Shake, rattle & roll

Just returned from 7 nights on Regent Navigator, our first with Regent. First the good points - the food is excellent, the theatre is large and the entertainment was generally high standard (apart from the dismally named 'Krew Kapers' which was as bad as it sounds) and it's really good that all the trips are included as are all drinks and gratuities.

Now for the not so good. The transfer from the very nice hotel that Regent had put us up in to the ship was a joke. The bus driver tried to offload all his passengers (including several very elderly and infirm) at the wrong cruise ship! He pulled up alongside a Norwegian Cruise Lines ship and announced that we all had to get off and fetch our own luggage! This caused consternation and eventually we were delivered to the right ship, but several passengers required wheelchairs and these were not readily available.

Once on board we were invited to take lunch on the pool deck, but no-one was around to 'show us the ropes'. Eventually we managed to attract a waiter's attention but really we should have been better looked after.

Our suite was lovely, but I'm so glad that we were midship as the worst thing about the Navigator is the vibration. When having a meal in the restaurant at the aft of the ship on deck 10 it reminded me of being on a cross Chanel ferry as everything was shaking! I'd read other reviews which warned of this but I thought that the reviewers were being ultra picky, but I can assure everyone that they're not; it really does vibrate this badly. It took my wife 2 days to get her sea legs as a result, and others on board were similarly affected.

The staff on board were nice, but no-one seemed to go out of their way to make you feel special. My wife commented that the staff's attitude picked up from Thursday, possibly as a result of everyone completing a mid week questionnaire?

Overall we had a nice relaxing break and we met some interesting and friendly people, but it was expensive. However, I felt that the Navigator is old and tired, and can do with a refit. We've only cruised once before (with Seabourn) and personally I think Seabourn knocks spots off Regent for its ships and staff attitudes.