|
| Member Cruise Review |
Holland America.
and were sitting on the ship by 12.30 pm. We had to wait until 1.00 pm to be able to access our cabin. My DH has difficulty walking long distances due to a heart condition, but a helpful staff member gave him a lift in a wheelchair. We had placed our evening wear in garment bags, as when sailing from Harwich we were able to hand them to a porter who hung them on a garment rail and took them to the ship. However the porter at Southampton suggested we carry them as he said they would get torn on the conveyor. It did make it a bit awkward having to carry them along with our other hand luggage as the walk from the car to the building was quite a distance. Will probably organise ourselves differently when sailing from Southampton again. The Ship – I really liked the Navigator. She was a beautiful ship both inside and out. We especially liked the Royal Promenade. It was good to have an indoor place to walk when the weather was too breezy to be outside on the promenade deck. I thought the décor was very attractive. I loved the day of the week in the floor of the lift. I heard one lady remark that they must think we Brits are stupid if they had to do that! I don’t think she realised that the ship wasn’t actually designed specifically for us! I had to laugh though when on Thursday one of the lifts was showing Tuesday all day. Our Cabin – We had opted for a Promenade Cabin. We usually have a balcony, but as this cruise was a last minute “extra” holiday for us we decided to economise by having an inside. These cabins have a window looking over the Royal Promenade so we didn’t feel closed in, although we did miss being able to look out at the sea! We wouldn’t have used a balcony much as it wasn’t really warm enough, but an ocean view would have been lovely. However, we did like the cabin. It was larger than we expected and very nicely laid out. We found the storage space to be somewhat lacking though. We could have done with more drawers. There were only four small ones in the TV cabinet and one very small one each side of the bed. There were shelves in the wardrobe, but they were awkward to get at once our clothes were hanging on the rail, and one shelf was taken up by the safe. I liked the bathroom. The shower cubicle in particular was very nice – it had sliding doors rather than the usual nylon curtain which clings to you when you’re wet! I was disappointed at the lack of toiletries. We only had bars of soap and a shower cream dispenser in the shower itself. On other cruises we’ve always had lovely toiletries, eg body lotion, shower gel, shampoo, conditioner. I thought this was very penny pinching on Royal Caribbean’s behalf. We also missed having bathrobes. Have had these on all our previous cruises. The bath towels were pathetic. Our hand towels at home are almost as big! We did have a regular supply of clean ones though. We didn’t have any problem with noise from the Royal Promenade except on two evenings when they had late night parades. They were very loud but only went on for about half an hour. The rest of the time it was very quiet. I think it’s a shame that Royal Caribbean doesn’t allow passengers to bring a couple of bottles of wine on board with them for cabin consumption. It’s nice to have a drink whilst getting ready for dinner. Most other cruise lines allow this, and even allow you to take your own bottle to dinner so long as you pay corkage. This is good for people who happen to like wines that aren’t available on board. We were quite happy with the types of wine available in the dining room though. The Dining Room and Food – We were at a table for eight and were lucky to have six charming dining companions. We all hit it off straight away and had some very enjoyable evenings. Our waitress was Rowena and assistant waiter Jose. They did an excellent job. The food couldn’t be faulted. Extra dishes of vegetables were provided every evening. I believe this was a concession for the British as earlier in the season people were complaining about lack of vegetables. One evening the dessert menu showed tapioca pudding. We all requested that item, but were told there was no tapioca left on board and the pudding had been made with cornmeal instead! We all declined that. One lady at our table wanted English Mustard and was told there was none on board “as we’re going to Miami now”. There was also no Strongbow cider available on board. They hadn’t bothered to stock up as this was the last cruise from Southampton. By the end of the cruise there was no butter left on board. We got the distinct feeling that they weren’t really interested in us, but couldn’t wait to be back in the USA. We were disappointed that there was no Baked Alaska parade. The excuse given was that “it would set off the smoke detectors”. Strange that other cruise lines don’t have that problem. There didn’t really seem to be any gala feeling at the end of the cruise such as we’ve experienced before. One thing that did concern me was that there was no hand sanitizer in the dining room. I have never seen that before. They did have it at the buffet and at the Café Promenade, but I really think they should have it at the dining room too. Café Promenade – We really liked this. It was only a short walk from our cabin so we were able to get a tea, coffee or hot chocolate whenever we felt like it. The snacks available there were good too. On mornings when we only wanted a light breakfast we went down there for croissants with butter and jam. After a couple of visits the waitress knew what we wanted and had it ready as soon as she saw us coming. On the last morning we ate in the dining room. The same girl was working in there and came over specially to speak to us which we thought was very nice. Entertainment – We didn’t go to the theatre as we’re not really show people, but we did go to the Ice Show. That was excellent. On the day we saw it there was quite a lot of movement of the ship. How on earth they do those jumps etc on moving ice I’ll never know! We joined in one trivia quiz on board, but didn’t bother with the bingo. Had a couple of plays on the slot machines in the casino, but didn’t win anything! On sea days there were classes in watercolour painting. We went to every one and really enjoyed them. I think they ought to do more things like that, and probably some talks about different subjects that people might find interesting. Shopping – Can’t say I found the shops very inspiring. They were never very busy, so obviously other people felt the same. I did buy a nice pair of Swarovski earrings and found the prices for cosmetics and perfume excellent. Bought some Estee Lauder eye makeup remover at a fraction of what it costs at home. Disappointed I couldn’t find anything to bring back for my baby grandson. The Ports – They were a big disappointment. We didn’t book any excursions as DH finds it difficult to walk quickly enough to keep up with the guide. We hoped to be able to browse around actually at the port, but everywhere we stopped the walk from the dock to the town was so far he couldn’t manage it. Even at the ports where there was a shuttle it didn’t stop very close to the town centre. I would never choose to cruise to the Canaries again. They certainly can’t compare to the Mediterranean or Caribbean ports. Glad to say the sea conditions were OK. I was worried about the Bay of Biscay but although we could feel the ship moving it didn’t affect us and most people seemed to be fine with it. When we were actually docked the sun was very hot and pleasant, but we always seemed to be in such a position that there was no sun on the sides of the ship. This meant that it wasn’t warm enough to sit on the Promenade Deck. The only sun was up by the pool, but that was really noisy and crowded. I noticed that there were no pool/beach towels supplied in cabins. You had to actually go up to the pool and seek out an attendant to get one. Have never seen that before. It was very breezy when we were at sea. We tended to stay indoors. The Staff – All very pleasant and helpful. However, I got the feeling that many of them weren’t really happy. I’ve never had that feeling on a ship before. I wonder whether it’s because there’s such a big mix of nationalities on board. On previous ships they have tended to have large groups from one country, ie on our cruise last year the waiters were all from Indonesia and the room stewards all from the Philippines. They seemed to bond like a family. In fact on every other cruise the staff have given a show in the theatre at the end of the cruise. Wi-fi – I used my laptop on board. I signed up for 90 minutes which cost $35. It was just enough for me to keep in touch with my family and check my emails. It was easy to sign up and I could access it in the cabin (I think because we were close to the Promenade). The connection was much slower than at home though and there was no satellite service at all in Tenerife. There were plenty of computers in the computer room and it never seemed to be busy. You could get a signal for your mobile phone on board, but calls were very expensive - $7.95 per minute for mine. Medical Centre – My DH was taken ill on board. We attended the Medical Centre and the team were wonderful. Both doctors and the nurses all came from South Africa. They were all very caring and efficient. The Centre was like a mini hospital. The treatment couldn’t have been better. It did come at a cost though - $1600!! Thank goodness for travel insurance. Summary – We did enjoy the cruise – we were on a ship at sea after all. However, we do feel the quality of Royal Caribbean does not match that of other cruise lines we have experienced. We got the feeling that they were always looking for ways to cut corners and so make more money. Yes, all cruise lines are there to make money, but they don’t make it so obvious. We did miss lots of the little niceties from our other cruises such as petit fours at the end of dinner, sweets as you leave the dining room, fresh flower arrangements around the ship, a sheet giving a summary of the news back home delivered to the cabin each day, real individual hand towels in the public bathrooms – in fact all the little things that make cruising so special for us. One of our dinner companions summed it up by saying that Royal Caribbean “lacked finesse”. If you were taking your first cruise with Royal Caribbean, or had only ever sailed with them, then probably the things I’ve mentioned wouldn’t bother you because you wouldn’t miss them, but once you’ve had all the extras then you don’t want to go without! |
Royal Caribbean International Navigator of the Seas October 2007 by Starbright Canary Isles & Madeira |
| Cabin: Promenade View #6595 |
| Cruise Line = Royal Caribbean Ship Name = Navigator of the Seas Date of Sailing = 26 October 2007 How many cruises have you done = Five Ship Facilities = 4 Dining Room Service = 4 Food = 5 Cabin Layout = 3 Bars & Lounges = 4 Ports of Call = 2 Cabin Number = 6595 Cabin location = 5 Type of Cabin = inside Cabin Steward = 3 Overall cruise rating out of 5 = 3 |