Just back from Navigator....

[RIAFT]

I’m still swaying and my head is till swimming from a most distressing last couple of days on board a Navigator of the Seas without fully operational stabilisers. The Med was rough between Valletta and Barcelona on the final leg of our cruise and, sadly, took its toll on a number of guests. I can’t recall a more unpleasant and prolonged experience and am still suffering nearly 48 hours later. Trying to pack suitcases in those conditions was an absolute nightmare.

But what about the cruise overall? These are first impressions and my views may moderate over time of course - we only got back last night.

Well, Navigator is a lovely ship of course and impressions were generally positive. However, whilst I wouldn’t have had a word to say against Brilliance of the Seas last year, this year’s cruise had a number of negatives:

The weather – clearly nothing RCI could have done about this but there were three particularly bad days. There was actually a tornado in Cagliari, which flipped over a bus quay-side before our eyes and meant that we were unable to disembark there at all, reducing our stops from five to four.

Similarly, the first day in Turkey was horrendous. An absolute torrent of rain came down and excursions should most definitely have been cancelled there too but I guess RCI stood to lose too much money so they went ahead and were a total farce. Firstly, we learned a day before arrival that a marathon was taking place in the city so traffic was very restricted. As a consequence, with no prior warning our excursion tour bus stopped some distance from the focal point of the tour and we were all then traipsed around on foot in the torrential rain by our arrogant and disinterested guide Selma for about five hours. My four year-old daughter and elderly mother in law really suffered in these dreadful conditions. To compound matters, Selma wasn’t interested in ensuring everyone could keep pace, just in getting her job done and picking up her pay cheque no doubt. We had booked another excursion ashore in Istanbul that evening but with the rain not abating we attempted to cancel. However, RCI would not allow us to do so. Their inflexibility in such extreme circumstances would certainly make me think twice about sailing with them again. My wife and I even attempted to brave the deluge to avoid wasting a considerable sum of money all together but could only get a hundred yards or so from the ship, despite umbrellas, before we were completely drenched again and had to turn back. We should most certainly have been offered refunds by RCI and will be complaining formally.

The last day at sea we endured very rough seas and here the lack of functioning stabilisers really came home to roost. It was a most unpleasant experience and surely RCI should compensate travellers for such a critical malfunction.

As usual, the food was terrific and the service – at least from the room attendant and all waiting staff – was excellent.

On the down side, Navigator was too smoky – nine of the bars and lounges permitted smoking, which meant that you could smell smoke when strolling along the Royal Promenade – not what you expect on board ship, and surely not sensible from a health and safety perspective. I’m sure there weren’t that many smokers on board but it only takes one in a bar…. Smoking was also allowed starboard side on deck so, as there wasn’t as much open space on Navigator as there was on Brilliance, it was always apparent. Anyway, it’s not an insurmountable problem but if you’re a non-smoker, stay out of those bars and remain portside!

On the plus side, the ship looked good – maybe cabin carpets in need of replacement or a deep clean but otherwise everywhere looked first class, as usual. The Adventure Ocean “kids club” was again excellent and my daughter loved it. Even the lack of a designated kids’ pool and water slide was no problem. The pool facilities were just fine.

I was a little surprised about the whole Royal Promenade experience. It just seemed an unnecessary gimmick to me, one which the Oasis of the Seas will be taking to even greater extremes it seems with its Central Park tree lined area. The Promenade looked good, certainly, but I didn’t notice any greater shopping choice than on Brilliance. The coffee bar was nice and well used, but seemed to be the only place cruisers could help themselves to a coffee (except on the final morning when the coffee machine wasn’t working). As I recall, Brilliance has a few such refreshment stations in strategic deck locations.

Despite being a bigger ship overall, the impression I got was that the facilities on Navigator of the Seas catered for no more than on the smaller Brilliance of the Seas, with the consequence that at peak times on Navigator it was very difficult to get a seat in the Windjammer/Jade buffet dining areas.

Further pluses on our Eastern Med cruise – the Mallorca stop was nice, Athens a great experience and Malta a pleasant surprise.

In conclusion, RCI clearly cannot be held responsible for bad weather but in my opinion they could certainly do more to compensate customers for the limitations this imposed on services offered and for the lack of stabilising functionality on board. I'm just going for another lie down....

[RIAFT]

Anyone else home yet?

[FL_Cruiser64]

compensation...compensation....compensation......

 

:cool:

[land lover]

We were on the NOTS the cruise before you and certainly had better weather.....we did have a little rain in Istanbul on our first day...but just to let you know our drop offs included quite a bit of walking and our guide was relentless as far as keeping the pace............so I can imagine how it must have been for your family in the rain.

 

To bad RCI didn't allow those who wanted to cancel, cancel.

Did they provide you with umbrellas?

 

Can't imagine how it feels on a ship that big rocking and rolling as we only felt movement one evening so I feel for you.

 

Glad your food and service was good, as ours left much to be desired from the MDR staff to our room attendant who forgot to clean our room one evening....I wanted that Compass for the next day...I got it though with a phone call. And the entrées on the menu did not appeal to us so our dinner consisted of one or 2 appetizers even Portinfinos and Chops did not excitte us.

 

It is a beautiful ship, isn't it?...sorry the weather didn't cooperate.

[RIAFT]

To bad RCI didn't allow those who wanted to cancel, cancel.

Did they provide you with umbrellas?

 

Can't imagine how it feels on a ship that big rocking and rolling as we only felt movement one evening so I feel for you.

 

It was a beautiful ship wasn't it...sorry the weather didn't cooperate.

Thanks land lover. No, no umbrellas provided. If they had allowed us to cancel the evening excursion in Istanbul due to the quite extreme weather conditions I would be feeling a whole lotter better about sailing with RCI again in future than I do at the moment. Clearly they can do nothing about the weather, but they can do something about their own policies and service.

 

I understand the other poster's implied criticism of the compensation culture - I normally dislike all that too - but when you've been treated unreasonably I think it's fair to expect some sort of redress.

[land lover]

OP just added some more to my above post about service and food.

Seems most the people on our sailing loved the food, our Swedish table mates just raved about it and most our British friends from CC thought it was great...guess our tastes are very different.

 

To bad about not providing ponchos or umbrellas, small things can make a difference. And I agree about the canceling...who knows what the reasoning behind that was.

 

Enjoy your next cruise whatever line you pick. From my experience of cruising 5 different lines RCI seems to be the most accommodating.

 

Enjoy

[Sue L]

OP just added some more to my above post about service and food.

Seems most the people on our sailing loved the food, our Swedish table mates just raved about it and most our British friends from CC thought it was great...guess our tastes are very different.

 

To bad about not providing ponchos or umbrellas, small things can make a difference. And I agree about the canceling...who knows what the reasoning behind that was.

 

Enjoy your next cruise whatever line you pick. From my experience of cruising 5 different lines RCI seems to be the most accommodating.

 

Enjoy

 

 

I have been on many lines and NONE have ever provided umbrellas or ponchos. You should bring them yourselves. I would think the OP being from Scotland would know about changeable weather.

[RIAFT]

I have been on many lines and NONE have ever provided umbrellas or ponchos. You should bring them yourselves. I would think the OP being from Scotland would know about changeable weather.

Thanks for the helpful advice. We did actually bring umbrellas and we did use them but this wasn't a shower it was a monsoon. We should have been allowed to cancel.

[Sue L]

Thanks for the helpful advice. We did actually bring umbrellas and we did use them but this wasn't a shower it was a monsoon. We should have been allowed to cancel.

 

Oh I totally agree you should have been allowed., but I was responding to the post above mine, where they said the cruiseline should have provided raingear ( I should have quoted him). Sorry if my post came off a bit abrupt it was not my intention.

[RIAFT]

Oh I totally agree you should have been allowed., but I was responding to the post above mine, where they said the cruiseline should have provided raingear ( I should have quoted hime). Sorry if my post came off a bit abrupt it was not my intention.

No problem, and you're quite right - it's always best to be prepared!

[Poohb]

Sorry the seas were a problem. We board the Navi on Nov 10 for a TA. I will be keeping my fingers crossed that our seas are fairly calm. We've got 12 days to rock & roll. Maybe you were kind enough to get all the bad weather out of our way.

[land lover]

I have been on many lines and NONE have ever provided umbrellas or ponchos. You should bring them yourselves. I would think the OP being from Scotland would know about changeable weather.

 

I didn't say the cruise line should provide rain gear, I implied providing such might have made their experience more bearable.

 

However, several cruises lines I have been on including RCI have provided

umbrellas and ponchos. It probably depends on itinerary and yes I have traveled on many a cruise where it has rained.

Often tour operators provide the equipment...........you probably have been fortunate enough to travel during better weather.

[Sue L]

I didn't say the cruise line should provide raingear.

 

However, several cruises lines I have been on including RCI have provided

umbrellas and ponchos. It probably depends on intineray.

 

 

 

Really??? I have been on many cruises as well as being a travel agent I except for some of the high end lines I have never heard of them being provided. And by raingear I meant the umbrellas and ponchos you mentioned.

[cruisingjon]

I have been out of touch for a while, but didn't I hear that one the Stabilizers was actually cut off of Navigator?

[land lover]

Really??? I have been on many cruises as well as being a travel agent I except for some of the high end lines I have never heard of them being provided. And by raingear I meant the umbrellas and ponchos you mentioned.

 

Sue, you answer to fast I was rewriting my post:)

Yes, it is true a few of my crusies have been with the high end lines where umbrellas are in your closet. But a rainy cruise to New England during Oct. of 2005 handed out umbrellas as we left the gang-way.

A Princess cruise to Tahiti in August of 2006 had them available.

 

Ponchos and umbrellas have been provided on 2 river cruises we have taken. Can I count those;)

 

If the mass cruise lines provide us with a towel we can carry to the beach why not have a supply of large logo umbrellas available when we leave the ship.I can see them all now being dryed out....

[land lover]

I have been out of touch for a while, but didn't I hear that one the Stabilizers was actually cut off of Navigator?

 

One of the rear ones became disabled and was cut off a while back.

[cruisingjon]

I assume it has not been repaired or replaced?

 

That may be a contributing factor to the rough ride during rough seas.

[Aideen]

We are just back from this cruise also and yes it was pretty rough weather. Our waiter told us that it is the front stabilzer that was not functioning. Another passenger told us that they were on the NOTS when this stabilzer failed and they had to anchor off Lisbon while some people were flown out to repair it. They couldn't repair it and so it was cut off, and is now lying at the bottom of the ocean off Lisbon. Our cabin was right at the front and so we felt every bit of the rough seas as the ship lifted off the waves and smacked back down onto them. The swells were at least 20 feet and we were told by a member of staff that the winds were at least gale force 9.

[dutchess43]

I am hoping that by the time I sail on NOS for the TA in April her stablizer is replaced. After reading this review I sure would hate to have rough seas in the Atlantic especially with 7 days at sea.

Regarding the umbrella situation I know that this is not RCI but Celebrity has golf umbrella's in your closet with the Celebrity logo in all concierge, & suite cabins. I have sailed in both categories & they were there each time.

[Poohb]

Oh wonderful, we're near the front, deck 6. But, pardon my non-sea intelligence, I thought the stabilizers were more for the side to side 'roll' (I think) as opposed to the bow up and down 'pitch' (?). Other than that; Dear God, this is Kathy, and I have been a good girl, could you please allow for smooth seas on my TA with the Navi? Thank you very much.

[Aideen]

No idea as to whether the stabilizers are to counteract the roll or the pitch but I do know that our forward cabin was doing a lot more moving than my mum and dad's mid ship cabin.

[Poohb]

Now Aideen, that was NOT the answer I was looking for but thanks for the heads up.

[FL_Cruiser64]

No idea as to whether the stabilizers are to counteract the roll or the pitch but I do know that our forward cabin was doing a lot more moving than my mum and dad's mid ship cabin.

 

 

Stabilizer do not affect the pitch.

 

Pitch cabin location: Most motion can be felt bow and stern (front and back), safest is in the middle. It doesn't matter what deck you are on.

 

Roll cabin location: the lower you are the less you feel. It doesn't matter if you are front, middle or back.

 

In simultaneous action (pitch and roll) the least motion you feel is on the lowest deck in the middle of the ship.

 

If pitch is involved the stabilizers will not and can not be used.

[Hombre59]

I wonder how itll be on my western carib. cruise in december :eek:

[wolfcathorse]

did you have Capt Leif Bang as master?