Welcome to the Royal Caribbean blog podcast, a weekly look into the world of Royal Caribbean cruising.

I'm your host Matt Hodgeberg, and this is episode number 29.

I'm back for my seven-night cruise aboard Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas,

and I wanted to share with you my experience on board this newly refurbished ship this week.

We'll talk about what I did on board, the ports we visited, and why you might

want to go on a cruise here, too. Here we go. I have to say that my seven-night Western

Caribbean cruise on Navigator the Seas was a really great time, and there's so much I want to

talk about in so little time, so let's try to get as much in as I can.

This cruise was sailing out of Galveston, Texas.

I flew in the night before. Stayed at the Galveston Beach Hotel. Great resort. We got to Galveston, probably about 2 o'clock in the afternoon or so, had time to unpack. There was really no one in the hotel, not very few people. In fact, February in Galveston is very much the offseason, so we got there and didn't do a whole lot, just kind of sat around, walked around a little bit, the hotel, not much. Next day, ready for our cruise, except it's not there. That's right. Navigator of the seas was actually stuck out in the harbor of Galveston because the port was closed due to fog. Of course, as you know, most of the time, ship gets in about 6, 7 a.m. maybe even earlier.

And the people that are on board that old crews get off about, you know, 8, 9 o'clock or so. And you can start getting on board the ship anywhere from between maybe 10, 30, 11 o'clock, or even as late as noon. The reality was the ship didn't, wasn't there. The fog was unfortunately closed the port, much anybody could do, and they just had to sit there. So hours went by. And really by about 9 o'clock, we got our first automated call from Royal Caribbean to their credit. It was letting us know that there was going to be a delay and they would know more information later. We got about an automated call every two hours, which I thought was a good pace, letting us know what was going on. Long story short, we were able to get on the ship finally. The ship came into port about 4 o'clock. We were able to get on the ship about 6 o'clock. I get to give credit to real credit because they turned around the ship in record time, getting people off there. Since we got on board, again, we probably stepped on foot on the ship. I'd say about 7 o'clock. And our room was ready. There were restaurants open. They were doing really the best they could with a really terrible situation. We got on board and the ship was supposed to leave, but it didn't. Again, because the fog. Basically, the ship got in through a little window of opportunity. But the fog kept us in port, unfortunately, until the very next day. And right at 8 a.m., about maybe a minute or two before, the captain was able to leave the port and were able to get on our way. Getting on Navigator of the Seas, the first thing you have to notice is that this ship is, of course, recently refurbished. Roe Caribbean has been refurbishing all the ships in its fleet over the last couple of years, and now it is Navigator of the Sees turn. And Navigator of the Sees, as you may know from our preview episode, we did a couple

weeks ago. all the chips in its fleet over the last couple of years, and now it is Navigator of the Seas turn.

And Navigator of the Seas, as you may know from our preview episode we did a couple weeks ago, and I'll put a link in the show on to that. So maybe, you know, if you haven't listened to that one, I'd actually recommend pausing this podcast, going back to that first one to listen about the changes and my expectations, and then come back to this one, and of course you get two episodes of one day. What's better than that, right?

Anyway, the changes to the expectations. And then come back to this one. And of course, you get two episodes of one day. What's better than that, right? Anyway, the changes to the ship were really what I was mostly interested in and what I was really focusing on. And as soon as you stepped on foot on board, you knew that this was really not only just a refurbished ship, but it almost felt like a brand new ship. And that's something I kept on saying over and over and over again. It felt like a new ship. There was the obvious stuff. It smelled like a new ship. The carpets were completely all redone, so it smelled like new carpeting. The colors and paint everywhere was brand new. A lot of the furniture was brand new, or at least repholstered. It was very impressive, I have to say.

I'm not sure what I was expecting in terms of how new the ship was going to look. But again, to me, I having been on a couple of different ships recently and again, jeweled the seas in September of last year, Freedom of the Seas and February of last year, I mean, these are ships in various stages of age. this ship on Navigator the Seas, it seems so much newer than that.

It just seemed like it was like a ship that came off though, you know, maybe this is the second cruise it's ever had, not just the second cruise since refurbishment. So we explored a lot of what there was on board, starting with the Royal Promenade because that's probably the first place I think we went, and you saw the new lighting that was there. You would go to the lounges because, of course, you're going to the mustard

drill, and that was there. You would go to the lounges

because, of course, you're going to the mustard drill and that was in the new, it was renamed Star Lounge

and that had brand new furniture in there, very, very impressive. And just everything about the ship

reeked of newness. And I think that's great. It really struck me. And, you know, Roe Krippen likes to say that it breathes new life into these ships by doing this. And I could not agree more. It's the best way of putting it because it really feels like a new ship. I probably said that already four times on this podcast, but that's really the best way to describe it. So let's talk about my stateroom, which was the family Ocean View state room.

This state room was massive. I mean, just giant. And we were thinking, the only way we could have found a state room this large otherwise was we would have had to have booked a suite. I mean, it was just huge. And for just the three of us, it was great. You walk into the room immediately to your left is a kid's room. There's a bunk bed there, so I'm assuming kids are probably going to be sleeping there.

And then opposite that is, of course, the restroom. walk into the room, immediately to your left is a kid's room. There's a bunk bed there, so I'm

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