Navigator of the Seas Review

4.5 / 5.0
2,293 reviews

An experience worth repeating

Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Navigator of the Seas
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jemr
First Time Cruiser • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2010
Cabin: Interior Stateroom

This was our third cruise with Royal Carribbean having previously taken a mini cruise from Miami and last year sailed on Independence from Southampton to the Canaries. We have also sailed a similar itinerary on Norwegian Gem. Of the three RCCI ships this was definately our favourite. To cover the main areas: Check in - We had flown from the UK to Rome airport where we arrived at 10.45am, left our luggage and got on a coach for a journey that took only 60 minutes. The arrivals tent at Cittivechia was certainly crowded but the process was efficient, troublefree and quick. By 1.30pm we were having lunch onboard. Cabin - We booked a very reasonable late deal and decided to settle for an inside cabin. This was more than adequate given that we spent very little time in it. It was scrupulously clean, the fixtures and fittings were in good condition, the bed was extremely comfortable, there is lots of storage and amazingly, the shower is really powerful. The only downside is that whatever time you wake up it is pitch black which can be a bit disorientating but the saving we made will make a healthy contribution towards another cruise! Dining - We don't like the idea of fixed seating so opted as we have before for My Time Dining in the Swan Lake dining room. The system works relatively well although there was on occasion some confusion as to whether you needed to make a reservation. However, the unflappable Head Waiter did manage to give us our preferred table for two by the window every evening. On the whole the food is unremarkable, I would describe it as ok quality mass catering. The fruit soups are delicious and some deserts are quite nice but the main courses were far from outstanding. The vegetarian and fish options were a bit disappointing. The service is friendly and the waiters greet you every evening like a long lost friend but the fact that we didn't sit with the same waiters every night did leave us in a quandry when it came to distributing the prepaid gratuities on the last night. We had breakfast every day in the Nutcracker thus avoiding the hustle and bustle of the Windjammer. You sit on large tables with whoever arrives at the same time, everything except fruit and granola is served and the hot selection is freshly prepared. I have to say that unfortunately, except for the last morning, the service was a bit surly but otherwise we enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and met some lovely people. Lunch was taken in the Windjammer and on the whole we ate late, coming in after going ashore. As a result we never had a problem getting to the food or finding a table. Again, the food is nothing special and the choice for vegetarians is poor, luckily I like salad. At 3.30 the choice switches to High Tea and this is much better. There are hot deserts (for some reason none are served with lunch), do-it-yourself tacos and some nice humous and tuna dips. We also discovered that the oriental part of the buffet served in the evening includes freshly made Sushi which makes for a nice snack when you're feeling peckish at 6.30! I must also mention the mid-cruise midnight buffet. We had told some other guests that this would be a gastronomic highlight - sadly it turned out to be what appeared to be leftovers from the Windjammer. In summary what I would say is you will never starve and will probably find something you like plus if you do get hungry there are always sandwiches and cakes in the Promenade Cafe at all times of the day and night where there is also tea and (drinkable) coffee on tap. Entertainment - Not nearly as good as on the Independence. We watched all but one of the main shows (we missed out on a Celine Dion impersonator). The production shows were pleasant but lacked any cohesion. The speciality acts on the other nights were a very unusual modern string quartet (brilliant!), a shadow puppeteer (clever and unusual), los gauchos (another form of puppetry plus some comedy). Most surprisingly on nearly all nights the theatre was more than half empty which meant it suffered from a lack of atmosphere. One big gripe - on Wednesday when the ship was docked in Barcelona till 10pm there was no headline show, instead the main entertainment was the Germany v Spain World Cup match which took place that night. The ice show was entertaining and we did enjoy the adults only Quest show. We tended to dip into the other musical entertainment such as the Latin band and the pianist. The Jazz event in the lounge on the last night which featured the headline singers was marvelous. The passengers - There are around 3,500 multi-national passengers. As the cruise started in Rome obviously there were a lot of Italians, plus there were many Americans, Brits, other Europeans and Middle Eastern passengers. The school holidays had started in Europe and the US so there were quite a lot of children. Having read other reviews, I was a bit worried about the reported lack of queuing and bad behaviour, this was completely unfounded. The atmosphere aboard was terrific, we never saw one badly behaved child let alone an adult and we really enjoyed the chance to meet and chat with people from all over the world. Ports of Call - We took this holiday because we enjoy the overall cruising experience and have previously visited several of the ports. We therefore didn't take any organised trips but did have to use the shuttle buses from the ship to the towns. The cost for these is really extortionate. The highlight for us was without question Villefranche where the ship drops anchor and you go to shore on a tender. The view from the ship is breathtaking and we had a wonderful day in Nice for the cost of the 3.20euro return train fare. We also thoroughly enjoyed Barcelona and Palma. Genoa was just ok. The two hours we spent onshore in Sardinia was probably one hour too many. We loved the day at sea, had no trouble finding deck chairs on the quiet upper deck and really wished there had been one more at sea day - nothing beats lying in the sun, surrounded by the med and we were even treated to some dolphins swimming by at breakfast time. Checking out - We opted to pay $35 dollars each for late check out as our flights weren't until early evening. This was really worthwhile as we didn't have to leave the ship until 3.30pm for the transfer back to the airport. We had the whole deck almost to ourselves plus the extra lunch was included. There was a little hiccup as we couldn't shower and change in the gym as promised but we were given time in a cabin just before we left and I'll forgive them the error as instead of arriving home exhausted from a long day hanging around in the airport, in effect we had a whole extra relaxing day. I have to finish by saying that despite some criticism this was our favourite cruise to date and we would certainly sail on Navigator again.

Cabin Review

Interior Stateroom

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