Navigator Easter Cruise 2015

[Paddy41]

I was reading the posts for Navigator of the Seas Never Again and ready to post my son's experience at the end only to find the post was closed.

 

My son just phoned me this morning with his experience. He just returned last night. Some of the family is not back yet....

 

First of all let me say that my son and family are all diamonds and cruise exclusively with RCCL. They have been on Navigator quite a few times. They found the food on this sailing had declined in quality yet again. In the MDR the staff was very busy and not able to be as attentive as previously. (They thought that was because there were fewer staff).

 

They had the ultimate drink package and found the bar servers to be very slow to wait on people. They felt this was because the drink package prices are quite high and with 18% gratuity already being paid, most people felt enough was enough and would not tip more. So the servers were not as fast in serving. After a 10 minute wait at the bar my son said he finally had to go over to a server who was not at all busy and ask for service. This happened repeatedly.

 

Our granddaughter wanted to book another cruise while on board. The person she was talking to told her that she could not afford the cruise she was looking at (on the Allure). My granddaughter asked her how she could know that. Answer: well you're so young, you couldn't have cruised much. When my granddaughter said she was diamond the person told her she was making that up. She was shown her card. As well, she has sailed on Oasis so knew what she was booking. But the point is why would a staff member argue with anyone wanting to book a future cruise?

 

Worst experience was having to sail in and out of Galveston but that is certainly not an on board problem.

No places to stay that are very close to the pier for precruise. Long ride from the airport/hotels to the pier and costly. Rental car companies closed for Easter and wanted cars turned in by Saturday afternoon. Made no sense.

But disembarking was the very worst. 2 1/2 hours in line. They had booked the shuttle to the airport and it left without them as they just could not get off that ship. Finally near the front of the customs line and the person goes off on break for 15 minutes. Finally at customs and asked if they had any liquor to declare and when they said yes, a bottle each (which as Canadians is the limit we can take) they were told to get into another line. In that line they were told there was a new tax in place and they had to pay a $3.50 charge per bottle. Nothing would change their mind so they finally paid the charge. WHAT The HECK is That ABOUT!!!! Lost out on the paid for shuttle ride and had to take two taxis to the airport as there were 7 of them and that was a huge charge they didn't expect. To make matters worse their plane had already left! And the next plane out had had passengers from a sister airline moved over so that it was also overfull. So passengers for that flight were being asked if they would give up their seats for a credit. Weird! Then somehow 4 seats opened up. Now how could that be? And 4/7 of the family got seats while the other 3 had to rent a car and drive 4 hours to Dallas where they got seats home this morning.

My son says he will tell anyone who will listen not to cruise out of Galveston. Worst experience of all the cruises he has been on.

 

I did see on the other post that there were others on this same cruise who found everything excellent but this was not the case for my family. My family loves to cruise and have always come back home with rave reviews. this cruise is definitely the bottom of their long list of cruises.

 

I've never experienced seeing a current thread closed up. Who closes it? From what I read there were some serious issues on that cruise.

[Paul65]

I've never experienced seeing a current thread closed up. Who closes it? From what I read there were some serious issues on that cruise.

 

The moderators have the ability to close threads. Usually it's done when they feel like things are getting too personal. And, there was some of that in the thread you're talking about (both from a few of those criticizing the thread originator and those criticizing what they saw as "cyber bullies").

 

Personally, I think it would be better to deal with individuals who get out of hand with their comments, rather than closing otherwise valid threads, but that takes a bit more time and effort than just shutting a thread down.

 

My personal experience with the bar service (on a different ship) was that the servers always seemed busy, so service was a little slower. I attributed the busy-ness to people who had the packages drinking a lot to try to get their money's worth. But that may not be the case. We never really had to wait long to be served on the Serenade, though, just seemed a little slower on average than past cruises.

 

Never heard of the $3.50 per bottle charge on alcohol. In my experience, there's no charge up to the duty free allowance, and if it's just a little bit over the allowance, they usually don't bother charging, either. Maybe it's a Texas thing?

[George C]

Never heard of the $3.50 per bottle charge on alcohol. In my experience, there's no charge up to the duty free allowance, and if it's just a little bit over the allowance, they usually don't bother charging, either. Maybe it's a Texas thing?

 

 

This is a stupid Texas thing, we just brought back 2 bottles so we did not need to pay customs but when you got past customs there was someone collecting this tax, but it seemed to be on honor system, next time I will not tell them I have the bottle or 2 , they did no checking. Also some stupid Texas laws that only allows certain drinks until you get to international water.

[39august]

The tax on alcohol is a Texas state tax. RCI has no control over this.

[Paul65]

The tax on alcohol is a Texas state tax. RCI has no control over this.

 

Is that relatively new? I've sailed from Galveston a couple times and never encountered it, but the most recent out of Galveston was about 5 years ago.

[Clarea]

Is that relatively new? I've sailed from Galveston a couple times and never encountered it, but the most recent out of Galveston was about 5 years ago.

I don't believe the tax is new, just the collection effort at the cruise terminal by the State of Texas.

Edited April 13, 2015 by clarea

[George C]

Is that relatively new? I've sailed from Galveston a couple times and never encountered it, but the most recent out of Galveston was about 5 years ago.

 

You are correct it was not there 5 years ago when we sailed but was there last April

[Summerknight]

I spent 32 years working in customer service. I let a lot of bad/annoying incidents go. Don't want someone's ignorance to ruin my day. (When I am the customer)

I must say I would have found the supervisor for the person working the future cruise desk.

 

I did not think anything on these boards could shock me, but this incident does.

[TXBBQDUDE]

My wife and I will be on the Navigator next week. We had talked about booking a future cruise for the whole family when we were on the ship. If this is the customer service I can expect then maybe we will not even attempt to book anything.

[Cindy]

My wife and I will be on the Navigator next week. We had talked about booking a future cruise for the whole family when we were on the ship. If this is the customer service I can expect then maybe we will not even attempt to book anything.

 

Don't let one report of an inappropriate comment put you off taking advantage of booking on-board! None of us were there to hear that conversation. If dozens of people were coming back and telling of problems then I might hesitate, but not based on one isolated report.

 

I recommend scheduling a time so you will have an opportunity to sit down with the LA and discuss your options. They usually have a sign-up sheet available in the Future Cruise office. It gets very busy towards the end of the cruise, and if you don't have an appointment you might be disappointed.

[sweetlove13]

I sail on Navigator in 3 weeks & plan on fully enjoying it no matter what! My last cruise on Jewel wasn't perfect but I still enjoyed it. It's a cruise!!!!! [emoji2][emoji484]

[Cruiseathoning]

was the best cruise we have ever taken. (9-14)

[Shekim]

What time was their flight scheduled to leave? And from which airport? And there are LOTS of places to stay in Galveston precruise. I think if some research was done prior to the cruise some of these problems could have been avoided.

 

I will admit that Galveston is not the easiest from which to sail. But with some serious research that too can be overcome. With that many people it seems a private van would have worked out.

 

Edited to say...I see you say they have sailed from Galveston before. How were their other cruises from Galveston?

Edited April 14, 2015 by Shekim

[Akina13]

We leave Sunday...really looking forward to it :) sorry you family didn't have the best time :(

[euphscott]

I sailed on the Carnival Magic that was in port with you that day.

 

Galveston is not like Florida - but with proper planning, it's really an easy port to navigate. There are hotels on the island, but they are expensive. Stay on the mainland 20-30 minutes away and there are plentiful rooms with good prices. And as another above suggested - don't book a flight that is too early - that's on you, not the cruise line (or US Customs) as something can always come up to delay you. If you try to fly before noon, you are gambling...

 

Rental car companies are a bit questionable on the island - why none of them are open on Sundays is kind of crazy with two large ships in port. But, they are consistent, so knowing this ahead of time can ease some heartburn. If you drive in - plenty of parking lots within easy shuttle (or in my case walking!) distance, so I've found it pretty efficient.

 

As for the liquor tax collection - that is Texas State Law, new starting in January of this year. The idea behind it was to collect on across the border runs into Mexico and coming back with large stashes of cheap alcohol would bring back. Cruise purchases are a casualty of that policy.

 

I'm sorry you had an issue on board Navigator. I'm planning to sail upon her in August - expecting a good time!

[wolfganghowell]

We were onboard navigator the week post Thanksgiving.

 

We had excellent bar service throughout the ship. So sorry your family had issues. We also generally "lurk" at the pool bar on sea days and observed very fast and friendly service even during busy times.

 

That is crazy about your GD's experience booking another cruise. I would be really irritated by that kind of attitude as well.

 

Galveston is very challenging for those who fly there. I do sympathize. We are fortunate to drive. Shuttles are expensive and why the rental car companies cannot get a clue and open on Sunday is beyond me. However, there are MANY convenient hotel options at every price point close to the port.

 

The tax law on alcohol has been on the books but was not enforced until a few months ago. Border states have unique issues - as another poster explained. It would be nice for our state legislature to come up with an exemption for cruises. We already have the fun "alcohol must be bottled in Texas" on embarkation day until we reach international waters. Some people are very impatient for their preferred brands!

[Paddy41]

Don't let one report of an inappropriate comment put you off taking advantage of booking on-board! None of us were there to hear that conversation. If dozens of people were coming back and telling of problems then I might hesitate, but not based on one isolated report.

 

I recommend scheduling a time so you will have an opportunity to sit down with the LA and discuss your options. They usually have a sign-up sheet available in the Future Cruise office. It gets very busy towards the end of the cruise, and if you don't have an appointment you might be disappointed.

 

 

Our granddaughter did have an appointment. The reason for mentioning this incident though was because it was unusual. My granddaughter was caught completely off guard because this had never happened before. No one knows what might have happened with the customer(s) just before this which made the crew member respond this way. No, you are right, it should not put anyone off from prebooking. But I did think it was odd.

[Paddy41]

What time was their flight scheduled to leave? And from which airport? And there are LOTS of places to stay in Galveston precruise. I think if some research was done prior to the cruise some of these problems could have been avoided.

 

I will admit that Galveston is not the easiest from which to sail. But with some serious research that too can be overcome. With that many people it seems a private van would have worked out.

 

Edited to say...I see you say they have sailed from Galveston before. How were their other cruises from Galveston?

 

 

No, they've never sailed from Galveston before but have been on Navigator several times and will do so again. They really do like the ship and are glad to see it is leaving Galveston.

 

My son says he did research for hotels near the terminal but usually it is our daughter-in-law who does the researching so maybe he just missed out on finding something close.

 

Their flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 2 pm but it was and Air Canada flight and being international they had to be there by noon. They booked the RCCL shuttle because it would have got them there early but the shuttle couldn't wait any longer and had to leave quite a few passengers behind. This is something that needs to be rethought I would say.

 

And then since there were 7 of them they had to pay for 2 taxis as there were no vans available.

[Goodtime Cruizin]

The tax on alcohol is a Texas state tax. RCI has no control over this.

 

The tax is for those that are residents of Texas only and this went into effect Jan 1, 2014.