Here is a synopsis of our Navigator trip, Eastern Caribbean, March 25 – April 1, 2005.
We took a red eye March 24 SFO-LAX-MIA and after the 1 mile walk from the gate to the baggage claim, took a cab to a Comfort Inn near the port (Cab fare about $75). A couple hours of sleep so we could be rested when we got on the ship. The pier in Ft Lauderdale is a pit, a true shipyard. Compared to others like in New Orleans and Tahiti, this one has nothing to do surrounding the area. We got on at noon to one of the smoothest check ins to date. Had a good buffet lunch in Portofino and signed up for massages and our first alternative dinner in Portofino. By the time the cabins were available to us at 2:30, our luggage was already in the room. We were in cabin C-927 an unusual room in that it is outside of the glass door that separates the general area with the elevator with the rest of the rooms forward on Deck 9. I was concerned about elevator noise (actually the people taking the elevator and getting off) but it turned out to be no problem.
Here are some of the highs and lows of the trip. Don’t get too hung up on the lows they are few and far between. I have very high expectations from Radisson being our fourth trip and the other three have all been over the top. In an effort to continually improve their product, I have provided little things for Radisson to consider and have usually been met with glee by staff in order to improve. Others complain often looking for something. I do what I can just to provide feedback for them to consider. Indeed many of my past comments have been corrected on future cruises.
Food and Servers
Bottom line: Very very good. We had a full load (490) people and a much higher percentage than other lines I have been on of older folks. I didn’t see this as a problem except I felt that some of the food catered more to this audience like the extensive consommé’s served at each dinner. I spent some time with the Executive Chef, Sylke -- (who is a kick in itself when she talks about her “boys,†the 52 other chefs on board that have been with her for 6 years on the ship; now that is loyalty! – and her feedback is that she does create a wide variety but soups are one area where she doesn’t give as much latitude. Here is a trick some may not know: all of the dishes recipes are available to you just by asking. We really enjoyed the pasta dishes and I was able to get a copy of each sent to my stateroom.
Following the slogan, “special orders don’t upset us†all requests we made were done and with never a balk. Eggs benedict are not on the breakfast menu in Compass Rose but they made them for us, with extra sauce, no questions asked. In fact, I asked for extra sauce for most of the meat dishes at dinner and was always accommodate d with a smile.
While in Portofino for lunch one day, a waiter came up and asked if we had been on the Mariner two years ago! It was Gerry, our waiter we so loved from the Mariner. We ended up eating at one of his tables in the Compass Rose every night after and his service was what really makes Radisson exceptional in the dining room: prompt, whatever you want you get, always serving from your right (I hate it when they throw two plates to two people at the same time by serving from the wrong side) and always knew who got what dish (not the often heard line from other cruise lines, “who gets the fish, who gets the beef Wellington!â€). Funny, however, that we never had the headwaiter visit our table, even once during the cruise. On the PG, the headwaiter was exceptional always trying to find out how he could make things better. But again, Gerry was so great, I can’t imagine how the presence of a head waiter could have improved on it.
The food in Portofino grill is of the same quality, in my opinion, as the compass rose. The atmosphere is just different, the latter being much noisier and not quite as attentative with the service staff. During the week, the grill turns from an Italian Steakhouse to a classical Italian restaurant with singing by staff and passengers. It was a lot of fun.
They had great poolside meals at lunch including a grilled fish day that was exceptional. Room service was also prompt and very good. The coffee was the only area that was not as good and probably because we like our coffee less strong. A nit.
Wines served during dinner were not as good as served on the Paul Gauguin last summer. While okay, they were not of the same caliber. We often asked for an alternate and were always accommodated. Again, this is where the staff really shines. We had a wine server, Jill, who always knew that my wife likes California Chardonnay’s (after we told her the first night) and would always ask first to see if she wanted to try the white wine of the day and then had the CA Chard ready to go.
Let me know if you have any questions on the food or wines as this is a passion of mine and a key reason why we sail Radisson.
Stateroom
There has been a lot said about size, conveniences, etc. and they are all true. We spent a fair amount of time on the balcony, as the sun just seemed to be on the other side of the ship. We had perfect weather all week: no rain, and it did not exceed 85 degrees (with the exception of one day in San Juan where it hit 89). We did have a number of maintenance issues with the room, all of which were not repaired. They included an A/C that couldn’t get the room cooled enough. Problems with the VCR seemed to also linger and we also had a leaky sink that never got repaired despite several requests. All of these were trivial, however as we went with the flow.
Excursions
Grand Turk was a bust. If you dive, I’m sure its fantastic; we snorkeled and it was choppy and not too many fish. The island is desert like with essentially no shopping. It is somewhere to stop on the way to San Juan. They probably should start looking for another place in my opinion. We spent the rest of the time by the pool that was fine by us.
We met up with some friends in San Juan and had a private tour of this very exciting stop. In St Thomas, we did the Catamaran sail to St. John and Honeymoon beach. This was exceptional except that it was cut short by one hour (the one hour we were to spend on the beach which is incredible) due to having to anchor vs. dock like originally planned. The tender ride was very rough and 25 min each way, hence one less hour. I let the tour desk know and they “noted itâ€but that was it. I would recommend this tour. Very relaxing sail across the sound and lots of fish to see when snorkeling. They only take about 30 people where all of the other super mega ships did a similar excursion with 100’s on theirs. We had come and were leaving by the time the others showed up. St. John is not to be missed. Let me know if you have any excursion questions.
We stayed on the boat in Nassau other than a quick tour of the straw market. In fact, we enjoyed a lot of time by the pool just relaxing and reading which is what a vacation is all about! Because of the number on board, however, it was often very difficult to get a chaise in the shade. Almost impossible. This was a general comment that I noted all over the ship. While the Navigator is supposed to have a very high space ratio, we found it much more crowded than the other Radisson ships even when they were near capacity (which seems to be the time we most often are on them.)
Disembarkation
We had a 2pm flight from MIA and so wanted to stay on as long as reasonable. We were able to have a nice breakfast and leave at our pace around 9:30 which minimized to the extent possible our wait time at the airport. It took longer to walk off the ship than it did in total to get our luggage and through customs.
We are again sold on Radisson. There are a million things that happen in a week where we always sit back and say, “only on Radisson†does this or that happen that doesn’t happen on other cruise lines we have been on. I just wish they had another boat or two so more itineraries could be accommodated. I can post a few other topics on entertainment, casino, galley tour, library, Internet on board, nightclubs, and spa if you are interested as we experienced them all. Our experience with Julie from B&K was also incredible!
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