This was a super interesting video. I hardly know anything about cruises so this inteoduced me to a lot of new things! Also, this ship looks beautiful, kinda hard to believe its a ship at some points! 😅
One of those things where you don't miss what you haven't had, but now that we've both been on a couple cruises, we always look forward to the next lol. It's a great way to travel and let loose, and can be pretty cheap if you keep an eye out for deals. This cruise we booked way back in October of last year and it was a lot more affordable than we expected. Have you guys ever been to the Queen Mary in Long Beach? It's been closed for a bit but we stayed a night there a few years back and it was such an awesome experience. You guys would love it, being it's haunted and all!
We’ve been looking forward to this video, looks like an absolutely wonderful time. Funny we saw a VW “thing” a week or so ago and Jim told me about it. I didn’t know about them! What a fantastic balcony, and ship. Making me want to go on a cruise now. We definitely have to plan one together. Maybe your side too Veronica? That would be fun! The more the merrier! Looking forward to Ensenada video next 🥰
This is a fun series for us, we've been looking forward to getting these videos out! VW things are cool, they're like the German version of the Jeep (US military vehicle turned civilian). We should definitely plan something for maybe next year, we'll be in touch!
Absolutely, thanks for watching! We've got 2 more videos coming as well - Ensenada and a day at sea. Ensenada was surprisingly fun, as was the day at sea. It's a great little weekend getaway, you'll have a great time!
Absolutely! It really was a great cruise, we had a lot of fun. Stay tuned, next week is our video from Ensenada and then the week after we'll have a video of our day at sea where we did even more stuff on the ship! Thanks for watching!
Incredible balcony!! Wow! Thanks for the video! I am trying to figure out NCL or Royal for my next cruise (only have done NCL and Disney) and am very intrigued!
Right? Downside was it was at the back of the ship, so more vibrations/noise/exhaust/rocking, but it really wasn't bad at all and the balcony was definitely worth it. We're going on both later this year! We've never been on an NCL cruise, let alone a newer cruise ship. We've only been on older mid-sized ships with Royal and our cruises have been excellent. Can only imagine how their newer/larger ships are. We're definitely a fan of Royal so far, but excited to see how NCL is! Thanks for watching!
I wasn’t sure who you guys are but the Navigator of the seas is probably my favorite ship (and our honeymoon ship). But it’s been upgraded. Good job with the video. Your wife is charming. I’m going to have to subscribe. Are there more cruise videos ? Again, great video on my favorite ship.
Sorry for the late reply. Glad you enjoyed the video! Our honeymoon ship (Majesty of the Seas) now belongs to a new company, seajets? Curious what the ship is like these days. Glad we could share, thanks for watching and subscribing! We're planning a possible cruise for next year but in the meantime we're doing a Europe roadtrip series.
Hi Veronica and Ryan. Thanks for posting such a great video of your trip! You mentioned that the ship is sailing at full capacity. Did it seem like it was crowded for you guys? Did you have to wait in lines anywhere, and if so, where and for how long? I was on a cruise back in April to the Mexican Riviera on the Norwegian Bliss, and sailing next to us was a Princess ship. We’ve heard complaints from the Princess passengers that their crew was understaffed, and service suffered as the ship sold close to capacity. Did you guys experience any service quality issues?
Hi Frank, thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the video! Great question, and ironically we had only heard about the short-staffing issues RCL and others have been having AFTER our trip, so it wasn't on our mind while aboard the ship. Overall, we wouldn't say our experience was negatively affected by the ship being at full capacity, but looking back there were certainly moments where it showed - whether it was busy, or service being less-than-great. For example, the second drink we got at the windjammer (which was pretty busy but had plenty of food to go around), we waited about 5 minutes to get drinks before the bartender asked us what we wanted. As we started to answer, a woman butted in (presumably oblivious) and started ordering. Instead of telling her he was helping us first, he instead helped her first. Unfortunately that was a bit of a trend at the bars and most egregiously when it happened in the main dining room. But in the big picture, that was not an issue - we still got our order taken within minutes after, in each case. It was just kind of rude service. As for lines, the only time we found ourselves thinking/saying "wow it's crowded" was late night when after the windjammer closed (which unfortunately closed earlier than we expected, I want to say by 10pm?), there was literally only one place to get any kind of food on the ship - the Promenade Cafe. We had to wait 20-30 minutes to get a few slices of ok pizza and some bite sized snacks. Having only 1 food option for 3,500 people after 10pm on somewhat of a party (weekend) cruise is a bit of an oversight. Other than that, it was just the embarkation/disembarkation at port going through lines/customs that took a while each time. Our dinner was early so we didn't really have any issues, except for the second day where it took a bit more time for our food/drinks to arrive. All in all though, these were all minor gripes to us. It was still a very enjoyable time and we never really felt like there was any issue with understaffing or overcrowding. Sorry for the long-winded reply, hope that helps!
@@VeronicaRyanVideos I just realized I never replied, apologies. Thank you very much for the detailed feedback! A couple of weeks ago, we opted to cruise on the Carnival Radiance instead of the RCL Navigator. Your experience sounds like ours, but better than what we went through. The Radiance had lots of lines, pretty much everywhere. We knew that their buffet was lackluster - and so did pretty much everyone else, so the queue at the other included eateries were long, sometimes up to 20-25 people deep. Same thing for the few hot tubs and lounge chairs. I met a couple on the ship who actually got up at 6:30 AM one morning to secure their lounge bed in the adults-only area of the top deck, then went to get food. They came back to find their belongings (towels, portable speaker, etc.) piled up to the side. This other group had just decided for themselves to take it over! Quite a few misses on our cruise, so I don't recommend sailing on the Radiance, or Carnival for that matter. We'll have to try RCL very soon!
Ill be going on my first RCL cruise on this ship in a few weeks. Thats def not long beach btw... That was the port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. How was the pizza on this ship?
Nice! It was a great time, even when packed. Just expect boarding/disembarking to take a bit of time due to lines, other than that it was smooth sailing. Ah, noted! Thanks for the clarification. We entered through Long Beach and the booking through Costco stated it departed from Long Beach, but when looking at the map you're absolutely correct. Can you tell we're not from the area? lol. We only had the pizza from the Promenade Cafe late at night (midnight) and it wasn't too bad. Maybe equivalent to a good frozen pizza? Nothing memorable, but definitely not offensive. Hit the spot for a late night snack when everything else was closed.
Sorry for the late reply! Thank you so much! This was recorded on an A7SII with a Sigma 28-70 f2.8 (excellent "budget" lens btw) with a gobe variable ND, ronin sc gimbal, and rode wireless go ii mics with undercover lavs. We've since upgraded camera and gimbal to an A7IV and RSC2.
Definitely recommended, it was a great cruise! So we have Google Fi, so we did have service down in Ensenada. But the night of the first day, and then the full day at sea we did not have service, which we personally enjoyed. It's nice to unplug from the internet, if only briefly. Unfortunately, we cannot speak to how well the Voom internet works but RCL is known to have some of the fastest internet at sea.
@@VeronicaRyanVideos ah ok thanks! Because I’m a solo traveler, I think I’d like to have the just-in-case communication, but unplugging is nice too. Looking forward to it!
All guests were/are required to show proof of full vaccination as well as negative test before boarding. Unfortunately, that doesn't look to have changed at this time.
Going on Nov 21 here. Would you say it's worth spending on the drink package with only 1 sea day and if we plan to spend the days at Catalina and Ensenada on land?
@@spittingcat5102 hmmm might be a tricky one, I'd honestly say it depends on how much you plan on drinking (or can drink lol). We had the opportunity to get the package at around $75 per person, per night from a black Friday, and that's including gratuities. Since you have the time, it might be worth keeping an eye out for a deal like that, and in the meantime thinking about how many drinks you'd realistically have each day and how much that would add up to. For us, the math worked out but I do believe the packages are a bit pricier these days. Hope that helps!
@@spittingcat5102 We just went on a cruise and got the deluxe beverage package. After the cruise, we thought we didn't use it as much as we thought we would. Especially for days when you're in port and can't use it, it's really a waste. It really does vary person to person and on how much you will/can drink. You have to take into account the cocktails are about $13 each and the package costs $71 (today) so you would have to drink at least 6 beverages per day to make it worth it. We are going on the same cruise (Catalina and Ensenada) next month and will not get the beverage package. Hope that helps!
Great video! Will be doing this cruise next month. I believe there’s a fee per day for the wifi. Wondering if there is network coverage while in the cruise so that I can use cellular data?
Love seeing the small bites menu at the tiki room. Yum!
This was a super interesting video. I hardly know anything about cruises so this inteoduced me to a lot of new things! Also, this ship looks beautiful, kinda hard to believe its a ship at some points! 😅
One of those things where you don't miss what you haven't had, but now that we've both been on a couple cruises, we always look forward to the next lol. It's a great way to travel and let loose, and can be pretty cheap if you keep an eye out for deals. This cruise we booked way back in October of last year and it was a lot more affordable than we expected. Have you guys ever been to the Queen Mary in Long Beach? It's been closed for a bit but we stayed a night there a few years back and it was such an awesome experience. You guys would love it, being it's haunted and all!
We’ve been looking forward to this video, looks like an absolutely wonderful time. Funny we saw a VW “thing” a week or so ago and Jim told me about it. I didn’t know about them! What a fantastic balcony, and ship. Making me want to go on a cruise now. We definitely have to plan one together. Maybe your side too Veronica? That would be fun! The more the merrier! Looking forward to Ensenada video next 🥰
This is a fun series for us, we've been looking forward to getting these videos out! VW things are cool, they're like the German version of the Jeep (US military vehicle turned civilian). We should definitely plan something for maybe next year, we'll be in touch!
We have this same room booked for our Oct cruise on the Navigator. Looks amazing! So excited!
Going on same cruise in May 2023..can't wait! 4th with Royal caribbean...never been on this ship.
Excellent video! Thank you!
Absolutely! Thanks for watching!
Thanks for the preview guys! We are going next month!
Absolutely, thanks for watching! We've got 2 more videos coming as well - Ensenada and a day at sea. Ensenada was surprisingly fun, as was the day at sea. It's a great little weekend getaway, you'll have a great time!
Your balcony is inncredibe!!!
WOW RYAN WHAT A LUCKY GUY YOU ARE....VERONICA IS SO BEAUTIFUL...JUST SAYING...
I am looking to go on this cruise with extended family later this year. Thanks for touring the ship.
Absolutely! It really was a great cruise, we had a lot of fun. Stay tuned, next week is our video from Ensenada and then the week after we'll have a video of our day at sea where we did even more stuff on the ship! Thanks for watching!
Incredible balcony!! Wow! Thanks for the video! I am trying to figure out NCL or Royal for my next cruise (only have done NCL and Disney) and am very intrigued!
Right? Downside was it was at the back of the ship, so more vibrations/noise/exhaust/rocking, but it really wasn't bad at all and the balcony was definitely worth it. We're going on both later this year! We've never been on an NCL cruise, let alone a newer cruise ship. We've only been on older mid-sized ships with Royal and our cruises have been excellent. Can only imagine how their newer/larger ships are. We're definitely a fan of Royal so far, but excited to see how NCL is! Thanks for watching!
May I ask what you film with?
The quality is super clear. Great video btw.
Ill be on this ship may 17th 2024 weeeee so excited
Hope you're having a blast! Navigator is a great ship!
@VeronicaRyanVideos it was amazing. Spoiled by carribean tho. It was cold outside and ensenada flea market was crazy experience 😳 Thank you
I wasn’t sure who you guys are but the Navigator of the seas is probably my favorite ship (and our honeymoon ship). But it’s been upgraded. Good job with the video. Your wife is charming. I’m going to have to subscribe. Are there more cruise videos ? Again, great video on my favorite ship.
Sorry for the late reply. Glad you enjoyed the video! Our honeymoon ship (Majesty of the Seas) now belongs to a new company, seajets? Curious what the ship is like these days. Glad we could share, thanks for watching and subscribing! We're planning a possible cruise for next year but in the meantime we're doing a Europe roadtrip series.
We did a Euro cruise 5 years ago, so I’ll be watching for your Euro rode trip series. Thanks for getting back.
Were they enforcing boarding times for embarkation?
Hi Veronica and Ryan. Thanks for posting such a great video of your trip!
You mentioned that the ship is sailing at full capacity. Did it seem like it was crowded for you guys? Did you have to wait in lines anywhere, and if so, where and for how long?
I was on a cruise back in April to the Mexican Riviera on the Norwegian Bliss, and sailing next to us was a Princess ship. We’ve heard complaints from the Princess passengers that their crew was understaffed, and service suffered as the ship sold close to capacity. Did you guys experience any service quality issues?
Hi Frank, thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the video! Great question, and ironically we had only heard about the short-staffing issues RCL and others have been having AFTER our trip, so it wasn't on our mind while aboard the ship. Overall, we wouldn't say our experience was negatively affected by the ship being at full capacity, but looking back there were certainly moments where it showed - whether it was busy, or service being less-than-great. For example, the second drink we got at the windjammer (which was pretty busy but had plenty of food to go around), we waited about 5 minutes to get drinks before the bartender asked us what we wanted. As we started to answer, a woman butted in (presumably oblivious) and started ordering. Instead of telling her he was helping us first, he instead helped her first. Unfortunately that was a bit of a trend at the bars and most egregiously when it happened in the main dining room. But in the big picture, that was not an issue - we still got our order taken within minutes after, in each case. It was just kind of rude service. As for lines, the only time we found ourselves thinking/saying "wow it's crowded" was late night when after the windjammer closed (which unfortunately closed earlier than we expected, I want to say by 10pm?), there was literally only one place to get any kind of food on the ship - the Promenade Cafe. We had to wait 20-30 minutes to get a few slices of ok pizza and some bite sized snacks. Having only 1 food option for 3,500 people after 10pm on somewhat of a party (weekend) cruise is a bit of an oversight. Other than that, it was just the embarkation/disembarkation at port going through lines/customs that took a while each time. Our dinner was early so we didn't really have any issues, except for the second day where it took a bit more time for our food/drinks to arrive. All in all though, these were all minor gripes to us. It was still a very enjoyable time and we never really felt like there was any issue with understaffing or overcrowding. Sorry for the long-winded reply, hope that helps!
@@VeronicaRyanVideos I just realized I never replied, apologies.
Thank you very much for the detailed feedback!
A couple of weeks ago, we opted to cruise on the Carnival Radiance instead of the RCL Navigator. Your experience sounds like ours, but better than what we went through. The Radiance had lots of lines, pretty much everywhere. We knew that their buffet was lackluster - and so did pretty much everyone else, so the queue at the other included eateries were long, sometimes up to 20-25 people deep. Same thing for the few hot tubs and lounge chairs.
I met a couple on the ship who actually got up at 6:30 AM one morning to secure their lounge bed in the adults-only area of the top deck, then went to get food. They came back to find their belongings (towels, portable speaker, etc.) piled up to the side. This other group had just decided for themselves to take it over!
Quite a few misses on our cruise, so I don't recommend sailing on the Radiance, or Carnival for that matter.
We'll have to try RCL very soon!
Ill be going on my first RCL cruise on this ship in a few weeks. Thats def not long beach btw... That was the port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. How was the pizza on this ship?
Nice! It was a great time, even when packed. Just expect boarding/disembarking to take a bit of time due to lines, other than that it was smooth sailing. Ah, noted! Thanks for the clarification. We entered through Long Beach and the booking through Costco stated it departed from Long Beach, but when looking at the map you're absolutely correct. Can you tell we're not from the area? lol. We only had the pizza from the Promenade Cafe late at night (midnight) and it wasn't too bad. Maybe equivalent to a good frozen pizza? Nothing memorable, but definitely not offensive. Hit the spot for a late night snack when everything else was closed.
This is one of the best videos of Navigator I’ve seen on YT! What camera gear do you use?
Sorry for the late reply! Thank you so much! This was recorded on an A7SII with a Sigma 28-70 f2.8 (excellent "budget" lens btw) with a gobe variable ND, ronin sc gimbal, and rode wireless go ii mics with undercover lavs. We've since upgraded camera and gimbal to an A7IV and RSC2.
@@VeronicaRyanVideos you’re awesome thank you!!!
I’m looking into doing this cruise in August. Did you get the Wi-Fi package? Do you have a sense of if it works well on this cruise route? Thanks!
Definitely recommended, it was a great cruise! So we have Google Fi, so we did have service down in Ensenada. But the night of the first day, and then the full day at sea we did not have service, which we personally enjoyed. It's nice to unplug from the internet, if only briefly. Unfortunately, we cannot speak to how well the Voom internet works but RCL is known to have some of the fastest internet at sea.
@@VeronicaRyanVideos ah ok thanks! Because I’m a solo traveler, I think I’d like to have the just-in-case communication, but unplugging is nice too. Looking forward to it!
That's not Long Beach that's San Pedro. Long Beach is on the other side
Do you have to show full vaccination or does negative tests suffice? Covid wise?
All guests were/are required to show proof of full vaccination as well as negative test before boarding. Unfortunately, that doesn't look to have changed at this time.
@@VeronicaRyanVideos thank you
Has anyone else done this cruise or looking at doing this cruise?
Going on Nov 21 here. Would you say it's worth spending on the drink package with only 1 sea day and if we plan to spend the days at Catalina and Ensenada on land?
@@spittingcat5102 hmmm might be a tricky one, I'd honestly say it depends on how much you plan on drinking (or can drink lol). We had the opportunity to get the package at around $75 per person, per night from a black Friday, and that's including gratuities. Since you have the time, it might be worth keeping an eye out for a deal like that, and in the meantime thinking about how many drinks you'd realistically have each day and how much that would add up to. For us, the math worked out but I do believe the packages are a bit pricier these days. Hope that helps!
@@VeronicaRyanVideos Thanks for the tips!
@@spittingcat5102 We just went on a cruise and got the deluxe beverage package. After the cruise, we thought we didn't use it as much as we thought we would. Especially for days when you're in port and can't use it, it's really a waste. It really does vary person to person and on how much you will/can drink. You have to take into account the cocktails are about $13 each and the package costs $71 (today) so you would have to drink at least 6 beverages per day to make it worth it. We are going on the same cruise (Catalina and Ensenada) next month and will not get the beverage package. Hope that helps!
Great video! Will be doing this cruise next month. I believe there’s a fee per day for the wifi. Wondering if there is network coverage while in the cruise so that I can use cellular data?