Considering last minute cruise on Navigator but feeling confused

[PaddleAddict]

My husband and I are experienced cruisers with 12+ cruises under our belts but we haven’t cruised in over 8 years and we haven’t ever cruised with kids. Ours kids are 3 and 7. Covid of course is throwing a wrench in everything but as I started researching I realized that cruising itself has changed more than I knew and Royal Caribbean has started charging for some things they didn’t before. 
 

We are tempted to book a last-minute on Navigator to get our kids’ toes wet so to speak. Can anyone answer the following questions with current information? I’m finding the RCCL website has pretty vague answers regarding these things and I’m so hesitant to book.

 

1. Are the kids clubs fully opened? Are they restricted in anyway, like only allowed to use them for a short period of time? Are the activities and things indoors and so the kids will have to be masked the entire time or do they have outdoor things? 
 

2. Are the pools heated? We will want to swim if the weather is low 70s? Is the flow rider running?

 

3. Are the shows taking place and are all the activities available like the rock climbing wall and ice skating and the escape room? 
 

4. Do kids need passports to sail or just birth certificates?

 

5. Are the dining hours restricted or are there other food things to know about. Last time we sailed RCCL food like Johnny Rockets and sushi was included but now I see it’s not. Room service is still available?

 

Thank you to anyone who can chime in! I’ll continue to research but I was beginning to realize I need to do more than I realized.  

[PaddleAddict]

I forgot one more question… is passenger capacity still restricted? This will be presidents weekend so I was imagining it might be more crowded.

[firefly333]

You say things that used to be included now arent. You only mention johnny rockets and say 8 years ago it was included. Sorry, it was if you were a certain loyalty level but was never free. What else?

 

Oh sushi, i didnt see any free sushi. I do remember that. 

 

I've read kids activities can be limited to maybe 10 hours, I wasnt on your ship.

 

Navigator is running lower capacity than other ships, no worries. Liberty i got off of was closer to 50%. 

 

Prices are great though kids make it more challenging. If they are unvaccinated then there are designated areas for dinner and the show. Everything was running on my ship. I havent seen heated water but I sailed to the caribbean.

[Cel_cruise]

Kids club activities will be mostly inside and masked for unvaccinated (I assume at least your 3 yo falls into this category).

 

I loved the navigator for our kids when they were 4 and 8.   They had a great time.   Now it’s even better with the amp…

 

I would check the height limits on slides etc. 

 

birth certificates are fine.  Make sure you can get the required covid tests with short notice.

 

Pools….pools will be opened but they are salt water pools on this ship.  Some are okay with this - but my kids are not…we switched to liberty  /freedom class to get fresh water.   Hot tubs are fresh water and warm 🙂
 

I think for a short cruise as long as you are looking to balance spending time with your kids outside so they were not stuck in the kids club all the time unless they wanted to be - you will be fine!  
 

pack some magnet hooks to help keep the cabin organized and have fun!

 

 

[taglovestocruise]

13 minutes ago, PaddleAddict said:

My husband and I are experienced cruisers with 12+ cruises under our belts but we haven’t cruised in over 8 years and we haven’t ever cruised with kids. Ours kids are 3 and 7. Covid of course is throwing a wrench in everything but as I started researching I realized that cruising itself has changed more than I knew and Royal Caribbean has started charging for some things they didn’t before. 
 

We are tempted to book a last-minute on Navigator to get our kids’ toes wet so to speak. Can anyone answer the following questions with current information? I’m finding the RCCL website has pretty vague answers regarding these things and I’m so hesitant to book.

 

1. Are the kids clubs fully opened? Are they restricted in anyway, like only allowed to use them for a short period of time? Are the activities and things indoors and so the kids will have to be masked the entire time or do they have outdoor things? 
 

2. Are the pools heated? We will want to swim if the weather is low 70s? Is the flow rider running?

 

3. Are the shows taking place and are all the activities available like the rock climbing wall and ice skating and the escape room? 
 

4. Do kids need passports to sail or just birth certificates?

 

5. Are the dining hours restricted or are there other food things to know about. Last time we sailed RCCL food like Johnny Rockets and sushi was included but now I see it’s not. Room service is still available?

 

Thank you to anyone who can chime in! I’ll continue to research but I was beginning to realize I need to do more than I realized.  

1- Our cruise three weeks ago had a total of three kids...

2-  pool and hot tubs open and heated

3-  All shows open except escape room, all bars and lounges open with live music every night

4- BC is fine

5- Room service open, El loco fresh open, WJ open for dinner, ice cream open, pizza is available and good from Promenade cafe, JR express open but there is a charge.

You would be unvaxed with the kids. Deck four MDR for unvaxed and it was pretty empty. Unvaxed gets one side of  Ice Show,  unvaxed gets second level balcony for all showroom shows.

 Catalina open and no masking, Ensenada, ***** hole as usual, open and unmasked.  There were a total of 546 on our Monday 4 night cruise, about 1000+ on weekends, 7 night is getting busy as the weather warms up.  We were fully vaxed but chose to watch shows in unvaxed area and asked for deck four MDR unvaxed and it was a great cruise. 

[Ashland]

Recently off The Navigator Jan 17- 24th...and agree with most of the above. Our cruise had about 10+ kids onboard. Go...take your kids and enjoy !!!!

[PaddleAddict]

30 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

You say things that used to be included now arent. You only mention johnny rockets and say 8 years ago it was included. Sorry, it was if you were a certain loyalty level but was never free. What else?

 

Oh sushi, i didnt see any free sushi. I do remember that. 

 

I've read kids activities can be limited to maybe 10 hours, I wasnt on your ship.

 

Navigator is running lower capacity than other ships, no worries. Liberty i got off of was closer to 50%. 

 

Prices are great though kids make it more challenging. If they are unvaccinated then there are designated areas for dinner and the show. Everything was running on my ship. I havent seen heated water but I sailed to the caribbean.

Thank you so much for your reply. I must be misremembering that Johnny Rockets was free. I remember far fewer “charge” restaurants from our last sail on Royal though. 
 

If kids clubs are 10 hours a day, that would be more than enough for us. If it’s 10 hours per sailing, it would be a bummer. A friend has been waiting to rebook her Disney Cruise because they are limited the kids to 90 minutes a day at the kids club.

[PaddleAddict]

18 minutes ago, Cel_cruise said:

Kids club activities will be mostly inside and masked for unvaccinated (I assume at least your 3 yo falls into this category).

 

I loved the navigator for our kids when they were 4 and 8.   They had a great time.   Now it’s even better with the amp…

 

I would check the height limits on slides etc. 

 

birth certificates are fine.  Make sure you can get the required covid tests with short notice.

 

Pools….pools will be opened but they are salt water pools on this ship.  Some are okay with this - but my kids are not…we switched to liberty  /freedom class to get fresh water.   Hot tubs are fresh water and warm 🙂
 

I think for a short cruise as long as you are looking to balance spending time with your kids outside so they were not stuck in the kids club all the time unless they wanted to be - you will be fine!  
 

pack some magnet hooks to help keep the cabin organized and have fun!

 

 

Gosh, thank you so much for this! I think the kids would have a blast. We would mostly be spending time with them outdoors weather permitting so they don’t need masks on all the time) plus a little bit of kids club stuff for them so we could get a few hours alone here and there. 

[Another_Critic]

1 minute ago, PaddleAddict said:

I must be misremembering that Johnny Rockets was free.

JR was free, but a cover charge was added at some point to alleviate crowding.

[PaddleAddict]

17 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

1- Our cruise three weeks ago had a total of three kids...

2-  pool and hot tubs open and heated

3-  All shows open except escape room, all bars and lounges open with live music every night

4- BC is fine

5- Room service open, El loco fresh open, WJ open for dinner, ice cream open, pizza is available and good from Promenade cafe, JR express open but there is a charge.

You would be unvaxed with the kids. Deck four MDR for unvaxed and it was pretty empty. Unvaxed gets one side of  Ice Show,  unvaxed gets second level balcony for all showroom shows.

 Catalina open and no masking, Ensenada, ***** hole as usual, open and unmasked.  There were a total of 546 on our Monday 4 night cruise, about 1000+ on weekends, 7 night is getting busy as the weather warms up.  We were fully vaxed but chose to watch shows in unvaxed area and asked for deck four MDR unvaxed and it was a great cruise. 

This is so helpful! Not sure if we would even get off in Ensenada. Wish we could do the 4-day with Catalina but the dates don’t work out. 
 

Thank you so much for sharing these details! Kind of hope there are a few more kids if we go as much older son loves to make new friends. Everything is sounding so fun though! 
 

Is the casino open? Hubby likes to play table games here and there.

 

On a related note: I see some places like the casino is vaxed only. We are vaxed, kids are not. If the kids are not with us can we enter those places? 

[PaddleAddict]

2 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

JR was free, but a cover charge was added at some point to alleviate crowding.

Thank you, I thought I was losing my memory. 😆 This was probably 10 years ago that I recalled it being free.

[Ashland]

1 minute ago, PaddleAddict said:

Thank you so much for your reply. I must be misremembering that Johnny Rockets was free. I remember far fewer “charge” restaurants from our last sail on Royal though. 
 

If kids clubs are 10 hours a day, that would be more than enough for us. If it’s 10 hours per sailing, it would be a bummer. A friend has been waiting to rebook her Disney Cruise because they are limited the kids to 90 minutes a day at the kids club.

JR's has only ever been free for breakfast and that's only on certain ships. JR's on Navigator is just a walk up not like other JR;s.... El Loco is really good a walk up also then you take your plates to one of the tables by the pool these both have limited hours JR's till 6:00pm and El Loco till 5:00pm.

[firefly333]

5 minutes ago, PaddleAddict said:

Thank you so much for your reply. I must be misremembering that Johnny Rockets was free. I remember far fewer “charge” restaurants from our last sail on Royal though. 
 

If kids clubs are 10 hours a day, that would be more than enough for us. If it’s 10 hours per sailing, it would be a bummer. A friend has been waiting to rebook her Disney Cruise because they are limited the kids to 90 minutes a day at the kids club.

Lol not 10 hours a day  ... per cruise.

 

Johnny rockets was 9.95. But hamburgers and hot dogs in WJ free.

[PaddleAddict]

12 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Recently off The Navigator Jan 17- 24th...and agree with most of the above. Our cruise had about 10+ kids onboard. Go...take your kids and enjoy !!!!

Thank you so much! I’m definitely considering it and if not this weekend then maybe in the next month or so.

[PaddleAddict]

Just now, firefly333 said:

Lol not 10 hours a day  ... per cruise.

 

Johnny rockets was 9.95. But hamburgers and hot dogs in WJ free.

That sounded bad, ha ha. I promise I don’t want my kids in the kids club 10 hours a day. But we are looking at about 3 hours a day give or take? That should be fine.

 

I wonder if they are doing the late night kids club as advertised on the website. It would be nice to get more specifics from the company. 

[Ashland]

Casino is open...when kids aren't with you if you're vaxed you can use any venue....I believe ?

[Ashland]

Don't miss the ice show it's AMAZING !!!!

[PaddleAddict]

2 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Don't miss the ice show it's AMAZING !!!!

I am very excited about that. I've never been on a cruise ship with an ice skating rink or show.

 

The entire family can ice skate during the day, correct? 

[Another_Critic]

10 minutes ago, Ashland said:

JR's has only ever been free for breakfast and that's only on certain ships. JR's on Navigator is just a walk up not like other JR;s....

 

10 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Johnny rockets was 9.95. But hamburgers and hot dogs in WJ free.

I don't know if it was ever free on Navigator, but when JR was introduced on Voyager Class it WAS free.  But it was so popular that they added a cover charge to reduce the crowding.

 

And yes, there are different "flavors" of JR.  Some are cover charge, some are a la carte.

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Another_Critic

[Ashland]

6 minutes ago, PaddleAddict said:

I am very excited about that. I've never been on a cruise ship with an ice skating rink or show.

 

The entire family can ice skate during the day, correct? 

Certain day/time...check your Cruise Planner.

[rockmom]

1 hour ago, PaddleAddict said:

My husband and I are experienced cruisers with 12+ cruises under our belts but we haven’t cruised in over 8 years and we haven’t ever cruised with kids. Ours kids are 3 and 7. Covid of course is throwing a wrench in everything but as I started researching I realized that cruising itself has changed more than I knew and Royal Caribbean has started charging for some things they didn’t before. 
 

We are tempted to book a last-minute on Navigator to get our kids’ toes wet so to speak. Can anyone answer the following questions with current information? I’m finding the RCCL website has pretty vague answers regarding these things and I’m so hesitant to book.

 

1. Are the kids clubs fully opened? Are they restricted in anyway, like only allowed to use them for a short period of time? Are the activities and things indoors and so the kids will have to be masked the entire time or do they have outdoor things? 
 

2. Are the pools heated? We will want to swim if the weather is low 70s? Is the flow rider running?

 

3. Are the shows taking place and are all the activities available like the rock climbing wall and ice skating and the escape room? 
 

4. Do kids need passports to sail or just birth certificates?

 

5. Are the dining hours restricted or are there other food things to know about. Last time we sailed RCCL food like Johnny Rockets and sushi was included but now I see it’s not. Room service is still available?

 

Thank you to anyone who can chime in! I’ll continue to research but I was beginning to realize I need to do more than I realized.  

I'm booked on this sailing along with my daughter and grandson.  Kids club you will need to sign up ASAP when boarding as it is limited.  Since you have a 3 year old, that will be a different group than your other child.  Not sure how they are handling the unvaxxed kids, just a month or two ago there were reports that kids weren't allowed to interact with other kids not part of their family/travel group in order to not spread the virus.  Since you'll have an unvaxxed child in your party, you will all be considered as unvaxxed when it comes to dining and shows.  There will be places that are marked 'for everyone' and some that are only for those vaxxed. HOWEVER, if you and your husband are by yourselves and don't have the kids with you, you can go anywhere since (I assume) you are both vaccinated.  To get off the ship, you'll need to book an excursion through Royal if the kids are joining you.   I just checked the app and I can't tell if you'd be able to do ice skating since it's inside and I can't see if they have it broken out for vaccinated only or not. There is a morning and afternoon session on Day 2.  

 

Not sure about the escape room, but there's been an age restriction for those even before Covid, so yours would be too young.  

 

One other thing, those of us sailing on Friday have a pretty strong feeling that the capacity on this one is likely quite a bit higher than some of the more recent sailings.  Some categories opened back up a couple of weeks ago, but I think they had hit their targeted capacity and then either people bailed or they increased the the capacity.  Suites on this one have been sold out for a while.  Those who were hoping for a Royal Up have been bummed that so far only one person on our roll call was able to score one.  

 

Hopefully that answers some of your questions, but if you decide to go, heading to kids club as soon as you board is probably wise.  

[rockmom]

Oh, one more thing @PaddleAddict  Since you'll have at least one unvaccinated in your party, they will need a PCR test, an antigen will not suffice.  Turn around times are longer than antigen.  They must be done 3 days or less prior to sailing (but not on sail date).  And you must have the email from the health facility that did the test/processed the results that shows it was negative.  Then the child will also have to be tested at the pier--that one is done by royal and is an antigen.  So if you are thinking of going this coming Friday, you'd need to figure it out ASAP and get that PCR test scheduled for Tuesday morning and hope you get the results in time.  Those that are vaccinated must get a test within two days--but it can be antigen. So that means Wednesday or Thursday or morning of the sailing--but again, you'll need the emailed documentation before you'd be allowed to board.  

Edited February 13, 2022 by rockmom

[Jasukkie]

I did a weekend cruise on Nav in January and there were quite a few kids. No idea on the kids club operations. The pool was in use when the sun was out so I guess it was warm enough. The kids looked happy in it, I didn't go in myself.

 

If you go to Ensenada, the sea lions would probably be very entertaining for your little ones. You can't miss them on the rocks at the end of the dock. 

 

I don't think ice skating for passengers was operational on my cruise but maybe I just missed it. The ice show was really good, loved the drone light display. I believe the escape room is not running either, but the ones I've done on other ships are for 12+.

 

It is a diluted experience compared to before but I think a short cruise to introduce them is a good idea. It's not like they will know what some other ship has and be disappointed, just keep a positive attitude.

[PaddleAddict]

2 minutes ago, rockmom said:

I'm booked on this sailing along with my daughter and grandson.  Kids club you will need to sign up ASAP when boarding as it is limited.  Since you have a 3 year old, that will be a different group than your other child.  Not sure how they are handling the unvaxxed kids, just a month or two ago there were reports that kids weren't allowed to interact with other kids not part of their family/travel group in order to not spread the virus.  Since you'll have an unvaxxed child in your party, you will all be considered as unvaxxed when it comes to dining and shows.  There will be places that are marked 'for everyone' and some that are only for those vaxxed. HOWEVER, if you and your husband are by yourselves and don't have the kids with you, you can go anywhere since (I assume) you are both vaccinated.  To get off the ship, you'll need to book an excursion through Royal if the kids are joining you.   I just checked the app and I can't tell if you'd be able to do ice skating since it's inside and I can't see if they have it broken out for vaccinated only or not. There is a morning and afternoon session on Day 2.  

 

Not sure about the escape room, but there's been an age restriction for those even before Covid, so yours would be too young.  

 

One other thing, those of us sailing on Friday have a pretty strong feeling that the capacity on this one is likely quite a bit higher than some of the more recent sailings.  Some categories opened back up a couple of weeks ago, but I think they had hit their targeted capacity and then either people bailed or they increased the the capacity.  Suites on this one have been sold out for a while.  Those who were hoping for a Royal Up have been bummed that so far only one person on our roll call was able to score one.  

 

Hopefully that answers some of your questions, but if you decide to go, heading to kids club as soon as you board is probably wise.  

Thank you SO much, this is extremely helpful! It will be sad if my unvaxed kids can't interact with vaxed kids. 😞 My husband and I are vaxed. 

[PaddleAddict]

38 minutes ago, rockmom said:

Oh, one more thing @PaddleAddict  Since you'll have at least one unvaccinated in your party, they will need a PCR test, an antigen will not suffice.  Turn around times are longer than antigen.  They must be done 3 days or less prior to sailing (but not on sail date).  And you must have the email from the health facility that did the test/processed the results that shows it was negative.  Then the child will also have to be tested at the pier--that one is done by royal and is an antigen.  So if you are thinking of going this coming Friday, you'd need to figure it out ASAP and get that PCR test scheduled for Tuesday morning and hope you get the results in time.  Those that are vaccinated must get a test within two days--but it can be antigen. So that means Wednesday or Thursday or morning of the sailing--but again, you'll need the emailed documentation before you'd be allowed to board.  

I know, this is the main thing that's holding us back. We will need to decide today if we are going to do this or not so we can get everything scheduled in time. 

 

A concern I have is the fact that we all had covid in December. I am worried that the kids PCR tests could still turn up positive since they say they can have positive PCR tests for 90 days after covid infection.