Random Thoughts on Navigator 22 MAR-1 APR 14

[Zqueeze1]

We just got off the Navigator on 1 Apr, following a wonderful ten day Eastern Carib cruise highlighted by perfect weather and great company. We are a couple in our early 50s from south Florida and this was our second Regent cruise.

-We met some wonderful people and spent a lot of time with great folks we had met on a Regent thread.

-One of the more impressive events (and there were quite a few to include James Bond night, Beatles, karaoke, etc.) was the evening BBQ held while anchored in St. Bart's. If you have participated in one of these BBQs, you know that Regent goes overboard and lays out a great spread and party. We were really impressed with their effective set up, execution, and clean up. I looked over our starboard railing and saw that Silversea’s Silver Cloud was anchored a few hundred yards away and couldn't help but think that their passengers were wishing they were with us.

-Suite 806 (CAT D) was roomy, comfortable, and quiet with great circulation. However, the shower was a little small and I almost decapitated myself when my head struck the soap dish as I was bending down. We originally had booked a Cat H guaranteed, but took an upsell to Cat D for an additional $750/pp.

-Thanks to all the great inputs we received from prior Regent cruisers, we booked a future cruise onboard the Navigator for May 15 from San Francisco to Vancouver. The down side is that the ship will go into drydock right after our cruise, so we won't get to see her after the refit.

-We found the food to be superior to our Mariner Med cruise in Apr 2013 to include the awesome Maine lobster (I'm no foodie by far).

-During a galley tour, we got an insight as to how this ship can produce so many wonderful meals. The galley was spotless and run like a well-oiled machine. Everything is made onboard with the exception of hot dog and hamburger buns and English muffins.

-One crewmember (Gabrielle in CR) greeted us by saying that we were now with family and were treated as such throughout all our interactions with the crew. She recommended we try some Chinese dumplings which she special ordered for us for the following night.

-The tours were never crowded nor rushed and had very good tour guides although they were constantly talking. However, the Nassau dolphin encounter was a little disorganized once we arrived at their water park. Although it was a wonderful experience, it seemed a little rushed and definitely way overpriced for their DVD of your experience.

-The hardest working folks onboard seem to be the dancers who were present in a lot of the ship's events and seemed to be everywhere.

-Eric (sp?), the maître d' in Prime 7 worked hard to accommodate our changes to reservations and make each meal memorable. He is the man.

-Elvis is alive and well and served drinks at the pool bar although he worked most of the cruise in the crew bar.

-I had contacted Regent a few months prior to our cruise inquiring about Hendrick’s gin and was told that it was not available onboard. Well, there was a bottle of it waiting for us in our cabin along with diet tonic water and diet cranberry juice.

The negatives include:

-Halfway through the cruise we lost our stabilizers and had one evening with a lot of motion. However, the crew did a fantastic job in rerouting our return to MIA so that the impact was minimized.

-Galilleo’s on deck 11 aft took a severe beating from vibrations. Really strange to watch the liquor shelves bouncing around.

-Reception not familiar with internet and room phone charges and credits (no biggie or bank buster). I was given conflicting info on whether we had 15 minutes worth of free phone time.

-I saw up to two suites with large fans running for circulation. The suites were on deck 8 forward of the elevators.

-There is one particularly cranky bartender whose name I would rather not print. One minute he was as nice as can be; and the other he was banging glasses and wearing a surly look on his face.

Z and TB

Edited April 8, 2014 by Zqueeze1

[Mudhen]

Very nice review!

We were on the Navigator about a year ago and I have to agree with everything you said, although we were not in a penthouse. We did feel vibration in the stern of the ship during a "Sette Mari" evening......just about shook the plates off the table! I also know exactly what bartender you were talking about but not naming. He all but threw a temper tantrum when I asked for a Mimosa. There were no champagne glasses to be found, so every crew person while the sound of his voice knew. He made me actually feel guilty for asking for one. Mid scream, I wanted to change my order ( it wouldn't have made a bit of difference), but feared that might actually send him over the edge!

[Travelcat2]

I also enjoyed reading the review. Thanks for posting and for letting us know when the Navigator will go into dry dock. I do admire how well Regent takes care of their ships!

[Mr Rumor]

Great review, Z and TB--and, newsy, too regarding the loss of the stabilizers. The Navigator has enough trouble with motion/vibrations when the stabilizers are firmly in place! Still, I'm glad the pluses far outweighed the minuses on your cruise. As for the minus of the cranky bartender (perhaps the same one Mudhen alluded to), he needs to retire from Regent bartending, or be retired. You want your most personable crew members serving drinks, not your surliest!

 

I think you meant May 1, 2015 for your just-booked San Francisco-Vancouver cruise. I checked and see that the next Navigator cruise won't be until May 20, which leaves ten days for the drydock. That is when the brown-water situation will reportedly be remedied by the replacement of the pipe connectors throughout the ship.

 

Rich

[Travelcat2]

I think you meant May 1, 2015 for your just-booked San Francisco-Vancouver cruise. I checked and see that the next Navigator cruise won't be until May 20, which leaves ten days for the drydock. That is when the brown-water situation will reportedly be remedied by the replacement of the pipe connectors throughout the ship.

 

Rich

 

I'm confused..... is the Navigator going into dry dock May 2014 or May 2015?

[Mr Rumor]

2015, Travelcat. The year was confirmed to me when we were onboard in February, just not the specific date.

[Travelcat2]

2015, Travelcat. The year was confirmed to me when we were onboard in February, just not the specific date.

 

Thanks much!

[Zqueeze1]

Thanks, all for the comments.

 

Sorry for the confusion regarding drydock date. I'm retired military and still write my dates in day-month-year or month-year format.

 

Regarding the surly bartender, some folks actually love him. I was told that I needed to get to know him first.

 

Mudhen: I felt exactly the same way when I ordered a gin and diet tonic and he had to go into the back room to get the tonic water. While he was gone, the ship's motion caused a glass to fall and break and he nearly threw a hissy fit and was slamming things around.

 

We did not see any brown water nor hear of anyone experiencing it.

 

One thing I forgot to mention is that The Boss and I had a lovely conversation with a ship's officer (Italian gentleman) regarding how much we enjoyed our cruise and she just lost it and began to cry. I had to laugh because we have been in other cruises (our last one in particular) where we were almost running out of the ship to get away.

 

BTW, boarding in Miami began promptly at 12 noon on the 22nd and we were onboard with a glass of champagne within 15 minutes.

 

Z and TB

[Travelcat2]

I believe that most of us know the bartender you are referring to. Although we have only seen the great side of him, there should not be the side that we have about recently. No one on Regent should need to "get to know you" before providing exemplary service. Really hope that this has been reported on your cruise questionnaire.

[marinaro44]

I believe that most of us know the bartender you are referring to. Although we have only seen the great side of him, there should not be the side that we have about recently. No one on Regent should need to "get to know you" before providing exemplary service. Really hope that this has been reported on your cruise questionnaire.

Why not simply speak to a bar manager, food and beverage manager, or the general manager?

[Travelcat2]

Why not simply speak to a bar manager, food and beverage manager, or the general manager?

 

That is also a good suggestion!

[2old4this]

Any recall on crowd conditions when you visited Sint Maarten, Kitts, and elsewhere because of the mega-ships arriving and docking beside Navigator? I'm doing the East end of islands in November, 2014 and heard the docks and tours are shoulder-to-shoulder.

[1teach53]

We just got off the Navigator on 1 Apr, following a wonderful ten day Eastern Carib cruise highlighted by perfect weather and great company. We are a couple in our early 50s from south Florida and this was our second Regent cruise.

-We met some wonderful people and spent a lot of time with great folks we had met on a Regent thread.

-One of the more impressive events (and there were quite a few to include James Bond night, Beatles, karaoke, etc.) was the evening BBQ held while anchored in St. Bart's. If you have participated in one of these BBQs, you know that Regent goes overboard and lays out a great spread and party. We were really impressed with their effective set up, execution, and clean up. I looked over our starboard railing and saw that Silversea’s Silver Cloud was anchored a few hundred yards away and couldn't help but think that their passengers were wishing they were

 

with us.[/font

-Suite 806 (CAT D) was roomy, comfortable, and quiet with great circulation. However, the shower was a little small and I almost decapitated myself when my head struck the soap dish as I was bending down. We originally had booked a Cat H guaranteed, but took an upsell to Cat D for an additional $750/pp.

-Thanks to all the great inputs we received from prior Regent cruisers, we booked a future cruise onboard the Navigator for May 15 from San Francisco to Vancouver. The down side is that the ship will go into drydock right after our cruise, so we won't get to see her after the refit.

-We found the food to be superior to our Mariner Med cruise in Apr 2013 to include the awesome Maine lobster (I'm no foodie by far).

-During a galley tour, we got an insight as to how this ship can produce so many wonderful meals. The galley was spotless and run like a well-oiled machine. Everything is made onboard with the exception of hot dog and hamburger buns and English muffins.

-One crewmember (Gabrielle in CR) greeted us by saying that we were now with family and were treated as such throughout all our interactions with the crew. She recommended we try some Chinese dumplings which she special ordered for us for the following night.

-The tours were never crowded nor rushed and had very good tour guides although they were constantly talking. However, the Nassau dolphin encounter was a little disorganized once we arrived at their water park. Although it was a wonderful experience, it seemed a little rushed and definitely way overpriced for their DVD of your experience.

-The hardest working folks onboard seem to be the dancers who were present in a lot of the ship's events and seemed to be everywhere.

-Eric (sp?), the maître d' in Prime 7 worked hard to accommodate our changes to reservations and make each meal memorable. He is the man.

-Elvis is alive and well and served drinks at the pool bar although he worked most of the cruise in the crew bar.

-I had contacted Regent a few months prior to our cruise inquiring about Hendrick’s gin and was told that it was not available onboard. Well, there was a bottle of it waiting for us in our cabin along with diet tonic water and diet cranberry juice.

The negatives include:

-Halfway through the cruise we lost our stabilizers and had one evening with a lot of motion. However, the crew did a fantastic job in rerouting our return to MIA so that the impact was minimized.

-Galilleo’s on deck 11 aft took a severe beating from vibrations. Really strange to watch the liquor shelves bouncing around.

-Reception not familiar with internet and room phone charges and credits (no biggie or bank buster). I was given conflicting info on whether we had 15 minutes worth of free phone time.

-I saw up to two suites with large fans running for circulation. The suites were on deck 8 forward of the elevators.

-There is one particularly cranky bartender whose name I would rather not print. One minute he was as nice as can be; and the other he was banging glasses and wearing a surly look on his face.

Z and TB

 

 

Z & TB, great review!!! Loved reading it & reliving our wonderful cruise!!

Miss you guys a ton !!!! Really hope we can cruise again together in the future!!

Hugs! K & J ;)

[Mr Rumor]

Karen/1teach53, did you get your fill of luscious dark chocolate desserts on the cruise? Did a particular dessert stand out?

 

Rich

[Zqueeze1]

Any recall on crowd conditions when you visited Sint Maarten, Kitts, and elsewhere because of the mega-ships arriving and docking beside Navigator? I'm doing the East end of islands in November, 2014 and heard the docks and tours are shoulder-to-shoulder.

 

All in all crowds or were tours were never a real problem in any of our ports. The most crowded port was our first one, Nassau, which had about five vessels to include The Oasis of the Seas. We estimated about 15k cruisers were running amok. However, we did not feel overly crowded since we headed out to the Dolphin Encounter directly from the pier. Upon return, there was a large crowd processing through port security, but it flowed easily and quickly. I can imagine that Nassau's narrow streets were filled with cruisers and must have been a pain.

 

In contrast, San Juan looked like a ghost town and our other ports were pretty tame and crowds were not a problem. All the ports are now a blur, but I believe St Maarten had one Carnival vessel, two windjammers, and one Seabourne vessel. I took a pic from a distance as we sailed passed St Maarten one day and it looked like a cruise ship parking lot. I will try to post pics later on today.

 

Z and TB

[Zqueeze1]

Karen/1teach53, did you get your fill of luscious dark chocolate desserts on the cruise? Did a particular dessert stand out?

 

Rich

 

I'm going to go out on a limb and provide my observations as an unbiased witness. Our group of four Texans and two Floridians were actually pretty good about not indulging on any type of sweets with the exception of the Dallas rep who will anonymously be refferred to as "J." I don't think there was a dessert or three that he could pass up after each meal. He always brought back a couple of desserts so that his DW, "K," could "have some also.":D Unfortunately, he probably did not gain a pound while I seemed to have found seven of them despite the fact that the only desserts I had were in liquid form.

 

Z and TB

[debijaynes]

Glad to see that Gabrielle is back! She kept me supplied with Vanilla Fudge!!!! YUM YUM YUM!

 

Didn't Navigator just come out of drydock last year? I swear when we boarded last March 2013 that she was late to the pier for that reason! I could be wrong.....

 

Debi

[marinaro44]

Glad to see that Gabrielle is back! She kept me supplied with Vanilla Fudge!!!! YUM YUM YUM!

 

Didn't Navigator just come out of drydock last year? I swear when we boarded last March 2013 that she was late to the pier for that reason! I could be wrong.....

 

Debi

I believe it was in 2012.

[Mr Rumor]

I'm going to go out on a limb and provide my observations as an unbiased witness. Our group of four Texans and two Floridians were actually pretty good about not indulging on any type of sweets with the exception of the Dallas rep who will anonymously be refferred to as "J." I don't think there was a dessert or three that he could pass up after each meal. He always brought back a couple of desserts so that his DW, "K," could "have some also.":D Unfortunately, he probably did not gain a pound while I seemed to have found seven of them despite the fact that the only desserts I had were in liquid form.

 

Z and TB

 

I have an old friend who has a furnace for a metabolism--impossible for him to be anything but slim and trim no matter how much he eats. Me, I just stroll by the dessert display in Sette Mari and gain a pound! Luckily I only "found" about four pounds on our Caribbean cruise.

 

Rich

[Zqueeze1]

Below are a few pics highlighting our cruise and addressing some of the above questions and comments:

 

In Nassau, we had the Oasis of the Seas (far right), Regent Navigator, Carnival, NCL, and an older Royal Caribbean all docked for the day.

 

 

In St. Maarten, we had a gorgeous sailing cruiser, Seabourne, and ourselves on the left and Carnival to our right. This was one of our favorite islands and definitely plan to return:

 

 

Gabrielle. She is the best.

 

 

Our incredibly gifted CD all decked out for our James Bond theme night:

 

 

The Pool Deck was transformed into a BBQ during our evening in St. Bart's:

 

[Zqueeze1]

Offshore in St. Bart's prior to our BBQ:

 

My Hendrick's hanging out with his pals in our suite:

 

Setting up for the wine tasting event. The waiter in the rear is from Angeles City, Philippines where we lived for 3 and a half years in the late 80s. He sent a bottle of Prosseco to our suite.

 

Early morning somewhere in the Eastern Carib:

Edited April 9, 2014 by Zqueeze1

[EAGLESLOVER]

Your pictures are wonderful!!! You are so lucky to have Lorraine as your CD. If you have the chance tell her hello from Sharon and Steve from Philly. We will miss her when we cruise on the Voyager in the fall after having her on our first 2 Regent cruises.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[pingpong1]

".....The waiter in the rear is from Angeles City, Philippines where we lived for 3 and a half years in the late 80s..."

 

 

Zqueeze1 - A question..... NSGA San Miguel? Regards

[Mudhen]

.....and Mr. Hendricks! My favorite "man"! Hope you have a good supply of cukes handy as well.........oh be still my heart!!!

[debijaynes]

Tell Lorraine ""Hello"" from Debi and Richard in Marco Island!