As part of the Clia Conference 2017, Florence and I got to tour around the Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas.
For me, walking onto a Royal Caribbean ship, gave me a sense of achievement. This time last year I was completing my GCSE’s at school and never would I have thought I’d be walking onto one of the most beautiful ships ever. It made me feel a little bit proud of myself and what I have accomplished so far.
As we embarked on to the Navigator, we were greeted by our tour guide who was ready to take us on a journey around the ship. Whilst we were working our way around the ship, I said to her that I can’t believe how big this ship is, she replied with “this is the baby” and I was completely stunned. As I have never seen a cruise ship in person, only in the brochures or on TV, I didn’t know what to expect but from this experience, it was a whole lot more than expected.
Our group followed our guide to an entertainment room and we were greeted with cocktails at the doors and then seated. Walking in, no one knew what was happening as such but when we saw a massive ice rink in the middle it got some people guessing. Once we were seated, a group of girls and boys were all dressed up and came out onto the ice rink, presenting us with a show. A room full of 200-300 agents, it gave everyone a buzz and got all of us involved, giving everyone such a phenomenal show. Just by seeing this ice skating show, you just know that all entertainment on this ship gives off a great atmosphere and would be great for guests of any age.
After the show, we carried on our tour around the inside of the Navigator. We got talking to other agents who were also part of the conference, guests boarding the ship and the staff working on the ship. Everyone on board were so friendly and even for a couple of hours, made you feel welcome. I imagine that if we were to have a holiday on here, the atmosphere for everyone would be fantastic, for singles, couples and families.
The ship was catered for everyone. We made our way to the 11th deck and journeyed outside. The pool area was so lovely, and guests about to take on their journey were getting settled on the sun loungers and kids already in the swimming pool, which is what a holiday is about. The main pool area was surrounded by people of different ages, but if adults wanted to escape the playful laughter of children, they could go down to the next area and relax by a pool which is catered for adults only.
Around the top deck of the ship, we got to see the Flow Rider which seemed like an experience in itself. There were already cruise makers on the machine, making the most of their holiday and looking eager to try it. I would like to have tried it but I’m sure I’ll get another chance. We had a wander around the basketball & tennis courts, as well as getting to see a huge rock climbing wall.
Our tour around the ship continued and we got to see the Jimmy Rockets restaurant which offers old American diner food. We were told that the food is fantastic and we were recommended to try the Tequila Bar if we were to ever get on to a Royal Caribbean ship.
After our tour, we headed inside the Navigator again but this time to the promenade area. This was truly beautiful. They had a large diamond accessory hanging from the top of the ship all way down to the bottom deck. We headed down the promenade, which was made to look like an actual street, and the area was surrounded by restaurants, pubs and bars. They also had takeaway restaurants if you wanted to grab food and go, and even a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream parlour. From here, you could go down a deck which takes you into the Casino.
As you can see in the photos, there were cabins overlooking the promenade. The rooms can reach up to £10,000 a night, and we were told that above the Ben & Jerry’s parlour there is a room where you are served unlimited Ben & Jerry’s ice cream.
We were then taken into the main restaurant area. This restaurant was at least 3 stories high and possibly the most glamorous restaurant I’ve set foot in. Like I said, there was easily between 200-300 people that took part in the Clia conference and we all managed to fit onto the first floor of the restaurant. We were guided to our tables and were given the menu to choose our 3-course meal. I am a fussy eater so choosing from the menu was really hard, but I started with a sea food salad, then a steak for mains and then a chocolate & raspberry cake for afters and every mouthful I took, I enjoyed so much. The food was diverse, giving me a chance to try something new which I never would have thought I would like, but ended up loving it and just wanted to try more. There was a large table at the entrance of the restaurant with an abundance of appetizers, put on just for the conference as well as a massive cake which disappeared by the time we left. With not only just this restaurant on site, there was a wide range of a la carte food, catering for anyone to make their guests’ experience perfect.
This concluded our 3 day cruising journey and I really didn’t want it to end. We got back on the train and made our way home. My parents came to collect me from the station and the first thing I said to them was, “we are going on a cruise”.
