navigator

[vistaman]

I did 4 cruises on the Splendor and 1 on the Grandeur , somewhat afraid to book the Navigator for a Caribbean cruise .  

[macbest]

I did an 18 day on her Sydney to Tahiti in January. She is a lovely small ship. Easy to get around, everybody knows your name, fabulous staff. Great food. Cabins are great. It is the ultimate small ship experience. 
 

The issue is in the Caribbean, we have sailed these waters frequently. We have been to many ports. The larger ship is better for hanging out on if you decide to skip a port with the cooking classes, extra restaurants (where one is often open at lunch each day). I wouldn’t sell voyager or mariner again to the Caribbean. Our last time after Covid we did the splendor for 14 days in the Caribbean and it was bliss for the reasons mentioned. 
 

To me, it is all about the ports first, then cost, then ship. If the navigator has good and different ports, is quite a bit less then I would do it. Otherwise the newer ships to me are the way to go. 

[Pcardad]

2 hours ago, vistaman said:

I did 4 cruises on the Splendor and 1 on the Grandeur , somewhat afraid to book the Navigator for a Caribbean cruise .  

Navigator is my favorite ship and I have 450 nights on 5 ships. It all depends on your personality. The smaller size far outweighs the new and fancier ships (for me). The service is the same.

[Chateaunole-du-pape]

Very glad to see these takes on Navigator, so thanks for replying. We cruised on Splendor last summer and absolutely loved it, but we saw a Navigator itinerary for this summer that was very interesting to us, and attractive from both schedule and price standpoints, so we decided to book it. I know we'll probably miss certain elements of Splendor - Pacific Rim, the Observation Lounge and the large shower and double vanity we had in our bathroom, especially - but the itinerary was so appealing that we thought it was worth a shot. Very glad to see that many actually seem to list Navigator as their favorite. I guess we'll establish our own opinion in just a few weeks!

[Scout16]

The small size does also allow the ship to get in some places such as Saint George in Bermuda, I do not think that any of the other ships could get through the passage to the port.

[Pcardad]

5 minutes ago, Scout16 said:

The small size does also allow the ship to get in some places such as Saint George in Bermuda, I do not think that any of the other ships could get through the passage to the port.

Town cut is only 70m wide with a depth of roughly 10m - limiting access by size and by the winds in the area.

[ChucktownSteve]

8 minutes ago, Scout16 said:

The small size does also allow the ship to get in some places such as Saint George in Bermuda, I do not think that any of the other ships could get through the passage to the port.

In May of 2022 we did an overnight in Hamilton and the third day in St. George on Navigator. 

 

I realize there is a very large contingent of pax who love Navigator.  I don't consider myself in that group.  The cruise sailed Miami to Montreal. Not only did we have the reported vibrations, however through the St. Lawrence we had a 30 second motor noise then 90 seconds of silence and repeat for hours on end.  They tried to tell me it was the fog horn.  But it sounded both with and between blasts so it wasn't that.

 

I liked the Mariner and really liked the Splendor.  Looking forward to our Grandeur sailing.

 

So to Vistaman, I suggest you try it to see how you personally feel about the ship, however don't expect everything that you've enjoyed on the Splendor or Grandeur. A suggestion as others have pointed out, unless you like a lot of vibration, stay away from the stern.

[flossie009]

Although Navigator is the smallest of the Regent fleet, her draft is the deepest.

Mariner has the shallowest draft.

 

[Pcardad]

23 minutes ago, flossie009 said:

Although Navigator is the smallest of the Regent fleet, her draft is the deepest.

Mariner has the shallowest draft.

 

True dat!
7.3m vs. 6.4m.

Another interest fact is that the Navigator gets substantially worse fuel economy with her stabilization activated....so often it is not.

[mo-chuck]

14 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Although Navigator is the smallest of the Regent fleet, her draft is the deepest.

Mariner has the shallowest draft.

 

What does that mean?

[flossie009]

18 hours ago, flossie009 said:

Although Navigator is the smallest of the Regent fleet, her draft is the deepest.

Mariner has the shallowest draft.

 

 

4 hours ago, mo-chuck said:

What does that mean?

 

It means that Navigator has as much, if not more, issues getting in to ports with shallow water.

 

For example, in 2019 Navigator was scheduled to dock near the centre of Bangkok but had to dock about 2 hours away in the container port of Laem Chabang due to low river levels. A Silversea ship with shallower draft managed to dock successfully in Bangkok on the same day.

On our recent Navigator cruise the embarkation port of Bangkok was again changed to Laem Chabang a few weeks before the cruise; again citing low river levels.

 

[Pcardad]

Draft is the amount of the ship that extends below the waterline. Navigator is about 2.8 feet "deeper" than Mariner.

[labonnevie]

7 hours ago, flossie009 said:

 

 

It means that Navigator has as much, if not more, issues getting in to ports with shallow water.

 

For example, in 2019 Navigator was scheduled to dock near the centre of Bangkok but had to dock about 2 hours away in the container port of Laem Chabang due to low river levels. A Silversea ship with shallower draft managed to dock successfully in Bangkok on the same day.

On our recent Navigator cruise the embarkation port of Bangkok was again changed to Laem Chabang a few weeks before the cruise; again citing low river levels.

 

Navigator’s deeper draft also contributed to her running aground leaving Benoa, Bali in March, 2018. 

[Kwaj girl]

10 hours ago, labonnevie said:

Navigator’s deeper draft also contributed to her running aground leaving Benoa, Bali in March, 2018. 

 

We were onboard at the time.  What actually happened is that the Captain had to quickly maneuver aside to avoid a small unlit fishing boat in the middle of the narrow channel, thus saving lives.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

Been on 3 great cruises on Navigator: Alaska (7 days), Amazon (24 days), Norway/Scotland (21) days and have loved them all.

 

Looking forward to Iceland and Greenland on Nav in August. My cruise buddy has not been on Navigator (been on Mariner and Splendor), so wondering what she will think! I was so concerned, that I sent her a picture of the shower before we decided to book the cruise!

[mo-chuck]

Why a picture of the shower?

[labonnevie]

12 hours ago, Kwaj girl said:

 

We were onboard at the time.  What actually happened is that the Captain had to quickly maneuver aside to avoid a small unlit fishing boat in the middle of the narrow channel, thus saving lives.

Understand. We were also onboard.
However, my statement stands, a shallower draft might have avoided running aground. 

Edited May 2 by labonnevie
Clarity

[2012_Alaska_bound]

21 hours ago, mo-chuck said:

Why a picture of the shower?

It is much smaller than the Splendor shower!

[Steve Q]

We have sailed on Explorer, Navigator, and Voyager. Navigator is the only one we will not sail again. We sailed from Miami to Montreal in 2023. The ship vibrates noticeably. In colder waters, it seemed so cramped with passenger gathering in the small public areas. While others seem to really like Navigator, we will sail on Regent’s other ships.

[UUNetBill]

38 minutes ago, Steve Q said:

We have sailed on Explorer, Navigator, and Voyager. Navigator is the only one we will not sail again. We sailed from Miami to Montreal in 2023. The ship vibrates noticeably. In colder waters, it seemed so cramped with passenger gathering in the small public areas. While others seem to really like Navigator, we will sail on Regent’s other ships.

I won't *not* sail on Navigator - I still enjoy sailing on her, but to be honest if there were two similar itineraries somewhere I wanted to go and I had my choice between Navigator and one of the Explorer class ships, I'd probably take the newer ship.  But since we mostly sail for itinerary and being pampered, we won't hesitate to take Navigator if she's going where we want to go.  🙂

 

[SWFLAOK]

On 5/2/2024 at 2:10 AM, Kwaj girl said:

 

We were onboard at the time.  What actually happened is that the Captain had to quickly maneuver aside to avoid a small unlit fishing boat in the middle of the narrow channel, thus saving lives.

Cruise ships can't maneuver quickly. Small fishing boats can. A prolonged blast should have been given as soon as this small boat was detected, and if he didn't move, 5 short blasts should have been given. Taking a chance on the lives of 1000 people by running aground to avoid a small boat (if they've been warned), isn't something a cruise ship captain should do. If they've been warned and don't move, their intentions are suspect, and there may be other boats waiting for the ship to run aground.

[mo-chuck]

15 hours ago, 2012_Alaska_bound said:

It is much smaller than the Splendor shower!

I though there was plenty of room in the shower. Is your friend a very big person?

[Scout16]

The showers in the normal suites are about the same on the Navigator and the Voyager.  I have trouble reaching below my knees without hitting my head on the pipes or the wall while being backed up into a corner.  The shower is fine for up to a month, but I am not sure if I could do a world cruise with it.  The problem I have with the Explorer class ship showers is that they need a grab bar to get you from the entrance to the shower head on rough days.  

[LewiLewi]

I loved sailing on Navigator after sailing on Explorer and Splendor. I found it smaller and more comfortable, easier to get around. I would avoid aft cabins because of vibration.

[SWFLAOK]

For a World Cruise, it would have to be Splendor. We've comfortably done 34 nights on a B2B on Voyager in a Penthouse B (a great layout compared to other penthouses on the other older ships). We just finished 20 nights on Navigator, and the shower is small, and the living room area is tight when one person is using the desk, and the other is watching TV and trying to access the frig.  On Splendor, the choice of restaurants is so much better, with specialty restaurants open at lunch. And we were able to book a lower level cabin that was bigger than a penthouse on Navigator.