Switched over from the Princess forum

Well - what can I say - we were all set to cruise on Princess in 2016 for a special birthday, only thing stopping us booking was that Princess hadn't published their summer itineraries. Then a few nights ago, a brochure arrived in the post from a cruise company I subscribed to many years ago when we were planning our two week Panama Canal cruise on Celebrity.

I was just looking through the small brochure when my husband arrived home from work and looked over my shoulder to see what I was reading - his eyes lit up with the Far East 2015 Feb Amazara cruise and saying that to do that cruise would be amazing and for me to look at what was available in 2016. Well to my amazement the itineraries were published and I came up with 3 cruises - 3 for the Far East, India etc and 3 for the med. I ran off the printer all three to give him not thinking for one minute he would go for the Far East but select one of the med ones. He selected the Far East 13 night from Singapore although was slightly interested in the others.

Sorry if this is going on and on. ANyway, I showed him the web site for the Amazara ships and comments and he said he rather liked the smaller ship (we have only sailed on 2 other ones, RCCL and Celebrity)

I do waffle don't I? Anyway, the long and short of this is that we have now booked for April 2016 Far East On the Quest and have to say how very excited I am.

Let the planning begin. Only 499 days!

Welcome to the Azamara Forum Jarronwood.

Don't worry about being excited....we all feel like that every time we book an Azamara cruise! :D

You are going to love Quest and her amazing crew and the planning is one of the best bits.

You will be so pleased that you have changed from Princess. There really is no comparison between the two lines. Having sailed on both recently, Azamara is so superior in every way. Our Far East from Singapore to Hong Kong was probably my all time favourite cruise and we have cruised many lines and over 30 times.

Also, this forum is very friendly and helpful.

Do ask as many questions as you like, someone will have the answer!

Hi Jarronwood,

Welcome to the Azamara forum. Nice to see that you've booked an Azamara cruise. While the onboard experience is very different from Princess, it's a truly wonderful experience. You will probably become very spoiled after sailing with Azamara :)

We are a very friendly bunch, so feel free to ask questions. Oh, and don't worry - the days move very quickly, and your cruise will be here before you know it.

I'm sailing this Sunday, but on a Celebrity ship. Shhhh. Don't tell Azamara. Let us know if we can help !

first off Andy have fun.

second please find your captain club number and sign into MY AZAMARA and get it o nhere. you should get soem free internet minutes and maybe laundry. been a while since I have been that new. then join your roll call and plug in your cruise on MY AZAMARA . the tours are listed in many cases. i am on thru mid feb in 2016.

There are many Azaamra fans here and many who can suggest a cabin location base on your needs.

see you back soon.

Welcome to the Azamara forum, jarronwood! I'm here as well if you have questions.

Thank you everyone for making me so welcome. I have already introduced myself on the roll call forum and we are thinking about getting together to do some of the excursions.

I have got cabin 7094 - a balcony on the port side of the ship. How I would love to have one of the real nice suites. We were toying with upgrading to a continental suite but my travel agent said it would be an extra £3k and in her opinion its not a suite in the full sense. But I am still delighted at being able to have a balcony.

I know the ship does not have that "wow" factor like the RCCL ones do but having seen a program on the tv a few nights ago about the RCCL Oasis ship, both my husband and I just cringed with the amount of people milling around and I am hoping that although Quest is smaller it wont be so crowded or feel so crowded.

I love the look of the dining rooms and the bars - all very quiet and serene.

Its only 498 days now.

You will make your own "wow" have no fear! It's so easy to strike up conversations with people when you're on a small ship and before you know it you'll have a whole set of new friends to share a drink with, or dine with, etc. Or you can be just as private as you want, too.

"Quiet and serene" does not apply to the Looking Glass lounge at night--plenty of good music and dancing to be found there!!!

Thank you everyone for making me so welcome. I have already introduced myself on the roll call forum and we are thinking about getting together to do some of the excursions.

 

I have got cabin 7094 - a balcony on the port side of the ship. How I would love to have one of the real nice suites. We were toying with upgrading to a continental suite but my travel agent said it would be an extra £3k and in her opinion its not a suite in the full sense. But I am still delighted at being able to have a balcony.

 

 

 

 

Its only 498 days now.

i can only tell you in sq feet that the cabin you got has 175 sq feet. smal. .the bathroom is tiny. .the shower from many people say is not there favorite.. i get a suite but for many it is no worth it. It is about 250 sq feet. it has a bathtub that i use. .it comes with a butler that I lvoe. others do ont care at all.. it also includes eating in restaurants on deck 10. something else I prefer. This all up to you.

eas to meet people on the ship. looking Glass is busy most nights and the nigt before a sea day even more so. so i know you will have fun.

Is there a cabin more mid ship... many prefer it in case of rough seas... it gets to me but not others.

Thank you everyone for making me so welcome. I have already introduced myself on the roll call forum and we are thinking about getting together to do some of the excursions.

 

I have got cabin 7094 - a balcony on the port side of the ship. How I would love to have one of the real nice suites. We were toying with upgrading to a continental suite but my travel agent said it would be an extra £3k and in her opinion its not a suite in the full sense. But I am still delighted at being able to have a balcony.

 

 

 

Its only 498 days now.

Welcome to the boards

Your travel agent has given you very good advice - nice though the suites are it is too hard to justify that extra expenditure. You can still eat in the speciality restaurants though at a cost of $50 for the two of you.

You might like to see if your agent can move you a few doors along. If you look at the sticky at the top of the page that includes feedback from cruise critic posters someone reported aircon noise from the room you are due to have. It has only been reported once, and maybe a one off, so I leave it to you but thought I should just mention

My agent originally had me in 7044 but I thought it would be noisy being opposite the inside cabins. Anyone else have any input on these cabins.

Also presumably Port side is the "better" side although I cant get my head round it because does the ship always dock port side?

My agent originally had me in 7044 but I thought it would be noisy being opposite the inside cabins. Anyone else have any input on these cabins.

 

Also presumably Port side is the "better" side although I cant get my head round it because does the ship always dock port side?

If you have a look at the attachment, there are a few around the area of 7040 that are possibly to be avoided and others that sound as if there are no problems

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1813056

My agent originally had me in 7044 but I thought it would be noisy being opposite the inside cabins. Anyone else have any input on these cabins.

 

Also presumably Port side is the "better" side although I cant get my head round it because does the ship always dock port side?

funny i like being opposite them. once i on a bigger ship i was opposite a blank wall - got on the ship and found i was near a crew door to stairs.. On Azamara I only know deck 8. .but the laundry is around 7075 or something like that.

I have been using port side for years.. but in some ports i have a lovely city view and in other cargo.. it has mostly dock on port side for me. .so i am trying starboard again. .the captain sleep on that side too.

My agent originally had me in 7044 but I thought it would be noisy being opposite the inside cabins. Anyone else have any input on these cabins.

 

Also presumably Port side is the "better" side although I cant get my head round it because does the ship always dock port side?

Well, yes, the ship always does dock at the port. ;) But it can be either port (left) or star board (right) depending on what berths are available when the ship comes in. I look at it more from the viewpoint of sunrise. I like the sun coming in the cabin in the morning so whichever side gives me the most days on the east is the side that I get. You'll have to look at your itinerary to figure out which that is for your voyage, if that kind of thing matters to you.

Well, yes, the ship always does dock at the port. ;) But it can be either port (left) or star board (right) depending on what berths are available when the ship comes in. I look at it more from the viewpoint of sunrise. I like the sun coming in the cabin in the morning so whichever side gives me the most days on the east is the side that I get. You'll have to look at your itinerary to figure out which that is for your voyage, if that kind of thing matters to you.

We should cruise together! We prefer the West side, to allow us to sleep in on sea days and to see the sunset. So we'll never be competing for the same cabin!

Having had a look at the map on the Azamara website - we are on the Singapore Singapore 2nd April 2016 13 nights, Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand voyage and unless I am being really blond it seems that the better side for this voyage would be the right hand side since it leaves Singapore and travels east first.

Ill see if I can copy the map into here so you know what I am explaining.

I just might be barking up the wrong end of the tree here and your expertise in this would be very much appreciated. It seems nice to have the land in sight of our balcony and with this particular voyage and the way it goes it seems that the land is always on the right.

Having had a look at the map on the Azamara website - we are on the Singapore Singapore 2nd April 2016 13 nights, Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand voyage and unless I am being really blond it seems that the better side for this voyage would be the right hand side since it leaves Singapore and travels east first.

 

Ill see if I can copy the map into here so you know what I am explaining.

 

I just might be barking up the wrong end of the tree here and your expertise in this would be very much appreciated. It seems nice to have the land in sight of our balcony and with this particular voyage and the way it goes it seems that the land is always on the right.

Don't know how to copy the picture but here is the link.

http://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/sites/default/files/images/voyages/maps/q_2-apr_asia_2016_600.jpg

Having had a look at the map on the Azamara website - we are on the Singapore Singapore 2nd April 2016 13 nights, Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand voyage and unless I am being really blond it seems that the better side for this voyage would be the right hand side since it leaves Singapore and travels east first.

 

Ill see if I can copy the map into here so you know what I am explaining.

 

I just might be barking up the wrong end of the tree here and your expertise in this would be very much appreciated. It seems nice to have the land in sight of our balcony and with this particular voyage and the way it goes it seems that the land is always on the right.

Think what you are missing is that while land may be on one or the other side of the ship, probably 90% or more of the time the ship is far enough from shore that you can't see it. Remember, you are fairly low no matter what deck you are on and the horizon is not very far away so picking a side of the ship to be able to see land while sailing is an exercise in futility.

Also, don't forget, the ships sailing is normally overnight so too dark to see anything even if the land is visible. People do try one side or the other for land viewing and are usually disappointed. The main reason for one side or the other is to see sunrises or sunsets.

I like the afternoon sun- stood on balcony to take many pictures. but one never knows.. i had no view of anything so the sea would be better. .some ports who cares.

I'm sure you'll love Azamara. My hubby hasn't stopped raving about it since we got back. Looking at doing another one next year.

 

Also, don't forget, the ships sailing is normally overnight so too dark to see anything even if the land is visible. People do try one side or the other for land viewing and are usually disappointed. The main reason for one side or the other is to see sunrises or sunsets.

We were glad we weren't on the "sunset" side on our last cruise as sunset was between 10.30 and 11.30 PM. :eek:Thank goodness for the blockout curtains.

I'm sure you'll love Azamara. My hubby hasn't stopped raving about it since we got back. Looking at doing another one next year.

 

 

 

We were glad we weren't on the "sunset" side on our last cruise as sunset was between 10.30 and 11.30 PM. :eek:Thank goodness for the blockout curtains.

I am sure i would be outside taking pictures of it. Guess you go to sleep early.

Hi

Just read your post and just writing on here to say we are as excited as yourselves. I am fifty next year (but in August) and wanted a far East cruise, but the weather doesn't fit so we are holidaying to fit weather, (sure I'll do something in August too :)

So we looked and booked, when we rang to enquire, there were only 2 balcony cabins left so have 8050 on the back. We had a choice of back and front so quickly checked on here for advice and selected the back of the ship, members suggested the front can be windy....

So the diet has begun, and we just cannot wait. My husband has been eager to go with Azamara and now we are.

Woo Hoo

My agent originally had me in 7044 but I thought it would be noisy being opposite the inside cabins. Anyone else have any input on these cabins.

 

Also presumably Port side is the "better" side although I cant get my head round it because does the ship always dock port side?

Welcome Jarronwood! We actually had cabin 7094 on the Quest assigned to us as a guarantee in December 2013 and loved it. No, it's not midship but is 10 cabins from the back, not counting the rear suites. Close enough to the elevators without being too close and far enough from the laundry and cabin crew door that neither were a bother as to noise. We did not hear noise as is noted on the cabin listing here on CC but we kept the air on most of the time so that could have some effect. We have actually requested this cabin again, although our cruise is on the Journey this time.

Whatever you decide you will really enjoy Azamara. We couldn't get over the wonderful crew and friendly companions we enjoyed on our cruise...that's why we're back. Yes, the room is small, and yes, the bath/shower is small but we don't cruise to be in either of those places for long at the time :)

Congrats on the great booking! I think you were smart not to go with the suite. Save that for another time or when you want a change of scene.

We just booked our first Azamara cruise too and we have a lot longer to wait than you do - 2.5 years! We chose a cabin near where you are looking but a little more midship. On the Ocean Princess (same basic ship), we had 7088 and loved it if that helps with making your decision. Congrats!