Navigator Sydney to Auckland

[swansong]

I wasn’t going to post about this trip but I will give a brief summary. It’s many years since we sailed Navigator, it was our first Regent Cruise about 20 years ago and we haven’t looked back. Internally Navigator is up to scratch, no issues there, externally it needs attention. Compass Rose windows don’t seem to have been cleaned since we left Sydney. There are a lot of rust stains around those windows and our balcony doors externally are badly maintained. The hull needs re painting in places.

The crew are exceptional, wonderful service and friendliness without exception. We couldn’t ask for more. To us that has been the most important aspect.

The tours we have been on have been some of the best we have had on many years with Regent, particularly in New Zealand where the driver is the guide. Somehow that allows them to go off the script, so to say.

 

The food is comparable with other Regent ships, we don’t miss the absent speciality restaurants but three sea days were as long as we would wish on this ship due to its size.

 

Ray Solaire has been his usual self and added to the experience.

 

Tonight we went in to code red, hopefully it is a precaution but would be interested to know if this has happened across the fleet. There was a lot of coughing on our tour yesterday, it was a pity that many didn’t bother to cover their mouths. Two days to go, let’s hope that’s all it is!

[swansong]

Just to follow this up, I see from another thread that the precautions being taken are fleet wide. It may not be code red but in practice it appears the same.

I agree with others that whilst these precautions are necessary I would not wish to spend the whole cruise like this as it’s not Regent as we know it. We have another booked in June which we may have to reconsider but in the UK we will lose the airfare component if we cancel which is significant. As it is mainly Italy we will hold off to see what happens as the itinerary may change.

[Jlhalldc]

Thanks for posting about your cruise....love reading about the Navigator. We were skeptical about sailing on her after reading all of the reviews -- but we loved her. Sure. she vibrates and is quirky, but her small size encourages meeting fun fellow passengers and her crew is outstanding. We were on the Circle Australia 36- day cruise, which was just before yours.

 

Here's a link to our review, if interested: 

https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=679452&et_cid=3317225&et_rid=235542030&et_referrer=newsletterPopup_control