On my first Seven Seas Navigator cruise, the 12 days I spent on the cruise ship were the fourth and final leg of the Navigator's 68-day "Grand Circle South Pacific" cruise. Almost 100 of the passengers sailed the entire 68-day cruise, which had embarked from San Francisco in mid-September. We really enjoyed hearing about all of the wonderful ports and adventures these guests had experienced the previous two months. It sure made me envious!
Common Areas- Facilities-Activities
The Seven Seas Navigator has a sleek, simple interior design. The entire ship seems very spacious, and it has many secluded places onboard to read a book or have a quiet conversation. We had four precious sea days on our cruise, and it was always easy to find an empty lounge chair around the pool or on the decks. Even the two Jacuzzi hot tubs near the pool were often empty!
The Seven Seas Show Lounge has two levels and hosts a variety of entertainers. In addition to the eight members of the production cast and the orchestra, the show lounge featured a good mixture of singers, instrumentalists (trumpet, and piano) and comedy/magic. Like on most small ships, you won't find spectacular Las Vegas-style shows (or ice skating) on the Navigator. We did have some wonderful entertainers who performed, including the talented singers Jordan Bennett and Brenda Cochrane, both of whom we were lucky enough to have dinner with--one of the advantages of open seating! Jordan is from California and primarily sings Broadway show music, which I love. Jordan was onboard the first part of our cruise, and then Brenda joined us in Costa Rica. Brenda is from Scotland, and although she speaks with a wonderful Scottish lilt, you wouldn't know it by listening to her sing. Brenda's nickname, "The Voice", is well deserved. She can really belt out a tune! We also enjoyed getting to know and listening to the talented harpist, Sylvia Norris, from Traverse City, Michigan.
On a small ship like the Navigator, it is quite easy to become acquainted with fascinating people like the crew, entertainers, and expert lecturers. The cruise director and the assistant cruise director, Jamie Logan and Dana Logan, (yes, they are married) were among the most charming and enthusiastic I have ever seen. Although we were on segment four of a 68-day cruise with a lot of sea days, they were both always smiling and pleasant to everyone, and easily interacted with passengers of widely disparate ages and interests. Jamie and Dana have the ability to make all the passengers feel that they genuinely care about them. What a wonderful trait to have in any occupation that deals with the public! The couple transferred from the Seven Seas Navigator to the Seven Seas Mariner in January 2003, so passengers on that ship will get the opportunity to get to know this friendly, extremely competent couple.
Although the Seven Seas Navigator is relatively small, she has all of the standard amenities found on cruise ships. The ship has several nice cocktail lounges and a cigar club. The library is well stocked with books and videotapes, and six computers provided access to the Internet and email. One nice touch in the computer room was a PC card reader for downloading digital pictures or emailing them to friends back home. There was also a "CD burner" for transferring photos to CD for storage. The computers stayed very busy with passengers sending electronic postcards describing their wonderful cruise to those left behind back home. The computer teacher had classes for those who wanted to spend their time onboard honing their skills. Two boutiques sell a variety of items ranging from toiletries and snacks to designer wear and jewelry. In addition to slot machines, the small, rich-looking casino has blackjack, craps, and roulette. Although a few people were almost always playing slots, the casino was pretty quiet most evenings. I guess most of us passengers were all "day-people" or cheap. Tea time trivia and late afternoon bingo usually had a good crowd. Other quiet indoor activities included making handicrafts, needlepoint, and bridge and other card games.
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