Well, I have posted most of my day-by-day experiences of the cruise to Bermuda on 6/2-6/9 but I thought I should post a summary of my opinions, which I think differ from a daily diary. I truly enjoyed the ship and the itinerary. This was my 3rd RSSC Cruise and 1st on the Navigator and I have plans to sail her again in September 04 and Dec 05.

The Rooms - Comparing the room to the rooms on the Mariner (your basic suite). Yes, I love the bathroom. The closet and the rest of the room are almost the same as Mariner. I use the dressing table and like the Mariner's slighly more. Would be better with more light for makeup. Actually, most of the better hotels now have lighted makeup mirrors in the bathrooms. Love the linens and down. Our cabin stewardess was excellent but was rarely seen. Our room was impeccable all the time. Not one complaint. With the new Aveda toiletries, you only get one bottle of each item for the week but they are 4 oz. Leaves nothing to take home! I still have some of the Judith Jackson shampoo and body wash I like to use once in a while.

Food:

The food on this ship was excellent. Actually, I think it fair to say that we were post cruise in NYC and we dined at some of the best restaurants in NYC. The meal we paid $100. per person was comparable to meals we ate on ship without that extra cost! We did not have one meal that we did not enjoy or would have sent back. Perfect! We ate at Portofino one night and we had been invited twice to dinner with officers otherwise, I think we'd have gone back. I actually remembered Marcil ( bot sure of the exact spelling of his name - the Restaurant Manager) from my cruise on Splendor of the Seas from 1997. He suggested we dine with another couple the first night very strongly. We ended up missing the show because we were having too much fun! I did miss the alternative dining in Latitudes or Signatures as on the Mariner and maybe for a longer cruise would have eaten on shore to compensate.

Spa: I mentioned the spa because I think most of us ladies like to spend time there. I enjoyed my treatments, but, I did feel them lacking something. I think the Judith Jackson experience was better. I am spoiled on land because I have clients who own day spas and, well I get treated to them and go myself. I think the techniques they use could be improved. The staff does there does not seem as highly motivated. I give it a B if we were grading. I would not use the hair services again and actually cancelled my 2nd appointment. My hair did not stay in place even for the evening. In fairness, the hairdresser's technique was good so it was either the water or the products but $45.00 plus tip for a blow dry on my shoulder length bob should have held at least for one night.

Casino! I like to play most of the games and this cruise I enjoyed the tournement BlackJack. It was really a lot of fun and not much damage to the wallet. I will do this again! I did come in 4th in with 20 entries! The slots are slow pay but there was a alot of fun going on there too.

Shops on Board: The little boutique was not well stocked with much beyond handbags and perfume and jewelery. I always buy perfume (actually it's kind of a sailaway ritual for us) for both of us and we have a special scent for a memory of the trip. I entered a drawing they held at end of the cruise and I won the (silver and green amber) necklace. That was great fun.

Staff: We thought that the staff in the dining areas were exceptional. Room service was perfect. We ate RS breakfast three times and each time had a specified delivery time and we could have set the clock by them! We called for appetizers once and we only waited 15 minutes. There was not one person who I felt could have done a better job than they did. Only once did I throw a curve ball was when I ordered Crab Benedict in the dining room at breakfast. They were unsure of it's availability. The Manager was called in by the waitperson who got it ordered for me. No problem.

Ports and Excursions: We loved Bermuda and Williamsburg. We felt it was one of the best Island Experiences we have had, but, we did spend more time there than on a Carribbean cruise. The Williamsburg shore excursion needed more time. In Bermuda, we made our own excurision by taking a ferry boat and not getting off of it while it did it's whole route. Actually, we could have stayed on for a second round for the same $2.50 per person. We did the Sunset sail on a Catamaran which was perfect except for Mary Ann's accident, which was unfortunate. The taxi tour we took off of the dock in Hamilton was excellent. Ask for Leo. He was low key and personable. We saw most everything (beaches, resorts, botanical gardens, Naval Ship Yard, Gibbs Lighthouse) and if we had asked something extra we would have had it. Shopping in Bermuda is interesting. Not typical stuff in many of the stores and other stores just like at home. No bargaining and not really any bargains except maybe some of the Crystal and Lladro. I did get a nice momento at one of the jewelery stores but no negotiation and I paid retail, but, I did like it. it turned out when I got home to be a nearly identical chain necklace I had bought in Alaska and usually wear daily, but a different size link and length, so I thought it was different.

Shipboard Activity: We went to most of the production shows, the classical pianist solo and a mid afternoon concert. No comedian on this cruise, which I missed. All were good. We went to Stars late only once or twice because we were in port and had a lot of daytime plans. We had 4 cocktail parties so we missed much of the before or after dinner cocktail crowd, usually a favorite. We did not hear the pianist or the duo except for on a sea day when we played a muscial trivia game. We only danced one night. Actually, I missed trivia most days because I had hair or spa appointments or because of confilcts with other things I wanted to do. I always play bingo and did not get there either this cruise. Maybe because the cruise was less days that I am used to (9-14 days usually). And only 2 sea days. We took a beginning Bridge lesson, it was too short and there was no time to actually play because there was an intermediate class right afterwards. We will have to take lessons at home. My biggest complaint about cruising is knowing at the beginning of the cruise what the schedule for most events will be so you can schedule to the activity you most likely want to participate in without conflict with hair/spa and other activity (maybe even nap time!) I never felt that there was NOTHING to do if I wanted to do something. Actually, I had to pick between one thing and another. I was impressed with the equipment in the gym for such a small ship. Not too busy and no waiting.

Overall Ship: We enjoyed this cruise very much. We'd go on the same ship and itinerary again. The Navigator is smaller than we have been used to and it's layout is good for quiet enjoyment. There was a group of 60 on board and while you knew they were there, they did not overwhelm. The vibrations we've heard about did not bother us at all. We were on deck 7 midship a great locale. We miss the promenade that Mariner has just off of the Library. We never saw anyone playing games. We made our own backgammon tournement on Mariner. There just is no common area where people congregate or walk through and it leaves out some of the social interaction. There was plenty to do and a lot going on. All of it well done and thought out. I hope September comes quickly, because I will be thrilled to sail on her again.

Kathy,
Thank you so much for your review stocked with good info. We are sailing the same cruise 7/9 and are very excited!
How did people dress arriving to the ship? What time are the evening shows? I heard there are not too many slot machines?

Nancy

Actually it's 7/7 and not 7/9 we sail.
I laugh when your subject line says review is "long" as if to apologize and we who are waiting with anticipation are HAPPY the review is long as we are like sponges soaking up good into...it's all perspective!

Kathy, Fine review! We have not yet cruised on the Navigator, and when considering it, feel that we would also miss the alternative dining that we enjoyed on the Mariner and the Voyager. Also, interesting comments on the spa. Thanks for posting your review.

Betty

Kathy,

Thanks so much for all the wonderfully detailed reports. This review makes me all the more eager to begin our Navigator cruise this Wed.!!

Kat 4

Nancy,

I think because we were embarking in NYC and goint to Bermuda out of NYC that some people quite dressed for boarding and others were mostly in khaki's and polo's for men and capri's for the women. I wore some light jersey knit pants and a matching top with slide-in walking shoes.

There were enough slots to go from machine to machine and still have a lot of action. I think there were at least 4 or 5 rows of machines with 12 on a row. There were enough of them there to make me take what was left of my money and leave for the BlackJack tables! (There were two active tables for BJ, one for a Caribbean Poker type game, one craps and one roulette table)

I have 2 questions. First what shops in bermuda have lladro? The next one is how accessible is the pool for some one who is disabled ? Thank you

Commander,
I don't remember the names of the shops that carry Lladro figurines, but along the waterfront in Hamilton, there are several - just a short walk along the waterfront, and you'll be able to visit each of them. I don't recall the prices being exceptionally good - you just escape the US sales taxes. Their selections, however, were quite good and if you're a dedicated collector,
you'll be sure to bring one back!
Have a great time, and hope the above helps.
Marty

A. S. Cooper, right on Front Street.

Depending on disability, pool really not accessible at all.

Thanks for the review. I always enjoy reading peoples comments.

Kathy:

What a great review added to all of your reports, thank you for your efforts. It was so much fun to "cruise" with you from my computer screen!

Kathy,

I enjoyed your reviews very much. Since we are considering the Navigator next year, it will certainly help us in our decision...you know how hard one gets spoiled by the Mariner!!

Oh Ana Luisa - yes, to be spoiled regardless of ship! The anticipation and the memories are wonderful!