After reading the reviews about the Navigator, we were really concerned about our upcoming cruise and worried that we had made a mistake, however, we were pleasantly surprised at how nice the ship was and how friendly and welcoming the crew was. My husband and I traveled with our 14 and 17 year old girls for a 6 night cruise over Christmas. We arrived at Port Everglades in Ft. Lauderdale at around 11:30 a.m.. Everyone greeted us in a friendly manner and there were no lines so we got on the ship shortly after we arrived at the Port. Our cabin wasn't ready (but this was no surprise since this was our 15th cruise and this has been the case on every one) but the Windjammer was open and the food was ready for us to have lunch.

The food on this cruise wasn't the best that we've ever had but there was a good variety and it was always fresh. We chose to eat at 3 specialty restaurants (Sabor, Izumi and Chops) for dinner and we enjoyed all 3 and thought that they were worth the extra money. We were asked several times if we wanted to book a specialty restaurant (while we ate in the dining room) but once we said that we had already booked or that we weren't interested, they politely said thank you and left us alone. When we ate in the dining room, the staff was always courteous, efficient and went out of their way to make our dinner an enjoyable experience. Our daughter is lactose intolerant and our server Nadia and the head waiter made sure that there was no dairy in any of her food choices. They even had a special lobster prepared for her, without butter. The man in charge of our beverages, Putu, did an excellent job making sure that we were never thirsty! We met Raquel, one of bartenders at the Bolero Bar, on our first day and she remembered our names and greeted us with a smile and great drinks every time we stopped by there. She took the time to chat with us and ask us what kinds of drinks we like so that she could serve us our favorites. Some of the reviews that we had read said that they had received poor service with the drink packages but we never felt this way. The only time that we had poor bar service was on the last sea day at the Sky Bar. We understand that it was very busy and a few of the bartenders were trying to get drinks made quickly but a few others had no interest in serving the passengers quickly or at all!

We stopped in Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Labadee, Haiti. We only got off the ship in Grand Cayman and Haiti and had a wonderful time on both islands. We didn't enjoy the tender in Grand Cayman but the ride was short and we understand that this is sometimes necessary. Our cabin attendant, Berline, was great. She kept our cabin clean and often asked us questions about how we slept etc...She was visible and always greeted us with a smile. We had read reviews about how hard and uncomfortable the beds were and how flat the pillows were but we slept just fine. We went to a few shows and if I had to complain about 1 thing on this ship, it would be the entertainment in the theater and the piano bar, but it didn't ruin our experience on the Navigator, we just found other things to do. Read more