RCCL went from great to poor

RCCL Navigator of the Seas

We cruised on the Navigator of the Seas for 7 days from November 27 to December 4, 2016, and this was our 57th cruise. We are rated diamond with RCCL and we cruise with several other cruise lines. We had balcony cabin 7574.

Cabin condition and its size were fine. Ship’s public areas were fine.

The food offerings in the main dining room and on the Deck 11 buffet were way below what we have ever experienced before. No salmon or fish for breakfast on Deck 11 – first time ever. They had prime rib on the main restaurant dinner menu twice. The first time it was very thin roast beef. The second time they said they were out and substituted pot roast. The appetizers were generally fine but the entrée offerings were very limited and well below what we have experienced before.

The check-in was the worst we ever experienced. The ship was NOT docked at a terminal but docked at a flat pier adjacent to a parking area. We arrived at about 12:00 noon and the line was estimated by me (a Transportation Engineer) to be about 1000 waiting people winding around in a parking lot. No cover or roof was over the long line. If it rained, we would have all been soaked. There were no seats to wait in. There also were no separate priority lines (as they promise in their promotional literature) until you reached the inside of the relatively small tent structure. So we followed 1000 other passengers in the line, most of whom were not rated diamond or better. None of the RCCL staff seemed to care about how people were being treated. I estimate that we boarded the ship at about 1:30 pm, but did not write the exact time down.

At 330 pm, the lime was still about 200 long, and there were still several hundred bags in groups around the parking lot to be loaded. I have photos taken from our balcony cabin. We departed about 2 hours late because of the time it took getting the last bags on board.

All the restaurant staff in every venue were 5-star great as in the past, but the food offerings were poor compared to what we experienced in the past!!!

There was only one production show during the 7-day show, which was a bummer, but it was 5-star great!

All the other evening entertainment in the theater, and I mean all, was poor and way below average.

The ice-skating show was great 5-star great.

The internet package offered for the 7-day cruise was the best ever offered to me. Instead of being limited to and worrying about minutes, we purchased a 7-day 24/7 unlimited package for one device for about $60.00 after our diamond discount. My wife and I could both log on using different devices but at different times.

I was surprised by how many people were loudly complaining, and a few voiced real anger.

Regardless, for the money we paid, we had a great vacation. However, as we choose future cruises, RCCL is no longer one of our favorite cruise lines.

Steve McEvoy