We sailed out of Los Angeles down to Mexico on Navigator of the Seas for a week, hot on the heels of hurricane Beatriz. Luckily she downgraded to a tropical storm and we were able to keep all our ports of call. The ship has had a refurbishment since we were on last so we tried out a 'virtual balcony' cabin which brings light and atmosphere into the cabin space. We had views of the dockside in port but no one could see us in our pj's! There are lovely cabanas that you can reserve on the pool deck now with a Caribbean vibe. The crazy golf has had a huge makeover and there are now brightly coloured water flumes on the sports deck. The Royal Parade still has a bar with live music and the Cafe Promenade which will be your pizza stop on the way out of the nightclub. Studio B offers a much upgraded ice show complete with a stunning drone sequence and we enjoyed all of the entertainment offered. Foodwise, the buffet seems to have a little less on offer than I would have expected, but on the flip side of that, there's so much less wasted food at the end of the meal service. Some of the Covid protocols have been kept so you have to have certain foods served to you - but it's up to you to say stop when you have enough and you can still go back as often as you like.
This was our itinerary:
30 June Leave Los Angeles (Long Beach)/ day at sea / Cabo San Lucas port day / Mazatlan port day / Puerto Vallarta port day/2 days at sea / Arrive Los Angeles (Long Beach)
Mazatlan was our favourite port of call. Our original trip into the mountain villages was cancelled because the clean up was still going on after the tropical storm. Our tour company quickly offered us the city tour and we covered so much more than we could have done on our own. The region is known for its seafood and the local market was full of it. We stopped to watch the cliff divers, saw loads of the iconic Pulmonia taxis (so iconic they have their own sculpture!) - we also had time to visit the Cathedral and had to do a double take when we spotted the Fab Four with their yellow submarine and a London Phone box in a side street!
