Sad day - departure day! On December 27, we arrived back in Miami.

There was a thick fog over Biscayne Bay.


We were once again docked next to the Scarlet Lady which was also sailing 5-night voyages.

Rise and shine, it's Embarkation Day!

I should listen to my own advise because I didn't allow enough time to get my camera gear ready to go and found myself rushing to repack my bag. It's always a bit awkward because the things in my backpack for the plane aren't the same thing I want in my backpack to board the ship. So I try to shuffle things around, and nothing fits quite right.

I got an UberXL to take us from the hotel to the cruise terminal ($14). If you're a party of four people with suitcases, make sure to order an UberXL rather than an UberX so that there is room for your luggage. This is because a vehicle just needs the third seat fold-down option to be considered XL, so if you need to put suitcases in the trunk, you won't be able to use the third row seating in smaller SUVs. If you have more than four people and luggage, you'll want to order two separate UberXs.

We flew into Miami the day before the cruise, December 21. Flying in the morning of the cruise is risky, and I proved that by missing my flight and almost missing the cruise a few years ago.

I originally started looking for flights in July, right after we booked the cruise. Initially, there were only nonstop flights on American Airlines, but ideally I wanted to fly Delta because I was pursuing Silver Medallion (also every time I fly AA, I say that I will never fly AA again). I set up Google Flight Tracker to track flights from LAX to MIA. A few weeks later, a new nonstop Delta flight from LAX to MIA appeared, and it was very affordable. I booked Comfort+ seats.... then the next day, I was playing around with the Delta change flight feature and realized that I could rebook First Class for only an additional $125 per person. I decided that this would be a nice surprise for Aaron and a fun way to kick off our vacation.

About a month before our flight, I got an email from Delta saying that our original flight was canceled, but they rebooked us on another flight. Unfortunately, we were no longer nonstop and would be connecting in ATL. Also, while our arrival time remained the same, our departure time now moved from 10AM to 7AM. The good news is that we were booked in First Class on both flights. I was worried that Aaron was going to catch onto my surprise when they emailed him about the rebooked flight, but luckily it went unnoticed. I also thought that he may notice the day before our flight when he checked in on the app, but again, he didn't.

It wasn't until we were at the airport. I took us into the Sky Priority lane to check our bag, and I was sure by then that he had caught on. "Merry Christmas!" "Is this for your status stuff?" "No, I upgraded us to First Class!" Had I known that the Sky Priority line hadn't given me away, I think we could have made it to the gate, and he wouldn't have noticed until waiting for them to call our Boarding Group. After the news sunk in, Aaron was very excited.... or as excited as one can be at 6AM - it was a good surprise.

In addition to our checked bag (Away Medium Checked), we each had the Away Bigger Carry-On. Aaron packed his suit and blazer in the Seyfocnia Garment Bag which rolls up into a duffle bag. We're skeptical that this actually qualifies as a personal item, but we didn't have any issues this trip... possibly because we were in first class, but also Aaron took the duffle off of his rolling bag and carried it on his back which made it look pretty unimposing (a hack that wouldn't work for someone my size). My personal item was my Brevite Camera Bag. I also used a magnetic hat clip to bring along my hats.

On December 26th, we were back in Miami.

We decided to roll off our luggage, rather than setting our luggage out in the hallway the night before, so we were free to leave at anytime. We headed up to the Garden Cafe to grab breakfast before going downstairs to disembark.

Ho, ho, ho! The Shinglebells are back!! Hello and welcome to my trip report for the Shinglebells' 12th Annual* Christmas Cruise aboard Norwegian Encore! (*annual excluding 2020, obviously)

In case you're new to my trip reports or just need a little refresher, meet the Shinglebells:

Me/Victoria - I'm 30 and live in Los Angeles. I'm an architect, and I love a good DIY (check out my new YouTube channel, designSHING, if home decor is your thing)! I've also been sticking a camera in everyone's face to document and meticulously share our family vacations for well over a decade.

Sister/Rachel - She's 28 and lives in Austin, Texas. She recently earned her Master of Finance from UT Austin and recently began a new job as an Associate at a global investment firm! Rachel is the planner for our cruise vacations. She reads cruise blogs, reviews, and Cruise Critic. She also wrote a trip report for her September cruise on Freedom of the Seas.

Mom/Sharon a.k.a. Judy is sexy and 60! Her birthday was in December, so this cruise doubled as a 60th birthday celebration. Judy is actually the most-cruised Shinglebell, so we charge our souvenirs to her card so we can get the best discounts.

Dad/Boyd a.k.a. Stove is 67 and living his best life with my mom in South Carolina. When he's not consulting, you can probably find him either on the golf course or on the lake. And if you ever see us out and about, he's most likely leading the pack.

Even more exciting - this year, we were joined by the Shingleboyfriends -

Aaron (my boyfriend) is also an architecture professional in Los Angeles. His first cruise was on the Disney Wonder in 2019, and his second cruise was on the Disney Wonder in 2021, so this was his first cruise on a line other than Disney and a ship other than the Wonder.

Landon (Rachel's boyfriend) spends his cruises working because he's a lawyer. His first cruise was also on the Disney Wonder. This was his first cruise other than Disney, his first 7-day cruise, as well as his first time getting off a cruise ship at a port of call - so many firsts!

Now let's move on to the story of how we chose this cruise...

All Aboard! My name is Rachel, and I’m excited to share my 4-day voyage on the Freedom of the Seas with you all. If you’ve followed along on a Victoria on Vacation report before, then you’ll likely recognize me as the pub-mix snacking, steak-loving younger sister of Victoria. Like many Shinglebell family vacations, this cruise was planned pretty last minute, which is why only 50% of the Shinglebells were available to join in the fun. Well..that’s not entirely true. Dad was available, but he opted to take advantage of the opportunity to go on a golfing trip with his buddies. Alas, I was able to twist Judy’s arm and convince her to come experience the “new normal” of cruising with me.

Ahoy!  Welcome to my Navigator of the Seas Trip Report, and my family's 10th Annual Christmas Cruise!

My family started cruising over Christmas back in 2009 with a 9-day Eastern Caribbean Cruise aboard the Grandeur of the Seas, and we've gone every year since.  We like to sail where it's warm, so we often choose Caribbean itineraries, and we've also done 10 and 17-day Panama Canal cruises (my personal favorite itinerary if you have the time).  We aren't loyalists to any particular cruise line, and choose our cruise based on the itinerary, length, and ship.

Rachel has taken over as the family's cruise planner, so she narrowed down our options.  We ultimately chose the 10-day "ABC" Caribbean Cruise on the Navigator of the Seas because it included ports that we haven't traveled to before.  While we've been to Aruba a few times, none of us had been to Bonaire, and only I had sailed to Curacao.

Also, Rachel was on the Royal Caribbean website and excited about the Navigator's new upgrades including new pools and water slides... only to learn that they hadn't actually happened yet.  The upgraded Navigator of the Seas will start sailing in Spring 2019.  The Navigator of the Seas we were sailing on had been most recently updated in 2014 to add the Flow Rider to the aft.

The Navigator departed from Miami.  I live in Los Angeles, so I had to fly cross-country.  My parents live in South Carolina, and my sister in Atlanta, so they had the option of driving.  For better airline pricing, my dad decided to have my sister and I fly into Orlando the night before, while he and my mom would drive to Orlando.  We'd all spend the night near the airport there, then drive the rest of the way to Miami the morning of departure.

Alas, the Port of Miami, and a glimpse of the ship!


We often drive to the port, and it always results in the same kind of scramble.  My parents like to tetris-style pack the Suburban with luggage and snacks and a cooler.  And my mother always packs in an assortment of bags - some which stay in the car (they were headed to Walt Disney World after the cruise), so when we pull up and they start unloading our luggage, it results in my mom saying, "Woah, woah, woah!" and then crawling into the third-row seat and pointing and what should stay and what should go.  And then there's the tidying of the car to situate everything before it's parked.  And my dad trying to decide whether or not he should carry his own passport or leave it with us.  All while Rachel and I wait on the curb awkwardly dodging men tossing around suitcases.  At least we're organized and not bringing things on the ship that we don't need.  Nearly 20 years of cruising, now, and some things just don't change.

Then we wait on Dad to park the car, and hopefully remember where (one time we returned from a cruise to check every single level of a parking garage, only to learn that had returned to a different terminal and were parked in a different garage).

Sunday, March 23, 2014 - Good-bye, Breeze!

We had an early departure time of 8:15 AM. Max and I decided to eat breakfast in the dining room because it was convenient to our room and allowed us to avoid the craziness of the Lido Buffet with suitcases.

When we were finished in the dining room, it was past our scheduled time of departure, but when we arrived in the atrium, we learned that they were a little behind schedule. Our timing was perfect, though, because we were the next group to be called, and were able to walk right off the ship without waiting in a long line.

Since we didn't have a lot of bags, we didn't need a porter (with my family, we always use a porter). The customs line wasn't very long. Max was in front of me (usually he gets behind me for things like this), and when the officer took his passport and asked Max where he was born, Max was unprepared for that question. "Uhhhhhh....." He looked at me, and I was thinking come on, Max, you can do it! "Ohio." I really wanted to laugh. After that, the customs officer gave him a bit of a hard time. "Who are you traveling with?" "Her." "What did you buy?" "I bought a watch..." "Did you buy that watch?" (pointing to watch on my wrist) "No, not on this cruise." "Where is the watch you bought?" "In my suitcase." "Okay, you're good."

After clearing customs, we found our car in the parking garage.

Saturday, March 15, 2014 - Embarkation 

I woke up that morning as the sun was rising and decided to take the opportunity to get a few more long exposures from our balcony.

Friday, March 14, 2014 - We're Coming, Miami!

I did contemplate flying to Miami, but decided on driving. I've done the drive a few times before, as has Max (he's gone to both Orange bowls that Clemson played in while in school). We decided to leave at 5 AM in hopes of getting to Miami in time to enjoy dinner and the hotel. The difference between leaving with Max and leaving with my family is that when I leave with Max, we actually leave on time...

5 AM wasn't a good departure time, though, because it was timed perfectly for us to hit both Atlanta and Miami rush hours.

As we drove through Atlanta, I began shouting at Max to take photos of the skyline.

So we arrived in port that morning with six other ships. Mega ships.



Our disembarkation time was 9:45, but we were supposed to be out of the room by 8:00. We were told that we could leave our bags in the room until 9:00 and go eat breakfast which was a great convenience. After breakfast, we got our bags and waited in the casino.

We had been hearing over the loudspeaker that disembarkation was backed up because we only had three customs agents. Princess was sure to let us know that it wasn't their faut.

We finally got called to disembark the ship at 10:30. They were nearly an hour behind schedule. Once we got off the ship and collected our bags, the customs line was ridiculous. We were a little peeved that they called us so early because we were comfortable waiting in the casino and were having good conversation with our North Carolina friends. There was also no porter line at this terminal, so our porter waited in line with us. Luckily, he was a very friendly guy. He told us that because of all the ships in port, we had gotten unlucky with terminal 19. Princess owns terminal 2, so everything runs smoothly there, but terminal 19 is just a mess.

Finally, after waiting in line for nearly an hour, we were moved over to the handicap entry because we had a porter and they needed the porters to hurry up and get back to help more people with luggage. So we get through customs and our porter takes our things to the parking garage, and we tip him and send him on his way.



We're waiting outside in the windy cold for like 20 minutes. I finally call Dad. "I can't find the car anywhere!" We ask around, and no one really has the answer in the parking garage. We realize this is probably not the parking garage we parked in... it doesn't look familiar at all. The terminal doesn't look familiar at all. Dad and I go back track to where we exited and asked around there. Finally, someone was able to tell us that we had entered in terminal 2, but we were at terminal 19 now, so we would have to take a shuttle back to the parking garage at terminal 2.

So you're telling me that with all of these announcements Princess was making about how this disembarkation mess wasn't their fault, they didn't bother to tell us that not only were we at terminal 19, but that we were at a DIFFERENT TERMINAL!?!?!??? There should've been signs everywhere! It should've been in the Patter! We should've been told as we exited the ship!!!

I knew that we were at terminal 19, but it had been ten days - I didn't remember that we had arrived at terminal 2! Why didn't they remind us? You would've think that they would've been announcing that over and over again.

We FINALLY left the port at 12:20. And yes, customs sucked, but I also blame Princess. It just really stunk to leave with such a bitter taste in our mouths. We had a great cruise. We really enjoyed Princess and will probably sail with Princess again. But disembarkation is the last place you want to make enemies. You want people to leave your ship remembering what a great cruise they had and wishing they could stay, not begging to go home and then unable to find their car.

We had originally planned to spend the rest of the day at a beach, but it was cold and windy.... so instead we drove by the beach.

First we headed down to Miami. Rachel had never been to Miami before.











The we drove by the beaches of Fort Lauderdale...





It looked like a really cool beach town, and I'd love to spend more time there when the weather is warmer.

We were meeting our table mates from Canada that we had met on our last Christmas cruise on the Adventure for dinner in Orlando. They had just returned from their cruise on the Freedom of the Seas and were spending a few days in Orlando, so we had to meet up!

This is actually the first time we've actually reunited with a family we met on a cruise. Often, we'll exchange addresses and emails but never contact eachother again. I'm Facebook friends with many people I've met and will continue to talk to them from time to time, but no true reunion.

They left the restaurant choice up to us. I called and got us a reservation for Boma at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.







We had a lovely dinner with the Smith family (I say their last name only because it's so common), exchanging cruise stories. It was almost as if it hadn't been a year since we'd seen eachother! It was so great to meet up with them, and we're even planning to book the same cruise next Christmas!