Solid Budget Option

Item: Navigator of the Seas
Rating: 3.7
Author: KS1988

Navigator of the Seas Cruise Review to Caribbean - Bahamas

KS1988

Contributor Level: Deck Hand

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 40

Overall rating:

3.7 out of 5

Verified Review

4 Night Bahamas & Perfect Day (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 09, 2019

Ship: Navigator of the Seas

Cabin number: 9369

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 5 years ago

Review summary

The common areas are very nice and the refurbishment has clearly gone a long way in giving these spaces a new, fresh, modern facelift. But, at its core, this is one of the older ships in the fleet, and they're offering super low rates, so the cruise line is not putting their best crew or their highest-quality food options onboard.

Embarkation

5 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

In years past, high quality, unique food was par for the course on almost cruise. RCI seems to have really de-prioritized the food/dining experience, at least on this ship. Even the specialty steakhouse felt tired, thrown together, and mass-produced. The menu in the dining room has transitioned to being 70% "always-on" classics and a small selection of specials for that day. Food temperature, plating, taste, creativity, quality, etc were all just okay, if not outright bad.

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

I worked on cruise ships myself about 5 years ago and I know firsthand the high service standards the cruise line used to enforce. This is not receiving ANY attention on this ship. Crew members rarely smiled, and there were a good number that seemed overtly disgruntled.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

We loved the action-focused amenities on the ship (water slides, escape room).

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Our steward did a great job keeping the cabin clean but the toilet was really smelly. You could really tell the true age of the ship from the bathroom.

Ports of call

Miami, Florida

4 out of 5

Nassau, Bahamas

5 out of 5

Perfect Day At Coco Cay, Bahamas

5 out of 5

The island is spectacular.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

3 Comments

wgammon1 4 years ago

Sorry your cruise was not up to par.

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Ricdalek 5 years ago

I wasn't impressed with the food on Navigator 9 years ago. Whatever the problem is, it's not a recent development. I can't agree that RC doesn't care about these ships or the experience. Voyager class ships are great and were truly groundbreaking. At 135,000GT, they are still larger than all but the most recent ships from Carnival or NCL. It is why they are getting the amplification treatment. They have influenced RC ship design for the last 20 years culminating in the Oasis class. They are just as modern as the other ships in the fleet. I can imagine these ships being the backbone of the fleet for the next 20 years as the Vision class ships age out of prominence. Now we have the next chapter of ship design with the Quantum and upcoming Icon class ships.

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Cruiselovers70 5 years ago

We have been sailing Navigator of the Seas during the 4 th of July holiday. Our experience with food and service was exceptional. No negative comments in that department.

Thumbs Up 3

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