Our 5th Cruise with RCI, was a little concerned after reading the reviews previous to our Cruise. Glad I took them with a pinch of salt. The Navigator is a lovely ship. Spotless clean. Saw hand rails being cleaned all the time. Can honestly say these were the best Staff we have encountered. All the bar staff were friendly and very efficient. All drinks on the package were great from the cocktails to the coffees. The dining room staff on deck 5 my time dining were brilliant. The lovely friendly lady at the entrance managed to get us the same table most nights with John & Komang who were great. They really looked after us . All the food we had was good both in dining room & windjammer. We had a meal in Giovanni s one night which was delicious & well worth the fee. There were advertisements for dining and drinks packages but not once were we approached by staff to buy these. The entertainment was brilliant. Darren Day & Lauren Broad were superb as were the comedians and other shows. Ice show is a must see, had several performances so everyone gets a chance to see it. Entertainment team did a great job with the quizzes etc with most people being indoors due to the weather on sea days. Only criticism really would be to have them in the Star lounge as it's much bigger. The dancing lessons were good but ought to be in a bigger venue too. The disco in the Cosmopolitan Club is the best we have seen on any Cruise. The DJ was fab & it was full every night with all ages.

The Itinerary was amazing. We did all the Ports by ourselves making full use of HOHO buses to get around. Russia was the highlight though. We did the 2 day Grande Tour with Alla Tours. The guide Dimitri was brilliant. He was so knowledgeable. We saw some unforgettable sites, we were taken to a wonderful Hotel for a 3 course meal with wine on the 1st day and had a packed lunch on the 2nd day. Even the rain didn't spoil it for us. The Cruise compass was very informative explaining how to get around at all the Ports and the map they provide is very useful. Bruges was the only Port that there was a bit of chaos. There is a free shuttle to the gates but you are better off getting one of the many buses lined up waiting at the Ship into the Centre for €20 return. We only took Euros as currency as most places accepted it or used our Credit Card especially in Russia. Even used it in the gift shop there. The buses take CC as payment also. My hubby even swiped it to use the toilet in Norway. Overall we had a thoroughly enjoyable Cruise and would definitely recommend RCI NOTS