TRANS ATLANTIC

[eby]

  Which ship would choose and why.  Thanks

[UUNetBill]

Explorer or Mariner.  More stable, good public spaces, more dining options (on Explorer).

 

Although me?  I’d actually sail on any Regent ship...

[JPR]

Voyager too. Not the Navigator, which doesn’t do well in rough seas...

[Sharle]

we had a great trans atlantic crossing on Voyager last March/April. turned out to be the smoothest the captain had ever been on. The Explorer was a few days behind us and hit rougher seas

[rcandkc]

Actually we had an absolutely wonderful crossing in May on the Navigator, but have to admit it was not my first choice but we really wanted the itinerary.  Turned out great!

[ronrick1943]

I think really I'd pick any one the Regent ships.  I do like the Explorer just because you have a few more places to eat on the ship.

[Travelcat2]

Definitely not Navigator.  Mariner is the most stable ship of the fleet but Explorer is, IOO (in our opinion), the best ship in the fleet.  While she is not quite as stable as Mariner, she handles the seas better than Voyager (or Navigator).

[JMARINER]

2 hours ago, Sharle said:

we had a great trans atlantic crossing on Voyager last March/April. turned out to be the smoothest the captain had ever been on. The Explorer was a few days behind us and hit rougher seas

Yeah. We were on the Explorer this Spring for the Crossing form Miami to Lisbon. It was "bouncy" for a few days. Seas were 18 - 25 feet and a few even more.

 

As far as the NAV,  it rides fine in my experience. Have been on the NAV crossing the North Atlantic & South Atlantic, Arctic and Indian Ocean.  

 

Best riding, but not by much, would be the Mariner. On the first circle South America in 2001 the ship hit a dry storm out of Santiago Chile with 60-70 mph winds coming off the Andes. Whipped the waves up to 35-45 feet for 2 days coming at the beam of the ship. They put sea sick bags in all the stair wells.

 

J

[DeepFreeze63]

14 hours ago, eby said:

  Which ship would choose and why.  Thanks

Have done 4; 2 on Mariner and 2 on Explorer. I'd choose Explorer which is GREAT for sea days - lunches in P7 and Chartreuse; larger standard cabins, and spacious verandahs (afternoon naps) - plus maybe a sensational Sunday Brunch.

[Travelcat2]

4 hours ago, DeepFreeze63 said:

Have done 4; 2 on Mariner and 2 on Explorer. I'd choose Explorer which is GREAT for sea days - lunches in P7 and Chartreuse; larger standard cabins, and spacious verandahs (afternoon naps) - plus maybe a sensational Sunday Brunch.

 

Agree - we would pick Explorer over any other Regent ship for the reasons you stated.  Even though Mariner is more stable at sea (according to a couple of Staff Captains), we will be a transatlantic cruise on Explorer next month.  

[Hambagahle]

19 hours ago, JPR said:

Voyager too. Not the Navigator, which doesn’t do well in rough seas...

We did a wonderful TA on Navigator ...  

[JPR]

11 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

We did a wonderful TA on Navigator ...  

No doubt. We have enjoyed cruising on Navigator too, though never on a TA.

 

But the fact remains that she was built using the hull of a Russian spy ship, and her stabilizers are only somewhat effective in high seas. All of the other Regent ships (and all of Oceania’s too, fwiw) do much better in rough weather.

 

If you don’t care about that or the much smaller size and fewer amenities of the ship, you’ll have a fine cruise on Navigator with its nice large basic suites that are matched only by Voyager...

Edited October 16, 2019 by JPR

[Travelcat2]

11 minutes ago, Hambagahle said:

We did a wonderful TA on Navigator ...  

 

Gerry, you must have had a calm crossing (we have had those as well).  Navigator was the first Regent ship where Dennis got very seasick and it was only a cruise from San Francisco to Alaska.  To be fair, we were in a suite right in the front of the ship which does feel the "motion of the ocean" a bit more.  Also, reports from people on the world cruise a couple of years ago posted about how Navigator was bouncing around the ocean (on its way from the West Coast of the United States to Hawaii).  OTOH, we have been on Mariner - watching fairly large waves while dining in CR and didn't feel a thing - it was as if the seas were as smooth as glass.  

 

I bring these things up for people new to Regent.  While the vibration on Navigator and Voyager may not bother you, it is good to know that it exists and I feel the same away about how the ships do in rough seas.

 

P.S.  JPR - we were posting at the same time.  Agree with you about the suites on Navigator - they are a really good size and are laid out much better than on Mariner.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Travelcat2

[Hambagahle]

Our Navigator crossing was mostly calm BUT we had several days of bouncing about.  Then we really felt we were at sea.  We had a Navigator Suite on deck 9.   Under the Pool Deck.   No noise but we didn't really like the suite - bathroom was off the living room and not the bedroom and the balcony was tiny.  Still - it was a great crossing...  And if the sea and the ship don't move .. how do you know you are sailing??

 

We have also done TA's on:  Mariner, Voyager, Riviera, Queen Mary (the old one) and twice on the Italian line...Raffaelo and Cristoforo Colombo.   Least stable was probably the latter...but it doesn't exist any more (I think).   Most fun was the Navigator for the on-board entertainment (NY Theatre Guild) AND because we "re-met" some friends from the Cristoforo Colombo some 25 years later...

Edited October 16, 2019 by Hambagahle

[Bellaggio Cruisers]

My two cents!

We did a 20 day Navigator cruise in the North Atlantic and North Sea from Copenhagen,Norway and northern Russia. Some bad weather and we had no problem onboard. Deck 9. Suite 925. 
But,  for a Transatlantic Journey, I prefer Explorer only because it’s got many more places to relax and dine. 
Sheila

[chuckw]

We've done several crossings both Atlantic and Pacific, the most important thing to us is going east to west.  That way you gain time instead of losing an hour every other day.  We do like the Navigator, always book forward on lower decks.