Will Regent sell the Navigator by the end of 2026?

[Ulsteinvik]

It is reported on some sites that Blue World Voyages has found a ship, and a purchase agreement has supposedly been reached. By the end of 2026, this ship could set sail as a residential ship. Based on the images and the description it seems that it will be the Seven Seas Navigator..

https://travellingforbusiness.co.uk/news/blue-world-voyages-the-pioneering-cruise-line-focused-on-sports-and-wellness-has-unveiled-the-offering-of-30-private-residences-on-its-debut-ship/

[Kwaj girl]

Ask @ andrea demarco

[SummmerInKefalonia]

[loriva]

Interesting.  What would happen to the eight cruises shown for Navigator for Jan-May 2027?

 

Also, no expert, but isn't Navigator one of the former R-class ship?  And there are a few of those still sailing for other lines (I think Oceania has one as well.)  So, the Blue World could be one of those?

[Ulsteinvik]

 

13 minutes ago, loriva said:

Interesting.  What would happen to the eight cruises shown for Navigator for Jan-May 2027?

 

Also, no expert, but isn't Navigator one of the former R-class ship?  And there are a few of those still sailing for other lines (I think Oceania has one as well.)  So, the Blue World could be one of those?

Good question, maybe the new Prestige could sail them.

 

No Navigator is not a former R class ship, she has no sister ships. It has quite a special history. It was originally built 1991 as a research vessel named Akademik Nikolay Pilyugin. However, the project failed when the ship was only half-finished, and after 5 years it was taken over by Regent to finish the newbuild.

[Dolebludger]

The Navigator is not one of the former R class ships. The Navigator’s story is an interesting one. The hull and some structure was partially constructed for the Russian military. Some say as a spy ship. For some reason, Russia abandoned the project and sold the partially completed ship to Radisson (now Regent via name change). It was completed as a cruise ship with maiden voyage in 1999. It differs from the R ships in that it’s rooms (suites?) are much larger, by class than the R ships. 

[RachelG]

interesting.  The rumors of Navigator's sale have been going around for years though.  Time will tell. 

[bradpole]

1 hour ago, RachelG said:

interesting.  The rumors of Navigator's sale have been going around for years though.  Time will tell. 

One thing to keep in mind, this company pre pandemic has released images of other in service ships done over in their new livery.  One was a Holland America ship and one was of the Gemini sailing today for Miray.  Could they have actually entered into a purchase agreement this time?  Absolutely, however given their past track record I have a bit of skepticism.  If you do a google images search for that company’s name you can see the prior renderings. 

[mrlevin]

Moby, good to see you back onboard.

Edited September 6 by mrlevin

[KenzSailing]

On 9/5/2024 at 4:24 PM, Moby Drib said:

If I were a betting whale, I'd wager on something going on with Explorer. Whereas all the other ships have some fare change activity each month *. There were exactly zero for Explorer.

 

Not trying to start a rumor - just reading the fare tea leaves.

 

* Not counting Prestige, but surprisingly several for Grandeur!

 

Wait, is this the former lower-case-d drib I'm reading?

[PaulMCO]

This question was asked in May of the CEO.. @2:51:40 of the Q&A (see the web cast which cannot be pasted)..   Answer was NO. 

 

https://www.nclhltd.com/investors

Edited September 7 by PaulMCO

[UUNetBill]

I'm sure the answer would be 'NO' - right up until a deal was inked.  I'm sure any early announcement like that would affect the shareholders and cause unnecessary turmoil.

 

When I read about Regent contracting two new ships, I kinda expected Navigator's fate to come into question.  As much as we love that little ship, with the newer, flashier ships coming into the fleet, I can only imagine modernizing Navigator to keep up with the big dogs isn't really economically feasible, honestly.

 

I would kind of expect her to be refitted as an expedition ship (although Regent has denied any plans to get into expeditions) or sail specific regions, like the PG or something...

 

But a sale announcement wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Snh lname]

We were on Navigator in July/August in a penthouse. Service was great but I found the shower to be my biggest gripe. It’s really unsatisfactory.

 

I admit to being a bit spoiled by Grandeur last Christmas. But my wife and I will only cruise on the “Explorer class” ships. They are just alot nicer. … and we have been on all the ships (at least once or twice — except Splendor). 

 

We are going to Australia / New Zealand for this Christmas on Explorer — the first RSSC ship we cruised on.

[UUNetBill]

1 hour ago, Snh lname said:

We were on Navigator in July/August in a penthouse. Service was great but I found the shower to be my biggest gripe. It’s really unsatisfactory.

 

I admit to being a bit spoiled by Grandeur last Christmas. But my wife and I will only cruise on the “Explorer class” ships. They are just alot nicer. … and we have been on all the ships (at least once or twice — except Splendor). 

 

We are going to Australia / New Zealand for this Christmas on Explorer — the first RSSC ship we cruised on.

We've sailed on all of the ships except Grandeur (booked on her for next summer) but our first cruise was on Navigator, followed by Voyager, Navigator again, Mariner twice, and Navigator again...so we obviously have a soft spot for the old bucket.  We, too, prefer the Explorer-class ships, but we'll still book the older ones in a heartbeat.  Any of them beat being in the office.  🙂

 

[Mudhen]

And, at least for us, the Navigator seems to get the best or most unusual itineraries. As lovely as the Explorer class ships are, it’s pretty much, the same old,same old, ports.

We’ve cruised a lot….show us something a little different!

[Snh lname]

To us Australia over Christmas/New Year on Explorer is a little different. At least to us.

 

BTW, we like the butler service, so we book penthouse. On the older ships, penthouse and concierge cabins are not different. We thought the bathrooms were substandard for what we were paying. When we suggested a simple change that could be made (a foot resting bar in the shower), we were pooh pooh’ed and looked at like they know better.

 

On Explorer class, the cabins are MUCH nicer. Just our opinions.

[jeb_bud]

4 minutes ago, Snh lname said:

To us Australia over Christmas/New Year on Explorer is a little different. At least to us.

 

BTW, we like the butler service, so we book penthouse. On the older ships, penthouse and concierge cabins are not different. We thought the bathrooms were substandard for what we were paying. When we suggested a simple change that could be made (a foot resting bar in the shower), we were pooh pooh’ed and looked at like they know better.

 

On Explorer class, the cabins are MUCH nicer. Just our opinions.

Penthouse and Concierge are different on Mariner and Voyager. Not as different as on Explorer Class, but still different. 

[Mudhen]

I absolutely agree with you! The Explorer class ships, ARE much nicer in many ways. We enjoy cruising on ALL of the Regent ships, of late, the Grandeur. Lots of bells and whistles, but they're not without fault as well. Noise from neighboring cabins are a real problem on the Grandeur.

I'll trade my Grandeur cabin any day for the basically silent cabins on the Navigator......just stay out of the stern....giggle!

We can also do almost two cruises on the Navigator as per one on "the new kids"!

[Snh lname]

Not different enough for our tastes. We have been on all the ships except Splendor, haven’t found a cruise on her that we want to take. 

 

We are headed for Explorer in December (to Australia/New Zealand).  We are already booked on Grandeur for next Christmas/New Year. Just a relaxing cruise to the Caribbean. Second cruise on Grandeur (hope to see all our crew mate friends). We may be going to Iceland next summer, again on Grandeur.

[Beezo]

Would be interesting if it's sold, but from a business perspective - not surprising.  Out of all ships between NCL, Oceania, and Regent, this is the smallest vessel and one of the oldest, built in 1999 and 28,800 GTs.

 

As for the 8 R-Class vessels - They were spread out across many cruise lines (Oceania, Princess, P&O, Swan Hellenic, Pullmantur, Hapag-Lloyd,) but are now consolidated again between Oceania and Azamara:

 

R1 - Oceania's Insignia

R2 - Oceania's Regatta

R3 - Azamara's Onward

R4 - Oceania's Sirena

R5 - Oceania's Nautica

R6 - Azamara's Journey

R7 - Azamara's Quest

R8 - Azamara's Pursuit

 

Brian

[Nachosdelux]

Can someone please tell me when the Navigator had her last major refurb? (specifically, the cabins/suites)

 

is there one scheduled in the future?

 

thanks

[rcandkc]

Navigator can dock at ports the others cannot sometimes  and has more interesting itineraries. 

[Pcardad]

Quote from Blue World Voyages Founder..."Our timeline is the following. The ship is presently operated by a luxurious brand of one of the top three cruise lines. We will take possession of the vessel at the end of 2025 and refit her to be in operation in the second quarter of 2026, starting in the Mediterranean Sea."
 

[mrlevin]

39 minutes ago, Pcardad said:

Quote from Blue World Voyages Founder..."Our timeline is the following. The ship is presently operated by a luxurious brand of one of the top three cruise lines. We will take possession of the vessel at the end of 2025 and refit her to be in operation in the second quarter of 2026, starting in the Mediterranean Sea."
 

I think Silver Shadow or Silver Whisper, both of which look very similar to Navigator and have a similar layout, might be the future Blue World Voyager.  Especially Silver Shadow as she spends end of 2025 and first three months of 2026 in Caribbean and there are no voyages beyond March 2026.

Edited September 15 by mrlevin

[Pcardad]