Navigator - Some comments about recent cruise with a toddler

Just returned from the 6/22 cruise on the Navigator.

We went with our 2 year old and this was his 3rd cruise.

Overall the cruise was great, service was great and the ship looks very good.

The embarkation and debarkation were extremely fast!

On embarkation day we walked into the terminal at 12:30 PM and were on the ship at 1:05 PM.

On debarkation day we left our stateroom at 6:45 AM and were in our car at 7:30 AM and home at 8:15.

Something we noticed (which I actually happened to read in another post here before leaving) was employees arguing with each other in public areas. We saw this happen on what seemed like a daily basis. Some arguments were minor but some were pretty heated and between higher ranking staff and it was mostly the food / bar staff too. My wife and I thought that was kind of strange. We have not seen so much arguing between employees before.

One other thing that we found out which I did not know is that if you order room service then you will receive a phone call either to confirm or say that they are on their way. If you don't pick up then you may not get your order. It does not say anywhere that you will get a call or that you have to answer the phone. On the first day we ordered room service the night before but 1 hour after the scheduled delivery nobody showed up. We tried again later on in the cruise and this time it did arrive but the guy who brought it mentioned that he tried calling but got no answer (our son was playing with the phone so we unplugged it). Then on subsequent orders we plugged the phone in and they always called and always delivered on time.

Regarding the Royal Babies and Tots. We really enjoyed their services and the facility is very nice. There are a lot of toys, a big screen TV and very friendly staff. In some other posts I was reading someone mentioned that they give you a ship phone when you drop off your child. There were no phones on the Navigator, instead they give you a pager. We dropped off our child daily in the morning and evening and never had any issues. We also dropped him off for 4 hours on 2 out of 3 stops and no problems there as well. One thing that we were not aware before the cruise is that you can only book up to 20 hours from the beginning then later on any further reservations depend upon availability. On Navigator the max kids they can handle is 8.

Our room attendant (Thangela) was wonderful. She also has a 3 year old back home so she knows what we are dealing with. She was extremely nice to our toddler and on the first day offered him some Oreos which he gladly accepted. Then every night after that he would run to her for cookies which was pretty funny.

Cruising with a toddler is OK and we had fun but definitely not the same as going without him. One thing we were constantly in fear of is him disturbing others. He always wakes up early around 5-6 AM and immediately asks for water which is fine but at his age he does not know how to control his voice yet and lower the volume. Hopefully our neighbors were not disturbed.

If anyone has any questions I ll be happy to answer if I can...

Do you remember what hours Royal Babies & tots is open? What time on the first day are they open to schedule for the week?

On the first day (embarkation) I think they were available 1 - 3 and then 5-7 for registrations only but they did not offer any day care services that day.

On sea days they are available 9 AM to 11:00 AM

Then at 11:15 AM on first and last sea day they have maritime music for all but if nobody shows up within 15 minutes they cancel that and then its free play until 1:45 PM. After that they are available from 2 until midnight.

On port days they are available 9 to midnight but if you have an excursion booked with RCL then as long as you tell them they will open 30 minutes before your excursion.

Its $6 per hour until 6 PM and after that its $8 per hour.

They charge by 15 minutes

In the evenings they will offer your child some food. Usually chicken, fries and pizza. They also will give them juice, milk, or water.

Thank you for the info. We are embarking with our 18 month old on July 6 and are still trying to wrap our mind around what we are getting ourselves into.

Thanks for the report!

Thank you for taking the time to write this report.

Keith

Another vote of thanks. Very useful info.

On the first day (embarkation) I think they were available 1 - 3 and then 5-7 for registrations only but they did not offer any day care services that day.

 

On sea days they are available 9 AM to 11:00 AM

Then at 11:15 AM on first and last sea day they have maritime music for all but if nobody shows up within 15 minutes they cancel that and then its free play until 1:45 PM. After that they are available from 2 until midnight.

 

On port days they are available 9 to midnight but if you have an excursion booked with RCL then as long as you tell them they will open 30 minutes before your excursion.

 

Its $6 per hour until 6 PM and after that its $8 per hour.

They charge by 15 minutes

 

In the evenings they will offer your child some food. Usually chicken, fries and pizza. They also will give them juice, milk, or water.

Do they have open times where you can go with them and let them play? Also is there a play area for them by the pool?

They have open play on sea days only from 12:15 to 1:45 (I think). During this time the staff leaves and you are free to play with your baby and all the toys they have there.

Also at 11:15 on sea days they have maritime music scheduled but if nobody shows up within 15 minutes they cancel that and start open play early. We went both times and nobody else showed up.

Also, it said that every night at 7 pm they had bed time story sessions but I think the location was the library. We never went to that.

They also offer a toy lending program. So you can take some toys back to your stateroom.

As far as the pool, there is not really any areas for toddlers or babies. There is a very small area next to the pools (separated by a gate) where the water overflow goes and we saw some toddlers there at times. The water goes up to their ankles.There were signs saying that kids who are not potty trained are not allowed in the pools.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

If your son is 2 and has been on 3 cruises, how young was he for his 1st ? I'm tossing around the idea of sailing in NOS with a 7 month old am I crazy lol ? Would I have to go back very hr to check diaper situation ?

Ours was 10 months old and it was on Disney but now NOS has nursery as well. You don't have to go back every hour. You just drop them off with diapers and anything else they need and they change them and even feed them for you. For emergencies they give you a pager.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

Ours was 10 months old and it was on Disney but now NOS has nursery as well. You don't have to go back every hour. You just drop them off with diapers and anything else they need and they change them and even feed them for you. For emergencies they give you a pager.

 

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

Ty ! Silly question but do you get to meet the counselors watching them. Lol not looking to do 15 min interrogation just would like to know who will be watching my son !

Yeah. On embarkation day you go and register at the nursery and you can meet them. They only do registrations on the 1st day, no babysitting.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

We have been cruising with our children since they were 1 & 3 years old, they are now 10 & 13 and Diamond Members!!! The staff on Royal have always been amazing with the kids. It sure makes the vacation so much easier.

So glad everything worked out for your family :)

They are soon going to have to open a special nursery for tots who are Pinnacle.

Another thanks for this thread! I had wondered about the toy lending program since Fisher Price is no longer working with Royal Caribbean; glad to see that this is still available.

We just got off Navigator this past Sunday with our 2 toddlers (2 &4). A few more things to add:

1) Yes, they still have a toy lending program. It just no longer Fisher Price-specific.

2) There is an open play area where you can play with your kid(s) at leisure. They have play mats, toys, paper and crayons, and TVs with kids cartoons. It's all the way at the back of the Arcade room, and I think it's available every day until 5 pm.

3) One of the casualties from the "breakup" with Fisher Price was the Fisher Price channel (with the Little People cartoons). My kids loved that channel on previous cruises. It kept them entertained while we got ready for dinner. Unfortunately the replacements are just not toddler-friendly (Cartoon Network and some other channel with Japanese comic-like cartoons, I believe). They were either too violent or too mature. Just be aware of that. I wrote RC about this.

3) Adventure Ocean and the nursery are usually closed between 12 to 2 pm and 5 to 7 pm. If you like to boogie board in the flow rider you'll have to find someone to watch the kids, as it seems every boogie board session is scheduled during these closed hours (makes no sense to me).

4) Look out for family activities on your compass, scheduled during the clubs' closed hours. We attended one where we made giant bubbles and it was a lot of fun. They also showed a kids movie, had a family bingo, etc. Like webzilla said, if they don't have enough participation on these activities they cancel them.

5) If, like us, you have a child in the nursery and a child in Adventure Ocean, and they give you a pager in the nursery, you can go to Adventure Ocean and provide them the number of the pager you're holding. That way they can contact you as well if something happens with that child.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wonder if the nursery changed their hours. We dropped off our kid there daily between 5:30 and 6 pm and there were already kids there.

I can confirm the closure from 12 - 2 on sea days only but during that time you can go and use the nursery for free play.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

I wonder if the nursery changed their hours. We dropped off our kid there daily between 5:30 and 6 pm and there were already kids there.

 

I can confirm the closure from 12 - 2 on sea days only but during that time you can go and use the nursery for free play.

 

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

I think you're right. Now that I think about it, the nursery is open all the way from 2 pm to midnight. It is Adventure Ocean that is closed 5 to 7 pm.

I'm glad we came across this. We're going on the Nav and our son will be 19 months. So I have some questions for y'all, if that's ok.

1. When you go to register on the first day, do you have to register for every day & time that you will be leaving them in the nursery.. or are some days, is it ok to just drop them off?

2. What is the best way to tote them around? I'm going to bring his stroller, but it is "acceptable" to wheel him around the ship or will it just be in the way? He can walk just fine, but we're a little concerned with him getting away from us. Do people use those backpack tether leash things? lol

3. How much does it cost to rent toys? And are they sanitized regularly?

4. I saw sherezada mention that there's not really any good cartoons, that's a bummer. I'm curious if there are dvd players in the rooms? My son loves him some Sesame Street. I'm not too keen on the Cartoon Network. lol

Sorry for all the questions, i'm sure I could think of more. This is our first time taking him on a cruise but my husband & I's 3rd cruise. So I'm a LOT nervous.

1. You don't have to register for all days right away but dropping off without reservation depends on their availability since they have a limit as to how many kids they can watch. Also, there is a limit to how many hours you can reserve up front on the first day.

2. Stroller is fine as long as its not huge. We had one and so did a lot of others

3. Borrowing toys is free

4. There are no DVD players in rooms. We brought a portable DVD player.

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

1. You don't have to register for all days right away but dropping off without reservation depends on their availability since they have a limit as to how many kids they can watch. Also, there is a limit to how many hours you can reserve up front on the first day.

 

2. Stroller is fine as long as its not huge. We had one and so did a lot of others

 

3. Borrowing toys is free

 

4. There are no DVD players in rooms. We brought a portable DVD player.

 

Sent from my VS980 4G using Forums mobile app

Awesome Thanks for the info!! :)

Wow, what a wealth of information.

I had to copy a bunch of it so my wife can see what she is in store for.

We're going with a toddler and an infant in May so this is great info, thanks!

I'm going to add just a few items; Zanesmommy gave you almost everything.

On the first 2 days, the nursery will probably have a maximum number of hours they will allow you to register for, since they don't want to have to turn someone away. They will know how many children are on your cruise, and that maximum will be based on that number, most likely. HOWEVER, once they see how many parents will actually use the nursery, you can go back and ask for more.

They have a rule of no more than 4 hours at one time, but for days where you use a tender, they understand that you might be late. Depending on how many children are in the nursery that day, they might let you reserve for longer. We were able to do this, but they asked us to give up one of our reserved evening times, because there was a waiting list for that night. We were happy they were willing to work with us.

I believe the nursery was about $8 an hour. There are babysitters available who will stay with your child in your room, but they are only available starting at 8 pm. That is much more expensive, at $19 an hour, so it pays to get to the nursery as soon as you can to get the dinner time spots.

The promenade is perfect for a stroller! And our little one loved riding around on the ship. At first, he was a bit afraid of the elevators, but he eventually learned they were OK. And he learned to love the glass elevators with a view of the promenade!

In addition to the toys they lend, there is a play area with baby and toddler toys. It is a room close to the nursery which is used as a teen lounge at night. There are wipes to use on the toys and childrens' hands, and a bin to place toys that have gone into someone's mouth. It's on the honor system; no one on staff is there with you.