Navigator Of The Seas

If there were a way to rate this cruise line as zero, I would.
This was the third cruise on Royal Caribbean. After each I am more resolved that I will never spend a penny with this cruise line. So you ask why I have been on 3. My employer, in their mis-​placed wisdom, has selected them for the past 3 years despite the feedback from over 200 that this company has the worst food service of any cruise line I’ve ever encountered. I’ve been on 18 cruises with 6 different cruise lines including Holland America, Celebrity, NCL, Carnival and Princes. Each of the above is FAR superior. Examples; 1) can you think of anything easier than hamburgers, pizza and spaghetti? On Royal Caribbean any frozen pizza is better, any bottled sauce or any McDonalds burger better than what I have experienced on their ships. On last years cruise out of San Juan PR, I asked to meet with the exec chef, the F&B director and the head of guest services. They acted like they listed to me for 45min but couldn’t have cared less. The reply; «our line cooks are from Jamaica so they don’t know what spaghetti is supposed to taste like.» What? The head chef is responsible for everything that comes out of the kitchen and is supposed to train those under him to know how it is supposed to taste. 2) no fast food offered around the pool. Every ship I have been on had hamburgers, hotdogs and pizza somewhere around the pool. Maybe because these are such poor excuses for food? 3) our first night at formal dinner was indicative of the rest of the cruise. 5 of the 8 at our table ordered the prime rib. How do you screw up prime rib. One of the people commented that she couldn’t tell what she was eating. Each of us agreed that we could not tell if it was beef, chicken or pork, it had so little flavor. We each sent it back and 3 of us ordered the pork chop and 2 the salmon. Those entrees were not finished they too were so poor. 4) this company seems to cook for Indians and the English of which there were none on the ship despite the fact the exec chef was CIA trained. Royal Caribbean has the worst foodservice quality of any cruise ship I’ve ever been on!

Yay, we just took a cruise! Boo, it ended already. :(
We just got off our of last cruise aboard the Navigator of the Seas from a cruise around the Western Caribbean. It was a great cruise and I did like the boat. Here’s what I noticed about the ship:
The Highs:
–Nice size boat. It is a middle size ship. It is big enough to have a lot of perks, but not so big it is overwhelming.
–The food in the dining room (Sapphire) was quite good. I was never disappointed in what I ordered. Several nights I was even surprised at how awesome the food was.
–The Windjammer Café (Buffet) had better than expected food. Always a bonus. They also make really good, crisp bacon!
–The dinner service is fantastic. Our dinner servers, Deral and Ning, were top notch. We were traveling with two 3 year olds, so we always had a lot of weird requests. The team always made our requests happen and usually went way over board. They were awesome and I suggest you request them for dinner.
–Our room steward, Michael on deck 8, was marvelous. He was very inventive and always there when we needed something.
–The onboard shows were pretty good. I only got to go to a couple since we had a little one, but the ones we attended were fun and done well.
–The spa is nice and usually easy to get an appointment.
The Lows:
–The staterooms need to be updated. They seemed a bit outdated.
–The beds were hard. New mattresses are needed. Same with the pillows.
–Our shower had a leak near the base. We had to keep towels on the floor to mop up the water for every shower.
–The ship needs more public bathrooms. My kiddo never wanted to use the room bathroom, so of course she would need to go when we were somewhere on the boat. Trying to find a bathroom then was always a hassle and a mad dash.
–They were repairing the balconies during our cruise. I understand when a ship is always do sailings, they have to do maintenance at sea, but it seemed they were working out there fairly often. Its a bummer when you pay extra for the balcony but then can’t use it during the day do to the work being done.
Tips:
–If you like cheese, order the dessert artisan cheese plate as an appetizer at dinner. It is so good and worth it! I gained 6 lbs this cruise and I blame it on the cheese plate I ate with every dinner!
–Skip the galley tour. It’s not worth the $ 30 a head to go.
–Onboard trivia is awesome! Go and check it out. I now own about 2 dozen RC pens, highlights, and other swag. What can I say, I’m really good at random trivia!
–Book your spa stuff onboard. They do a different daily special every day that are usually a pretty good deal.

Well so far we’ve been stuck in the boarding terminal for 1 hour with masses of people. The attendant who directed us to the check in station was unbelievably rude… so far not off to a great start

We have sailed on Norwegian, Carnival and Royal. We were very impressed with Royal our first cruise but this experience was sad.
Let me start with what was great! I had dinner every night with our daughter that has been gone for 3 years, I got one night of daughter dancing at the club with us, we had some time with daughter on excursions and a couple things on the ship. This was precious time since 2 days after cruise she moves to Mexico and then to Bolivia. Next, a HUGE shout out to these crew members (some consultants) that went above and beyond. true customer service agents… Kwame Matthews front desk assistant manager who stepped up and resolved our heat/​mold issue after constant calls to front desk. Cat bartender at the Solarium pool. He always knew our name and drink… even when he changed venues at night, he saved the night when the other bartender could not figure out my drink. Ella and her team at R Bar! A true professional and craftsman with her mixology. Those girls need to do the mixology class on youtube. They work in perfect harmony. Hats off and lots of hugs to Muammer and Sheetal on 5^th floor main dining room. OMG! I have a gluten and lactose intolerance… not allergy… but once he knew he made sure I did not get anything off the menu that might contain one of those ingredients. One night he even had maitre de come over and explain why I could not have something. Our niece became addicted to the shrimp cocktail, and honesty the rest of us did too and our waiter would automatically bring 2 – 3 servings without us asking. I never ordered dessert but he always made sure to bring me something that fit the dietary restrictions. I must say the meringue and strawberry sauce was awesome. Sheetal kept our glasses filled and bread at the table, both regular and gluten free, plus the butter dish full. And last but not least the friends we made that helped us have fun when we wanted to leave and get off the ship early! You know who you are, we are already FB friends.
First off, the mold! The mold smell on the 8^th floor was so bad it would hit when the elevator doors opened. I am highly allergic to mold and within 48 hours 99.9% of the time I have pneumonia. Combine this with the heat. I don’t mean at check in or check out, I’m from the Gulf Coast of Texas, I get humidity and heat. But I live in one of the most air conditioned cities in the country world and a large portion of people on the ship are from this area. I room temperature of 75 is too freaking hot. If I complain my room won’t cool off and you come in and put your little gadget right at the blower and say «It’s the right temperature» that is just stupid! What is the room temperature?! I don’t care what it is blowing at, what is my room temperature? Well, at 1:30 am when they decided to try and send a fourth person in, I had it and just said «bring me a fan, maybe it will also get rid of the mold smell.» Needless to say it did not and the offer to shampoo the carpets only made the smell worse. Finally when after 3 days we were moved to a downsized room when someone unexpectedly got off the ship in Cozumel. The room was an okay temperature, thank goodness we had the fan from the super hot room. But we gave up size and space… frustrating…but got nice credit which paid for tips to the staff that was great and some spa time. FYI… they had more complaints about mold and finally sent someone to check things out and they had a leak! They put fans out on the carpet but sorry to tell them, unless you replace the carpet, the mold smell will be there.
Food.really? The Windjammer is not even comparable to Golden Corral. Ok, I may just eat healthy, but who has a salad bar with only a few items? This salad bar was more pathetic than my work and it is pathetic. I’m used to salad bars with multiple meat selections like grilled chicken, bacon, tuna, chicken salad, spinach, lettuce varieties, hummus, and numerous veggies, chick peas etc, etc… this one had lettuce a few veggies, and sometimes tuna, just very limited. Oh, and gluten free option was available…“just ask” was the sign, but good luck finding someone… which leads to the next complaint.
Service.started with the mold and quickly moved to internet connection. We had planned to also work on this cruise but that was not going to happen. We paid for internet connection and it took 2 days to get that resolved. We tried to login immediately upon boarding and our PIN would not work. Called and was told it would be fixed right away. Couple hours later tried again and could not log on. Called again & told once more it would be fixed, nope. Oh, and the other bartenders did not know you existed. Problem, prepaid tips
Departing next issue. not organized and heaven forbid you are elderly with a walker. I really felt for those having to wait a long time on elevators or being given wrong directions or worthless information from staff to get off the ship.

First i want to stat this by saying that certain people on the Navigator of the Seas went over and above in their efforts to not only make sure we had a great vacation but that everyone else that they served did as well.
First shout out to Cat in the Solarium bar. He knew my name and my wife’s name and what we drank every time one of us walked up.
Second shout out to Ella and her team at the R Bar. I have never seen a team work so well together. It was an incredible site of precision and efficiency, not only were their cocktails perfect and constant each time, no matter which one made it, the camaraderie between them and the guest was a true pleasure.
Third was to Muammer and Sheetal in the fifth floor dining room. Their level of service was unmatched. Their anticipation and attention to detail made each evening a fine dining experience.
Lastly one goes to Kwame Mathews. He was the assistant front desk manager who was able to help us out when we were ready to quit the cruise early due the the mold/​mildew issue on the eighth floor.
These folks above deserve every congratulations and celebration they can get. Dealing with 2500 – 3000 people everyday is a daunting task and they did it with a smile and never let us feel like we were intruding on their time.
After saying all that i will mention some items that made me swear off Royal Caribbean Cruise Line for a cruise vacation. The first issue was mentioned earlier. The MOLD/​MILDEW on the eight floor. It was overwhelming. Many people complained and their complaints as well as ours seemingly fell on deaf ears. Sunday night the first night at sea we had a crew member say that he could not smell anything so we were imagining it. After several phone calls and trips to the desk we ended up with people in our room until 1:30 am to deal with the «crazy peoples» mold problem and temperature issues. Yes we could not get the temp regulated in the room either. Very frustrating. It was not until three days later that something was done. This only after Kay’s asthma had kicked in and she was taking meds to prevent further developments over the issue.
Windjammer buffet… food quality below average, hours open limited. service levels non existent.
Main dining… service outstanding, food quality slightly better than windjammer but very limited.
Bar service… other than those listed above i would say horrible is a kind word. At the Cosmopolitan night club i witnessed two waiters standing around with their trays at their side either talking to each other or just watching the dance floor. This was each and every night. I finally had to give one waitress $ 20 dollars cash just to get service without having to track down someone. Bar preparedness was poor as well. Whoever managed this bar is not experienced or not gifted in making sure essential items were stocked. On more than one occasion I saw someone ask for a drink and they said we cant make it right now because something was missing, either a mixer or basic spirit. They then would leave to go get it. While that was nice this left the bar down one bartender often, two bartenders on a couple of occasions and once when all three were off getting things like Jack Daniels, grapefruit juice or something else. meanwhile waiters still standing around watching the ladies on the dance floor.
Debarkation…what a mess that was. We showed up at our designated meeting place to await debarkation. It was roped off. Staff said we could not go in until fifteen minutes before our estimated debarkation time. Their was a lobby full of people, young children, older folks, people with walkers etc who had to stand around an hour or more because we were not allowed in to sit down.
Commercials…this isn’t a complaint per se but it was annoying to get Royal Caribbean commercials all day at the big screen at the pool. Very tiresome.
I do not usually write a review on anything because i know that most people just gripe about stuff but this was a vacation that is actually shaping our future vacation plans. At one point despite all of this we wanted to talk to the NextCruise people about a European cruise. we cancelled that appointment deciding to go on another cruise line instead.

My husband and I just got off navigator of the seas! This ship exceeded beyond our expectations. We’re veteran cruisers, and this ship is by far the best ever! The food in the windjammer was super delicious, main dining room was ok, and café promenade was a nice 24 hr café to stop in after a late night show. We enjoyed everything about this ship and will definitely cruise royal again!

Cruised last week, and loved every minute of it. First of all, our room was spotless, and our room attendant Jose was awesome. We would leave our room in the evening to eat, and then return to a clean room, beds made, and a cute little towel animal on the bed to greet us that Jose made. Then our waitress, Bernadeth, was amazing. We looked forward to seeing her when eating in the main dining room for dinner. The food was good, ⁴⁄₅ stars. We ate at 3 of the specialty restaurants, our favorite being the Mexican restaurant, Sabor. They make the margaritas and guacamole at the table side which was very cool. We ate at Windjammer each day for breakfast and sometimes lunch. It is a huge buffet with everything. The food is pretty good for buffet food. You can usually find a seat next to the windows so you can see the ocean while you eat. All the staff on the ship are amazing and basically make you feel like royalty. Ironically, the only staff that were not very friendly were the ones working in guest services, go figure. My one and only complaint is how they try to nickel and dime you to death, constant raffles, mixed drinks $ 12, and the photo packages cost around $ 100-​$ 300 to have it downloaded to a USB. We bought 1 picture which ran us $ 20 on USB. Minor complaints aside, I still give them 5 stars, my family had a wonderful time.

just got off this ship on sunday after a nice 7 day cruise. loved the ship! it was very clean. the only problem was the water in the room, was extremely hot in the shower the entire time, even after we complained day after day. desk services attendants are not very friendly.
food was better than expected at the windjammer, considering i’ve cruised 8 times already. sapphire dining room food was mediocre, the italian restaurant was better. room service and dining room servers were awesome!
question: what ever happened to the nice towel art on the beds? only got two times and never figured out what they were, lol!

The port was very disgusting as the mass amount of construction going on and the view was def not what you would say romantic to say the least if you have a loved one with you. The wait was not as bad as I thought to get through security but it was very hot and muggy with the stop and go in the line. After showing the passports and lugging the carry on stuff we finally got on the ship. I would suggest just carrying all of your stuff on with you and pack light. The girl and I each had one roller case and a shared carry gym bag. Some of the people were not receiving their bags till about 11pm-​12am that night. Not sure why some pack so much except maybe it is the first cruise they have been on. All you need is 2 pair of swimming outfits to alternate, sandals, underwear, a pair of shorts with 4 t shirts and something nice for formal night. Btw wear something light and comfortable because the safety drill is very unorganized and takes forever to get everyone there not to mention standing around for about 40 minutes.
The room was kinda small and I know what your going to say… your not supposed to be in the room but for sleep. We were on the 7^th floor and had a balcony which I can say the one on the Princess was very nice and alot more roomy. Entering the room and squeezing inside with the bags I was not that thrilled. The shower would fit a person that was less then 6 foot tall but over 6 your really pushing it and if you have wide shoulders your in the same boat as I was with shutting the doors and not able to move around alot. The bathroom was a one person at a time to be in there unless the person was in the shower unlike the last cruise I was on that had a shower and bathroom as large as any typical hilton hotel room. Moving onto the rest of the room the bed was hard so I piled some towels underneath to help with the comfort level. The pillows sank with the slightest of push on them so if you have a pillow you enjoy using from home I would bring it if you have the room for it in the luggage. Next the balcony seemed a little beat up for the ship just having alot of work done to it with rust marks and torn up flooring. The rest of the room was alright I supposed with all the outlets working but the fridge was broken or did not get cold at all so if you want something cold you need to get some ice to chill it.
The ship itself on the inside just seemed blah. The elevators took forever and some smart person installed one of the buttons upside down which was kinda funny cause it was like one of those «you had one job «deals. Most the time its just faster to take the stairs which is healthier anyways with all the food onboard and keeping down the waistline. Going onto the pool which had to be one of the things I was looking forward to the most was a huge disappointment. I was excited at first seeing that their was a adult pool plus hot tubs and then the kiddos along with everyone else had a section. The hot tubs were horrible with me or someone else having to always ask for the temp to be turned up because at night it was no more then a warm old bath water temperature. Some nights it was easier to find someone then the next but they were helpful when we did ask. Hopefully when you are on the cruise if you choose to use the tubs in the middle you dont run into rude teens like we did. A pack of about 14 little 13 year olds kept going around the ship and running people out of the any age pools and tubs at night past the 1am curfew… I mean I know your on vacation but if you have a young teen why let them go ruin another persons vacation after 11pm. Bad things can happen to kids on a ship just like land people. The only other thing I have to say about the pool area is the smoke… You come out of the eating area and all the smokers were there just making the place smell like a trash heap. It was pretty bad as they are smoking right where all the little kids normally are… second hand smoke anyone?
The food I have to say was not all that bad as cooking alot at home it was nice to actually take a break. The Windjammer was for breakfast and lunch but we stuck to the My dining later at night or would choose what special restaurant we wanted to try next. We did get to do Chops which I have to say was the best out of home steak I have tasted in awhile. Did not get to eat at the mexican place onboard but if you have the chance I heard nothing but great things from others. If you are in the mood for a great burger with fries then Johnny Rockets was pretty pleasing as well only being 6 bucks a person not including the Shakes.
Overall I would have to say I would not get on this ship again. The plus to minus ratio of all that happened was more to the negative side. Also make sure you have grip on the shoes cause the 11^th floor deck outside had alot of slip and falls from people as its like wet tile.

— Items were broken in our room: TV, Phone and Shower door. All in 1 week.
— Staff needs to recive some customer service training: some were great but majority were either unaglordging of the guests or just plain rude.
Employees:
~Drazen (Kitechen staff) very good
~Sebastiano (Kitchen staff) great
~Aria (room attendent) not so good
~(Unkown name) african lady at the fromt of the dining room before meals. Very rude, direspectful and unaccommodating.
— The lack of a true (ice sculputre, suit and tie) midnight buffet is dissapointing.
— Charged me $ 4 because I wanted late night room service, that is ridiculous!
— We are leaving from Texas! It’s really hot! The debarkation process needs to be more orginized and provide some sort of fan or air conditioning.
— ALSO, THERE WERE PORTERS ON THE LOADING AREA SMOKING COGARETTES AND BLOWING SMOKE AT GUESTS! WHILE ON THAT CLOCK! WHAT?! That is UNHEARD OF!!!
All in all, could’ve been better.

Getting on and off we felt like cattle and always took way too long. Food was very hit and miss and was on the poor quality side more often then not. The restaurants you pay extra for were much better of course and they want you to go there and pay up. If you like crowds, waiting for elevators that are full most of the time, waiting in line for food, drinks, small pools that are so packed you cant move and having to pay pay pay for each and every thing at every turn then a cruse may be for you but personally I will never do one again. Also the ports are pretty cool but you have such limited time there you are rushed rushed rushed which again is very tiring and not for me. I liked it a lot and hated it probably more at times so I would say do it once at least as it is an experience and pretty cool but just a lot of hassle for the money in my opinion and also since you only have several hours at each port you can get screwed by weather etc. Many did on our cruse. I prefer to go to a hotel at a destination and relax and stay a few days and take my time doing what I want when I want and on a cruse you just have to many schedules to keep and its tiring and a pain. The workers were awesome, the ship top notch just the food and the lines and the over priced everything is a deal killer for me.

I am disgusted with the lack of professionalism from the management on this ship. The Win A Cruise Bingo was a total disaster on May 15^th 2015 on the Navigator.
Let me start from the beginning: The host did not lay out any tiebreaker rules at the beginning of the game, but he did say that whoever calls a good bingo first wins a cruise!!! Sounds fantastic right? Not. Also he didn’t state, and neither did the schedule, the fact that only ONE person could win if there was a tie.
So then my friend Kyle Villanueva wins bingo!!! It was amazing! The employee came and verified his card and said it was a good bingo! Gave him the mic and had him introduce himself — he was so excited!
Then moments later another individual stands up and says bingo. So the staff checks this guys card and says it’s a good bingo and then goes on to some tie breaker BS that no one was ever informed of. So Kyle loses the cruise? And not only that, no tie breaker or consolation prize?
Needless to say this was VERY disappointing. Many other guests came by and talked to us and we’re shocked as well.
So then we went to the front desk. We talked to a female manager and the cruise activity director. The cruise director was just so rude interrupting us saying «yes» over and over like he was in a hurry to get us out of the office. He just kept saying «That is our protocol. We will make changes for the future» and said also in the future they would clarify the tie breaker.
The cruise director didn’t want to do anything to make matters right. The female manager offered a 20% discount for a future cruise but that was pretty unsatisfactory. «Here! You can pay 80% more than you were promised!» That’s what it felt like to us and Kyle.
So that’s my story. None of us will be cruising Royal Caribbean ever again.

Sailed the Navigator of the Seas ⁴⁄₂₆ — 5/​3, and after being on 2 other RC ships, and Princess, there were some things I was disappointed in.
PROS:
We had a cabin with a balcony (8672), which was really nice. It seemed bigger than other cabins I’ve stayed in before. Our cabin steward, Javier was excellent. We always had fresh towels, and beds freshened throughout the day.
I thought the ship was beautiful. In the common areas, there are many places to take pictures at. The Promenade area is always my favorite. I dined on the main dining room on the 3^rd deck, and the dining room was gorgeous. I enjoyed eating most of my meals in the MDR.
Shopping is very reasonable. They had different sales throughout the week. My mom and I bought really nice swimsuit covers for only $ 8, when similar ones were sold at the ports for over $ 20.
The entertainment was great. I enjoyed the comedy shows the most. Also the Sexiest Man Alive and Love & Marriage games are hilarious. The Ice Skating show was also very good. There was always something to do. Also, Jeffrey the cruise director, was able to get the Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight to be shown on the ship LIVE, which was a really nice treat considering it was $ 100 per household on land. Jeffrey is an awesome cruise director. We also enjoyed Cuddy the activities manager.
CONS:
Service in the main dining room was lacking. Our main server for dinner, Andy, was great. However, the head wait only came by the first 2 nights, and then we never saw him again. On other ships, the head wait usually stopped by every night. Also, service in the main dining room during breakfast and lunch wasn’t that great. There were some days the server forgot who ordered what, where we had to ask several times for bread and drink refills.
Food​.it was hit or miss. On other ships, food usually exceeded my expectations. On the Navigator, some of the main entrees and desserts ordered were lacking in flavor. Food in the Windjammer was alright… comparable to Golden Corral.
I noticed on this ship, there was a lack of poolside parties, finale party, midnight buffet, and other extras that I had experienced on other ships.
At the end of the day, I still had a great vacation. I will definitely be back for the Liberty of the Seas in 2016.

I think it’s interesting that their post-​cruise survey doesn’t specifically say «how can we improve?». This was my first cruise and I had «marketing fatigue» the entire time. They assaulted me with advertisements and up-​sells 24/​7, during a time when I was supposed to be relaxed. Constant emails, printed ads under the door, verbal ads over the loudspeaker, port advertising for their jewelry partners, constant barrage of beverage packages and excursion options and more. As far as they were concerned, my only goal that week was to buy their «International Diamonds» or tanzanites, buy their overpriced cocktails, buy their art in the gallery, buy my next cruise, buy a spa treatment, pay a cover charge for one of their specialty restaurants … spend, spend, spend. Their message to me was that the only way I could enjoy my cruise is to constantly give them even MORE money, on top of the money I already gave them for the cruise. Not once did they stop the advertising long enough to say, «we are glad you are here, please enjoy your cruise», and then leave it at that. Every message ended with, «…and don’t forget to buy your wall art /​couples massage /​restaurant package /​teeth whitening /​beverage package!» It was too much and it turned me off to ever sailing with Royal Caribbean again.

We cruised on the Navigator in December 2014. It was our second time on the Navigator, the first time being in 2006.
The services were about the same — ranging from great to so-​so.
The condition of the ship itself was very disappointing. The Navigator underwent a massive renovation in early 2014 — yet it was still surprisingly shabby. We stayed in one of the suites (#1314 on deck 10) and it was in decent shape apart from the balcony which looked like it had been renovated by a crew from Somalia who had no clue what clean and polished were SUPPOSED to look like.
The common areas were not terribly clean or well maintained. Broken or damaged deck chairs and other evidence of poor maintenance and neglect were easy to find.
On balance, the Navigator did not live up to standards my family has come to expect from Royal Caribbean. It appears that Royal Caribbean made a decision to allow the Navigator to slide down-​market when they assigned it to Galveston.
Unlike our prior cruise on the Navigator, this time our cruise on the Navigator had a distinctively shabby, bargain basement ambience.
A quick note on food quality on board the Navigator — it amuses me to read reviews trashing cruise ship cuisine because it doesn’t measure up to what is served in the finest restaurants in Pau. Of course it isn’t that good, not by a long shot! But for food prepared on a boat that caters to a few thousand people who all expect to eat (at least) three times a day, it’s pretty good.
If you want 5-​star dining on a cruise ship, it is available but those cruise lines charge a tad more for their tickets and most of their ships don’t offer the variety of attractions your kids will really appreciate.

Beautiful ship with TERRIBLE service. I had much higher expectations of Royal Caribbean. Will NOT sail with them again!

I have not been a fan of the cruise idea but my wife loves them. She grew up going on them regularly. So here is the good and the bad the way I see it.
The good:
Constant kid activities
you do not have to unpack when changing destinations
great balconies to drink coffee and watch the world go by
great food
your children will love you
easy to go to shows
safety
multiple countries to see
The bad:
about 250 $ to use the internet for the week
lack of beach time
lines
lines
lines
drink plans
picture price gouge
I would probably go again if my children wanted it. I did not like what I had to pay to stay in touch with my business needs over the week. The drink plan is a bust unless you enjoy 1 oz of alcohol and 9 oz of mix. I would pay as you go and have them make drinks like you like them. I would avoid the pictures, they will try and gouge you from 250 on up. Even though your food is included, the premium restaurants have an upcharge. I think for the week, my bill on top of the cost of the cruise was 2500−3k I don’t remember exactly.
Conclusion: Happy wife happy life.

This is my second time cruising Royal Caribbean, but I have not cruised other lines so I have no comparison, except another RC ship.
Checking in and getting on-​board was a breeze. As is normal, it took a while for the luggage to reach our stateroom, which is why all the literature says to carry-​on stuff you may need the first day.
The ship itself was lovely. It was very much like the last ship we were on (Mariner of the Seas). It had four specialty restaurants (at a minimal charge) and the same Windjammer Café and the Sapphire dining room (at no charge). The Windjammer is buffet style and very mediocre, but the Sapphire is finer dining order off the menu and was very good. My son preferred the Windjammer, but I preferred the Sapphire. Drinks onboard are good and they don’t skimp on the alcohol but you can expect to pay $ 10/​drink including tip.
This time we got a room with no window as we preferred to spend the additional money on excursions and other stuff. They have recently put virtual balconies in the no window rooms, which I thought would be cheesy but it was quite nice as you see real-​time what is outside of the ship.
The entertainment was top-​notch and has been great on both cruises. The room was a bit small but no surprise there and the shower was tiny, which made some things quite challenging. Customer service everywhere on the ship was top notch. Our server at the Sapphire was funny, responsive and provided excellent service.
Excursions were as expected– no surprises there. I suggest purchasing them through your travel agent or at the ports o’ call rather then through RC if you want to save a little money.
Also, expect to pay for every extra, from bottled water, to pictures taken on the ship, to juice with dinner, etc.
Getting off the ship on the final day was a bit cumbersome and we were one of the first off as we had a transfer to the airport. The one complaint I have is the transfer that we booked through RC had us wait on the shuttle for over an hour before driving to the airport.
I will definitely go through Royal again when booking the next cruise as I am mostly about the service and quality. I poke with other cruisers who have traveled other lines and they say that RC has the nicer ships and service but others have better food.
The reason for the four stars is the bad experience on the final day disembarking and with the transfer and also I feel that a picture and a bottle of water should be included at no charge with the cruise, but they charge for EVERY extra.

What is there to say? It’s a cruise. I mean, IT’S A CRUISE!!!
What is there to like about a cruise? 24 hour eating. Café Promenade is open 24 hours. Yes, sandwiches, fruit, coffee, tea, cakes, cookies and pizza is available at any time of the day.
During the day, Windjammer Café is open frequently but closed at inconvenient times. 11:30a-12p? That was more than inconvenient. The food is quite good. There will be Indian food, hamburgers, fruit, salad, hotdogs (no buns, however), cookies, ice cream, etc. All kinds of stuff. I was pleasantly surprised with the taste of the food. Caution: many of the desserts are really terrible. I think they may be a low-​fat or low calorie alternative.
For breakfast, lunch or dinner, you can choose to sit down in the Main Dining room. The food is good but the service is slow. If you’re in a hurry, this is not where you want to go. We ate lunch one day and it took around 90 minutes. Dinner is usually around 2 – 2 ½ hours. That’s what happens when you order 4 starters, 2 entrees and 3 desserts. It is delicious. Be aware that two days of a 7 day cruise will be formal with people wearing tuxes and really nice dresses. We wore khakis and a polo shirt or a button front. The food is good to excellent with an occasional not very good. Of the 7 days we ate on board, I only had two entrees of the 14 or 15 that were overcooked and that I didn’t finish. Ask for exactly what you want. You want more butter? You want an extra entrée? You want the dessert menu early? You want tea with honey and lemon? You want more bread? They’re all ready to serve you.
For fun, you always have the pools. I didn’t even dip my foot in the pool this time. I was planning on trying out the FlowRider, the surfing, boogie boarding simulator. I didn’t get a chance but it looked like a lot of fun. Climbing wall, basketball, volleyball, beanbag toss, mini-​golf, trivia, ballroom dancing lessons, casino games, etc. You can always find something to do. We never were bored.
Excursions are always a highlight. Jamaica was kind of a let down. We went horseback riding on the beach. It’s not actually on a beach, however. It was a good experience. The horses were pretty well trained. Mine was hungry. Every time we came to a stop, it wanted to eat. The horseback ride was uneventful and then the bareback ride through the water was fun, but not thrilling.
We went Catamaran Snorkeling in Grand Cayman. The experience was actually pretty good. Redsail runs the excursion and they run a tight ship (pun intended). Be aware that the sun in the Caribbean is pretty strong so if your pasty white skin hasn’t seen sun since the fall, it will burn you in the 20 minutes you’re in it.
In Cozumel, we took the Tulum Mayan Ruins tour. Be aware it’s a 30 minute ferry, then an hour long bus ride, then maybe 90 minutes at the ruins, then the 90 minutes back to downtown Cozumel. That’s right, not back to the pier. Be aware that they will drop you about 10 minutes away from the pier by taxi so you need to bring $ 8 to take a taxi back to get on the boat. The Tulum ruins were interesting. You get to see some history and get some interesting facts from the tour guide. It’s worth doing it once. It could be hot. Even in March it was around 80 degrees.
We got am interior room with a virtual balcony. What is that, you say? It’s an LCD screen as big as a window and it is a live feed. At first, I thought it’d be a useless gimmick but it grew on me. When the sun comes up, the cabin lights up like it would if it were a real balcony. I wouldn’t have paid too much more for it but it came as a free upgrade so it was a nice touch.
Love and Marriage and Quest was a lot of fun. It widely depends on the contestants but it’s worth checking out.
What could have been better? My Time dining. You pay your tips up front if you choose My Time dining. Then you expect to be able to eat at any time during the meal time, but no, the people that have been on a cruise before reserve their times first and then if you want to eat during the 6 o’clock hour, they’re already taken. You’ll have to eat at 5:30 or 7:30p.
Be cautious as previous cruise goers will ruin some of your experience. Like the My Time dining, the trivia will be ripe with people that have already heard the answers before and will «school» you. It really was a jerky move on their part.
The finale on our cruise was a huge let down. It’s usually a talent show, or the crew doing «Fountains» or something spectacular. This cruise, the shows were a little messed up and we got a «family» comedian. His jokes were one-​liners of which were kinda funny. I don’t think I laughed out loud at all. Then there was a parade of the ship’s crew which they just all strolled up on the stage and sang «Deep in the Heart of Texas.»

A great cruise ship leaving out of Galveston
This cruise ship is now leaving year round out of Galveston and it will soon be overhauled to have all of the fancy new features that makes Royal Caribbean famous. The restaurants on the ship are very good, and the staff is very friendly. They have a Johnny Rockets, and Starbucks on board. They also will have a big screen TV on the top deck. The ports of call are fantastic, you can go to Belize, Honduras, Mexico, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. All from Galveston. 7 days and 3 ports of call, but a lot of the fun is on the ship, with bars galore, and activities each day. I cant wait to go back!