US Road Trip - May 2023 - Summary

Summary 

Thank you if you've managed to read this far and I hope you found at least some of it helpful and interesting.

As a quick summary, we booked Hilton hotels (primarily Hampton Inn & Suites) throughout all the time on the actual road, apart from Yellowstone where we chose an independent hotel. We were more than happy with Hilton; choosing the same hotel means you know what you're getting. We had a budget of £150 per night (apart from Yellowstone) so that should give you some idea of what we were getting for our money.

Food has always been expensive in Vegas but it seems to have increased, even in the last twelve months. To put this into perspective, we had a Subway in Vegas and for two, foot-long subs it was $46. We had the same in Rexburg and it was $19.  That was just one example, it's easy to spend $50-$70 on breakfast/lunch in a restaurant and upwards of $100 for dinner. We went to Prime at Bellagio on our last night and there wasn't much change from $400.

We love Vegas and have been at least once a year, for the last fifteen years or so and therefore I am hesitant to say this, but I think we are done with Vegas...at least for a few years. The road trip throughout the different states and towns we visited has opened our eyes to how much more America has to offer us and I think that when we next take a trip, it won't include Vegas. I think we will definitely include a casino resort or two but somewhere different.

The cruise was a great way to relax but personally, Navigator of the Seas was too small for us so I will look at a larger ship if we were to cruise in the future.

We were both amazed at just how different each state was and how fast the scenery changed, from mountains to grassland, rocky outlooks and desert.  Utah was my favourite, just for the scenery but I loved each state we visited and it has only given me the appetite to want to see more.

Please feel free to message me if you have any questions or comments about any part of our trip and thank you for travelling along with us.  See you next time.

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 10

Day 10

This morning we arrived in Ensenada, Mexico and had already decided we weren’t getting off the ship today. The cruise was always about relaxing, not going on an excursion with a million and one other people! We started off sitting in the solarium, but although it was sunny; it was windy, and the wind was cold. Dave went back downstairs first, and I followed soon after. Dave went back to bed to sleep off his hangover, and I went to Cafe Promenade and got myself a hot chocolate and some cookies and sat in the Schooner Bar with my book. After about an hour, Dave appeared, and we went upstairs to Windjammer for a spot of lunch. As we ate, we looked around at the port of Ensenada and decided that perhaps we would get off and go for a wander, just for an hour or so. 

We walked from the ship, up to the marina (if you can call it that) and then just along the front. There were a few touristy shops, but we didn’t go into any and after an hour, we headed back. It was nice just to get off the ship for a bit, though. 

When we got back, the sun was on our balcony and I sat and read my book for a couple of hours whilst Dave watched some fishing thing he had downloaded on his iPad. 

We were both tired after drinking for a lot of yesterday, so we had an early dinner and an early night ready for disembarkation at around 7 am.

I want to quickly sum up my experience of Navigator of the Seas. I can only compare it to Anthem of the Seas, as that’s the only other ship I’ve been on. The food was fine. We didn’t opt for any speciality restaurants because I don’t think they’re worth the money. The food in the Main Dining Rooms is sufficient, in my opinion. 

The variety of shows on Navigator was limited, and I was really disappointed with this. I was expecting to be spoilt for choice, but that definitely wasn’t the case. When we cruised with Anthem, it was towards the end of the pandemic when we could only sail around the UK and despite that; we saw at least two shows every night and there were more things to do than you had time for. I don’t know whether it’s because it’s a smaller ship, but Anthem had a better choice. The spaces to sit on Navigator were also limited. Basically, you had to sit in a bar, there was nowhere else. On Anthem there were seats dotted around throughout the ship and the 360 Lounge at the Aft of the ship was a massive space where you could just go and chill out. Navigator had nothing like this. 

I always thought a smaller ship would be better suited to us, but now that’s probably incorrect. The larger the ship, the more seating spaces and lounges maybe? I will definitely be looking at the space available if we book future cruises.

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 9

Day 9

We arrived early at Catalina Island and if you wanted to go ashore; you had to get a tender. They weren’t very clear about how often the tenders would return to the ship and, as we didn’t want to be there all day, we missed it. We found out afterwards that they basically run backwards and forwards all day, so at least we know for any future cruises. We spent most of the day in the solarium (adults only) and soaked up a few rays. Since we booked this cruise, I had wanted to go on at least one of the water slides and Dave came with me on the two-person one. It was fun with many ups and downs, and round and abouts, and I’d recommend giving it a go.

We had a couple of drinks each and some food from the Taco Bar for me and Windjammer for Dave and chilled out all day. After a shower, we decided on a bit of a bar crawl. We started in the pub, the Copper and Clover, and moved on to Schooner Bar where there was a lovely bartender called Merton from Jamaica but also a very miserable lady! She’d got my back up the first night when she was just downright rude. I appreciate that they are all on long contracts, and are away from home, but come on, aren’t you supposed to enhance the guest experience?! The next stop was Boleros, lovely bartenders there and a couple of Ginger Coolers and Kraken and cokes later and it was dinner time. We got chatting to a couple who were on their fifth cruise and they were really friendly. She was from Utah and I think he was from somewhere else. I couldn’t work out their relationship though…..!

After dinner, we went for a gamble and finally, Dave won a hand pay, putting him up for the cruise part of the trip. For anyone who is from the UK and was wondering, they sort all the tax out for you so you don’t pay any. Even though Dave has an ITIN, they didn’t need it. They didn’t even want to see his passport. Basically, they ask for your room number and because your passport details are on there, they can see you are from the UK and pay you out in full.

It was a late night tonight and because we had to wait for the payout of the hand pay, we missed the Showgirls show we had wanted to see!

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 8

Day 8

We were awake at 7, Dave went down to get a coffee and I attached my labels to my ducks! Breakfast was in the Main Dining Room and was fine, even if the service was a little slow. As today is a sea day, the casino is open all day, so Dave disappeared to spend his daily budget and I went to hide some ducks. It’s fun hanging around to see if anyone finds them! 

I spent the morning on the balcony, reading my book, writing this and just watching the world go by before wandering off for a walk to grab a drink. I hid some more ducks and found a couple more. Lunch was in Windjammer. Neither of us had much, just a hot dog and a few fries.

In the afternoon we just wandered, had a few drinks and the day just passed us by. After dinner, we went to see a comedian/ventriloquist called Kevin Johnson, who apparently won America’s Got Talent. He was really good and I think I even got most of the jokes aimed at an American audience!

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US Road Trip - May 2023 - Day 7

Day 7

Woke up really early, probably because we had set an actual alarm so subconsciously our body was waking up before it went off. We had checked out and had hit the I15 before the sun had found its way over the mountains. With an 11.30 am boarding time booked for the cruise, we had plenty of spare time, even if we hit some traffic.

We managed to navigate our way to Los Angeles World Cruise Center, found the car park, which we didn’t have to reserve and was $20 a day, and trundled our suitcases to the luggage drop-off area. Southampton has it much better organised, in my opinion. We have only done one other cruise and in Southampton, as we parked our car, a trailer drew up behind us and took the suitcases from the car. We didn’t see them again until they appeared outside our stateroom. This time we had to drop them off ourselves.

We were on the ship (Navigator of the Seas) by about 11.30 am and as the staterooms weren’t going to be ready until 1 pm we went for a wander round to get our bearings, and had a bit of lunch in Windjammer (the buffet on board).

Popped into the pub for a few drinks. Gener was the bar tender and he was from the Philippines. We were chatting to him over a couple of gin fizzes and a couple of bottles of Red Stripe.

Once we got access to our room, we had a bit of a Nana nap (it had been an early start) and then sat in the sunshine on the balcony for an hour or so whilst we sailed away. No Sailaway party for us - far too loud!

I found my first duck, hidden away at the bottom of our staircase! I have taken a photo and I will post about it on the dedicated Facebook Group and then I will rehide it in the next day or so.

Somewhere between dropping our suitcases off and getting to the ship, the labels had come off, and we eventually found our cases at 6 pm in Guest Services! Quick shower and we went to see the Ice Dance show in Studio 7 which was really good and then dinner at 8. We had opted for ‘My Time Dining’ which means you can select when you want to go for dinner rather than being restricted to one of two set times. Dinner was good. I had crab cakes to start and fish fillet with potato gratin and vegetables for the main. Dave went for the tomato soup and the beef tenderloin. We both agreed that it was all tasty and made a change from the rubbish food we have been eating!

We both had a little gamble in the onboard casino but didn’t win anything and went to bed around 11 pm. We are sailing from Los Angeles to Catalina Island over the next day, with tomorrow being a sea day. So far the weather is warm and sunny, but I think it’ll get cooler as we get to Catalina Island and warmer again as we sail towards Ensenada.

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