Regent Navigator review from a Seabourn/Silverseas cruiser.

We are in our late 50's and early 60's have done over 250 days on Seabourn and 100 on Silverseas. This was our first Regent cruise and we sailed Miami to LA for 28 days. I titled this review from a Seabourn and Silverseas cruiser because comparisons between these lines are often the topic of posts on CC. The opinions I give are based on my experiences noting that several people taking the same cruise will have very different opinions on their experience.

We stayed pre -cruise at the Coral Gables in Miami and found this to be a good hotel for a one night stay. The transfer to the ship was handled well and embarkation ran smoothly. We were greeted with a glass of Champagne and told the Verandah was open for lunch. Our cabin (837) was ready a short while later and our suitcases were already in our room. I liked the suite, I especially liked the position of the makeup table as my husband did not have to struggle to get by me when we were getting ready to dine or leave the ship for an excursion. My husband also like the desk position as he could wake up early check his e-mail with the curtains closed and not disturb me if I was still sleeping. I do prefer the bathrooms on Seabourn as they have two sinks but all in all the suite on the Navigator was equal if not better in some respects to the suites on Seabourn or Silverseas. The storage space on Seabourn and Silversea might be better but we found the storage in this suite all we needed.

Navigator compared to Seabourn -Odyssey,Quest, Sojourn. Silverseas -Whisper, Wind.

The Navigator was in excellent condition and has recently undergone a refit. This ship is a little more traditional in it's decor compared to Seabourn ships but I liked aspects of that. Silverseas Whisper and Wind although having refits are more similar to the Navigator. What we really enjoyed on the Navigator was the coffee connection. You could go there for a light breakfast or lunch and make your own toast in the morning and tea or coffee. Normally we order room service for our entire cruise but we loved this place so much we had breakfast there more often than not. Seabourn has Seabourn Square but you must wait to be served and this often has a line of people waiting. Navigator had self service or a coffee bar where you could place an order. If only this was a larger (it often got crowded) space it would have been perfect. I have mentioned the word crowded and I must say that although I loved the Navigator to be perfect it would need to have 400 passengers like the Seabourn ships and Silverseas (approx). It just felt like there was less room and more people than on other ships we have been on. Especially the pool area. There were nights when if you came to the Compass Rose to dine late you could not be accommodated. We asked for a table of 6 one night and the lady next to me said they had already been waiting for 45 minutes for a table of 6. The staff told us to go the Sette Marre to dine as a table would not be available for a long time. I'm not saying this does not happen on other ships but it has never happened to us on Seabourn or Silverseas. I will say that the pool chairs on the deck are far superior to either Seabourn or Silversea. Like I mentioned to be perfect there would have to be less passengers on the ship as it did not feel as spacious as Seabourn or Silverseas. Having said that I loved the ship, to me the crowding was not a huge issue but for comparison sake I'm trying to be objective in my opinions. The other thing I did miss was a view from a lounge while having evening drinks. Again not the end of the world but just an observation. I know Regent people say but this is the smallest and oldest of the Regent ships. Yes, but I'm comparing it to it's competitors ships of a similar size. Now the big talking topic of this ship - the vibrations. Yes, it did vibrate, it did bob about a bit more than other ships but honestly I really like that ( I know I'm strange) I felt like I was sailing the seas. I do know several people were sea sick and there were a few passenger accidents from the rocking and rolling. Bottom line for me -would I sail this ship again? Yes, I would. While there are aspects of the ship that are not perfect we still really enjoyed the ship. I forgot to mention that the wifi was the best my husband has experienced on any cruise ship. It was fast and had very few periods where it went down. Wifi is his business, so for him to be impressed that says something. He usually buys the full package from Seabourn and even then it was not as good as Regent.

Food and Wine.

This is very subjective as we all have different palates. I will be general in my comments. I would list Seabourn above Regent but only slightly. I think Seabourn was better before Thomas Keller but this is only my opinion and many people love the Keller experience. I did miss the caviar on Seabourn but again this is not the end of the earth. Regent had bar far the best hamburgers I have ever tasted on a ship! We did not eat on the pool deck very much as it did get crowded but when we felt like a hamburger or a Seafood BBQ buffet we ate there. I did miss the fresh pizza that Seabourn offer. It is a shame that they do not open the pool deck for evening meals as this may alleviate some of the wait times in Compass Rose and when the weather is so nice it would have been lovely to dine outside like you can on Seabourn and Silverseas. We did not have one bad meal on board the ship. The seafood was a standout on Regent far better than I have experience on either Seabourn or Silverseas. The beef is probably better on Seabourn. Wine - Here is where Regent stands out from the our two cruise lines. The wine was outstanding and I'm talking non revenue wines. I like that they had a tasting day on the first sea day unfortunately it was at 10.00 a.m. not when I felt like tasting wine but it was still there at lunch and they were kind enough to let me try all the wines. The French wines on offer were particularly good. So Regent number one for wines, Silverseas second and Seabourn last. The other way they stood out was in their snacks in the bars before you went to dine. Never a shortage as we have experienced on Seabourn. Never waited long for a drink in any venue.

Entertainment - Guest speakers.

The guests speakers were both very good and similar to Seabourn and Silverseas. I like the fact that Seabourn has a singer and a band in one lounge and a guitar or piano player in another. I like to dance and felt Seabourn offered more modern music to dance to. I will say the piano player Regent had on the last two weeks of the cruise was outstanding! He took requests and there was nothing he could not play and his voice was amazing. The guitar player they had at the Galileo Lounge was also very good. We did get up to dance to his music but we were the only ones that ever did. The show by the cruise singers was about as good as Silverseas and Seabourn. We loved the crew show and that was a standout. They had two really good comedians and two really good guests performers. So I would say it is just a matter of your taste in music and if you like to dance but I don't really feel there is much difference in the lines. For me maybe Seabourn 1 Regent 2 Silverseas 3. I will add that Regent is the best at keeping announcements to a minimum and we enjoyed their trivia and like the style of the cruise director (very relaxed but great interaction with the guests)

STAFF.

The staff were wonderful and a good mix of nationalities which I really like. Seabourn also has a good mix of nationalities but Silverseas not so much. Regent staff are a bit more informal than Seabourn but I really enjoyed this. There were a number of Balinese staff on board and when they discovered we spoke Indonesian and a little Balinese they sort us out and loved to chat. We lived in Indonesia for many years and have a house in Bali. I can not fault the service on Regent. When I mentioned that one evening they could not accommodate us in Compass Rose we ended up eating in Sette Marre and half way through our meal the Maitre'd from Compass Rose came to our table and apologized for not being able to accommodate us. She mentioned that the chef did a cooking demonstration that day of fresh Cod that had been bought on board and everyone wanted to taste it. The next thing we know the chef himself arrived at our table with plates of Cod for our table. Regent is right up there in the service department.

Excursions.

I usually arrange private tours where possible as we usually travel with at least another couple or often two other couples and this makes it really easy to arrange a small group tour. This takes a lot of work and co-ordination on my part but the outcome is really worth it. I know a number of people who don't cruise Regent because they like to arrange their own tours and feel that they have paid for these tours in their cruise fare. I must say it is the most relaxed and easy cruise I have booked because all I have to do was select a tour I was interested in. The tours were well organized and never crowded and there was a great number to select from. Like most ship tours you pay for either on Seabourn or Silverseas some were better than others and one of the main reasons I usually avoid these tours like the plague is because (although being female I hate shopping) they often include the ubiquitous shopping stop. This only happened on a couple of the tours but It really made a difference in my feelings of the tour. I do not want to be captive in a Jade Store for 40 minutes with no option to walk or see anything else. This is why I work so hard on making the most out of my time in a port and enjoy planning this part of the cruise myself. Yes, I could still do this on Regent but to be honest I have paid for tours in my cruise fare but I understand that for a number of people it is much more relaxing to have the cruise line do this for you. So the tours are equal to any that you pay for on Seabourn and Silverseas. Where Regent stood above the others is that their destination staff organization was outstanding. You never waited long in the lounge, their instructions were clear and the whole process carried out with ease.

In conclusion I would like to say that we really enjoyed this cruise and loved the Regent experience (my husband particularly loved Regent and it is now his favourite . Another thing I will add is that Regent is far more relaxed in it's dress code than any of the other lines we have cruised on. I did not love this but I also did not hate it. Hawaiian shirts on the formal night in Compass Rose was not an abnormally. I liked that it was more informal but I wish on the formal night men would at least wear a dress shirt. Some guests we spoke with would never try Seabourn or Silverseas because they did not want to dress up. I'm flexible so I have three cruise lines I now love. I just want to add the reason we tried Regent is because one of the couples we cruise with who had a penthouse suite on Seabourn in the Antarctic could not sleep at night because they allowed passengers to smoke in the lounge which ventilated into their passageway and consequently into their rooms. All the guests in the Penthouses on this floor made complaints to management and were told this was their policy. Our friends told us that one of the suite passengers nearly got into a fist fight with one of the smokers in the lounge as he could not sleep with the smell of smoke. So if we cruise with these friends it will not be on Seabourn until they change their smoking policy. I never experience any smoking issues on Regent. I have had an experience on Seabourn where our neighbour was constantly smoking a cigar on his balcony. I complained to management and they send him a note asking him to consider his neighbours on not smoke his cigar on his balcony. I would be happy to cruise on either three cruise lines. As we have cruised so much we are now doing repeat itineraries so for us we will make our decision on timing and destinations offered on a cruise. We have booked the Mariner next year in a seven seas suite (aft) from Tahiti to Auckland and a Silverseas cruise in 2019. I feel fortunate to now have three cruise lines that while all offer something a little different are all a wonderful experience. If anyone has any questions in particular they would like to ask I'm happy to try and answer them. I hope this has been of some help to people trying to decide between these lines and which will suite them best.

...........I just want to add the reason we tried Regent is because one of the couples we cruise with who had a penthouse suite on Seabourn in the Antarctic could not sleep at night because they allowed passengers to smoke in the lounge which ventilated into their passageway and consequently into their rooms. All the guests in the Penthouses on this floor made complaints to management and were told this was their policy.........So if we cruise with these friends it will not be on Seabourn until they change their smoking policy.......I have had an experience on Seabourn where our neighbour was constantly smoking a cigar on his balcony. I complained to management and they send him a note asking him to consider his neighbours on not smoke his cigar on his balcony............I hope this has been of some help to people trying to decide between these lines and which will suite them best.

We also cruise Regent, Seabourn and (in the past) Silver Seas. Your review, comparison of the three lines is very fair and well done. There is just one small correction needed about Seabourn's smoking policy. We were on the Sojourn in Sept 2017. As of this year the cabins, balconies and lounges are completely smoke free. Smoking is allowed only in select areas on the open decks. There is a $250 fine per incident for smoking on ones balcony or in the suite. This is a welcome and long needed change. Seabourn has also come less formal as jackets are only required on the couple of formal optional nights and that is only in the main dinning room. Other venues and all other nights are collared shirt and slacks. This is another change we really like.

We feel 400 passengers is the perfect size cruise ship so do love the Seabourn Odyssey class ships. From your review, sounds like we will enjoy our upcoming cruise on the Navigator. The service and food will be as good as we enjoyed on the Sojourn in Sept.

I;m so glad to hear about the smoking policy change on Seabourn. Our cruise mates were not made aware of this when they asked for their on board cruise deposit returned and they just did this in November this year. Why the Seabourn office did not mention this to them when they told the Seabourn office the reason they wanted their deposit back was due to the smoking policy and the affect it had on them on their last cruise is a mystery to me.

Thank you for your comment on my review as I did try and keep even handed when I made my comments. So many things make a cruise extra special. It could be the service from the staff, the food, the entertainment, the other guests, the ports of call and also the guest's attitude.

Thanks for the review. As someone who has been looking at Regent for a year or two, it's lways good to hear from people who've sailed with Silversea and Seabourn, as I have.

Glad that the earlier poster explained about the huge change in SB's smoking policy which was fully in force across all ships by this time last year.

This has been a helpful comparison for me, thank you again.

Thanks for the great review. We will see you on Mariner! We are doing our first Regents cruise, and first luxury line. We normally do Royal Caribbean and I'm thrilled to be going on Regents. So I've been devouring all reviews, especially from newbies. Really appreciate your objective comments.

A great review and really useful for the new cruiser. Thanks

Thank you for this thoughtful review. We have been considering looking at other 6-star lines similar to Regent. Guess we will skip SB with their smoking policy. Your review is a good reason to read CC as part of gathering cruise information.

Thank you for this thoughtful review. We have been considering looking at other 6-star lines similar to Regent. Guess we will skip SB with their smoking policy. Your review is a good reason to read CC as part of gathering cruise information.

If you are interested in trying other lines similar to Regent, don't discount Seabourn. Their smoking policy is now the same as Regents. It was changed at the end of 2016.

We were on the Sojourn this Sept. Now smoking is permitted ONLY in three locations on the outside decks. No smoking in suites, balconies or lounges.

Both Regent and Seabourn offer a very similar and good product. Included excursions and resulting higher cruise cost on Regent is the biggest difference to us. We do our own air and hotel so take that credit from Regent, but generally want to do our own planning for port time and don't want to pay twice. If you don't want to deal with arranging air, hotel stays and port activities, Regent is a great choice.

It is good to have choices.

Nice balanced review, more so than some I have seen from Regent cheerleaders, comparing Navigator to the rest of the fleet. My number one preference of Navigator over the other Regent ships is size and number of passengers. They are going the wrong way with the Explorer and its new brother. Not surprised that even as a first time passenger, you got table side attention from senior staff to make up for a shortcoming. You do not have to be Platinum or Titanium to get attention, just polite and appreciative. That goes on any cruise line, ship or restaurant. Three things you noted that stuck with me, 1) ships bob in the ocean, have motion and vibration, if the ocean is angry the ship moves, if it is calm it doesn't; 2) I agree that the wine selection is very good, not $100 wines, but good drinkable dinner wines, several which I have added to my regular purchasing at home; 3) Regent, when it can, has great fresh seafood. On our Trans canal last year, the chef was at every port buying local fish and the buffets and entrees reflected it. I ate fish 8 of the 19 days on that cruise. Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the review.

Nice balanced review, more so than some I have seen from Regent cheerleaders, comparing Navigator to the rest of the fleet. My number one preference of Navigator over the other Regent ships is size and number of passengers.

Since we are comparing cruise lines and the Navigator, for those of us that have sailed on Silversea's Whisper or Shadow, IMO, this is how a ship of that size should be. The Silversea ships are about the same size as Navigator but have 50 less suites. This gives larger public spaces which, IMO, the Navigator needs. Also, we have sailed from Vancouver to Tokyo on the Whisper - through the Bering Sea and it handles the sea dramatically better than Navigator. This is likely because the Navigator was not built (originally) to be passenger ship.

While we have not been on Seabourn, we feel that Silversea compares favorably to Regent. The experience on Silversea can differ - depending upon the ship. Prior to the debut of the Muse, we had sailed three of their ships - loved the Whisper and Shadow but disliked the Spirit (IMO there is a good reason why she is being taken out of service for about month to be "stretched").

We were glad to hear about the smoking policy change this year on Seabourn. This was the reason we have not sailed on her.

Thank you for a balanced and very interesting review.

Thanks for your great review.

Thank you for posting a nice, detailed, and balanced review comparing the three lines. We just hit Gold on Regent and although we love the line, I'm always looking for options. My wife and I have different opinions of Regent options - she prefers Silversea and I prefer Seabourn. So far we've stayed with Regent and have been very, very happy with them...but as others have said, it's great to have options.

I'm also glad to hear about the change in Seabourn's smoking policy. Although I smoke the occasional cigar, I'd never consider having one on my balcony - that's just plain rude. Hope they can adequately enforce that. Smokers can be an outspoken bunch. ;)

I was also interested in hearing that you preferred Regent's included wines - I thought they'd dropped the quality a bit over the last few years. Still good, but not quite as good as before. Glad to hear they're on par with the other lines. Oh, and we did do the 10:00 AM wine tasting on our last Navigator cruise - in 30' seas. Made for an interesting walk back to our cabin.

And as I recall, you can get fresh pizzas from La Veranda/Sette Mari. I know I'd called for a few in the evening a few times in the past.

As to the size of the ships, I, too, prefer the smaller ships. I know Regent's new ships are designed for 750 passengers, which is starting to get a bit large for my tastes, but I've never felt crowded on Explorer. I remember being on a cruise when they first mentioned designing a new-build ship and they said it was going to carry 1,250 passengers and every single person in the audience booed. I guess there was enough backlash that Regent eventually decided to drop the passenger capacity down to the current 750. Good choice, IMO.

Yep, it's good to have choices. And it's good to know that there are other lines out there that would probably fit our needs if we want a specific itinerary or timeframe what we can't get on Regent. Thanks again for your post!

This was an interesting and informed review. Thank you!! The Navigator was the only Regent ship we have sailed in which my wife got really seasick. So whether it was the ship or not, we steer clear from it. I do have a question. May I assume the perks offered for frequent passengers is not that important to you? I'm not sure we will ever get to 350 nights, but for example on Regent the Platinum level benefits are nothing to sneeze at.

As I wrote in my blog of our recent Navigator cruise, from Montreal to Reykjavik, the vibration is a major issue. If you sit in the middle of the restaurant at the stern that vibration shakes the table and goes right up yer bum. Not pleasant at all. Cabins to the stern also suffer from vibration and noise.

However, our cabin to the front of the main elevators was absolutely smooth and silent.

We did miss having a forward-facing observation lounge and we absolutely hated that stupid crazy golf course on the top deck where people gather to watch the scenery.

For these reasons I probably wouldn't go back on the Navigator though overall our one and only Regent experience was highly positive. We are eyeing-up a Mariner trip in the Far East.

We are back on the Seabourn Quest next week, our favourite ship, bound for Antarctica and South Georgia.

Thank you for this thoughtful review. We have been considering looking at other 6-star lines similar to Regent. Guess we will skip SB with their smoking policy. Your review is a good reason to read CC as part of gathering cruise information.

It's kind of annoying when the only part of a review that someone takes away is the part that is totally inaccurate! Please read the other posts on the thread - Seabourn's smoking policy had changed fleetwide by November 2016 as myself and another poster have mentioned. It's been over a year since the change.

We've cruised Regent and the Navigator as will as Silverseas, but have yet to cruise on Seabourn. As you may have noticed, the Navigator has no formal nights but Silverseas has them. (I have been told Seabourn doesn't.) It may seem strange to some, but the presence of formal nights has kept us away from Silverseas for almost a decade. As time has gone by, I like them less and less. We too like the suites on the Navigator. The base suites on the Navigator (and Voyager) are larger than those on the Mariner, and the lowest level suite on the Explorer is only 2/3 as large as on the Navigator.

On our last Navigator cruise, the vibration in the theatre evolved into a roar that interfered with the presentations there. I wonder if this has seen any correction.

Excellent review, and welcome to Regent!

we absolutely hated that stupid crazy golf course on the top deck where people gather to watch the scenery.

Is this on the forward top deck? I'll be back on the Navigator next year after a hiatus of several years, and fondly remember the onboard culture including passengers gathering on the forward deck for sail-ins and sail-aways. I loved my recent cruise on the Explorer, but the ridiculous "18-hole golf course" really got in the way of sail-away gatherings. The only place was along the jogging track, which led to some unfortunate collisions.

Is this on the forward top deck? I'll be back on the Navigator next year after a hiatus of several years, and fondly remember the onboard culture including passengers gathering on the forward deck for sail-ins and sail-aways. I loved my recent cruise on the Explorer, but the ridiculous "18-hole golf course" really got in the way of sail-away gatherings. The only place was along the jogging track, which led to some unfortunate collisions.

As memory serves, the putting green on the Explorer was aft - not forward - as we remember taking the stairs down from that area to La Veranda.

No forward open deck on the Explorer to go for sail-in/sail-out like on the older ships.

Peggy

You will absolutely love the Seven Seas Aft Suite! It was our first Regent (then Radisson) experience, and it spoiled us for other suites. But we managed, and we came to love the Navigator.

But don't go for an aft suite on the Navigator or the Voyager, as the vibration may be bad.

Great thread! Been fortunate over the past 24 years to have sailed on all Regent, and most-Silversea and Seabourn ships.

Bottom Line: Without exception--all positive experiences on these 5+ star all-inclusive ships. Sure, a hick-up or two, on occasion. Hurricanes, civil unrest, volcano explosions, Code Reds, and emergent passenger health issues: all have necessitated changes in itinerary, and port calls.

Go with the flow. As Forest Gump opined: Life is like a box of chocolates. You never quite know what you will get. But--they will all be tasty on these ships.

Really have to chuckle when comments are made about the lack of a second, or third option as to a white or red wine at lunch or dinner. No. Not our experience. And, numerous cruises have been with friends and relatives who have very-specific expectations as to wine--without the need to request the additional-charge listing. Never a problem when a second, or third option has been delivered to our table.

Finally, considering the Season. Let us all take a breath. Count our blessings as to health and circumstances allowing ability to plan future cruises on whatever ship.

Best to all, and hope to see you on several planned cruises in the immediate future..

GOARMY!

As to Navigator: four prior cruises, with another scheduled in June from LA to NYC. One goes on Navigator with eyes wide open. This is certainly a unique ship, with a very-unique background.

As memory serves, the putting green on the Explorer was aft - not forward - as we remember taking the stairs down from that area to La Veranda.

That's right. I was mis-remembering (already--I just got off a week ago). There is no open area forward, and the aft deck is taken up by the golf "course."

clarky, I enjoyed reading your review/report.

It is always nice when people take the time to provide comments about their cruise and in your case to also compare your experience with other cruise lines you have sailed.

Keith

I was seven times on different Seabourn ships in the last six years. But my last cruise with the Seabourn Encore was not up to Seabourn standards, so we booked a transatlantic on the Explorer in March 2018. Price was great! I like Oceania too!