Navigator of the Seas is the fourth Voyager-class cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International, and the first second-generation Voyager-class ship. She was once the largest ship in the fleet and still ranks among the largest passenger ships in the world.

Concept and construction

Constructed at Kværner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland, the ship originally measured 138,279 gross tons and carried 3,807 passengers plus additional crew. A refurbishment in 2014 added 81 additional staterooms, increasing the ship's tonnage to 139,570 GT. Her length is 1,020 feet with a breadth of 157.5 feet.

The ship contains US $8.5 million in art, displayed in stairwells and public areas. Navigator of the Seas' main Atrium sculpture spans over seven decks and is based on the bubbles a scuba diver makes when swimming under water. Her promenade also features lighting that changes color based on the time of day and with events occurring on the ship.

Navigator of the Seas is the first of the second generation of Voyager-class vessels. She was also from 2002 to 2005 the world's largest cruise ship.

Navigator of the Seas is scheduled to undergo the next dry dock in January 2019.

Technical

Main propulsion

The ship has a diesel-electric powertrain that uses three Azipod azimuth thrusters. Each propeller is driven by a double-wound 3-phase synchronous motor with 4-bladed fixed-pitch bronze propellers. The motors are mounted outside the hull directly on the propeller shaft inside the pod. The three propellers are arranged so that the center propeller is a pushing on–azimuthing Fixipod-type and the two wing ones are of pulling-azimuthing–type steering propellers.

• Motors: three 14,000 kW (18,800 hp) at 145 rpm each
  • Total: 42,000 kW (56,000 hp)
• Stabilizers: 4 ACH stabiliser fins
• Bow Thrusters: 4 KAMEWA 3000 kW each
• Maximum speed: 24 knots (44 km/h)
• Fuel consumption at full speed: 10,637 kg/h (2,871 gal/h)

Generators

Six Wärtsilä Diesel 12V46 generators producing 12,600 kilowatts each for a total of 75,000 kilowatts or 103,000 bhp. All gensets are monitored by the Wärtsilä CBM (Condition Based Maintenance) group by using Wärtsilä automatic data sending concept.

Fresh water production

The ship has three ways in which to produce fresh water—Two Alfa Laval Desalt Flash and Energy Recovery Evaporators and one Pall Rochem seawater desalination unit (reverse osmosis) "Rosmarin" 80404-50/300-A-SW

• Steam evaporator: 230,000 gallons (900 metric tons) per day
• Seawater desalination unit (reverse osmosis): 80,000 gal (300 t) per day
  • Total freshwater production: 540,000 gal (2,100 t) per day
• Water consumption: 58 U.S. gallons (220 liters) per person per day
• Ice cube production: 65,000 lb (29,000 kg) per day

Operations

The ship was christened in a ceremony by its godmother, German former tennis player Steffi Graf.

As of November 2014 Navigator of the Seas was sailing Caribbean itineraries year-round out of Galveston, TX. Navigator of the Seas was sailing Mediterranean cruises based out of Civitavecchia, Italy until November 2012. In November 2012, she began to depart from New Orleans, Louisiana where she sailed 7-night Western Caribbean cruises until early April 2013. She returned to Civitavecchia for the Summer of 2013 before moving to Galveston, TX to sail 7-night Mexico cruises.

In January 2014, Navigator of the Seas was modified while dry docked, this included increasing the number of cabins by removing some of the public facilities and adding a Wave Loch FlowRider surfing simulator, an outdoor movie screen and two new lounges.

In November 2015, after two seasons sailing from Galveston, Navigator of the Seas began sailing winter itineraries out of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she sailed 6- and 8-night Eastern and Western Caribbean itineraries, and summer itineraries out of Southampton, England, where she sails to the Mediterranean and Northern Europe. From November 2016, Navigator of the Seas will transition to sailing her winter itineraries out of Miami, Florida. In December of 2018, Navigator entered Dry Dock at the Grand Bahama Shipyard for a multi million dollar renovation that added water slides, new restaurants, a new pool deck, new cabins, and more. As of March of 2019, Navigator is now sailing Royal Caribbean’s 3 and 4 night itineraries in the Bahamas out of Miami.