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.
Very comfortable bed with really good quality bed linen. The balcony was quite small. The bathroom was very nice, and everything was extremely well kept by our steward Lemuel
Hop on hop off tour. We used it to kill time really. The best 'leg' was the South Beach tour. The City loop seemed to consist of looking at graffiti
View All 169 City Tour ReviewsAn excellent tour with a very personable guide who really knew what he was talking about. The airboat itself was very fast but everyone felt safe and the driver was very experienced
View All 48 Air Boat Tour ReviewsThe highlight of our cruise, and worth the price of the cruise by itself. A really amazing excursion with dolphins who are obviously well treated in a fantastic aquarium where they have the freedom to come and go, but stay because they love playing and they get free food! Honduras was surprisingly nice - I thought it was going to be completely different and I was totally wrong
View All 52 Swimming with Dolphins ReviewsThe snorkelling part of this your was amazing - I was lucky enough to see a huge Eagle Ray with shark 'outriders' - but overall I felt that perhaps the tour went on a bit too long. There was no need to take us for 'lunch' (at 5.30 pm!) when it was served on plastic plates from a hut, and eaten with plastic forks
View All 166 Jeep Tour ReviewsA disappointing tour. We didn't see many fish at all, and the coral is not terribly exciting. Perhaps we were unlucky as apparently the sea was too rough to take us to the usual viewing place.
View All 16 Glass Bottom Boat Reviews