Condition of Navigator of the Seas

[franl24fan]

Has anyone been on the Navigator recently?? I was wondering how "beat up" the ship really is. The reviews on CC are all over the place, some folks saying it is in terrible condition, others say it is great. I am more concerned about public areas, I expect an inside cabin to be just OK on a ship this age.

 

I am currently booked on FOS in early December, but am considering switching over to the NOS since it has an 8 day cruise out of Ft Lauderdale that goes to St Kitts, San Juan, Labadee and several sea days, which would be a nice change instead of doing the usual St Thomas/St marteen where I've been so many times. The price is about the same, and I'm used to driving down to Ft L. I've been on the Navigator and Mariner several times, last time was 3 years ago, but not on the Freedom class (jumped up to Oasis and Allure).

 

Thanks

[green eyed lady]

We were on her in Feb and it was great! I've seen the complaints on here but not sure what they are all about. I never noticed what the railings looked like. Not important to me at all. :rolleyes:

[Lindy Sue]

We were also on NOS recently (March) and thought the ship looked great! We never noticed any problems with railings. Maybe we were just too busy enjoying our vacation! :) Happy Sailing!

[Topo Gigio]

All RC ships (8) I have been on were in great condition. They really take good care of their ships.

[emtb12]

So glad to hear. Our family is scheduled for February. I have read many negative reviews, but then again I am not fussy. Just hoping our children <3 crusing as this will be their 1st crusie. Wait what am I saying if they don't like it, then that would a child free vacation every year;).

[superduper123]

I sailed NOS in Feb and have no complaints.

[linedancer]

We were on the NOS in March and again in April. The ship is wonderful. Go relax and have the great time. WE will be on her again in December. NOS is our favorite ship.

 

Irene

[Nebr.cruiser]

We were on the Navigator in April, 2010 and January 2011. Really, I noticed no problems at all, in fact we booked the January cruise with our grandchildren on the Navigator because we liked it so much the previous spring. We all had a great time.

 

I suppose if you are the super picky type and spend your vacation looking for faults you will find some, (on any ship) but I didn't notice any issues and apparantly I don't look at the condition of the railings, which have been a big deal with some.

[ML81]

We were on NOS 2 weeks ago, and ok, so we were first time cruisers, but we had nothing to complain about.

 

I've stayed in many a hotel room that looks tired in my time, and the NOS is still looking good in my opinion.

[sunandseagirl617]

Navigator was sparkling Jan 2011 and April 2011. In fact she was sparkling in Jan 09 just before dry dock.

We are going back for more March 2012! Enjoy your cruise!:)

[Puffinater]

Well there always has to be someone to rain on a parade. We have been on all the Voyager class ships most recently Navigator in December and Adventure in March. In my opinion the Navigator is showing more wear than the others. That being said we plan on sailing her again in December.

[B_Mc]

We were on in January and there were definitely some signs of age and wear but overall it wasn't a big deal! In fact, the things I noticed could have happened at anytime on any ship, even a brand new one (dents in doors, etc). The public areas were all very nice, carpet and upholstery wise!

[sunandseagirl617]

Well there always has to be someone to rain on a parade. We have been on all the Voyager class ships most recently Navigator in December and Adventure in March. In my opinion the Navigator is showing more wear than the others. That being said we plan on sailing her again in December.

Well, Puff, at least you're giving her another go!:D;):)

[CariBear]

Had a wonderful time on the Navigator in February(2011) and the ship looked great to me...and I had just been on Oasis in November 2010. The only think I noticed was one of the railings in the forward elevators was broken and had yellow caution tape around it for the length of the cruise. Great ship!

[franl24fan]

I agree that every ship can have dings, even a brand new one. The Allure had carpet stains after just a few months.

 

I went ahead and switched my cruise, the 8 day itinerary was just more appealing to me, and at a lower cost (plus I think there's a better chance for senior or military discounts before final payment date).

 

My biggest complaint on almost all of the ships is the smoky casino. That is one thing I really liked about the Oasis and the Allure, a very large non smoking side, and the Rhapsody has been totally non smoking in the past. Oh well, I just lose less money when the smoky casino keeps me away.

[negc]

Interesting that of the 15 or so posts on this thread only 2 mentioned seeing any signs of wear and tear on the ship and even those two posts didn't feel its condition would prevent them from sailing on Navigator again. Most reported seeing no obvious instances of disrepair. Yet, based on these fifteen posts, I expect to see other threads citing the two mildly negative posts as a reason to be concerned that Navigator is badly in need of a major dry dock. Maybe it is human nature but so often even the slightest negative comments seem to have much greater impact than scores of positive ones. I am always fascinated by all of the ongoing preventative maintenance I observe when sailing on a cruise ship and wonder if many of us expend half as much effort keeping out properties sparkling clean and repaired.

[will773]

I was just on the Navigator in April and thought she was great. I did a review with TONS of pictures if you want to check it out. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1403357

[Cruzin-K]

Wear and tear didn't seem to be a problem. The service on the other hand....:(

[Nebr.cruiser]

Wear and tear didn't seem to be a problem. The service on the other hand....:(

 

Wow, we had great service--and we had 7 kids with us, so if any group might have had less than stellar service you'd think it would be a group like ours, like the dining room staff might run screaming when they saw our bunch of 9 descend upon them ; in fact, the waiters, especially, were superb and made the whole dining experience wonderful for the kids. Our stewards were great too.

 

We thought we'd get by with the buffet on some nights for the children, but they loooved the main dining room and had so much fun with the menu, the waiters and the head waiter (who stopped by the table every night and showed them different mind teaser puzzles).

[franl24fan]

One thing that I have done for my upcoming cruises is to switch to My Time Dining (unless I can link my reservation with someone I know). As a single, I never had problems with requesting a large table for early dining, but on the Allure the seating assignments were horrendous. It seemed no one got what they requested, I was put at a table with another single woman (and we instantly disliked each other), those requesting tables for 2 were put at the big tables, times were reversed from requested. It was the worst dining experience I've ever had, which I reflected on my survey card and RCL gave me a $250 credit on a future cruise (not much consolation when you've paid $1400 for an inside cabin). At least with MTR I can choose what size table and sit with new friends I meet.

 

I agree that only a few negative comments should be ignored, just as I do with the Trip Advisor reviews. Some folks are just never satisfied.

 

I'm really excited about my NOS cruise.