Navigator of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We felt pampered and enertained the whole way.  The enertainment was beond what we ever expected to experience at sea.  Each night was beyond many other shows I have seen.

We only have one suggestion because of a bad experience on one of our excursions.  either there needs to be a little better description of the ammount and pace of walking on the Tulum excursion or the people that guide the excursion needs to take into account the limitations of older perticipants.  there was 6 of us that are of an older generation, the pace of the walk to and from the bus and the pace and distance from the bus to the actual ruins caused us to not enjoy the actual ruins when we got there.  one of the ladies while trying to keep up to get back to the ferry had a fall on the pavement.  The guide was so far ahead of the last of the group he did not even know about it. she did have a sprain that was treated at the ship.

Other than that one bad experience which was not the crew of the ships fault we will book our next cruise with Royal Caribbean.

This was my first cruise, and I must say that it was one great trip! I can't wait until i can do it again!!! The food was awesome, and the shows were some of the best I have ever seen. The ship was clean and comfortable, and the seas were smooth all the way.

There were several small hiccups during the trip but overall we had a good time. The entertainment was great. Dining at the windjammer was a little sub par but dinner in the main dining room was excellent. The shore excursions were awesome.

Cruise was wonderful. However, I should have been told that I could book my excursions directly through Royal Caribbean instead of your 3rd party company. I have to spend 2+ hours on the phone while on the cruise dealing with issues with the 3rd party you recommended. The excursion I booked was set up that the ship would have left without us before we got back and the customer rep would not help us. Next time, I'll book through RC directly. Sheryl, our Cheap cruises rep, was very helpful, minus the excursion info. 

We travel with 2 other couples when we cruise....and always have a great time. The shows were awesome! We especially liked the violinist

and the dancing acrobats!! Can't forget the ice show, it was great!  If we had a complaint...:).... we ate too much and too often!!!!!  Just kidding....we loved every bite!!

We were upset when we weren't all together for our evening dining....first night 2 couples were on deck 3 and the other cople on deck 4!! But, that was straightened out the next evening!  Georgeo Ana (not real sure of his name) ...a greeter at noon at the Windjammer, was a joy....made everyones day brighter!!

Looking forward to crusing with Royal Carabbean again.

We have been on numerous RCI cruises and ships and this is the 1st time we have been disappointed.

Bad: -Very strong sewer odor in bathroom entire trip even though maintenance tried flushing the system. Time spent in bathroom has to be short and you didn't want to forget to keep the door shut at all times.

-Entertainment was very below par, RCI singers and dancers were very good but the material and shows not entertaining. Live music in clubs (Bubba Feathersomething was little more than a cheap Wednesday night beer joint band who invited cruisers up on stage to sing when he ran out of material. No wonder everyone was in bed by 10:00 pm every night.

-Cruise director needs a personality. He is not funny, doesn't connect with guests and talks so fast that it is hard understand a lot of what he is saying. His try at the Marrige Game, which is usually one of the best shows, was a complete flop. It was like it was his 1st time to ever hear of the show.

- Checkin and boarding were like it was the 1st time a RCI ship had left this port, pretty much mass confusion.

- They had a supposely 1 hour tee shirt sale ($10.00 each, big deal) that nearly caused a riot with people shoving and grabbing. As it turned out the sale lasted all the rest of the day. Very poor thinking and planning.

Good:- As usual food was very good, Chops Grille was excellent, both food and service, and all of the food service staff were excellent.

-All ship staff were friendly and helpful as usual.

- Good ports except for Belize (great for snorkeling and diving) otherwise not much worth seeing.

We truly had an amazing experience on the ship - entire staff were friendly and helpful, food was fabulous in it's presentation and taste, accommodations were clean and comfortable.  Unfortunately our journey ended in extremely sad news with the loss of my Mom.  The staff went far beyond in giving us assistance, arranging for calls to home and providing us comfort at a very difficult time.  We will never forget their kindness and their compassion.  We cannot say enough . . .

Will we cruise again with Royal Caribbean?  You bet !  We already have one booked with our family in January.

We found the ship very tired, had visible signs of aging all over. The shows were sub par for this cruse line and boring.

Now the good news the service was excellent and the food was fantastic.

I sailed with RC years ago and had the best experience. I looked forward to a repeat performance and was appalled by the substandard treatment we received. A friend fell in the dining room and the staff just stood and either watched or kept working-no help was offered. On a formal dress night in the dining room, my spinach was full of sand and sent back to the kitchen to be replaced by broccoli as the chef discovered that the spinach was defintely all sandy. Several times I requested items from different staff (easy requests) but the staff appeared to be put out by my requests (i.e. my husband and I wanted to eat alone for breakfast and were brusquely informed to sit in the chair until we could be accommodated. We waited 5-10 minutes and then were seated at a dirty table with stains and hair on the tablecloth.). At breakfast one morning in the dining room, we were not treated to coffee refills or the bakery tray in 45 minutes. Finally, we found our server and made these requests. People seated after us at another table, received their food and finished their food before ours came. These were just a few of our experiences. Many of the staff were great but it seems that a lot of them could use a course in how to treat passengers and make their experience a positive one.

This was FANTASTIC! The ship was very clean. The staff went out of their way to accomadate us. We would love to take this cruise again and highly recommend it to everyone!

The state rooms were nice and clean. The service and food in the dining hall was great. Our cabin stewart was great but... If you are a smoker don't sail with Royal Carribean. There is only a small area by the pool to smoke and it is always packed like a sardine can. One bar (besides the casino) and you can never get a seat it is over crowded while other non skmoking bars were half full. Also, there is a service charge on everything, drinks from the bars, drinks and wine from the dining room even on bottled water in the in room refrigerator ($4.25 for a liter and 1.00 service charge). In addition, if you are a non Europeon traveler they take your passport for the duration of the trip. Over all I have had much better experiences on Carnival an every other line I have sailed on.

GOOD LAYOUT, GOOD DECOR, GREAT RESTAURANTS/FOOD, GREAT STAFF, NICE SHOWS, ENOUGH ACTIVITIES TO KEEP ONE BUSY. NICE STATEROOMS, COULD USE A LITTLE UPDATING. LIKED IT, OVERALL.

WOULD BOOK IT AGAIN.

A great cruise. Lets get the one negative out of the way - everything is expensive, like every other cruise on the planet, as in a $9 for a house wine at dinner. But the great things way outweigh it. Beautiful ship, impeccable maintenance, large rooms, fabulous staff, inspired excursions, wonderful itinerary, great food, and cool night life and shows. I would certainly sail RC again.

Dit was onze 4e cruise, eerder hebben we in het caribisch gebied gecruised. Dit keer wilden we iets anders. Het schip was zeer zeker erg mooi. Maar de service en het eten waren zeker veel minder. Je had het idee in een all-inclusieve hotel te zijn. Behalve dan dat het niet was. Drankjes waren zeer zeker erg duur. De service in de kamer waren ook gewoon minder dan andere keren. En het eten is zeer zeker op bezuinigd. Het was meestal gewoon niet lekker. Veel vet aan het vlees, en je moest opschieten van de serveerster anders werdt ze boos. Ook het personeel van de guest-balie, wilden niet echt meewerken aan een probleem die zei hadden gemaakt. Er werdt mij verzocht om als ik thuis was maar contact op te nemen met het boekingskantoor. Verder is het rookbeleid veranderd, erg jammer. Want je boekt een balkon-kamer op op je balkon te kunnen roken. Nu waren er heel veel mensen boven-onder-en naast ons die toch gingen roken en hun peuk in het water gooiden. Dit is volgens mij niet de bedoeling. Dus hef in ieder geval het rookverbod weer op. Ook bij het zwembad. Op eerdere schepen mocht je aan de ene kant niet, en aan de andere kant wel roken, geen probleem lijkt me, want we zitten ook nog eens allemaal in de buitenlucht. Als deze richtlijnen, dus minder service, minder eten, dure drankjes en het rookbeleid niet worden veranderd, zullen zeker minder cruises worden gemaakt. Ik heb natuurlijk met meerdere vakantiemensen gepraat. En ze vonden dit inderdaad allemaal het zelfde.

everything is great. The remarkable interior of the vessel. Easy clean cabin. Very tasty and varied food. Wonderful show especially the ice show. The friendly and attentive staff at all levels. Interesting excursions well organized.

The ship was great. Very clean, attentive cabin stewards and overall good service. You cannot beat the food. I was traveling with a child, so we didn't dine in the formal dining room because we were just too tired after a day in the heat and wanted a more relaxing come as you are atmosphere. The variety and freshness at the Windjammer Cafe was tremendous! My daughter really enjoyed the kids' camp on board and the hours and activities were great. The ports of call were all stunning, the excursions were great, and the tour guides were some of the most knowledgeable I have ever had. The tour guides really knew their stuff. I would suggest that they add more alcohol to the mixed frozen drinks. After the initial two sips, I was left drinking mix. I tested it out at various bars along the ship different nights to confirm. I don't mind paying $12 for a mixed drink, but not for mix; make sure to let the bartender know when ordering a drink. The excursions to Ephesus that include visiting the Turkish carpet companies - while the introduction to how they weave the silk from the silk-worm cocoon and watching the weaving process is really interesting, beware of the sales effort afterwards. I repeatedly said no, I was not buying a carpet. While I appreciate the customary practice to negotiate everything, I said clear no after no. When the gentlemen finally realized he was not going to make a sale with me, I was told to leave "his rugs in peace" and escorted out. I was also told that I would regret my decision for the rest of my life and how could I deprive my children of such a legacy. Really? Completely unnecessary. However, if you are in the market for a Turkish silk or wool carpet, then you should have no problem and the carpets are stunning. The pool side live music during the day needs to be revamped. Too many "elevator" type songs.

We like all traditional activities on board except we were isolated from the world due to without affordable internet service. all our e-machine kept off, including my wife and kids. I paid more than $4X for only about 30 minutes internet service, which is not even enough for my email checking. and there is no any printer can be used for our laptops. Today, we can not survive well without internet. SO IF YOU WANT TO KEEP YOUNG PP, YOU NEED TO OFFER FREE OR LOW FEE INTERNET FOR 7 DAYS.

Overall a great cruise and experience! (My rating and my two sons rating for this trip was 5 stars, but my wife gave it 3 stars, so this rating reflects the family average - if the system allowed half star ratings, ours would have been 4.5 stars) This was our families first cruise - with our two boys ages 19 and 15, both very athletic and in super shape. We are working professionals located in Silicon Valley, CA, with our oldest son in college and younger son a Junior in HS. We opted for two suites next door to each other on the deck 10, giving my wife and I some privacy, and my boys some independence in there own room. Our floor attendant opened the divider on the outside deck to allow quick and easy movement between the rooms - having connecting rooms would have been perfect, as we often do at hotels, but the cruise ship did not offer connecting rooms of the category we booked. However walking outside with the beautiful Mediterranean below, was a nice way to get between the rooms. Overall we were impressed with the suites - separate bedroom and living room area, and a small dining room. The big flat screen TV was connected to a DVD player, which allowed us to catch up on some shows and movies we missed during the busy work year. Our family meals each evening were always enjoyable. We dined in the humongous dining room 3 times, upgraded 2 nights to the speciality venus: Steak House, and Italian, and 2 nights in the cafeteria style dining hall. Considering the number of people on the ship, the food quality was quite good, and the offerings each night were diverse enough to suit all pallets. We also used the health club and spa most days, enjoying spa services on 3 of the nights. The spa experience equaled many we have enjoyed during our hotel based vacations. Not 5 star, but certainly 4 star. Hanging out at the pools turned out to be the number one attraction for by guys and I - I read many books on the to do list, and my guys started their summer reading, and girl watched. A lot of cool activities at the pool with a full range of experience to entertain (nice to take a break from reading to enjoy the sights and fun atmosphere). The single key feature of the cruise that really appealed to our family was waking up each morning in a new port (2 of the days/nights were spent making long crossings without a port of call). We loved not having to pack up our possessions and moving to different cities - past vacations. Being able to stay in one room, not pack up every few days, and have the "cities brought to us" is what sold us on taking future cruises. RC and their partners offer great variety for booking excursions at each port of call. We opted for afternoon excursions allowing the teens to sleep in: we would have lunch, exit the ship just after an early lunch, enjoy the sites, and then back on the ship by 4:00 or 5:00. Great way to see the very basics of Athens, Ephesus, etc, and get in some sunning/ exercising/ relaxing in the late afternoon, before dinner (we generally ate dinner around 9:00 each evening). Navigator of the Sea is a big ship with more than 3,000 people, so before booking a cruise be sure to consider the pros and cons of a bigger ship and all that it offers versus smaller ships. We investigated many smaller CruiseLines like Seabourn, Crystal and Silverseas, but opted for a bigger ship that would offer more for the teens. Our pre-cruise research led us to Royal Caribbean as a good balance of size/features and luxury. My wife was less happy overall with the size of the Navigator and the number of people, and the family agreed that as we did not take full advantage of the teen related activities (rock climbing, teen club, etc) that our next cruise would likely be on a smaller, more luxurious ship. BUT, Nav of the Sea was pretty high-end all things considered. My wife wants to try the next level up in luxury on a smaller ship, so we will likely cruise next summer on a smaller super lux ship, visiting the part of the Mediterranean we missed this past trip (Eastern Med included Rome, Palermo, Athens, Ephesus, and Crete) - next summer will do Western Med which includes Spain, France, etc. Perhaps we won't like the value - as the smaller super lux cruise ships are at least 50-100% more expensive for the larger suite category we desire. And as the Royal Carib experience was very good, we may end up back with RC, all things considered. But won't know until we try it. Thank you RC and Nav of the Sea for such a wonderful experience. Since this was our first cruise experience, we may not have wanted to ever cruise again had things not gone so well. But RC did a fabulous job in all the categories we cared about (for instance the ship had a full casino, but we don't gamble so that did not appeal to us - but its there if you are in to that type of entertainment). In a final, BTW - if you are from the US, and have a child who is not legal in the US (not yet age 21), but who will be legal on the cruise ship (age 18), DEFINITELY work out rules in advance, with respect to alcohol consumption. Our son is not legal in the US, but at age 19 had full access to booze on the ship, and we did need to make a family decision about when and how much, to help him find the right moderation point.

We have taken one cruise with Princess before, which was a brand new ship Diamond Princess, and our expectations for this older ship were low. But the service, food and entertainment were awesome. The only issue was that the drinks were too expensive, and there was no laundromat. But we drank wine on shore excursions and washed a few clothes in the room. Being vegetarians we thought food would be an issue but we found plenty of options. The shore excursions wih the Shire Excursion Group were great, a tad expensive but really convenient and well done. A little more time in Crete would have Ben nice, but all in all, it was awesome. We took two adjacent rooms, one for us and one for the kids, right in front of the ship with views te captain saw. Rooms were big and more spacious than in Princess. Would use royal Caribbean again.

I gave this cruise a four star rating! We sailed 7/21 thru 7/28/13. Ship was nice but since our last cruise was on the Allure of the Seas, it reminded me of a much scaled down version. The food was great! Chops Grill was the best! The crew was nice and pleasant! The Spa really needed a renovation! We are Spa babies and missed the more expanded facilities! Our favorite destinations were Messina. We took the tour that went to Taromina, the vineyard and the jewelry factory!! We loved this location. Athens was a big disappointment! Lots of graffiti on the buildings! We took the taste of Athens excursion. The jewelry shopping was great! Turkey was the best Ephesus was fantastic! Seeing all the biblical ruins and hearing the stories put everything in perspective. We did not get off in Crete as we were worn out from spending the previous week in Rome. Would recommend this trip!