First time cruiser

[AbeFrohman]

I am going on my first cruise this summer on the Navigator from Athens to Monte Carlo. I am trying to get an idea of what this cruise will be like and am hoping for guidance from this great site I have just found. With that being said, please chime in with any usefull knowledge you want to share. I am specificaly wondering about entertainment(casino/bars), quality and selection of food, service, and cleanliness of the ship. Thanks so much in advance.

[JoAnne B]

You picked a nice itinerary to experience the Navigator for the first time. Entertainment on these port intensive cruises is usually tamped down a bit, but there is always some activity in the evening, whether a musician, comedian, or small scale broadway-type show. Nothing spectacular. Last year they sparked up the musicals with a professional competitive dance couple that we really enjoyed. There is a small casino, that I admit I've never tried out. Whether it's a late night crowd or an empty bar cruise depends on the passenger mix, but the ship has livened up since they instituted the open bar policy.

The upside is that the Navigator disembarks easily in ports. Even if you tender it's not a big deal. Same with embarkation. Cruising is much nicer when you don't have to stand in long lines.

After a busy day of touring, the Compass Rose is a pleasant dining experience. For best service avoid the early dining rush when the waiters are pressed. The Navigator is a friendly ship. Get to know service personnel for a great cruise experience. If you find a waiter you like, ask for that section. Same with the wine sommelier. Make friends with them by showing an interest in the wines and you'll get much better service. They make a percentage of the wine sales, so if you tend to buy wine, stick to one sommelier for top service. I like John. Even though we seldom buy wine, he always takes good care of me. If you don't like the night's wine offering, he never gives you a hard time about serving an alternative (like one of the others who practically demands that you drink the day's choice or buy an alternative). The Navigator doesn't focus on alternative restaurants, but you may want to try Portofino's for the experience. I like it, but it gets mixed reviews. Breakfast or lunch (or even dinner if you are in port) on your balcony with tablecloth, crystal , and a bottle of bubbly is a real treat as well. Depending on the chef, local offerings such as seafood, produce, or sausages/cheese may be found at lunch. The chef will make special requests if they have the ingredients...just ask in advance. Same for special diet items.

The embarkation bubbly isn't top notch. But if you ask by brand in the barts, you'll get much nicer Champagne. If it isn't offered, you can get two to four bottles of liquor for the cabin depending on the category. Just ask your room stewardess. On subsequent cruises, your selection will likely be in the cabin on embarkation. She'll also take care of special requests for the minibar. Mine is always stocked up with extra diet soda and Amstel Light.

Other than that, just relax and enjoy your Regent experience.
JoAnne B
Houston

[jschutz]

Joanne:
I'm not understanding your post. I thought RSSC was all-inclusive, including the wines. Unless one orders a "premium" special selection wine, I thought all alcoholic beverages were complimentary.

[crys]

They are included. There are usually two pouring wines served each night--a red and a white, but if you request something else they can often accomodate. For example, if they're pouring a Savignon Blanc, and you'd prefer a Chardonnay, they will produce a Chardonnay from their standard stock. You also can purchase wines from a wine list. I think that's what JoAnne is referring to. But the included wines are usually quite good, so unless you're a total wine fanatic there's no need to purchase.

My "thing" is scotch more than wine, and their standard scotch labels are what others would regard as premium.

[SuzCruise]

Hi Crys,

I saw you said you were a scotch drinker. So are my DH and I. What labels were they pouring on your last RSSC cruise? Our last RSSC cruise was before the all inclusive policy went into effect. At that time I had to buy bottles of Savignon Blanc because it seemed they were always pouring Chardonay and I didn't have another white option. In your experience - they'll offer me another option if I let my waiter or sommelier know my preference?

Thanks for the help!

[Iamboatman]

Let them know your preference. The offering of alternatives was a bit begrudging initially but is better now. There should not be a charge unless it is a wine that is off their premium list.

As for scotch, it is pretty wide open: Glenfiddich, Glenlivit, MacCallum 12, for example, are all included.

[crys]

The labels Iamboatman mentions seem to always be available, as well as Glenmorangie. On the PG last year, the pool bar also offered a Lagavulin (THAT was an unexpected treat), and I've seen Oban on the shelf on Navigator. Sometimes what's on hand will vary from lounge to lounge, but once when I had a hankering for Macallan's and there was none in the bar where I was, the bartender hightailed it to someplace else and came back with it. I can't remember what ship that was.

I've never had a problem getting an alternative wine--maybe I've just been lucky. But I've seen others at my table also get another wine without problem. A simple "I don't care for Chardonnay--is there another white available?" seems to do the trick.

[SuzCruise]

Crys.

Was the Lagavulin considered one of the spirits included in the all inclusive plan? That is incredible! DH is going to be thrilled to hear that might be a possibility. I prefer Glenmorangie port or sherry wood myself. Although Glenmorangie has now done away with those and has a blend of the "sweeter" stuff by a name I can't recall at the moment. Thanks for the tip to check different lounges as their inventory may vary.

Thanks for the info!

[jschutz]

Glenmorangie Sherry Cask is not called "Lasanta,) the Port Cask is "Quinta Ruban," and the new one you speak of is called "Nectar D'or, out of Sauternes Casks. All are my favorite and I hope they will be stocking at least one of them.

[crys]

The Lagavulin was included then--part of why it was a pleasant surprise. I hadn't seen it before or since, so I don't know if it's not always stocked, or is usually in the premium stock. However, Lag is no more expensive at my local liquor store than most of "the Glens," so I suspect it's more a matter of whether they're stocking it than whether it commands extra money.

I've never sought out any other casks of Glenmorangie, so don't know if they have them available. I understand that the Connoseur's Club has a number of harder-to-find labels (for a price), though I've never checked it out, as I have trouble being around the smoking in that room.

[jschutz]

It looks like we will have to start a new single malt whiskey thread for the RSSC Board. Maybe, a Single Malt Scotch- Champagne - Wine thread. What do you think ???????? How about a Wine/Scotch/Champagne themed cruise?

[AbeFrohman]

Do people ever drink beer on these cuises? I sometimes prefer a beer to wine or liquor. Please don't frown on me for this admisssion as I realize RSSC seems more sophisticated than beer drinkers. I do like a good beer though at the end of a long day of sightseeing, please advise (mainly, is beer part of the all inclusive drinks promo?). Thanks.

[Pookie2]

Yes, beer is included in the "all inclusive" policy. The refrigerator in your room will be stocked with beer and it will be readily available at all of the bars on the ship.

[jschutz]

It should be noted that as a beer consumer you will be restricted to your cabin and only allowed out between 2am and 6am. We have our standards.

[dfb]

Yes, beer is included and drunk onboard RSSC ships! Your cabin fridge will usually contain Heineken and they serve a lot of it onboard. You can ask what else is available onboard any where you might be offered a drink as well as from your cabin steward/ess for your fridge. Especially ask about local beers! One of our favorite things is trying the local beers as we travel from place to place. Usually, the F&B manager will try to bring local beverages onboard, but you may have to ask for them at one of the bars to find out if they are onboard.
Enjoy, Debbie

[Jim B]

You can have a beer anytime you want. I always like to have one when I am sitting around the pool or sometimes when I am sitting on our balcony or having one with my lunch. (You get the idea).
Since I really don't like import beers I always have the cabin attendant switch the ones in the refrig to Bud Light.
Lots of people have them at cocktail hour, and with dinner. Regent is not that sophisticated. You probably won't see a chug a lug party aboard a Regent ship, but people still unwind and have a good time.

03/22/80 Commodore MS Caribe.. (Eastern Caribbean)
02/15/03 Regent Paul Gauguin.... (Tahiti)
02/22/04 Norwegian Dream (ick).. (Western Caribbean)
11/12/04 Regent Mariner............ (Mexican Riviera)
02/15/05 Regent Diamond.......... ( Southern Caribbean)
12/27/05 Regent Voyager.......... (Panama Canal FLL to LAX)
01/09/07 Regent Mariner........... (Amazon River Segment #1)
12/03/07 Regent Mariner........... (Auckland NZ to LAX)
03/11/09 Regent Navagator....... (Western Caribbean)

[kvisf]

Just to add a thought to the discussion of alternative wines, on our last cruise on Mariner, our group of four found the dinner service area and staff that we seemed to hit it off with and stayed with them throughout the cruise, when dining in Compass Rose. While the complimentary wines are listed on the menu nightly and change in each restaurant from day to day, we found that they were more than happy to accommodate a request for any of the other complimentary wines from any restaurant for any day of the cruise. When my wife found a red wine that she was particularly fond of, the staff had that wine at our table every night thereafter, without our asking for it.

A second thought, especially if you have shipboard credits that may not be used, is to peruse the premium wine list and ask the sommelier for advice on a wine for the evening's menu. I found the sommelier to be extremely knowledgeable, and the premium wines to be very attractively priced (about half what I would have expected to pay in restaurant in San Francisco, our hometown). That said, the complimentary wines were of very good quality and we were generally happy to have them with dinner.

As others have noted, we found the complimentary spirits to include most of the prominent "premium" brands. I expect you would only have to pay for some of the rarer champagnes, ports and sauternes, and ultra-premium spirits.

There was a good selection of European and American beers on board. You can ask to have your refrigerator stocked with whatever you like. And though Regent doesn't really make it clear, if you'd like to have a bottel or two of wine or spirits for your suite, just ask the stewardess, regardless of your accommodations category.

Another treat is to ask room service to bring you a pre-dinner beverage and selection of hors d'ouevres to enjoy on your balcony.

Enjoy the fine food and drink and have a great first cruise!

[SuzCruise]

I hadn't thought of having room service bring us a drink and an appetizer for pre-dinner relaxation! That is a great idea! That is the only thing we use the comp. bottles of booze for. My DH makes us a cocktail while I try to make my hair look like it hasn't been at a beach all week. I thought I had read somewhere that they wouldn't bring you drinks from room service because it would keep them too busy. But a couple of drinks and an appetizer isn't too much different than a couple of cups of coffee and a plate of fruit in the AM.

[crys]

How about a Wine/Scotch/Champagne themed cruise?

I'm there!!

[NCCruzQueen]

Scotch lovers will enjoy the Ireland, Scotland and Wales cruises that Regent has usually in late August. There are alot of excursions to distilleries and they have had Scotch tastings onboard. Right up your alley, crys!!

[JoAnne B]

My reference to being pressured to buy wines when you don't like the evening's choice depending on the sommelier was my experience several nights on the last Navigator crossing. John knows I like a particular wine and makes sure it is available for me. I've never had, or seen, a problem in his section. The other sommelier almost literally refused to make a substitute. Not once but at different tables with different people. Even one couple who bought several bottles of very nice wine were given a hard time by the sommelier. They were really upset. It was very tacky, and unlike Regent.

Personally, I usually find the wine selection satisfactory. I seldom ask for an alternative. As for beer, they have a nice selection and my choice for lunch!

JoAnne B
Housotn

[AbeFrohman]

Now I am confused JoAnne! Why would anybody be pressured to buy wine onboard? Arent all alcoholic beverages included while sailing (all inclusive )? Maybe you mean if you don't like the wine that is being served that night one has to buy a different bottle??? Also, does anybody know what the casino is like on the Navigator i.e. hours of operation, is it crowded, can you win. Thanks again.

[crys]

Abe, your first question is addressed on the first page of this string.

[UUNetBill]

My "thing" is scotch more than wine, and their standard scotch labels are what others would regard as premium.

Woohoo! Good to know, as I'm a fan of single malts. I had their spirit listing e-mailed to me, I was impressed (not overwhelmed, but impressed) - postings like this make me look forward to my cruise even more, if that's possible. Thanks to all for the abundance of good info!!
:D

[UUNetBill]

I'm there!!

Me too!!