Western Med Cruise
Navigator of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean
Contributor Level:
Deck Hand
Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 14
Sail date: July 01, 2009
Ship: Navigator of the Seas
Cabin type: Inside
Traveled as: Family (older children)
Reviewed: 15 years ago
Review summary
Navigator is a rather large ship, despite this it was relatively easy to get around. Plenty of elevators and relatively easy to either wait or walk the stairs. For the number of passengers we found that the pool and pool areas were poorly organized and left something to be desired in terms of chaises and space. Our biggest complaint was the stops and the excursions. Sardinia is a waste and while recently added should be removed. Aside from a nice beach there is nothing worthwhile there. We took a walking city tour and it was a waste of time for the money. It was particularly troubling that neither RCI nor the excursion groups thought to provide us with water despite the temps being in the 90s. Only in Genoa did we get any water from the group. Overall there was not a single excursion we found that was worthwhile or could not have been done on our own. Genoa City Tour was short and we spent more time in the acquarium than anywhere else. In Villegranche I owuld suggest doing your own tour and travel. RCI does a poor job of letting you know how easy it is to get on the train and go to Nice or Monte Carlo but this was simple and you should plan it on your own. We did Barcelona alone and had a great time getting around on the train and visiting the sites. Majorca was the only place where the city tour was worthwhile. On thing we did do which was worhtwhile was we took the Rome city tour and central drop off since we were spending two extra days in Rome. Of course, arriving on a Sunday limits what ou can see at the Vatican and this was an issue. Overall we would not recommend this cruise at this time of the year because of the monstrous heat and the issues below.Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Our waiter Milton Rodrigues and his assistant waiter Ramonchito were excellent. The first nights dinner was lukewarm giving us cause for concern but following this we had excellent eals in the main dining room. Unfortunately the mai dining room was signifciantly empty most of the trip. This was attributed to the fact that many of the Italian travelers chose to eat in the Windjammer because they cannot read the English menu and commmunicating with staff is difficult (heard this from various waitstaff). The result was a large number of large tables sitting empty and many tables with 23 people instead of 6-8. The specialty restaurants are a waste. We ate at CHOPS grille and found the steaks to be chewy and tasteless. No wonder they constantly offer you sauces for the steak. Service was mediocre in CHOPS and we felt that the extra $100 would have been spent better elsewhere. For an additional $15/person you can order a cHOPS dinner in the main dining room.
Entertainment
the entertainment was a disaster. The arrival show was translated by an Italian staff member in a rolling manner from the Ship Director. This was crazy and the result was long pauses in the program. As a result of the language issues there was no comedian, something we always enjoy. The dancing was of poor quality and the juggling group just average and on the entire 7 day cruise. As a result, we made several attempts to get to the shows but left mid-way through three of them, never to return. The casino staff were friendly but not friendly enough and as a poker player I was tremendously troubled by the lack of knowledge of the game by the dealers. The joke on the ship was that every dealer had their own rules. Floor people abdicated responsibility and this led to more angst. I am hoping that RCI wil move the Poker Pro game and eliminate the people involved. This will limit the number of players since we routinely had two games going but at least it will be more consistent.
Children's Programs
Our daughter went to the teem programs and enjoyed herself. I have to say that when I went ot get her one evening I was troubled by the yelling and screaming and jumping in the teen lounge. Not much supervision there but better in the disco.
Service and Staff
I would have expected more from the staff. Aside from the wait staff in the dining room we were disappointed. The Crown and Anchor Club personnel were of no help in gauging next cruises. Aside from the fact that a single person cannot handle this size ship with so many non-English speaking individuals they had no information about next years cruises, could not discuss with me the value of Celebrity vs RCI and as a result, we left the ship without having set up next years cruise or having gotten our $100 down.
Ship Quality
see above
Cabin / Stateroom
Our stateroom attendant was only average. He was never around and we had to search for him over and over. In contract, our children were in the roo next door and had an attendant that was outstanding. She attended to their needs and got them the necessary tenn program information in a timely manner. Overall the room was fine. We tend to do interior and these were spacious and the hard shell shower doors gave more room and were better.
Pros: Overall food was excellent
Cons: Destinations and Excursions
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