After sailing 6 times on the Navigator of the Seas (two were
back-2-back) and 2 times on the Magic (back-2-back) we decided we got the best
value and most enjoyable cruise by sailing on the Royal Caribbean ship.
Below are the different areas we considered for making this
decision.
Area reviewed – Winner
Ship Layout – Best Value: Royal Caribbean
The Navigator of The Seas is much easier to navigate the
ship and find places for fun or to relax.
There was always a lot of turns and deck changes to make to get anywhere
on the Magic, and no easy way to find directions to a desired location. The Navigator had touch screen interactive
maps at the entrance to every block of elevators that would show you how to
reach your destination. On the inside of
each elevator there was a map above the door that displayed key areas to exit
at. There were small trash cans in every
block of elevators aboard the Navigator and Hand Sanitizers available at
multiple locations. The Magic only had
Sanitizers available at the entrance to the Dining area. The first number of your Dining Room table
assigned on the Navigator represented the floor level of your table. There were tables starting from 1 to 6 on the
Magic being assigned to desk 3 or 4 on the Magic. This was not very easy to understand for a
new person on the ship. When the weather
was bad we couldn’t find a nice quiet area to relax in and not feel closed in
on the Magic. The Navigator has the
Viking Lounge on deck 14 which is excellent to take a quiet break in. It overlooks the entire pool area and is
perfect to prevent getting claustrophobic.
Ship Amenities – Best Value: Royal Caribbean
We really preferred the adult area on the Navigator that had
a Pool and two Jacuzzi’s. It was
partially enclosed so the hot tubs could still be used during inclement
weather. The Magic did not have an adult
only pool and none of the Jacuzzi’s were useable when the weather was bad. Besides pools, the Navigator has a Flowrider,
Rock Climbing wall, a Basketball court, Mini Golf, Indoor Ice rink, and Gym
(which is twice the size of the Magic) and an outdoor theater. The Magic has 2 water slides, a Basketball
court, Mini Golf, a rope sky course, and Gym, and an outdoor theater. Carnival supports the outdoor theater a bit
better by providing free popcorn to their viewing guests (the annoying thing
about this was they didn’t start making it until the movie started, so long
lines while the movie was playing).
Child Care – Best Value: Royal Caribbean
Child care appeared to be very well on both ships. However, we felt the Child Care and play
areas were more secure on the Navigator because it was located on a remote deck
area that people wouldn’t be walking in.
We found some of the areas for children directly off main walk ways on
the Magic.
Dining, Main dining room – Best Value: Royal Caribbean
In my opinion, the quality of food in the Main Dining room
has gone down for both cruise lines these past few years. We did not like our experience in the dining
room for Brunch or Dinner on the Magic.
The tables were very cramped with too many people sitting on the round
tables and the rectangle ones were too narrow to hold extra plates. The noise level was very uncomfortable while
eating, with music piped in overriding and making conversation difficult at the
table. We grew tired of singing and
dancing shows with loud speaker interruptions that were annoying and disrupted
a quiet dining experience. Several hot
food items were cold and wait staff often forgot items or delivered the wrong
order. After a couple of nights we quit
going to the dining room for any meals.
Dining, Buffet area – Best Value: Royal Caribbean
I would rate the food quality in the buffet area for both
ships as being between good to very good.
The open floor plan of the food areas on the Navigator made getting food
much easier. The Magic had booth areas
that made navigating the floor a bit more difficult but it did create more
privacy for your dining experience. The
Navigator won hands down in the service in the Buffet area. Both ships would have wait staff walking
around cleaning up while you were eating but only on the Navigator did we have
people asking us if we needed anything else (and bringing it to the table). We counted, and only one time in two weeks on
the Magic did a wait staff ask us and provide a refill on our drink.
Dining, Pool side – Best Value: Carnival
Last year the Navigator would have won this category when
they had the Gourmet Hotdog stand by the pool.
However this dining option was removed when the ship went in for
refurbish January 2014? The Magic has a
Hotdog/Hamburger stand and a Pizza bar in the pool area.
Dining, Room Service - Best Value: Tie
Both ships provided excellent service and food delivered to
the room. The only advantage the Magic
has is that the Navigator started charging a service fee for orders after
1am.
Cabin accommodations – Best Value: Royal Caribbean
Both ships offer a wide variety of rooms to meet any budget
need. We did not like the curtains used
around the shower stalls on the Magic as a lot of water always ended up on the
bathroom floor. All of the showers on
the Navigator have glass sliding doors that keep water where it belongs, in the
shower area. We felt the Navigator had
the advantage in the bigger rooms when we saw they offered larger screen
televisions. We did a cabin crawl on the
Magic and found the same small screen LCD TV in every room, regardless of room
size. In one of the large aft balconies
it was very hard to see the TV, which was located 3 times the distance from the
bed as in our room. Room service was
outstanding on both ships.
Laundry - Best Value: Carnival
The Magic, like many of the Carnival ships, actually has a
laundry room with Washer, Dryer and Ironing equipment that guests can use. We didn’t consider the value of this to be
high as you normally don’t need to do laundry unless you were doing a
Back-2-Back cruise. Both cruise lines
offer a laundry service where you pay a set price to clean everything in a bag. For both cruise lines we got very good
cleaning services with an over-filled bag that we used duct tape to close. If picked up in the morning Carnival had it
returned that same evening while Royal Caribbean would take 2-3 days. Royal Caribbean’s bag starts at $25 with
discounts offered for past guests and free at Diamond plus. Carnival’s bag starts at $15 and provides it
free when you reach Platinum. Carnival
was definitely ahead in this category as they allowed just about anything in
the ‘clean a bag’ category while Royal Caribbean had limitations for what they
would clean.
Casino - Best Value: Tie
We don’t use the Casino often, so this was not a high
scoring consideration for us. I like the
old time 25 cent two line slots the best, which I couldn’t find on the
Magic. On both ships, you really don’t
have to touch money any more. When you
cash out on the Magic the money is put on your sail & sign card while on
the Navigator your winnings are printed out on a receipt. The casino on the Navigator is located in a
secluded deck away from normal walking traffic, so you won’t see kids
there. The Magic has the casino broken
up amongst a major waking area, so gets lots of foot traffic. We didn’t like this setup as we had to walk
through the casino smoking area when going to the other side of the ship.
Entertainment - Best Value: Carnival
Like Dining, entertainment also has diminished over the
years on both cruise lines. We gave the
Magic the nod in this category because they had a Comedy Club in addition to
some of the entertainment being offered.
We enjoyed the Comedy shows but thought only half an hour show wasn’t
worth the effort to wait in line. So we
spent more time in line that actually sitting down and enjoying the show. If we wanted to watch the next show we had to
give up our seats and get in the back of another long line, hardly worth it for
a 30 minute show. The comedian would
just barely get started when they would get notified to quit. This would have been far more enjoyable if we
could have sat through at least two shows without having to get out of our
seats and get in another line.
Back-2-Back – Best Value: Royal Caribbean
Our experience doing a Back-to-Back cruise on the Magic was
horrible. Two days before the end of the
first cruise we could not find any directions on the disembarking process. Guest Services simply stated the directions
would be put in our cabin the night before.
The day before the end of the cruise directions finally showed up in our
cabin. The printed directions were very
unclear on what we should do to get off the ship. We took the directions to Guest Services and
had to see 3 different people to find out we needed to show up there in the
morning to get our new sail & sign card before getting off the ship. On Royal Caribbean you get an invitation to a
Back-to-Back briefing a couple of days before the end of the cruise. They usually serve champagne and brief you
about the entire disembarking procedures.
There will be representatives there from the Dining and Specialty
Restaurants to let you pick out a table or make any reservations for the
following week.
So as ships go, we felt the Navigator of the Seas offered
the best cruise experience for the seasoned cruiser to even those on their
first cruise. Another aspect to consider
is how past guests are treated and rewarded for returning to cruise again. Check out the links below and you can see
that Royal Caribbean offers far better benefits to continue sailing with them
again.
See you on the Cruise Boards as KittenDad
CruiseMates, Cruise Critic, and CruiseFellows
Cheers
