20SomethingJeff

I was on the Valor last week. My five day became a four day. We were told we would go to Progresso and miss Cozumel. disappointed, but hey....I am still on a cruise! We were able to get everyone onboard by 2pm Sunday and were told by the Captain we were going to be able to make Cozumel! I hope for all yall leaving tomorrow now instead of today, you get to go to Cozumel too! Have a great cruise!

 

Vicki

Did you guys still board with the assigned boarding times? How did everyone get on so quickly?

Jeff

They told us the ship is arriving about 10:00 pm. We are boarding tomorrow. Our 5 day is now a 4 day. Wonder if we miss Progreso or Cozumel? Anybody know?

Any updates about Valor? I received word last night it was delayed but haven't heard how long or anything else.

Thanks

Jeff

Can you explain why you said this? Your review seemed overall very positive, except for your issue with the pool/kids. What were the "real low's" you mentioned, if you don't mind my asking. :-)

The kid issues were the definitely the lows and highs. They were so good in some places and so bad in others.

The evening entertainment in particular the song and dance shows were not good at all. The had an awesome and funny magician on and only offered a one time 7:00 show. it's like I said in my review. That part of the cruise just seemed off. I can't figure out why they scheduled it the way they did.

I think the biggest issue was my expectations. I guess I had watched too many Royal Caribbean commercials, and had cruised too many other ships since I had sailed with them. My memory of being on Royal Caribbean was so good. It had been 10 years. I had them on much too high of a pedestal.

Don't get me wrong, I'd cruise them again today, but with a better understanding of how they really are. They just didn't measure up, and to be fair, I'm not sure they could have.

I'm really looking forward to the Liberty arriving. I just hope they don't take away from the toddler area to make room for the new slides (which look awesome btw) like they did on the Navigator to make room for the Flowrider. Looking at the deck plans, it appears to me at least the H2O zone is going to stay.

I thought it was terrible and wouldn't recommend it, but that was 2008 when I was last there. I'll keep an eye out for other more recent reviews.

I had very low expectations, and stuck to the Mexican food.

So i just read this post, I,m travel on a TA cruise next May with a 5 and 3 year old. Does anyone know if the Navigator has kids pools, or some where the kids could play with water? So funny RCL promotes family vacation but they don't have kids pools on all of there ships???

 

Thanks

Danny

They have kids clubs for that age for free. If they are potty trained and not in a swim diaper they are more than welcome to swim in the main pool. There is a very small fenced off area attached to one of the main pools where they can splash around in about 6 inches of water. I wish I had taken a pic, but one dad got very upset so they brought out a inflatable pool big enough for one toddler to sit in. It was funny/embarrassing for the cruise line.

My 4 and 6 year old had a blast.

Jeff

We were in Studio B by 8:45 and in our car driving off by 10:00 AM.

It's about branding. RCL has distinguished & established themselves a better cruise line operator & brand more so than most others via their actions. As a result, than can and do charge more. And people are willing to pay more for a particular brand.

You said it!! They have a better marketing dept.

Jeff

Thanks for your review...I can't imagine a ship with 1,000 kids on board! I am sure it was fun for families but that is why we never cruise during school breaks! Typically there are about 100-150 kids on board during non-school break weeks...even less on longer transatlantic cruises.

 

It's been reported by other cruisers on the Navigator recently that shorts have been allowed in the MDR for dinner on non-formal nights, which I think is great. Do you recall if there was still a sign posted at the MDR entrance saying shorts were not allowed during dinner? We're sailing the Navigator later this month and I would hate to bring shorts for dinner and have the rules changed!

I saw no signs about dress code. I just wish I had known before I left. This is an inconsistency between the website and actual cruise ship that needs to be fixed. If they are allowing shorts the dress code suggestions need to be corrected. It would clear up a bunch of confusion about what to wear. Not to mention the controversy about dress code on this website.

Jeff

Hi Jeff, we are booked on Navigator in December. I would like to know if there was any problems with the kiosks for portraits and how many did they have. Last year I was on Serenade and the kiosks were not working half the time and the other half had very long lines waiting to view and purchase photos. Also you mentioned the jacuzzi being trashy, was the spa area nice ?

There were plenty of kiosks and they all seemed to be working. It did take forever though which resulted in long lines at times.

My wife spent more time/money in the spa than I did, but the workout area is nice. Men's locker room and Jacuzzi need some love.

Jeff

FD Attire

Every night listed in our cruise compass was either Casual or Formal. The day we got on board the ship I saw adults in shorts and t-shirts and thought they probably didn't have their bags yet. The next night (first sea day) was formal night and everyone was "dressed up." Every night except the two formal nights had people in ball caps, shorts, t-shirts, flip flops...

I asked the maitre d if they were dressed appropriately for the dining room, and he said yes. Anything goes on casual night but swim wear....

I was surprised,

Jeff

I have been on 10 Cruises and work in the travel industry. It is with this point of view I share what I hope are beneficial comments.

We traveled with my wife's family, 16 total in our group. I had my wife and 3 small children, 6, 4, 18 months. There were over 1,000 kids on this ship and I will say it didn’t seem like it to me, but then again 3 of them were mine. If you don’t like kids my best advice is don’t cruise in July.

Parking

We used Galveston park n cruise right across the street. It could not have been easier and I would do that again on any cruise I sail from Galveston. We arrived about 10:15 dropped the family and bags at the terminal and then dropped the cars. There was very light traffic at this time, as we were in between both rushes of people getting off and on. By 11:00 we were checked in and on board.

Cabin

We had the highly coveted cabin #1388, and it lived up to the hype. It is a strange design but it does have more floor space. The balcony portion of it is also strange. I had to duck to get around that beam, and the furniture was nice but again in the way to move around the beam. But, we would choose it again.

Kid’s Club/Nursery

I cannot say enough nice things about the people that do this. They were amazing and all of my kids liked it. Nursery is for 0-2 years and is $6 before 7:00 pm (I think) $8 after. I forget the exact hour but around then. Kid’s club is free 3-17 years and was the best deal of the entire cruise. I can’t believe it is free. After 10:00 pm until 2:00 am it is $7 or $8 an hour.

Dining

We did My Time and moved it around most days without a problem. Every meal we had at the same table except one night. Service was friendly but slow at times. The personality of the staff made up for their speed. Food was hit and miss, with some stuff being great and other stuff not very good. Overall it was fine and we enjoyed dinner. Again that might have more to do with the kid’s club/nursery. We had the kids with us 3 of the 7 nights.

Excursions

Cozumel:

We took a cab to Playa Mia and had a blast. We pre-paid for the all-inclusive package and we were glad we did. I was very surprised at how good the buffet was. I had heard negative stuff and wasn’t expecting it to be very good, but it was. Everyone had a good time here and I would recommend it if you have kids. If you don’t and don’t want to be around them, I would advise you to choose another beach club. I would if I didn’t have my kids.

Grand Cayman:

I arranged for our group to go to Stingray City with Capt. Marvin’s. They were right across the street from our tender pier and it was so convenient. They took our entire group and we had a blast. The little ones were a little nervous but still liked it. This was a very windy day so we had to snorkel at the Coral Gardens. It was fine if you hadn’t snorkeled much.

Jamaica:

This was the only excursion we booked with the ship. We left the kids onboard, (a little scary) and did a catamaran and snorkel out of Montego Bay. It is about a 30-45 min ride by bus. Traffic was bad for some reason, but I enjoyed seeing the country. Boat was great with good snacks and drinks (all included), but it was windy this day too. Snorkeling was fun but just got knocked around a bit because of the wind. Nothing terrible just not great conditions. This was probably my favorite excursion, but I love sailing.

Issues:

One of my issues was an issue every parent of small children talked about while on board your ship. There is absolutely no place for toddlers to play in the water. Everyone with toddlers was asked to remove them from the pools. I understand why they are not allowed in the pool, but it is unacceptable to me, for the ship to not to provide a free play area for this age. There was literally no place to take them during the day unless you wanted to pay and drop them off. I have sailed other ships that have small play areas where the little ones can run around. There were MANY upset parents who commented that they would never had come on a cruise had they known about the pool rule. Again, I understand the rule and I'm grateful for it, but I would point families with young children towards other vacation options or ships that at least have play areas.

The Jacuzzi in the spa is rusted and in need of a makeover. It was one of the only places on the ship that looked as old as it is. When we were on this ship 10 years ago there were buttons that would make the jets work. Now the buttons don't do anything and the wires that used to be attached to are just loose. I'm shocked somebody looked at that and thought it was acceptable. It doesn't look dangerous or anything just trashy. Not what I ever expected to see on a Royal Caribbean ship.

The evening entertainment was way below what I was expecting. I'm not sure if the orchestra had the week off or what, but we never saw them again after the first night, until the final night. The first song and dance show had music played over the sound system instead of live. There never seemed to be a consistent flow to the evening entertainment/schedule. I don't know how to explain it other than it just felt off. I left with the impression and hope for their sake this was some sort of transition week. The Liverpool Legends were good, and the quest was funny.

I'm not really sure what to take away as my overall impression of this cruise. There were some real highs and some real lows. My group of 16 was split about Royal Caribbean living up to its reputation. Our first time cruisers were still impressed, but those of us who had cruised before were not. I can't say I would recommend Royal Caribbean over other lines, if the cost we much higher. I was hoping I could.

I am happy to answer any questions.

Jeff