Navigator Review Baltic 29 July (long) part 1

[nearly there]

Review of Navigator Baltic 29/7-9/8

 

I’ve read so many review and comments and found them extremely helpful, so I thought I’d try to reciprocate and review our Navigator Baltic Cruise. Rather than giving a day-by-day account, I’ll just write about the various aspects of the cruise, the good, the bad and the ugly! Actually, there was no ugly; so I’ll write about the great, the ok and the “could do better”. I thoroughly enjoyed the cruise (I didn’t want to leave the ship), so please put the negative parts of the review in context; I’d just like to see a wonderful experience made even better. To issue the standard disclaimer; opinions are opinions, not objective facts.

 

Pre-cruise and embarkation

We started in Stockholm, a city I lived in for 15 years, and spent 3 days pre-cruise visiting with friends and stocking up on salty liquorice (definitely an acquired taste). Documents said embarkation would be at 2 PM and we got to the port just a few minutes before 2. Check-in was perfect; it took less than 5 minutes to leave our luggage with the porters, present our tickets, smile for the security photo, and present a credit card for imprint. However, the first “could do better” occurred on boarding. Disappointingly, suites were not ready and we were told to proceed to deck 10 for a late lunch. So, rather than a glass of champagne and an escort to our suite, we balanced champagne and hand luggage in a crowded elevator and found a table near the pool. At about 2:30 an announcement was made that suites were ready and a few minutes later we found our suite (by the way, I’m using Regent terminology here. My own view is that a suite has more than one room, but that’s what they’re called). The suite was welcoming and clean, but somewhat tired looking (more about that later) and we sat down to relax and wait for our stewardess to introduce herself and our luggage to arrive. We waited and waited. Other luggage got delivered, but no sign of ours. I get very nervous about luggage disappearing and kept checking the corridor. At about 3:30, with still no sign of our stewardess or luggage, I saw the stewardess in the corridor and asked her to come to our suite. We gave her our bar request and asked that she make sure that we always had mineral water and tonic water in our fridge. I also asked for lemon slices, and was very surprised when the stewardess said we’d have to order them from room service. I’ve never understood the need for a butler, but it seems as though the kinds of simple requests that the steward/stewardess used to fill may now require butler service. Sometime after 4PM I spotted our luggage in the corridor, pointed it out to a crew member and it was brought to our suite. Now I could relax and start my cruise! We popped the cork on the complementary bottle of champagne and I started to simultaneously drink champagne and unpack (not a bad combination of activities). Unfortunately, the muster drill was called a few minutes later and both the champagne and the unpacking had to wait.

 

Dining

 

Compass Rose: We ate dinner in Compass Rose every evening but one. We travel a lot and eat in great restaurants in many cities, including our home city of London, and I think dinner in Compass Rose matches top restaurants in many places. How the kitchen manages to produce nearly 500 dinners of that quality in a very limited amount of time is one of the great mysteries of our time. The dishes were well thought out and the menus well balanced. On the one evening when, unusually, nothing on the menu really appealed, I ordered the “simple” alternative and got a juicy, tender and perfectly cooked sirloin steak. I did hear some critical remarks from fellow passengers about small portion size; I can only say that I have a very healthy appetite J and thought the portions were perfect. Sadly, there were several evenings when I did not have room for dessert.

 

Food aside, there were some problems with the dining experience. From what I could see, the ship was probably completely full and this really taxed Compass Rose to the maximum. The noise level in the restaurant was very high and table allocation was not easy. We always request a table for 2 and were not happy to have this become a problem on several evenings. We were always finally accommodated, with the exception of 1 evening, but it was sometimes problematic and necessitated a wander round the entire restaurant following the Maitre’D as he sighed and tried to locate a table. It also did get a bit irritating to be asked almost every evening if we wanted to share, when it should have been clear that our answer was going to be “no”.

 

On the one evening when there was no small table available, we offered to return in half an hour. We were told that this wasn’t necessary, but that we could have a table for 6 to ourselves if we didn’t mind a large table. We were hungry and said “fine”, only to have 4 other guests seated at the table when we were halfway through our meal. (They were extremely nice people and we had a good time talking to them, but it wasn’t what we had requested and been offered). On that same evening, we saw guests being turned away at the door for lack of seating; I assume they were asked to return a bit later. This really is unacceptable when there is no other dining venue other than the pre-reserved Portofino. I did note that on the following evening, dinner hours changed and instead of dinner being served between 7-9, it was served between 6:30 and 9 for the remainder of the cruise. Although this did seem to help, it must have put a tremendous burden on the wait staff who were now, in effect, coping with “early” and “late” seating at many tables. All credit to all of the wait staff, who, in spite of the numbers, provided excellent service. Orders were correct, food was served at the proper temperature, wine glasses were constantly refilled (and they managed to do all of this with good humour and grace).

 

Portofino: We ate breakfast and lunch in the Portofino restaurant most days and the choices were fresh, varied and well-presented. (On the mornings when we had early tours, we ordered room service and the orders came correctly and on time in spite of the fact that almost everyone had the same idea. On our first morning in St. Petersburg, our room service waiter told us that 110 trays had to be delivered before the tours left at 8:30).

Dinner in the Portofino was a bit of a disappointment. I know that it is a popular concept, but I don’t think it works for a couple of reasons. Firstly, I think it’s strange to have a restaurant that requires reservations several days in advance (we’d booked on line in advance), doesn’t offer a choice of main course, and only publishes the menu on the same day. If you don’t eat tuna or swordfish or veal, for example, and that’s the one choice that night, there’s nothing to do but cancel. Secondly, I didn’t think the food was nearly as good as Compass Rose and, with three sorts of pasta as a starter, the meal seemed heavy and unbalanced. The singing was fun, though, and I guess if Portofino were one of several alternate eating places instead of the only alternative, I’d feel more positively towards it.

 

The Suite

 

We had a category D suite, slightly forward of mid-ship and the location was perfect. Thank you to everyone who provided advice on cabin selection; it really is important on this ship! I didn’t find the vibration in Compass Rose and the theatre particularly disturbing, but it was definitely there and I wouldn’t have wanted a suite with that level of vibration. The suite was spacious and well laid out with a terrific amount of storage space and a lovely balcony. However, the Navigator is definitely due for re-decoration in a big way. The carpet was badly stained, the bed valance looked like the cat scratched it and/or the dog chewed it, the refrigerator handle broke off in my hand, etc. The biggest problem was the bed. I got into bed on the first night and sank into a deep depression in the middle of the mattress (felt like I was lying on the suitcase under the bed!). After an uncomfortable night, I reported the problem to reception and when I returned after a day in port, there was a message that housekeeping had been informed and the mattress had been changed. “Great” I thought, “that’s service”, until I got into bed that night and the mattress seemed exactly the same. Now I had a problem…I had been told the mattress had been changed, but it was still uncomfortable. I felt silly reporting it again and wondered if I were over-sensitive, “the princess and the pea” syndrome. I drove my husband crazy, trying his side of the bed (fine), my side (broken). He generously offered to switch sides, but when you’ve had one side of the bed for over 30 years, it would be too strange. Two more nights of poor sleep and I was at my wit’s end, when, suddenly on night 4, the problem disappeared; there was definitely a different mattress on the bed! I decided not to question what had happened and slept well the rest of the cruise (at least until the very last night, when I’m almost sure the old mattress was back again!). Seriously, though, the condition of the suite did not reflect the 6 star image that Regent should have.

 

As I wrote at the beginning of this review, our stewardess/es (there were 2 names on the card in our room) never introduced themselves nor seemed to engage with us in any way, other than a brief smile and “good morning/evening” on passing in the corridor. That’s fine with me; I’ve never felt the need to have a relationship with the stewardess, but it was a different feel than on other cruises. The suite was cleaned efficiently and well throughout the cruise, so no complaints. Again, I wonder if a very full ship meant extra work for the staff. (By the way, the lemon slice problem had a very easy solution that did not entail contacting room service. I just visited the nearest bar and the friendly bartenders were always happy to provide a plate of lemon and lime slices).