Navigator of the Seas Review

News, Notes and Specials

First we would like to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving next week, enjoy the time off with your friends and family. In this month's newsletter we have written our review of the Navigator of the Seas, which we had the pleasure of cruising on last month. Don't forget about the Royal Caribbean and Celebrity special this month, take a very cool Ogio Travel bag with you when you book a Royal Caribbean or Celebrity Cruise, while supplies last.

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Navigator of the Seas Review

- Aaron at CruisePerfect.com

In a Nutshell

This ship just flat out rocks, to use technical terms! If you are looking for a vacation experience that can keep you busy from sun up to sun down, as well as all hours in between then the Navigator of the Seas is for you. This ship has just a few basic amenities like the Rock climbing wall, miniature golf course, full court basketball court, 19 separate bars, 3 pools, ice skating rink, wedding chapel, fitness center, spa, full size Broadway style shows, teen lounges, adult lounges, two five star restaurants, Johnny Rockets Hamburgers and the coolest indoor promenade full of shops....just to name a few.

The Food

The food options available to you on the Navigator of the Seas are simply outstanding. Here is the belt notch by belt notch breakdown.

The Best of the Best

OK...Chops Grill and Portofino are a must, no exception! You absolutely will kick yourself in the pants if you don't spend the $25 each for these two restaurants; I mean these are meals that would cost you $150-$200 for a couple at any nice restaurant. One of the first things you should do when you get on the ship is go straight to these two restaurants; they are across from each other just outside the Windjammer buffet on deck 11, aft. We went as soon as we got on the ship, they will know what the regular dining room schedule is so you can plan your meals at these two restaurants on days the main menu doesn't sound compelling. Portofino is excellent Italian, not to be missed are the tomatoes and mozzarella Caprese salad (Yippee!!!!) as an appetizer as well as the shrimp orzo. For dinner we had the filet and their version of chicken parmesan. The filet was outstanding, and very uniquely Italian flavored, not sure how to describe it. The desert is just plain ridiculous, I mean in a good way of course! We had the waiter bring all the available deserts, to sample, so we could right this review, right! The tiramisu comes in this small edible chocolate cup, I am talking Willy Wonka flashbacks and it was that good. Of Course my favorite was the white chocolate raspberry cheesecake...HELLO!

But if I was forced at bread stick point to pick just one of these restaurants, I would have to pick Chops Grill. Our tablemate's ate at Chops Grill the night we ate at Portofino, and raved about it so we were very eager and willing participants when it came our turn. The french onion soup is the best I have ever had, no contest. The crab cakes are easily in the top 3 best ever, which includes several trips to Maryland. The filet mignon was just unbelievable, it was HUGE and the flavor was just amazing. I have had filet mignon at all the "Name Brand" steakhouses, Morton’s, Delmonicos, Smith & Wollensky, Ruth Chris, as well as your favorite regional steakhouses like Charley’s in Orlando, Chops in Chicago, Stockyard in Nashville, Bones in Atlanta, Three Forks in Dallas and Buckheads in Richmond. So I can confidently say I am an expert when it comes to a great steak (Working in a butcher shop in high school didn't hurt either). The steak at Chops Grill ranks up there with the best steaks I have ever had, it was just fabulous! I was tempted to skip desert and order another! Good thing I did not skip desert, I have found the desert to end all deserts! We ordered all the deserts again (for the review...right?), the chocolate cake, crème brulee, double baked apple pie, and the Holy Grail of deserts...the bread pudding! I know what you re thinking, bread pudding...that does not sound good at all. I have had bread pudding maybe 5 times in my entire life, the first 4 were less than memorable but this time I can not begin to tell you how fantastic this was, just amazing. I can almost say the price of the cruise was justified simply on bread pudding alone! Your cruise on the Navigator of the Seas will be incomplete if you do not have the bread pudding in Chops Grill.

A Navigator of the Seas review is not complete without talking about Johnny Rockets. Nothing fancy here, burgers, fries and onion rings. We ate there twice, the St. Louis burger is excellent, but my personal favorite was the Rocket Double, with bacon of course! Keep those fries and onion rings coming since the waiter ensured us they were good for us!

Cafe promenade, the pepperoni pizza was actually very good, I know I had a slice or two every night! And the little sandwiches they make every day are also excellent, I mean you can just snack on those things the whole cruise they were actually quite good!

Don't miss these either

Room service is just fantastic; you should take advantage of this multiple times on your cruise. We had a banana cream pie one night in the dining room that was just outstanding, and had it delivered later in the evening via room service for round two. Using room service is actually my favorite choice for breakfast. The room service menu offers great food, made the way you ask for it and delivered at the time you want.

The dining room for dinner is also excellent every night. The service we received by our waiter and assistant waiter was exceptional, these guys really went out of the way to get to know you and make the trip special. I mean by the second meal these guys were pouring me ice tea, with very little ice and they made sure there was plenty of equal on the table as they knew that was how I liked it, simply amazing. The food every night was outstanding; Wednesday was lobster night and you can order as many as you want. Between the four of us at our table I think we had 6 lobster tails.

The Cafe promenade gets another mention here for the cookies and pastries 24 hours a day. Yes this creates quite a problem with the whole waistline situation, but hey that is what the fitness center is for right!

If you miss it, don't sweat it

This is an honest review of the Navigator of the Seas, so yes there were a couple of things related to the food that you could skip and not miss a thing. The main culprit here is the Windjammer at breakfast. Something about trying to prepare food for 4000 people each morning that must make this task tougher than the rest. While the custom made omelets deserve a shining star, the french toast, pancakes and waffles...well let me just say put down the syrup and back slowly away!

Ship Entertainment

Karaoke Idol in the Ixtapa Lounge, the ice skating show in Studio B, and all main shows in the Metropolis Theatre are the absolutely must do things on the ship as far as entertainment.

When you get on the ship check out the compass in your room, look for when Karaoke Idol is playing in the Ixtapa Lounge and plan to be there. Trust me, this is some serious entertainment and the first night the Ixtapa Lounge is at about 80% capacity for this, but the second and third nights once the word gets out is standing room only. Make no mistake, the karaoke passengers that get up here have done this before, these folks were really talented. The highlight was clearly the "Harley guy" singing Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally"; I mean he just nailed it! The "Scottish guy" doing the Eagles "Lying Eyes", was not nearly as good but just as entertaining.

The first thing you have to wrap your mind around regarding the ice show is that you are on a cruise ship and you are sitting next to an ice rink. Granted this is not full scale, but the ice skating team really put on a great show. Although tickets are free to get into the show, you do have to pick tickets up outside of the photo gallery on Monday for the show you want. Just a tip, the Tuesday late show goes quick, so get down early if you want that show.

Without going through a day by day review of the shows at the Metropolis Theatre, I can tell you that each night was something different, from Comedians, to Singers, to Broadway style shows and magicians. They were all really good, I am talking Las Vegas or off-Broadway quality. The show you just absolutely must see is the ships version of the newlywed game calles the ""Love and Marriage Game Show" which had three couples, one married 1 week, one married 2 years, and one married 58 years. Ken Rush the cruise director is great, and he really had fun asking questions to the folks on stage and then bringing out their spouses to see how they would respond. You will be rolling on the floor laughing after this one, I guarantee it!

Other onboard activities

The Ship Shape fitness center and spa on the Navigator of the Seas are really top notch facilities that should not be missed. We planned to go to the fitness center every morning; I think between both of us we made it there 5 times the entire cruise. This fitness center has everything your gym does back home, including machines and free weights and all the cardio you could ask for including brand new Life Fitness treadmills, bikes, steppers and elliptical machines.

The Ship Shape spa is also very good. While the prices are a little higher than you would pay on land, the service and quality of treatments are excellent. I had a 50 minute massage that was $120($109 if you go on port days), and it was very good and highly recommended. The full Aroma spa and seaweed massage was also another treatment we did that was simply outstanding, and a relative bargain for only $145. Dont forget to check in with the spa for their port day specials, they are typically discounted 10-30% from the normal rate.

To fill in the time between everything else, check out the online center on deck 8 and the Library on deck 7. You can log on and use email for $.50 per minute which is pretty good if you can do it quickly, we did it just about every day to check in back home. The library has lots of great books, and is very quiet if you just want to relax and read. Another great place to relax is the Solarium pool, adults only here so it stays quiet for reading or sunbathing. The Solarium has its own private pool bar as well.

The sports deck was also lots of fun, and yes I am undefeated in mini-golf 3-0, I think I will go into retirement. We watched the dodge ball tournament which was a blast watching everyone try to rekindle those days in school thinking they could still play the game. Just off the sports deck is the 19th hole bar on deck 14, which is a great spot if you want to catch the game. We watched the World Series a couple of nights as well as Monday Night Football.

Ports of Call

We visited Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan and Labadee (Royal Caribbean's private island). The most amazing thing about all of these visits was that we were visiting just about 1 month after all of the hurricanes that swept through the islands, and these islands had done an amazing job of putting themselves back together.

Nassau is similar to most other Caribbean ports in that you can count on it having a straw market if you are looking for trinkets. Your best bet if you are interested is to take a cab ride over to the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island and check it out, it is impressive.

St. Thomas was clearly our favorite island on this trip. The views as you come into port are just amazing, every where you turn it is post card quality. Take the day and walk through the town and check out the shops. This is where you should do your shopping as the deals are certainly the best on St. Thomas. If you are looking for Wine & Spirits, A. H. Reiss is the place to go! Get there before 2pm and you can pick out what you want and they will deliver it to the ship. You never see it again until the night before you get off the ship. And the prices are by far the best of anywhere in the Caribbean, and not even in the ballpark of what you might pay in the U.S.

In San Juan we toured Old San Juan and spent a lot of time walking around the San Cristobal Fort, not far from the ship. It was blistering hot in San Juan, so all I was focused on was not melting into a pool of mushy goo and getting back to the ship. Labadee, Royal Caribbean's private island is a great island to just get off and chill out! My tip for Labadee, get off early and take a good book, head all the way toward the back of the island as far as you can go and you will find some hammocks in a nice shaded area in a secluded part of the beach. Pitch your tent here so to speak for the day and you won’t regret it a bit.

Conclusion

Many times the best part of cruising is the part that goes un-advertised. We became good friends with our tablemates John and Kim. We saw some of the most entertaining karaoke we have ever seen. We had lots of fun and learned quite a bit with the on board art auctions. We had so much time to just relax and read a book; in fact I think we finished three books while on the cruise.

As expected the food was just outstanding in just about all aspects, let me repeat... BREAD PUDDING! The service on the ship from start to finish was top notch, and I mean every single interaction we had with every single associate on the Navigator of the Seas was just remarkable. Our cruise director was entertaining and funny; the Kruise Komics were all over the ship and made you laugh pretty much non stop. The sports deck was a blast, did I mention I was undefeated in mini-golf? Overall, the experience on the Navigator of the Seas was just fantastic! Take our word for it, you will love it!

We give it the 4.5/5 ship rating!