Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas

I am going to start my pictures off with some cruise pictures from our 2005 trip on board Royal Caribbean's Navigator of the Seas to the eastern Caribbean. As you will see in upcoming entries we have been on quite a few cruises. We love to cruise and I love to take pics so its a great way to get some cool pictures. I would have started with earlier cruises but this is the first one I have that I had a lot of pictures from. The earlier cruises were probably before I got my digital camera so I probably haven't had a chance to scan them all into the computer yet.

A little info on Navigator. She is the 4th of the 5 Voyager-class of ships. She was once one of the largest in the fleet and still ranks among the largest passenger ships in the world. Constructed at Aker Finnyards (now STX Europe AS) in Turku, Finland, the ship measures 138,279 gross tons and can carry 3,114 passengers, plus crew. *

Of further note is that Navigator is the first of the second generation of Voyager-class vessels. She is noted different from her sisters by the set up of the Windjammer which extends further aft, and also includes "Jade", an Asian fusion buffet. She is also more obviously different in that she has glass balconies which all the 1st generation sisters lack. She is truly identical only to the Mariner of the Seas, which shares her same design changes.*

It has been a while so my memory is a little foggy but on this eastern cruise we most likely went to St. Thomas, St. Maarten, & San Juan Puerto Rico. Which is pretty much the standard for an eastern Caribbean cruise. I don't remember the exact order we went in and I don't have pictures from each port. First up is St. Thomas. This is a great spot for shoppers. I have gotten several things from here including my camera and a couple of lenses. 

You dock pretty much in the heart of St Thomas in Charlotte Amalie. The port is a short taxi ride from town. You can see the ship docked and on the right side is where downtown is.

We did an island tour this trip which took us up the mountain where I was able to get the above shot from. We also stopped at an old mansion that had been destroyed in a hurricane (I don't remember which one) and had been redone. It had some great gardens with very vibrant tropical color plants. 

From here we went on around the islands mountain top area where you can get a birds eye view of Magens Bay voted one of the best beaches in the world a few times. We have yet to visit, maybe in the future.

From St Thomas we had a short sail over to St. Maarten. This is an interesting island as it is shared by two countries. The island of Sint Maarten-Saint Martin is the smallest land mass in the world to be shared by two different nations. Only 37 square miles are owned by France and the Netherlands Antilles. The French territory covers about two thirds of the island and is technically a part of Europe and the European Community. The Dutch side is a member island of the Netherlands Antilles and part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, but not considered European territory. There is no real border, just modest monuments and signs.

We docked on the Dutch side of the island in Philipsburg. We did a cool tour on this trip the Rhino Riders boat and snorkel trip. It was pretty amazing. We zoomed thru the ocean at almost 55 mph hours.  I got lucky and the tour leader thought I was cool so we got to race.  I found this awesome but my poor wife, holding on for dear life, might not have thought so. The island is pretty small and the port is very nice. I love the checkerboard plaza that leads you back to the ships and of course there a few shops located here for that last minute purchase.

You have a couple of options on how to get around in town. You can jump on the water taxi which leaves from the port and goes over the downtown Philipsburg and drops you off pretty much right on the beach or take a short walk. 

I think I took this from the water taxi as it was pulling in. The water is so clear and you can see all the rocks on the bottom.

I love the colors of the water in the Caribbean. I thought this was a cool picture of a fishing boat anchored in the bay.

I know I haven't covered the ship very much in this but for some reason I didn't have many pictures of the inside. One thing we love about cruising are the cute little towel animals you get in your room at night. You never know what animal might pop up.

Another thing we enjoy about cruising is all the food. I don't have any pictures of the food from this cruise but I did find this little gem. Our waiter balanced a coffee cup on top of our water glasses using knives. Pretty neat little trick! There are so many good things to eat and so many places on board, especially on the larger ships that you will not have a hard time finding something you like.

Being the geek I truly am at the show one night we sat right behind the sound board so I had to take a picture of it! The entertainment is another great thing about cruising. They have a pretty good variety from full on broadway style productions to comedians to magicians and jugglers. Should be something to suite just about anyone. The Voyager-class also has the ice rink on board which adds yet another venue for entertainment. They put on a world class skating show on a very tiny rink.

At the end of the week we are always sad to get off and so tired we try to rest while waiting for our number to be called so we can get off and head home. :(

To see more pictures from this trip please visit Partridge Pictures

*Information from wikipedia