Disappointing Thanksgiving Navigator cruise

[matj2000]

Our family just got off the Navigator yesterday[sun 12/1] and I was somewhat unhappy with the experience overall.

Starting with a slow & sloppy embarkment & ending with a worse disembarkment, there was more than a few "minor" issues throughout the voyage that really started to add up.

Enough to leave an unpleasent taste.

In addition, the ship itself had its own problems with wear & tear that showed.

In the end we managed to have fun, but I would put this cruise in my bottom 3 least favorite.

For the amount of money spent, I would not cruise on the Navigator again nor recommend it..

[ARCruisinNana]

Sorry you had a bad cruise. The ship will be great after the dry dock:)

[reallyhooked]

Our family just got off the Navigator yesterday[sun 12/1] and I was somewhat unhappy with the experience overall.

Starting with a slow & sloppy embarkment & ending with a worse disembarkment, there was more than a few "minor" issues throughout the voyage that really started to add up.

Enough to leave an unpleasent taste.

In addition, the ship itself had its own problems with wear & tear that showed.

In the end we managed to have fun, but I would put this cruise in my bottom 3 least favorite.

For the amount of money spent, I would not cruise on the Navigator again nor recommend it..

We did Navigator on the Med. Looking forward to trying again since we can drive to the port.

Hope your next cruise will be better

[At Sea 4Ever]

What went wrong?

[seaofwonder]

Could be because it was the first cruise after the TA?

 

We were on her a few years back in the med...looking forward to post dry dock in March.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

[nealstuber]

With over a 3rd of the crew changing out on arrival from the Med - and the first time Terminal 2 has hosted an RCCL ship in 6 months we expected some hiccups - and we were not dissapointed.

 

Things were extremely discombobulated at the terminal - our clerk did not now how to read our sea pass, our cards were not ready and they did not have indication of our pre-paid beverage packages. I ordered flowers for my wife which did not come - had to ask what happened - was told tomorrow night and had to call again to be told they missed the ship and we would be credited (have not seen credit yet). Our only issue with Debark was lack of porters (not an RCCL issue).

 

On board was better - but it took our virgin assitant waiter a couple of days to get the swing of things and the bar staff at the casino was illusive at best.

 

Did see some signs of wear and tear - mainly carpets, frosting on balcony dividers has "melted" and provide little privacy and AC SUCKED throughout most of the ship (and we had colder weather).

 

Having said that - we had a GREAT time that would have been a fantastic time if the weather had cooperated. Crew did a good job with a weather induced cancellation of Grand Cayman - coming up with a new compass laoded with activities on Thanksgiving day. CD was great as was the Ice show and featured entertainers (main review shows were OK but not great). Photographers, room stewards and just about all of the crew were pleasent and eager to please. Lines at service desk were short any time we passsed.

 

Dining room service and food was way better than our recent Carnival Magic Cruise, and notabley better than our preceeding Celebrity Summit Cruise. Sports Deck, promenade, Windjammer, and Pool decks all in great shape. Debark from ship in Jamacia and Coz was easy enough (though getting off the pier and out of the terminal in Coz was a joke). Despite USCG inspection for a ship in from Europe, cruddy weather, and a 30% new crew, we arrived everywhere on time and stayed later than promised (except in GC which washed out due to high wind and waves).

 

I'll post a link to my formal review on this thread once it is posted.

[matj2000]

What went wrong?

 

Our MDR table was given away, luggage shows up after 8PM, 10+ Arcade games broken entire trip, fountain soda broken entire trip, no bussing dishes in buffet, having to ask for things over & over, luke-warm hot tubs, towel charge issues, bars not wanting to give my kid soda, cancelled port and crews inability to turn a dismal day into a positive, ect...

Edited December 3, 2013 by matj2000

[cjdixon4]

That's unfortunate to hear. While I'm sorry that things didn't work out as planned for you, I'm excited about my 5/18/14 Navigator sailing. It follows drydock, so hopefully it will be far better.

[matj2000]

With over a 3rd of the crew changing out on arrival from the Med - and the first time Terminal 2 has hosted an RCCL ship in 6 months we expected some hiccups - and we were not dissapointed.

 

I realize these issues but you would think that RC would be much more prepared. They re-position ships all the time and I thought they would have a plan.

[Beachin2]

You guys still don't get it - GALVESTON IS the problem! Worst port in the lower 48.

[KAA951]

You guys still don't get it - GALVESTON IS the problem! Worst port in the lower 48.

 

I thought that honor went to New Orleans...

[nealstuber]

Our MDR table was given away, luggage shows up after 8PM, 10+ Arcade games broken entire trip, fountain soda broken entire trip, no bussing dishes in buffet, having to ask for things over & over, luke-warm hot tubs, towel charge issues, bars not wanting to give my kid soda, cancelled port and crews inability to turn a dismal day into a positive, ect...

 

I respectfully disagree with your assement of the missed port day. I was shocked to see us even bother pulling in to Georgetown harbor with the waves and wind. Frankly, I was relieved to get out of a non-refundable $400 Jet-Ski excursion that we would have been compelled take if we had dropped anchor. We've had ports cancelled before and I never seen a new Compass (or capers) printed on the fly with new things to do. Main dining room was opened for Lunch when it was supposed to be closed (while the staff was preparing a Special Thankgiving Dinner for 3500). Opening Stuido B for football was a masterstroke appreciated by many Cowboy fans and the parties that were moved from the Deck to the Promenade were ROCKING!

 

Our kids also had much better luck with their soda cards and DW and I enjoyed great service with our Beer and Wine package. We pre-pay our tips and seldom give more - but at the end of this cruise were moved to give generously to our Wine Steward, Waiter, Assitant Waiter, Room Steward and even the assitant Mater'd.

 

Granted, our outlook might be slightly slanted as DS won the free cruise with Bingo - but there is at least a 50% chance that we'll use it to Sail the Navigator again during Spring Break or in June.

[Beachin2]

I thought that honor went to New Orleans...

 

Not even close.

[nealstuber]

You guys still don't get it - GALVESTON IS the problem! Worst port in the lower 48.

 

We've had great luck with Carnival at Terminal 1. Terminal 2 had a lot of new people and there is a lot about the RCCL boarding process that is the same only different from what happens with Carnival. For example Carnival gives you a Sea Pass for each cabin. RCCL only prints out one for both cabins if link the reservations. This totally but our agent in to a "does not compute coma" and she wanted us to do the paper work for the 2nd cabin over. I was tryinig to explain to here that the people she thought were in 1 were actual the lead names on the two bookings when a supervisor walked by and told her exactly what I was saying. Did not help that my daughter has my wife's middle name and my son has mine when she was clearly dislyxic(sp). Seemed like a huge hassel at the time - but the entire check-in (with the lost cards and reprinted cards) only took 20 minutes - and she gave us priority boarding by way of appology.

Edited December 3, 2013 by nealstuber

[satxdiver]

I don't know about Galveston being the worst US port, but it certainly is strongly in the running. I have never been very fond of Galveston cruise port.

 

It is sad to hear the reports from the past week on the NOS. We will be boarding her in two weeks. I hope they can iron out some of their problems and maybe get some things fixed before we sail. I was on the first sailing out of Bayport (Houston) the first of last month after setting empty for quite a few years. While there were problems in the enclosed parking lot (waited over 30 minutes to park) and a delay getting through the security check where it seemed they did not know entirely what they were doing. After that checkin went very smoothly with the sea cards ready etc. I thought that was bad but had charged it off to a new terminal and a ship returning after being in Europe. Now with what is being reported on the NOS makes it all look good!

 

Here is hoping that they get it ironed out in the next two weeks.

[denamo]

I realize these issues but you would think that RC would be much more prepared. They re-position ships all the time and I thought they would have a plan.

 

We sailed the first cruise after a ship's repositioning cruise once (RCCL ship), and vowed never again. This was in our early cruising experience, and we recognized the glitches, some bigger than others. While we did not experience all the mishaps you shared, we found things just didn't run as smoothly as previous cruises. DH and I will be on the Navigator in May, so hoping things will get settled down by then.

 

Too bad to hear your experience wasn't so great especially since it was a holiday cruise. :(

Edited December 3, 2013 by denamo

[Keith1010]

Sorry that this was not one of your better cruises.

 

Keith

[Wilda]

OP, I get where you are coming from. Your last several cruises have been on the newer RCI and Princess ships. We had a similar situation on the Explorer a few years ago and it was my least favorite cruise overall. We noticed the staff was not up to snuff, rainy day was not well organized, and the ship was really showing its age.

 

Granted, our outlook might be slightly slanted as DS won the free cruise with Bingo - .

 

You think???;););)

[Thetrail]

Our family just got off the Navigator yesterday[sun 12/1] and I was somewhat unhappy with the experience overall.

 

Starting with a slow & sloppy embarkment & ending with a worse disembarkment, there was more than a few "minor" issues throughout the voyage that really started to add up.

Enough to leave an unpleasent taste.

 

In addition, the ship itself had its own problems with wear & tear that showed.

 

In the end we managed to have fun, but I would put this cruise in my bottom 3 least favorite.

 

For the amount of money spent, I would not cruise on the Navigator again nor recommend it..

To hear you had a less than stellar cruise, was on Navigator in March this year on a B2B and it it was truly one of our best cruises....K.O..

[bradsnana]

We sailed on Navigator out of New Orleans last November and everything was great.

The boarding took a little longer but that was due to an extensive cleaning due to Norovirus.

The crew went above and beyond to make sure it was kept in check on our sailing.

 

No complaints here....as for the Galveston port, we live 15 miles from Galveston and hope to sail on Navigator after she returns from dry dock. I guess I will let you know how the port handles the new ship.

 

Sorry you had a bad experience...

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[Cruising89143]

We sailed the first cruise after a ship's repositioning cruise once (RCCL ship), and vowed never again. This was in our early cruising experience, and we recognized the glitches, some bigger than others. While we did not experience all the mishaps you shared, we found things just didn't run as smoothly as previous cruises. DH and I will be on the Navigator in May, so hoping things will get settled down by then.

 

Too bad to hear your experience wasn't so great especially since it was a holiday cruise. :(

 

We also cruised on the NV after one of her transatlantics. We boarded in FLL though. The entire crew had to go through immigration, the ship had to go though a Coast Guard inspection since she was just arriving back in the US and a good amount of crew left the ship and new crew members boarded that day. It all added up to a delay in boarding which RCI sent an email out stating such.

 

I now check any cruise that we are interested in to make sure that it's not arriving from a transatlantic or on it's first arrival at a new port of embarkation.

[DebJ14]

Our MDR table was given away, luggage shows up after 8PM, 10+ Arcade games broken entire trip, fountain soda broken entire trip, no bussing dishes in buffet, having to ask for things over & over, luke-warm hot tubs, towel charge issues, bars not wanting to give my kid soda, cancelled port and crews inability to turn a dismal day into a positive, ect...

 

What do you mean your MDR table was given away?

 

Luggage showing up after 8pm out of Galveston is nothing new. We were on the Mariner in January and our Suite Attendant went down to deck 1 to find our luggage for us about 7:30pm (for a huge tip). He said the marshaling area was full of luggage that was being re screened to look for banned items (booze, extension cords, irons etc). I met several people in the spa the next morning who got their luggage at 7am MONDAY and many more throughout the cruise who's luggage ended up in the naughty room.

 

As for the hot tubs, I don't think they are ever anything but lukewarm on most ships. When I questioned another cruise line about it they said their insurance carrier demanded that the temp be cooler so that there were no lawsuits for people being burned. Since children are allowed in the hot tubs the temps have to be cooler since their skin is more sensitive. I asked why the hot tubs in the adults only area were the same cool temp and was told it was because the passengers did not obey the rules about children being in the area. The problem is cruise lines don't enforce their own rules!

 

We thought about taking the Navigator Dec 15, but knowing it is headed to dry dock in January made us think twice about it. Why would they repair stuff when they know it is going to dry dock for a month for a major overhaul. So, instead we opted for the Caribbean Princess Dec 14 and we will sail the Navigator AFTER she is drydocked.

[wolfganghowell]

You guys still don't get it - GALVESTON IS the problem! Worst port in the lower 48.

 

You are more than welcome to NEVER cruise out of Galveston again. Sorry you had issues. We have cruised from Galveston MANY times and have found it comparable to every other port (Long Beach, San Pedro, Ft Lauderdale, San Juan, New Orleans). That just burns me up when I see snotty posts like that. YOUR experience does not make it a universal truth.

 

I do agree that there are more issues on the first sailings after TA's. We try to avoid them as much as possible. It's also unfortunate that it was combined with plenty of issues that should hopefully be fixed after the drydock/upgrade. We sailed on Navigator last spring and while we love Voyager class we actively decided to wait to go on her until after her dry dock. It's also tough to have that kind of crew transfer. I recall when Rhapsody left for Asia, we were on the very last sailing. They had transitioned a large % of crew and many of them were Asian with limited English skills. It made some of the normal passenger/crew interactions a lot more challenging, on both sides.

 

Now that Navigator is in Texas year round, I'm sure the ground crew will get up to speed soon.

[jonbgd]

Why would someone book a cruise on a ship, that is scheduled for dry dock, than complain about the shape it is in:confused:

[Cindy]

I think the embarkation experience for the first Navigator/Galveston cruise sounds like it was pretty much what I would expect from a ship coming off a TA and arriving at a new home port for the first time. If you look back, there were similar complaints from the Mariner's first cruises, and from the Voyager's early sailings before that.

As far as Galveston is concerned, in my opinion it serves its purpose, which is to allow me to get on and off a ship. We've cruised from Galveston 11 times. All our embarkations have been reasonably smooth, and 9 of our disembarks have been fast and painless. Are there fancier, more modern ports? Yes, but there are also ports that are (IMO) much worse than Galveston. Two that come to mind are Cape Liberty with their shuttle bus service to the ship and the Carnival Terminal in Long Beach with no inside waiting area. As long as I can get on the ship in a reasonable amount of time, a port gets an "A" from me!:) The port staff will improve tremendously over the coming weeks as they learn their roles and responsibilities.

Sorry your cruise didn't meet your expectations!