It was a pretty bad experience overall

Navigator of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Southern

Deni74

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 46

Overall rating:

2.9 out of 5

9 Night Southern Caribbean (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 07, 2018

Ship: Navigator of the Seas

Cabin number: 6244

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

I do not recommend it. My experience was pretty bad. I got to the cruise first, thinking that non alcoholic beverages were included as I was traveling with my 8 and 10 year old boys and I don't drink alcohol. I booked my cruise through cheapcaribean.com, They did not tell me about that I had to buy a package and I was under the impression that everything *non alcoholic beverages were included*. What really shocked me is that when I bought a pina colada, the gratuity was included in 1 drink. I have never heard that ordering a drink they need to include gratuity and on top of that they add a line to add more gratuity. Service was not great. Food was aweful Except dinner. Staff at the dinning place (saffire was great) - expecially out waiter Pratik and Amado. Overall, staff was very unexperienced and the amount of staff considering how many people were on the cruise was super limited, being them overworked and unhappy. The most unfriendly staff was working in the small coffee shop at level 5. They were rude, and with no patience. Being on the cruise, you feel like being in a time share. They were all the time trying to sell you stuff. The excursions off shore were sooo expensive and we were not given local options for people who do not want to pay more. You would think that paying 5000 dollars on the cruise , you should have options to pay less for off shore activities , specially if the island belongs to RC like the island from Haiti. For example: zip line was 82 or $83, for 3 minutes, In virginia, where i live, for 4 people, 1 hour of zip line is $200. This tells you how overpriced this off shore activities are. There was only 2 swimming pools which one is not for smaller kids (3 year old). So there was no water activity for my nephew to play. The last 2 days of the cruise where everybody was on the ship, only 1 swimming pool was working. Honestly, I will not recommend this cruise to anybody. After this experience, I will not longer want to be on a cruise again.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Long lines but expected with this large cruiseship

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

I was not aware and was not told that I had to get a drink package. I have been to many cruises before and it was all included in the price. We do not drink alcohol, it was just non alcoholic beverage like sodas or bottle water - but I had to pay 30 per person including kids to get it. It was a rip off. On top of that - they would charge gratuity even if you ask for 1 pina colada-- very unimpressed and dissapointed

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5

Awesome for the climbing walls and the boggie water experience. Pretty bad for pools, there was no pool for 3 year old....

Entertainment

4 out of 5

it was good overall! nothing amazing but good.

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

Terrible, inexperienced people, rooms cleaningness was not great. Staff seemed to be overwhelmed with so many passangers and some of then unhappy to give good service.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

It was allright, some rusting in the balcony - i dont feel it was very clean the rooms or main breakfast area

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

bathroom way too small. bed was ok. Not very clean! they left a sock from previous passanger and was never removed from the cabin - it was gross

Ship tip

Do not book it - save your money for punta cana all inclusive resorts- much better

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

4 out of 5

Labadee (Cruise Line Private Island)

1 out of 5

Oranjestad, Aruba

3 out of 5

Willemstad, Curacao

4 out of 5

Kralendijk, Bonaire

4 out of 5

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

6 Comments

BeachSunSand 5 years ago

Some basic research on your part would have solved most of your issues.

Thumbs Up 0

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Ree2k12 5 years ago

I'm sorry for your experience but you indicated that you were on many cruises before and non-alcoholic drinks were included... There were a lot of included non-alcoholic drinks on NOTS, we even got free alcoholic drinks at a few events... I don't know any cruise line where ALL non-alcoholic drinks are included.. Also it is pretty normal to pay gratuities on each alcoholic drink.

Thumbs Up 2

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ksquare 5 years ago

I too am from Virginia and can tell you the zipline places at home and the ones on the excursions are completely different. Not only are length of the rides are different but you’re paying for the experience. It’s evident you didn’t go through a travel agent because they would’ve told you about the what would be included in the cost of the cruise. As for your encounter with the “rude” crew members, I wasn’t there so I can comment. But like any vacation whether be a hotel, cruise, resort or even Disneyworld, you might encounter one or two employees who are unhappy. Here’s a reminder, the employees are usually away from their families 6-8 months at a time, working 10-14 hours a day dealing with obnoxious cruisers day in day out. It’s hard to keep a smile on one’s face all the time. Lastly, your lack of research and knowledge dictated your mood and horrible experience. I hope in the future for you and your family, you’ll research before going on any kind of trip. FYI - I’m a single dad who has taken my now 10 year old daughter on 7 cruises plus other resorts. You bet I do my research cause our vacations are not about me but it’s solely for her enjoyment and memories.

Thumbs Up 5

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Dadm 5 years ago

This does happen when people don’t bother to read their cruise documents.

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rccclfav 5 years ago

It’s unfortunate you had such a bad experience. But as travelers we must do our research before we invest our money or have a travel agent who will explain and research for you. Sounds like you picked the wrong ship (not cruise line) for your needs. And the cost of the excursions are expensive but you can make alternative choices. You really need to do more investigating before your sail date. I’m always sorry to hear when someone has a bad experience.

Thumbs Up 4

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onlysail 5 years ago

Obviously you never researched the cruise before booking I dont think cruising is for you leave it to thousands of others who love it and take a resort based vacation

Thumbs Up 8

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Other reviews of this sailing

Beautiful ship and the service was excellent.

Fun Family Cruise

Great Itinerary