Navigator Bermuda Cruise Review

[rpjsaj]

My wife and I (and 5 friends) were on the 4/25 - 5/6 cruise to Bermuda on Navigator. This was my 4th consecutive Regent cruise and I have now been on all 3 Regent ships. While we were all disappointed when Savannah was eliminated as a port, we all enjoyed the remaining ports (except for maybe Nassau). So this review is coming from a Regent enthusiast.

 

THE SHIP:

 

The ship was in excellent condition. The suites were excellent, as they are on all Regent ships. Now, about that pesky vibration. We had a forward suite and never felt any vibration there. We did feel some at the stern in CR and La Veranda, but it was usually minor and of little consequence. The only time it was significant was when we were docking, but that only lasted for a few minutes.

 

DINNING:

 

I have a major complaint as far as dinning options (at dinner) is concerned. The La Veranda at night was just another buffet, with a subset of the items available in CR. For me, I don't feel like standing in line for food in the evening is a viable option. Too bad they don't use La Veranda in the evenings like they do on Mariner and Voyager. So, bottom line, I only had one option in the evening except when we were in Prime 7. We did manage, with only minor begging, to get into Prime 7 for a 2nd time (although it was on the last night when I should have been packing). I strongly feel that a cruise line that claims to be 6-star should offer more evening dinning choices. For this reason, I wouldn't sail on Navigator again unless they addressed this issue.

 

The food in Prime 7 was excellent! The servings were too large, but it was my choice to over-eat. The food in CR was mostly good to very good. The steaks were inconsistent; chewy one night, but excellent on another night. Other choices were very good. A complaint in CR is that the service was inconsistent. On at least two occasions, it took us 2 1/2 hours to complete dinner. That's way too long!

 

Breakfast in La Veranda was mediocre. My biggest complaint is that the hot food wasn't. One morning I had scrambled eggs, potatoes, and sausage. All were cold. The next day we decided to order eggs cooked to order. My wife's omelet was hot, but my fried eggs were cold. I think mine sat while he cooked my wife's omelet. Oh, and the scrambled eggs were also runny every day. I then ate in CR for breakfast whenever possible.

 

I thought that the Pool Grill was much improved from my previous Regent cruises. The choices were expanded significantly, and the quality was very good.

 

SERVICE:

 

I thought that service on the ship was excellent. My room steward, the bar people, etc. were all friendly and provided excellent service. The only lapse was in CR on a couple of occasions, and that could very well have been the fault of the kitchen. When we had very slow service in CR, I looked around and the wait staff was working very hard. I wonder if Regent has understaffed the CR?

 

SHORE EXCURSIONS:

 

The excursions were very good with the exception of some on Bermuda. Regent announced during the cruise that some of the excursions in Bermuda would use buses instead of vans, due to a need for more capacity. I will take them at their word that it wasn't to save money. The (pink) buses they used were about the same quality as a 20 year old school bus. The excursion routes were often winding, hilly, and contained speed bumps. Therefore, the ride was very very uncomfortable. If I had known how bad it would be, I would have cancelled two of my shore excursions.

 

BOOZE AND WINE:

 

I thought that the complimentary wine choices were excellent. I would put them in the $40 - $60 range in a California restaurant. They didn't pour as quickly as in past cruises, but the service was more than acceptable. The choices of booze in the bars was also excellent. When Macallan, JW Black, etc. are on the complimentary list, that's impressive. Also VSOP Cognac was free. Only kudos for booze and wine.

 

EMBARKATION/DISEMBARKATION:

 

Very smooth! It was curious that Regent offered passengers not using Regent Air transportation to the Ft. Lauderdale airport at the end of the cruise at such a ridiculous rate. A taxi ride for 2 people, with tip, was about $20. A bus ride for 2 people with Regent was $120!!! Go figure.

 

BOTTOM LINE:

 

It was an excellent cruise, and I would choose Regent again assuming the price is in order. I would not, however, choose Navigator unless they address the dinning choices for dinner.

[Travelcat2]

I enjoyed reading your review - thank you for taking the time to write it. We will be on the Navigator in 2 1/2 weeks, so, we're reading everything we can about the current staff, etc.

 

From what I can recall, the ship was full on your cruise. This can present challenges to the staff in CR -- particularly on nights when many passengers arrive at the conclusion of an event. It is my understanding that there have not been cuts in staff -- just increases in passengers and a shortage of available personnel in the cruise industry.

 

La Veranda does sound disappointing. We enjoy the buffet at lunch, but, prefer a relaxed dining experience in the evening. Your observations regarding the temperature of some breakfast items is something we have noticed in the past. I'm sure you would have preferred having your fried eggs served hot -- even if your wife had to wait a minute or two. Regent management does read this board and will no doubt take steps to improve the food temperature.

 

We are quite anxious to try Prime 7 on the Navigator. This is our third Navigator cruise and we are excited to have another dining venue. Prior to Portofino becoming La Veranda, we didn't dine there often -- the food was excellent, but, there was entertainment that we was not our cup of tea.

 

Had to laugh about the transportation in Ft. Lauderdale. Most of us know how small the city it and that it is much better to just take a cab. It's good that you mentioned it. . . . hope some future cruisers will read it.

[yarlenna]

I was on the same cruise - and am working on my version of my review. Unlike rpjsaj, we ate most meals in La Veranda and enjoyed every one! It was not just a buffet, and many things were served by wait staff. I loved being able to take small portions of many things and deciding what I liked. I had no problems with cold eggs. I think I was lucky. I would sail the Navigator again in a heart beat. I did not meet any CC people on the cruise. I guess I was just too shy

[Travelcat2]

I was on the same cruise - and am working on my version of my review. Unlike rpjsaj, we ate most meals in La Veranda and enjoyed every one! It was not just a buffet, and many things were served by wait staff. I loved being able to take small portions of many things and deciding what I liked. I had no problems with cold eggs. I think I was lucky. I would sail the Navigator again in a heart beat. I did not meet any CC people on the cruise. I guess I was just too shy

 

Were some dishes served at the table in the evening? Or, was it like breakfast when you can order eggs? Could you explain a bit more about this? Thanks:)

[rpjsaj]

According to the maitre d' that I asked, there is no menu from which to order an entree. I'm sure they brought wine and other beverages, but he told me the food was all buffet. Consequently, I never went there for dinner. Different strokes, but I don't like buffets. I like to be served.

 

We would go to CR about 7 in the evening and it was not crowded. By 8 it was nearly full. I think relatively few people went to La Veranda in the evening, which caused more people to go to CR. The wait staff seemed to be working furiously, but couldn't keep up as the restaurant filled.

[yarlenna]

Were some dishes served at the table in the evening? Or, was it like breakfast when you can order eggs? Could you explain a bit more about this? Thanks:)

 

It is more like you plate and put most food on it and then a waiter took the plate to your seat. When I found something I really liked, I could (and did) have the waiter bring me more of whatever I wanted. I did see disabled people being served without having to touch their plates. The waiter took the order and brought what ever was wanted. It was really comfortable to me. I am somewhat disabled (3 strokes and a cancer problem) and I found the service much better in the La Veranda than in the CR. I don't like to spend 3 hours eating. I can't sit that long!

[2dogcarol]

Mom and I were on this cruise, also. We were on the 9th deck, aft. I must say, there was quite a bit of vibration. I didn't mind it in our room so much, it actually lulled me to sleep. However, in the Seven Seas Lounge sometimes it was so bad it was hard to hear a conversation. In fact, the vibration caused an inner ear problem for me the first couple of days, until I got used to it. I felt like I was hearing in an echo chamber. We really enjoyed our evening in Prime 7. Compass Rose had wonderful food (we agreed, the best we've ever eaten) however, service was often very slow. A couple of nights we waited 25 minutes for our dessert. We ate all our breakfasts in La Veranda. No complaints other than it was the exact same food every day. The pool grill made awesome hamburgers and hot dogs. Our one dinner in La Veranda was very bland and we didn't repeat. The free shore excursions (except in Nassau) were great. Our room service was very slow until we discovered you need to hang your "Service Please" sign on the door. The ship was completely full and it seemed that they didn't have enough service people to accommadate the number of passengers. The entertainment was surprisingly good for the size of the ship. We especially liked the comedian and the singers and dancers. The Cruise ship director, Paul, was the worst we have ever experienced. I never saw him do anything. His associate, Chris, handled most of the activities. Probably, our biggest complaint was that everyone was so "old". Even my mother, who is a very young 87, thought so.

[JoAnne B]

Service on the Navigator is typically stretched when the ship is full, especially in the dining room. This is not due to cutbacks, but to logistics. The number of staff is limited by available crew cabin space, which was fine when they weren't running full. But they don't have the option of adding personnel now. I would think that the addition of Prime 7 and La Veranda would take some of the pressure off CR, but perhaps that diverts service and kitchen personnel as well.

 

She's still my favorite Regent ship, though.

[kvisf]

We were also on this cruise and agree with some of the comments made by others on this thread, but also had some different experiences that may be worth sharing.

 

First and foremost, the crew was wonderful. I could go on at length but will save that for a review.

 

We indulged in room service breakfast every day and found the service to be prompt and the food excellent. Most impressively, they managed to get perfectly poached eggs to the suite on time and still hot. I can't even do that from stove to table in my own kitchen!

 

We had dinners in Prime 7 twice. The second was a sort of make-up for the first evening when we had a bit of a kerfuffle with the wine steward/sommelier. For the sake of context, I'll state that we would not choose a steakhouse for dining out at home more than -- at most -- once a year, as it's not our favorite cuisine. That said, the quality and preparation of the food were quite good, and the service very attentive, if a bit rushed. The ambience of the room, however, just didn't work for us -- it's a strange shape, and very small. I suspect the size makes it a challenge to accommodate all passengers when the ship is full, as it was on this cruise.

 

The other evenings, save one, we dined in Compass Rose, and can't say enough good things about the food and the service. We never experienced delays in the serving of the meal, once seated (and on different evenings we were at tables of two, four, six and three), and it speaks very highly of the training of the staff that even at larger tables, there was no confusion and no delay or fumbling in serving diners who had, respectively, ordered two appetizers and nothing else, on the one hand, while others had ordered the full five course tasting menu. With the minor exception of one overcooked chicken breast, the food was uniformly excellent, and most of our dining companions thought CR was the culinary star of the ship.

 

I agree that the complimentary wines were of uniformly good quality, and we found them to be poured as generously as on past cruises. Bar service throughout was outstanding. On the first night in Gallileo we ordered a standard cocktail made with just a slight variation in the recipe, and every night thereafter, Eduardo had it ready and waiting for us when we arrived for our preprandial libation. Along with Romulo in the Pool Bar and John in Stars lounge, we found the bar staff to be simply outstanding.

 

The entertainment was a good deal better than I remember from past cruises on Mariner. The two production shows were very professional and the "Cirque Navigator" bordered on the spectacular. The orchestra was much, much better, and while we didn't catch every evening show, we found the comedian/juggler Randy to be hilarious (as well as a fascinating dining companion and effective teacher of juggling!)

 

And finally the obligatory comment on vibration: we were in an aft cabin, yes, there was vibration, and no it wasn't a problem except on one moderately choppy night. Most of this cruise enjoyed calm seas and fine weather, the one exception being the night we sailed from Port Canaveral to Charleston. On that night the vibration was very pronounced, and was punctuated regularly by a resounding slapping sound that I would analogize to hitting a pothole in the road -- it was almost that jarring. I would certainly consider this ship again for the right itinerary, but probably not one that included many days at sea with a likelihood of some heavy weather, at least not in the aft section of the ship.

[Welly1]

This was our first proper cruise so we have very little to compare with, however we would like to say that we had a wonderful time on this cruise. We would like to thank all of those we met on board who looked after us "youngsters" you all made it a memorable occasion we would love to repeat as soon as children permit!

The food was excellent; we ate twice in Prime 7, thanks to the Maitre D for making this a special occasion for us. We found the service in Compass Rose to be prompt without being rushed and our glasses were never empty for long. The friendly attentive service was a delight. The Pool Deck was where we could be found most days for breakfast, very quiet.

A couple of evenings we braved sitting outside in La Veranda, a little cool, but very quiet place to eat. In fact we found it quiet inside in the evenings, I guess most guests choosing to eat in Compass Rose.

In fact seldom, if ever did the full ship if ever feel crowded; actually quite the opposite we often wondered where everyone was.

We did have a couple of issues with the excursions particularly in Nassau, when Regent inexplicably cancelled a prepaid Swim with Dolphins leaving it until after we boarded to let us know despite having taken our money months before.

Regent also failed to provide transport back to the airport which we originally had been led to believe they would (although reading other comments we probably had a lot more money in our pocket because we did organise it ourselves).

The staff without exception we found to be friendly and always willing to pass the time as if we were the only passengers on board. I would have to come to the defence of Paul Reynolds the Cruise Director who we found to be extremely helpful and provided entertainment of his own at the piano in the Navigator Lounge late at night.

All the Officers were friendly and available giving the ship the sense of being a close team. The entire crew worked tirelessly. If it moved, the crew would offer food or drink, if it didn’t it was cleaned or painted.

Would we cruise again with Regent? When do we sail?

A big thank you to our Useless Knowledge team (scone recipe on its way), our fellow Silver Anniversary celebrants, Captain John McNeill and all his officers, staff and crew for a wonderful time, hope to see you all again in the future.

[yarlenna]

I can see that all of us had a very good cruise. I loved it too - (see my review). The crew was the very best ever. I am saving my pennies and hope to be back aboard some time in 2012.

[Travelcat2]

I can see that all of us had a very good cruise. I loved it too - (see my review). The crew was the very best ever. I am saving my pennies and hope to be back aboard some time in 2012.

 

I read your review and am so happy that you enjoyed your suite (my favorite on the Navigator). Hope that next time you will meet with some CC folks;)

[yarlenna]

I read your review and am so happy that you enjoyed your suite (my favorite on the Navigator). Hope that next time you will meet with some CC folks;)

 

OK, what other suites on any ships do you love?

[Travelcat2]

OK, what other suites on any ships do you love?

 

I believe that the other Navigator suites are nice -- except they are under the pool. I didn't care for the Voyager suite (except for the 2nd bathroom which is always nice). The Voyager is our favorite ship -- we typically stay in a Penthouse B suite mid-ship. If you haven't been in the Mariner's Penthouse suites, they are really large and lovely (with smallish closets and safe).

 

Nothing quite stands out like my favorite suite on the Navigator.:)

[Island Cruiser]

I'm on Navigator now. Several of you have commented on LV so I've got to add my two cents worth because I have strong views on the subject. I can think of three labels that correctly apply to LV: mess hall, cafeteria, and buffet restaurant. We cruise to dine and do so in splendid fashion in P7, CR and Signatures on the other two Regent ships. To us, one eats in LV, nothing more. and FAST. Part of my problem with LV is me: I overeat there. Ok, I overeat in all the restaurants but I'm over the top in LV. I just can't help myself. We've been in LV several times on this cruise, always when we were in a rush. We found the food very good and hot for a cafeteria. The staff is wonderful but always rushed because their customers are too. If you arrive there for a late lunch or breakfast the table cloths are "used" and void of dinner ware. The staff (wonderful) are not only rushed but visibly tired and eager to end their shift. The norm is if there is space at your table any passenger who wishes is free to drop down and eat with you whether you want company or not. Sure, that passenger will likely ask "Mind if I sit here?" But that isn't required. And, sure, you'll say "By all means, please sit down" whether that is true or not because it's expected of you. Now those of you who know me know I'm anything but antisocial or a snob, but that doesn't mean I'm thrilled if you plop down in the middle of my rushed wolf-it-down LV experience. I wouldn't like that if my father did it, come to think of it I'd like it even less if my father did it but that's another story. But I freely admit mine is a minority point of view because Regent passengers vote with their feet and at breakfast and lunch they vote for the cafeteria and I applaud them with fervent passion because they free up CR for me and the other minority voters on board who prefer to dine at every meal. Pat

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I hear you Patrick. It's funny though. It must be because LV on Navigator is (now) so small. This would never happen in LV on Voyager (someone just plunking themselves down like that.) Even before it shrunk I did find it kind of a hurried place at lunch. Is it even open for dinner? If so, are just the appetizers buffet style?

[Island Cruiser]

Actually Wendy, my dear friend, I've experienced plunk downs in the buffet on Voyager, Mariner and the PG and I'm not even beautiful like you. Maybe it's the way I eat--sucking it down like I haven't eaten in a week. You should be on this cruise! Pat

[Travelcat2]

Wendy, all reports on the "new" Navigator state that LV (aka the cafeteria) is 100% buffet at dinner. Although we enjoyed dinner on our Mariner Alaska cruise, I am fairly certain that we will avoid it at all costs on our upcoming cruise (only for dinner -- don't mind the craziness for lunch). I do find it interesting that, with a full ship, La Veranda is over-crowded. Wonder how that will work beginning June 9th when children will be added to the equation.

[MerryLady]

2dogCarol: After asking two people who were traveling with mothers if they were you, I stopped asking! One lady said I was the second one who had asked, and if I found you she wanted to meet you! We were also on deck 9, so I don't know how we missed you.

[2dogcarol]

HI Mary,

Sorry we missed you. We met a couple of other mothers and daughters, also. We were in room 947. Were you in that end of the ship?

[MerryLady]

We were in 919, so we probably used different elevators, thus missed you. I think we should have our pictures on our "threads" so we'd know who we were looking for on the cruise!