What's wrong with the Navigator?

Lately I have seen many negative comments about the Navigator. I sailed with her in 2008 and loved it. Suites were great, service wonderful, great food and service. Just the right size for me.

Sailed with the Mariner in 2009. Again great ship and service but not better than the Navigator.

Thanks

Tourguide

Lately I have seen many negative comments about the Navigator. I sailed with her in 2008 and loved it. Suites were great, service wonderful, great food and service. Just the right size for me.

 

Sailed with the Mariner in 2009. Again great ship and service but not better than the Navigator.

 

Thanks

 

Tourguide

My husband and I like the navigator. We were on her in August 2011 and just got off this past Sunday. Both times after a couple of days many of the crew knew my preferences and all had big smiles and great attitudes. We are always amazed how hard they work. We had great service. We have never had a stateroom in the back so have not been bothered by the vibration. It is not a new ship so not as glitzy as some. We have booked her again already.

Just finished my second cruise on Navigator. Have also sailed on Voyager and Mariner multiple times.

There is nothing "wrong" with Navigator. It is smaller than the other two, so less dining venues and places to just "hang out". But there are fewer passengers, and I think the passenger/space ratio is fine. I really like the gym--great view.

The Sette Mare concept in La Veranda works especially well on Navigator as the lay out of the dining area is good with the pasta station in the middle.

I just got off the Navigator as well and there is nothing "wrong" with her . . . smaller - yes -but big cabins like the Voyager.

A great staff, excellent food etc . . . no complaints what so ever.

Peggy

Sounds like the short answer is "Nothing" :)

The staff on Regent ships are always terrific (IMHO):) I agree that there is not necessarily anything wrong with the Navigator but we prefer sailing the Voyager and Mariner. She does have an aft vibration (different than the vibration on the Voyager). IMO, when Prime 7 was added, La Veranda became too small and cannot easily accommodate passengers when the ship is full. The main reason we no longer sail on the Navigator is simply because she does not handle rough seas as well as her sisters (again, my opinion).

We do miss having an Observation Lounge on the Navigator and find the computer room too small. At the risk of being flamed, I believe "Radisson" put too many suites on the ship when she was built. We sailed on Silversea's Whisper last year -- "almost" the identical size of the Navigator and I am pretty sure it was built in the same shipyard. The Whisper carries 383 passengers while the Navigator carries 490. This explains the lack of space on the Navigator.

Really not picking on the Navigator -- she is a beautiful ship. Just explaining why some people are not big fans.

I really like Navigator. It has the best standard cabins, in my opinion.

But some find it too small, and miss the extra dining. Yes, La Veranda is small, and at times inadequate. I found Prime 7 to be a perfect size, and they've enlarged it since then, at the expense of La Veranda.

Yes, there's a strong vibration aft, although I never noticed it this last trip in May. The ship can be quite bouncy, and I definitely have experienced this on both my voyages.

In bad weather, with the pool deck unavailable, the small size is more of a disadvantage, making the ship feel a bit crowded when at sea.

Service was fairly universally exemplary when we sailed this last May.

We liked Navigator well enough to book her again only 5 months after disembarking. We couldn't wait to sail her again. I like the size of the standard cabins AND their location. On the other Regent ships, if memory serves me, you have to spend more money for a "quiet" cabin---not above/below public areas.

The Navigator has always been my favorite. It is small enough to be cozy, and just large enough to have amenities without crowds. The only flaw is that they did not allow enough facilities for crew, so when the ship is full service sometimes suffers. I don't know with Prime 7, but there were times when they could not accommodate all of the passengers for dinner, so put in a rule that entertainers could not eat in the dining room with the passengers. I hope that rule has changed. Other than that flaw, she is a great little ship.

JB

Ya but there is no "climbing wall" or "zip line" and I am not sure I can live without "ice skating" :)

Whats a cruiser to do......

nana541: YES!

I really like Navigator. It has the best standard cabins, in my opinion.

 

But some find it too small, and miss the extra dining. Yes, La Veranda is small, and at times inadequate. I found Prime 7 to be a perfect size, and they've enlarged it since then, at the expense of La Veranda.

 

Yes, there's a strong vibration aft, although I never noticed it this last trip in May. The ship can be quite bouncy, and I definitely have experienced this on both my voyages.

 

In bad weather, with the pool deck unavailable, the small size is more of a disadvantage, making the ship feel a bit crowded when at sea.

 

Service was fairly universally exemplary when we sailed this last May.

We sailed on the Navigator in May 2011. It was a 12 night cruise and if the weather wasn't conducive to sitting outside on your veranda or by the pool there were not enough places to sit inside the ship. It was way too crowded on days at sea in my opinion.

This is our second Navigator trip and we love it , though miss the Observation Lounge.

I agree that the public spaces and dining rooms, especially Sette Mari in the evenings, are inadequate when the ship is full and/or in poor weather when people are forced inside. No forward facing lounge is also a major drawback IMO. The current gym/spa on deck 12 would be perfect for this. Our experience on Navigator in Alaska this July wasn't great but that was mostly due to patchy service in the dining rooms, bad weather and some seriously rude and unfriendly pax, not the ship itself. Our suite (deck 11 right behind the bridge) was up to the usual Regent standards but we did experience the infamous "vibration" at higher speeds but we found it soothing rather than bothersome. People in aft cabins may have found it more intrusive. We were lucky to have exceptionally smooth seas almost every day but when it did get a bit rougher the ship didn't seem to handle it as well as, say, Voyager. But we are good sailors so it didn't really matter. We saw other less salty seadogs turning green!

Having said all that, we probably won't choose Navigator again unless Regent really shakes up its itineraries and offers something interesting and new. If they send Navigator to Japan we'll be first in line.

Since the demise of the Song of Flower, the Navigator has become my favorite ship in the fleet. Yes, she is the oldest Regent ship now, but I enjoy her small size, ease to get around and the wonderful staff. Lucky for me, I have a good TA who has swayed me away from the aft suites. Just in May she went through dry dock. I look forward to boarding her in just over 3 weeks for my 8th cruise. No complaints here about the Navigator.

I can't speak for the trip before mine (NY->Montreal) or the current one (also NY->Montreal) but the Montreal->NY was full. The weather was mostly overcast and chilly so I doubt that too many people sat out on the deck or on their balconies.

The Navigator Lounge was busy and b/c it's small, crowded. Galileo's was busy but not jammed. I was mostly in both rooms between 6 and 7 so I can't comment about other times.

I didn't see too many people waiting more than a few minutes in CR where I dinner most nights -we never waited. And the 2 nights we ate in Sette Mare, we had no wait at all.

Breakfast/lunch: there was always a table available in La Veranda or on the pool deck.

I too would prefer a forward-facing lounge but I'm told that there was one originally and at some point, it was removed and the gym put in it's place. Unlikely that will change.

My point is that the ship was full but the service was excellent . . . . we never felt we waited long for a drink or for what we ordered at a meal.

The same was true for breakfast and lunch . . .

So, we return from our history tours (Kennedy Library and Adams house) and find every public space packed on Navigator. The Stars Lounge and Theater are closed for "private" events, Bingo is going crazy in the Gallileo and even the tiny Navigator Lounge is packed. We are hardy (from N. Michigan), so we cozy up on the aft deck with a cocktail and about 10 other folks and watch us pull out backwards from Boston harbor. This is when I miss the forward facing Observation Lounge and larger outside spaces.:)

So, we return from our history tours (Kennedy Library and Adams house) and find every public space packed on Navigator. The Stars Lounge and Theater are closed for "private" events, Bingo is going crazy in the Gallileo and even the tiny Navigator Lounge is packed. We are hardy (from N. Michigan), so we cozy up on the aft deck with a cocktail and about 10 other folks and watch us pull out backwards from Boston harbor. This is when I miss the forward facing Observation Lounge and larger outside spaces.:)[\QUOTE]

 

And this is the whole problem in a nutshell :(

for reading some positive things about the Navigator. We are booked on our 1st RSSC cruise next September on the Navigator. We have been on 3 of the smaller Princess ships (680 pax) and really enjoy more of a chance to get to knew the other pax and the crew. Itineray is what sells us a cruise nowadays!

Blondietoo

for reading some positive things about the Navigator. We are booked on our 1st RSSC cruise next September on the Navigator. We have been on 3 of the smaller Princess ships (680 pax) and really enjoy more of a chance to get to knew the other pax and the crew. Itineray is what sells us a cruise nowadays!

 

Blondietoo

You'll be fine!

We had no groups using public spaces on our trip. This is not 100% true - the group I was with (16 people) did use the card room one night before dinner and then had dinner in P7 - our one time there.

The only time the public rooms were closed was for Welcome, SSS and Krew Kapers. That makes a difference.

Blondietoo,

I agree with Rachel

Peggy

Blondietoo,

 

I agree with Rachel

 

Peggy

Thanks that is a relief!!

I can't speak for the trip before mine (NY->Montreal) or the current one (also NY->Montreal) but the Montreal->NY was full. The weather was mostly overcast and chilly so I doubt that too many people sat out on the deck or on their balconies.

 

The Navigator Lounge was busy and b/c it's small, crowded. Galileo's was busy but not jammed. I was mostly in both rooms between 6 and 7 so I can't comment about other times.

 

I didn't see too many people waiting more than a few minutes in CR where I dinner most nights -we never waited. And the 2 nights we ate in Sette Mare, we had no wait at all.

 

Breakfast/lunch: there was always a table available in La Veranda or on the pool deck.

 

I too would prefer a forward-facing lounge but I'm told that there was one originally and at some point, it was removed and the gym put in it's place. Unlikely that will change.

 

My point is that the ship was full but the service was excellent . . . . we never felt we waited long for a drink or for what we ordered at a meal.

 

The same was true for breakfast and lunch . . .

We also got off the Navigator Sunday with xrvlcruiser and rcandkc. I'll echo those who felt the Navigator was NOT crowded. Even with our cool, cloudy, rainy weather and no one outside, it was rare that any of the public rooms were crowded. At times the Navigator Lounge was empty except for the bartender and the piano player. Sometimes we'd to up to Gallileo and there'd be few there. Ditto for Stars. Walking around the ship, my wife & I would ask each other "Where is everybody?"

But Prime 7 was always crowded at dinner times. Wish they had a 2nd alternate dining area other than Sette Mare. But, that's goes with the size of the ship and her age (design).

Yes, there is the aft vibration, sometimes VERY noticeable. Stay away from the aft suites. We had a midship suite and never felt the vibration there.

We'd sail on her again, with an itinerary of interest to us. We've been on the Paul Gauguin and the Mariner; would prefer a cruise on the Voyager next.

Glad to see these positive comments as when we were on board Voyager and talked to tohers, many comments were negative. We have been thinking about taking the Navigator on the Amazon cruise but were concerned about the vibration. Sounds as if we stay mid-ship or forward we'd be fine. Love CC for all the information.