Navigator, 14 October - Eastern Mediterranean

[lisiamc]

We just came back from Navigator of the Seas, sailing the Eastern Mediterranean itinerary, embarking on 14 October. The ports were Civitavecchia (Rome), Messina, Kusadasi, Souda (Chania) and Athens.

 

When we were planning this cruise, I read every review I could, and found them so helpful. I hope others will find my review useful too.

 

Some background:

 

We're 56 and 62, and started cruising in 1999. This was our 13th cruise, but only our second on Royal Caribbean. All of our other cruises have been with Celebrity and Azamara, so we accumulated our loyalty points there. This is the biggest ship we have tried, and it was actually a bit too big for us. Splendour is probably as big as we want to go in the future. Having said that, we're glad we tried it, because we still had a wonderful cruise on Navigator.

 

Things we liked:

 

• The staff were very friendly and helpful everywhere. We didn't meet one surly or unhelpful staff member all week.
  
• The art and the décor. Cruise ship art is usually quirky, and Navigator is no exception, but many pieces were really interesting. They actually have an art tour, but we missed it, unfortunately. Some people have said that the décor is looking tired and shabby, but I thought the carpets, furniture, etc were in really good shape for the age of the ship. Everything was kept spotlessly clean.
  
• My Time Dining. This was our first experience with My Time Dining. It was such a plus to be able to have dinner at the times that suited us. We met lots of interesting people, and had some repeat tablemates that we really enjoyed. There was only one night where we found it hard to hold a conversation with our tablemates. We kept trying, and they must have thought we were obnoxiously chatty.
  
• Coconut Ranger Cookies in the café. Yum.
  
• The number of places we could go and not find any crowds. It was actually pretty difficult to find a crowded place most of the time. (Except trying to walk through the jewellery/watch/t-shirt sales in the Promenade, but we expected that!)
  
• The wide variety of bars, and the high quality of live music played there. It seemed like there was something for everyone, every night.
  
• The Prime Rib in the MDR. I missed it the first time, but I'm so glad it appeared on the menu a second time.
  
• The dining room annexe for Diamond and above for breakfast. We met lots of nice people and drank great (free!) cappuccinos every morning.
  
• Our cabin. We tried an inside cabin for the first time, and found it very satisfactory. It was small but had lots of storage space, so we could keep everything put away, and make the most of the space we had.
  

Things we loved:

 

• The tours organised by fellow Cruise Critic members, and the great people we met through them. Many thanks to blueblock and cdeame. It was so much fun to tour with our group!
  
• The lunch time salad bar in the main dining room on sea days. A waiter mixes the salad exactly to order, with an amazing variety of ingredients, tosses it with dressing of your choice, plus croutons and cheese if you wish, then decants it into a bowl. Delicious, and somehow much better than if I'd made it myself.
  
• The outside promenade deck (Deck 4.) It goes all the way around the ship, if you don't mind some stairs at the front. You can even go out onto the helicopter pad. It makes for a much nicer walk than the sports deck – never crowded, wider, shadier, and no one dragging sun loungers out into your path.
  
• The 7 oz. fillet in Chops. It was incredibly tender, and practically melted under the fork. I might even dream about it.
  
• Boleros bar. Really good Latin-influenced music, tasty mojitos, and super staff. We made it our regular pre-dinner bar.
  
• The Ancient Corinth/Corinth Canal tour. If you've already been to the Acropolis and feel like doing something different, try this tour. We haven't done a ship's tour for a number of years, but we're glad we took this one. It was well-organised and full of interesting history, both ancient and more modern.
  
• The Ice Show. We're not great ones for going to the shows, but we really enjoyed this. All the Adventure Ocean kids came along to the show we went to, and they were absolutely spellbound.
  

Things that were disappointing:

 

• The Red Velvet Cake. I tried it in Chops, and it was soggy and chewy, without much taste. After I'd heard so many nice things, it was a real let down. Maybe I caught the pastry chef on a bad day.
  
• The Wine Pairing Dinner in Chops. The wines were nice enough, but the food (except for the smoked duck salad) wasn't nearly as good as the night we chose from the regular Chops menu.
  
• Johnny Rocket's. The service was great, the fries and onion rings were pretty good, but the burger was so-so, and needed more cheese. I don't care much for shakes and didn't try one, so I might have missed a trick there.
  
• The coffee/tea corner in the café on the Promenade. If the designers had set out specifically to build a cramped area with constant bottlenecks, I don't think they could have done a better job. The décor is pretty depressing and shabby too, surprising for such an otherwise attractive ship. I hear this café is going to be changed soon, which is bound to be a tremendous improvement.
  
• The difficulty in getting from one end of the ship to the other on some decks. We often didn't want to walk through the Casino (smoky) or along the outside promenade (windy/salty), so we logged a few more miles on the stairs, going up to Deck 5, through the Promenade, and then down again.
  

Because we went near the end of the season, and booked quite late, the price was cheap, which made it even easier to enjoy the cruise. Add that to a great itinerary, and we were very happy with our choice. Thanks for a great cruise, Royal Caribbean!

[NCCruisingmom]

Thanks for the review! We are considering this itinerary for next summer.

 

What was your favorite port?

[lisiamc]

Thanks for the review! We are considering this itinerary for next summer.

 

What was your favorite port?

 

I think the port I liked best was Kusadasi. Touring Ephesus was so interesting, then we came back into town for lunch and some shopping. The shopkeepers were very keen to sell their stuff, but not agressive, and willing to joke and chat. We did manage to buy a few things...

 

We enjoyed all the ports, really. I'd go back to any of them for another visit.

[mrsfecura]

We're going to Kusadasi next October on the Serenade's 12 night itinerary. Who did you tour with?

[lisiamc]

We went with Hello Ephesus. I don't have the contact details - another Cruise Critic member organised it. Our guide was very knowledgeable and interesting to listen to. We specifically asked not to have a tour of the carpet factory. He did confirm that we hadn't changed our minds, but respected that the answer was no to the carpets.

[mrsfecura]

Ahh, perfect - thanks I'll look them up!!

PS-I love your little cat profile icon! :)

[pennys mum]

We did this cruise in July and really enjoyed it too.

Ephesus was really interesting and we had a good guide, did the carpet factory but would give it a miss next time.

[lisiamc]

Ahh, perfect - thanks I'll look them up!!

PS-I love your little cat profile icon! :)

Thanks! I've had it since I first joined Cruise Critic.

[ShellDil]

We're on this same cruise next June. If you're still checking back in, what did you do in Crete? I'm having a hard time trying to decide what our day there will be like.

 

Thanks for the review!

[jessicalorene]

Also will be doing this cruise and interested in what you think about all the ports and details on what you did!

[Mango Tango]

Did you go in the pub on the Promenade? Was Scott Perham the entertainer? We saw him on the Allure almost two years ago. We really enjoyed him. We're going on the Navigator out of New Orleans in January. He's supposed to be on the Navigator through Jan. 19th 2013.

[lisiamc]

We're on this same cruise next June. If you're still checking back in, what did you do in Crete? I'm having a hard time trying to decide what our day there will be like.

 

Thanks for the review!

 

In Chania, we took the shuttle into town, walked around and looked at the pretty harbour, then had a really nice lunch in a restaurant that one of our friends knew about. Very low-key day, but we really enjoyed it.

[lisiamc]

Did you go in the pub on the Promenade? Was Scott Perham the entertainer? We saw him on the Allure almost two years ago. We really enjoyed him. We're going on the Navigator out of New Orleans in January. He's supposed to be on the Navigator through Jan. 19th 2013.

 

We walked past the pub often, but never went in because it was always too smoky. There was usually a man playing guitar and singing in the evenings. He was good, but not the sort of music we really like, and I have to confess that I don't remember his name. I'm sorry, that's not any help at all, is it? :o

[lisiamc]

Also will be doing this cruise and interested in what you think about all the ports and details on what you did!

 

We loved the ports on this cruise - really nice selection.

 

Messina - private tour of Taormina and Castelmola, organised by a fellow cruiser on our roll call.

 

Kusadasi - private tour of Ephesus, organised by another fellow cruiser. If you go to Epheusu, don't miss the Terrace Houses. We also bought a leather jacket and some coffee cups, as you do, but managed not to buy a carpet!

 

Chania - gentle walk around Chania town, followed by a meze lunch in a local restaurant

 

Athens - we had seen the Acropolis on a previous visit, so opted for the ship's tour of ancient Cornith, and transit of the Cornith canal. We did it through the ship as there was a last minute switch of port days between Chania and Athens due to a planned strike. It was an excellent tour, and I don't know how easy it would be to organise it as a private tour.