Navigator of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

From the minute we boarded the ship the entire staff was so helpful and accomodating! We were traveling with an 88 year old parent and the staff went out of their way to make sure she enjoyed herself. Although this ship is not one of the newer ones everything looked really nice because of the recent remodel during drydock. The balcony staterooms seem to be much larger than some of the other ships which was a pleasant surprise.

The ship was very clean and the service from the staff was great.  There were lots of activities and the gym and spa were fantastic.   However, the food was bad, which was very disappointing.

The ports on this cruise were disappointing as well/   The port activites were expensive, expecially for what you got.  In Honduras, we went to the recommended beach (which had armed guards, because crime is so prevelant), and the waiters tried to rip us off and double charge us for drinks.  The waiters also charged us for beach chairs in the sun (even though we already paid for the beach package and there were plenty of open chairs).   In Belize, there is no beach option - you either have to do an active jungle tour or hang out in lame shopping area in port.   The recommended beach in Cozumel was fine and the service was very good.   I would not do these ports again - lots of poverty and the port locations were not great. 

WE always enjoy cruising on Royal Caribbean and the Navigator or the Seas is a wonderful ship.It was a pleasure to meet so many nice people who were traveling and also the couples at our dinner table. We found out we are from right around the Dallas area.   The excursions and ports were fun and interesting. The Trolley ride in Grand Cayman gave us lots of history about the island.  We had not really liked Jamaica before but Royal Caribbean built the new port at Falmouth. This was our first time to see it and it was just great. We felt very safe and it even had a DQ where we enjoyed a Blizzard!  Our Red Stripe Beach excursion was wonderful.  The water was beautiful and warm, the sand was smooth and even had shade trees to lie under. We had the most wonderful massage right on the beach.  I highly recommend this fun day...but use lots of sun screen.  I got a little burn because I didn't think I was going to be out very long....doesn't take long to get too much sun.  We really enjoyed this day and would do it again when we return to Jamaica.  Can't wait to start planning our next cruise.  Maybe back to Alaska.  If anyone plans to cruise very much, consider joining the Crown and Anchor group on Royal Caribbean.  You are treated like royalty because they really appreciate return customers.  Of course all cruisers are treated great, but you even get a few more perks the more often you return to RC.  The curfew for kids makes the nights much more restful than on other ships we have sailed.  For us Texans, Galveston is a wonderful port to drive to and  not have to worry about all the rules on planes these days. 

The dining room food was extra good. The desserts could could use some improvement. My bed which was located on the 12th floor was like sleeping on a hardwood floor, but I had an egg carton sponge top put on it the next day which made it comfortable. The entertainment was very good. Loved the London show & the Bubba Feathers Band. The Live music, when they had it; was ok. Too much Bingo! I don't think Bingo should be played in the cocktail areas & at the pool! They should have Bingo in a room like Carnival does. The Buffet was good except on my past 7 luding Carnival & Royal Caribbean, the omelets were big & delicious. On this ship they were small & very few ingredients & very few to choose from. I was very disappointed. Our room attendant wasn't as friendly & accommodating as I was used to.

Overall the cruise was great especially the ice show. However there was some items that could have been improved. The amenities have steadly declined from past cruises. There should not be an additional charge for certain menu items on the dininig room menu. Smoking should only be permitted in designated areas on the outside deck, especially not in the casino which you had to always pass thru to get forward or aft. Parking instructions could have been better. Previous requests for special celebrations, such as birthdays or anniversaries were more impressive with a cake to be shared with the table instead of a small pice of cake with a candle. Also price reductions for guests that booked one week before sailing should be offered to guests that booked well in advance or at least a cabin upgrade if requested. We booked a total of 5 rooms however the 2 rooms booked 14 days prior to

sailing were more than $250. cheaper

For our first cruise exeperience, IT WAS AMAZING! We can't wait to go again :) Everyone was polite and kind. Our favorite time of the day was dinner where we were greeted by our waiters Raymond and Junmar! Both were always soooo happy with their big warm smiles and Junmars cute giggle. We didn't want to come home to reality, that's for sure!! Royal Caribbean provided us with the best vacation experience to remember and we will definitely cruise with Royal again! 

Great ship.  Loved the port visits,  All the staff onboard were great, especially Rolitsa and Mariana in the main dining room, and Damian our stateroom attendant.  Two issues I would like to see changed:

1.  Need more bartenders.  I never saw more than one bartender in an area at a time.  This made for some very long lines, especially around the pools when one person was trying to serve several hundred people. 

2.  The evening entertainment was lacking.  We missed the show in the theater on the first night.  Instead we went to the mystery diner at Giovanni's Table.  Food was great and we had fun.  We went the second night to see a so-so musical production, then later for a comedy show.  The comedian was good and had my wife laughing hysterically.  There was nothing else until the last night.  We saw a comedian/juggler who was actually very funny (probably the best act on the ship) and a closing musical number.  Later that night we saw another comedian who was not funny at all.

Once again, the ship and staff are great.  We would certainly sail on Navigator again.

Now the real negative...  The port of Galveston was a real mess.  Getting on the ship was disorganized and slow  - frustrating but acceptable.  Getting off was a nightmare.  The first groups got off at 7:30,  We were scheduled for 9:30.  Well, 9:30 came and we went but we didn't.  They changed our time to 10:00 then 10:15.  Then they announced that Immigration hadn't arrived yet.  So everyone that had got off before us was still standing in line on the dock.  We finally disembarked and got in line about 11:15.  We got through Immigration and Customs about 1:10 and were picked up by our shuttle at about 1:30.

Do not expect the same speed and professionalism that you get in Fort Lauderdale.  Yes, of couse we would sail on Navigator again or any other RCI ship.  And Galveston is much more convenient to Oklahoma than Florida.  But Port of Galveston really needs to get their stuff together if they want to be a player in the cruise industry.

Beautiful Ship and easy to navigate your way around it. Some Ships take several days to most of the Cruise to get around. Not this Ship. It has some Great Features like the Ice Rink, The Flow Rider & the Rock Climbing Wall. The Staff was very Friendly and concerned about your Happiness & Satisfaction. The Ice Show was fantastic! We have mainly Cruised with Carnival and have not been on a Royal Carribbean Ship in almost 10 years. But after this Wonderful Experience, were Switching over to Royal Carribbean.

Navigator of the Seas is a beautiful ship. We had a great relaxing vacation.  Food was exceptional.  My family like the snails and they served them every night.  Staff was friendly.  It was all very comfortable.  Shipped looked new,

we had good cruise until we went to transfer to airport.bus company would not take us back to airport in time to catch plane.they said they had to have full bus.about 10 of took cab.i called to advise cruise only

about problem and was told jennifer from royal carrabean would get back to us.never heard from her.don't  know if i will cruise with them again

The only thing I can say negative about this cruise was the process for getting a tender ticket for Belize port of call. We were told the tickets would be handed out at 8am in front of 2 Poets Pub. I was waiting for my tickets at 6:30am (along with many others) as I had an excursion that was not a RC excursion and needed to be on the first tender to get to my meeting place on time. There were no RC reps until exactly at 8am and by then a mob of people were waiting to get tickets. They set up their table at the entrance of the pub which did not allow for any type of exit from the line. It was extremely unorganized and passengers were arguing over who was there first, second, etc.... This made a difference because only so many people can fit on a tender and each person was allowed to get as many as they wanted. The first person got 50 tickets, then20, then 14, I only needed 2. Once we had our tickets we were instructed to go straight down to the tender at which point NO ONE collected our tickets we had just waited 2 hours for. Very misleading and unorganized. Other than that, it was a great cruise.

The layout of this class of ship lends itself to accomodating whatever mood you are in. Always activities going on, but also many nooks if you'd rater relax and read.  Love the large space of the promanade and all staff are friendly and helpful

We had a wonderful time ziplining-eco suspension bridge walking-beach visiting in Rotan, visiting the beach of Belize, and a private jeep tour in Cozumel to the most beautiful beach!

This was the third time we had cruised on this ship.  The first was in 2003 when the ship was only a couple years old.  Last year we took a 16 day Transatlantic, and enjoyed both immensely.  This time, we took advantage of last minute pricing.  The ship was just refurbished in December of last year, and looks great with all the new carpet and other fresh touches.  The new Sabor restaurant is outstanding.  On this trip, there seemed to be many crew members in training, and although the service we received was great, there seemed to be something "off" with them.  There seemed to be morale problems...you noticed it when they weren't engaged with a guest.  Not many smiles.  Also, they need to update the mattresses and the pillows...both are too hard for my taste.  I am a big fan of RCCL, and cruise with them pretty much exclusively.  Although this cruise was not the best one I have taken with them, it was still significantly better than those I have taken with other cruise lines.  And I would still recommend them highly.

With each cruise that we take on Royal Caribbean, we feel less and less pampered, and after all why do you take a cruise?  The amenities have steadily declined.  These are little things but part of the total package that makes you feel valued.  On this cruise there were never any ice sculptures, nor were there any fruit and vegetable carvings, which are always fun to look at and lets you know that the food staff values presentation as well as the taste of the food.  Our cruise 2 years ago on several occasions had fruit and vegetable carvings on display.  (I can understand why no ice carvings as in previous years.)

Another example was the rarity of the towel creatures, which are always fun to find when you come back to the room at night.  Of the 7 nights, we had only 3 creatures, unlike just 2 years ago when there was a surprise every evening!

One other thing that I noticed--I like to have a crafty class. In previous sailings, the first kit was free and then you paid for the second.  Not this time.  Nor were supplies provided to actually make-in this case- cards.  No plain scissors, no appropriate glue or double sided tape.  I left after about 3 minutes and brought my kit home to finish--not exactly an activity to do aboar the ship on an at sea day!

Because I like crafty things, I was dissapointed that on the last dayof sailing, two such demonstrations were scheduled at the same time--towel folding demo and a fruit & vegetable carving demo.  I couldn't be in two places at once.

The entertainment in the main theatre has declined as well.  As we talked around our table in the evening (we had My Time Dining so met quite a few people) many of our table mates thought the same way.  We actually walked out of 3 of the 7 performances.  I will say that the acts in the various lounges were as good or even better than the theatre acts.  The best performers for the ship's production teams were the ice skaters.  We enjoyed the ice show. 

Fun cruise great food. Entertainment shows weak. Movie nights nice but no service. dinig staff ok but windjammer staff excellent. Great treatment from Nemanja ( Milo ) made dining there better than dining room. He was exceptional all the way around. Shore excurtions nice but travel time to locations long travel time to and from leave little time at excurtion. Beautiful boat and layout. Too bad not worth upgrading room to balcony cause husband smokes and cant on balcony so not worth it. smoking ares small and crowded, not like Carnival. but nice cruise and relaxing.

This cruise was our second with Royal Caribbean. It like the first one, was out of Galveston for 7 days. The staff on this ship was even better than the first cruise with RC. The ship was clean, there were plenty of activities for everyone to enjoy or watch regardless of age. Our reasons for the 3 star rating:

1. The food in the dining room was presented well but lacked flavor especially in the meat catagory.

2. Guests are treated to soft serve ice cream several places on the ship but if they want quality ice cream the need to purchase Ben & Jerry's in the mall. All of this is free on other ships.

3. Guests were even ask to pa yextra for some meals from the dining room. This is besides the expected extra charge when eating in a upscale restaurant on board.

4. RC is not good about really pushing washing hand or using hand sanitizer when entering dining room or leaving. Some guests need to be almost forced by having crew there dispensing sanitizer.

This was my wife's and I 5th cruise and was able to visit the ports of Rotan Honduras,  Belize City and Cozemel , Mexico.   Had a fantanstic time and weather was great.   The excursion we took in Rotan was at Natalie bay.   The staff there were very friendly, all could speak great English.  While my wife and the others stayed at swimming pool and relaxed.  My folks and I went snorkling.  I have been snorkling before but the clear water made it fantanstic.   I was able to see 30 feet down and had my go pro camera with me to take video of things I never have seen before.   Belize City was good,  In Cozumel we were able to see the Mayan ruins.   The staff on the ship had one thing on their adgenda,  to make sure all guests had a great time and they succeded.   I used the Fitness room everyday to try and keep the weight off from all the available food on the ship.   The renovated Navigator was a joy to sail in.   Time to book our next cruise.  

We always enjoy cruising on the Navigator...especially since it leaves Galveston. My comments:  the service, etc of Diamond Club was great..but space was way too small. No place to  sit withoutgoing outside.  We wanted country western dancing...found dance floors much too small.  With mostly seniors coming outof  Texas and midwest, you  should capitalize on good dancing with country western ....and space to dance.  Missed very much not having a movie room.  Donot care for outside movies..  We thoughtthe entertainment was way below par...maybe talented performers but choice of music, etc was not good.  If we recognize the songs, it is enjoyable; otherwise it is not.  Someone was way off on selection of what pieces to perform.  Band was great. ,,,liked that they stood and seemed to really enjoy being there.  Was good to be able to leave ship on our own on Sunday morning.  Departure was quick and uneventful ...so way very good.  We do NOT like being told to pay $25 per day gratuities per stateroom.  That is ridiculous.  Why don't you pay your employees or just add the gratuties to the price of the cruise as advertised?  When seniors are expecdted to dole out $200 for someone to make up bed or clear away dishes in Windjammer, seems kind of unreasonable.  If you would do something about gratuities, I'd waant to cruise once a quarter, but I spend a while getting over my feelings before I even want to think about going again.  Love Royal Carribean and love leaving Galveston....makes it more afffordable for us.  Always you have great staff.  Just pay them without having us do it.  Make the up front price include that.  Thanks.  Martha Brooks

My husband and I were both quite favorably impressed with Royal Caribbean Cruise lines and with their ship Navigator of the Seas.  Even though the stateroom was small it was quite comfortable for the two of us.  All the service on this voyage was efficient, friendly and very helpful.  The ship itself is gorgeous and well arranged.  There were plenty of activities and fun things to do during the entire cruise.  We especially enjoyed the hot tubs and there were several to choose from.  They were always so clean and a good temperature.  The formal dining room was elegant and the meals were all exceptional.  In fact all the food served on the cruise was very good and there was lots of variety.  We enjoyed our cruise and the ship from start to finish and would love to do it again someday.