Navigator OTS 02-09 August 2015 from Galveston

[Petroplex]

Howdy, folks. We just got home from the 02 August 2015 sailing of the Navigator out of Galveston. I have seen several other folks post reviews here, so I though I would do the same to allow for any questions you want to ask. The traveling part was me (41 year old male), my wife, and children aged 7 and 9. We were staying in cabin 1286, a Grand Suite on the starboard side. I have organized this topically in an effort to help people find information which they judge most useful. On balance, I enjoyed the trip very much and would certainly sail again if some small things were addressed. In no particular order:

 

Getting on and off the ship

The security company at the Port of Galveston is awful. I took a picture of the embarkation area. That included the security area, so they said I had to delete it. Whatever, but the physically aggressive woman who bumped into me to make her point should be fired. I wish I had a contact for that firm, and I would love from RC to be reading. The same company had people who were unnecessarily rude, but not physically aggressive, on the return.

 

Other than that, the process went as well as it could. It helped a little that we had a suite, but arriving at 10:30 all of the lines were fairly short. They called suite embarkation as we were finishing check in, and we were on the ship by about 10:50. Getting off the ship earlier today, we got to the dining room on Deck 4 at around 7:10 to walk off with our own luggage. We were scheduled to leave at 7:30, actually did so about 10 minutes early, and were all the way at our car (at Galveston Park n' Cruise) at 7:49. So.... some ugly people working at the port, but the mechanics of it all were as smooth as possible.

 

Elevators

These were painfully slow most of the time. Happily, we are all in solid physical health and dealt with it by taking the stairs a lot. My step tracker counted over 50 flights of stairs (going up; there were more going down) each sea day. My mother and a buddy of hers were on the cruise in a different cabin and had to wait for elevators, and that was a significant time delay.

 

Communication

We had the global data package through Verizon. Voice calls at seas were poor but great in port (2-3 in each situation). Text messages worked fine. We bought the ship's internet for $189 for two devices ($210 minus a 10% discount) and were quite pleased. It wasn't blazingly quick, but it certainly met my requirement that I maintain just enough contact with my office to not be in fear when I return tomorrow. The TV channels were limited, but adequate to make sure I had some reasonable idea of what is going on in the outside world. As a side note, political debates are quite entertaining with mojitos, which were excellent.

 

Food and drink

I have seen some folks on here describe the food in the Main Dining Room (MDR) as of the quality of TV dinners, and I don't find that fair at all. I think the better analogy is that it is banquet food with more choices than the banquets I typically attend. That means that there are some limits based on the number of people they are feeding, and the spices and flavors were generally designed for a universal medium rather than my preferences. Yes, of course, I have had much better food on land. That said, I really enjoyed my dinner each night. The service was very good, there was always at least one choice at each stage of the meal I wanted (sometimes 2-3), and I enjoyed dinner each night. The order of dinner menus in the MDR was:

 

• Day 1 Mojo
  
• Day 2 Saffron
  
• Day 3 Pimiento
  
• Day 4 Basil
  
• Day 5 ****ake
  
• Day 6 Jasmine
  
• Day 7 Pomodoro
  

Breakfast in the buffet was adequate but bland. Breakfast from the menu in Chops (a suite privilege) was actually quite good, and I enjoyed the ability to eat in that quieter space even when I was merely bringing in my own plate from the buffet. I enjoyed my two lunches from the buffet, and found Johnny Rocket's on two other days to be merely adequate. So... I enjoyed the MDR quite a bit, and the buffet was perfectly serviceable.

 

I did have the Ultimate package, and my wife and the boys had the Royal Replenish (all of the non-alcoholic stuff). The juice was nice for them, and we enjoyed fancy coffee each evening in the MDR after dinner. We drank more club soda than I can count, and the boys were quite fond of various smoothies. I suspect the three of the broke even or lost a little bit of money on the package, but I would still do it again to avoid thinking about things at the point of sale. I am quite certain I got value out of it; I found a series of drinks at precisely the $12 (maximum) level and grew quite fond of a $14 cognac that cost me $2. We tended to tip $1 a drink in cash, and that was appreciated. We never had a problem getting service.

 

The Sky Bar above the pool was nice, but my favorite spot on the ship was the cigar bar on Deck 5 forward. I generally didn't smoke, but it was a nice quiet space with great service. I actually left that bartender a WOW tip envelope at the end of the week, and that is where I discovered I like cognac. Who knew?

 

Spa

The treatments were lovely. The product sales afterwards were so aggressive as to make me not want to go back; they were my biggest service problem on board. RC really needs to find a way to dial this back, because it is a pretty facility doing good work that I would try to avoid if I booked another cruise.

 

Cabin 1286

The grand suite had plenty of space for us and was in good shape save for some work needed on the balcony. We would have no need to pay extra for an owner's suite, although I would certainly consider a configuration that had two bathrooms. The couch made a lovely bed for the boys. The balcony was a great spot to sit or lounge and had plenty of space for a table, two chairs, and a lounger. I might pick a cabin closer to a stairwell next time, but I was on balance very happy with the cabin. I also enjoyed several suite perks (several reviewed here) enough to not downgrade to a junior suite.

 

Casino

I work for a living, but within the budget that allows am still able to get nice deals on good rooms in Vegas based on gambling play. I spent very little time gambling here because the blackjack rules were so bad and because all of the limits were so low. RC lets new punters in mid-shoe on demand, so we were constantly stopping for people to buy enough chips for one or two table minimum bets. Some of them would then loudly insist they knew precisely what they were doing; I sat in peace and simply didn't go back much. I would like to see a few tables with $25 minimums.

 

Kid's club (Adventure Ocean)

My kids loved it here and wanted to go as often as possible. There weren't a lot of staff, but they seemed well-trained and were helpful to the kids. This is a real strength and is something which would draw me back- my kids were happy, and it let my wife and I enjoy cocktail hour.

 

Ports

Cozumel was good. The fact that I speak Spanish (I lived in Mexico City for a couple of years) helped but was completely unnecessary. We played laser tag at Chankanaab, which we booked on our own. That was splendid, and then we snorkeled a bit. The cruise pier here is enormous and was a challenge for my mom (mobility challenges), but it was a fairly reasonable place to do some shopping. It certainly felt safe.

 

Belize was my least favorite due to the tenders, but it was still good. We booked Altun Ha and River Wallace in advance through the ship. This was a great tour which simply took too long and left the boys and I exhausted. It didn't help my spirits that I was sitting in the corner of the boat that got soaked on the return. Also, the lunch was pretty small given how hungry we were. That said, the tour guides did a good job giving me an interesting perspective on a new place. The ruins were gorgeous, and we had a bit of time to climb about.

 

I liked Roatan much more than I though I might. We booked Maya Key through the ship, and it was lovely. The beach sand was too rough for building sand castles, so we swam. And snorkeled. And walked around. Saw some Mayan re-creations in an interpretation center. Ate a fantastic meal while learning to love Honduran beer. Saw some awesome rescued animals in what amounted to a very nice zoo.

 

Conclusion

Yeah, I would do it again. There were some things to fix, but all four of us left feeling like we had a splendid time. Lemme know about questions, and safe travels to each of you.

[rudeney]

Thanks for the "fair and balanced" review. We're a few months away from our cruise on the Navigator, so that's very helpful. We'll be in an OS on the hump and have a few questions. Did you use the CL? Was it crowded? What about the ship overall - did it feel crowded? What was the work needed on the balcony? And finally, what about parking? We fly into HOU on Saturday and are renting a car, so we'll need a good palce to park. Thanks!

[Petroplex]

Thanks for the "fair and balanced" review. We're a few months away from our cruise on the Navigator, so that's very helpful. We'll be in an OS on the hump and have a few questions. Did you use the CL? Was it crowded? What about the ship overall - did it feel crowded? What was the work needed on the balcony? And finally, what about parking? We fly into HOU on Saturday and are renting a car, so we'll need a good palce to park. Thanks!

 

We did use the CL, and we never had a problem finding a place to sit. It's main value was in providing a constant source of coffee, although a couple of times it was convenient for minor questions to the concierge. Since my wife didn't have the drinks package, that is also where she tended to have her evening cocktail.

 

The ship overall did not feel crowded at all. There was a very good job of distributing passengers, at least outside of the elevator lobbies.

 

We used Galveston Park n' Cruise. If everyone in your group is reasonably healthy, I highly recommend parking there and just walking your stuff over. If somebody has more challenges walking, drop him/her and the luggage off and then have the other person drop off the car across the street.

[Jimnbigd]

Thanks. I agree about the elevators, especially after the refurb in January 2014 when they added more passengers but not more elevators. And it always seems like one more elevators were broken -- stuck on one floor. My wife uses a scooter, so we have to take the elevator. Sometimes it was so busy that we'd push both the up and down button and take whatever elevator we could get on. Other times there was no problem at all.

 

Did you see any shows? I always love the ice show. Was Phil Anderson on the ship? And Bubba Feathers?

[goneclear]

Thanks for the great review.

Do they still have a reserved seating area by the pool for suite guest and if so where is it?

Thanks.

[George C]

Good review, we also did ship in a GS (twice), getting on the ship really needs to be improved other cruise lines did a much better job for suite people. Also agree on elevators but we see this on most ships on most lines. Were there many people in shorts in MDR on this cruise?

[cruiser915]

Thanks. I agree about the elevators, especially after the refurb in January 2014 when they added more passengers but not more elevators. And it always seems like one more elevators were broken -- stuck on one floor. My wife uses a scooter, so we have to take the elevator. Sometimes it was so busy that we'd push both the up and down button and take whatever elevator we could get on. Other times there was no problem at all.

 

Did you see any shows? I always love the ice show. Was Phil Anderson on the ship? And Bubba Feathers?

 

 

We were on this cruise also - Bubba was on but Phil was not. We learned he was arriving for the very next cruise. As a side note, Bubba got married on this trip - you could tell he was having some fun! ;)

[BillOh]

After doing a couple of reviews myself, I learned that shiitake has 2 Is in it, this will keep it from being censored.

 

On the Voyager and Freedom class ships most people use the same elevators and they can be slow because everyone uses them. There are a couple of cases where elevators just around the corner go under utilized.

[kwbound]

Thanks for your review. We will be boarding at the end of the month. I have a couple of questions:

1. What were the $12 drinks that you enjoyed?

2. Were there any drinks of note, other than the cognac, that were more than $12?

3. Did you have any trouble getting bottled water with your drink package? Was bottled water available at all the bars?

4. Did you eat at any specialty restaurants?

5. Was Maya Key crowded? What are the chance we might be able to find a spot with a lounger in the shade for DH and in the sun for me? We are in the first boat going over. How was the snorkeling?

 

OK - That's more than a couple of questions. :o Thanks for your help! :)