Just off Navigator 9 Day ABC - An Honest Review

I just got back from 9 days to the ABC Islands on Navigator. I wanted to post an honest review from someone who was last on Royal about 4 four years ago but is Diamond from many years of loyalty to RCI. I say an honest review because I want to give the good (not much) and the bad (a lot). I am hopeful Royal reads these boards and sees that their now mediocre product on their slightly smaller ships is a turn-off for long standing loyal cruisers. I heard many times on board that the changes were direct from corporate and that things were different on the "big ships" (i.e. Quantum and Oasis class), so here's hoping they actually make changes on the rest of their fleet (which is a huge number of beautiful ships).

About Me:

I'm a lifelong cruiser and have been cruising since the late 1980s. I'm a dad in my mid-30s, so that tells you something. I read these boards nearly every day, but haven't posted much, but I thought this was an important review. I'm Diamond on Royal (many many years I was completely loyal to Royal), and over the years I have sailed on Nordic Empress, Sovereign, Majesty, Grandeur, Enchantment, Legend, Voyager, Navigator, and Allure. I've also frequented Carnival the last few years (Conquest, Triumph, Splendor, Pride, Ecstasy, Dream), as well as MSC (Divina and Magnifica). I have also sailed Celebrity (Century and Millennium), Costa (Atlantica), NCL (Norway, Norwegian Sun), have done Viking River, and a few older lines when they were around (Premier, Majesty, Dolphin). I only say this to show that although you may not have seen me write a lot on these boards, this review comes from a lot of experience. I grew up in Florida but live in New Orleans now (hence the increase in Carnival).

This Cruise:

This was a 9 night on Navigator of the Seas to the ABC Islands. My last cruise on Navigator specifically was about 7 years ago. I had a Balcony cabin that I shared with my two kids, and my parents had a Junior Suite.

The Good:

Itinerary - This is an incredible itinerary. Labadee is as beautiful as ever and is a wonderful port. Curacao is always unique. We snorkeled in Bonaire and saw the most incredible sea-life right at the beach. And Aruba has silky white sand beaches that are incomparable. I will absolutely do this itinerary again, and I highly recommend it to anyone, no matter which cruise line you use.

Staff - The Staff on this ship are relatively happy, and they try hard to please within the bounds of what RCI corporate has restricted them from doing. They try hard to fix the issues (of which there are many), and they want to please. We had an incredible waiter in the dining room (Hermanashu). If you sail on Navigator and get him, you will not be disappointed. Everyone is apologetic as to the service issues on the ship and it is very clear that it is not an issue with the staff but rather the level and type of service that they are told to provide. We constantly were told, tell my manager and "these changes are direct from corporate." Several times we were told in response to issues that the staff were embarrassed by what they were asked to serve to clients (melted ice cream and stale/dry pastries), and how they were told to provide service (quick service in the dining room, only offer cracked pepper to patrons in Chops Grille if specifically requested). It is clear RCI is not using this staff to offer service the way they were trained. This is a huge change and the staff clearly feels awkward doing it this way.

Adventure Ocean: This was phenomenal. Again, the staff are responsible for the great time my kids had this week. Adventure Ocean was top notch on Navigator.

Diamond Lounge: They did a great job with the Diamond Lounge on Navigator. Keeping the Viking Crown open with drinks and food for Diamond members from 4:30 to 8:00 every day is a big plus.

Hardware: The ship itself is in great shape and is as beautiful as ever.

The Bad:

Food: In the past, the food on RCI was always consistently pretty good to excellent and specialty restaurants were great. This was not my experience this week on Navigator. Outside of the food, there is no longer any entertainment during dining.

Food in Main Dining Room: Navigator has the new menus. They are extremely limited in selection and variety. Every day only two selections from the appetizers, main course, and dessert are changed. The rest stays the same. Only one salad is offered each day, and there are no dressings offered. All courses are ordered at the beginning. Bread is put on the table up front, remains the same each day with no variety. Cold soups are no longer offered (although our waiter was nice enough to have them do it special for us each day after we asked). There are four ice cream flavors offered (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and coffee). These never change. This is a very boring menu set for 9 days. Even where the offerings sounds good, the quality is poor and the food mostly bland, so it doesn't work out. The two desserts that change each day are often some version of something already offered (i.e. a sponge cake of some kind). It makes you wonder if RCI is trying to get people to not be interested in the main dining room so they can remove it and say it wasn't popular.

Food in Windjammer: The food in the Windjammer is no better for breakfast or lunch. Selection is limited and quality poor. There are very limited non-carb options, i.e. veggies are in very limited supply. For example, the salad bar is tiny and you are not offered hardly any dressing variety. Breads are served stale. We got a bagel once and it would have substituted for a bagel chip well. Burgers and hot dogs are fine at lunch, but not at dinner. There are no themes to the food offerings during lunch and there are no theme areas (i.e. this ship used to have a whole Asian cuisine section, but that's now gone since Izumi opened). Pizza on this ship is invariably inedible. Ironically, the dinner buffets in the Windjammer are excellent (other than hot dogs and hamburgers) - being both varied in variety and theme, and upgraded in quality.

Food at Promenade Cafe: Pizza is awful as it is everywhere on this ship. The sandwiches are fine but never change. The desserts are also fine, but boring and never change. This is also the only place on the ship that you can eat outside of mealtimes other than (pay) roomservice.

Chef's Table: This was a hugely disappointing meal. At $85.00 per person, it is the same price as Chef's Table on Carnival but a major difference in quality, quantity, service and inventiveness. Here it is a 5 course meal, where you have to make a choice on the main course. The meal consisted of the same bread in the dining room, scallop carpaccio (mostly arugula salad though), a lobster salad (excellent), tomato soup, a main course (filet, barramundi, or pasta, and dessert (a peanut butter ice cream thing). A pasta was offered as a third potential entree but we were told they would throw it in this time. Those who ordered the filet were treated to the meat put on a "crown" of potato chips put on top of mashed potatoes as the flare to that dish. Three of us ordered the barramundi, and two of us had to send it back. The alcohol was top notch though. This meal was no different than Chops, to be honest. The Chef only came out twice, once in the beginning to say hello, and once at the end to say goodbye. If you have done Chef's Table on Carnival (as I have done twice), you will find this to be a huge let down. On Carnival (Triumph and Dream), Chef's Table is treated to a Galley Tour (on Dream the dinner is actually in the galley, but none here since they can sell you a tour), several Chefs preparing the food table-side and explaining each dish and how to eat it. You are given every dish on the menu and there are far more courses. And yes you still get the wine. So, this was a major let down for me and all at the table seemed to agree. To add insult to injury, when we booked Chef's Table we were offered 1/2 off at Chops if we booked them at the same time, which we did. But two days later the Cruise Compass said you could get both for $90.00. When I called up Chops they said they didn't offer that package on this ship, only the big ships, even though it was printed right there in my Cruise Compass from that day. Eventually, they relented and gave me the package as offered in writing. But it was clear that the "big ships" offer a completely different product that has nothing to do with the hardware itself.

Chops Grille: I have eaten in Chops many times over the years. It is consistently excellent. But not on Navigator. First, they put the bread on the table, which is cold sandwich bread. It was served with a mustard butter, so all it was missing was the corned beef. Not the best start. I ordered the Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail, Lettuce Wedge Salad, 16 oz bone-in Rib Eye and Mud Pie. The Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail consisted of 2 Jumbo Shrimp and one baby shrimp hidden between the two bigger ones. The lettuce wedge salad was ok but I had to flag the waiter down to ask about cracked pepper to which I was told they were directed by corporate not to offer cracked pepper, only to be given if specifically requested. Being a key ingredient, this made no sense to me, and our waiter advised that even for their special Peppered Bacon, the directive is the same. This makes no sense in a steakhouse, at all. The steaks then arrived. My parents got a 9 oz filet and Lamb Chops, respectively. None of the steaks were seasoned - not just not enough seasoning - literally no seasoning. The waiter kindly brought me out a bowl of season salt so I could do it myself. For the sides, we got salted baked potatoes with no salt on them, and were offered drawn butter (i.e. what they put on lobster) for the butter. Again, makes no sense. For dessert we were offered the regular ice cream flavors, chocolate melting cake (pretty good), cheesecake (on the standard list from the dining room), and Mud Pie (which tasted nothing like Mud Pie). I wouldn't recommend Chops at this point.

Water: There is no way to get self-serve water on this ship. They will only give you glass by glass or sell you a package for $39 for 6 bottles.

Service:

The staff clearly tries hard and is extremely apologetic. They know they are not offering the services in the way they are supposed to be doing it. Numerous times we heard the word "embarrassed" being used to describe what they are being asked by corporate to do. They are a nice, wonderful group who are being told to give a mediocre product and are sad to be doing so.

Entertainment:

This ship used to offer in a 7 day cruise two different ice shows, at least two different parades, two different promenade parties, as well as top notch music, games and other activities. All of that is gone from Navigator. On 9 days, we had 1 ice show (done on two days). It's sad when the second show's main curtain is still up during Free Skate time. We had 1 parade (circus, on the last day of the cruise). We had one promenade party (70s, lasting about 1/2 an hour). We had 1 deck party (poorly attended, no buffet to bring people out, and only the calypso band playing). The promenade was a dead zone most of the time. The ship mostly shut down by 11:30. They had karaoke maybe 4 times in 9 days. 2 comedy shows, total. The ship is beautiful but devoid of the fun and the soul it used to have. This is a real shame considering that the "big ships" have so much to do on them, and this ship was designed specifically to be non-stop.

Hardware: As I said earlier in the review, this is a beautiful ship physically. However, we were told on-board that the December drydock may bring an additional 100 cabins to the ship. It already had about that many more installed in between my last sailing on Navigator and this one. The ship feels immensely more crowded now than it did the last sailing due to the addition of cabins in the former Nightclub space (the lower floor), and taking over outdoor deck space on Deck 13. I cannot imagine how busy this ship will feel once they add even more cabins.

Conclusion:

Overall, this is still a magnificent ship to look at. She is beautiful and has all the physical requirements to be every bit as fun and varied as the Oasis Class. These ships were the original ships where there was so much to do you couldn't do it all in a week. Sadly, RCI seems to want to push people so badly to Oasis and Quantum class that this ship has essentially been gutted. I really want to be loyal to Royal, but it's pretty impossible after this week. I don't want to be forced to go on the biggest ships in the world to get a decent experience from Royal. The offerings from lines I would have previously not considered are far superior at this point.

Thanks for your review.Navigator is getting a refurbishment next year. I think it is less about wanting people on Oasis and Quantum Class, but rather that the Navigator is beginning to show her age. Her best days are behind her unfortunately. Shame that the quality of some things have dropped, but that's how it was on Anthem as well.

Honestly, the ship itself is in phenomenal shape. Maybe that's not the case behind the scenes, but in the passenger areas, she looks great. I asked specifically about the refurb to see if they were going to add new venues, and I was only told it would be to add about 100 more cabins, on Deck 14 and I guess some other areas. Since Deck 14 is the Viking Crown on one end and an outdoor space above the last refurbs cabins, I am wondering if they are getting rid of the Viking Crown Lounge.

You somehow managed to eat almost the same itenerary I ate on Liberty last month. I noted a few things of interest

Chef's Table: Here it is a 5 course meal, where you have to make a choice on the main course.

That caught my interest, as they did the same thing on Liberty. Past CT's I've done on Oasis class have not done this. I got the distinct impression that corporate is dictating CT menus a lot more than they used to (or at least are being less discrete about it).

Your menu was the same as mine.

a lobster salad (excellent),

I thought it interesting that you highlighted yours as excellent, as it was the only dish that I thought was terrible at CT this time. The lobster (clearly warmwater) was tough and had a bitter flavor (although I do realize that sometimes lobsters can be bitter depending on what they've been eating, and it would probably be difficult to taste-test each lobster, but for CT the effort should be made).

Those who ordered the filet were treated to the meat put on a "crown" of potato chips put on top of mashed potatoes as the flare to that dish.

That... Sounds bizarre. We had the same entree, but it was just on a normal bed of mashed potatoes. No weird crown thing going on. Either our chefs bucked corporate or yours got an attack of the clevers. ;)

The Chef only came out twice, once in the beginning to say hello, and once at the end to say goodbye.

Ours came out for every course, but it didn't matter much because they had us on this little landing between 2 floors of the MDR, and the crowds in the regular dining room were so noisy that we couldn't hear him.

Overall I still very much enjoyed CT but felt that it was a letdown from the ones on Oasis-class -- I wasn't sure if that was fleetwide or just my ship, and your review is disappointing news.

The good news from your Chops review is that none of the problems you experienced were evident when we ate at Chops on Liberty, so that makes me suspect that perhaps your ship's Chops is falling down on the job and blaming corporate. Interestingly we've always regarded Chops as the least-awesome of the restaurants in the past, and last month's was the first time that we felt it was really excellent.

Thanks for the review. Where it paralleled and deviated from my experience was very informative.

Maybe they want to get more people to the buffet, so they can add more cabins where the MDR is right now:p

We just got off this cruise as well. The incredible weather, calm seas and amazing ports really made up for what was significantly lacking in other areas. We were very disappointed with the dining room food and ended up only eating there 2 of the 9 nights. We enjoyed our meal in Giovani's and Chops - no issues for us, other than dessert is somewhat underwhelming. We had a bit of a different Chef's Table experience. We thought the food was excellent - could have been that it was more in line with what we enjoy and that we finished every drop of wine that was served to us! I thought the location for CT was a bit awkward - we had some guests do some drive-by stops to see what was going on and strike up some conversations. We only saw the chef twice and it didn't have that same intimate feel that we've experienced on other ships. Our kids had a great time and enjoyed all the activities. Our room was in good condition - our cabin steward was medically evacuated in Labadee and we never met our new one - we were encouraged to hear that he was doing well. We had great service in all of the bars and concierge lounges and the staff was really trying their best. I was disappointed with the casino slot machines - very dated, but did let you play a bit - i didn't make too large of a donation this cruise. Overall, this was one of our favorite trips - if the weather, ports and seas had not been so stellar, it could have easily been one of our least favorites. I would do this itinerary over and over and over again.

Fruitytums - I totally agree about the weather and itinerary. Both were fantastic and made for a very pleasant cruise. But it would have been wonderful not matter what ship or line, and the cruise line has no control over weather - that's why it's not part of my review. But you could not have asked for better weather :)

Thank you for your review. I was also on this sailing and I couldn't agree more with everything you mentioned. I think Navigator is in terrific shape but suffers from many cutbacks from corporate to ensure a "WOW" product on their larger ships. After sailing on Anthem in February (still not impressed with the Quantum class after a handful of sailings) I realized that the new MDR menus left much to be desired and I requested a special order for Indian food every night. My meals were always served at a hot temperature and the flavors were very good, but I know this is not everyone's culinary preference. Desserts and starters were extremely lackluster. I was bored of the Windjammer breakfast and lunch after day 2. How many burgers and hot dogs can you eat in one cruise? The salad bar was pathetic and bananas were only offered every other day. My grandmother eats a banana for breakfast every day and she had trouble finding one. Don't get me wrong... food is completely subjective, but this has been a consistent issue on Royal's older ships. Excellent service but lack of variety, in addition to lukewarm temperatures.

One of my biggest complaints is the entertainment department. I thought the ice show was excellent, but only one for a 9-night sailing? Also, when did they stop assigning show times based on assembly stations? Seating was atrocious. The shows in the main theatre were... rough (for lack of a better word.) We were told by one of the dancers during the backstage tour that these were the same shows he danced in 10 years ago during his first contract on Navigator. I understand the shows are extremely expensive to produce and execute but I believe these are the same shows since the ship launched in 2002. That's 16 years! A little updating is needed, especially when half of the audience doesn't even know the original artist or Broadway musical that the songs are from.

Thank you again for your review. I am in the same boat as you, where I have cruised for many years and have stayed "loyal to Royal" (I reached Diamond Plus during the cruise) with the occasional Celebrity sailing thrown in. I have a few more cruises booked with Royal but I will greatly reconsider my options in the future. I love the older ships because of their unique charm and character, but Royal continues to siphon money into the newer, larger ships where they can get more "bang for their buck." Don't get me wrong, I love the newer, larger ships too! There were many other issues that I experienced during this sailing (I won't hijack your post!) but the gorgeous weather, smooth seas, and wonderful ports made for an enjoyable cruise vacation. As a teacher, I am limited on my choices of sailing dates but in the future I will search for more port-intensive itineraries, as there are minimal activities during sea days on the smaller vessels. I am in my early 30s, an avid cruise fan, and I check this site and other cruise blogs religiously. I am more of a "silent observer" who rarely "blasts" his opinions online (I like to think of myself as Switzerland and remain neutral) but I wanted to add my two cents to your post.

Thanks for the fair and balanced review from a seasoned perspective. Useful to align expectations should someone still book a cruise on it.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

You are not alone OP. Good friends of ours just got back from the same cruise. They mentioned that the ship was good (except for the saltwater pools), the entertainment was great but the food was the worst they’ve had in a very long time. They have done many cruises on many lines, and we have sailed with them on the navigator itself in the past.

Having said that, we just got done off the Liberty in January and were very happy with the food, some of the best we’ve had in the main dining room in our cruises with Royal Caribbean. It sounds as though this is a navigator issue. However, we did still have the old menus with a wider variety of offerings. We did have bread baskets set down at the beginning of each meal instead of a bread service offered. That was a bummer because some of my favorite breads are missing now.

I am really wanting to do an ABC cruise with my wife in March next year and this itinerary looks amazing. Not so sure I want to put up with so so food though.

thank you for your honest review. Well done.

Dan

They are extremely limited in selection and variety. Every day only two selections from the appetizers, main course, and dessert are changed. The rest stays the same. Only one salad is offered each day, and there are no dressings offered. All courses are ordered at the beginning. Bread is put on the table up front, remains the same each day with no variety. Cold soups are no longer offered (although our waiter was nice enough to have them do it special for us each day after we asked). There are four ice cream flavors offered (vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and coffee). These never change. This is a very boring menu set for 9 days. Even where the offerings sounds good, the quality is poor and the food mostly bland, so it doesn't work out. The two desserts that change each day are often some version of something already offered (i.e. a sponge cake of some kind). It makes you wonder if RCI is trying to get people to not be interested in the main dining room so they can remove it and say it wasn't popular.

This is their aim...they are heading toward having only a buffet as "included" food....wait and see. The cruise dining experience has gone so far downhill, it's now in a valley of despair. Folks who have never cruised don't know what they're missing...and that's what cruise lines count on....

We sailed her last Feb. and everything you mentioned we experienced too. After the first two nights in the main dinning room we gave up and ate in the Windjammer the rest of the cruise. After the first day we would check the menu each day and each day we headed to the Windjammer.And this was before the new menu's. We sailed Rhapsody this past March and it was the same. Food in Windjammer far better then MDR. I hope RCL gets the message. There was a lot of negative feedback among the folks we talked too on the ship. I will still sail RCL but I hope things improve.

Thank you for your review.

I wanted to ask about your comment on the unavailability of water. Are there any free style soda machines? Does the Windjammer have any water (and ice?) dispensing stations as on other ships?

Doing this itin on this ship in a few days; I am surprised there is so much less entertainment than you would normally expect. I was looking forward to "big ship" entertainment after a few recent small ships. Have done Voyager-class before many times, but they were still hot stuff then. Recent photos look fantastic, but a boring ship is a downer. Even worse, I hate inefficient and apologetic service. It just takes the whole mystique of a pampering sea cruise and destroys it. I can get mediocre service anywhere. We willl see; I am looking forward to the itinerary and time off work with my family. But this is the first time in a long time I don't have a future RC cruise booked already and may not when I get off.

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.

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.

I fully agree, however everyone dining in the MDR is choosing from the same menu, and the menu options are quite limited. I don't know if it has to do with MTD, as we always prefer early traditional dining (tried MTD in the past, definitely not for us.) On this cruise, we took our time enjoying the service and company at our table, often spending almost 2 hours at dinner. No issues with ordering everything at the same time, it's your preference if you want a quick meal or an extended evening. Service remained spectacular throughout the entire voyage, but the culinary piece of the entire experience was subpar.

We enjoy the traditional early time also. I was including the limited menu choices as a byproduct of MTD also. The menu must be the same for traditional as well as MTD, otherwise it would be a nightmare in the kitchen.

I was also on this cruise and was extremely disappointed by the entertainment gap from the big newer ships to this one. RCCL just doesn't want to give the same experience they give on these new ships. The food in the Windjammer was one of the best we have had and the main dining room was good but lacking options and variety. Entertainment and activities staff was the worst we have ever had and the shows were cheaply produced. Our worst experience came during lobster night when the waiter wouldn't serve us more than one to two lobsters because of "new procedures" He then became extremely defensive when we said the service lacked on that specific night. Other than that it was a great crew and I feel like corporate is putting them in a terrible spot.

Were there enrichment lecturers onboard? I have been looking at a Compass from a february 9 night cruise and they had guest speakers during the day; did they still have that for your cruise?

Thanks for the honest review. We will be boarding NOS this Friday for the same 9 day cruise.

We keep our MDR "food expectations" low and occasionally order a back up entree and Ice cream with dessert. The MDR desserts have not been good for years now. I agree - Carnival now offers more menu options & better desserts.

I was surprised to hear that Chops on NOS let you down as well (especially the desserts). We will take your advice - I guess we can just grab a Johnny rockets shake.........

I will let you know how it goes next week.

Thank you for your review. I was also on this sailing and I couldn't agree more with everything you mentioned. I think Navigator is in terrific shape but suffers from many cutbacks from corporate to ensure a "WOW" product on their larger ships. After sailing on Anthem in February (still not impressed with the Quantum class after a handful of sailings) I realized that the new MDR menus left much to be desired and I requested a special order for Indian food every night. My meals were always served at a hot temperature and the flavors were very good, but I know this is not everyone's culinary preference. Desserts and starters were extremely lackluster. I was bored of the Windjammer breakfast and lunch after day 2. How many burgers and hot dogs can you eat in one cruise? The salad bar was pathetic and bananas were only offered every other day. My grandmother eats a banana for breakfast every day and she had trouble finding one. Don't get me wrong... food is completely subjective, but this has been a consistent issue on Royal's older ships. Excellent service but lack of variety, in addition to lukewarm temperatures.

 

 

One of my biggest complaints is the entertainment department. I thought the ice show was excellent, but only one for a 9-night sailing? Also, when did they stop assigning show times based on assembly stations? Seating was atrocious. The shows in the main theatre were... rough (for lack of a better word.) We were told by one of the dancers during the backstage tour that these were the same shows he danced in 10 years ago during his first contract on Navigator. I understand the shows are extremely expensive to produce and execute but I believe these are the same shows since the ship launched in 2002. That's 16 years! A little updating is needed, especially when half of the audience doesn't even know the original artist or Broadway musical that the songs are from.

 

Thank you again for your review. I am in the same boat as you, where I have cruised for many years and have stayed "loyal to Royal" (I reached Diamond Plus during the cruise) with the occasional Celebrity sailing thrown in. I have a few more cruises booked with Royal but I will greatly reconsider my options in the future. I love the older ships because of their unique charm and character, but Royal continues to siphon money into the newer, larger ships where they can get more "bang for their buck." Don't get me wrong, I love the newer, larger ships too! There were many other issues that I experienced during this sailing (I won't hijack your post!) but the gorgeous weather, smooth seas, and wonderful ports made for an enjoyable cruise vacation. As a teacher, I am limited on my choices of sailing dates but in the future I will search for more port-intensive itineraries, as there are minimal activities during sea days on the smaller vessels. I am in my early 30s, an avid cruise fan, and I check this site and other cruise blogs religiously. I am more of a "silent observer" who rarely "blasts" his opinions online (I like to think of myself as Switzerland and remain neutral) but I wanted to add my two cents to your post.

It is truly not considered "hijacking" if you contribute your experiences to a thread started by someone else.

Let 'er rip!

We were on the ABC cruise that ended on March 25. I honestly didn’t think the food in the MDR was that bad; but I’m a lousy cook, so anything would be a treat for me. I just wanted to point out that you can get self serve water in the Cafe Prominade. I was in there every afternoon getting a couple glasses of water. There was also a dispenser on the pool bar, at least there was on embarkation day. I know because I was sitting on the stool in front of it. Had to keep moving every time someone wanted water.

We agree with your Navigator assessment. We took our three granddaughters on a spring break five nighter with the hopes of winning the younger ones over to Royal. Due to the lack of entertainment and food options, and the worst dining team in our cruise history, they now want to return to the Carnival Magic or Liberty.

Our older granddaughter has more experience cruising, and enjoyed the cruise as we had a lovely aft facing junior suite with a huge balcony and a nearby balcony. Both cabin attendants were great, as was the concierge in the Diamond Lounge.

So definitely a mixed bag but it was a shame that Royal wasn’t able to convert two young Carnival cruisers. Guess our next choice of cruising with the grands will either be the Carnival Magic or an Oasis class ship.

I did not see any free style soda machines. There is one regular fountain dispenser in the Windjammer that says for soda package guests only but the sign was always in front blocking usage and I never saw anyone use it. Windjammer only has water (and ice) with someone giving it to you individually. There are no self serve water dispensing stations.

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