Navigator Food Choices (Seeking Opinions)

[Jimnbigd]

More tips...

I think the coffee in Cafe Promenade is the best "free" coffee.

(Well, actually, the best free coffee is the Diamond Lounge cappuccino machine, but you won't be Diamond members for quite a while)

Someone mentioned the donuts (or lack of them). True. Try the Danish instead. I like the apple Danish.

My favorite meal is MDR evening day 2 (Monday - first formal night). Lobster bisque and Fillet of Beef.

Buffet (Windjammer deck 11) at night is pretty good -- better than lunch.

I usually found lunch rather lacking in the buffet, but then I'm not usually very hungry since I sleep late and eat a later breakfast.

Breakfast in the buffet is good. You can get freshly made fried eggs at the omlette station.

Oh, in the buffet don't forget to walk all the way back, past the first section.

The first section has mostly Asian selections, which are pretty good, but the main area (including the omlette station) is towards the back.

For lunch, I sometimes got a hamburger patty and put some brown onion gravy on it -- pretty tasty actually.

Cafe Promenade (deck 5) is open just about all the time. Many like to go here for a late night sandwich (pre-made), desserts, and/or coffee.

On the Navigator I liked the pizza in the buffet better than Cafe Promenade (on the Voyager the pizza in Cafe Promenade was much better -- maybe it is worse now on the Voyager also).

And, back to the buffet, after around 3pm they remove lunch and put out "snacks" -- like make-your-own nachos (ballpark style) and tacos.

Oh...The fresh-squeeze orange juice in the buffet is NOT free.

The free orange juice has been rather watered down in the buffet on my last several cruises. You might try the other juice instead (like apple). The orange juice in the MDR is better, I think.

Bottom line -- like all main-line ships -- some food is good, some is not. If it is not good, order something else.

Enjoy your cruise. Tell Phil Anderson in the Schooner Bar (deck 4) that piano-player Jim says hi.

Edited July 10, 2015 by Jimnbigd

[bonvoyagebites]

Great tips, jimnbigd. THANKS! Based on what you wrote about passing greetings on to a bartender, are you one of the piano-lounge performers? That generally is one of our favorite cruise hangouts. Is there (I have not yet looked into it, so due diligence is lacking on my part) a good piano bar on the Navigator? We like to do the sing-along, have a drink, and maybe sing off-color songs after dark-thing...

[PamJack]

We are going on Navigator in April. Sabor is on my list.

[Clarea]

...Is there (I have not yet looked into it, so due diligence is lacking on my part) a good piano bar on the Navigator? ....

Schooner Bar is the piano bar on Navigator.

[big al]

Greetings,

 

We will be taking our first RCI cruise in October, and wanted to get a general overview of recent opinions on which venues are not to be missed on our trip. We will be doing 7 days, Roatan, Belize, Cozumel...

 

The Mexican place (Sabor IIRC) sounds good... what does everyone think? I LOVE food (see video below), sadly for my waistline... but it is a cruise highlight for me....

 

For the best NY Strip, go to Chops, it is fantastic! Also, the Filet Mignon is good ( not as good as the NYS) as far as steaks go..the side dishes are wonderful & can be shared..MAKE sure you ask for a table over looking the sea..I'm not a big fan of MDR food, most is "OK" to "not bad" to "it was OK, not bad, not great"..one thing is for sure, I never walk out of the MDR thinking, "wow, that was amazing, can't wait for tomorrow night!"..BUT food is subjective, so remember that...Giovanni's is not as good as Portifinos was, but still very good & lots of food...Sabor was very good for Mexican...Johnny Rockets is a lot of fun for several reasons: 1st, you can sit outside over looking the sea if you want, or inside in the A/C..2nd) the waiters & waitresses dance for you to songs like Stayin Alive or Respect, or YMCA, etc..lots of fun..3rd) the burgers are OK, but I find the fries, onion rings & shakes very good, and it's all you can eat for like $3.50..they also have a VERY GOOD free breakfast..it's nice to have breakfast outside looking at the sea instead of the often crowded Windjammer- only thing nicer is breakfast on your balcony...don't forget the nice finger croissant sandwiches and cookies in the Cafe Promenade that are free, or pizza in Sorrento's on the Deck 5 Royal Promenade for snacks ..not nearly as many options as NCL, but you won't go hungry!!

 

Big Al

[ARCruisinNana]

The previous poster was talking about an Oasis class ship. On Navigator Johnny Rockets is not open for breakfast. Also the cover charge for JR is now $5.95. There is no Sorrento's but pizza is available at Cafe Promenade.

[big al]

The previous poster was talking about an Oasis class ship. On Navigator Johnny Rockets is not open for breakfast. Also the cover charge for JR is now $5.95. There is no Sorrento's but pizza is available at Cafe Promenade.

 

Didn't know Sorrento's closed..and I figured JR was open for breakfast on all ships..very silly- should be the same for all..thanks for the updates...

 

Big Al

[ARCruisinNana]

Didn't know Sorrento's closed..and I figured JR was open for breakfast on all ships..very silly- should be the same for all..thanks for the updates...

 

 

 

Big Al

 

 

Voyager class ships haven't had Sorrento's. That's one of the differences between the Voyager and Freedom class ships. I get mixed up on the differences sometimes[emoji6]

[Jimnbigd]

Great tips, jimnbigd. THANKS! Based on what you wrote about passing greetings on to a bartender, are you one of the piano-lounge performers? That generally is one of our favorite cruise hangouts. Is there (I have not yet looked into it, so due diligence is lacking on my part) a good piano bar on the Navigator? We like to do the sing-along, have a drink, and maybe sing off-color songs after dark-thing...

No, I'm just a fellow passenger. Phil Anderson lets passengers play and sing; but other Schooner Bar entertainers don't -- at least not on the Navigator when Phil isn't on the ship.

 

Usually there aren't a lot (if any) off-color songs, because the Schooner Bar is in an open area where kids might pass through. Generally it does get more off-color after midnight, but nothing really bad.

 

The Schooner Bar is just forward of the casino on deck 4. Boleros (another bar with live music) is just back of the casino also on deck 4. And there is a lounge on deck 5 at the front of the ship that sometimes has live music, and other times has games or karaoke at night. Also there is an English Pub on deck 5, but, sigh, it has never been very good for live music except when Derek Lewis used to play on the Voyager of the Seas from Galveston.

 

Here is typical Phil --

and

Edited July 13, 2015 by Jimnbigd

[bonvoyagebites]

Final payment was made. It's getting closer. I look forward to the trip. I imagine there will be an extensive review upcoming... as well as more food porn videos, as those seem to be a big hit.

 

It's still too far out to be totally excited, but it's getting closer. Now I just need to look online for the menus for these restaurants so I can start planning even deeper. :-D :D

[slvrbllt]

I definitely recommend seeing Phil in the Schooner bar if he's there. I think we spent every night there until closing when he's been on the ship.

 

Not sure if the bartenders are still the same, but Bela and Antoniu (Tony) were at the Schooner bar both of our last cruises and they were amazing. Our kids were with us and Bela and Tony kept tabs on them all day.

[George C]

Great tips, jimnbigd. THANKS! Based on what you wrote about passing greetings on to a bartender, are you one of the piano-lounge performers? That generally is one of our favorite cruise hangouts. Is there (I have not yet looked into it, so due diligence is lacking on my part) a good piano bar on the Navigator? We like to do the sing-along, have a drink, and maybe sing off-color songs after dark-thing...

 

If you like to sing along to some off-color songs forget Navigator and wait for Liberty. which replaces her and starting in January Derek Lewis will be playing in the pub, he is so funny , he just packs the place and he does some interesting parodies of some hit songs, he calls is act "Adult daycare"

[Jimnbigd]

If you like to sing along to some off-color songs forget Navigator and wait for Liberty. which replaces her and starting in January Derek Lewis will be playing in the pub, he is so funny , he just packs the place and he does some interesting parodies of some hit songs, he calls is act "Adult daycare"

I had not heard that Derek will be on the Liberty. That's great news.

For some reason, Phil won't be on the Liberty when it comes to Galveston, according to his facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/PhilAndersonPianoMan

[George C]

I had not heard that Derek will be on the Liberty. That's great news.

For some reason, Phil won't be on the Liberty when it comes to Galveston, according to his facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/PhilAndersonPianoMan

 

There was a post about a week ago on Derek Lewis saying he will be on from January to June, also glad Phil will not be on , I know many people liked him but I did not care for his music.

[Itsbeentoolong]

Is there anywhere I can find out the prices for the paid restaurants? Thanks

[Clarea]

Is there anywhere I can find out the prices for the paid restaurants? Thanks

You cruise planner on Royal's website.

[Itsbeentoolong]

Thanks, will that only be available once I'm able to book them? Still a while away. Also do you have to pay for the restaurants when booking or do they go onto your onboard bill? Thanks

[Clarea]

Thanks, will that only be available once I'm able to book them? Still a while away. Also do you have to pay for the restaurants when booking or do they go onto your onboard bill? Thanks

Anything you book ahead of the cruise on Royal's website you must pay in full with a credit card.

 

You are correct that they will only show the pricing when they are open for booking.

[Itsbeentoolong]

Mines not available yet, anyone recently off the Navigator that can help? Thanks

[ummgood]

We just got off of Navigator two weeks ago. Sabor was by far our favorite. It was truly amazing. Chops food was excellent (I haven't had the prior menu so I can't compare) but the price was pretty ridiculous considering I would consider it slightly better than a Texas Roadhouse which costs less and that isn't including the offset that you get free food in the MDR. We had a lot of OBC we were trying to go through so we figured we would give it a try. I also think the ambiance was mediocre for the price because the entire time we dined we had a view of the Windjammer and all the people going in and out in swim trunks. They did have a wine pairing dinner that looked interesting but I wouldn't have booked it because we had the premium package.

 

To answer the previous question we ate dinner in both and Sabor was $25pp and Chops was $35pp not including drinks. Chops also has a extra dry aged steak up charge (or lobster) which adds >$20 more pp if you want that. Kind of crazy if you ask me.

 

If you book online then you pay the fee up front via credit card. We did that with Sabor. With Chops we booked it on the ship and we paid off of our OBC. It appears to me anything you book in advance on the website you pay in advance.

 

Other than that we only ate in the MDR and windjammer. I would say both are average cruise quality. Not bad not insanely good either. The Promenade Cafe had a couple ok desserts but the pizza wasn't that good and they only offered pepperoni. The sandwiches were decent but they didn't change the flavors so we got bored towards the end of the cruise. It was our light lunch place when we knew we were eating in specialty dining that night to not be over full.

 

Oh and the coffee is pretty gross. We tried each place once and it wasn't very good. If you are used to good quality coffee (grind the day you brew) you probably won't be happy with it. We brought along our Aeropress and coffee beans and made coffee with hot water delivered from room service every morning.

Edited July 27, 2015 by ummgood

[sonoma03]

My cruise is coming up, but here is what I see for dinner reservation prices (per person). It doesn't seem like you can reserve for lunch in advance.

 

Chops Grille California Vineyards: $74.50

Sabor: $25

Giovanni's: $25

Izumi: A la carte

Chops Grille: $35

[Clarea]

... It doesn't seem like you can reserve for lunch in advance....

That's true, Royal discontinued advance booking for specialty lunches several months ago.

[BOLTFISH]

Food included -- no extra charge:

* MDR (main dining room) breakfast, lunch (sea days) and dinner

* Buffet (Windjammer) deck 11

* Cafe Promenade (deck 5) open just about all the time

* Soft serve yogurt -- back part of pool deck 11 starboard side (opens around 11am I think)

* Room service (but a tip is recommended -- a couple of dollars or so)

* Sometimes there is a buffet in the pool area for lunch or a late night party, but the lines can be long and slow....

 

I'm happy with the "free" food. You'll find others who only eat in the "pay" places, and others who do a mix of both.

 

^^THIS^^

 

I too am quite happy with the free food in the MDR/Windjammer. I didn't pay for any extra food on my last cruise, ate all the free starters, main dishes and deserts I could eat and was pleasantly surprised at the quality (except for the fish dinners).

[llachance]

Chops - overpriced for what you get. They couldn't cook my steak the way I wanted it and the waiter complained about how he doesn't make any money on the longer cruises. I am spoiled by great steak houses where I live.

 

Sabor - pretty amazing food for a ship. Fresh Guac made table side to start. I was full before my dinner came. The Margaritas that they made table side were great too.

 

Giovannis - ate there twice because I loved the food and I loved the service. Did the pasta making class as well, not realizing that lunch was included by the time you were done, and was completely happy. The pasta making class came with wine to drink. I had the risotta and the lamb chops and if you get Ivor as a waiter you won't be disappointed.

 

MDR - first experience there was awful, food was ok but wait staff could of been replaced. Second experience in the MDR and food and staff were great. Third and last experience in the MDR (with the wait staff we had the first night) - food and service we amazing.

 

Buffet - Loved being able to walk up and get over easy eggs - which is what I traditionaly eat. Had a beverage package so had the fresh squeezed orange juice everyday. Much better then what was out of the fountain. Grabbed snacky food in the late afternoon a couple of times. Loved their french fries.

 

Johnny Rockets - ate there once. Good hamburger but loved the onion rings. Since we had beverage packages there were no additional charges for drinks

 

BTW - since we had the beverage packages each time we ordered an additional bottle of wine for dinner they looked to see if it would be cheaper by the glass or by the bottle (the bottle got a 10%) discount. We rarely paid extra for wine because they really looked out for us.

[SA Mom]

If this is your first cruise on RCI, I would stick to Main Dining. The food on Navigator is amazing with a menu that changes daily. They will bring you as many items as you would like to try.