Great trip but make sure you have lots of cash!!

Item: Navigator of the Seas
Rating: 3
Author: jlrod1221

Navigator of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

jlrod1221

Contributor Level: Third Mate

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 34

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

6 Night Western Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 31, 2016

Ship: Navigator of the Seas

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 7351

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

This cruise was absolutely fantastic in every way, except the fact that Royal Caribbean definitely either assumes you have a lot of extra money or doesn't think their methods for charging people don't effect your overall experience. We are relatively poor people, but had budgeted enough to pay for the total expenses as well as ensuring we had spending money for the week. Because of the way we were charged, we ended up not having any money after Grand Cayman (the first stop) other than the cash we had left. So we were in an awkward and uncomfortable position during the other two places, and were worried about the money required for transportation and whatnot between getting off the ship and and back home. Turned out Royal Caribbean had double charged me for my drinks package (they returned the extra $350 they had overcharged on day 5 of 6) and had charged my friend $500 in the beginning, then refunded that (again on day 5) only to charge him the appropriate amount after we got back. Which meant that we had been under the impression that we had paid $850 worth of our expenses, and somehow still owed almost $1000 due to their not accounting for my drink package being paid for as well as having refunded the initial $500 they had charged my friend. So our experience was negatively impacted by this system to such a degree that we are considering never sailing with Royal Caribbean again. However, if and when we do decide to take another cruise, we will still book through Cheap Cruises. It will just be with another cruise line, and we'll be more prepared for seemingly disorganized monetary practices.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

There was a water line break outside our room twice, that made our entryway soggy. This was cleaned up relatively quickly, and our room attendant was fantastic given what he had to work with. We felt as though Royal Caribbean should have compensated for this inconvenience in some way, and addressed the issue with the front desk but got a standard brush-off response. It honestly just made me feel bad for our room attendant and aggravated with the company as a whole.

Ship tip

Definitely hit up the Viking Lounge bar, and make sure you take the time to see the comedy shows as well as the game show "The Quest." These were hilarious and worth staying up for (as long as you're willing to get a little crazy).

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Ft. Lauderdale (Port Everglades), Florida

5 out of 5

George Town, Grand Cayman

5 out of 5

Falmouth, Jamaica

5 out of 5

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

5 out of 5

12 Comments

enjoyurdaysmile 8 years ago

We always check our statements and go to Guest Services as well.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

DCruiseQueen 8 years ago

With Royal Caribbean you can check your account statement anytime you want in your room's TV so if they charged you twice for the package you could have corrected the error right away with customer service. Carnival does not allow you to buy only one drinking package, if there is two people staying in a stateroom they will make you buy two packages. Their drinking packages have limited drinks

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

bbirt 8 years ago

But think what a great story you have to tell now. maybe cruising isn't for you.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

CarrieBennett 8 years ago

Were very easy going too.... We got LEFT at our excursion by the cruise ship excursion bus, along with others.... Shop had to call the boat, they double charged us every night for gratuities and anything we bought.... Our cabin steward never cleaned our room , not that I cared cause we're not messy... We just needed towels but still.... Then she complained about how she only makes $50 a month..

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

bbirt 8 years ago

we. cruised with RCC several years ago and had no problems. We then switched to Carnival mostly because it's usually cheaper. We wanted something different this year so we booked with Royal again. I found both cruise lines enjoyable and haven't yet had problems. But I must add that I'm pretty easy going and understand mistakes are going to happen when you are trying to serve thousands of people.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

enjoyurdaysmile 8 years ago

Never found the receipt and didn't have to pay. Keep all of the receipts while on board to prove your items were paid for.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

enjoyurdaysmile 8 years ago

We were on Princess and my husband was charged for a drink he never had. It took the accounting department on the ship or who ever figures things out n

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

enjoyurdaysmile 8 years ago

I cruised with Royal last year and the crew members were up to par. I bought the soda package and had no problem and it was priced for one person. NCL now has this rule that who ever buys the package the other person must get it. I'm not sure if the rule has changed for Royal. Our cabin was nice and had no problems. The bed was good and yes, cruise lines need to upgrade and that would be done during dry dock. Hopefully these things will happen.

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

fun4us2013 8 years ago

been on 7 with rccl. 3 on ncl. there are usually problems on every cruise but never enough to make me want to give up a line

Thumbs Up 2

Flag

bbirt 8 years ago

Royal isn't the only cruise line with issues. Our last three cruises were with Carnival and this time we switched to Royal. I guess none are perfect. lol. I've learned to just stay calm and it usually works out.

Thumbs Up 2

Flag

travelingmama 8 years ago

I traveled royal Caribbean and had problems with my bed sinking in the middle ,mini fridge did not get cold, restaurant closed early only the nasty pizza place open late ,never again for my family

Thumbs Up 0

Flag

CarrieBennett 8 years ago

We left Royal as well.... Our next cruise is on Carnival.... We had so many issues last cruise..... And when we told them we wouldn't be back.... We'd go somewhere else... They just kinda smirked... I'm sure they didn't believe us.... But Carnival, here we come March 5th 😊

Thumbs Up 1

Flag

Other reviews of this sailing

Great Trip

Navigator of the Sea/Western Caribbean Cruise

6 Night Western Caribbean Cruise