Navigator of the Seas 11/27-12/9 B2B. My review

[Firefighterhoop]

Greetings All,

 

I haven't done a review in a while, but with all the negative publicity Navigator has had I thought I would do a quick review highlighting some of the ares that need improvement - and also some of the good things as well.

 

I had been on the Navigator 4 times prior - all 7 or 8 day cruises, most recently the same week in 2015 on the 8 day Eastern.

 

Embarkation - Got on board on Sunday 11/27, and if you have been following the ship, this was the Tent City embarkation day. Got to the pier around 10:30, which is my usual, and noticed the lack of a terminal. was advised by staff to go on a shuttle to Bayside and we would be shuttled back around 12-1. Knowing what would happen, I and many other cruisers opted not to go and you could tell the pier side staff were truely surprised and unprepared for people to stay. Finally another family and I asked the staff where the front of the line should be and they chose an area in the parking lot and this became the front of the long long line. I haven't seen anything like it before, and everyone you asked (Pier staff, not ship staff) had a totally different answer as to when boarding would be. Finally we got on the ship at about noon.

 

I personally think for being 14 years old the ship was in great condition. Sure, there were dings and dents on corners, etc, but overall have no complaints about the physical ship itself.

 

Food - Food is an interesting one on this cruise. Windjammer breakfast and lunch was the normal Windjammer fare. However, other ships tend to rotate things for lunch daily but Navigator kept it the same almost every day. (I have seen this on other ships as well so not Totally unique to Navigator). Dinner was good in Windjammer - however for the most part it was the same things each night. Most ships in Freedom and Voyager class will have a few things off the menu in Windjammer (Lasagna for an example) Navigator had very few and some nights none at all. What they had up there was good none the less, just wish it rotated a bit more.

 

Dining Room - The other reviews people have posted are true. They don't seem to be the same menus. No lobster on the 7 day (Wasn't expecting it on the 5 day). Also other things cut out and or changed on the menus. The concerning part for me wasn't the no lobster - it was the headwaters and above giving different reasons for not having it. The most common one seemed to be that RCCL cut it out all together - which having friends on other 7+ day cruises that week confirmed that it was not true as they all had lobster.

 

Entertainment. The 7 day had one production show. the 5 day had none. I hadn't seen this before either. Granted I'm not big in to the production shows so it really didn't bother me that much just found it odd. They did have several comedians on board, which for me was a plus - and they weren't the regular ones I had seen before so I actually enjoyed it! I found the Cruise Director to be great and very friendly if you saw him around the ship.

 

Guest Services Staff - Very friendly, everyone I talked to regarding minor issues was great.

 

The biggest opportunity for improvement I found was with the Crown and Anchor program and getting the perks. For the 3 amenities on the 7 night as well as the 1 on the 5 night, I had to go to Loyalty multiple times for each one. I know the concierges were overwhelmed by other guests requesting the same thing. The Loyalty Ambassador (Who left the ship unexpectedly at the end of our 5 day) wasn't the most approachable person to ask for things from - however the Guest Services Manager and both Concierges did a great job trying to make things right with everyone. It was just disappointing to have to go through the same thing every other day. Also, with the high amount of Diamond and above guests on this ship both cruises I was on - The Concierge and Diamond Club were packed. Very packed. The first cruise they were able to open the Viking Crown as an overflow starting on day 2, however the second cruise the VCL was rented out for weddings and a few group events so they were unable to do that so the lounges were quite full.

 

Overall the cruise was fun and it was a fast 12 days. But it was the "small things" that were missing. Not the best officer visibility I have seen, and for issues I received many different answers when talking to staff. I had friends on the 5 night sailing that it was their first cruise and they had a blast. And again I had a good time as well, but the small things were missing.

[easyboy]

I agree with you. The Loyalty Ambassador should have eased the feelings on the negative issues. Thanks for your honest review.

 

 

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[Clarea]

Thanks for the report. We really enjoy the live orchestra music at the production shows, so we also would have been disappointed with no shows.

[kwazi07]

I LOVE production shows...I really hope they'll have some by my five night in March.

 

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[NemoCrownie]

Greetings All,

 

Food - Food is an interesting one on this cruise. Windjammer breakfast and lunch was the normal Windjammer fare. However, other ships tend to rotate things for lunch daily but Navigator kept it the same almost every day. (I have seen this on other ships as well so not Totally unique to Navigator). Dinner was good in Windjammer - however for the most part it was the same things each night. Most ships in Freedom and Voyager class will have a few things off the menu in Windjammer (Lasagna for an example) Navigator had very few and some nights none at all. What they had up there was good none the less, just wish it rotated a bit more.

 

 

We had some of the same dining issues on our last 14 day B2B in Feburary - different ship. Poor quality (chicken backs, and a lot of tough, fatty meat cuts, pressed deli meats, etc.) with almost no variety from day to day and, on top of that, the number of choices have decreased with any variety appearing to be reconstituted dishes from the prior evening's offerings. Our cruise had almost no fresh fruit after the first couple of days, except apples, and we joked that there was a cookie shortage because cookies were only available on the lunch buffet for a couple hours (there weren't even cookies available at Cafe' Latte'tudes).

 

One of the chefs told us that the Head Chef and F&B manager are given a budget and are rewarded for staying under their budget. I don't know whether that is true or not; I don't really care. I think some Chefs are better than others and some can manage their budget better than others. The good news is that this was the first time we both lost weight on a cruise. The bad news is that we decided that food was more important to us than we had previously thought so we will only sail RCI again if there is an incredible itinerary.

[hotdog647]

A lot of people on our cruise mentioned the same things as NemoCrownie and Firefighterhoop about the dining. SSDD. One person thought they stocked up the same amount of food for the 9 day cruise as the did on the previous 5 day cruise. Other common problems were stuck drawers, malfunctioning room safes, broken closet door hinges, and unknown stains on linen, chairs and sofas. And, as on my 2013 TA cruise, the showers in the sauna/steam room still had inoperative water temperature valves. And the every popular toilet system issues. The clear water to flush the toilets had black solids and greasy film. A printed note provided at the start of each cruise stated it was because a fellow passenger put unapproved items into the system. It seems like that would mess up the sewer side of the vacuum system and not the clear flushing water. But I'm not an engineer.

[Green Recruit]

We were onboard from 10/28 to 11/23 and I have to add that the Loyalty Ambassador was the worst one we have ever seen. It took me all 13 days on the first cruise to finally get our crystal block. I'm sure there were multiple complaints so it's not a surprise to hear he is gone.

 

Teri

[dst]

Thanks for the honest review; we are sailing next month - I have sent a few emails to the concierge (we are in the royal suite) with no communication back. I hope it is not what is to come......

 

We have not been thrilled with the food on our pervious cruises (FOS and IOS); I find the food on Carnival to be better - just my honest opinion (we cruise both lines). We may end up dining in the specialty restaurants for a good portion of the trip

[riclop]

Thanks for the review.

[Firefighterhoop]

Thanks for the honest review; we are sailing next month - I have sent a few emails to the concierge (we are in the royal suite) with no communication back. I hope it is not what is to come......

 

We have not been thrilled with the food on our pervious cruises (FOS and IOS); I find the food on Carnival to be better - just my honest opinion (we cruise both lines). We may end up dining in the specialty restaurants for a good portion of the trip

 

Don't worry. A lot of times they don't respond until the week before your cruise. I have experienced that multiple times. These Routes are getting many, many D+ and above guests so my guess is she has her hands full.

 

I have sailed with Nadja (Suite Concierge) Many times and have always been happy with her.

[lucymorgan]

Don't worry. A lot of times they don't respond until the week before your cruise. I have experienced that multiple times. These Routes are getting many, many D+ and above guests so my guess is she has her hands full.

 

I have sailed with Nadja (Suite Concierge) Many times and have always been happy with her.

 

I was happy with her service on our August cruise. I did notice that she was inundated with complaints on the first couple of evenings in the concierge lounge and she seemed to sort them out eventually. I put the problems down to elsewhere on the ship - not to her. I could not imagine how difficult that would be with a far larger number of D+ guests.

[RFerrington]

I have sent a few emails to the concierge (we are in the royal suite) with no communication back. I hope it is not what is to come......

 

I have the same comment. I have written to the Concierge 3 separate times with questions for our upcoming Christmas+NY cruise. I have heard zip, nada. I did get the "form" welcome letter with standard suite perks but nothing at all relating to the specific questions I have.

 

I don't have a good vibe about this Concierge but we certainly won't let it ruin our cruise !

[eleang]

Thank you for sharing your review. We will be sailing in the Navigator this coming Friday and are a bit worry about the level of service as per some reviews, I had not been to Cruise Critic in a while, our last cruise was in the Allure New Years 2016 and everything was great, I really hope there has not been a big decline in food and service. It did call my attention that just yesterday I received the first email from our concierge, we are just a few days from sailing. I requested booking for a cabana and have not got an answer back so far. We'll see, I love cruising, and have always have a good time, we'll see this time !

[Firefighterhoop]

Have a good time! I looked at that cruise, but couldn't get the time off of work due to the Holidays.

 

Go into it with an open mind. Again it was just some of the small stuff and some of the food. Overall the 12 days were a lot of fun and went really fast.

[cruising grandma]

We just returned Sunday night from the nine night cruise following your b2b. We had lobster second formal night. We had two production shows, the Liverpool tribute(Beatles group), comedians and ice show. Don't miss the Beatles, if they are onboard, still.:)

[cruising granddad]

Don't worry. A lot of times they don't respond until the week before your cruise. I have experienced that multiple times. These Routes are getting many, many D+ and above guests so my guess is she has her hands full.

 

I have sailed with Nadja (Suite Concierge) Many times and have always been happy with her.

 

I have the same comment. I have written to the Concierge 3 separate times with questions for our upcoming Christmas+NY cruise. I have heard zip, nada. I did get the "form" welcome letter with standard suite perks but nothing at all relating to the specific questions I have.

 

I don't have a good vibe about this Concierge but we certainly won't let it ruin our cruise !

 

Nadja is GREAT!

My wife and I were on 12/9/16 and she was ALWAYS doing something!

She was overworked because of no Loyalty person, but tried VERY hard!

I have seen some concierges sit behind their desks, but not Nadja.

If she was not helping someone, she was getting drinks and working the lounge.

Nadja will do anything to help you!!

She is one of the best!!!!!!!

[Firefighterhoop]

We just returned Sunday night from the nine night cruise following your b2b. We had lobster second formal night. We had two production shows, the Liverpool tribute(Beatles group), comedians and ice show. Don't miss the Beatles, if they are onboard, still.:)

 

Good to hear things are getting back on track, and it may have been some short term hiccups.

 

The Beatles were actually on board since our 7day on the 27th. They were very good!