Navigator of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The service and staff were wonderful. Shows were Ok, but not geared for people under 40. Loved The guest event. The ice show is fantastic. The food in the dining was Ok. I never want to do my time again. THE WAIT WAS TOO LONG. The food in the Windjammer was very good, and the staff that works in there are, so friendly and helpful. I really enjoyed the stores that were in a mall style. If you are going to drink at least 6 mix drinks a day, get the all inclusive beverage package. Well worth the cost. I do not like that you cannot bring bottle water or sodas on the ship. I also wish the ship had a laundry room to do your clothes. Over all I did enjoy the cruise.

Beautiful ship, wonderful staff!! We have sailed on Carnival 5 times and were hesitant to try another cruise line.  In comparing RC to Carnival there are big differences.  RC was a much more relaxing cruise, all areas of the ship were kept clean all of the time. With RC we loved the fact that the adult pool area was kept an adult area, Carnival seemed to always look the other way when teenagers came and got in the adult hot tubs or pools. The décor was beautiful and the layout of the ship made it so easy to get around.  We loved the "boardwalk" area of the ship, having all the little cafes and shops all in the same area made it a much more enjoyable shopping experience, you could shop a little, sit down and have a cup of coffee, something to eat, a glass of wine or a sit in a pub and have a beer. The staff was incredible, friendly and helpful. We found the atmosphere to be amazing, the entertainment was over the top, especially the Ice Skating show! Our only complaint was the food.  The buffets were practically the same every night and the deserts were nothing spectacular. The food in the main restaurant wasn't worth getting dressed up for. We were very disappointed that they didn't have any ice carvings or special buffet night where they set out ice carvings and decorated vegetable and fruit carvings like Carnival will do at least once during your cruise.  But if we had to choose our favorite cruise line it would be Royal Caribbean due to the ambiance, and the overall relaxation that this cruise gave us.

For the first time, I was not ready to come back home from the cruise. We enjoyed it very much and kids had a blast! Totally recommend it, the staff was amazing. Loved the fact that staff takes time to speak with guests, play with children and always very helpful and friendly. Food was delicious but does need more Mexican food, maybe enchiladas, tostadas and so on. Rooms were very comfortable, and clean. Entertainment couldn't be better. My kids loved the dancing, and ice skating shows, we had to watch them twice. My 3 year old wouldn't even blink. We will definitely do it again! 

Our experience overall was very good.  Our room was clean and if there was a problem (we had issues with our shower) our stateroom attendant took care of it immediately. The specialty restaurants were amazing, food was over the top as well as the service.

Our excursion to Belize, the beach day, was awful.  The beach was dirty and there was no sand at all to sit on.  We refer to this as "Gilligan's Island", big disappointment.

Not enough shows and the timing was bad.

Getting off the ship was caotic.  It took forever and our bus shuttle to the airport was also SLOW and disorderly, so uch so that we missed our flight back to Newark.  We were not happy.

But overall, the ship was beautiful and I would definitely sail this line again and I have already recommended the ship to my family members.

If you want to travel to Central America but are nervous about finding a safe place to stay with your family, cruising is for you! My 18 year old sister and I took the Navigator to Roatan, Belize and Cozumel for her graduation trip. This was my first cruise and I loved it! Stay to the tourist areas off ship and you will be fine. I recommend booking your excursions outside of the cruise line through or independent companies because it is less expensive and there are less people so you get to experience more. Check reviews and you will get a pretty good idea of what you're getting into.

On the ship, go to all the shows in the evening and eat in the dining room as much as possible!

Overall, a fantastic trip! I got home and was ready to book my next one! 

This was a very good cruise with plenty of activities. The sail was very smooth and we had no ruff waters, The excursions was fun and well worth the money. On board all of the crew were very friendly and did their best to accommodate in anyway possible. We simply loved it and will do again !  

We have been on many cruises and this one ranked right up there with one of the best. The ship was beautiful and kept very clean. The crew was very helpful and informative. I have read a lot of reviews about the Port in Galveston, we had no problems at all. We'll go again .

My husband and I loved the experience our cruise experience. The hospitality was great including the Inacio Mascarenhas, our stateroom attended who made sure our room was done every day. He went out of his way to make our stay comfortable and relaxing.

Our dinning room servers, Agnelo and Sachin were such a delight. They made sure we loved our food and any special request were met. They are hard workers and pleasant individuals.

On a negative note we did not appreciate all the money grubbing, from the mini-bar to the drink and any other little extras we thought should be included in the price.

My brother-in-law set up with the cruise to have a gift delivered on my husband's birthday and that never arrived. Yet he got charged for it.

Over all the experience was great! 

The boat was nice, the meals were good, and the excursions at our ports were terrific... However, this was all overshadowed by the overarching theme that the large majority of the Royal Caribbean employees on this ship were rude, didn't smile, didn't apologize when they needed to... And quite frankly didn't do anything to make us feel special or valued.  We had numerous bad experiences with bartenders, casino workers, and check-in people. Our 3+ hours in the heat waiting to board the ship on Day 1 (followed by no opportunities to buy drink packages once on the boat) really set the stage.   I got much better service on Norwegian and Carnival. 

We have been on 5 cruises.  1 on Norwegian, 2 Carnival and 2 Royal Caribbean.  This was a great cruise.  We had a AFT cabin with a large balcony but the ship has some decorative iron work that obstructs your view.  This was disappointing to us but we still enjoyed the time on the balcony listening to the ocean.  The staff had a "do what it takes" attitude regarding customer service.  We were greeted by staff members whenever they passed us in the hall.  The food was good and the wait staff excellent. Muargan, our assistant waiter, was wonderful and kept our drink full and dinner timely. I would avoid the Windjammer and eat in the dining room if possible.  Food was "ok" in Windjammer but it's busy and congested.  The ship is kept very clean and the staff was constantly out cleaning the handrails etc. Our room steward Earl was professional yet very friendly and homey!  We loved the Solarium area.  This area is for adults,16 and older.  It is quieter with no blaring music videos and loud kids.  You have plenty of space in the main pool area for that.  The Solarium has a great pool, lots of lounge chairs and a bar.

We were a little disappointed in some amenities cuts, cute towel animals were not done every night, no mints on pillow, and the only food late at night was room service or a small area in the Promenade (pizza, cold sandwiches, sweets, coffee, water, tea).

We did not get a drink package and did just fine with tea, water, and flavored water.  If you want wine, drinks, etc. everyday, get a drink package.  RC does not push drinks on you like Carnival.  There are plenty of staff to serve you but they do not constantly bring a drink to you and try to sell you one.  

Shows at night were good, Ice show was wonderful.  Most shows were family oriented and when it was not plenty of warning was given.  These shows are late at night.   Most karaoke was "family" so lots of kids trying to sing, great for mom and dad but for the rest of us uncomfortable.  The only adult karaoke was in a small bar and hard to hear.  We like going to karaoke on other ships, you heard some really good singer.  Not on this one.  But if you want fun for the family, this would be great on RC. 

We loved the ports we visited especially Grand Cayman.  Be award that you are tethered at Grand Cayman not docked, so you must wait for a ferry to take you ashore.  It takes some time and you get a number unless you are doing a ship sponsored excursion.  It goes fairly smoothly and I actually like the experience.  Grand Cayman is very quaint and has beautiful clear water.  There is an old coin shop on the main street that has a place with watercolor prints from local artists.  We have 2 of the prints to remind us of our stops on the island.  We got our first print on our honeymoon 25 years and got another one this year.  Amazing the shop still there and has same artist!

We will plan on taking another RC.  RC will be our cruise line of choice.

The  ship was very clean and the food was great.  The crew and room people were friendly and  helpful. The entertainment in the main shows and ice show was only fair.  Overall it was a good cruise.

We went on this cruise for our 10 year anniversary. The stateroom was amazing our attendant left us towel creatures each nite added a beautiful touch. From the Windjammer to the Main Dining hall the food was superb and the people were so accomodating. We had a little snafu the night of our anniversary with the children's program, but other than that we were Golden.

This was one of the best cruises we have taken. Only 3 ports of call and the rest sailing. Could really have some down time and not worry about what to do when docked.

This is my second cruise, both on Royal Caribbean. I would recommend them to everyone. Fantastic crew. Onboard shows and activities are fun and extremely well done. Food is good. 

My wife and I had a great time and will definitely be cruising with them again!

Loved the cruise. The ports were great. The on board entertainment had mass appeal. If I had it to do over, I would not purchase the beverage package. At times, I felt there were too many additional charges. Other than that, we love Royal Caribbean. They do a great job.

The ship was recently remodeled and looked beautiful.  Service was excellent, as always on Royal Caribbean.  Honduras, Belize and Cozumel were very good destinations.  We recommend the Crystal Cave tour in Belize and NASA before you fly back home!  Lots of fun.

The only downfall to the entire cruise was the photo experience.  The new digital program was not very well organized and it went down on the final day when many passengers were attempting to buy their pictures.  It was also very expensive for digital prints!

I would recommend this trip!

Compared to other cruises we've taken-this debacle was like trying to leave a third world country! The lack of boarding logistics defy imagination! Two cruise ships at the Galveston docks at the same time with passengers still leaving the ship at 1:30 PM. We were told to be in line with our bags checked with a porter by 1:00PM in order to board the Navigator. Traffic was insufferable. Wife had to park our car in a fairly close lot-($70 cash) and catch a shuttle back to stand in the 'first' line of passengers qued up in the heat outside of the main customs building! Then after shuffling along for some time, we were allowed to again stand in line to pass through customs/metal detectors.....NOT over yet---Then were herded into  much slower lines to actually obtain our boarding passes. At least the building was air conditioned and they had ice water available. Folks were getting a bit testy and short tempered by now. Remember-all of this 'hassle' even before getting on the ship for our vacation! On arrival day,we were told to be at our debarking area on the ship at 9:30 AM-it started all over again...They piled all of our bags in  a somewhat recognizable order in the customs building-then we were on our own to find a porter in order to stand in line again until whisked through customs who didn't even bother to scan our luggage or ask to look inside--what a waste of time- the cruise ship could've just as easily piled our luggage outside to load into our cars. Wife caught a Lot B shuttle to get our car thinking the shuttle would take her to Lot B--wrong again!..It stopped to let several people off in Lot A first...then it took her over ONE and ONE HALF hours to drive less than a mile from the parking lot back to the terminal pick up lane to get me and our luggage! To sum it up- we spent a total of over 5 HOURS just to get on and off  the ship! We will never bother to leave from Galveston again... other than that, the cruise was ok-food was better than average, drinks were overpriced as usual, cabin was hard to cool, some crew members were outstanding-others just going through the motions, most kids were orderly and civil,the ship was well appointed and sailed smoothly at all times.  On a whim, we booked late and were assigned an inside cabin which we paid way too much for. Had to shower in a verticle 'tube' and take turns to dress-was expecting a little more than we got. Our other cruises were with Celebrity and Norwegian so we had a yardstick to use for comparison. Only once have we sailed with the 'tramp steamer' line-Carnival-only once!  Overall- If this would be your first cruise and you are in good shape,don't mind the heat... GO FOR IT. because you can do much worse.....

I had a great time except i wish i hdnt booked my excursions thru cruise.com. The excursions were cheaper on the ship and you got more with it. and you were with a large grop and not on your own . Being in a strange country and hving to walk 5 blocks looking for a old man holding a sign saying glassbottom boat and being the onlyh personhe was looking for was scary. while the people from the ship paid 30 bucks and they road with everyone else from the ship and also got a tour of a village and lunch after wards seemed like a much better deal. the people from the ship ended up at the same desitination as we did , then thier ac bus waited for them while me and my sister had to wait for the old man to come back.I paid 44 a person thru cruise.com , that was for Honduras, now cozumel again they paid less and got the drinks package and unbrellas included for the beach at playamia. I paid 55 a person and they paid 55 a person. the food buffet lol if you like eating flies with your food and the drink they had with it was nasty.

Overall, I had a great time on this cruise.  Only time I didn't was my experience in the casino.  Dealers aren't as friendly as the rest of the crew.  Dining service was amazing but the windjammer can get packed and seats are hard to find so make sure you get there early.  Lounge chairs were being reserved by guests even though they don't allow.   Staff needs to monitor this more closely.  

I have cruised 4 times before traveling one Royal Caribbean or the Navigator of the Seas. I really enjoy cruising as a vacation. However, this trip left a very bad taste in my mouth. First, the positives. The ship it's quite beautiful very well appointed for younger traveller. The shows were very entertaining and the food was quite nice. It should have been a fantastic vacation but it was not. We traveled out of Galveston and followed all the recommendations for how to board the ship. We were on our feet for 2 hours and 55 minutes before we reached our state room. Most of that time was spent in an air conditioned areas with temperatures in the mid 90's. We traveled to Cozumel Mexico where they try to charge you $30 a person or more to swim on the beach. Every traveler I spoke with talked about how the locals did everything they could to rip you off. And that set the tone for the entire trip. Royal Caribbean tried to reach in my pocket at every turn for the entire trip. If you want an aged New York strip steak at chops restaurant it will cost you 35 dollars extra to make the reservation plus they will charge you another 12 or 18 for the meal. That approach to dealing with travelers was consistent throughout the trip and was immortalized by having the captain of the ship hawking DVDs on the last day of the cruise while explaining how to leave. My dining room waitress began asking for 10 star evaluations after day 4. And the begging continued every night until we got off of the ship. I witnessed a member of the staff mocking an elderly passenger who was concerned about something at the poolside. He rolled his eyes and made fun of the man behind his back and this gentleman was in charge of Guest Relations. One associate cruise director, in charge of a game show, was stern and no fun at all while hosting a game on board ship. During the game she took a phone call and spoke loudly while the rest of us sat in silence. At one point she said on her phone conversation "I've gotta let you go on old fart is trying to cheat." The man was simply trying to get a game card. On the night we arrived two porters were arguing over luggage. It was already 7 o'clock and I had checked my bag at noon. .They were fighting over who was being the most lazy. I peeked into the holding room to see if I could find my luggage and they suggested that I was to blame for all the luggage being late and ordered me to leave. I was standing in a public area. On one occurrence, I ordered a specialty drink from The bar. The bartender was unfamiliar with 1 of the drink specials they advertise. In attempt to figure out how to make my drink she spoke to another bartender who informed her I was saying the wrong drink. He then told me three more times I was ordering the wrong drink. He even opened up the drink specials book and pointed to the drink he was talking about. I took the book from his hands, flipped the book back 2 pages and showed him the drink that I wanted. He then suggested I had not been saying that drink special and that the confusion was entirely my fault. At the buffet, I witnessed three young men joking, giving each other hi fives, and grabbing their own groins while also handling the food. I also had not experienced shore shopping like this before. there was a person on board ship who provided maps and suggested places to shop. It was like QVC on steroids everyday all day. shopping ran on at least one perhaps two of the television channels 24 7 while on board the ship. we were told by Royal Caribbean that the prices were amazing. However, a quick internet search showed that Amazon full virtual a everything at a better price. I was put off by the fact the ship staff would tell us blatantly false information. I did by some jewellery while in Grand Cayman. The same jewelry was for sale on board the ship. The clerk in charge of the jewelry shop told me over and over that they had the best prices and after several minutes of painful negotiations I was told the price they were offering was too low to even make. the Royal Caribbean offer was simply three times as high as I paid for the same exact jewelry. They were trying to rip me off amber lane directly to my face. The entire experience was quite off putting. I guess I just expected a higher degree of professionalism with the staff. These are but a few of the problems I had dealing with the personnel on board the Navigator of the Seas. If you ignore this portion of my review and still decide to take this trip I would suggest you book your excursion trips through Royal Caribbean directly. Royal Caribbean places people who buy from them at the front of the line for departure. While this may not seem very important it can to take an hour or more just to get off a ship this size. Additionally, the excursion I purchased through in Jamaica left without me and then refused to provide me with any assistance to get to our location. The instructions I received never stated there was a specific time for departure just at the buses would begin running at a set time. When I arrived 45 minutes after the buses were to begin they were all gone. And the excursion company refused to help me. My only choice was to spend an additional $50 for a taxi cab drive and they were not sure they could bring me back. The moral of the story is don't book excursions with third party vendors. In summary, facilities great service terrible. And when you are paying for the service it ruins the vacation.