Navigator of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

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. 

We had a great time on our recent RC cruise.  The staff was awesome as well as the food!  We enjoyed the shows and the variety of entertainment options.  Looking forward to a Spring 2015 cruise with additional family members!

Even though our ship couldn't leave on time and we missed 2 of our ports, royal caribbean did a very good job. Not only did they give us a full refund, they gave us an extra discount on our next cruise, we still got to go to Mexico for free. I think the ship and cruise line did a great job on making sure we still had a good time and made up for what we lost. I will definently be going on another cruise.

We were part of the oil spill mess in Galveston.  The ship was delayed and were did not get on the ship until almost 1am Monday.  The lines and waits to check-in and board were long and slow.  RCCL kept saying updates would follow at certain times and never were at that time.  HOWEVER...

Once on board it was a good time, even after the cruise was cancelled.

Monday night it was announced that the port was closed and the cruise had been cancelled and we would receive a full refund plus a voucher for 25% of the cruise cost toward another cruise. 

PLUS we could stay on the ship until Sunday,  As on person put it we had a free week at a 5 star hotel.

Tuesday it was announced that the port was open and we would sail the next day for Cozumel.  So we did get a free one port cruise and our money back.

RCCL was great during the whole process that was more or less out of their hands.  My only complaint was they never gave updates when the said they would.  Even if they had nothing new to announce (which most of the time they didn't) they should have made announcements when =promised.

Not being able to sail because of the oil spill, I cannot comment on this particular cruise.  We have cruised on other RC cruises and loved them so are looking forward to trying another cruise with RC in the future. We have always had good service, food and experiences with RC 

This started out as the "Cruise from Hell" thanks to a ship colliding with a barge in the Houston ship channel the day before we were supposed to board and depart. The port was shut down, so our ship did not get into port until late Sunday, which meant we were not allowed to board until after 9:00pm. Our time to arrive at port was 10:20, per Royal. We got there at about 10:15pm. Four hours later we were finally in our cabin after standing in the cold rain for several hours while the custom agents took 10 minute breaks every 15 minutes. The baggage handlers had either gone home for the day, or were napping somewhere, as most people had to carry all their baggage through the check-in line, which only added to the delays. We did not actually leave Galveston until Wednesday and had two of our three ports cancelled. This was very disappointing and to be fair, it was not Royal's fault. They did offer all guests a 100% refund (which we still haven't received) and allowed us to stay and enjoy what was left of the cruise. So this is a pretty generous offer by Royal (if they ever issue the credit). The ship itself was in pretty good condition. Considering it was just 'refurbished' this winter though, there were some things they over looked. Some of the chairs in one of the bars had very noticeable tears in the upholstery, and carpets on the deck our cabin was on were very worn looking. The cabin itself was in very good condition and had more than ample storage space. We did not get to meet our cabin attendant until Thursday, which is very strange, we normally meet them upon boarding. When we did finally meet here, she was very nice and easy to talk to. There was also no 'Welcome Aboard' presentation, just a lot of looks from some of the crew that showed they were less than happy to have us on board that late at night.

Most of the crew were very nice and friendly, one notable exception. One morning in the dining room, we asked for salsa, and the waiter snapped “You will have to wait!”. There are many much more polite ways of saying “Please wait a minute”. Bar service in the dining rooms was generally very slow. Also, some of the bartenders seemed to be annoyed when you asked them for a drink, kind of odd since that is their job.

Some of the things we didn’t like about this ship:

You cannot get food in any of the bars, not even popcorn.

None of the bars had outdoor seating on the deck, other than the pool bars. By contrast, the Carnival Magic has a lovely pub with food service and indoor or outdoor seating. We were also on a NCL ship a few years ago where you could order (at extra cost) king crab legs at one of the bars.

The ship has a nice adults only area, unfortunately, they do not keep children out. They even serve them sodas from the bar and did a poor job of keeping them out of the pool and spas and off of the chairs. There are not a lot of chairs in full sun, and as it was rather cool while in Galveston, they were always full, and on at least one occasion there were children in them while an older gentleman (probably in his 80’s) had to lean against a wall because of the children occupying the chairs. Which is totally unnecessary as there was a lot of family seating to the rear of the ship around the main pool. This is the first cruise we have been on where kids just ran wild on the ship, playing tag in the elevators, tying them up, so that guests with disabilities that could not use the stairs had to wait a long time to be able to get in the elevator.

The food was of good quality, just not much variety. On other cruises, there were always new choices every day on the dinner menu, not so much on this cruise. The Buffett was not as good as what we have seen on other ships either.

Overall I would grade:

B for the ship

C for the crew (a few rude crew members make you forget the friendly ones pretty quickly)

B for the food

C for the entertainment, some good shows, some not so good, but not a ‘comedy club’ with nightly shows like other lines offer.

F  for boarding process (there is no reason it should take 4 hours to go through the registration process)

A  for exiting the ship both for the excursion and leaving the ship at the end of the cruise

The cruise on the Navigator of the seas on March 23, 2014 was not as we plan. Due to an oil spill at port, ship was detained for 3 days. RC was very informative since the beginning and understanding. They  offer ed great compensation including staying at port  for the whole term 7 days. To our surprise and enjoyment we were able to sail after 3 days and able to visit only 1 port. The service was outstanding and the ship is absolutely georgeous. Food was great. With the reimbursement to come , me and my family plan to book another cruise as we will have a year to use it. Definitely Royal Caribbean is one of my favorites cruise lines and Cruises Only agency is a top start company.

This was out first cruise and despite a rocky start we had a great time, we were treated great and had a wonderful time.  I would recommend a cruise with Royal Caribbean to anyone.

In light of the oil spill, we were impressed with how the entire crew continued to carry on their duties and to serve us with outstanding attitudes.  Our itinerary was altered due to the oil spill, which Royal Carribean had no control over; yet, they refunded our fees and allowed us to continue onboard being pampered and well fed.   

Loved the cruise.  Will always sail with Royal Caribbean.  Did not like the bus tour in Jaimaca.  The bus tour in Jaimaca took us to a couple of sleazy strip malls and to a beach for a 30 minute stop that turned into an hour and a half because the few who ordered lunch were not served timely.  We were expecting more of a historical tour of the island.

This cruise was our third times I guess we are so called Gold Member.

What is gold member benefit ?  Last trip they game us gold member coupons.

we didn't get any advatage being gold member.

We always have had a good time on Royal Caribbean, but this cruise had a few problems.  Upon our arrival, we wanted to celebrate with a cocktail and had a hard time finding a bar open.  After finding one, we had to wait in a long line to get to one of two bartenders working hard to please many customers.  You would think that RC would be ready to help all the fresh passengers get in the vacation spirit.  They also were out of beer for my husband by the time we made it up to the front.  It seemed like lack of bartenders and crowded bars were a theme throughout the cruise.  We are not big drinkers, fortunately, but found that very unaccommodating.  The ports were fabulous, and we really enjoyed our excursions, which were not RC, and that leads to another problem.  RC makes it seem like all other excursions are not allowed to leave the ship until RC excursions have gone--via announcements and literature.  We almost missed ours, until we made our way down and complained.  The crew member graciously let us on and acted like we could have gone at anytime.  Mixed messages were definitely sent.  Our dinner service was slow, and we missed at least one show due to this.  It was not our waiter's fault.  He was also assigned to a large, convention type party that would come in extremely late and get him way off schedule.  He should not have been put in charge of our table, knowing his station was linked to this party full of singles, coming and going as they please. Food is good and plentiful with RC, but we did run out of butter before the cruise is over.  Disembarkation was crazy due to heavy fog, which is understandable, but one would think the crew would be well-versed in disembarkation procedures in light of delays.  It almost seemed like everything was brand new to so many of the crew.  This has not been our usual experience with RC.  In spite of all the annoyances, we still enjoyed the cruise and will go again.  

Ship was in good condition. Statesman kept the room nice. One of the waiters in the dinning room was good. All other staff were rude. Bar staff, customer service , and dinning service was rude........ Didn't seem like they even enjoyed working for Royal Caribbean. Had a 16 year old with us and there was absolutely nothing for him to do.  Not a cruise for the young. Everyone is in bed by eleven. 

First Cruise and had a GREAT time.  Service and food was very good.  Would choose Royal Caribbean again.  The staff  were more than helpful.  The only negative was Jamaica.  Would recommend that cruisers book an excursion of Jamaica through Royal Caribbean. Our friends did the zip line and had a great time.  The rest of the cruise was great.