not great

Navigator of the Seas Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

hennyr

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 52

Overall rating:

3 out of 5

Verified Review

9 Night Atlantic Europe (Southampton Roundtrip)

Sail date: May 21, 2016

Ship: Navigator of the Seas

Cabin type: Balcony

Cabin number: 6374

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 years ago

Review summary

The Navigator of the Seas needs to improve in many ways if it wants to compete with other ships/lines.

The hallway carpets by the cabins (at least on Deck 6, where we stayed), are very stained. The cabin on the other hand, was very nice, clean and spacious.

Food is a major, disappointing area. The buffet at the Windjammer is the same food, day in, day out.

Service in the dining room is spotty...sometimes waiting for a tea can take a long time. The dinner and lunch menus were o.k....nothing special.

It wasn't until we complained about the slow service, that things improved, at least for us. We still heard many people complaining.

On this cruise, everything in the shops was taxed 20%, even though we were in international waters. When we questioned them, we really didn't get a complete answer. They said it was because the ship didn't go to a non-EU country.

Prices of goods and drinks were outrageous.

Smoking in the casino is an issue as well; the entire casino will smell of smoke, and you have to go through it to get to some other areas. Very annoying.

Our previous cruise on the Independence of the Seas was not fantastic, but compared to the Navigator, it turned out to be a lot better.

The Navigator is just not a great ship at all.

We were mostly in cold weather, and even though it has several swimming pools, not one has a (retractable) cover on it, so people were inside most of the time, which made it very crowded. Bar service or even finding a seat somewhere became a challenge.

The daily schedule, just like the food, was always the same. Many activities would cost you additional $$.

One very annoying thing, to try to get more $$ from the passengers, was the sale for the extra dining packages. You couldn't get away from it...even in the dining room, they would come and try to sell you the packages. Also, in the dining room, if you wanted better food, it would cost you.....you want a better steak...pay up...you want a lobster tail...sure...it'll cost you.

Mexican food would cost you $25.00 p.p. You want sushi....same thing.

RCL gets people on board with lower up front prices, but one there...watch out.

Chocolate on your pillow at night...forget it.

I could go on...but you get the picture....

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Our cabin attendant was the best we've ever had. Very accommodating, nice. The cabin is very spacious. Only the quality of the safety deposit box was an issue for many people. It just doesn't always work well.

Ship tip

Choose another ship.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Southampton (London), England

3 out of 5

Le Havre (Paris), France

1 out of 5

didn't go there, due to a strike.

Thumbs Up 0

3 out of 5

5 out of 5

3 out of 5

3 out of 5

23 Comments

tonyminides 8 years ago

Guys, on a lighter note, are all restaurants included on the all inclusive package?

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dandycruiser 8 years ago

Ang06062 sorry to hear you got sick I would definitely not let 500 to waste if i could help it. Not sure where you live but maybe you can do a weekend getaway and use the credit. Just a thought.

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naynay26 8 years ago

If you go on any ship that does all EU ports you will pay tax in the shops.. only if u stip at NON EU and unfortunately its a law thing ship cant change that

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elaineross 8 years ago

We're still on it and on deck 6. It's scrupulously clean. The food is amazing and the shows were fine. Some better than others. Our first Cruise but definitely not the last. I haven't seen evidence of any hard sell. Yes they will ask you to buy stuff but a polite no thanks was enough. We heard from one of the staff that they reap the benefits of everything spent on board as they get 18 percent of the profits as part of their salary. So they all benefit by trying to get you to buy. Bear in mind that these same staff spend months away from their families in order to improve their quality of life .

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Clarey2k 8 years ago

We are also just off the navigator and cannot fault a thing, food, service and cleanliness was exceptional

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newtraveler 8 years ago

Big time!!!!!

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cdubs1 8 years ago

Just be grateful you have been on a cruise, if you don't like them book something else. If you have a genuine gripe then get it sorted there and then. Most people will whinge about it when their back home. I have read fantastic comments about the Navigator and their staff and will be experiencing for myself soon. Then you have an honest opinion.

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andy59 8 years ago

Just got back off Navigator- no complaints at all. Food and service great, didn't notice any carpet stains, mind you, I wasn't on my hands and knees looking for them. Used the pool and hot tubs every day - no problems. Loved every minute of it.

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Lamwad 8 years ago

I think that was a harsh review. We went on the trains/atlantic cruise on the 8th May and couldn't really fault anything. Our first cruise and loved every minute of it and the ship. Great balcony room on deck 12. Food and service was great. Already looking at another cruise for October with Royal Caribbean.

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ratchc 8 years ago

I still can't wait!!! Bring it on!!! 😃😃🍸🍹🚢

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newtraveler 8 years ago

Just relax and enjoy.Don't let anyone spoil it.

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lucci1 8 years ago

Chill pills I've started already 😂 I may even up the dose after reading the review 😂😂😂

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tonyminides 8 years ago

There's a mention of additional charges, did you book all inclusive? I am on this in July too, my first cruise. I can always find 'defects' if I look but I am taking loads of chil-pills.

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harrymon 8 years ago

honestly who goes on holiday to look for carpet stains ,take a chill pill,your on holiday,unless your tripping and falling over a carpet there's no need to look at them. I'm on Navigator in July and ill write an honest report,I'm on deck six and ill check the carpets lol

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rachbaseball 8 years ago

I was on Navigator in April and loved every minute of it!!! The ship was beautiful and there were plenty of seats no matter where I went!! I loved my wait staff, my steward was awesome and every single crew member was fabulous!!

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DanCrissy23 8 years ago

We were on the April 10th cruise.. Had a phenomenal cruise, deck six balcony cabin on the hump never saw any stains?... Sorry to hear about the water issue, on the other hand the upgraded to dining etc are there for cruisers to enhance there experience, you want everything included there are cruise lines for that also.... Enjoy

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ang06062 8 years ago

^^april 10th cruise

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ang06062 8 years ago

We had major water damage which caused our water to be shut off for 3 days. I ended up with strep throat (I haven't been sick in 7 years but can't really say it was caused by the leak). The did send me a $500 credit but I won't be able to use it as I'm out of vacation time. I honestly loved our Majesty of the seas trip 300xs better. I can send video if interested Angela.pich@yahoo

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katiekarpowitz 8 years ago

I agree with newtraveler , We went in March, had the best cruise ever

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newtraveler 8 years ago

I was on the Nav in March. Loved every tiny single thing about it. Carpeting was fine on 8 and everywhere I went. The food was really good. I found seats wherever I went in bar areas and other areas. No smoke in the casino whatsoever. I never once had anyone pressure me as to Where to dine.I already knew the other restaurants were more and didn't feel the need to go there. I did not like the shopping on ship but thats not what I planned anyways. In my eyes- I was so happy and blessed to be on that ship. I never knew we were moving at all. My servers were awesome as well as the steward. The shows were phenominal. The Nav is a beautiful and very clean ship. I am going to Alaska in Sept and expect the same.I guess we all see things differently.

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debbmike 8 years ago

at all*

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debbmike 8 years ago

Hardly sounds like the "Macy's" cruiseline to me a at.

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rendezvoussam 8 years ago

Unfortunately almost all the cruise liners are the same, they offer headline grabbing low prices then jack up the tours, drinks and dinning packages. Decades ago going on a cruise is a luxury holiday with finer dinning and 'West End' entertainment, now it's more like 'Butlins on Sea'! However to some degree a cruise holiday still can be good value...if you are on a budget just watch the pennies otherwise the final bill could cost almost the same as the holiday!

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Other reviews of this sailing

9 Night Atlantic Europe