Not quite ready for Prime time

Item: Navigator of the Seas
Rating: 3.5
Author: jberckes

Navigator of the Seas Cruise Review

jberckes

Contributor Level: Second Mate

142 Days Till Next Cruise

Cruises: 7+ cruises

Reviews: 5

Helpful Votes: 121

Overall rating:

3.5 out of 5

4 Night Catalina & Ensenada (Los Angeles Roundtrip)

Sail date: August 22, 2022

Ship: Navigator of the Seas

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 1560

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 2 years ago

Review summary

Navigator organization needs work. Food is overly seasoned and excessively salty. Staff is nice but lacks the coordination and hustle that makes dining experience a joy. TV room channels are pathetic and lack any variety.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Main Dining Room

2 out of 5

Dinner should not take over 2 hrs to eat. Waited an hour for food just to get to table. Nice people, Unorganized and had difficulty with getting order correct. Escargot was over salted, as if it needs it, prime rib was still mooing on a medium order and a side of mushrooms had a total of 3 pieces. Dessert took 1/2 hr. to get after ordering. RCCL has other ships better prepared to handle cruises.

Jamie's Italian

1 out of 5

Sooo overrated and menu is pathetic. You cant even get spaghetti and meatballs at an Italian restaurant. Had the short ribs...covered in gravy to hide the fact over 1/2 the piece of meat is fat and gristle. At $49.00 a pop, one would think the quality would be there. Overly salted and he side dishes were mushy vegetables. Ordered a cappuccino with my dessert. Dessert took 20 minutes (tiramisu), 15 minutes later still no cappuccino before i asked for check and reminded them to cancel the order.Money best spent at Johnny Rockets

Chop's Grille

2 out of 5

Able to have breakfast there each day as part of the Suite amenitiesService is very lacking. The servers were nice people, yet unorganized. The pantry was under supplied. Each day, staff would need to run around Windjammers to find milk. One would ask what you want, then 30 seconds another to only have it take 30 minutes to get it. 4 cooks standing around watching 1 cook. Its not as if it was overly crowded as well. Disappointing.

Viking Crown Lounge

1 out of 5

Bartenders are slow and a bit rude and unfriendly

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Our Concierge Haffnar was very efficient, pleasant and worked very hard. The Suite Lounge is nice but bar service there is lacking. Cruise Director Eric was over the top trying to impress and his high pitched voice became aggravating to listen to it. He seemed to be always screaming to generate excitement. Room attendant Cherton was terrific. Restaurant staff and i blame the management, need to train and organize. Disappointed

Ship Quality

4 out of 5

Whoever “re-imagined” the ship did a disservice to the cruising population. The bury the Diamond Lounge on 5th floor away from bar service, no easy access to slides or mini golf, restaurants seemed jammed into limited spaces, bathrooms have smaller number of commodes or urinals, the decor is garish.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Ship tip

Wait a while until they get better organized and are properly staffed

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Catalina Island, California

5 out of 5

Take a leisurely stroll along the main street and window shop or actually buy. You will wind up at Descano Beach Club. Have a great lunch there and/or enjoy the beach. Rent a golf cart to explore the interior of the island. Terrific place and terrific people who work there.

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

6 Comments

cruiseman2 2 years ago

Well if you place your order it doesn't matter what cruise line it is if it is not made to the way that you wish for it to be if your food is over seasoned, simply let your server know to have it remade with no seasoning. I'm sure that they will be glad to accommodate you.

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javawoody 2 years ago

Appreciate your comments

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Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Oops sorry 😞 thanks

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Cruise1st 2 years ago

Shame you had such a bad experience

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AuntPinkie 2 years ago

Sorry this cruise didn’t meet your expectations.

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CruzeFan 2 years ago

Thanks for the review. They’ve been sailing for over nine months since the restart, so it’s not that they just started up. This is the new standard after Covid. It’s interesting that you mentioned the food was overly seasoned and too salty as most say it is too bland and has no flavor. Taste is very subjective, so the cruise lines get lots of complaints about the food regardless of what they do.

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