Quick review Navigator of the Seas Feb 2

[carolslc]

I’m on my balcony, enjoying our last day. I wanted to hit a few highlights I wondered about prior to this cruise for those that might have the same questions.

 

Cabin

We had a corner aft 1388. I hesitate to tell anyone about this cabin because I want it all for myself on every cruise. Best cabin ever. No noise from above. Our quietest cabin ever. A long walk from the elevator but we didn’t mind that. Two full size loungers, two chairs, two tables.

 

MDR

We had my time dining. Service was so so. Our waiters were nice but they are overworked and had trouble getting back to you as often as they should. The food quality was worse than Celebrity or Carnival. We aren’t picky and we’ve never done specialty restaurants before but we ate at Chops and Giovanni’s at end of cruise. The food ranged in the MDR from okay to poor. The specialty restaurants were great.

 

Entertainment

We aren’t big on shows but we went to a few. They were ok - nothing special. We did not go to the ice show but everyone said it was great.

 

Ports

We loved Bonaire and did the Woodwind excursion. It was outstanding. We actually really liked Labadee as well and did the zip line there. We did that first thing then got chairs on Columbus Cove. Chairs in the shade of trees and a floating mat for a while on the water. Heaven. I am probably the exception here but I wasn’t impressed with Curacao or Aruba. We like things lower key. They were ok but neither would be on my list to go back to.

 

Service

I found all the employees to be the friendliest and most helpful of any cruise. The ship was in fantastic shape - no complaints there. We loved the size.

 

Food availability

Disappointing here. The buffet hours are not adequate. There would be tons of people coming back on board on port days at 3:30 but the buffet closed at 3:30. I’ve never met pizza I didn’t like but the cafe promenade pizza was awful. I don’t eat many carbs and there are no options for anything healthy in the afternoons to snack on. Just bad pizza and sandwiches. I would grab cheese slices from the buffet and kept them in a plastic bag in our fridge. We never did room service. Not because of the cost but the menu just didn’t tempt me. I usually did breakfast at cafe promenade - coffee, fruit, and oatmeal. I had the refreshment package. I took plastic bags and foil to bring food back to my cabin to eat and save food in the fridge. I’m glad I did.

 

Internet

We had the unlimited surf and stream. It worked great for email, FaceTime, WiFi texting. Didn’t try to stream a movie. We had great access everywhere around the ship including our balcony. Best ever on a cruise.

 

Our objective for this cruise was to disconnect and relax. It was just me and my husband. We did no trivia, games, gambling, so can’t comment on those.

 

Chair hogs

Having our own loungers meant I didn’t have to deal with this insanity. People had their stuff on Solarium chairs early in the morning then would come back later to actually sit. You couldn’t get a chair in the shade anywhere that we could see unless you went early in the morning, or late afternoon.

 

Overall

Pros - cabin, service

Cons - food - quality and availability

 

I’m happy to answer questions if I can.

 

Carol

[Clarea]

Good to hear that Woodwind is still delivering an outstanding snorkel experience.:)

[portofrome]

Thanks for your review!

[carolslc]

I can’t believe I forgot to mention this but for those worries about mattresses, this one was fine. It was not as good as ours at home or top hotel chain, but it was okay. It didn’t keep us from sleeping and my husband has a bad back and is picky. Yay!

 

The other thing I wondered about prior to the cruise was if they had chai tea lattes. They do not. They can make hot tea with a chai tea bag and add steamed milk if you ask them too. But it’s not on the menu and if you just ask for one you’ll be told they don’t have them.

 

The gym was very nice. My husband went every day. I went less than I intended. At some point I told myself I had the rest of my life to work out, and only a few more days to enjoy my balcony.

 

And if my review came off as negative, I did not intend it to be that way. We would sail RC again and definitely this ship. We would however get a specialty dining package next time.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[iahawkfan21]

Thanks for the review! We did the b2b on Navigator in November and loved the ABCs! We also did Woodwind and thought it was amazing. We really enjoyed Aruba and Curacao but not always for everyone. I agree Navigator is a great ship, glad you had a very relaxing week!

[JTBCruiser]

Thanks for the review and to me it didn't come across as negative. We booked Woodwind and look forward to it.

[melodyrn]

Thanks for your review, I leave for the feb 25th sailing. I also am a low carb healthy eater and wondered how I was going to do. We are booked at giovanni's and sabors for two nights. I am going to try to work out this cruise at least get some walking done on the jogging track.

[SilkySal]

Thanks for your thoughts! We are in that same cabin on March 2nd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cool: We also booked Woodwind in Bonaire, so glad to hear you enjoyed it! We bought the 3-night specialty dining package, as I just love the peppered bacon appetizer at Chops!!;p Ahhhh 9 nights of heaven!!!!:halo:

[cidymom]

Thanks for your review! We will be going to the ABC islands in a couple of months and looking forward to the cruise. Your review mentioned that you bought the unlimited internet package surf & stream. Can you tell me the price of the package on your cruise or did you pre-purchase it before your cruise? Thank you so much.

[carolslc]

Thanks for your review! We will be going to the ABC islands in a couple of months and looking forward to the cruise. Your review mentioned that you bought the unlimited internet package surf & stream. Can you tell me the price of the package on your cruise or did you pre-purchase it before your cruise? Thank you so much.

 

Hi. We purchased the internet package online prior to the cruise when they were having a special. The total we were charged was $143.91. That was for one device on at a time. We just shared that one account by taking turns.

[carolslc]

Thanks for your thoughts! We are in that same cabin on March 2nd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:cool: We also booked Woodwind in Bonaire, so glad to hear you enjoyed it! We bought the 3-night specialty dining package, as I just love the peppered bacon appetizer at Chops!!;p Ahhhh 9 nights of heaven!!!!:halo:

 

I am so excited for you! This cabin is a dream. I did not want to leave. And we too were very impressed with Chops. Enjoy!

[cidymom]

Was there a main production show in the theatre? If so, what type of show was it? Any other types of entertainment besides the skating show? Do we need to pre-book for any of the entertainment? Who was the CD on your cruise? Thanks for answering our questions. Happy to hear that you had a wonderful cruise.

[Clarea]

... Do we need to pre-book for any of the entertainment? ...

There are no pre-cruise entertainment reservations for Navigator.

[carolslc]

Was there a main production show in the theatre? If so, what type of show was it? Any other types of entertainment besides the skating show? Do we need to pre-book for any of the entertainment? Who was the CD on your cruise? Thanks for answering our questions. Happy to hear that you had a wonderful cruise.

 

There was a show of some sort every evening in the theatre. It was either a single performer or a group (like the Three Tenors), or it was a production show with the ship dancers, singers, and orchestra. I think there were two of the latter, but we didn't go to either. Cuddy was the CD. You don't have to pre-book any entertainment.

[Mak7464]

I was on this cruise as well...

 

**Can not say enough about how bad the PIZZA was** I had to get pizza at my local shop as soon as I got home to restore my faith in humanity.

 

we had 5:30 MDR and our waiter Sergey was the best we ever had. Food was average in the MDR

Windjammer food was the windjammer food.

 

Productions shows: went to first one: did not go back. the ship orchestra was good, the ships singers and dances were average or below for what we are used to on RC.

 

Headliner shows: they had some pretty good comedians, the three tenors were good, a ventriloquist show (you have no idea how many times it took to spell that) that was good. did not see the juggler guy but herd he was ok. did not see the ice shows.

 

we had an inner room this time and were missing out usual balcony but did enjoy the darkness. it was 8645 and it was noisy. think there was crew access area close by with alot of bumping sounds.

 

liked the ports and did a booked on my own fishing excursion on Bonaire....if your interested in a crazy fishing charter send me a message i got stories.

 

all and all it was a great cruise, as always I ate too much, gambled too much, and drank too much!

 

 

Matt

[Bkchero]

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I had cabin 1390 on my recent Navigator trip and loved it.

 

I had the option to pick 1388, but went with 1390 b/c I wasn't sure about the pole in the middle of the room. How were you with it?

[carolslc]

Glad you enjoyed your trip. I had cabin 1390 on my recent Navigator trip and loved it.

 

I had the option to pick 1388, but went with 1390 b/c I wasn't sure about the pole in the middle of the room. How were you with it?

 

I worried about the pole a bit too. We actually brought a strand of tiny battery operated LED lights to wrap around the bottom of the pole so we wouldn't run into it going to the bathroom in the middle of the night! The pole really didn't bother us, and the extra width of the room was worth it. We got a kick trying out a little pole dancing too LOL. I didn't see in 1390 but I looked at their balcony - it is very nice - I'm sure you enjoyed that and others would too.