Just 0ff Navigator of the Seas 3 day cruise

[Cruisedreamer1]

We took our family of 10 on this cruise for a quick get away(tried for a longer cruise but trying to get everyone to agree to a date was hard). Over all, it was a satisfactory cruise with a few exceptions. The ship was nearly full and yet the RC system of getting aboard is very efficient and fast. One of our daughters didn't and had to go and line up for one. The line was efficient and she joined us in our time slot line up fairly quickly. Within minutes of our boarding time slot, the line moved quickly and before we knew we were on board. Your sea passes are on your cabin door which we later found out you can dump your carry on right away. We were off to the buffet by 11:37!

 

I know that the beverage packages are a personal decision but if you have 2 glasses of wine at lunch and then 2 more at dinner you have practically paid for it and still have soda and espresso drinks to have. Mixed cocktails were well poured and tasty. I personally loved the cappuccinos at each meal.

 

Our stateroom attendant, was efficient and handled our daily requests with ease. He even put our wine in a champagne bucket so it would be chilled.

 

Food was the only downer. I didn't expect much since RC does not put much in their budget for this. The rolls and bread were wonderful. I didn't starved at any meal. The dining room service was slow even at even the usual dining room pace. We were promised a table for 10 if we went at a later time but then they had to put us on 2 close by tables. We brought wine twice to dinner and were not charged a corkage fee. The Loco Fresh on the Lido deck was popular with our group. One could choose what one wanted and the quantity as well. We made some tasty nachos with all the fixings.

 

The shows were a mixed bag. The entertainment in the various pubs and lounges were good and entertaining. The production show was fabulous with vestiges of Las Vegas of old. Well worth attending. The ice show was equally good and started with a very interesting drone show. The last night show has potential to be better: the orchestra played, The diva of the seas sang. She was great but the audio was too loud. She deserves her own show. In between there was an Italian ballroom couple. High energy and I wished there was more! We went as a group to Trivia and had lots of fun learning how much we know or not know! Only bummer was that there were no prizes for the winning team.

 

Our youngest granddaughter went to the youth center a couple of time and enjoyed it.

 

Disembarkation was fast but a little disorganized. The chart advised us to go to the dining room and await our time to leave. No announcement made and we finally headed down to deck 4 to leave. Baggage was easy to pick up and the line for customs was fast moving. The parking lot exit was slow!!! It took us maybe an hour to actually leave due to the high volume.

 

Our sea day was a bit of a bummer due to overcast skies. Ensenada was okay. The shops were slow to open since it was Sunday. Take the wine tour offered by the cruise line or book a private one(did both and each offer a different experience). It's well worth  it having done it 2 times. The $4 round trip shuttle from the port to town was well worth the price. When we were ready to go back to the ship the bus left with just 4 of us! Better than a taxi!

 

I felt that since everything was operational when we boarded on Friday morning we got a full day and which made the trip seem longer. There were lots of young people on the ship partying and drinking. This cruise is not a really good experience for a first timer. We spoke to a couple and urged them to consider a 7 day or longer cruise before deciding whether they like cruising.

 

Overall, would I go again? Yes, if with a group of friends or family. We enjoy longer cruises much better.

[fac429]

Thanks for the review!  We'll be on the NOTS in a couple of months, so I've been eager to hear how it's going...

 

A couple of questions:

 

1. Just to clarify, you were able to drop off a carry on bag as soon as you got on the ship?  Did you have the Key, or did they just let you do this when you arrived?

 

2. When you say the food was a disappointment, are you referring to just the service or the food itself?

 

Thanks!  (From a former resident of Highland who spent quite a bit of time in Redlands...)

[Motor City]

Pool heaters fixed, or this still a problem RCI is ignoring?

[GTO-Girl]

Rooms are not ready until 1:00pm or so and until that time you are not supposed to enter the hallway to drop off luggage or anything else.

 

Will they stop you???  Maybe….maybe not….but if everyone did this the poor stewards would never get their rooms turned around.

 

Please don’t break this rule…..

[Cruisedreamer1]

We didn't go to the room until after lunch. The service was good in general but I believe the main dining room crew is under staffed. The food was very very average nothing to write home about. We did go to any specialty restaurants due to the the number in our group(10) which would have cost us $$$$. Would you believe I didn't put my toe into the pool. One of my adult daughters advises that the main pool seemed heated but the slide pool was cold. The room sea passes are placed on the slot on your cabin door.I don't recall any announcement about not going to the cabin upon arrival.Please put a boarding tag on your carry on luggage. In my excitement I ran off  without my carry on. Fortunately the boarding crew set it aside near luggage drop off. We received a notice on the second day that someone did not have their luggage and the ship was asking if anyone had picked it up by accident. Very sad if someone took it by accident or intent and did not turn it in.

[EinDog]

Three day cruises (Friday, Saturday, Sunday) tend to be more of a party cruise compared to the 4 day (Monday-Thursday). I think there are a lot of folks who take Friday off, and then stagger back to work on Monday!

We typically cruise out of Florida, and the weekday cruise seemed to be more of the older, lots of retired crew. The 7 day cruises seem a bit more stable, but each cruise has a bit of it's own personality.

We will probably try a cruise out of Los Angeles this winter, we might stack a 4 day with a 7 day (we will need >9 points to hit the next C&A level, and that might be a way to do it.

[smokeybandit]

7 hours ago, Cruisedreamer1 said:

know that the beverage packages are a personal decision but if you have 2 glasses of wine at lunch and then 2 more at dinner you have practically paid for

You must have gotten the drink package cheap then. 

[juksing]

We were on the same 3 day cruise on the backend of a B2B.  I will comment on the MDR.  First the servers all do an amazing job and work really hard.  As well, the food was fine and perfectly acceptable as long as your expectations are for above average/good quality (maybe over salted) and well presented variety of dishes, NOT near fine dining.  Can't imagine how crazy it is in the kitchen.

 

Although we had UDP during the 3 day cruise during the prior 4 day cruise the MDR definitely seemed understaffed and more hectic than expected during both breakfast and dinner.  For dinner we were at early seating(5:30)  and consistently we would be near 2 hour mark before we finished dessert; we got our orders in quick but the time between courses was sloow.  Probably wasn't helped by the insanely long lineup of people every night expecting My Time Dining (supposed to be 6:45-9PM) meant Drop by Anytime Dining. 

 

During breakfast we never saw the pastry person walking around to each table offering pastries during breakfast, from what I recall that is sort of the norm, that is even what our server told us at breakfast day 1 was to "wait for the person going around with pastries" who never showed up.  On another day (day 2) the poor server at breakfast got confused when I ordered the waffles and chicken and he thought I had the wrong menu (it was a brunch sea day so MDR offered breakfast and lunch items).  He later made similar mistake at the table next to us when someone ordered Potato Leek soup and he at first said no before double checking the menu.

 

Poor folks seemed understaffed.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

 We did 4 nts Navigator last month with our two granddaughters (9 & 7).  I agree with OP's observations.  Food was the biggest let down.  MDR was disappointing with lack of flavor, small portions, and disjointed service.  We did Jamie's the first night as they offered 50% discount to us at lunch.  The food was very good, but again service was slow and lacking.  Windjammer was our best friend and the Indian food was outstanding.  As for debarkation we saw the line to clear CBP and figured out it was cost effective to grab a porter.  We were on the sidewalk in less than 15 minutes.  Leaving the ship was a zoo.  We keep waiting for them to call our number and finally just walked down to the deck.  The line wrapped all the way back to and around the casino.  It moved fairly quickly, but was still unorganized.  I bought the DBP for $72 and with beers at $10 each, wine $14, bottled water, and lattes the package was a good deal for me.  DW didn't buy it and would have probably still broke even.  Since we had an adult in each cabin it worked out well that she didn't have to buy it.  GD's enjoyed Adventure Ocean, keep in mind it's capacity controlled at around 40 kids.  You could show up and have to wait for a child to leave.  Check the hours also as we went up one night to drop them and it was closed for another 20 minutes.  We were #4 in line and people started showing up so we waited.  By the time they opened not everybody in line was going to get in.  GD loved Loco Fresh and soft serve ice cream as once I showed them where and how they were on their own.  Overall for a quick get away I would do it again.