A few disappointments with our first Royal Caribbean Cruise

Navigator of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 33

Overall rating:

3 out of 5
Verified Review
Navigator of the Seas

7 Night Western Caribbean (Galveston Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 15, 2013

Ship: Navigator of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6690

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 10 years ago

Review summary

I can only compare to the Holland America cruises we've been on. 

My three main complaints are:

The first day we went to the Spa Welcome event.  We booked actupucture appointments for the following morning.  We both had back pain treatment, the therapist was friendly & professional and the treatment was pleasant & did help relieve the pain.  When I left and signed the charge slip, I noticed I was charged the full price $150 + $27 gratuity.  We were told yesterday "if you book appointments today you get $30 off the price" & the Acupuncture therapist gave us  coupon for 20% off.  When I asked why I was charged full price, the receptionist said the discount was only if you booked yesterday and had your appt yesterday....very deceptive!  I paid and registered a complaint at the desk...they credited our account with the discount. 

 

On our Holland America cruises, one of the highlights was the wonderful Sushi displays at lunch every day.  We went to lunch on Monday and was told sushi was only available from 6-9 pm, no sushi @ lunch....huge disappointment, especially since our dinner dining is at 5:30.  After dinner we went up the see the sushi offering, it was really a pitiful offering, very bland...mostly salmon, imitation crab and smoked fish.  No Yellowtail, Tuna or Sashimi, and none even included pickled daikon or avocado garnishes.

 

Monday afternoon we had booked an Exotic Rasul @ the spa.  It's a 50 minutes private steam room with shower that includes salt scrubs & mud masks, and facial treatments that you share with a partner.  This is well worth the $95 - Highly Recommend!

Day 3, I woke up with red swollen crusty eyes.  My eyes were burning some and watery last night after we went to the casino, but I thought it must just be from the smokers.  Now I think I had an allergic reaction to the face or eye cream I used after the Rasul treatment at the spa.

Went down to the medical facility to see about getting some eye drops.  Went to the desk to check in, only one woman in waiting room.   A staff member was sitting at a desk doing paperwork and didn't even look up to acknowledge us.  After a few minutes I said excuse me, she finally looked up, with an aggravated look and said the nurse would help us when she came back ... The nurse came in shortly and told us to wait in the waiting room and she'd be with us in a few minutes.  We sat in the waiting room for approx 5 min and left.
Went to breakfast in the windjammer, decent breakfast buffet, nothing special.

Went to the small store on board and got a small bottle of Visine eye drops, which fortunately helped calm down the itchy, watery eyes, but seriously...$12.50 for Visine???? 

 

The rest of the cruise was nice...Ship is clean & well cared for.  We had a balcony room on the aft of Deck 6.  Staff was all very friendly & professional.  We enjoyed a wonderful dinner in the Chops Specialty restaurant one night, and had a lunch at Johnny Rockets the last day.   Enjoyed the Solarium (Adults Only) pool & Hot Tub area.  Saw "The Drifters" perform one night, a really good Ice Show, and Yulia & Alan a Russian Artistic Gymnast couple.

 

We picked this ship because we're in Texas and wanted to cruise from Galveston.  Holland America doesn't cruise from TX or LA, so we decided to try RC.  Not sure if I'd cruise with them again...time will tell.

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ports of call

Galveston, Texas

5 out of 5

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5

Belize City, Belize Did not visit port

Didn't go ashore

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
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