Cruise Ship: Navigator Of The Seas
Cruise Destination: Eastbound Transatlantic Crossing
Cruise Dates: April 14 - 26, 2007
Guest Contributor: Mary & Vincent Finelli
Pliny once wrote, "Home is where the heart is." and over the past month or so our hearts have been at home in many distant places. On board the Navigator of the Seas our home away from home was the extremely comfortable wheelchair accessible Cabin #7604. For twelve days, we were made to feel as comfortable as at home: we had breakfast in our room daily, and slept on the newly upgraded mattresses and bedding which rivaled what we call our mattress at home -- "the most comfortable in our known world." The Navigator is one of the five Voyager Class ships of Royal Caribbean International (RCI). These were once the largest cruise ships afloat. However, in 2005 Cunard's Queen Mary 2 held that title for a mere year, until in 2006 when the RCI Freedom of the Seas was launched and regained the title "Largest Cruise Ship in the World" for RCI.
The Navigator sat majestically in the port of Miami, Florida. This would be our third cruise on board her, and thus we were very happy to see Captain Leif Otto Bang as her Commander, since we have sailed with him several times. He has been with RCI for over thirty years, but his maritime career spans over 48 years. Very soon his extensive experience was evidenced, when he canceled our first Port of Call, Bermuda, due to high seas and a tempest in that area. He changed our route to a more southerly course, thus sailing us to calmer seas and the opportunity to visit the Azores instead. An Atlantic crossing is a wonderful experience, since it always includes 5 or 6 sea days conducive to enjoying ship board life.
Embarkation on the Navigator of the Seas
We arrived at the Port of Miami at 12:30 pm on a Saturday. Our luggage was quickly taken, and we had a short wait inside before we were ushered to a fast track check-in lane. Once we received our boarding passes, we also received wheelchair assistance. We were on board by 1:15 pm which is quite good considering over 3,800 passengers were all embarking at once! There were the RCI famous huge, delicious cookies, coffee and lemonade on hand. These are always welcome to tired and hungry travelers. We immediately went to the Dining Room and encountered Asst. Maitre D' Ali Matjani (Kosovo) who created table #38 for two, near the entrance to the Nutcracker Dining Room on Deck 3. Very happily, we were off to the Welcome on Board Buffet in the Windjammer on Deck 11.
Boat Drill was at 3:30; it was short and informative. We returned to our cabin on Deck 7 and relaxed until dinner at 6 pm which is main seating. Our cabin was a short distance from the rear elevators which are near the entrance to the dining room. We usually select a cabin in close proximity to the areas that we frequent during the cruise: the Library, the Concierge Lounge, the Dining room, etc.
Navigator of the Seas Profile
We have written two reviews on the Navigator -- Western Caribbean in 2003 -- and -- Eastern Caribbean on the Navigator of the Seas in 2005 -- so rather than boring the readers, we will refer them to those reviews for a deck by deck description of the Navigator's decorations and art work. The very cordial Hotel Director Georgio Katikkis (Cyprus) kindly gave us a "Fun Facts" page of little known interesting information about the ship. The ship registry is Nassau Bahamas with call letters C6FU4. It was built in the Kvaerner Masa Shipyards of Turku, Finland in 2002 ; it took only 18 months to complete, at a cost of $650 million dollars. It has a gross tonnage of 138,276; length is 1,020 ft.; beam is 157.5 ft. and her draft is a mere 28 ft. She has 15 decks and 1,557 rooms on board. Her crew numbers 1,256 from 65 different countries, and she carries approximately 3,835 passengers. Her six Diesel 12V46 generators produce 75,000 megawatts of power and her cruising speed is 22 knots (25.3 mph). The Navigator of the Seas' Godmother is Steffi Graf of tennis fame.
The Navigator has fresh water production through reverse osmosis and desalinization by steam of 14,000 metric tons per 24 hours or 259 liters per person! By far the most interesting figures regarding this ship involve the feeding of the more than 5,000 passengers and crew on board. Executive Chef Troy Swindle, whose long, impressive resume includes both the American Express "Hall of Fame" and the Conde Naste 2000 "Best Leisure" award, runs this department well. Each week he oversees the preparation of over 105,000 meals; 300,680 desserts; 234,000 appetizers and over 69,000 steaks. In order to accomplish this the Navigator consumes 37,000 pounds of beef, chicken and pork; 7,900 pounds of fish; 28,000 fresh eggs; 118,000 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables and 8,000 gallons of ice cream; not to mention 5,800 pounds of cheese and 18,000 slices of pizza.
There are three marvelous features of this class ship: the four deck high Royal Promenade, the Ice Skating Rink and the Rock Climbing Wall. First the Royal Promenade is an elegant street which runs through the center of the ship with windows of inside cabins overlooking the tiled and marble paved street below. There are Logo shops, The Two Poets Pub, a General Store, a Perfume shop, the Connoisseur Club (fine cigars etc.), Ben & Jerry's and even a Champagne Bar in this friendly area. This is where Capt. Bang has his Welcome Cocktail party and, throughout the cruise, there are always parades and musical entertainment here. The second unique feature is the Ice Skating Rink with Olympic quality ice shows by an international cast. Finally, the Rock Climbing Wall offers the height of exercise for those inclined. It towers 200 feet above the sea! Other features are a Sports Court for basketball and volleyball, a mini golf putting range, an in line skate track and one of the nicest outdoor Promenades at sea, replete with many chaises for relaxing and reading, or just watching the sea.
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