Navigator of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

After sailing with Carnival we decided to "upgrade" to RC for a more adult cruise experience.  We heard RC catered toward a more mature group of people.  By that they mean everything closes early.  Finding food after 10 pm was horrible.  Only one small place had cold sandwiches, leftover desserts and not so great pizza.  Even the ice cream machines were turned off as soon as dinner was over.  The "guest star" shows were great but the onboard performers were so-so.  The employees were great but appeared to be shorthanded all the time.  I had heard about RC's midnight buffet with fruit carving - not on this ship.  And deportation was horrible!  Took over 2 hours once our number was called.  I've never waited that long with Carnival.  I'm glad we tried it because now we know - back to Carnival.

The staff on the ship was just wonderful. It was our wedding anniversary and my wife's birthday. I would have like to see more of a variety of sales items. We went to 3 out of the restaurants and had an awesome time. I thought they would have did a little more for a celebration besides a singing but in all the trip was great. 

Food was not good unless you eat at the specialty restaurants. Entertainment was fair but the bar drinks and service was very good.Ship has a lot of movement seas were good but ship swayed back and forth the entire trip.I have been on 4 cruises 3 of them were on Royal and i'm not sure if I will sail on Royal again.

PROS:   -Room was spacious (we had the large Oceanview room towards the front of the ship)! -Our room attendant, Wesly, was very warm and accommodating! -The servers at the Cafe Promenade were very friendly! -Our servers at the Sapphire Room, Erdal & Sylvia were great! -One particular server at the Windjammer Cafe, Jeffrey, was great! -The entertainment most nights were very well put together and kept us entertained.  Our kids' favorite was the ice show.  The Cruise Entertainment Director and Manager were both excellent. -Fitness center had a good variety of cardio machines and weights.   -Sports activities were great- consider having a 3 on 3 basketball and soccer tournaments for kids 12 and under.  

CONS: -All 4 Sea passes would not open the door to our room.  We had to go and stand in line with Guest Services 4 different times and they were less than accommodating and even looked annoyed that we kept coming back. -The Shore Excursion to Escape to Bacab in Belize had misleading information about a Butterfly Pavillion.  Our tour guide told us during the ride there that the pavillion had been closed for renovation and should take that off of the excursion description.  We were also told that we can book horseback riding when we got to the location.  This was not the case as by the time we got to the location, the horseback riding tour had already left.  We were told by the Guest Services desk that we would be refunded for this only to have the Shore Excursion desk call us in our room to let us know that they had not approved this refund.  After a few back and forth calls, we expected this excursion to be credited to our account.  However, it still showed up on our final bill.  We had to, again, stand in line at Guest Services for 30 minutes during the last day of our cruise to get this settled.   -At the Sapphire Room for breakfast, my husband requested for steamed rice and was told there was not rice available anywhere on the ship.  We realize that this is not a common breakfast item but we were told by staff that we can make special requests. -Update your karaoke list!  :)  Common songs like Rolling in the Deep by Adele was not on the list. -Add a sign on the running track to indicate that walkers need to stay on the right lane so that runners/joggers don't run into them.  Left lane should be for the faster runners or for overtaking.

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 I did have a problem with lost baggage and had to go all day Sunday and most of Saturday without a change of clothes. The only compensation that I was offered was a t-shirt to sleep in. However, I did receive several phone calls from cruise services updating me on the fact that they were still trying to locate my bag and a follow-up to make sure that I had eventually gotten it back... kudos to Terrence Edwards for his concern and efforts. I  would have to give horrible ratings for embarkment and dis-embarkment practices of the Galveston port that could make or break this cruise. We have decided to think twice about any future cruises going out of Galveston due to such terrible organization. There is no excuse for being forced from your stateroom at 8 AM and still be trying to dis-embark at 11:45 AM. The cruise itself was very enjoyable but I would recommend another line leaving from a better port. As a frequent cruiser I suggest Galveston take some pointers from Ft Lauderdale!

Overall, I had an excellent vacation.  I'm not sure how I could really complain, I do have some warnings listed below though.  But even then, the service you get on RCI can't be beat for the price and I'd recommend it to all my friends. 

The main dining room was delicious for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  The buffet is not my favorite, but that's more of a preference than a slam at the windjammer.  I just don't like the crowds and prefer the excellent service you get in the main dining rooms.  

The ship was very clean and had staff busy all over keeping everything shiny and smudge free.  They had hand sanitizer stands everywhere...no Norovirus for me thanks.

The only issues I had may not be RCI related, but anyone going on the ship should still know, so I've listed them in tips.  They involve the cattlecall at Galveston that is worse than any other ship i've disembarked and the long lines to get back on the ship at ports (mostly Cozumel).

Royal Caribbean is one of my favorite cruise lines for the money and their value really can't be beat.  They have excellent food, entertainment, and service.  

First cruise ever so nothing to compare it to, but we have taken many other trips and vacations. This was by far the best trip/vacation we have ever taken. The ship was superb. The service was top notch. The shows and entertainment was feminine and Broadway worthy. The food was excellent and the variety far superceded iur expectations. Cant wait for our next cruise. This may have been our first but definitely will not be our last. We encountered many with numerous cruises under their belt, 44 being the most, and we certainly understand why.

Ice dance show was great along the with the arobatics show.  The ship itself is beautiful and more so with the Christmas decorations.  I have mainly sailed Princess and they both have their strong points and each has their weak points. I preferred the food on Princess and I liked the entertainment better on Royal.  I liked the electronics interaction that Royal has through out the ship 

My husband and I enjoyed our cruise very much. Food and entertainment were

very good. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. We had a Junior Suite that

was nice. The shopping mall in the middle of the ship was awesome. Enjoyed the

three ports of call. Would recommend this cruise very much.

I have cruised  on this ship before and enjoyed it more then.  A few things were missing -- tea and scones, 2 Las Vegas type shows (only had one). The airport to ship shuttle was disorganized.  Long waits for the elevators. There were 3 comedians in a row on the stage at night ???The parts of the cruise that I loved were the superb ice show, truly outstanding service from the crew throughout the ship and the wonderful variety of food in the Main Dining Room.  My room steward was very attentive and helpful.  The waiters in the Windjammer Buffet were always on top of things. It was a quiet cruise which was just what I wanted.

A beautiful ship with an extremely efficient and friendly staff!!

Really don't know what else to say...it was an exceptional experience.  The ship is remarkable.  The onboard shopping is great.  If a casino is your "thing", there is an excellent on here.

Our wait staff was absolutely fantastic!  The activities on board were below average from previous cruises on Royal Carribean.  Clubs would close early, not much going on abywhere except for one "event" during the day/evening.  

Loved the special invatation to the ice show with glass of wine.

Loved the welcome back party.

Loved the shows at night and the food in the dinning room.

Very disappointed in the increase of drink prices  and how they now measure one shotper drink, only CNN International and Headline News for news.  No FOX or Business news stations.

Very disappointed in the Port at Roatan.  It sucked.  We have been to the other Port on Princess.

I thought we had some on board credit from you but we only received $100 from a deposit from RCCI

The service of the staff was absolutely outstanding.  I had no complaints.. well one person was a little eh, but she didn't get extra tip and I'll leave it at that.  The way that RCI does their billing is horrible.  I was led to believe since I booked through a travel agent that I was receiving an onboard credit from RCI and the travel agent and they "stated" that was not the case.  Also the onboard credit amount is misleading because the price they put on the web sites includes port charges which are NOT included in the calculation of the onboard credit.  and the whole 50% off the second person is not true, they just add it to the total of the first person.  The food is meh.... it seems and I heard this from other sources, that the cruise lines (RCI included) are moving to the passenger pay service for their more upscale lines and it seems that they are reducing the quality of the food that you pay for when you pay for your cruise.  The food we had previously on RCI was phenomenal.   So all in all, if you want all inclusive, stick with a resort, you'll get more bang for your buck, alcohol, food and gratuities wise (yeah they don't usually add on extra for gratuities at all inclusive resorts). 

Great Great ship, great activities and shows, good food. 

Did not enjoy Roatan or Belize City or the shore excursions, too much 

time spent tyring to sell us stuff.   Cozumel was nice.  

Ship was beautiful.  Ports were exciting.  Service was wonderful.  My only disappointment is that I had second seating and there were several events planned during my dinner time and I was not able to attend.  Felt like first seating cruisers were given preferential treatment.  I had never experienced this n all of my cruises.

Such a beautiful ship with great crew and food.   What more is there for a wonderful,satisfying cruise?  All aspects from boarding to disembarking went smoothly and should be industry level requirements for all cruise lines.This was not our first RCL cruise and will not be our last.  We can be a tad critical but this cruise left us very pleased.  Navigator was tops.

I never received anything from Royal Caribbean regarding on-board rules.  I did not take any long pants so I was not allowed to eat in the dining room except for the first night when they told me I couldn't come back.  And having to eat at 8 pm every night was not acceptable anyway. 

I also did not know there would be TWO formal nights and didn't take formal wear. 

The Sabor restaurant was right above my stateroom and between 10 pm and 1 am every night would stomp around, roll some type of wheeled vehicle, and slam refrigerator case doors.  All of this was so loud that I could not sleep.  I complained to guest services twice to no avail.

After the windjammer closed, the availability of food and drink was the worst of any cruise I have ever been on.

The entertainment was mediocre.  I mean, Gary Mule Deer!!  Come on!!  He has been out of style for 20 years at least!!  The magician was average and actually did very little magic.  The singers and dancers were a little above average and the ice skaters were good.

Overall, it was the worst cruise I have been on, out of 7.

The boat is beautiful, the employees are very nice. I have enjoyed my vacation on the Navigator. 

My 8 year old did not want to stay at the kids program, she wanted more free time at the program, just to have free time to play with the other kids her age. I think the kids program is great, but could add the free time option to kids who want it.

Also, I am vegan, I do not eat animal products, meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and honey. The dining manager tried very hard to have various vegan meals prepared for dinner. I think Royal Caribbean should have a standard vegan meal plan for all meals with many/differnt options. You will attract many vegan who chose not to cruise because of the lack of vegan options. In fact there is a cruise that is specifically for vegan than cruises once a year.

This was our 4 th cruise we all love to cruise.

We loved every thing about this cruise. From the rooms to the food, to entertainment and the service and crew was exceptional. There was really nothing bad I could say about this ship and staff.

From now one I will only cruise with the Royal Caribbean. They made our trip so memorable. Fabulous people and we made so many friends.

Our dining room waiter Chetan  Choudhry was exceptional. My kids are very fussy eaters, he made sure that every one was satisfied  with the food and went above and beyond to make sure that we got what we wanted to eat even if it was not on the menu. Made great recommendations for dishes and showed real  genuine concern as if we were dining as guests at his house. He remembered what we liked and even what allergies the kids have, and what we don't like to eat. That really touched me.

I would say they exceeded our expectations in every way.