Welcome to Navigator (otS) Cabin 2652

A practical cabin location, an easy ship layout, and a few honest observations about what worked well and what did not.

Overall, Navigator of the Seas has a layout we really enjoy. The ship feels lovely, and while the rooms are a little older, ours was in great shape. Even so, the lower-deck location was very convenient for embarkation and disembarkation, and being only one staircase away from the dining room and casino made day-to-day movement easy. Our cabin, 2652, was far Aft, with three rooms from the very rear, which is not our favorite spot because we tend to notice motor noise in the Aft, gangway door banging, and the occasional late-night pipe thump that may have been a neighboring crew shift change and the constant noice of the gangway door chain being blown into the door by waves. The ocean view itself was nice, but the location was not ideal for either noise or motion. If we booked a lower-deck room again, we would want it closer to the elevators, so Midship, and not right above the gangway.
The ship’s layout is one of its biggest strengths. Most of the places we actually use — pool, dining room, buffet — are conveniently located toward the Aft. It’s a bid odd that some of the specialty dining are tucked away in unusual spots, like Chops and Jamie’s Italian inside the buffet area, or Izumi on deck 14 beside the Cosmopolitan Club.
The Main Dining Room food was plated well and tasted good, though the chocolate ice cream was ice-burned every night we ate there.
The casino is small which isn’t a big deal it’s the tight configuration of the machines that’s bothersome. People have no room to walk through side aisles to get to machines and try to squeeze by hitting every chair on their way. It could really use fewer machines and more room for foot traffic, especially for anyone using a wheelchair or walker, and a separate ticket or change machine would make the whole experience much smoother. On the plus side, we appreciated the range of bets, from 8 cents onward, especially after a recent Carnival sailing where the minimum was 88 cents.
The takeaway here is that a ship can be lovely overall even if a few practical details shape the experience more than expected. Navigator of the Seas gave us strong convenience, good food, and a layout that works well for us, while also reminding us that cabin location and public-space design can make a big difference in comfort.Read more