Navigator Vs Allure – a side to side (or back to back review and comparison)

[playingpossum]

This is my first review and I have tried to highlight on some of the things that we liked and did not while on our recent Navigator and Allure cruises. I now feel that we have a good perception of cruising and are experienced enough to get the most out of our vacations. Please note that some of my review may be different from what others have experienced or may think about these ships. Oh and this is quite a long review with port stuff too.

 

Navigator of the Seas review:

 

We boarded the Navigator of the seas on November 28th for a 8 day eastern route sailing. This was our first cruise on this size of ship and we were excited to try the slightly smaller than freedom class.

 

We were at the terminal fairly early and boarded the ship just before 11:00am with no problems at all. This is a very nice ship and for the most part is very well maintained. Once boarded we waited for the WJ to open for lunch and it was not too crowded and we managed to get in and out very quickly. The Christmas Decorations were already up and made for a really nice festive atmosphere. We did pack swim suites in our carry-on luggage so we were able to change and sit by the pool until our room was ready.

 

Our interior state room (7473) on deck 7 was ready at 1pm and our luggage was already at our door surprisingly. We took some time to unpack and make our room home for the week. Overall the room was as expected with a little wear and tear showing for this age of ship. Kelvin our room steward was one of the best we have had so far to date and kept our ice bucket full throughout the week. Kelvin was also very social and had lots to talk about when we saw him which was regularly. We did have a connecting room on this cruise and the neighbours could be heard easily through the closed door. If privacy is a concern a room without this feature would probably be better as there is not a door seal between the rooms. We found out our neighbours liked to get up early as light from their room would pass though the gap in the door which we treated as its time to get up too. We brought a door sign I made that had magnets on the back so our room felt more welcoming (and also gave Kelvin something to talk about too). Lots of other people have nice signs too and it is fun to see various celebrations and decorations.

 

We had My Time Dining for the entire week and usually made our reservations the night prior based on the show times. We had a very good waiter and a comical assistant waiter that made each evening sort of frustrating for our main waiter. We found it interesting to see just what he would forget to do each evening and our main waiter would have to do to pick up his slack. My wife has a nut allergy and our main waiter looked after her concerns throughout the week without any problems. Food selection was similar to what we have had on other cruises and the quality was very good. My wife did ask for them to sing on my birthday and when the desert was brought out and no one sang she was pretty upset as she thought they forgot. A couple minutes later our waiter brought the cake with a candle and sang so all was well again. I find that since I am a chocaholic the desert menu is a little lacking for me so I tend to order a brownie and chocolate ice cream off of the kids menu some nights. (they usually dress it up with chocolate shavings and sauce too which is nice) Our table for dinner was on the 5th floor overlooking the rest of the dining area. We did not sit with others for our dinners as we enjoyed our time together prior to the shows.

 

The Wind Jammer was really good on this ship and not too crowded. Finding a table each meal here was easy and the staff were good at looking after your needs. We ate omelets a few mornings and they were very good. I was disappointed that Johnny Rockets was not open for breakfast but on this ship there is not a really good place to eat outside anyways.

 

The promenade had very good water and the pizza there was always fresh it seemed. This is a nice place to sit and people watch while getting a snack.

We did not try any of the specialty dining on this ship so I cannot comment on that.

 

We did pack a couple of cases of pop in a duffle bag and checked them prior to boarding. The reason we did this was because there are not any freestyle machines on this ship and we wanted to have some pop other than the coke or diet coke onboard possibly. We were not sure they pop would make it to our room but it did without a trip to the naughty room. We also brought 2 bottles of wine as well and Kelvin provided my wife with glasses so she could enjoy it in the room. We left the minibar alone though out the week.

 

The shows on this ship were also as we expected them to be. The headliners were good and provided excellent entertainment. Some of the things we heard about one of the entertainers was a bit true but we still enjoyed watching the show.

 

We did not donate too much money in the Casino. My wife did bring lots of quarters for the bulldozer machine but it was cleaned out most evenings (they do put 50 dollar bills in this one unlike the allure)

 

The ports of call for this particular cruise are pretty good. We really like San Juan and St. Martin. St Kitts is not what we would consider a really good destination in comparison with other ports we have been to. Labadee is a nice beach day or a stay on the ship day and enjoy a laid back relaxing time.

Our favorite port by far is St Martin(we have now seen quite a bit of the island) On our first visit we decided to try going to Orient beach as I wanted to see about surfing and possibly Kite boarding. We had met some other people on this cruise and they were going to go there as well for a beach day. We took a cab to the French side and were dropped off at the Orient beach Club where we decided to walk toward the north away from the scenery. We walked the down the beach and stopped along the way to inquire about kite surfing and this looks like a good place to take a lesson as they will follow you in a boat once you get the hang of flying the kite. I was not able to take a lesson that day though as they were completely booked. We then asked about renting a surf board and was told to go to Legalion Bay for that. We ended up walking back to the road and taking a very short cab ride to the adjoining beach which we could have walked to if we had gone past the beach club and around the point on a little trail. We did find the other people we said we would meet up with at this very nice beach. There was a small bar and they had drinks there as well as various rental equipment for exploring or surfing. I rented a surf board and figured I would try to surf but the area is quite a distance out from the beach and not good for a beginner such as myself. I did get a lot of exercise and a good taste of the salt water while trying to surf. Next time we go to this island we may rent the paddle boards instead as this is a very nice place to do this activity. The butterflies that were everywhere on this island were really nice as well.

 

Our next favorite port is San Juan. The old section in this port is very nice and provides a good site seeing day. We had already visited the forts on our previous visit so chose to do a basic walking tour of each street near the fort. The shopping in this port is good and there is a good variety of merchants to purchase unique gifts from. Just an fyi, if you spouse finds a purse in the Coach store here “buy it” as you probably won’t find it again and will have to substitute something that sparkles instead lol.

 

When we went to Labadee we chose to visit the little store at the end of the drop off area. We did not venture back into the market area as I did not want to be badgered to purchase anything that day. We did eat our lunch on the beach prior to heading back to a basically deserted ship where we sat by the quiet pool for the rest of the afternoon.

 

St Kitts is our least favorite port of call for this cruise. We did a tour our first visit a few years back and this time we just wanted to walk around a bit and get some cheap beer. We returned to the ship fairly early and again sat by the pool enjoying the empty ship. I wanted to go to a beach off the beaten path but after inquiring about a cab and maybe not having a reliable way back decided against it.

 

Sea days and activities while on board. My wife likes to relax and read by the quiet pool while I usually like to flowride as much as possible while stand up surfing is open. The quiet pool has comfortable chairs and pads on them so this is the best area to be for sun worshiping. There were very few issues with others reserving chairs on this cruise and more often than not I could get a spot after returning from the flowrider. The pool in the quiet area is salt water and a nice depth but not too warm at times.

 

We also went to a Meet and Mingle while on board and got the chance to put a few faces to names that I have seen on here. The session was pretty short and we did not really have a lot of time to socialize with people but it was still fun. Our group was fairly large so it was pretty rushed.

 

Here are some flowriding notes for those who are interested for the Navigator. I only cruise on ships that offer flowriding and try to get as much time in as possible while it is open. The times for this particular cruise were a bit less then what I was hoping for because they did not offer “advanced sessions” for those people who could load themselves without assistance. This particular cruise had a group of about 10 people who could ride well and we all got to know each other by the end of the cruise. I brought my own boards and Royal inspects each board and you sign a waiver to enable you to use them on the ship. I have a Waveloch board and an Ash board that I bring with me. If anyone else wants to try out your boards they too must sign the separate waiver to enable them to do so. The sports staff that we had on this cruise were really good and a lot of fun. There were a couple of really good instructors who really went above what was expected to try and help people learn how to ride. On a longer cruise(more then 7 days typically) you have less children so this is another reason we enjoy these cruises too. On this particular date we had less than 160 under 16 year olds on the ship which is nice. The sports staff is grateful for the break right after thanksgiving as it is usually hectic for them. This is also the first cruise I encountered where they did not have any boogie boarders at times when the flowrider was open. The wave on this ship is a bit faster then the other ships(instructor’s opinions). One of the nicest improvements on this flowrider is the soft grates on the wipe out area. It is nice to not have your elbows all tore up from the hard plastic grates on the older flowriders. Another disappointment for this sailing is the lack of a flow show and best of the best competition as this is a nice finishing touch to the week. It is understandable though as the smaller staff numbers could likely not put on a show by themselves. I had a chance to talk quite a bit with the sports staff and they all were in good spirits while we cruised and enjoy working on the ship(most had transferred from the large ships to this class). At the end of our cruise the flowrider was having some pump issues and pressure was reduced greatly.

 

Since we were doing another cruise right after this one we were told to go and see about transferring at the customer service desk as they usually can help with this. We did visit them and the concierge did not really know how to get us to the Allure without either a taxi fare or transfer fare. We ended up using a parking shuttle and tipping the driver for dropping us off at the next terminal. If we had not been in terminal 29 in Fort Lauderdale it is possible to walk around luggage in tow to the next terminal. Apparently there are not that many people who change ships on the same day as it is difficult for royal to help with.

 

Overall the Navigator rated very well in our books and we were sad to leave her even though we knew we were not done vacationing yet.

 

Now on to the Allure of the Seas for the December the 6th sailing:

 

This is the second time we booked this ship and I had done so for a couple of reasons. We wanted to take a longer vacation this year and this ship lined up with our previous cruise so we could basically continue cruising while keeping things exciting. The previous year we did the 5 day Liberty and 7 day Oasis side to side and really enjoyed the extra days.

 

We entered the terminal at 10:30 and waited until 11:00 when the security started checking people through. We were through in no time at all and on to the next line to get our check in done. We checked in and I asked about my crown and anchor status so we could attend the top tier event on the one nights sail away on the helicopter pad if we wanted. I was instructed I would have to see guest services to ensure that would be invited. We then proceeded to the upstairs waiting area where we ended up being seated in the very back corner. My wife’s sea pass card did not have any status on it when we were being seated so we ended up in the back which really was not a big deal. Boarding went well and we then went to guest services to see if we could get my wife’s card changed. We were told that we would have to see the Loyalty ambassador to get our status changed and our invitations for the one party we wanted to attend. We figured we would do that later on as we were ready to eat and relax while other people explored this ship.

 

Since we have been on Oasis class ships before we have a general idea of what not to do on the first day. Unfortunately I broke one of the rules I had set for myself and we went to the wind jammer for lunch. This is by far the last place you want to be on the first day when people are basically flooding in and have no clue on what they are looking for. We picked a table first and then each of us went to get our meals. If you want to know how a fish feels swimming upstream then this is how you experience it. I had already known to avoid this area as there are a few other spots that people don’t know about but it is hard to get nut free healthy food other then the wind jammer. I could not get out of there fast enough after a real nice couple of ladies yelled at us for giving them our table to sit at.

 

We waited in the beach pool area for 1:00 when we could access our room and drop off our belongings. Again our luggage was brought to the room in a very efficient time and we were able to unpack a bit. We met our cabin steward and she was very nice. The room was very clean with exception to the pull out couch which looked pretty bad. We did have one of the few interior rooms on the 14th floor 14575. We stayed in the room opposite to this one last time and it is a nice room with everything we needed close by. We decided to split up for a bit so my wife could sit by the pool and I could flowride for a while before the muster drill.

 

I was excited to see some familiar faces when I went back to the flowrider. You realize how small this world is when you bump into people you have cruised with before. We had some good laughs and caught up a bit while the lines were still fairly short to flowride.

 

After the Drill we decided we may as well go and get our status looked after with the loyalty ambassador. We had no issues with getting things straightened out but it still took a little while since there were quite a few people ahead of us. She assured us to come back and see her if we had any other issues throughout the week.

 

We figured we may as well get ready for dinner now as I had our reservations made for the whole week and on the first night we had an early my time dining time. We proceeded to the reservation area and were informed that we did not have a reservation set and could not eat at that time. We were then informed that we had only one reservation for the whole week and could not get early seating times unless we waited in the non-reservation side. A little disheartened and upset we decided to go the windjammer to eat dinner and try to figure out what had happened. After eating a so-so meal at the windjammer we returned to the main dining room the see if we could work something out. We were told then that since the show times had been juggled around that our dining times that conflicted were removed in favor of the shows. This did not really work for us so we revisited the loyalty ambassador again to see if she could help us out. We did get a few of the problems solved but it was a pretty big mess and we were delayed long enough that we missed the Blue Planet show reservation.

 

At the end of the evening we found ourselves wondering why we left the Navigator of the Seas:confused:. Unfortunately we have not had good luck with any of our other oasis class sailings on the first day.

 

The ports of call for this cruise are not what draw most people to this ship but we actually look forward to St Thomas and St Martin again.

 

We were on the eastern route which made its first stop in Nassau. Many people are not happy about the short time that we get here but aside from Atlantis there is not a lot at this port really worth doing. We decided to walk to the Queens steps and sort of got a little farther into town before we were told by 2 separate locals that we should not be in this area and go back to the tourist area before something bad happens. This is the first time I have ever felt uneasy walking in daylight in an unfamiliar area and I have traveled a lot. We did take the advice given to us and went back to the area we were supposed to be in. We walked the queen’s steps and checked out the fort which even though not as well kept up as the San Juan fort was still nice to see. We then went back towards the ship while dodging heavy rain showers. If we go back to this port again we will likely just relax on the ship.

 

Our next stop was St Thomas and we ended up going downtown shopping since our first allure cruise here 2 years prior almost missed this port because of propeller bearing issues. This island has a lot of jewelry stores for sure and they are willing to compete pretty hard for your business. I had to make up for the coach purse blunder I made in San Juan here lol. We talked to other people who were going to Meghan’s Bay and I had wanted to see that but they informed me that it was not what it was hyped up to be. I still would have liked to go and seen it.

 

Our last port of call was St. Martin again and this time we decided to go to the famous Maho Beach and watch the planes. This is definitely an experience for the bucket list. It is very crowded and the beach is not nice but the pictures to be taken are great and the experience was fun. We stayed here for just a little while before heading back downtown. The taxi ride provided some of the nicest sites along the way and when we go back here we intend on renting a method of getting around the island on our own and seeing things at our leisure. We actually think this is a place we could visit for a full week and be really happy.

 

Sea days were usually pretty busy with the pool areas fairly crowded. Again I did not have any trouble getting a seat with my wife usually after returning from the flowrider in the morning(the key here is to ensure she sits beside a single chair to increase the odds it will not be taken). We would go for lunch and she would return to her chair and I would resume flowriding as long as the lines were not too long.

 

One of our friends who is a pinnacle member was aware of our dining room dilemmas and actually took the time on day 3 to contact the manager and get our dining times secured for the rest of the cruise. I will highlight more on that later.

 

One of the main reasons to go on an oasis class ship is for the entertainment. I can honestly say that for the faults these ships seem to have they do make up for it with the shows they provide on board. Unfortunately we were unable to see Blue Planet but did see it 2 years before so knew what we were missing. Regrettably for the rest of the passengers if they missed the first show they had difficulties seeing it as well as they had technical problems and canceled some of the shows. We did go and see the Aqua show again and sat in an area that most people would not think to sit in just off to the side on the rock wall balcony area. This particular spot provided us with a bird’s eye view and we could see the scuba divers working hard as well. This show is worth seeing over and over again as it is well done. The next show we saw was the headliner featuring Jeff Trackta(spelling?). He was probably one of the best headliner shows we have seen to date and ended up going to see a second showing just to tape a bit of his performance(he encouraged taping). The rescheduling of Momma Mia caused us to lose our comedy show reservations so I cannot comment on that. We did go to the flow show that is put on by the activities staff and I enjoy that a great deal. The Ice show is also very well done and a must see while on board. By far our favorite show was Momma Mia as it was spectacular. We had center row seats just 5 rows back but ended up moving to the first row in the lower balcony so we did not have anything blocking our view. The singers are definitely some of the best I have heard at sea and there were not any empty seats after the intermission. Shows on this size of ship are still scheduled in different times then what is considered traditional so lots of planning and juggling is still needed to get them all in.

 

So now back to the dining room dilemma just to cap it off. Here is a summary of the events: Day 1 – windjammer and not so good dinner, Day 2 – Main room dining room with a window seat for 2 and excellent waiters(took my wife’s order for night 3 so she could be assured no nuts), Day 3 – seated in a completely different area of the dining room with a new waiter who was ok, Day 4 – seated back with our original waiter who was excellent again and took my wife’s order for night 5, Day 5 – back seated with our second wait staff and service was pretty good, Day 6 – Momma Mia early seating request night and seated with the second wait staff who were not having a good night(my wife got the wrong appetizer, wrong main course and then an undercooked replacement) We also did not have time for dessert that night even though we had a 5:30 dining time and wanted to be in line for the show by the 7:15 opening. The show did make up for dining problems that night though.

 

 

Our last night we were lucky enough to be invited by our friend to the Costal Kitchen. I was opposed to this at first but he assured me that he had told the manager some of the issues we had experienced and they wanted us to come and enjoy ourselves. Well we did go and what an experience. The food rated the best we have had and they waited on us hand and foot. My wife was very impressed that they knew she had a nut allergy and upon bringing her the appetizer that she wanted immediately substituted it with a replacement that they could be sure had not contacted any nuts. After enjoying a great meal there we know now why some cruisers that are top tier or suite guests love royal so much.

 

Here are the flowrider comments for those who are interested in the Allure. One of the best features about these mega ships is knowing that you will have a dedicated flowrider for stand up and boogie boarding. While this is a great feature to have I have determined that typically the lines for stand-up are longer on these ships. On this cruise wait times were usually 15 minutes in less busy times and up to 40 minutes on sea days at peak. Advanced sessions were not what I would consider advanced as some of the people who showed up could not load themselves but got 2 or 3 tries anyways. On average I got 2 or 3 runs in prior to open sessions usually. The Boogie board side had much shorter lines then the stand up and wait times were less than 5 minutes for most of the cruise. Our instructors for this cruise were not in the same mind set as the last cruise either. Usually I get to know a few by the end of the week and this crew just were not as happy to be there it seemed. The sports crew is much larger (22? on allure vs 8? On navigator) then smaller ships have so you see less of each instructor typically. There were a few who were happy but it just was not the same feeling as the week prior. My wife would not try it on this ship as she cannot load herself yet and is sort of picky about how she is put into the wave. The Allure wave is a bit slower then the Navigator I felt and a little less steep. For the most part it was a very even wave with very little sticking. There are not any real mid-stream overlaps either so it is less prone to wiping out new riders. Some of the heavier people found the volume of water not to be as good as they caught edges when carving hard. The biggest difference I found was the wall height for loading. The allure has a very low side wall making loading a bit more difficult. I typically keep our last night open so we can enjoy the flow show and take in our cruise. I like to participate in the best of the best as well as it is a lot of fun. The staff on this ship could really ride and so I was surprised that they were not as friendly to the people who could ride the wave fairly well (not just my opinion either). The flow show on this cruise was one of the better ones I have seen the crew put on. It was well laid out and a good pace.

 

The vacation is over and it is time to make our way home. We now have a method of getting off of the ship which we have found the easiest and most efficient. We take our luggage off of the ship right after a early breakfast prior to when they start calling numbers. We started to get off of the ship around 7:45 and were out of customs in about 20 minutes. We no longer wait for a shuttle and just jump into a cab to take us to where we want to go next. For 20.00 to 25.00 with a tip you get to a nearby place you want without waiting around at all. We left our car at a local hotel and upon arrival they had not started their shuttle service yet. We were headed home in our car by 8:30 while in the past it has been as late as 11 before we got on the road.

 

So if you have made it through all of that and are still reading then this is what we have concluded when comparing these 2 ships.

 

Navigator of the Seas:

 

Good Features: shows were well done, ability to reserve and actually adjust dining times, very friendly staff, no issues with dining throughout the entire week, relaxing windjammer and very few lines.

 

Bad Features – ship has a few less amenities, single flowrider(won’t matter to most), less to do, the ship is showing its age in some areas, rooms are a bit tight depending on what you stay in, some show times are different each night so adjusting dining times may be needed

 

Allure of the Seas:

 

Good features - amazing shows, all of the bell and whistles a ship can offer, truly impressive man made marvel, biggest selection of alternative dining, wipeout café, johnny rockets breakfast outside, freestyle machines, boardwalk and central park are amazing

 

Bad features – lines, show times and reservations, port variety, lines, poor windjammer layout and overcrowding, pre-booking and royals awesome IT department issues, lines, too many people in some areas , my time dining, rudest cruise guests I have seen to date, and lines….(it is actually possible to be line free on this cruise but you have to work at it pretty hard)

 

On a side note if you book the allure of the sea and receive an email about show times moving I would highly recommend you call and ensure your other reservations are still intact. If you can’t log into your reservation do not assume your plans are going to be set when you get onboard. I had a planner made for the whole week highlighting all of our reservations and show times that was basically a waist of paper and time.

 

After comparing the 2 ships we have concluded that while the oasis class is truly amazing we will be booking the slightly smaller classes from now on. At the time of writing this review we have a reservation on the Harmony of the Seas for next December. We have determined that we will not be taking this cruise in favor of something else that will suit or vacation expectations better. While I will miss having some of the features on the largest ship I will not miss some of the negative things we have found to detract from our vacation to the point that it becomes very frustrating. The oasis class has the wow but the smaller ships have more of what we are now looking for on our vacations. A successful trip should only involve 1 trip to guest services to get your sea pass punched for your lanyard;).

 

I hope you enjoyed my review and if you have any questions I would be more than happy to try and answer them. I would also like to thank everyone on here who contributes to making cruise critic what it is. I have learned a lot from others who post as well.

[amarantha7]

Thank you for posting this!

 

That's a great breakdown of the two ships and their pros and cons.

 

We'll be on Allure in February, and I've been on the same class ship as the Navigator, so I liked seeing a side-by-side comparison! It's really cool to see a back to back done on two different ships! Anyway, thank you.

 

Cheers,

Amy

[lauraodonnell86]

Really great review! We are headed out on our first back to back in January and are so excited! We are going on the Adventure and love that size of ship and don't really care to do the big, big ships for the "bad" reasons you stated. So glad you had a good time! :D

[lcumpire]

Cruising on the Nav in Feb so I really enjoyed our review

[chiguypaul]

Great review and comparison! Thank you!

[utopiahereicome]

Thanks for the comparison - our last 3 cruises have been on Oasis class, but our next is on Navigator, so this is very helpful!

[Brandon B]

Thanks for the review. We'll be on NOS in February and was wondering how your internet experience was?... did you order the 'Internet Package', and how was the connection around the ship and bandwidth (connection speeds) Thanks!

[mrpayroll]

Thanks for posting. We will be on Oasis the end of January and look forward to going back on Allure in the future to see Mama Mia.. Saw it in Vegas and loved it. :)

[playingpossum]

Thanks for the review. We'll be on NOS in February and was wondering how your internet experience was?... did you order the 'Internet Package', and how was the connection around the ship and bandwidth (connection speeds) Thanks!

 

Sorry Brandon but we did not purchase the internet package on either ship. Our friend did have the internet though and he was able to facetime with his wife whenever he wanted to on the Allure without any problems so I would think it is pretty good. Sorry I could not provide more.

[Ang517]

Ty for this review! You confirmed exactly what we were thinking. Booking Navigator today 😊