For my husband's 40th birthday we decided to take a last minute cruise to Ensenada out of San Pedro on Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas. We booked a Balcony room, a Craft Brewery excursion for our day in Ensenada, made sure to get the Deluxe Drink Package (hello bartender) and packed our bags for a 3 night cruise just the two of us!
Our check in time was scheduled for 12pm but we got to the port at 11am and flew through security. We were on the ship and had our first drink in hand by 1130am! We spent the first few hours checking out everything the ship had to offer- the restaurants, bars, kids clubs, slides, flowrider, mini golf, arcade, casino, promenade shops, pools, fitness center, spa and all the amazing views. We grabbed tacos and chips by the pool and ordered another drink while we waited for our room to be ready.
By 1pm we headed to our room and got everything unpacked for the weekend. Our room was located on the aft starboard side deck 7. At 4pm our ship disembarked so we headed up to deck 11 to enjoy the views and the sail off party! For our first night we chose to have dinner in the main dining room- it was American cuisine. The dining room was beautiful but the food was not our favorite. We actually preferred the Windjammer (Royal Caribbean's buffet). After dinner we stopped by the Ice Rink (yes, there is an ice skating rink on the ship) and watched some of the performers. We ended the night with a drink at Schooners Bar (with our favorite bartender Jonathan). Because of Hurricane Hilary, our itinerary changed and our excursion was canceled. Instead of a full day in Ensenada we would only be there for 4 hours. We decided against venturing out to Ensenada and took advantage of everything the ship had to offer. We ordered continental breakfast to our room Saturday morning and popped our bottle of Chandon in celebration on our balcony. Our day was spent lounging by the pool, enjoying delicious drinks, eating tacos and chips, napping and drinking some more!
One of the events in the Star Lounge was The Royal Mystery, where in a group of 8 you had to try and solve the mystery of the stolen art. Although our guess was wrong we still had fun working together to solve the mystery. Saturday night we had reservations at one of the restaurants (not included in the cruise price), Chops Grille. We started with an appetizer of tuna tartare and beef carpaccio. Our entree was filet mignon with asparagus and mashed potatoes. For dessert, my husband got the chocolate cake which was to die for! After dinner we headed to the Cosmopolitan Lounge on Deck 14 for karaoke. My husband was super bummed that they didn’t have any Green Day songs but we still enjoyed everyone who performed. Sunday morning we slept in and enjoyed our balcony before heading to the adult only pool (yet again) for drinks and relaxation. The day wasn’t as sunny as we had hoped but we still had a great day in the spa, drinking and enjoying the ship. We played Bingo and Disney trivia, did a little shopping and continued to try all the food! On our last night we gave the main dining room another try, it was Italian cuisine and it was much better than the first night. We also enjoyed the Farewell Comedian Show in the Royal Theatre, which was hilarious. We were sad it was our last night but we visited the casino and our favorite bartender Jonathan to help ease the pain.
Monday morning we chose to disembark with our luggage to make things easier and we were off the ship and back to our car within 40 minutes. It was a seamless process to check out, clear customs and get back to our car. Overall, we had an AMAZING time and cannot wait to cruise again. The staff was friendly and helpful, the amenities and events were plentiful, and the food and drinks were delicious.
