Travel from SF to Montreal on RSSC Navigator with Bill & Mary Ann for 31 days 9/12/11

[Wendy The Wanderer]

Actually, we were in Quebec City this July as my husband had a meeting there, and it did not seem crowded at all. I did make dinner reservations ahead of time at the restaurants we wanted to try out, but during the day, I spent my time walking all over and didn't feel crowded.

 

Oh well, there you go. Things change I guess. I also think that US and European tourism to Canada is way down right now. Perhaps that explains it. It's a long time since I've been there.

[RachelG]

You are probably right, Wendy. I also found lots of stores with big discount prices. Actually bought a couple of tops and a pair of leggings for less than I could at home.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

You are probably right, Wendy. I also found lots of stores with big discount prices. Actually bought a couple of tops and a pair of leggings for less than I could at home.

 

And that in itself is weird since the C$ was above par most of the summer (part of the reason why American tourists have been scarce).

 

Jackie, I'm up here in the woods north of Ottawa right now, and I can say with some authority that November would likely be a lousy time to visit Quebec. It's very cold up here right now, and wet and gloomy. All the leaves except some of the oaks are down, which is why I'm here, so I can rake them.

[south seas sue]

We ended our cruise in Montreal on Oct. 13, and it was not cold exactly, in the 50's, but very wet all weekend. We took a tour outside the city to the Laurentians, stopping at the village St. Saviour, and the trees were in full color. With the wind and rain, it looked to us like the leaves would be gone in a week or two.

[WCB]

Report # 33 October 13, 2011 Thursday Going home!

 

Oh well, all good things must come to an end, and that is today when we have to fly home. It seems like just yesterday that we began this journey in San Francisco, and here it is, 31 days later, that we are leaving the Navigator, the ship we have called home for a month. To sweeten the trip home, we are happy to say that we received a sizable refundable shipboard credit, that we cashed out late last night. Always nice not to have a credit card bill to pay later on. Yes, we could have availed ourselves of the laundry, spa, and gift shop services. Or the casino or upgraded wine at dinner. Instead, we can apply this cash in the form of travelers checks for our next cruise in January.

 

We were up early enough to be waiting at the doors of the Compass Rose when they opened for full service breakfast at 7am. This was really the best way to start our mornings on this trip. There were few guests in there, surprisingly, since many must have gone to La Veranda or ordered room service. The waiters have spoiled us in this restaurant, and we will really miss them.

 

The ship was supposed to be docked in Montreal at 7am, but it was not. Surprised? Not really. This made little sense to us since we were a relatively short distance from Quebec. Now we are questioning whether or not that engine was ever repaired. At this point in time, we will never know.

 

Anxious guests had already started lining up in the hallway where they assumed we would be debarking, despite the fact that Ray had announced to please not gather in that area. When folks are concerned about missing early flights, they never do adhere to those instructions anyway. Can't say we blame them. Some had flights leaving at 11am, and needed to be at the airport by 9am. It was already past 8am, when the Navigator finally pulled alongside the pier.

 

It was then, that Ray calmly announced that the gangway was going to be changed to deck 7, due to low tides. Hmmm, we heard that somewhere before...... Can you believe that the crew was having problems with the gangplank once again? By this time, we had also lined up to hopefully disembark with the first group. Watching this fiasco, it was almost laughable to us. Our flight was not until noon from Montreal to Chicago, then Chicago to SF, getting us there by 5:30pm, Pacific time. So we had the priviledge of laughing, since we had plenty of time to get the the Montreal airport. In the 40 or so cruises we have done over several years, we have to honestly say this was the first time we did not have that feeling of confidence in the crew or the officers.

 

Once we were free to go, we found the gangplank so steep, that every officer available was there to help the less than capable passengers go down to the pier. This was where the small ship experience kicked in. Finding our four pieces of luggage was a piece of cake. Very easy, compared to doing a world cruise with 1400 other passengers who have dozens of pieces of luggage. We flew by the customs/immigrations checkpoint, and found our bus waiting outside the terminal. Things were looking better, that's for sure.

 

From there on, everything went smoothly. If you recall, we were worried about the weight of our luggage, and for good reason. When we weighed the bags at the check-in point of United Airlines, we found one piece weighed 54 pounds, another 52 pounds, one slightly under 50 pounds, and one only 40 pounds. The rep happened to be a very sweet young gal, who suggested that we shuffle things around the best we could. At least there was an area behind her counter where there were chairs available to do this transfer. The only problem was that the chairs were full of people doing the same thing. So the agent said, don't bother, I will put a "heavy" tag on one bag, and cautioned us to say nothing. Zip the lips, no problem for us. As a result, we were charged the usual fees of $25 for the first bag, and $35 for the second. Needless to say, we were most happy with her decision. Next time....WE WILL BRING LESS STUFF!!

 

Security procedures were done quite well in this airport, we thought. The difference between the US and Canadian was that the process seemed to be less hurried, and more orderly. You were given plenty of time to take off the shoes, watches, empty pockets of wallets and coins, etc. Of course, my bag was put aside to be searched by hand, since the screener had spotted something suspicious in my handcarry. I should have put the empty razors (no blades) in the small ziplock bag with the small liquid bottles, but I had forgotten. For some reason, they seemed pleased with themselves that they had found something to question. At least they sent us off with smiles on their faces.

 

Both flights went well, except for the plane being changed in Chicago. They decided to downsize from the original plane, making our flight oversold. In order to create more seating space, they offered a $400. future flight credit to give up your seats and take a later flight to San Francisco. We could not do that, since we had our transportation set up for the 5:30pm landing. Apparently, the offer of money worked, and they had enough seats for those who were booked.

 

On the flight home, we came up with some pros and cons with sailing on Regent's Navigator. The cons are few, but still worth mentioning. We found that the inside public spaces, such as the library, coffee lounge, Stars and Galileo Lounges are limited. If the weather is good, many guests can be outside by the pool, or lounging or walking on the upper outside decks. But when it is raining or cold and windy outside, there are few places for over 400 people to congregate. You are left with the only option of staying in your suite, perhaps watching TV or a movie. On larger ships, such as the HAL vessels, you have the spacious wrap-around promenade decks. Since it is totally covered for the most part, you can still be outside in bad weather. You can walk or sit in the lounges, and visit with friends or new acquaintances. This does not happen on the Navigator.

 

Open seating sounds easy, but it was not always that way. Attempting to go to dinner at 8pm, we often found that there were no tables for two available. And since you cannot make reservations in Compass Rose for dinner, you had no choice but to wait outside the restaurant or go to a bar and have another cocktail. This even happened to us with reservations in Prime 7, although the wait was brief.

 

In the beginning of the trip, the service in the dining room was a bit spotty. There were only a few waiters that were not as professional as the others, and it was our luck to get them a couple of times. It took writing a constructive criticism of this lack of service to receive over-the-top service on the next segment. You never know if those questionnaires are really read by the staff, but apparently they do pay attention to these. The excellent waiters overshadowed the few bad ones, leaving us with a very positive experience on this trip.

 

We found that the staff at the front desk were not always on the same page with standard information. Specifically, when we inquired about the suite change we faced on the second cruise from NY to Montreal, we could get no instructions as to how and when this would take place. All they told us was that we would receive a letter the evening before the new cruise started. No details. We did a little better working with the Executive Concierge person, although his promise of a smooth and timely changeover did not happen. The request we made to have our new room steward aware that we would be moving in as early as possible, never reached his ears. In hindsite, if this ever occurs again that we need to change rooms, we will follow up ourselves by meeting the new steward personally. Since he had to ready all the suites in his block for the new-comers, cleaning our room first was not a problem, he told us later. Had we not decided to move most of our stuff ourselves, we would have lost the entire second day in NYC to have some fun. Believe us, we really needed some fun after that move.

 

We found it strange that we had no response from the two times we filled out complaint forms at the shore excursion desk. Even though most of the tours were complimentary, we still felt our imput should have been addressed. Perhaps what we offered could improve these tours for future passengers. Could be these forms went from their desk, right into the shredder for all we know.

 

The bartenders in Stars and Galileo were not the friendliest fellows we have ever met on a ship. Even though we have had the pleasure of meeting some very personable bartenders on the Mariner and Voyager, these fellows were aloof. Perhaps they are trained to be that way, who knows? Or it could have been because we went to these lounges after the entertainers had left, as well as most of the guests. The bartenders seemed to be more concerned with the clean-up than being chatty with us. For that reason, we spent little time in the bars.

 

Now, a bit on the pros. The food was top-notch, especially the Italian cuisine. Perhaps it helped having an Italian captain and some of his officers as well. Being able to create our own version of dinner was nice. The experienced waiters never hesitated to write down our choices such as an entree lasagne becoming a smaller appetizer. Or a grilled chicken breast with no rice, but spaghetti instead with green beans. If it was on the menu, we could be as creative as we wished. Even dessert was fun with ordering a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce on top. Not a problem.

 

Room service was really a treat. The waiter would arrive with your food, place the larger tabletop on the coffee table, and cover it with a fresh tablecloth. Napkins and silverware were added along with your food, just like you were dining in Compass Rose. We enjoyed many lunches in our suite on this long cruise.

 

We had a very personable Cruise Director, Ray Solaire. He has to be the most multi-talented CD we have ever had the pleasure of meeting. And he was quite visible, as you would see him frequently during the day, especially on sea days. He was never too busy to stop and chat to see if we were having a good time. As well as being a CD, he sang, did a puppet show, and was the spokesperson for the captain, whose English was very hard to understand at times. Even more fun, was his early morning TV show, where he gave the daily activities, followed by a "meet the crew" interview with some of the staff. The best part of his talk was at the end, where he inserted a "quirky moments" video. It never failed to amuse us when he used videos of animals talking like people.

 

Well, we could probably go on and on, but we're sure you were able to get the feel of this trip through our reports. Our next big adventure will start on January 4, 2012, where we fly to Florida to join HAL's Amsterdam on her Grand World Voyage.

 

Until then, bye for now......

 

 

Bill & Mary Ann

[mimito4]

Thank you so much for your on-board reports as well as your wrap up. It was a joy to read about your adventure. Your writing style is so pleasant and you had a way of taking us all along for the ride. Thank you.

 

We disembarked the Navigator right before you embarked for your adventure. I tend to agree with most everything you said about the Navigator, the exception being that we never once had to wait for a table in Compass Rose.

 

We established a relationship with a particular waiter in Compass Rose from day one, and so therefore, even the head waiter and maitre'd seemed to "hold" a table for us. . .as soon as our faces were seen, they would say, "ah, he has been waiting for you."

 

We certainly didn't request this, we didn't "tip" extra for it, and yet, we never once waited for a table, whether we were dining alone, or with an additional couple or two. It should be noted that the ship was full. I don't have an explanation for this, because we surely dined during the most busy times. I can only say that we never, ever had to wait. What do you think that was about? I'm curious.

 

Totally agree about Ray, the CD. He was completely perfect.

 

Again, thank you for taking us along for the ride. Best to you on your upcoming HAL world voyage. Do you need an extra butlerette? I am totally available, although uppacking and assuring that luggage is not overweight is not my strong suite. I am fun, however.

[gf]

As always, appreciate your wonderful detailed reports and look forward to your world cruise!

[Travelcat2]

And that in itself is weird since the C$ was above par most of the summer (part of the reason why American tourists have been scarce).

 

Jackie, I'm up here in the woods north of Ottawa right now, and I can say with some authority that November would likely be a lousy time to visit Quebec. It's very cold up here right now, and wet and gloomy. All the leaves except some of the oaks are down, which is why I'm here, so I can rake them.

 

Cold, wet, gloomy and having to rake leaves? I can do that at home:p I stil think that the area is gorgeous! In terms of Americans visiting Canada, the only lines we see at the border are cars with Canadian license plates going back to Vancouver after shopping here. Do miss having lunch up there.. .. but also like the fact that the economy here is surviving because of the daily Canadian visits.

 

Back to the subject. . . . . I agree 150% with the lack of public space on the Navigator. If you take the Navigator and super-size it, you end up with the Voyager (our favorite ship). For now we are only looking at itineraries on the Mariner and Voyager. If we want the intimate environment of a smaller ship, we'll sail on the Silver Whisper.

[cruiseman111111]

Love your reviews, all I report on is food.

 

Report#1

 

Well, here we go again, on a luxury cruise from San Francisco to NYC for 21 days, then NYC to Montreal for another 10 days. We love it when we can join a ship without flying, since we live very close to the city by the bay. We chose this itinerary after a longtime cruise we booked with Regent had been cancelled last year. Originally, we were headed for a Caribbean cruise, but Regent decided to take the Navigator out of service during that time period for a much needed retrofit. Friends Alene and Don had booked this cruise also, so it made it an easy choice for us.

 

Boarding time at Pier 35 is usually around noon or later, so there was no need to get up early. That was wonderful, since when we fly to Florida, we must leave our house in the wee hours of the night, like 4am for a 6am flight. That makes for a very long day, which tends to make one "zombies" at the end of the day.

 

We had arranged for a shuttle ride at 10am from our home in Clayton, about 35 miles from SF, to the pier. The driver was not too familiar with our rural area, so he arrived early at 9:30am. Yes, we were ready, but worried for a moment that we would arrive too early, and have to sit in a not too nice cruise terminal for hours. As it turned out, the driver picked up a nice elderly couple in Walnut Creek, which was on our way. They were headed to the Oakland airport, so we had a nice ride, eating up the extra time. It's amazing how much information you can get in a 40 minute drive with strangers. We heard their life history, mostly concentrated on unfortunate health issues. Once we bid them goodbye, we got the lowdown on our driver. Well, at least the time went quickly, as we both silently thought how lucky we are to be healthy and still able to travel.

 

Arrival at the uncrowded pier was around 11:30am. Only one ship was in port, and with less than 500 passengers, the area was almost empty. Nice. Regent staff greeted us while our driver off loaded our 3 pieces of luggage. One piece was a bit heavy, and the driver accidently yanked the handle too hard, cutting his finger. Instead of helping him, some porters came over and chided him for lifting incorrectly. Too late for that now, he just needed to tend to the injury and clear the parking place. We really felt badly for him. A suitcase can be fixed, but we hope he was OK as he said goodbye.

 

Going through the initial security check, we had to show passports and cruise documents. From there, we entered the first main area to fill out mandatory health forms. Four agents then took our forms, along with our passports to check them out. The passports were marked, then handed back to us. Next came the xray and bag check. Passed with flying colors. Now we could board the ship.

 

Here we were directed to the showlounge where we registered a credit card, showed the passports, which were handed back to us, and received our room keys. Even though the suites were not ready, we found our room and asked permission to leave our hand carry bags. Yes, it was fine, although the rooms were not technically ready until 2:30pm.

 

Speaking of suites, we had booked a guarantee, since this cruise was nearly full by the time we came along. We came in on the bottom level, with booking an H category ( window room 301 square feet). For the next segment, we will be in 513. Anyway, we did not hear where we would be located until 2 days before the trip. Three days prior, we were offered an $1800. upgrade to a veranda suite via our travel agent. She suggested to hold out, and see what they come up with in another day. So we followed her advice, said no thanks, and it paid off. Regent upgraded us to deck eight, room 867, with a veranda. Great. That would work just fine with us.

 

Did we mention that the weather almost perfect in the city today? It was a bit hazy, but no fog was present and the sun was out. There was a cool breeze blowing off of the water, just enough to make it comfortable. So we decided to leave the ship, and head to Pier 39 for lunch. A favorite place of ours there is The Hard Rock Cafe, where we ordered the haystack salads with Tupelo and grilled chicken....a real treat. For a Monday afternoon, the place was surprisingly busy, and noisy, of course.

 

After that, we headed into Pier 39 and walked through the shops and restaurants to the water's edge. You could hear the sealions barking and fighting for their prize positions on the pontoons. There seemed to be about half the amount of animals that we usually see here. Sometimes, the seals are off feeding nearby. There must be a good source of fish to maintain their bulky size.

 

Time to go back. The mandatory muster drill was scheduled in the showlounge at 5pm, so we needed to be ready for that. When we arrived back to our room, two of the three bags were already there. There is nothing more we dislike that packing and unpacking, but this was the best time to start with the chore. We have ample space for our stuff, mostly due to the fact that we have walk-in closet. A big one with a stack of drawers, shelves, and plenty of rods for hanging clothes. In the room, there are nightstands with drawers, a makeup table and seat, and a desk with cabinets and more drawers. This would be really nice to have this much space on HAL's world cruise. And this is the minimal sized room on this ship...356 square feet with a 55 square foot balcony. We also have a full length couch with two chairs and a coffee table that can convert to a dining table. Yep, it is nice.

 

While we were stashing clothes away, friends Don and Alene knocked on our door. They had boarded around 1pm after riding BART from their home in Lafayette and taking a taxi from a nearby hotel. They were already unpacked, having stayed onboard and eating lunch in the lido. They both laughed when they spotted our pub mix and nuts. At least they know where to come for afternoon munchies. As they were leaving, our next door neighbor came out in the hall. To our surprise, she is someone we know well from previous world cruises on HAL. A well-known author of cookbooks, she gives food talks and demos on different ships year round. She travels with her son, who is the technician for her shows. Don and Alene have recently been on a cruise where she worked, and they also knew her. What a small world.

 

At 5pm, the horn blew, Regent's announcement signal, for the mandatory lifeboat drill. Since the only practical place to gather is in the showlounge, all met in there with life jackets in hand. After the captain's directions, he announced a change in itinerary. There was a moan in the crowd, but not a surprise,since we expected a change. But to our surprise, the problem was with our first port of Cabo San Lucas, where we were to arrive Thursday at noon. Not to be. Because of a loss of one engine, we would not be able to travel that distance in that time. So, we are now going straight to Acapulco, passing Cabo altogether. Darn. We expected Acapulco to be scrapped, due to dangerous conditions with the cartel. But here came the surprise. The Captain informed us that every suite will receive a $250. shipboard credit for the lost port. That was a first for us. Usually, a cancelled port only gets you a refunded port charge and more than likely, another day at sea. There is no obligation to substitute another port. Also, way back a few months ago, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, was cancelled. But in that case, an extra day in NYC was substituted, a plus for us. Recently, some other cruise lines have pulled their ships from the Mexican Riviera completely, so we are surprised that no more stops were cancelled. Needless to say, the generous credit was welcomed by ALL guests.

 

The rest of the afternoon was dedicated to unpacking the remainder of the stuff. By the time we were through, we decided we deserved some refreshing cocktails in the Galileo Lounge, deck 11. To our surprise, it was not overly-crowded. But we have to remind ourselves that the majority of passengers flew to SF from many locations such as Australia, England, as well as the USA. We are certain that they will have a quick dinner in La Veranda, now completely buffet.

 

We met friends Don and Alene at 7:30pm outside the dining room on deck 5. Except we didn't see them, because they were waiting at the main entrance, and we had entered in the aft doors. Actually the Compass Rose Restaurant is not that large, so we did figure it out quickly.

 

The food was really good, with conservative portions compared to other cruise lines we have sailed with. This is a good thing. We did order a small portion of an angelhair pasta to share with our entrees, but the waiter forgot and served us a shell apsta in a cream sauce. He was gone in a flash before we could ask what that was. Oh well, maybe we'll order it next time. We all ordered cafe lattes, but they were warm, not hot. Seems that the special coffees are coming from deck six at their coffee bar, so by the time they arrive, they are not hot.

 

Since we were all tired, we called it an early night. To our surprise, or disappointment, we found our room to be a bit noisy with quite a bit of vibration. We do remember that problem on our last trip several years ago, but had hoped the problem had been remedied with their latest retrofit. Guess they could have added even more weight to the aft section. What made up for the noisy vibration was the comfort of the plush cushion-topped mattress on our king-size bed. Just popped the earplugs in, and pretended we were riding on a train instead of a cruise ship. It worked well for one of us...................

 

More to come.........

 

Mary Ann & Bill