Navigator of the Seas Review

Pretty good, but left me thinking we could do better.

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Navigator of the Seas

I went on this cruise with my husband, and 16 year old daughter.

Embarkation:

Galveston. Sigh.

Cabin Review

Junior Suite

Cabin JS

Cabin 6694 – in the rear “aft” section was a Junior Suite.

As many have stated, the junior suites are like an average sized hotel room.

Aside from the extra space – which IMO, if there are more than two people in the cabin, is really essential for sanity purposes alone – the biggest benefit was the priority boarding. We could not arrive for embarkation until after 12 p.m. By that time, the line for security and check-in was long. Crazy long. Over 1000 people -- easy. And the port building is not well air conditioned.

Pros:

Location of Junior Suite 6694: For those prone to seasickness – like me – I only felt vibration in the aft section when in port. Granted the seas were extremely calm for the duration of our cruise, but none the less, in the forward (front) areas -- I could feel a definite sway (this was with my handy wristband device zapping away). I never felt “sway” in aft.

6694 is a long walk from the elevators and nearest staircase. I like walking -- but after 6 days, even I was kind of "over" it. But the location made for super quiet cabin. We slept without being awakened a single time by loud discussions or drunken guests slamming doors, etc. I never heard anything from the dining room below deck 6. And there was no noise from deck 7.

Cabin 6694, and likely all aft Junior Suites, have great design/floorplan in terms of use of space:

The room had a king sized bed (or two twin beds if necessary) two nightstands, a good sized vanity/TV armoire with 6 drawers (maybe 8?), a safe, and a mini fridge. There is a chair in the vanity section, with a large mirror and ample lighting for makeup and hair styling. There are small shelves tucked away in the sides of the mirror.

Near the balcony doors, there is another upholstered arm chair with an ottoman (which, frankly, is kind of in the way, but serves as a random bag/tshirt/junk collection site when pushed close to the wall). And of course, there is a sofa that converts into an futon-like bed.

The king-sized bed was surprisingly comfortable given that the “mattresses” are not traditional mattresses.

The bathroom was clean. Nice deep tub. The shower has two shelves for shampoo. There is a small lavatory counter (granite), with a wire shelf underneath for storage, hooks on the back of the bathroom door (very small, towels fall off!) and the mirror has two nice shelving compartments for toiletries.

The closet was a great feature. But when you read “walk in closet” in the description for the junior suite – please know that depending on the norms of your community – the word “walk in” can be misleading.

Yes, it is better than NO closet – for sure – but it’s more like “step in” closet. Don’t get me wrong -- you certainly can take one small step and walk into the closet – but only to stand stationary and turn left or right. To me, that’s not what I call a “walk in” closet. But it was sufficient. It had wire shelving on the right side – which we used -- but a good portion of the shelving in consumed with life vests. We hung two garment bags, all my husbands shirts, and put our shorts, t-shirts, etc on the shelves. It was perfect and so handy!

The balcony was awesome – two chaise loungers, two chairs that reclined, and one table. Not as huge as some of the wide-angle photos imply – but decent sized. We hung a double hammock and it fit nicely when we moved all the chairs and the chaises to one side. It was a lovely place to relax, eat breakfast, etc.

The view from 6694: Yes, it is obstructed. The balcony overlooks a large, blue platform area. You see water looking out and over that area, and through the standard railing, poles, etc. While not perfect, it was nice. NOS "backs into" port in Jamaica, so we got to sit on the balcony and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Cons:

The junior suite sofa bed was uncomfortable. My teenager slept in it – and coming from a child that can sleep on a dirt floor and awake refreshed – well, when she says it’s not comfortable, then it’s probably like a torture platform for the average adult.

Based upon feedback from prior passengers garnered via reading reviews, we asked for an “egg crate” foam pad. The cabin steward said they did not have any such a thing. He acted bewildered by the request. But he graciously put extra layers of mattress pads over the foam sofa cushions which kind of improved things.

Keep in mind, this sofa bed is not the traditional kind wherein a thin mattress folds out. Rather, the back of the sofa folds flat and the foam seat section slides to meet it, to make a “bed like” platform. There is another foam section hidden under the seat that they wedge between the wall and the foam cushion. And then they wrap the entire thing in two sheets sewn together at the bottom hem, and then add blankets and two thin pillows. Think futon, not sofa bed.

Port Reviews

Galveston

The terminal is poorly planned. It's hot. There is inadequate shade in areas wherein people have to wait outside The traffic flow leads to congestion and back up.

2 Helpful Votes
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