The good, the bad, and the ugly on the Navigator

[pag111]

We have traveled on Regent for 72 nights, this cruise will be our last.

The Good: food and drinks.

The Bad: the service at Sette Mari. Got a table on night five, place was packed. After over an hour waiting for our main dished, waiter let us know the food was on the way. The lamb chops were very over done. At that point we were not waiting any longer. The next day the maitre d asked us to return that night, said we should not have to wait and he would take care of us. Went to check in and there was a long line to get a table. I went to the head of the line told them about our invite and was told to get in the long line and wait some more. I became upset, talked to the food and beverage manager. He lead us up to Sette Mari and set us down at a table. At that point I lost my appetite and we left. The food and beverage manager did not even take the time to understand the issue and there was no follow-up. The staff seemed overwhelmed whenever there was a crowd. Seems the ship is a training ground for staff and cannot handle a nearly fully booked ship.

The Ugly: We had a room on the 8th floor, a good size room and bathroom with furnishing from the 90s, the biggest turn off was the dirty carpet. In addition, when the ship was moving there was a heavy vibration. 
 

[mrlevin]

18 minutes ago, pag111 said:

 

The Ugly: We had a room on the 8th floor, a good size room and bathroom with furnishing from the 90s, the biggest turn off was the dirty carpet. In addition, when the ship was moving there was a heavy vibration. 
 

You're not in 855 are you?

[pag111]

857

 

[mrlevin]

Not as bad as 855 but still not a great location; I would get a new travel agent.  You paid for a Cat E when there are some fantastic Cat E on Deck 6 and 7 without the stern vibration issues.  

[etual324]

1 hour ago, pag111 said:

We have traveled on Regent for 72 nights, this cruise will be our last.

The Good: food and drinks.

The Bad: the service at Sette Mari. Got a table on night five, place was packed. After over an hour waiting for our main dished, waiter let us know the food was on the way. The lamb chops were very over done. At that point we were not waiting any longer. The next day the maitre d asked us to return that night, said we should not have to wait and he would take care of us. Went to check in and there was a long line to get a table. I went to the head of the line told them about our invite and was told to get in the long line and wait some more. I became upset, talked to the food and beverage manager. He lead us up to Sette Mari and set us down at a table. At that point I lost my appetite and we left. The food and beverage manager did not even take the time to understand the issue and there was no follow-up. The staff seemed overwhelmed whenever there was a crowd. Seems the ship is a training ground for staff and cannot handle a nearly fully booked ship.

The Ugly: We had a room on the 8th floor, a good size room and bathroom with furnishing from the 90s, the biggest turn off was the dirty carpet. In addition, when the ship was moving there was a heavy vibration. 
 

For afew years now I have been telling Regent to avoid a lot of problems like you had and many others had on other ships go to a reservation system but for some reason they are against it

On Silver Sea there restaurant La Terrazza is basically similar to Sete Mare  has reservations  and eliminates lines and confusion

 

 

[cruiseluv]

4 hours ago, pag111 said:

We have traveled on Regent for 72 nights, this cruise will be our last.

The Good: food and drinks.

The Bad: the service at Sette Mari. Got a table on night five, place was packed. After over an hour waiting for our main dished, waiter let us know the food was on the way. The lamb chops were very over done. At that point we were not waiting any longer. The next day the maitre d asked us to return that night, said we should not have to wait and he would take care of us. Went to check in and there was a long line to get a table. I went to the head of the line told them about our invite and was told to get in the long line and wait some more. I became upset, talked to the food and beverage manager. He lead us up to Sette Mari and set us down at a table. At that point I lost my appetite and we left. The food and beverage manager did not even take the time to understand the issue and there was no follow-up. The staff seemed overwhelmed whenever there was a crowd. Seems the ship is a training ground for staff and cannot handle a nearly fully booked ship.

The Ugly: We had a room on the 8th floor, a good size room and bathroom with furnishing from the 90s, the biggest turn off was the dirty carpet. In addition, when the ship was moving there was a heavy vibration. 
 

The Navigator started service in 2000 , I last cruised on her in 2019 and was surprised how well kept up she was. Sorry for your troubles, you were not aware the Navigator vibrates in the back? It’s been the case from day one

[Pcardad]

Absolutely love the Navigator! Favorite ships after sailing 400+ nights on all 5 ships.

[papaflamingo]

We did 40 nights on Navigator from May 28-July 7 and loved every minute of it.  In fact we booked her again in March for a 10 night.

 I  have to admit, that one bad night in one restaurant after 72 nights of cruising wouldn't cause me to come on social media and say "this cruise will be our last."  But to each his own. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by papaflamingo

[slidebite]

I agree with ^^ - but I also could kind of understand being the OPs shoes. Being told by the maitre D to please come back after a poor experience and that they'd be "looked after" and then having another not great experience wouldn't give me the warm fuzzies.

 

I agree that seems a little extreme to not ever go on a regent cruise again, especially since the thing the OP said they liked the most was the food and drinks.  Pity if this occurrence outweighed all the other positive food and drink experiences.

 

RE: Cabin vibration, that and lack of the observation/fwd lounge are 2 of the big reasons why I'd be most hesitant going on Navigator but I know others here swear by her. I've heard about vibration issues on Voyager too, but we've never had anything detectable in our cabin being amidships on deck 7.

[cruiseluv]

1 hour ago, slidebite said:

I agree with ^^ - but I also could kind of understand being the OPs shoes. Being told by the maitre D to please come back after a poor experience and that they'd be "looked after" and then having another not great experience wouldn't give me the warm fuzzies.

 

I agree that seems a little extreme to not ever go on a regent cruise again, especially since the thing the OP said they liked the most was the food and drinks.  Pity if this occurrence outweighed all the other positive food and drink experiences.

 

RE: Cabin vibration, that and lack of the observation/fwd lounge are 2 of the big reasons why I'd be most hesitant going on Navigator but I know others here swear by her. I've heard about vibration issues on Voyager too, but we've never had anything detectable in our cabin being amidships on deck 7.

You will not feel any “cabin vibration “ if you don’t book an aft cabin. Voyager’s cabin vibration is also on aft cabins

[RetiredandTravel]

22 hours ago, pag111 said:

We have traveled on Regent for 72 nights, this cruise will be our last.

The Good: food and drinks.

The Bad: the service at Sette Mari. Got a table on night five, place was packed. After over an hour waiting for our main dished, waiter let us know the food was on the way. The lamb chops were very over done. At that point we were not waiting any longer. The next day the maitre d asked us to return that night, said we should not have to wait and he would take care of us. Went to check in and there was a long line to get a table. I went to the head of the line told them about our invite and was told to get in the long line and wait some more. I became upset, talked to the food and beverage manager. He lead us up to Sette Mari and set us down at a table. At that point I lost my appetite and we left. The food and beverage manager did not even take the time to understand the issue and there was no follow-up. The staff seemed overwhelmed whenever there was a crowd. Seems the ship is a training ground for staff and cannot handle a nearly fully booked ship.

The Ugly: We had a room on the 8th floor, a good size room and bathroom with furnishing from the 90s, the biggest turn off was the dirty carpet. In addition, when the ship was moving there was a heavy vibration. 
 

 

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.  Honestly I'm a little unclear.  You were on a 72 day cruise.  The food & drinks were good but you mention poor service two nights at Sette Mari and elude to service in general.  Was the service poor the rest of the cruise or just two bad experiences? 

 

Some have nicknamed it the "vibrator".  One gentleman said he orders his eggs raw and watches them scramble themselves.

 

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by RetiredandTravel

[Pcardad]

22 minutes ago, RetiredandTravel said:

 

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience.  Honestly I'm a little unclear.  You were on a 72 day cruise.  The food & drinks were good but you mention poor service two nights at Sette Mari and elude to service in general.  Was the service poor the rest of the cruise or just two bad experiences? 

 

Some have nicknamed it the "vibrator".  One gentleman said he orders his eggs raw and watches them scramble themselves.

 

 

 

This.....plus the added benefit of not having to put quarters in the bed.

 

[pag111]

This was an eight night cruise, we have been on a number of Regent cruises in the past.  The prior cruise we were on was in Oct. 2022, had issues then as well.  There are many things that have changed post Covid to ensure Regent makes money.  I am not will to spend over $1,500 a night for a below average experience.

[RetiredandTravel]

1 minute ago, pag111 said:

This was an eight night cruise, we have been on a number of Regent cruises in the past.  The prior cruise we were on was in Oct. 2022, had issues then as well.  There are many things that have changed post Covid to ensure Regent makes money.  I am not will to spend over $1,500 a night for a below average experience.

 

My apologies I misread your post.  How was the service away from the two nights at Sette Mari?

 

 

[Pcardad]

15 minutes ago, pag111 said:

This was an eight night cruise, we have been on a number of Regent cruises in the past.  The prior cruise we were on was in Oct. 2022, had issues then as well.  There are many things that have changed post Covid to ensure Regent makes money.  I am not will to spend over $1,500 a night for a below average experience.

Plenty of Regent cruises in the $700 range as well. Covid sucks mate.....but it could be worse...you could have lost your job, your life, your loved ones. We all have much to be grateful for.

[SWFLAOK]

We currently have 79 nights onboard Regent ships. We went to Sette Mari once, and have never returned. Since it's always been the 2 of us, we did not find it worthwhile. Since no reservations are taken for this restaurant, we had a short wait, and after being seated, we were served a huge amount of appetizers that we were mostly not interested in, and not very good. The entrees were large portions, and not what I would normally  order. We don't normally eat more than one dessert and most times we're happy with the selection of small bites in Compass Rose are enough to us,  so the dessert buffet wasn't something we were interested in.

We have an upcoming cruise where there will be 2 singles in their own cabins along with us. We'll see if they're interested in Sette Mari, but I think Compass Rose will have the choices that they are going to prefer,  just as we have.

[GOARMY]

To each their own.  Our experiences with Sette Mari on all Regent ships except Splendor (that Inaugural March 2020 Splendor segment was canceled due to onset of COVID restrictions while we were at Regent's San Diego hotel awaiting next day's boarding) have been positive.  

 

No one is held prisoner to appetizers or portion size.  One size does not need to "fill" all.  We show up five-eight minutes prior to 1830H opening.  Two or three other couples are already there.  Or; we show up at 2000H after the first iteration of diners has come--and departed.  Enroute to table, request none of the usual appetizers (except meatballs--for me; and assorted breads--also for me) be presented.  Saves food.  

 

Simple, serve-yourself salad portion.  Ask for a half-serving of whatever entre' is ordered.  Uniform response common to such a reasonable request:  "Of course."  Skip dessert.  

 

Above scenario is not rocket science; it is common sense.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

 

 

[Kwaj girl]

@GOARMY your style is exactly ours! Would love to meet/dine with you sometime. Cruising soon, are you?

[pag111]

The food and service in the Compass Rose was excellent.  We didn't eat at Prime 7.  Pool grill was great for lunch.

[RetiredandTravel]

We love Sette Mari, it offers a nice alternative to CR and the first come first serve system works fine.  It is important to get there close to when it opens to be assured of getting a table and I'm thinking important to get there closer to 6:30 so you are one of the first seated.  We've never had issues with service or pace of food service except once, the server was very new.  She tried hard but should have been trained better. 

 

Pag111 sorry you had a bad experience and I respect and understand your decision to not take Regent again.  If it were me given your experience I might say I wouldn't take the Navigator again but that's me.  I think when you read all these trip reports the quality of all "luxury" lines has deteriorated quite a bit since Covid, hopefully they get back on track.  They don't give this stuff away.

 

 

Edited January 16, 2023 by RetiredandTravel

[GOARMY]

kwag girl:  

 

I believed we have sailed together in the past.  

 

As to future:  At this point, Navigator in late May at NYC for a B/t/B to/from Montreal.  

Then, September: Explorer, Vancouver, B.C.-Tokyo w/stay-over.  

Two Grandeur segments, one in August, 2024; the other, January, 2025.  

 

While on Navigator, may sign-up for others.  

 

GOARMY!

 

[Kwaj girl]

Just now, GOARMY said:

kwag girl:  

 

I believed we have sailed together in the past.  

 

As to future:  At this point, Navigator in late May at NYC for a B/t/B to/from Montreal.  

Then, September: Explorer, Vancouver, B.C.-Tokyo w/stay-over.  

Two Grandeur segments, one in August, 2024; the other, January, 2025.  

 

While on Navigator, may sign-up for others.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

Perhaps we have!

Looks like we shall be sailing together on Nav - we are onboard April thru June.  Look us up on deck 7 - you'll spot the door plaques.

Also Explorer to Japan but we start the segment before you.

[carolina cruisin]

4 hours ago, GOARMY said:

kwag girl:  

 

I believed we have sailed together in the past.  

 

As to future:  At this point, Navigator in late May at NYC for a B/t/B to/from Montreal.  

Then, September: Explorer, Vancouver, B.C.-Tokyo w/stay-over.  

Two Grandeur segments, one in August, 2024; the other, January, 2025.  

 

While on Navigator, may sign-up for others.  

 

GOARMY!

 

Will be a year behind you on the Vancouver - Tokyo sailing.  Will be interested to see how your trip goes.  GoNavy  - lol

[Kruzngrl]

We just left the Navigator and had mixed feelings.  Definitely the ‘shakiest’ ship we’ve ever been on, (lots of motion everywhere) however the crew was stellar.  Best service in Compass Rose than any Regent cruise we’ve taken in the past.  Ship is older and could use an extensive refurbishment.  Splendor is still our favorite.