Seven Seas Navigator Embarks on First Voyage Following Refurbishment

[fashionfilly]

The shower in the suites, particularly the grand suite, looks tiny.  Anyone have photos of the grand suite?  Otherwise it looks stunning all thru the ship.

 

This suite has 1.5 bathrooms, the other bathroom just a basin and toot?

[flossie009]

It appears that Seven Seas Navigator is now scheduled for a further 2 week dry dock in 2020 (August 28 - Sept 11).

 

I wonder what they will be doing next year that could not be undertaken during the recent refurbishment?

Maybe @Jason OKeefe can enlighten us in due course.

 

[UUNetBill]

6 hours ago, flossie009 said:

It appears that Seven Seas Navigator is now scheduled for a further 2 week dry dock in 2020 (August 28 - Sept 11).

 

I wonder what they will be doing next year that could not be undertaken during the recent refurbishment?

Maybe @Jason OKeefe can enlighten us in due course.

 

Good question...just saw another discussion about this somewhere else & came here looking for info.  @Jason OKeefe - any insight???

[Travelcat2]

50 minutes ago, UUNetBill said:

Good question...just saw another discussion about this somewhere else & came here looking for info.  @Jason OKeefe - any insight???

 

Without being too cynical, In my opinion, Navigator needs to be refurbished as often as possible as she isn't aging very gracefully.  I understand that she looks great now but she remains a ship that was never intended to be a passenger cruise ship.  However, Regent deserves kudos for spending multi-millions of dollars to make her the best that she can be.

[Fairfield Nana]

Two days ago we and our travelling companions received a notice from Regent CEO informing us that our cruise to Canada on Sep 14, 2020 has been cancelled for additional unscheduled dry dock work. They offered to rebook for the reverse itinerary departing Montreal on Sep 26, which we have taken them up on. Same deal applied to our travelling companions who have also re-booked to this subsequent sailing. Looks like from the excerpt of the letter received  below that they really are trying to tidy this ship up. Maybe they replanting to create a "stretch' version?

 

Seven Seas Navigator has been scheduled for a dry dock at the end of August 2020 to further enhance the guest experience. The schedule adjustment affects the Canada and New England voyage you are confirmed on as the ship will now arrive to Montréal at the conclusion of the Transatlantic crossing 12 days later than originally planned. As a result, your cruise has been canceled.  While we recently completed several upgrades to the ship in June 2019 including the refurbishment of Navigator Lounge, Stars Lounge, Spa, and Prime 7; our onsite team identified additional opportunities for enhancement next year. At Regent Seven Seas Cruises, we pride ourselves in maintaining the highest standard for our entire fleet and with the anticipated arrival of  Seven Seas Splendor™ early next year, our efforts are focused on delivering a consistent experience across all of our ships.

[Fairfield Nana]

Just rec'd our re-booking confirmation invoice, and we are quite happy--for now. Only remaining concern is will they extend their planned 2020 dry dock project into our newly booked Montreal  to NYC itinerary, due to depart on Sep 26. Otherwise, this new and 12 day later cruise looks like an even better overall itinerary as it adds about a dozen more of their 'freebie" shore excursions, and should be in even spiffier condition(legit naval term?), and may increase our chances for some "leaf-peeping". I wonder how many folks were in the same boat (no pun intended) and who had their Sep 14-26 cruise cancelled?

Edited July 21, 2019 by Fairfield Nana

[CarrieAP]

On 7/21/2019 at 4:39 PM, Fairfield Nana said:

Just rec'd our re-booking confirmation invoice, and we are quite happy--for now. Only remaining concern is will they extend their planned 2020 dry dock project into our newly booked Montreal  to NYC itinerary, due to depart on Sep 26. Otherwise, this new and 12 day later cruise looks like an even better overall itinerary as it adds about a dozen more of their 'freebie" shore excursions, and should be in even spiffier condition(legit naval term?), and may increase our chances for some "leaf-peeping". I wonder how many folks were in the same boat (no pun intended) and who had their Sep 14-26 cruise cancelled?

 

Sure hope there are no extensions to the project because we booked the 9/11/20 TA from Barcelona to Montreal today! Our first Regent cruise and totally unexpected, so I am beyond excited! Not even sure how I happened upon this cruise because luxury cruises have not been on our radar or in our budget. The numbers on this cruise though are surprisingly favorable, which are no doubt related to the unplanned schedule changes that affected your cancelled cruise. It's good to hear the change ended up positive for you as well. We already had a TA booked so next task is to cancel that one. And of course now need to learn all about Regent and the Navigator!

[Fairfield Nana]

Not sure how we ultimately picked it either, as this is our first time on Regent as well. We share your anxiousness looking forward to sailing on board the Navigator. Counting on you guys to deliver it to Canada on time to start and finish the planned "refurbishment". Wishing you a wonderful cruise and "fair winds and following seas!".

[zimmer46]

We join Navigator in a couple of weeks for the Grand North Crossing from Amsterdam to New York.   It's been a few years since we were last onboard so looking forward to seeing the refurb.  The fact that Regent have refurbed her and there are plans to do more, I suppose that is a positive sign that Regent intend to keep her.     As said already, Navigator does enjoy some interesting itineraries due to her small size, the grand crossing being a case in point  -  we booked that this one almost two years ago !  

[zimmer46]

1 minute ago, zimmer46 said:

We join Navigator in a couple of weeks for the Grand North Crossing from Amsterdam to New York.   It's been a few years since we were last onboard so looking forward to seeing the refurb.  The fact that Regent have refurbed her and there are plans to do more, I suppose that is a positive sign that Regent intend to keep her.     As said already, Navigator does enjoy some interesting itineraries due to her small size, the grand crossing being a case in point  -  we booked that this one almost two years ago !  

Sorry meant to add..... does anyone know who the key officers and staff are on Navigator at the moment ?    It seems to be information that is very difficult to find, but I am sure some of the "well connected" people on here will know.

 

 

[briar14]

8 minutes ago, zimmer46 said:

Sorry meant to add..... does anyone know who the key officers and staff are on Navigator at the moment ?    It seems to be information that is very difficult to find, but I am sure some of the "well connected" people on here will know.

 

 

The current list of Navigator staff is shown in Post #1 of Flossie’s live thread of the current Navigator cruise, Narratives from Navigator in Norway.

Edited July 29, 2019 by briar14
Accuracy

[zimmer46]

Thank you briar14 😎

[Phillygirl3]

Oh my,  after reading the posts about the Navigator, I'm wondering if I made a mistake booking a cruise on her for 2020.  Creaks, rattles, etc.--a little concerning.  How does one sleep if this is a problem.  I thought that I read about one of Regent's ships having problems with the balcony doors making noise but that people figured out how to turn the handles at a certain angle which fixed the problem.  If creaks and rattles are so problematic, why would anyone want to sail her and why wouldn't Regent do something to alleviate the problem?  Believe me, I have been on Silversea and dealt with plumbing rattling in the walls every time some one below me flushed their toilet.  It was awful and eventually, we were moved to a different cabin.  On Seabourn the vibration from being in a cabin in the front of the ship was so bad that I had to get sleeping pills from the ship's doctor and was charged $100 for the visit.  On a river cruise, we had one of two largest cabins and the noise and rattling was quite bad, but we muddled through and thought that the benefits of what we received for paying for it outweighed the annoyance.  So, my dear Cruise Critic posters, I'm hoping that you can reassure me that I didn't make a mistake by booking a cruise on the Navigator.  We have sailed twice before on Regent, and I'm looking forward to a third but hope that it won't be the last as we are sailing across the Atlantic and I want those days to be relaxing not stressed by noise.

Thanks to all who respond.  I appreciate your feedback.

[UUNetBill]

Well, it’s important to remember that these ships are big floating machines and, as such will make noises.  I’ve had creaks and rattles on most every ship I’ve sailed on - some worse than others.

 

If you’re noise sensitive I’d recommend a lower mid-ship cabin, a white noise machine, and some sort of sleep aid.  I don’t know that it’s possible to eliminate all mechanical noises on a ship, but to me that’s just part of being at sea.  We actually encountered more odd noises at the Ritz Carlton last weekend than we do on most Regent ships.

 

I guess I’m lucky in that I can sleep through most anything.  Hopefully others have some other ideas on how to deal with it...

[GrJ Berkshire]

4 hours ago, Phillygirl3 said:

Oh my,  after reading the posts about the Navigator, I'm wondering if I made a mistake booking a cruise on her for 2020.  Creaks, rattles, etc.--a little concerning.  How does one sleep if this is a problem.  I thought that I read about one of Regent's ships having problems with the balcony doors making noise but that people figured out how to turn the handles at a certain angle which fixed the problem.  If creaks and rattles are so problematic, why would anyone want to sail her and why wouldn't Regent do something to alleviate the problem?  Believe me, I have been on Silversea and dealt with plumbing rattling in the walls every time some one below me flushed their toilet.  It was awful and eventually, we were moved to a different cabin.  On Seabourn the vibration from being in a cabin in the front of the ship was so bad that I had to get sleeping pills from the ship's doctor and was charged $100 for the visit.  On a river cruise, we had one of two largest cabins and the noise and rattling was quite bad, but we muddled through and thought that the benefits of what we received for paying for it outweighed the annoyance.  So, my dear Cruise Critic posters, I'm hoping that you can reassure me that I didn't make a mistake by booking a cruise on the Navigator.  We have sailed twice before on Regent, and I'm looking forward to a third but hope that it won't be the last as we are sailing across the Atlantic and I want those days to be relaxing not stressed by noise.

Thanks to all who respond.  I appreciate your feedback.

We are just back from 20 days on  the Navigator to Norway . No real noises beyond any ship as Bill has replied. Take care on where your suite is situated, we were in PH C 904, would recommend as a quiet one!! I think that the aft vibration is much less now on Navigator, we only noticed in the theatre, especially during lectures or close to ports, when there was a shuddering shaking, otherwise better even when rough coming into Shetland.

[Hambagahle]

we were on the Navigator in a PH C suite like the poster above AND on a subsequent trip in a Navigator Suite which is on deck 9 under the pool deck.   We had no problem with noise or rattling in either.   There was a vibration in the theatre though when underway but I think that has been more or less fixed by the addition of the duckboard.

 

However from your posts it sounds to me as though you are hyper-sensitive to noise.  I am too.  I sleep with earplugs anyway and I try not to be in a situation where there are loud noises in the day time.  (Relic I suppose of my early days in the war...)  I can truthfully say that I heard nothing on the Navigator that bothered me...

[wishIweretravelling]

8 hours ago, Phillygirl3 said:

Oh my,  after reading the posts about the Navigator, I'm wondering if I made a mistake booking a cruise on her for 2020.  Creaks, rattles, etc.--a little concerning.  How does one sleep if this is a problem.  I thought that I read about one of Regent's ships having problems with the balcony doors making noise but that people figured out how to turn the handles at a certain angle which fixed the problem.  If creaks and rattles are so problematic, why would anyone want to sail her and why wouldn't Regent do something to alleviate the problem?  Believe me, I have been on Silversea and dealt with plumbing rattling in the walls every time some one below me flushed their toilet.  It was awful and eventually, we were moved to a different cabin.  On Seabourn the vibration from being in a cabin in the front of the ship was so bad that I had to get sleeping pills from the ship's doctor and was charged $100 for the visit.  On a river cruise, we had one of two largest cabins and the noise and rattling was quite bad, but we muddled through and thought that the benefits of what we received for paying for it outweighed the annoyance.  So, my dear Cruise Critic posters, I'm hoping that you can reassure me that I didn't make a mistake by booking a cruise on the Navigator.  We have sailed twice before on Regent, and I'm looking forward to a third but hope that it won't be the last as we are sailing across the Atlantic and I want those days to be relaxing not stressed by noise.

Thanks to all who respond.  I appreciate your feedback.

 

The balcony door issue that I experienced was on Explorer. We eventually found the trick with the door handle. Never had that problem on Navigator, and I've spent more than 100 nights on her.

 

The shimmy and shake problem is in the aft cabins--avoid those. As for other noises, I've never heard the creeks and rattles (other than when docking, when all ships do some shuddering). There are certain locations where you'll pick up noises from above or below: under the pool deck, under the gym. And, of course, as with any ship, you'll get anchor noises in the forward cabins if your itinerary includes a lot of tendering ports. 

 

 

[flossie009]

10 hours ago, Phillygirl3 said:

I thought that I read about one of Regent's ships having problems with the balcony doors making noise but that people figured out how to turn the handles at a certain angle which fixed the problem.

This issue was on Explorer not Navigator.

 

10 hours ago, Phillygirl3 said:

If creaks and rattles are so problematic, why would anyone want to sail her ........ ?

Because Navigator is a very good ship; the smallest in Regent's fleet; has some excellent itineraries; and offers good value.

Many Regent cruisers love Navigator; but some will not sail on her. 

My blogs from our first two cruises on Navigator include some comments on the ship and may be of use to you.

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2644816-notes-from-a-navigator-novice-hong-kong-to-singapore/

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2682585-narratives-from-navigator-in-norway/

 

10 hours ago, Phillygirl3 said:

............why wouldn't Regent do something to alleviate the problem? 

Regent have done a lot over the years and speaking to those who have sailed on her in the past the vibration is now much reduced, although still noticeable.

 

10 hours ago, Phillygirl3 said:

We have sailed twice before on Regent, and I'm looking forward to a third but hope that it won't be the last as we are sailing across the Atlantic and I want those days to be relaxing not stressed by noise.

If you are sensitive to noise & vibration then I assume you have chosen carefully the position of your suite on Navigator. SuiteGuru can be useful to see feedback from other CC members.

Navigator would not necessarily be our first choice from the Regent fleet for a TransAtlantic cruise, although we also have one booked in 2020 as the timing and itinerary at each end suits us. The smoothness of the crossing will be dependant on the weather & sea conditions. If the weather is poor then some have observed that the inside public areas can become crowded.

Which crossing have you booked in 2020? June? (fabulous itinerary) or September? If the latter then Navigator will have just been into dry-dock again for further work - but probably no further improvements to the vibration issues.

 

Hope this helps and that you are able to decide whether your booked cruise & chosen suite are suitable for your requirements.

[rcandkc]

We were on Navigator in May going from NYC to Amsterdam.  We have been on Navigator 6 times but this was our first crossing.  Weather was pretty good, great staff, happy passengers...one of our best cruises.  We never book above or under public areas due to noise sensitivity. This is true with any ship.  We have another Navigator cruise booked in 2020. 

[TWG_ag]

It thrills me to no end that Regent keeps this Grand Lady in top shape. Our favorite Regent ship (five cruises) I am looking forward to my next one. To the haters and skeptics, what she offers, you cannot get on the rest of the fleet, what they offer, she may not have, but what she delivers to her loyalist, we truly enjoy. Have a great day.

TW

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

We have sailed the Navigator several times, including a 20 day cruise last August. Copenhagen, Norway, northern Russia, Shetland islands, Scotland and finally Amsterdam. We were in a Penthouse suite on deck nine,  never had a bad day, even in rough weather. 

Love this little Ship! One of my favorites. 

Sheila

[alwaysonaship]

On 7/24/2019 at 9:09 PM, CarrieAP said:

 

Sure hope there are no extensions to the project because we booked the 9/11/20 TA from Barcelona to Montreal today! Our first Regent cruise and totally unexpected, so I am beyond excited! Not even sure how I happened upon this cruise because luxury cruises have not been on our radar or in our budget. The numbers on this cruise though are surprisingly favorable, which are no doubt related to the unplanned schedule changes that affected your cancelled cruise. It's good to hear the change ended up positive for you as well. We already had a TA booked so next task is to cancel that one. And of course now need to learn all about Regent and the Navigator!

We booked the same Barcelona to Montreal. Nice trip