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Date: Tue, 24 Jan 2006 16:58:33 -0500
From: "Hilde Hunnestad" <pus7877@yahoo.no>
Subject: Cruise Review

My boyfriend and i was celebrating our 10 year anniversary, and thought we would do it in style. Belive me....we got more then we bargained for!!!

We had never been on a cruiseship before and we did not really know what to expect. We were really hoping for a week of relaxation, fun, great food and good weather.

We flew in from Norway 5 days before the cruise and stayed in Miami.. We took a shuttle from our hotel to the pier. As we never had been on a cruiseship before we were in awe as to how big this ship was...incredible. We were set off in front of the terminal building, some RC staff took our bags and we made our way to the check in counter.We came to the pier about 12 o`clock and within about 1 hour we were on our way to the cabin. It did not seem long at all, because there were entertainment while we waited and the RC staff was very nice. We had a cabin with balcony on deck 6, almost at the back of the ship. This was amazing! Lots of space, a nice cleen bathroom, a king size bed and most of all...it was quiet. Our bags came to our cabin within 2 hours. We stood on our balcony when we left Miami, we watched Miami fade away in the sunset as we moved further and further away. This looked good for the coming week.

We went to explore our ship and found that this was more than a ship. It was almost like a small city. It had everything you could want and need on a vacation. We heard that you should buy a soda card that would last the whole week. But we didn`t, and we are glad we didn`t. With all the free drinks you can choose from at the buffet restaurants at breakfast, lunch and dinner( water, ice tea, various juices, coffee and tea) there was no way we could buy so much soda that it would cost as much as a soda card. The promenad was amazing, with a pub, cafe, shopping area. The space was like nothing else we have seen, it felt so big that we almost didn`t feel like we were on a ship. But at the same time the atmosphere was so intimite. It`s hard to put into words, it is something you have to experience for yourself. We took the whole tour of the ship the first night and was more and more amazed.

Our first day at sea we spent exploring the ship. We ate a great breakfast in the windjammer buffet restaurant. The food was great, and it is really much to choose from. (There was alot of people, but we never had trouble finding somewhere to sit.) We spent some hours at the sundeck and we loved it. The sundeck was so big that during the week it never felt overcrowded, we never had a hard time finding some place to lie down.

We were scepitic to going on a cruise, we had heard that only "old" people go on cruises. But we were amazed, there were lots of people our age (25 - 30 years). And there was so much to do on this ship that we didn`t get to do it all. There just wasen`t enough time. The entertainment was great.

Food
We think the food onboard was really great. We tried all the restaurants besides the ones you have to pay extra. The icecream macines spread all over the ship are free and they tasted good.

San Juan, Puerto Rico
We think this island was ok, but nothing more.The old part of town was charming, some nice small stores and the old ruins on top of the hill was nice. A nice view of the pier from there. Only one thing, there was far to many cars in the streets. I don`t think we would go ashore if we go here again.

We did not stay ashore very long. We went back to the ship, had something to eat and got in the jacuzzi.

We had 6 o`clock seating for dinner and this afternoon we wanted to try this. We got a table with 4 other people, so the next day we changed it so that we got a table just for the two of us. The staff was very helpful, just say you want a table for two and they will fix it for the rest of the trip.

St.Thomas
We had booked a snorkling trip on a catamaran. We looked forward to this and we were not dissapointed. The staff was very nice and they served rum on the way back. The weather was great, and we got to snorkel in some great waters. A very nice island! When we got back we went onboard the ship, took a shower and had some food before we went off again. We took the cable car up to the look out where we had a spectacular view of the bay and the three cruise ships there. The large shopping area near the pier we thought were a bit too crowded, but they had a lot of nice things to buy. The sun was really strong, so use high sunblock....

When we got onboard again we really could feel that we had been in the sun the whole day. We had gotten a real sunburn. This was a problem because we had order a snorkel tour the next day too. But we went to talk to the RC people in the tour desk. They were so helpful and we got to switch to a guided bustour instead. We got the overshooting money back and all with a smile. Really good service!

St. Martin
As i said we were going on a bus tour around the island. This was really nice and after this tour we still had time to go to the beach and really enjoy our day.

Nassau, Bahamas
We looked forward to this. We took a watertaxi to Paradise island and walked the few minutes to the beautiful beach in front of the Atlantis hotel. We stayed here all day, and had a really nice day all in peace to our selfs.

The Navigator is an amazing ship, a really great experience!

We hope the information here can help you deside on going on cruise. We loved it and we hope you will too!

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