Navigator Reviews From European Sailings?

[Sultan84]

I am going on a cruise on the Navigator on June 12th and I have been looking for new reviews - no luck. There has been no review posted since the April Cruises (before the transatlantic crossing). Also, there is no Roll Call for this cruise. Is anyone else going?

 

Is there anyone who has been on a med cruise on the Navigator recently and is willing to share his/her impressions and comments? We have not been on the Navigator for three years and loved her the last time.

 

Thanks for updates

[SelectSys]

... Is there anyone who has been on a med cruise on the Navigator recently and is willing to share his/her impressions and comments? ... Thanks for updates

 

Not sure if this is recent enough but we sailed on Navigator last summer during the peak holiday season. The ship itself was in good shape and the crew / service was fine. The dining room and food outside of the specialty restaurants was just OK but this isn't a big factor for us.

 

The ship was packed with families (including ours) so someone looking for a sedate cruise experience wouldn't have been all that happy. The ship was sailing out of Southampton so the passengers on board were 80%+ from the UK. This will probably change as I believe it is no longer based in Southampton.

[debbymark]

we are going on the navigator on Saturday and our TA phoned to say our tickets were in and the upgrade fairy had visited. We are going from an inside to a balcony.Yippee

[flahagan]

Debbymark,

Congratulations on a terrific upgrade!!!

 

We were on the April TA, and the ship looks great. I agree that the dining room food is just so-so, and it's sad that there's no lobster tail, even on our 14 nt cruise.

 

I read somewhere recently that the most recent cruises out of Barcelona were heavily populated with Spaniards, which only makes sense! I also read that many of the announcements were in Spanish first, don't know if that's a fact.

 

I believe the dining room times have been pushed back a half-hour to accommodate the European crowd, who are used to eating later. That would definitely push me to eat all meals either in the Windjammer or in the specialty restaurants if I had late seating.

 

You should have a fabulous time. The entertainment was terrific, the ship shows very little wear and she's a beauty.

 

Bon Voyage!

[scgirlatheart]

I am going on a cruise on the Navigator on June 12th and I have been looking for new reviews - no luck. There has been no review posted since the April Cruises (before the transatlantic crossing). Also, there is no Roll Call for this cruise. Is anyone else going?

 

Is there anyone who has been on a med cruise on the Navigator recently and is willing to share his/her impressions and comments? We have not been on the Navigator for three years and loved her the last time.

 

Thanks for updates

 

No review here, but we're on the same sailing as you. Have never been to Europe before, so we're very excited and getting a little nervous.

[stalco]

We just returned from the May 19th to 24th sailing on the Navigator. We had a great time. Our only issue was a very poor room attendant however we were very pleased with our dining room staff. The ship is beautiful and in great shape. Very clean. Their was a big issue with one of the stabilizers a few cruises ago but we hardly new the ship was on the water, so doing without one was no problem. It was a little rocky for about an hour on the first night but other then that it was great. We had a forward cabin... so it was a very long walk to the other end of the ship but we got our exercise that way. The bathroom was very roomy and I enjoyed the shower with doors instead of the all intrusive shower curtain. We enjoyed the ports. We did take a couple ships excursions that although pricey were very good tours. Let me know if you have any questions.

Enjoy your cruise.. wish we were back on ours.

[willy wonka]

We just sailed the NOS May 19th as well. We had a great time. We did not eat in the dining room the entire trip as we did both Chops and Portofinos (Chops is better!). We had an early dining time and found it difficult to get there especially on the Florence and Rome tour days. We were way too tired. We booked our tours through limoinrome.com and loved it. If you get a group (4-6) it costs the same as the ship's tours and you are not stuck on a bus. Part of the fun was riding in the car as it zipped through the narrow streets of Italy dodging people and cars. Buses couldn't get to 3/4 of the places we went! Enjoyed the Cosmopolitan Club at the top of the ship at sunset. Have a great cruise!

[raffles]

We just returned from the May 19th to 24th sailing on the Navigator. We had a great time. Our only issue was a very poor room attendant however we were very pleased with our dining room staff. The ship is beautiful and in great shape. Very clean. Their was a big issue with one of the stabilizers a few cruises ago but we hardly new the ship was on the water, so doing without one was no problem. It was a little rocky for about an hour on the first night but other then that it was great. We had a forward cabin... so it was a very long walk to the other end of the ship but we got our exercise that way. The bathroom was very roomy and I enjoyed the shower with doors instead of the all intrusive shower curtain. We enjoyed the ports. We did take a couple ships excursions that although pricey were very good tours. Let me know if you have any questions.

Enjoy your cruise.. wish we were back on ours.

 

We too will be on 12 June sailing and looking forward to it. We have been allocated a forward cabin - right at the very front - I expect a long walk but wonder about the motion. It is an o/v but not a balcony :( , Despite several RCI cruises we have never been upgraded to a balcony. Wish I knew how they make their selections, can't be made on how much past cruisers have spent or I would be in the Royal Suite !!

 

Did your cruise include Ibiza? Not sure what to expect there ;)

 

Last year on the Voyager we had late sitting but never got our of the dining room before 11pm. We gave up and used the Windjammer, (we did let them know that we would not be dining) apart from going back on the last night to hand out the tips. We have selected main diding this time - do you know what time that is?

 

Glad you enjoyed the ship, we have just returned from the Independence and wonder how they will compare.

[mike@sea]

Just returned yesterday from a 4 night sailing on the Navigator.

Cabin/Ship: We had a D2 cabin on deck 9. Ship is generally in OK condition. Was on the Jewel 3 weeks prior and she definitely was in much better shape. Carpets in Navigator are all faded and that makes the ship look a bit tired. Gym was in so so condition. Sauna in good condition. All our towels in the cabin had that funny yellow almost stained look. Not sure where from. Read about it in another thread, must have been an issue for several cruises now. Towels were thick and did not seem old or anything, but left a bad impression.

 

Dining room: Food in dining room was mediocre. Never really hot and presentation lacked. "New" menus ( actually they are not so new ) slightly worse than before. Found the desserts better though and usually I don´t touch them.

 

Windjammer: The ship was pretty full and thus the buffet area presented itself like a zoo at times. I personnally don´t like buffets too much in general. Found the windjammer on the Navigator very limited in items and difficult to find things. Was especially disappointed not to find a decent salad buffet. Compared to the windjammer on the Jewel this was definitely worse.

Windjammer at dinner was much better though. Forget the Sushi (compared to Celebrity for instance), as it is very limited and not well presented, but the other selections at least looked nice and variety was good ( did not eat there though ).

 

Bars: Always crowded. They must have made a fortune on drinks on this cruise. It was a real party cruise in a way.

 

Nightclub: Simply excellent! The best in 15+ cruises thank´s to the great DJ (and the fellow passengers of course). He played excellent music and not the HIP Hop/ "Oh yes it´s ladies night", "YMCA"- crap you here on other ships over and over again. Well done!

 

Shows: Sorry cannot comment.

 

Concierge: So-so. Had better ones yet. He wasn´t the most helpful and hard to find in the morning. Cocktails only served till 8:30 p.m. despite the fact that 2nd seating started at 09:15 p.m. only. That in my opinion should have been adjusted.

 

Staff: Very accomodating and usually very friendly throughout.

 

Fellow passengers: Never had a more diverse crowd: India, China, Israel, Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland, UK, France, Portugal, US, Canada, Germany, Spain, Spain and more Spain

All announcements in English, Spanish and German. Could have been less announcements for my taste.

 

Embarkation: Quick due to Diamond status. It was very crowded around 1:30 p.m. though.

Disembarkation: Very easy. Leave early though if you need a taxi. There are plenty and it is very well organized but the lines do get long later in the morning.

 

Overall a nice cruise with a party athmosphere. Would I do Navigator again? Only on short cruises. This applies to all Voyager class ships for my taste.

[deedon]

We just returned from the May 19th to 24th sailing on the Navigator. We had a great time. Our only issue was a very poor room attendant however we were very pleased with our dining room staff. The ship is beautiful and in great shape. Very clean. Their was a big issue with one of the stabilizers a few cruises ago but we hardly new the ship was on the water, so doing without one was no problem. It was a little rocky for about an hour on the first night but other then that it was great. We had a forward cabin... so it was a very long walk to the other end of the ship but we got our exercise that way. The bathroom was very roomy and I enjoyed the shower with doors instead of the all intrusive shower curtain. We enjoyed the ports. We did take a couple ships excursions that although pricey were very good tours. Let me know if you have any questions.

Enjoy your cruise.. wish we were back on ours.

 

i am on the 7 night eastern med in july. who was the cruise director and what was the entertainment on your cruise