Navigator-Montreal to Miami-22 Oct- 6 Nov 14

We just completed this cruise and have mixed emotions.

We took Regents air credit (Mia-Montreal) as an upgrade to business class would of cost $750 and require a night in a Miami hotel and car parking for almost 3 weeks. Instead we flew business class from Ft Myers(100 miles west of Miami) for only $350 more then Regents credit. The Montreal airport leaves a lot to be desired- few if any escalators and moving walkways were functioning, it took over 1 hr & 45 minutes to clear passport control and almost a 1/2 hour to get a cab-the immigration officer indicated that this is a common occurrence between 1600-1900 daily when all the flights from Europe arrive.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn-Select in downtown Montreal-great location but rooms are being rehabbed. Nice public rooms but expensive food and heavily taxed. Lousy weather but we did manage to visit the basilica (a must see) between squalls.

The cruise terminal consists of a decrepit "shed" with folding chairs and fortunately, heat lamps. Went on board in a timely manner, and like others, dragged our carry-ons to the Veranda and lunch. Suites were ready at 1400 or so.

We were in 618- an upgrade from our "H" GTY. Kept curtains drawn for most of the trip as a crew passageway is outside the window. Suite as we all know is excellent in size and layout but is in need of a update. No mini bar. After dinner visited Reception and complained. Bar set up before bed time. Next day, no USA Today as ordered. Back to reception. Paper delivered after breakfast. Being Gold with over 100 days on Regent, starting with Song of Flower, and most on our favorite ship, Navigator, felt some concern.

We met some great people in the connoisseur club, one of whom is a chef. We became a group and were fortunate to dine 3 times in Prime 7, which is much improved from last years experience. Great service and food, well plated. Not that good in CR. We have never seen head waiters busing tables, pouring wine and serving dishes before. Although heatedly denied, the lack of staff seriously impacted dinner. I ask the 4 different waiters we had "how many tables they served". 1 said 7 and 3 said 8. A more knowledgeable CC'r may correct me, but I thought a fine dining waiter served 4 tables with a shared assistant. I made a waiter blush when I asked if he was told not to talk about understaffing. Many entrees came cold, and some salads and sorbets never were served. What service we had was good. Head waiter Gabrielle from Romania did her best under the circumstances. On numerous occasions the bar waitress was tending bar, making coffee and serving drinks in the Navigator lounge, Connoisseur club, library, all by herself. Once again, short staffed. Even Mailee a great waitress had trouble keeping up.

The floor shows were the same from last year, however they added some new tricks to the Circus show which improved it. But, the juggler was fair and the comedian wasn't.

The food in general was satisfactory when it was served warm. One exception was Sette Mari. The veal marsala was drenched in a heavy dark sauce that tasted like a burnt roux, even though the veal itself was good. Head waiter Jamal in the Veranda ensured my breakfast eggs were served as ordered after I sent them back on 2 occasions.

The cruise director, Margeret Lynn has a good voice but appeared to me as a frustrated stage performer acting as a cruise director rather than being one. Always on stage. Her British assistant and their juvenile TV show antics were tiresome, although some may have enjoyed them.

The destination desk had problems. With the exception of a British lady who's name escapes me, were in your face rude. The excursions were not as advertised on the Regent web site or on the TV. Example, the Jamestown-Yorktown trip of 8 hours with an opportunity to buy lunch, was abbreviated to 3&1/2 hours. I can only assume that tours information were based on another cruise when ship docking times were different. In Halifax we had to walk almost 1/2 mile in the pouring rain due to no transportation from the lunch stop. This tour was advertised as highlites and lobster lunch. It was a rainy boat ride to see 2 lighthouses from out in the harbor and lunch. As mentioned the destination desk were not helpful in reconciling what we reserved with what we got.

The Capt's welcome party was a dud. No band, limited wait staff trying to pass out canapés and drinks. 7 seas party much better. No farewell party. Krew Kapers is always enjoyable.

FYI- Capt- Stan De La Combe, GM-Mike Coghlan, Chef-Dino Schwager- by the

way the pastries and rolls are greatly improved from last year.

We had no brown water issues, and the coffee is best in the Navigator lounge.

On 1 Nov the Capt opted not to change time back to EST due to weather. Going around Cape Hatteras the Capt said we had 60 knot winds (hurricane force) and 28 ft swells. The Navigator handled it well. Elevators were shut down, weather decks secured, veranda furniture moved inside, potted plants tied down, floor show cancelled, and Galileos/Sette Mari closed early. I was one of the few in Veranda for breakfast the next morning.

In summary, luxury is very much like beauty- in the eye of the beholder. I don't know why it was understaffed and I think there is a disconnect between Regent HQ and the Navigator. Most newbies may not notice the things we did. It is not the Regent or the Navigator of even last year. It may very well not be a luxury experience anymore but it still is good and probably better than most mass market cruises. We haven't decided if we'll go on Regent again. But it's awfully hard to miss out on the perks.

If any questions ask away.

Thank you for taking time to do your extensive review - is it most interesting. I had to laugh about not changing the time back on November 1st. Still trying to figure out how weather affected the time change. Assume the time was eventually changed!?

I do have a question about not having a mini bar in your suite. Was there a refrigerator with nothing in it or simply no refrigerator? Also, you made a couple of references to the "Connoisseur club". Is this the smoking lounge? I wasn't aware that drinks were served in there. It sounds like it was an active spot on your cruise.

Good to hear that the super expensive coffee machine in the Navigator lounge is still making great coffee!

TC,

I'll clarify. I'm referring to the two (2) bottles of adult beverage that were ordered on Regents website months previously, as well the USA Today newspaper. Ergo, my comment concerning a disconnect between Regent HQ and Navigator.

Yes, the Capt changed our time to EST the next day, a sea day, so we'd have an extra hour of sleep before Charleston.

Regards

Neglected to add yes that is the cigar room. And mid cruise they got the electric fireplace functioning as well as the rooms vent system. That minimized smoking odors that were prevalent on deck 6 in that area.

Sounds disappointingly like recent observations from Mariner.:( We board Navigator in ten days.

Just stepped off Navigator today.

I doubt we will return. There are lots of things that are very good.But hardly any were luxury or 6 star.

We had a very shabby room in The Sheraton Miami.It was a very long walk after a very long day to the coach from the airport.some elderly frail people struggling with their cases.

We too had noticed how hard the staff worked.It really did appear to be lack of staff.The pool deck from 1pm was a disaster for 3 hours.Cold food,soggy fries,ages waiting at bar,no pool towels on sea days for 2 hours.No one collecting the used towels.

We arrived in our penthouse suite with no bottle of gin and Bacardi as ordered.No potato chips and nuts and completely wrong drinks in bar.

Poor Alana at Gallileos was run off her feet.Another employee who used to work on Princess said they had 6 bars and 36 staff.6 bars with regent have 20 staff.

The Prime 7 restaurant had poor appetisers and all shellfish was frozen.The maître De being rude at times to people wanting to book.We found Sette Mari by far the best food and best staff.Sitting outside everytime was lovely in the Caribbean.

Often cold tea and coffee,wrong wines and cocktails.A bit hap hazard and certainly not luxury.

Embarkation and disembarkation were good.

But we disembarked today,Thursday.The day before we were not given nuts and potato chips,nor more drink in our mini bar.our flowers were removed too,no fresh toiletries,our internet removed the night before we left.so we felt our holiday,in part,was over 24hrs earlier.

The suite was a good size and kept very clean and tidy.we did have brown water in the bath.nice hot shower good size bathroom and closet.

Some excursions were a lot shorter then advertised.The cave tubing was exceptionally good.

I don't know why they feel they have to close off the internet accounts so early on disembarkation day. On our recent Paul Gauguin cruise, they kept the accounts open until after 9 a.m., and it was really convenient.

I don't know why they feel they have to close off the internet accounts so early on disembarkation day. On our recent Paul Gauguin cruise, they kept the accounts open until after 9 a.m., and it was really convenient.

It was particularly frustrating for us as we have a very sick mother at home and a sick grandchild.We wanted to get emails before we disembarked to see how they were before we left for a 4 hour drive.with time differences between US and UK,we would have had some news.instead we had to wait nearly 24 hours.

I'm amazed at your reviews, ridon and janecambridge. My DH and I were on the Oct. 2 sailing from Montreal to NYC. While we don't especially enjoy many of Regent's included excursions, we found little to fault with our on-board experiences on this trip.

On this cruise, we were in an E-category suite on Deck 6. No butler in these suites, but we put in a request ahead of time to have our suite stocked with gin and scotch and they were waiting for us when we arrived, along with the diet tonic water I requested.

Our room steward provided excellent service. Every morning we arrived back from breakfast to find our room had been serviced. Our mini frig was restocked daily; the fruit in our suite was also replaced on a daily basis; and the vase with the orchid was still there the morning we left.

We ate breakfast daily in La Veranda and the service was about the best we have ever had (and we have been Gold Society members for a long time now). We never had to stare at an empty coffee cup... our cups were continuously replenished throughout breakfast without us having to ask.

With the exception of our one meal in Prime 7, we ate dinner nightly in Compass Rose..... usually arriving about 7 or 7:30 pm (busy times for them). Occasionally we ate alone, but usually we asked to share a table. The service we had every night was excellent. The delivery of all our courses was well paced.... the hot food arrived hot.... and we never had any problem getting wine. Even when we declined the complimentary red or white wines suggested for the evening and requested other wines on their complimentary wine list, we never had to wait longer than 5 minutes for the steward to return with our selection.

It's surprising that service could have degraded so much in the 20 days between when we disembarked and when you got on, but obviously it did.

We agree with you (ridon), though, regarding the Cruise Director. We thought she was in way over her head and couldn't believe her inability to put together a coherent sentence over the PA system! And, janecambridge, the water I drew for my one-and-only bath was noticeably brown. After that, I took only showers!

We booked another cruise while on board, which we wouldn't have done had we met with the bad service that you people experienced. I'm not sure what is going on. Your experience on the Navigator sounds nearly identical to what recent (and current) passengers on the Voyager are reporting. It does sound like a serious under-staffing problem. Sigh!

Totally agree with you. I cannot imagine what could have happened from your Navigator cruise in October, our Mariner cruise in October and now. It makes no sense. It would be convenient to blame it on the NCL buy-out (that should close next week) but NCL cannot do anything on Regent until it closes. It is possible that Regent management is scrutinizing everything on their ships and/or the crew is concerned that, once again, their employer (who is not Regent which is not understood by everyone) will change once again. If I were in their shoes, I would also be concerned.

What makes this whole thing even more strange is that the last two Voyager cruises have been great. Why?

While Oceania is only a "sister" cruise line, we will sail on the Riviera a week after the change-over. I'll be interested to see if service on that ship will differ from what we experienced last year.

Like you journeyfan,we did not take the recommended wines but opted for Sauvignon blanc each time?This was delivered quickly and chilled.only twice did they get it wrong once tasted.often the staff got to know that is what I drank.As soon as the staff in Sette Mari knew us,we had better service.Maybe it takes time for the staff to get to know you and 7 nights isn't enough.

Being English we drink tea and all but once we had to make it ourselves.Having a packaged tea bag put on the table with a large jug of hot water.This meant squeezing out the Teabag once brewed,with a spoon and trying to find somewhere to put it.only once at breakfast on the last day did we get a teapot with a tea bag in it.We had to make our own on princess,did not expect to make our own on Navigator.

The fruit was replenished daily and that was very nice.

:D The PA announcements were dreadful and embarrassing.Continual mistakes..

My experience with tea on Regent has been totally random, Jane. Over the past 12 years, sometimes I get a teapot with the bag in it. Sometimes I get the bag and the pot separately. Sometimes get hot water and the bag separately. This is not a new thing, and I drink tea every day.

Who was the Cruise Director on this cruise? PA announcements are typically occur only a couple of times a day. I'm wondering if the CD if new to Regent.

OP stated that Margaret Lynn was the CD. We have been on 2 sailings with her as CD and actually quite like her. No excessive PA announcements by her previously, so I am not sure what is up with that.

I think this goes in the category of you can't please everyone because my husband much prefers her as CD over Ray. Our very favorites are Jamie and Lorraine though.

OP stated that Margaret Lynn was the CD. We have been on 2 sailings with her as CD and actually quite like her. No excessive PA announcements by her previously, so I am not sure what is up with that.

 

I think this goes in the category of you can't please everyone because my husband much prefers her as CD over Ray. Our very favorites are Jamie and Lorraine though.

Thanks - I missed that post. Just wanted to mention that we have not had Jamie as CD in our 19 cruises. We would love to cruise with him. Maybe next year:-)

You both mentioned pre-ordering adult beverages for your suites - is there an online form for this or do you just submit a query thru the 'contact us' link on the RSSC website? Any knowledge of the available brands of gin & vodka? Thank you.

I called with my booking # as I do not do computer ops very well. Can't say about gin but I know they have Grey Goose and Absolute vodkas as well as others.

Any knowledge of the available brands of gin & vodka? Thank you.

Hi,

Not sure if you can get all of these in your suite, would be surprised if you couldn't, below is the bar menu for Vodka and Gin. Also, if there is another brand you would prefer you could ask your TA to ask Regent to have your preferred brand available for you and in your suite, who knows you may get lucky, but you never know if you don't ask. Cheers!

Gin

Beefeater

London Dry

Bombay Sapphire

Gordon’s, London Dry

Tanqueray, Special Dry

Vodka:

Absolut

Absolut Citron

Belvedere

Chopin Gluten Free

Grey Goose

Ketel One

Smirnoff

Stolichnaya

Tito’s Gluten Free

Voli

Van Gogh Espresso

Van Gogh Chocolate

We were on the October 12-22 Navigator cruise from NYC to Montreal, and generally had a wonderful time. We are Regent Seven Seas Gold Level, and decided to get a Concierge Suite (821; well-located) this time because our gourmet wine group of 17 cruisers was staying at Regent's chosen hotel in Manhattan, the Parker Le Meridien, and we liked the idea of having an Illy espresso maker (decent, but not like the wonderful Nespresso machine!) in our room and the other Concierge amenities. It helped that this itinerary is positively enchanting--Newport, Rhode Island with its Great Gatsby mansions, Boston and the Freedom Trail and USS Constitution, Bar Harbor and the gorgeous Acadia forest (and boiled lobster lunch!), Halifax and the Titanic museum and cemetery, Sydney and the Louisbourg Fortress with reenactors a la Williamsburg but better, Saguenay and its cheese curds factory, Quebec City and Montmorency Falls, St. Anne's Cathedral, Chateau Frontenac, the Plains of Abraham where Wolfe and Montcalm fought and died, and Montreal with its Jean Talon outdoor market, Italian Quarter, Schwartz's smoked meat, the St. James Hotel, St. Catherine's Cathedral and chapel (the Sainte-Chappelle of Canada!), the Vieux-Porte and its wonderful Montreal history museum, and great restaurants (try Europea for a splurge) and shopping. And we had several special tours and meals with our group.

Navigator sailed like a dream; I believe they've enhanced the stabilizers since our last cruise on her. Yes, there were extraordinary numbers of exceedingly elderly and infirm people, too many of whom sadly did not appear to be enjoying themselves--but no indication that this was Regent's fault.

My wife took a bath on a daily basis and we never had brown water. Room could not have been nicer, except for the oft-mentioned dated color scheme (not a big deal at all for us). While my wife bathed before dinner, I used the underutilized sauna. After that, who needs a martini?

By coincidence, we knew the guest lecturer, who is a Regent favorite, and he did not disappoint on either history or photography. We also enjoyed the Tea and Trivia.

Service was indeed a bit harried in Compass Rose. We went to Prime 7 and enjoyed it, as usual. Perhaps bad orders led to disappointment by other posters?

Anyway, our experience was pretty much night and day with the one that began this thread...

You both mentioned pre-ordering adult beverages for your suites - is there an online form for this or do you just submit a query thru the 'contact us' link on the RSSC website? Any knowledge of the available brands of gin & vodka? Thank you.

We went into our booking and a tick list was there. We ordered tanqueray( got beefeater) and Bacardi but only after we asked the butler.it was not in suite when we arrived.

We were on the October 12-22 Navigator cruise from NYC to Montreal, and generally had a wonderful time this itinerary is positively enchanting--Newport, Rhode Island with its Great Gatsby mansions, Boston and the Freedom Trail and USS Constitution, Bar Harbor and the gorgeous Acadia forest (and boiled lobster lunch!), Halifax and the Titanic museum and cemetery, Sydney and the Louisbourg Fortress with reenactors a la Williamsburg but better, Saguenay and its cheese curds factory, Quebec City and Montmorency Falls, St. Anne's Cathedral, Chateau Frontenac

 

Navigator sailed like a dream; I believe they've enhanced the stabilizers since our last cruise on her. Yes, there were extraordinary numbers of exceedingly elderly and infirm people, too many of whom sadly did not appear to be enjoying themselves--but no indication that this was Regent's fault.

Service was indeed a bit harried in Compass Rose. We went to Prime 7 and enjoyed it, as usual. Perhaps bad orders led to disappointment by other posters?

 

Anyway, our experience was pretty much night and day with the one that began this thread...

fortunately, my own experience on this cruise mirrors yours, (I THINK I have edited your post somewhat) but my cruise was a few years ago albeit wonderful, on the same ship.

I am sorry some others are not finding the same, but I respond to you because you have been on this board as long as me, many years ago

Jane cambridge, I don't get the chance to pre-order liquor in the cabin, I just do it onboard with my cabin stewardess, and have it at the end of the night.

I do appreciate all the other comments. Oh my, weather makes such a difference, as well as the difficulties you have with mates who may have some special needs.

We went into our booking and a tick list was there. We ordered tanqueray( got beefeater) and Bacardi but only after we asked the butler.it was not in suite when we arrived.

In the past I've filled out a form prior asking for many preferences from pillows to snacks to special occasion. There is no such form on my booking. Since we are only four days away (yeah!) I presume it is too late. I also presume I can make my requests thru the room steward.

Possibly it is too late.but as I have said,it was if it wasn't read anyway.it was quite exciting for us to pre order our bits and bobs,and then a let down when they weren't there.

The day before we disembarked,the drinks we had in the fridge were removed and it was restocked exactly as we found it,ready for the next passengers.

I hope you have a wonderful trip...:D

In the past I've filled out a form prior asking for many preferences from pillows to snacks to special occasion. There is no such form on my booking. Since we are only four days away (yeah!) I presume it is too late. I also presume I can make my requests thru the room steward.

That form is in the "My Booking" section of the rssc.com website and is available to passengers in PH suites and above. Unfortunately, they do need to be filled out in advance (I believe 7 days in advance). Just talk to your butler or steward(ess) when they greet you on embarkation day and they will take care of your requests.

I've never filled out a form (never been in a PH) but have always had my requests filled quickly after embark.

Peggy