we could have enjoyed it more. We went back to the ship and did bingo, trivia, watched a movie. Katerna and I saw the Battle of the Sexes game that evening...Of course the women won!!! So, here is a better idea of what our day was like....

Someone have a gas mask? And where is the dang sun???? (trip report)

Oh yes, my awesome corner balcony room smells bad still. I am talking baby eating broccoli and spinach for dinner, sitting in a diaper for a while smell here! We had to leave the balcony door open most of the night to take care of the smell. I have got to hand it to the desk staff on the Navigator, they were trying. We had three crew members that could not have been more understanding. We had one who did not seem to understand that just cuz I was on a cruise did not mean I was filthy rich and did not scrimp and save for this trip, and practically said so. The more I talked to her the more she reminded me of the wicked witch in the Wizard of OZ.

My family did not want to leave our awesome room (yes, we are difficult). This room is bigger than a normal balcony room, and the balcony is bigger than most suite balconies! At first there was only one other room to go to. It was a normal balcony room which would have been tight for us. No one wanted to go there and it was on the 6th floor, and even when we went to see it it was noisy above us. We chose to live with the smell than be up all night. Then late into the day we got another call and there was a JR Suite we could move to. I was good with moving but everyone loved the location and the size of our balcony and room. The balcony in the aft room was twice the size as the normal Jr. Suite balcony. Again we said no, they over ruled! They came numerous times and pumped the shower and the toilet. By evening it was smelling better. Not gone but better. We lived with it! Our choice..they tried everything. There were three rooms available for us and they offered us the two that were as good or better than our room...can't say they didn't try.

Ok, the Bingo seal deal( a blue stuffed seal) is back. You buy him for $10 or $15 and you get free bingo cards when you bring him with you. Oh and he is good every time you cruise! Mine lies sexily across blocks that spell Bingo, so he is a sexy seal. No, we didn't win but it was fun, and I love the new BINGO machines where all you do is watch for the lazy people like me! We were so close only needed one number! Yes, Judy still costs a fortune. each time we played and we played twice this trip was $67 and we used all our Crown and Anchor coupons and Bingo the seal :)



We did trivia and lo and behold ran into a family from Franklin, MA. No we didn't win trivia either but we came damn close, 2nd place!!!! What nothing for second place?

Then visited the casino...can you guess if we won? Of course not, but it is sure fun trying. Casinos are entertainment. You go in not expecting to win. I have a budget for the casino each trip. If I win great if not I had a blast!



The pool was to cold to go in, and to windy and cold to stay in the area very long. I tried reading my book, and it almost went overboard. I thought the Caribbean was always sunny. Who turned off the sun? I want it back!! This was what we saw all day. Cuba is there in the clouds.



We had a good time today just looking for thing to do. Today was formal night, and though it wasn't as formal is a 7 night cruise we did wear appropriate clothing. We were shocked to see Bermuda length shorts, polos and even a couple of sneakers in the dining room tonight.  Food was yummy and we had escago which is one of my favorites, but it was Italian night. Lobster night is another night.

Hoping tomorrow is sunny enough to do the Zipline in Labadee Haiti!!!

We have enjoyed the towel animals so far!




If you want to have all this fun...call us at Second Star Travel 1-508-808-5995


Secondstartravel because today's vacations are tomorrow's memories!

Day two of our excellent adventure (trip report)

So, have you given up reading this yet? Is anyone reading this at all? Doesn't matter I am enjoying reliving it all over again. :) As insane as it sounds we were up bright and early today at about 6 am. We showered changed and all of us were out the door by 7:30 am. We get every second out of our vacation and then some. We started out on the Florida turnpike and hit only a little traffic. Not to many "are we there yet?" from the peanut gallery. No road rage from the hubby. We arrived without any fanfare at about 12. The children, luggage and I were dropped off at the pier and Phil went to park the car in the garage. We had gotten a porter, who took our bags and then put his hand out. I looked at it in shock. How rude! He said," you want me to take care of your bags right?" I looked at him and handed him a $5 bill for three bags. Geez, he could have waited the 30 seconds while I took the money out of my pocket. Now our bags are BIG duffel's, so we can store all kinds of things in there, including a maybe a chopped up porter. He didn't know who he was dealing with. I won't tell him he was going to get a $10 before his comment. Hope you are reading this Mr. porter man!



We stand in line and wait for Phil to get there (seems like an eternity) and then proceed to get on the ship. I got to say the Navigator of the Seas is an impressive ship. It isn't one of the biggest but it is a very nicely put together ship. We had carry on luggage, as we were hoping to get in some pool time, but that did not happen for the adults, way to cold. That didn't stop the girls for about 20 minutes before they were done!

The promenade...impressive



So we went to eat at the Windjammer buffet for lunch. It was early so we snagged a seat quickly (which did not happen again this trip) and had lunch. The honey stung chicken they only do on embarkation day was yummy as always. I am addicted to the burgers on that ship. We had lunch everyday in the Windjammer.

By 1pm we were standing outside the corridor to our stateroom(yes, we were eager). They close the corridors off now, and you wait by the elevators for one of the stateroom attendants to open the doors. As soon as they did it we walked to our room. We had stateroom 1388. Yes, the coveted corner aft balcony room. If you can get one of these rooms get it! The room was plenty big for the 4 of us. The girls had a large pull out sofa to sleep on and our two beds. I will post pictures of the room soon. The balcony is huge! We had two lounge chairs, two regular chairs and one small round table and there was still room to walk around in the balcony! It was not dark or did we have any soot at all on the balcony. I was in heaven!





We put away our clothes, met our stateroom attendant and then noticed a very unpleasant smell coming from the bathroom. It was a very strong sewer smell. We called right away and someone was sent right up. We got ready for dinner and went down to the 4th floor where our dining room was. What a beautiful dining room. It is like something out of a movie. I can picture long ball gowns and tuxes walking down the main staircase like in the Titanic movie...ok, maybe that isn't the best reference to use while talking about a cruise. Anyway, we got a great table by the windows. Then we met or dinner mates.

At first we were a little taken back. They looked very much like they were from the country, and for good reason. Our table mates were re-en-actors from the pioneer age. They were great people and very funny. We enjoyed their company and loved hearing about what they did. We gave them our contact and hope they use it. Dinner is so much fun when you meet all kinds of people on cruises. We have never had anyone we did not like. James was our waiter and he was from India and I can't remember the asst. waiters name...it will come to me. Thank you Angela, she remembered our asst. waiters name Mohammed!



For the most part it was chilly and cloudy today. No outside activities to speak of other than attempting ping pong!





Did have fun exploring the ship. Angela, is not feeling all the great, and has quite a cold brewing. My watch battery died and no place on the ship sells a watch battery.I will have to wait til Jamaica to get one. We all went to bed at a decent time to get ready for tomorrow. Hopefully the sun will come out??? Any takers?

The rock climbing wall.






Secondstartravel because today's vacations are tomorrow's memories!