Be very wary of onboard credits. We were promised two separate onboard credits which are printed on our invoice. We received one, RC denied the second and said we received a credit on our fare. Our invoice does not depict this at all. We visited guest services and it took almost 3 hours to determine that they were not going to honour the credit. As as result we missed Formal night. We will never sail on RC again. Overall, we were very disappointed.
Embarkation
4 out of 5
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
3 out of 5
I had hair in my food, not once, but twice. Not indicative of a spotless kitchen environment. Windjammer was good esp for breakfast. Omelet can't come close to those we had on Carnival. Bar staff were inattentive. Very few, other than those at The Lime and The Coconut delivered a smile with the drink
Onboard Activities
3 out of 5
We only used the pool and gave up on it after a couple of days. No seats available in the Solarium and the 30 minute no holding of chairs was not enforced.
Entertainment
3 out of 5
The ice show was amazing! Heath Harmison was great, we really enjoyed him. The other shows and comedian were nothing special. I was expecting great but got meh. We prefer the comedy clubs on Carnival. Much more fun. Even the MDR waiters seemed to be part of Carnival's entertainment. Carnival definitely offers a more "fun" type of cruise. We were warned that Carnival would be loud and obnoxious. We didn't find it that way at all. We probably saw more people drunk and obnoxious on RCL
Children's Programs
No children
Service and Staff
2 out of 5
Our room steward was amazing. Ida made every day special with his smile and towel animals. Martin, who we passed everyday in the hall brought a smile to our face. Bar staff was unfriendly, guest service staff was terrible. Maitre D couldn't come close to those on Carnival. We asked for a seat near a window and constantly got seated right by the kitchen. It was cold, draft and noisy. Not a good dining experience at all. Carnival's waiters were friendly and fun. They appeared to actually enjoy what they were doing. The waiters on RC seemed stressed and harried. There were many "suits" supervising the waiters in the MDR on RCL. We wondered if this led to the general feeling of stress on the waiters. On Carnival we only saw one supervisor and the waiters were exceptional.
Ship Quality
5 out of 5
The Navigator just finished a major refurb and the ship was incredible.
Cabin / Stateroom
1 out of 5
Our room smelled of urine. They tried to deodorize it the first night which left us feeling sick because now we had the smell of urine plus the sickly smell of the deodorizing agent. The following day, the deck supervisor moved us to another room. Unfortunately we lost 3 hours repacking and unpacking. The new room, however, was wonderful. They upgraded us to an aft balcony and we really enjoyed the extra balcony space. Came in handy when the pool was too crowded.
Curacao was amazing! What a wonderful spot to visit. We didn't do an excursion. We took a taxi to Mambo Beach returning mid-afternoon. We walked around the town and did some shopping.. We loved this port
We did a DePalm sightseeing excursion in Aruba. The coach was very comfortable and the driver Luis was friendly and knowledgable. We hit all the highlights, the Lighthouse, Aloe Factory (amazing hand cream), Casibari Rock formation and the Natural Bridge. Definitely worth seeing the island but next time I will just visit Eagle Beach.
It sounds like you had already made up your mind about the cruise and preferring Carnival over RC before you even got on the ship. I’ve been on Carnival before, and I won’t say that I’d never cruise them again, but it would have to be a very significant deal in order for me to consider it. I’ve been on Navigator before, and even though it’s not my favorite ship, I doubt everything is as horrible as you’re making it out to be. Complaining that you couldn’t get a window table in the MDR? Please. Have fun back on Carnival. 👋🏻
We have been on Navigator twice and loved it. As far as the credit issue, sometimes they will lower the rate in lieu of a credit, which is actually better in my opinion.
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