Review of Navigator of the seas Canaries cruise September 29th 2017.

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towny44
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Review of Navigator of the seas Canaries cruise September 29th 2017.

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Post by towny44 »

This was our first cruise with Royal Caribbean (RC) and our overall impression was very favourable, we were joined on this cruise by my SIL and BIL from Canada.

Check in and parking at City terminal is (IMO) much better than at any of the other terminals and the RC groups relaxed attitude to check in times is far better than P&O’s insistence on a rigid arrival time. The blue badge car parks opposite the terminal were all full so we were in one a little further away, which meant walking passed the taxi drop off area, this was a bit of a nightmare to navigate through with a wheelchair and it was raining, but other than that the check in was very smooth, we arrived, at 12:15 and were on board by 12:45, the cabins were then opened up for passengers at 1:00pm, however it was after 3:00pm when our cases arrived.

Muster on RC is done on the boat deck and involves standing during the drill procedure, but once all passengers were accounted for this was fairly slick with a life jacket demonstration, you do not bring the life jacket with you, followed by a fairly brief but entirely forgettable briefing, mainly from the CD, then just a few words from the Captain. For us it was then back to the cabin to finish unpacking. As wheelchair users we had all been placed in the same area and were invited to leave the muster station first and were ushered into the lift area which was only yards away from our muster station, which meant we were on our way to our deck before the herd was released.

Navigator of the seas is the 4th of the first 5 giant ships that RC built and the first one with glass fronted balconies like Azura/Ventura rather than metal walled ones recessed into the superstructure like Oceana. The gross tonnage of 140,000 is almost double that of the previous Vision class, it has a lower birth passenger capacity of 3276, which is only 150 more than Azura but it is longer and broader and with an extra 25000 GT it feels much more spacious. It has similarities to the Celebrity Solstice class with just 2 lift and stair wells, but the lifts are much bigger than Azura and seem to cope better with passenger movements.

Decks 4 and 5 are the main indoor public decks and house bars, the Star lounge, one Speciality dining room, the 24 hr Café Promenade, the Casino, shops and RC’s feature Royal Promenade (RP), with the inside cabins of decks 6, 7 and 8 all having windows overlooking the RP. The upper tier of the 3 tier Sapphire dining room is at the aft end of deck 5 and this is the section where RC has My Time Dining, their version of freedom dining, and where we had dinner. Deck 4 also has a wide promenade deck, with shuffleboard courts which goes almost all the way round but, like Ventura, you have stairs up to deck 5 to complete the journey at the forward end; which actually takes you out onto the heli-pad where you can take your Titanic type Leonardo and Kate photos at the pointy end. We had expected that the Royal Promenade might be very busy in the evenings but we never found it too crowded for the wheelchair, this might be because the theatre and live lounge are both at the forward end, and as a result you don’t get the mad rush from one end of the ship to the other. However there are fewer live entertainment venues than on the bigger P&O ships which removes the pressure to switch venues. We spent most of our after dinner evenings in Boleros bar which had a small dance floor and a trio playing easy listening dance music, which not only attracted dancers but lots of others as well.

Deck 3 has the Metropolis theatre, it is accessed via stairs from the end of deck 4 and via the forward lifts as well. The theatre is well laid out with a wheelchair area at the back of the upper tier, this provided an excellent view, which is probably the same for most of the seating which from memory seemed unencumbered with the usual pillars, although I imagine there must be some. .We only went to one show, the Beatles Celebration tribute group, so possibly I did not absorb everything. There is also a skating rink on deck 3 where production shows are performed on some sea days. The other indoor lounge is the Cosmopolitan club on deck 14, similar to P&O’s Crow’s Nest but midships rather than forward, which does limit your forward view mainly to the sun decks. RC also has their Diamond lounge in this area and the Jap restaurant, both of which have been taken from the original Cosmopolitan lounge.

Food quality was good, but not as outstanding as Celebrity, although at least the equal of P&O. We used the Windjammer buffet for all but one breakfast and most lunchtimes as well, it can be crowded at busy times but we always managed to find a table for 4. Our one breakfast in the MDR did not encourage us to try it again; we had left it till late which meant the waiters were beginning to clear tables ready for lunch and we were a bit neglected. However this was our only poor experience with RC’s service which was a very similar experience to Celebrity where the head waiters and assistant Maître D’s all lead by example and have a hands on management style which includes clearing tables when necessary, something that P&O could benefit from copying. Dinner in the MDR was most enjoyable, we quickly found a waiting team, Allwyn from Bombay and Radmir from Siberia, that gave excellent service and we began requesting a table in their section, and very soon Jeffrey the meet and greet host would find us one of their tables without us needing to ask. But he never quite got round to remembering our room numbers, although on only a 14 day cruise with 550 covers to manage it was a miracle he remembered us at all. We never tried any of the Speciality restaurants so cannot comment on them, there is a Steakhouse, Italian, Japanese, Indian (when in Europe, Mexican otherwise) and Johnny Rockets burger bar.

The lido and sun deck are very reminiscent of Celebrity’s pool areas, the main pool is midships with a solarium pool forward, this has an open pool area but a lot of the sun loungers are under the covered areas at each side. The Solarium is adults only. The Kids club area is all aft on the sun deck 12 with the climbing wall, flow rider, sports court and mini golf above on deck 13, yes they do have a deck 13. The sun deck on deck 12 has a “jogging track” around it, and it is here that you appreciate just how much broader Navigator is compared to Azura/Ventura and even Britannia, the open sunbathing area around the pool is much bigger.

One neat feature is the “peekaboo” bridge, this is off an open promenade style area around the forward part of deck 11 where a small sunken section allows you to overlook the activity, or lack of, on the bridge through a set of windows, which sometimes have blinds drawn. As well as being able to see who is on duty it has a repeater screen giving speed, course, azipod rpm etc.

Our accessible cabin was similar in size to those on P&O, the balcony was a little deeper measuring 6’ 6”and it had the usual wet room style bathroom. The single wardrobe had open shelving on both sides, and adequately accommodated most of our clothing. What it did lack was the 8 drawer bedside cabinets we have on P&O, it only had one 5 drawer unit alongside the dressing table with much smaller drawers, which left no spare space. However the wardrobe doors were not full length meaning we were able to fit all our shoes in the carpeted base area. Accessibility around the ship was excellent, all doorways had automatic or push button operation, and there seemed to be no areas that had no wheelchair access.

Ports of call were:- Vigo, Lisbon, Agadir, Lanzarote, Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Madeira, La Coruna, Le Havre. The only two we had not done were Agadir and Le Havre, and we stayed on board for both. The first because it was misty and cool, the second because it was the last day and after we had finished packing we did not feel like bothering, especially as it needed a shuttle and these can be a problem with a wheelchair. But 9 ports in 14 days is way more than you normally get with a P&O cruise, which was another plus for RC.

Our overall impression was that we liked what RC has to offer, and the additional features to the Royal Promenade of Central Park and the Boardwalk that their newer, even bigger, ships include might temp us to try these, if they ever base one in Southampton, and the price and itinerary appeal to us. The downsides mainly reflect the higher cost of drinks and gratuities, we had pre-paid gratuities in March 2016 when we booked on launch, which after sterling’s devaluation following the Brexit vote saved us quite a bit, but at $13.50 pppd they are much more than P&O, similarly drink prices are way higher than P&O. Fortunately we were Diamond status in their loyalty scheme, based on our Celebrity cruises, this entitles you to 3 free drinks every night between 5:30 and 8:30, and these can be used in the dining areas. We took advantage of this and as our wives were not drinking my BIL and I enjoyed 2 or 3 drinks over dinner every night, this was adequate for both of us and as a result we seldom bought any drinks, and our final on board account was only tiny.

One final comment about this cruise was that US and Canadian passengers made up 35% of the total, while UK passengers were just over 50%, this is by far the highest percentage of North American’s we have encountered on any previous Southampton cruise on a US cruise line, but the majority were friendly enough. :)
John

Trainee Pensioner since 2000

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Happydays
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Re: Review of Navigator of the seas Canaries cruise September 29th 2017.

#2

Post by Happydays »

Interesting read, Thank you for your review :)

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Manoverboard
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Re: Review of Navigator of the seas Canaries cruise September 29th 2017.

#3

Post by Manoverboard »

Thank you for taking the time and trouble, I thought it could be of particular interest to fellow wheelchair users.

For Mobietta and I it was doubtless a ' Too BIG ship ' albeit with the benefit of having a number of alternate dining venues ... that you didn't visit, why was that ?

:thumbup:
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towny44
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Re: Review of Navigator of the seas Canaries cruise September 29th 2017.

#4

Post by towny44 »

Manoverboard wrote: 29 Oct 2017, 10:10
Thank you for taking the time and trouble, I thought it could be of particular interest to fellow wheelchair users.

For Mobietta and I it was doubtless a ' Too BIG ship ' albeit with the benefit of having a number of alternate dining venues ... that you didn't visit, why was that ?

:thumbup:
Mainly because we were holidaying with relatives we had not seen for 7 years, so we spent most meal times chatting, and were not unduly interested in over priced speciality dining.
John

Trainee Pensioner since 2000

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