Just off Navigator 9 Day ABC - An Honest Review

You are right. There is self serve water at cafe promenade and in solarium. But its from essentially filled water jugs and there are notes saying water bottles cannot be filled. So it’s glass by glass just like windjammer. There is no self serve water where you can fill a water bottle on board. Unless you grab three or four individual glasses and sneak it I suppose

It is unsanitary to fill your water bottle directly from a public spigot. Is it really so difficult to fill a glass then pour its contents into your water bottle, for the general welfare?

Was there top tier or welcome back party (I know one was axed but forget which). Also, op, you mentioned being diamond could you use those vouchers in the dining room?

We're not foodies and go to the buffet anyways, but still not good news to hear.

Did they charge corkage when you took your own bottle of wine into the restaurants?

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It is unsanitary to fill your water bottle directly from a public spigot. Is it really so difficult to fill a glass then pour its contents into your water bottle, for the general welfare?

— If that’s true then why do they sell the soda package with the cup that has to be reused and why do they have the freestyle machines. Equally unsanitary based on that reasoning. That’s the same concept. On my last cruise on Carnival they had water bottle specific fountains and people have been doing this with water bottles for years across lines. This is just the first time in noticed a change in how to get water. Noro isn’t transmitted by water bottles but rather not washing hands. We saw more than once a person take food off the buffet with their hands and then put it back with their hands. Not line specific issue but still far more unsanitary than my thoughts on water. Also this ship is the first I’ve seen to restrict self serve water like this hence my comments on it.

JCruiseGuy, thank you for your post and excellent assessment of another RCL product failure.

Your post and that of others leads me to believe that RCL is guilty of deceptive advertising.

Specifically - RCL advertises a specific product offering - no where is it stated that the product offering changes based on type of vessel, time of year or when a large group is aboard.

If I had booked on this vessel I would expect the same quality of food and service as on their most new ship - unless I was told that there were limitations to providing same due to the ship construction etc.

More to the point, RCL and Celebrity seem to be the leaders in downgrading their product while hiking prices. All the mass lines are busy downgrading, but the RCL group has made the most obvious changes.

I have posted on other boards about the importance of consumers ending brand loyalty and moving to other lines. This is about the only tool available to consumers to maximize their value for money probabilty when making a purchase. This applies to cruise purchases and all other purchases.

I left Celebrity after 20 years due to the same garbage behavior as you described above and now sail happily on Oceania.

Move on and explore the expanding world of cruise providers - Virgin is also going to shake it up in the future, RCL, you are not the only option out there.

Was there top tier or welcome back party (I know one was axed but forget which). Also, op, you mentioned being diamond could you use those vouchers in the dining room?

There was a top tier party but it was in the theater so I didn’t go. Just too big and impersonal for me. The vouchers can be used at the bars from 4-8:30 and it’s a very specific menu to choose from. Essentially it’s just straight alcohol products but it’s a nice perk. I don’t know about the dining room use. No one ever came around selling alcohol in the dining room and our waiter never asked.

Also a lot of people on these boards ask about the 10 drinks for $75 package. On our cruise it was offered on Friday Day 7 for the first time (I.e 2 days to use it)

thanks everyone for your updates. RacerSpeedy, see you onboard in a few days. Hoping to use those vouchers in MDR and Specialty dining.

Also a lot of people on these boards ask about the 10 drinks for $75 package. On our cruise it was offered on Friday Day 7 for the first time (I.e 2 days to use it)

Thanks for that info.

This is likely a stupid question, but if I purchase the 10 drink package, is it possible to split it with my wife?

Grab 2 drinks at a time, one each?

We've booked the Navigator, and I am very nervous now reading the reviews. We booked the cruise primarily for the 9 day ABC itinerary but don't want to have that much of a bad experience on the ship either. We are primarily Celebrity cruisers but have been bored with the same old itineraries. They haven't revamped them atleast for the times that we can travel.

The Freedom out of San Juan was doing the same itinerary but for $1,500 more plus airfare to San Juan. Now I think I know why.

Thanks for that info.

This is likely a stupid question, but if I purchase the 10 drink package, is it possible to split it with my wife?

Grab 2 drinks at a time, one each?

I’m pretty sure you can do that. I didn’t see any restriction on it.

Thanks for that info.

This is likely a stupid question, but if I purchase the 10 drink package, is it possible to split it with my wife?

Grab 2 drinks at a time, one each?

You can share with whomever you like,. Buy a round for the entire bar and use up the card in one fell swoop.:)

You can share with whomever you like,. Buy a round for the entire bar and use up the card in one fell swoop.:)

Will do!*

*some conditions may apply

Thank you for your honest review. What age are your children that enjoyed kids club?

What you may be seeing in part is the unattended consequences of my time dining. I've seen people complain about the limited dining options with two times as an early and late option. So RCI introduces my time, customers complain about the long waits to get a table in my time. Next RCI adjusts with a more limited menu and you must order everything at once to save time. Now the complaints are rolling in again. Maybe the problem is not with RCI, but the customers they are trying to please. Sometimes when you try to please everyone, you end up with the opposite.

While I agree that asking for your full order up front may save time, I have to respectfully disagree about the rest. I have a hard time seeing the limited menu having much at all to do with My Time Dining or time savings. I think it's all about profits.

MTD has been around a long time now, since before I started sailing RCCL 7 years ago. I believe they would have made changes years ago to the menu if MTD was causing that many problems. It doesn't save that much time to order from a more limited menu. I think they are simply cutting costs to eliminate more costly items and the waste associated with having to stock all of the components for those meals, at our expense.

IMO, these more limited menus are the first thing in a while that I really feel upset about from RCCL. (the other was the MASSIVE drink price increases a few years back) We eat in the MDR every dinner, and have always enjoyed the experience. While the meals are not as good as the specialty options, they were (in general) plenty good for us. The much more limited menus combined with the limited bread options is a major setback for our style of cruising. I will be looking elsewhere now, and will not be so focused on RCCL. I had this same cruise in mind for this upcoming March because this itinerary was so stellar and we've been on the Navigator a few years ago and enjoyed it. Now I'll be looking towards Celebrity Solstice class during that time frame for similar itineraries.

Dan

We were also on the 9-day that ended on March 25 and I agree 100% with the comments in the review. We are also Diamond and have sailed many RCI ships, but recently had a 3 year hiatus. We were very surprised at all of the downgrades that have occurred over that period of time. We do not have another cruise booked at this point, but will be considering other lines. As stated though, itinerary was awesome and wish they didn't just stick the "older" ships with the great itinerary.

I did Empress in August and the food was absolutely unbelievable. It was so good -- every meal we had multiple delightful options.

Then I did Navigator in November and the food was decidedly mediocre.

The sad thing was that my family (parents, brother and his wife, etc.) was with me on Navigator, whereas it was just my wife and myself on Empress. We had been bragging about RCI's food for months because of the fantastic experience we had on the Empress, and to be rather let down by the Navigator.

For the record we did Grandeur a couple of years ago and it was great too, but not as good as Empress last August.

What gives? Why is Empress so much better?

I'll be on Symphony next month so I look forward to seeing how the food is different.

OP, you nailed it. We sailed 2-11 March, loved the ports and would do it again in a heart beat. Of all our RCI sailings, food in this MDR was the worst, what I would call below average. Service was very good, our room steward was the best ever. Entertainment was less than average in my eyes. Once you've seen a juggler, you've seen them all. Actually we thought the WJ was better than the others. We will look more at other lines based on ports and price but not throwing RCI out completely.

I'm suddenly very happy that I cancelled my Christmas cruise on the Navigator. I'm sure we'll be happier on Princess.

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We were on this sailing of the Navigator of the Seas also. We did notice several of the issues noted by several posts including the OP. Even though things were not perfect, we had an excellent experience. Highlights for us were the conversations with the dinner table mates in the main dining room and the friends in the Diamond Lounge.

I am sorry so many people were unhappy with this cruise. IMHO we knew going into the trip to expect a Chevy, not a Cadillac or Lexus. I am glad we picked this sailing.

John

Thank you for your honest experience on this cruise. We also were on the same cruise and fully agree with you. The ABC islands were enjoyable to visit along with Labadee. This was our 26th cruise (not all with RCI) and felt the experience was not up to par with the other RCI cruises we took. Royal always advertises they pride themselves in the best cruise ship activities and entertainment that will make everyday and night an unforgettable vacation experience. We also feel the entertainment was lacking. We loved the 1 ice show but we actually walked out of the broadway show along with other people. We loved Giovanni's and felt the filet was much better there than all the other times we have eaten at Chops .I found the food in the main dining room to be so salty that my legs and ankles swelled up (never happened before).

We always purchase liquor and perfume on the ships but found their prices were higher than what we pay at home. We even showed the salesperson the lower price on our cell phone and she just said to buy it at home. We have always gotten better deals in the past as they claim it's duty free. We loved the ship but it is in need of refurbishment. The carpets on our floor smelled like mold and mildew so they were always spraying something to mask the smell. Disembarkation was a nightmare. We took the cruise connection bus and we had to wait 2 1/2 hours for the last passenger to get off the ship and their number was 8. Ours was 5 and after over an hour of waiting we walked off with # 2's. So disorganized and no one knew what they were doing. It ended up with everyone jammed in the walkways all trying to leave the ship at once. We were on the Oasis last year and we got on and off the ship in 15 minutes. We were so impressed with that !!

We did book 2 more cruises while we were on the ship ( 11 day and a 7 day) and hope they are better than what we just experienced. I also hope Royal Caribbean reads these reviews and listens to what their seasoned guests would like. It's hard to not have the great food, service, and entertainment we have had in the past especially since we are also paying more for the cruise. To a new cruiser they have nothing to compare it to but we know better.

Just off Navigater, 20+ cruises. WJ best ever...manager told me was not impressed when first on ship. Had meeting with all from table cleaners to captain.

Modified bulk cooking to smaller prep and cooking.

More work and guest might have a short wait on popular items. But quality is top notch.

They were constantly monitoring available items.

Asked drink server for banana on next to last morning. Manager came back, said he went to first floor storage (we were on eleven) and there were none. That’s 100% service.

Wow, it's amazing how views differ. We did the 9-day, we're diamond, and our group of 18 thought it was the best cruise we've ever taken. Islands were wonderful, and our group had so much fun together. Oh well, to each his own.