We organized a 4-night family cruise for six adults on Royal Caribbean’s Navigator of the Seas to celebrate my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday. Our ports of call included Catalina Island and Ensenada Mexico. The opinions provided in this Royal Caribbean Cruise review are our own and represent our personal experiences.
WELCOME ABOARD
This was our first time to embark at the Port of Los Angeles. We drove to the Port from Palm Springs, CA and parked in the lot directly across from the ship. Parking was a breeze. Very convenient for boarding and disembarking.
The line to pass through security was endless. Fortunately, we had reserved 2 suites which meant we could bypass people waiting in line, but the process was not as easy as we had hoped or had experienced at other U.S. ports.
Once through security we were met by Royal Caribbean (RC) staff who directed us to the check-in lanes. We had completed our health protocols in advance through the RC app, but unfortunately the information didn’t register, and we were required to answer the questions verbally. While this only took a few additional minutes, it was frustrating.
After check-in the boarding process speeded up considerably and we soon found ourselves in the Windjammer dining area taking in the vast array of food choices. After a quick bite we headed to the Cosmopolitan Bar (Deck 14) to relax and wait for our staterooms to open.
TIP: Generally, guests cannot enter their stateroom until mid-afternoon. If you carry your luggage on the ship, or even if you don’t, we suggest heading up to the Cosmopolitan Bar mentioned above. No alcohol or food are served during this time, but the lounge is quiet, allowing you to avoid the chaos of thousands of other passengers simultaneously boarding the ship.
Common Areas
The Navigator of the Seas is a Voyager Class ship, meaning the floor plans, activities, and dining experiences are like other RC ships in this class.
The interior of the Navigator of the Seas is beautifully designed. Outdoor light fills the multiple level atrium, creating an open and airy environment. A color pallet of blues and golds bathe you in warmth and provide a feel of relaxed luxury. Beautiful artwork adorns the walls and common areas throughout the ship.
Multiple sitting areas and spaces offer great opportunities for people watching, but there are also places to hide away from the hustle and bustle of the 3K+ other passengers. It’s hard to believe that with so many people onboard there are truly plenty of places to find solitude.
TIP: We generally find the outside deck chairs around the perimeter of the ship are underutilized. If the weather is warm, it’s good to get outside and enjoy the fresh sea air.
Dining Spaces
There are so many places to dine on the Navigator of the Seas that I can’t begin to describe them all. Because there were six family members on this trip, we mostly ate in the Windjammer and the Dining Room. The Windjammer is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Food is served buffet style with multiple stations offering various cuisines. We find the food here to be good. My husband loves it because there are so many choices!
TIP: On your first visit, walk around the entire area to get a sense for what foods are being served. In addition to the various cuisines, you will find gluten free foods. If you have food allergies, always let the wait staff know in advance (typically they will ask you first). My sister-in-law is gluten and dairy free and the restaurant staff always accommodated her.
Main Dining Room
The Dining Room is located on Decks 3, 4, and 5, with set hours for serving dinner. Or, if you prefer, you can arrange for My Time Dining by making reservations or just showing up between 5:30 and 9:30 p.m. You will order dinner from a standard menu, which can be viewed in advance on the RC app or outside the restaurant. The menu options are reasonable, and the food is good.
Specialty Dining
There are several dining options that require you to pay extra – Jamie’s Italian, Chops Grille, Izumi, Hooked Seafood, Johnny Rockets Express, and the Chef’s Table. On this trip we only reserved the Chef’s Table in advance for the special birthday celebration. We have experienced the Chef’s Table on other ships and found the food to be excellent. There are six courses, and each course is paired with a wine. The whole experience takes about 2 to 2.5 hours and is one we highly recommend you try at least once.
Specialty Dining packages are available on Navigator of the Seas. According to the RC website you can save up to 40% by purchasing a package. We do not purchase dining packages because we enjoy the options already paid for in the purchase price of the cruise ticket. And, if we decide we want to eat at a specialty restaurant one night, we will just pay for it. However, if dining at a specialty restaurant every night is important, consider purchasing a package as you will save money.
Room Service
Room Service is also another option. We ordered sweet rolls, a fruit plate, and a pot of coffee every morning. This would see us through to lunch, or until we were able to join our family later for breakfast. We did not order Room Service for lunch or dinner.
Beverages
Most places on the ship require you to pay out of pocket for sodas, cocktails, wine, specialty coffees and so forth. Guests do have the option of purchasing a drink package in advance or once they are on the boat, much like the Specialty Dining package. Packages tend to cost less if purchased in advance. The decision to purchase a drink package is a personal one. We do not purchase a beverage package because we do not drink enough alcohol or other drinks to make it worth the cost. For others, a drink package will make a lot of sense.
Missing your morning cup of Starbucks? Head down to Deck 4 and order your usual (for a fee). The lounge area around Starbuck’s is a great place to meet up, relax, and watch people go by.
Interested in something a little more libatious? Head to one of many bars located throughout the ship. At Playmakers Sports Bar guests can watch their favorite team while enjoying bar food and a beer. The Schooner Bar is another place guests can sip on a cocktail while watching the ocean through the large portholes. Wishing you were in Tahiti? Make a visit to The Bamboo Room and order a Mai Tai cocktail! Other places include the Cosmopolitan Bar located on Deck 14 next to the Suite Lounge. This place doesn’t start hopping until late in the evening, but as I said before, the views from the top of the ship are amazing.
Staterooms
There are a variety of staterooms available on the Navigator of the Seas to fit nearly every budget. We have never stayed in one of the Interior Staterooms (no windows), but they have everything you need, especially if you don’t intend to spend much time there (~150 sq ft). There are also Ocean View Staterooms where portholes allow natural light to fill the room and provide up close views of the ocean. (~170+ sq. ft.)
We prefer to book a Balcony Stateroom. They are pricier, but also a little larger (~200+ sq ft). Sitting on the deck enjoying a morning cup of coffee or an evening cocktail watching the sunset is indeed magical. The amenities you receive with the interior rooms and rooms with a porthole or balcony are identical. Choosing between these options really comes down to what kind of view you prefer.
Suites
Depending on our itinerary, the length of the cruise, etc., we will sometimes reserve a Suite Stateroom. There are several options to choose from, including a Junior Suite, Ocean View Panoramic Suite, Grand Suite, Owner’s Suite, and Royal Suite. These staterooms are larger and more expensive than the other staterooms described above, but if you can afford it, we suggest doing it.
2-Bedroom Grand Suite
For this cruise, we booked a 2-Bedroom Grand Suite (Deck 9, Room 9394, 755 sq. ft.) to accommodate me and my husband, my mother-in-law, and sister-in-law. When I looked at the availability of rooms prior to making our reservations, the 2-bedroom was less expensive than reserving two separate rooms. And since we were splitting the cost, this made good financial sense. We booked my other sister-in-law and her husband in a 1-Bedroom Grand Suite (Deck 10, Room 1298, 380 sq. ft.), which they loved. It was their first time to cruise, and the room was more spacious than they had expected.
We feel the staterooms on the Navigator of the Seas need to be updated and refurbished. The carpet in our stateroom and along the hallways in the stateroom areas were stained. There were nicks and scratches here and there on the stateroom walls and along the sliding glass door leading to the balcony. The furniture in our main sitting room was tired and outdated.
Master Bedroom
The master bedroom in our suite was okay. It had a large porthole that looked onto the deck and out to the ocean. We had plenty of closet space to hang our clothes and drawers for other storage. The bathroom, while tiny, was manageable for two people. It contained one sink and a combination tub/shower. Unfortunately, there were no electrical outlets or USB ports anywhere close to the bed which was inconvenient. We had a comfy king size bed covered with white luxury bedding. I could have spent all day lazing in bed!
Second Bedroom
The 2nd bedroom also had a king bed but no windows or natural light. There was a small closet and an even tinier bathroom, although my mother-in-law and sister-in-law said it was fine. This bathroom only had a shower, which was perfect for a 90-year-old to get in and out of. When they weren’t sleeping, they spent most of their time in the larger sitting room or out on the deck. This bedroom felt a little claustrophobic and reminded me of what an interior stateroom might feel like, but it would have been perfect for kids.
Suite Amenities
When you book a suite on Navigator of the Seas, you receive multiple amenities. One nice benefit is a priority line to pass through Port Security. Another benefit is priority for disembarking the ship to go ashore. Think Disney World Fast Passes here. We heard one story on this trip where a couple had to wait 3 hours to board the tender to take them over to Catalina Island. Not us! We were on the tender in no time with lots of available seating. Returning to the ship is a different matter and Suite guests must stand in line like everyone else. Our wait time to return to the ship was 45 minutes. Not great, but not too bad either. The staff were excellent and patient in helping my mother-in-law walk down and up ramps and board the tender.
Suite guests receive priority for booking any of the onboard shows, with reserved seating in a private section. Want to make a dinner reservation at one of the specialty restaurants? Suite guests have priority there as well and they have the option to dine at Chops Grille for breakfast for no additional fee.
Private Lounge Access
Our favorite suite amenity is access to the private Lounge on Deck 14, next to the Cosmopolitan Bar. A concierge is available to assist you with reservations, excursions, departure information, and so forth. Each morning at 8 am there is espresso and tea along with some light nutritious (and not so nutritious) foods. Snacks are available throughout the day and in the evening light appetizers and cocktails. The Lounge is also a great place to sit and enjoy an after-dinner drink.
Suite guests will receive an email from the concierge in advance of the cruise introducing him or herself asking how they can be of service. We responded that our family trip was celebrating my mother-in-law’s 90th birthday. The concierge arranged for us to have a private tour of the Bridge and a Q&A session with the ship’s captain. She called us by name each time we entered the Lounge and paid extra special attention to my mother-in-law. It was just a great experience overall. It is important to note that to enter the Lounge, all guests must be in a Suite. Friends and family not staying in a suite are unable to enter.
Internet
There are internet packages available for purchase and the more devices you want to connect the more expensive the package. We chose not to buy a package until Day 4 when we were at sea. The cost for two devices was about $57. Check your cellular internet package before leaving home to see what’s allowed. We have the international travel package, but it will not work onboard the ship. Instead, we just connected to the internet or used cellular service during our shore excursions. It’s important to put your phone on airplane mode while on the boat. I once had to pay $200 in roaming fees so I learned a valuable lesson.
Conclusions
We think the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas is a comfortable ship. The common areas are lovely, but the rooms are a little worn and tired and could use some updating. This did not detract from our overall experience though. The food and service were good. Staff are attentive and responsive to requests. For example, I went to use one of the restrooms and found that most of the toilets were not flushing. As I was walking upstairs to find another restroom, I met a staff member coming downstairs. I reached out and explained to him the restroom situation. He immediately said I am so sorry you had to experience that and will take care of the issue immediately, which he did.
There are plenty of activities on the ship to keep guests’ busy day and night; or if you are more inclined, just simply sitting somewhere and watching the ocean go by will put you in a Zen state of mind. Our first morning on the ship we saw a pod of dolphins jumping in and out of the water. It was one of the highlights of our trip.
If it is your first cruise and you just want to try out the experience, the Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas is a great ship for that purpose. We suggest starting with a short 2-, 3-, or 4-night cruise to see if cruising is for you. Honestly, we never thought we would be cruisers, but it turned out we love it!
If you have any questions about cruising on Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas, or cruising in general, please contact us at travelwiththecrows@gmail.com. We’d love to hear from you!
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