The Navigator of the Seas completed its 20th year in service this month. Part of Royal Caribbean International’s Voyager Class, the 132,000-ton vessel departed on its maiden voyage on December 14, 2002.
At the time as the world’s largest cruise ship, the Navigator debuted in the Caribbean, offering week-long cruises departing from Miami.
Sailing to both the Eastern and Western Caribbean, the itineraries featured visits to popular destinations, including St. Thomas, San Juan, Grand Cayman and Cozumel.
The program also included regular calls to Labadee, Royal Caribbean’s private island destination in Haiti.
After losing the title of the world’s biggest ship to the Queen Mary 2 in 2004, the Navigator continued to sail year-round cruises in the Caribbean through 2007 – when it debuted in Europe.
For its first season in the Old World, the ship offered a series of Northern and Western Europe itineraries departing from Southampton, England. After sailing in additional destinations over the years, the Navigator of the Seas marked the return of Royal Caribbean International to regular operations on the West Coast in 2021.
For the first time in the region, the 3,100-guest ship started a year-round program of cruises to the Mexican Riviera and Baja California sailing from the World Cruise Center in Los Angeles.
The deployment features a variety of short three-, four- and five-night cruises to Catalina Island and Ensenada, in addition to week-long itineraries to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlán and more.
Last drydocked in mid-2021, the Navigator underwent a large modernization in 2019. Part of the Royal Amplified program, the $115-million refit added new attractions to the ship, including a resort-style Caribbean pool deck, the three-level signature bar The Lime & Coconut and the first blow-dry bar at sea To Dry For.
One of the vessel’s most iconic features, the Royal Promenade was also reimagined with the creation of new restaurants, retail and nightlife.
PHOTO: Kate Spade onboard Royal Caribbean International’s Harmony of the Seas. (photo courtesy of Royal Caribbean International, Copyright, Simon Brooke-Webb Photography)
Gone are the days where the primary retail experience on a cruise ship consisted solely of logo items, sundries and a small collection of clothes and jewelry.
Now, cruise lines are ramping things up to the level of premium outlets and internationally-recognized brands.
One could argue that things really changed when Royal Caribbean International launched the Voyager of the Seas.
Photo Credit; Dave Jones. Independence of the Seas Royal Promenade.
As the first of its ships with a Royal Promenade, it effectively crafted a shopping mall at sea, one that stretched the better length of the vessel. At the time, the ship was like no other. It was wide enough that a voluminous space could exist between inside staterooms with such cabins now featuring a window that overlooked the internal activities.
The Royal Promenade connected the ship’s forward and aft atriums with lounges and bars, eateries and, most importantly for this discussion, boutiques. Royal Caribbean has only made this feature bigger on newer ships with the grandest example on the Harmony of the Seas.
Of course, corporate cousins, as well as competitors, have copied the model since.
As the current largest ship in the world, the Harmony has managed to attract retail brands like Kate Spade, Hublot, Cartier, Omega and Bulgari with shops onboard. Even Starbucks is a premium purveyor with its own storefront. Although aboard a different class of ship, Hublot and Bulgari have similarly set up shop on the Anthem of the Seas.
In some cases, the premium retail approach does not require scale but cachet.
Also in the Royal Caribbean family, Celebrity Cruises has partnered with Apple for the fleet’s iLounge venue as the first authorized Apple reseller at sea. Here, guests cannot only learn about the company’s digital products with dedicated courses but also buy them and take them home. The Solstice-class, in particular, does still have a bit of a mall atmosphere thanks to its sleek double-decker galleria of boutiques.
MSC Cruises is using technology to enhance the shopping experience in a different way.
In collaboration with Samsung, its upcoming MSC Seaside will let guests try on clothes digitally with a virtual mirror. It will also recognize them upon entering the photo gallery to automatically display their images without the need to search for them.
Meanwhile, some lines do take it smaller with just a singular standout store.
Disney Cruise Line recently introduced an exclusive Tiffany & Co. luxury jewelry shop on the Disney Fantasy. The signature Tiffany T collection offers special diamond pieces to treat loved ones with an extra helping of pixie dust.
It’s true that diamonds never go out of fashion, and high-end retailers often extend to jewelry these days. International tastes are also headed that way with Norwegian Cruise Line’s new Norwegian Joy, which is dedicated to the Chinese market, being fuller of such vendors than even their North American equivalents. An immense amount of square footage is committed to brands such as Bulgari, Omega and Cartier again, as well as Gucci and even Godiva in the upscale chocolatier category.
Just as a number of the watch and jewelry brands have made inroads with more than one company, Godiva is additionally featured on Cunard Line as well.
ONBOARD THE HARMONY OF THE SEAS — The brand-new Harmony of the Seas, currently holding the title as the world’s biggest cruise ship, is technically a sister ship of Oasis-class twins Oasis and Allure.
But more than six years have passed since the Allure sailed out of the yard; and since then Royal Caribbean International has launched another ship series, the Quantum class, which incorporated new guest technology and amenities.
The Central Park neighborhood is an oasis of green within the ship. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
The Harmony is like a Quantum-Oasis combo: The size and layout of the Oasis (albeit slightly larger at 223,963 gross tons and 5,479 passengers) with many top features of the Quantum ships.
The speedy check-in process that premiered on the Quantum in New Jersey was working well here at the Southampton terminal. Restaurants Jamie’s Italian and Wonderland (expanded to two decks on the Harmony) are both on the Harmony. Royal preserved the open, three-deck main dining room from the Oasis, though each floor has a different design that corresponds to one of the contained restaurants on the Quantum.
On the Oasis-class side, the Promenade, Boardwalk and Central Park neighborhoods are here. Rising Tide, a bar masquerading as an elevator, floats between the Promenade and Central Park. Caffeine addicts will be happy to know that a Starbucks, which first opened on the Allure, is planned for the Harmony’s Boardwalk.
Passengers line up for their turn on the Abyss slide. The entrance is through the mouth of an anglerfish sculpture. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
But one can even take a longer view of the Harmony’s offerings, which I did on the first day of a two-day cruise from England, when some media and European travel agents were invited by Royal to preview the vessel.
For example, the general structure of the long, interior Royal Promenade is still going strong. The robot bartenders at the Bionic Bar whir and mix and shake and pour across the hall from one of Royal’s longest mainstays, the decidedly old-school Schooner Bar. The Latin-themed Boleros, which made its debut on the Navigator of the Seas, is down the hall. On the lower decks is the ice-skating rink, and up top is the rock-climbing wall, the two features that broke molds at Royal and, arguably, the industry when they debuted on Voyager of the Seas.
Royal has continued to refine its “neighborhood” concepts on the Harmony. For an escape from the busy-ness of other parts of the ship, nothing beats Central Park, a 12,000-tree midship oasis (this is also where two upscale alternative restaurants, 150 Central Park and Chops Grille, are to be found).
The Royal Promenade, a feature Royal Caribbean introduced on its Voyager-class ships, is still going strong. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
If busy-ness is what you’re after, proceed directly to the sports deck, which contains miniature golf, a zipline, two FlowRiders and one of the Harmony’s showcase features, the 10-deck Abyss slide. (Also new on the Harmony is a group of three of waterslides called the Perfect Storm, but since it was a breezy 60 degrees, most passengers were content to admire them from afar.)
The entrance to the two Abyss tube slides are encased in a colorful metal structure that looks like an anglerfish. The entrance, of course, is through its mouth. Each rider is given a mat that acts like a toboggan, and they’re required to sit on it and hold the reins for dear life. The ride is fast and furious. And, dare I say, awesome.
Kid-sized lounge chairs were set up next to the splash park. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
The tube starts out bright with LED lighting, but about halfway through riders are plunged into pitch black and the mat picks up tremendous speed; that’s when most will let out a scream or “wooooo!” that can be heard back in the anglerfish’s body on Deck 16.
“There we go,” the crew members said and nodded with satisfaction whenever the “wooooo!” wound up from inside the tube.
The slide ends in the Boardwalk neighborhood on Deck 6. Some riders might stagger right into the perfectly-positioned adjacent Sabor restaurant for a stiff (or celebratory) margarita.
A guest braved the chill for a turn in one of the Perfect Storm waterslides. Photo Credit: Rebecca Tobin
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