Just came back from the New Years cruise after she came back from dry dock. First cruise on Regent. NEVER again! Forgetting subjective things, let me just say that vibrating your way through a vacation was nightmarish. This ship should never have been put back in service.

Meisha, is the vibration stronger than it used to be? Can you give us more details about your cruise?

Yes, please give us details about other aspects of the cruise.

Having never sailed on the Navigator before, I don't know what it used to be like. However, the first time we went to the showroom, many people left very soon after the performance due to the noise and vibration. It was very loud along with the strong vibration. My wife was not able to read a book on the aft section of the ship on deck 11 due to the vibration also. I've been on 20 or so cruises and have never felt anything like this. The ship itself is very bland, very little artwork, etc. Possibly the worst cruise I have ever been on in many respects. I can't understand the appeal of this line. The fact that it is high end really stuns me. To be fair, the food was as advertised. It was the best I have ever had on a cruise. The service was also very good. But the ship itself was very second rate. I don't think ships themselves really add to a cruise as long as they are clean and pleasant, but I have never been on a cruise where the ship itself was such a detriment.

oh dear....I thought this was no longer a problem. I'm sure sorry you didn't enjoy your cruise. I think you should try the Voyager or Mariner, I bet you'd love those ships.

Well I am afraid I completely understand meisha's
comments about the Navigator. After spending that kind of money I am shocked that it is not fixed of vibrations.
Jan B said we will never go on that ship again. EVER!
We are not difficult to please BUT the vibrations
were worse than we had thought.
I just wish meisha would try the Mariner or Voyager before giving up on Regent.

What a shame..... Its always sad to see when someone has had a terrible experience on any vacation... I have to agree with Jan on this one Jim, After Samba with the water and toilet issues and the other problems we encountered, I swore never to go on Navigator again... But with the drydock and with such a great group going on Dingo we figured we would give it another shot...

Hope its not as bad as it was before....

And I would be in the same corner as would much rather be on Mariner or Voyager if I had the choice....

FV

I guess since I started with the Song of Flower and then the Diamond, the vibration doesn't bother me as much as I am used to quirky ships. Then again, I have never had an aft cabin on the Navigator, either. I am more concerned as to if they fixed the a/c and plumbing problems.
As long as the vibration isn't worse than it used to be, that won't bother me.
I do love the layout of the Navigator so much, I am sad that they couldn't fix the vibration problem as that ship has character like the older Raddison ships had.

I'll pipe in too - I did NOT like the Navigator on Samba due to cabin issues only time on it and I swore my last it was 27 long nights with problems - WELL giving it another try Jan 2011 assuming the reviews don't get worse - I loved the Diamond but Navigator, to me, just did not come close to the Mariner /Voyager despite size etc - I found it to be the ugly stepsister - we had no vibration issues that bothered us - of course the glasses rattling on table in La Veranda got old but no cabin vibration -

When Carol and I were on the Navigator for FUN last year we did not notice any vibration issue. The past reported plumbing and air issues are of more concern to us. Hopefully they are fixed. We are on the Navigator for BEAR so we will just have to see.

Jim, did not realize that you and Jan had issue with the vibration last year. Could it have been the cabin location on the ship.

All ships have their pluses and minuses just need to concentrate on the plus side.

Meisha, I am so sorry you had a very bad experience on Navigator. And I am so glad you posted your opinion with candor. I wish others of like mind would do so too. We all benefit from candor both positive and negative. I am particularly interested because we have two cruises booked on Navigator this year. The vibration didn't bother us the first time we were on board but we were in a forward cabin. You said you were pleased with the food and service. That is exceptionally important to us. Did all the other aspects of the cruise beside the vibration meet your expectations? Pat

I guess everyone has different tolerances and opinions, I mean Vibration is really not a big deal for us, we were in a Horizon suite on Voyager for 007 and there was vibration, but I guess it didnt bother us so much, as others would really have a problem with it... I would totally agree with Pat and say that Positive and Negatives are very important in any trip you take, because something that you love might not work for someone else... and that person is spending a ton of money and that could be there only vacation they get that year.... I have learned a ton from this forum and I believe its stopped me from making a few costly travel mistakes... We all have to remember that this is LCT Luxury Cruise Talk!!!! Not RPT Regent Positive Talk only....

JMO

FV

I looked back at Meisha's first introduction post and note that they have only been on large ships in the past. Smaller ships have a lot more movement than the larger ships. I am hoping that this difference is a big part of what Meisha experienced.

Lisa goes on the Navigator on January 24th and we have people on the January 13th sailing as well. There will be more reports from the ship with future voyages and I hope that the vibration issue has impoved. They certainly spent enough money to fix the problem it would be unfortunate to say the least if it did not work.

Luckily, we never had any vibration nor AC issues in our mid-ship cabin. The vibration we experienced was in the showroom at night (I felt sorry for the entertainers) and La Veranda.

It will be good to hear from others with upcoming cruises who may have experienced the Navigator "before" and "after" drydock.

Unlike others, Navigator has always been my Regent "preference" (after the Diamond demise!). I am on again in May and November. However, if the earlier reports are anything to go by, I may change "my ship"!
I am already fuming at the Regent 100% single supplement policy.

David, I'm sure other solo travelers share in your fuming, as do the TA's trying to cater to them! Perhaps Regent (Apollo) is just trying to see what the market will bear.

Back to the subject at hand, I have had, I think, four cruises on the Navigator, including some of my favorites, Alaska and Norway. If the vibration problem is not worse than it was before (highly improbable), then I am okay. It is the plumbing and a/c problems that I hope were addressed.

100% single supplement? You must be joking David.Wow that means I wouuldn't even contimplate a solo with Regent or any other line for those prices (did I mention my heritage is Scottish).
Ray and I just had a discussion and his response was "they must be almost fully booked". Those must be crossings.
Would be interesting to see what other luxury lines charge for solos.
Oh well, I agree with Olivia, it's about what the traffic will bear.

It certainly appears that they are playing with the single supplements. I was poking around to see what the Alaska rates would be (for a friend), and I couldn't see any discounts at all. Has anybody knowledge of this?

On the Voyager from Rio to FLL the cruise consultant had a list of those cruises that will ONLY be 50% next year. I don't remember seeing any for Alaska. Sorry, I don't think I kept that information since none of the cruises were anything I was interested in.
The 100% ss word had reached the passengers by the time I boarded in Capetown. That first week it seem to be the biggest topic among the singles - which ship to change to. Just from ease dropping the "winners" seem to be Crystal and Seabourne.

100% single supplement? Guess if I travel solo it won't be with Regent anymore!

Me too--if 100% single supp, I have to look elsewhere

What a shame if that's the direction they're going. A reasonable ss is what got me on this line in the first place. Unfortunately, silversea is no better on that front.

I hope Regent changes there policy on this 100 percent single supplement.. We have had the pleasure of cruising with many people who were traveling this way and it would be a shame to price them out of this market... I also feel that people who CAN afford the single supplement will decide not to simply because they do not feel they are getting a good value... It Obvious that Regent & Silversea are not effected by the global economy's problems with decisions like this... Meaning Full Ships!!!

FV

I gather that Mark Conroy is against the 100% ss, so apparently he is less of an influence in Regent now!

100% with excursions and flights included absolutely makes no sense! Given there is little money spent onboard, the lost revenue is not that high.

I guess Regent's calculation is that there will be sufficient demand to fill their cabins with two people. Maybe a compromise would be that they still offer low ss on a capacity controlled basis.

There are a list of single supplements for less.

http://www.rssc.com/specials/details.aspx?SpecialId=f2bfecfe-a9f3-4d5b-a2b7-f3f2aa6984cd

No Navigator on that list and mainly 50%. Well, I suppose it's better than 100%! I will be Titanium with no cruises to go on!

I was surprised to see Regent invest more money in this flawed ship. For the high prices Regent needs to charge to permit Apollo to earn an adequate return on its $1 billion Regent purchase, it will be difficult for this ship to compete with the many new ships coming onstream. I believe Regent would have been better advised to focus on making the Mariner and Voyager the best of their class to gain Apollo's support for building a new ship.

I think you will find that the single supplement is actually higher than 100% because they don't give your "imaginary friend" (the 100% supplement) a SSS credit or an on-board booking credit!
Jody

Jody, do you know this as fact? What an odd way to inspire loyalty, especially when your "imaginary friend" was on board when it was booked to get that credit. I do hate to keep straying from the original topic of this thread, perhaps the single supplement topic deserves its own thread.

and the 2nd passsenger doesn't eat, do shore excursions or shower so the costs on board is more than 200% for one person.

Actually they do give the onboard booking discount and the society savings on the single supplement amount. They have always have done this and see no reason that this would change wther it is 30% or 100%. Kathy is right though as far as food and excursions go there is a savings for the cruise line there. I still think as things shake out you will see more cruises with lower supplements showing up on the list.

Ngaire,
When we were on the Discovery Cruise this fall a friend got a quote on a future cruise and that quote included those discounts only for his fare, not on the supplement portion. I was surprised, but he claimed that was the fact. Of course that may have changed because early in the cruise all future cruises had a 100% single supplement and three weeks later there was a pile of flyers witha list of cruises with reduced SS. Hi to you and Ken.

Hi Jody

Not sure what that was all about but I do have singles booked in 2010 and some in 2011 and they all have the additional savings to cover the single supplement. I do not have anyone at the 100% single supplement though maybe the computers were not programmed to cover that situation, maybe that was in a transition time period?

Marti and I are currently on the Navigator. This morning we are docked in Santo Tomas, Guatemala for day four of our cruise.
We are enjoying the new and improved Navigator. There is new carpeting in much of the common areas. There is also an upgrade to Hermes men's toiletries in the staterooms. Also, new larger flat screen monitors for the computer terminals in the library.
The food and service remain at a high quality, however, we were not overly impressed with Prime 7. Compass Rose remains our favorite mostly because of the many familiar faces of the staff who remember our tastes and favorites.
Overall, it is and continues to be a wonderful experience. I cannot imagine cruising with anyone else.

Marti, I am hoping you will upload pictures when you get home. I have been trying to stalk you but there seems to be a shortage of webcams in the area ;)

You should be able to "see" us in Key West Monday.