Navigator of the Seas 12/1/08 Review

[QTBabyNurse]

We were on the Navigator of the Seas, 12/1/08, 5 nights to Cozumel and Belize. We thought the ship itself looked to be in very good shape, had a very pleasing decor and the crew was very kind and pleasant to talk with. We had a hump balcony for the first time and although it had a nice view....I would opt again for an aft balcony anyday if given the choice. Yes, you have to walk a bit further to get everywhere, but the view cannot be compared!

 

One word about our cabin....another poster recently mentioned the yellow water from the bathroom tap---we encountered the same problem. It was very unpleasant! We did bring a case of bottled water with us though after reading that poster's comment and we were glad we did. We just put a luggage tag on it and checked it...received the case with our luggage...no questions asked.

 

My husband attempted to surprise me with cabin decorations for my birthday on the day of departure, but he waited all day for them to arrive and they never did. Needless to say he felt really bad for me and went to the guest relations desk to ask what happened. They told him that they were scheduled for another day...he told them to cancel because he ordered it to be done on my actual birthday and that there was no use to do it three days later. We checked our credit card bill when we came home and his money had already been refunded.

 

The food in the dining room was typical for Royal Caribbean. Some entrees were very good while others were just fair. Food is such a personal thing, so what I enjoyed, others might not and visa versa. I thought that the desserts were lacking a bit however compared to previous cruises on RCL. Again, no birthday acknowledgment in the dining room at dinner as requested at the time of reservation by hubby! The service in the dining room has declined a bit we thought. Used to be that your favorite beverage would be remembered from night to night, but none of that....not too much interaction with the wait staff during dinner as I remember from previous trips...seems like the wait staff had more tables to cover than before and they appeared rushed. We missed that interaction alot as used to make for a memorable experience. I did hear there were alot of new crew on these past few sailings, so maybe that they will return to the way it used to be. I hope so. The food at the Cafe Promenade was outstanding...the sandwiches, pizza, cookies and desserts were very enjoyable! BTW---I didn't see any hand sanitizing apparatus onboard upon entering Windjammer or the dining rooms. I asked where it was and they said that there have been no outbreaks recently and it was "now safe". Not a good idea in my opinion, but I still brought my own little bottle of Purell to keep in my pocket and many others did as well.

 

In regard to entertainment, the singers and the latin band we thought were phenomenal! Many people were taking advantage of being able to latin dance...it was alot of fun to watch! Quest was Quest...for those of you that have seen it, you know what I mean! It was probably the funniest one I've ever seen. Kudos to the cruise director for adding to the humor of that night! The casino staff were friendly and the slots were very loose on the last night..alot of passengers were winning. Hubby and I did very well between the slots and the tables. The daily trivia games were alot of fun as well and they gave some pretty nice prizes to the winning teams. We thought the activities staff were very good! We also felt the photography staff is superb! We've taken many cruises and this is the first time we had a hard time choosing which photos we wanted to buy! They were all so good!

 

A couple of dissappointments--

1. There was a very obvious sewage smell as you walked the promenade deck on some evenings. We noticed the same smell in hallway and our cabin one day. We mentioned it to our cabin steward and he said they were having problems with the ventilation/air condition that day. It cleared by the afternoon and never returned.

 

2. The coffee onboard is horrendous! I know coffee is a personal thing..some like it strong and some don't. However everyone that I talked to commented on how awful it was. VERY strong and way too bitter.

[johnlcruise]

All in All it sounds like you had a nice time.

Thanks for posting.

[Hombre59]

I have a quick question, what night was lobster night (if there is one) on your sailing? Thanks.

[QTBabyNurse]

I have a quick question, what night was lobster night (if there is one) on your sailing? Thanks.

 

Yes we had lobster...it was on the 4th night. Don't miss the prime rib...it was out of this world! That was served on the 1st night.

[huntingdon]

thanks for the review! i'm taking the exact same cruise next week, and am glad to hear that everything was okay, if not good. i'm also pleased to hear about lobster night, and the prime rib! hope the weather was good in the caribbean. were there lots of kids? curious, as to time of year.

thanks, angel:cool:

[silentbob007]

It's too bad that the water thing wasn't fixed, but at least you were prepared. :)

[want2seaitall]

What cabin number were you in?

[dutchess43]

Has anyone brought up the water problem to guest relations or whomever? I feel this is a great concern. I was on board the Enchantment during the water problem it was horrible our water was actually turning our wash clothes brown. I hope that we do not have to go through that again on board another ship.

[silentbob007]

They are well aware of the problem.

[QTBabyNurse]

thanks for the review! i'm taking the exact same cruise next week, and am glad to hear that everything was okay, if not good. i'm also pleased to hear about lobster night, and the prime rib! hope the weather was good in the caribbean. were there lots of kids? curious, as to time of year.

thanks, angel:cool:

 

There were quite a few kids...but I have to say...they were kept very occupied by Adventure Ocean. The ones that were roaming around unattended were very well behaved, at least on OUR cruise! They were fun to chat with cuz they were enjoying themselves so much!

[QTBabyNurse]

It's too bad that the water thing wasn't fixed, but at least you were prepared. :)

 

I was prepared thanks to YOUR review!! ;)

[QTBabyNurse]

What cabin number were you in?

 

8620....hump balcony.

[QTBabyNurse]

Has anyone brought up the water problem to guest relations or whomever? I feel this is a great concern. I was on board the Enchantment during the water problem it was horrible our water was actually turning our wash clothes brown. I hope that we do not have to go through that again on board another ship.

 

I'm not sure how many people actually commented to guest relations....I did and I also noted it on our survey at the end of the cruise. I would recommend you do not wash any clothes in that water as it will stain them....it was staining the white towels.

[want2seaitall]

8620....hump balcony.

 

I'm just wondering if it is an isolated area of the ship or an overall problem. Some reviews say no yellow water. So I'm guessing it is isolated. What do you think is causing it...rusting pipes?

[QTBabyNurse]

I'm just wondering if it is an isolated area of the ship or an overall problem. Some reviews say no yellow water. So I'm guessing it is isolated. What do you think is causing it...rusting pipes?

 

The crew even told us that their water is yellow.

[miked998]

I was on this cruise and we did not have a problem with yellow water. We were in cabin 8377 (interior cabin).

[want2seaitall]

It is starting to sound like the cheaper cabins had nice clean water and the $$$ balcony cabins had yellow water! Finally...the little guy gets a break. :D just kidding folks. I've got 2 interiors...but I've got my eye on balconies and suites...I'm trying to make a decision...man its hard. $$$ on a better cabin...or $$$ for fun stuff on the cruise OOOORRRRR another cruise all together. I'm leaning for the cheaper cabins...as of right now!

[Zqueeze1]

Thanks for the info especially about the water situation and the food. My wife will be pleased to hear about the lobster and prime rib. Did you take any excursions in Cozumel or Belize? If so, were they RCI sponsored or local? How were they? Looking forward to your comments since we will be cruising next week.

[QTBabyNurse]

Thanks for the info especially about the water situation and the food. My wife will be pleased to hear about the lobster and prime rib. Did you take any excursions in Cozumel or Belize? If so, were they RCI sponsored or local? How were they? Looking forward to your comments since we will be cruising next week.

 

 

We did not take any excursions this time. We've been to Cozumel before, so we just walked around on our own....it's such a nice port with very friendly people...I really like it there. Last time we were there we took the Passion Island excursion and liked it very much.

Belize was another story. The area that the tenders drop you off is called Fort Street Tourism Village....it is fenced in. You are NOT encouraged to leave that area unless you are with an excursion due to security issues with tourists. However, I had a friend on this cruise that took the zipline tour through RCL and absolutely LOVED it and would do it again.

One thing I forgot to mention in my review. I emailed the dining room a few months ago to request a large table by the window and we were granted our request. I was glad to see that it worked! I wish I could remember the email address but I don't. I'm sure if you do a search on this forum, you will find it though. Just thought everyone would like to know that!

[montekat]

8620....hump balcony.

You got the cabin we had booked but gave up when a suite gty became available for just a few dollars more. Sorry to hear you had problems. I agree with your review 100%. The coffee is way too strong, even when watered down! I also missed having French Onion soup. They only had plain onion soup and when I mentioned it to our waiter, he brought me a bread round with toasted cheese on top. Our table was never full for dinner so our waiters had more time for us, and did remember our iced tea every night.

 

We did the Zipline/cave tubing excursion and loved the zipline. The cave tubing was OK, but took a lot of paddling to get through the cave.

[sedbandmom]

I was on this cruise and we did not have a problem with yellow water. We were in cabin 8377 (interior cabin).

 

We were also on this cruise in 9394 (Royal Family Suite) and did not have yellow water. We enjoyed everything about the cruise and plan to sail on Navigator in the future.

 

 

 

Sandy (and Wayne)

[Zqueeze1]

Now that's what I call getting good info. After reading your tip on requesting a specific table, I found the e-mail address and just send our request to RCL. The address is: rcldining@rccl.com.

 

We are a family of six and are cruising for our first time together. Hopefully, RCL can accomodate my request.

 

Again, thanks for the heads up.

[pirate52]

We will be on the same cruise in January. Thanks for the great info, but I have a couple of questions.

 

Was the lobster served on the formal night?

 

Were there any deals for multiple picture purchases? We are platinum members, don't know if that makes a difference.

 

Were there any theme nights in the bars....70s....disco....anything like that?

 

Thanks for any info.

[QTBabyNurse]

We will be on the same cruise in January. Thanks for the great info, but I have a couple of questions.

 

Was the lobster served on the formal night?

 

Were there any deals for multiple picture purchases? We are platinum members, don't know if that makes a difference.

 

Were there any theme nights in the bars....70s....disco....anything like that?

 

Thanks for any info.

Lobster was served on the 4th night. The formal night was the 2nd night.

We are platinum members as well, the only coupon in the book was for 15% off to burn a CD with your camera's digital photos....which is stupid since we can all do that when we get home on our own computer. They were offering a package for all passengers however that you can get one 8x10 and another sheet with either two 5x7's or one 5x7 and about 6 wallets for $29.95. I honestly thought the photos on this cruise came out so much better than in cruises past.....we found about 10 photos of us that came out really good and we had a hard time choosing just two.....we chose a casual shot and a formal shot.

There were a couple of theme nights that I recall....70's night, tropical night and black & white night.

[QTBabyNurse]

Couple other things I forgot to mention......there were no beach towels in the cabin. You had to get them at the pool...they ask for your cabin number when you take them and also when you turn them back in.

Never saw any chair hogs....plenty of empty deck chairs.

We are platinum C&A members and it was like the 4th night and we still hadn't received any welcome back gift. I called guest relations to see if they have stopped giving out the gifts...she was surprised that I hadn't received anything yet. By that evening we had two C&A baseball caps in our cabin.