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My review of the Navigator OTS, 3/16/18, my faith is RESTORED!

Oneluckywoman
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Oneluckywoman

Oneluckywoman

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Hello fellow cruisers! My last review was of the Freedom OTS and it was pretty bad, so I decided in all fairness I want to give credit where credit is due, and the Navigator did not disappoint!

 

First of all, to give a quick background, my husband and I are in our 50's and have cruise with Celebrity, Royal, and Carnival. We are VIP on Carnival, Elite on Celebrity, and Diamond plus with 500 points on Royal. I only say that so that you will know we are pretty experienced with Royal and most loyal to them! I have written only a few reviews and tend to do so only when I feel I've had an excellent experience or a really poor experience. Most of the time we have a fabulous time and are treated like royalty, which is what keeps us coming back. We aren't really foodies but we do enjoy a good meal and have come to expect a level of excellence there on most cruises. We live in Florida and are semi retired so we can jump on a cruise last minute and aren't really picky about which ship.

 

This won't be a long review, I really just wanted to give a heads up to people who are booked on the Navigator what a wonderful experience they are in for!

 

This was a 9 night cruise to the ABC Islands. This is one of our favorite itineraries. If you haven't been to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, you need to go. All of these islands have beautiful beaches, nice shopping, and terrific snorkeling. We love the 9 night itinerary because it's so relaxing with more sea days which we love, and because these islands are our favorite.

 

Entertainment: I cannot really speak to the shows because we didn't go this time. However, the BEST thing I have to report is the live music on this ship was fantastic! I've been suggesting to Royal for years now that they need to have a nice band for pre dinner dancing somewhere for us folks who don't stay up until midnight! Enter the C Band (get it?) who played in the Boleros almost every night before dinner! And it wasn't loud latin music, it was really nice music where you could dance a slow or fast song or just listen with delight. THANK YOU ROYAL!!! Also, there was a pianist onboard named Rafael. This guy was the real deal, a piano genius, a really nice guy, and a joy to listen to. So, for us, this cruise gets an A+ for live music.

 

Cabin: We had an inside cabin this cruise. Clean and spacious, as cruise ships go. Cabin steward, Henrique, one of the best we have ever had. The only negative was the bed comfort. Royal switched to really hard beds a while back, (I wrote a review on that also) and they have tried to solve the problem with mattress toppers, which help. However they are still not great. I miss the old comfy beds they used to have.

 

Food: We ate in the Main dining room every night but one. I was worried after our experience on the Freedom where the food was let's just say very disappointing in November last year. But the Navigator came through. Food was hot, tasty, and well presented. And I'm happy to say they have added some new menu items which were a welcome change for us! Seared tuna, red snapper, and some others I've forgotten but since we cruise so much with them the menu had gotten boring for us so these new items were very nice. And very good! The windjammer food is also good and lots of choices so I never understand when people say the food in there is awful. We did not eat in a specialty restaurant but our friends ate in chops and said it was great.

 

Diamond lounge: We had over 500 D and D+ members this cruise, so they opened the entire viking crown lounge for overflow. Very nice touch. The best thing about the lounge (other than the free drinks) was J.J., the diamond concierge. She might just be my favorite concierge EVER. Always smiling, always greeting the guests, morning and evening. Hugs all around. I just loved her, what can I say. We only went to the concierge lounge once and the concierge there was also very nice. The diamond lounge and the balcony discount are what keeps us coming back to Royal!

 

Overall: The ship was in great shape, there were lots of kids onboard since this was during spring break but we were never bothered by them. Pretty much well behaved, even in the diamond lounge. My personal opinion is that kids should not be allowed in there, but if they are, make them behave. They did. The crew of this ship seemed very happy and that is important to me. Great vibe.

 

If you are booked on the Navigator, you're in for a treat!!

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sgmn

sgmn

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So happy to hear that Navigator is holding up well. Looking forward to being on her again for the Transatlantic.

 

Bit concerned that the WHOLE of the VC lounge is given over to the Diamond Lounge. We love being up there for drinks around 5pm but won't be Diamond until after this cruise. It will be a pity if the non-Diamonds won't be able to access it.

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Clarea

Clarea

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Just booked for a 7 night France & Spain cruise on Navigator 19/10/18.

We mainly cruise with Celebrity, where we have Elite status.

Do Royal still have Formal nights?

Yes, Royal still does formal nights, except on Empress.

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  • 4 weeks later...
cruiser-cop

cruiser-cop

Posted
Posted
Hello fellow cruisers! My last review was of the Freedom OTS and it was pretty bad, so I decided in all fairness I want to give credit where credit is due, and the Navigator did not disappoint!

 

First of all, to give a quick background, my husband and I are in our 50's and have cruise with Celebrity, Royal, and Carnival. We are VIP on Carnival, Elite on Celebrity, and Diamond plus with 500 points on Royal. I only say that so that you will know we are pretty experienced with Royal and most loyal to them! I have written only a few reviews and tend to do so only when I feel I've had an excellent experience or a really poor experience. Most of the time we have a fabulous time and are treated like royalty, which is what keeps us coming back. We aren't really foodies but we do enjoy a good meal and have come to expect a level of excellence there on most cruises. We live in Florida and are semi retired so we can jump on a cruise last minute and aren't really picky about which ship.

 

This won't be a long review, I really just wanted to give a heads up to people who are booked on the Navigator what a wonderful experience they are in for!

 

This was a 9 night cruise to the ABC Islands. This is one of our favorite itineraries. If you haven't been to Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao, you need to go. All of these islands have beautiful beaches, nice shopping, and terrific snorkeling. We love the 9 night itinerary because it's so relaxing with more sea days which we love, and because these islands are our favorite.

 

Entertainment: I cannot really speak to the shows because we didn't go this time. However, the BEST thing I have to report is the live music on this ship was fantastic! I've been suggesting to Royal for years now that they need to have a nice band for pre dinner dancing somewhere for us folks who don't stay up until midnight! Enter the C Band (get it?) who played in the Boleros almost every night before dinner! And it wasn't loud latin music, it was really nice music where you could dance a slow or fast song or just listen with delight. THANK YOU ROYAL!!! Also, there was a pianist onboard named Rafael. This guy was the real deal, a piano genius, a really nice guy, and a joy to listen to. So, for us, this cruise gets an A+ for live music.

 

Cabin: We had an inside cabin this cruise. Clean and spacious, as cruise ships go. Cabin steward, Henrique, one of the best we have ever had. The only negative was the bed comfort. Royal switched to really hard beds a while back, (I wrote a review on that also) and they have tried to solve the problem with mattress toppers, which help. However they are still not great. I miss the old comfy beds they used to have.

 

Food: We ate in the Main dining room every night but one. I was worried after our experience on the Freedom where the food was let's just say very disappointing in November last year. But the Navigator came through. Food was hot, tasty, and well presented. And I'm happy to say they have added some new menu items which were a welcome change for us! Seared tuna, red snapper, and some others I've forgotten but since we cruise so much with them the menu had gotten boring for us so these new items were very nice. And very good! The windjammer food is also good and lots of choices so I never understand when people say the food in there is awful. We did not eat in a specialty restaurant but our friends ate in chops and said it was great.

 

Diamond lounge: We had over 500 D and D+ members this cruise, so they opened the entire viking crown lounge for overflow. Very nice touch. The best thing about the lounge (other than the free drinks) was J.J., the diamond concierge. She might just be my favorite concierge EVER. Always smiling, always greeting the guests, morning and evening. Hugs all around. I just loved her, what can I say. We only went to the concierge lounge once and the concierge there was also very nice. The diamond lounge and the balcony discount are what keeps us coming back to Royal!

 

Overall: The ship was in great shape, there were lots of kids onboard since this was during spring break but we were never bothered by them. Pretty much well behaved, even in the diamond lounge. My personal opinion is that kids should not be allowed in there, but if they are, make them behave. They did. The crew of this ship seemed very happy and that is important to me. Great vibe.

 

If you are booked on the Navigator, you're in for a treat!!

Im taking a 14 day cruise on this ship next week.

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The Fun Researcher

The Fun Researcher

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For your 9 night itinerary, which nights were formal. Not sure of your exact itinerary but our 9 night on the Navigator next spring is like this.

 

Day 1 - Embarkation

Day 2 - Cruising

Day 3 - Labadee

Day 4 - Cruising

Day 5 - Bonaire

Day 6 - Curacao

Day 7 - Aruba

Day 8 - Cruising

Day 9 - Cruising

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maz48

maz48

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Thank you for your review. We are going on Navigator in just 10 days on our first ever RCI cruise so I am a little nervous. We have cruised quite a few times with other cruise lines, so used to cruising, just enjoy trying new lines. Though I don't really enjoy finding my way around a new ship. Good to know things were so good.

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