Live from the Quest!

Hi All, we are currently on board the Quest and having a wonderful time! The ship is lovely and the staff lovelier. We were in Venice for 2 days prior to the start of the cruise. I love that city but we did have a wild experience with the vapperato (sp?) as we did not know we had to validate our tickets. My husband purchased 4 tickets for us and our friends. For those those who are not aware, the $9 Eu tickets will allow you to hop on and hop off all day. The problem is, they don't tell you to validate your tickets before you go aboard the vapperato. When the girl (similar to a railroad conductor) came around checking our tickets, she told us we did not validate and therefore we had to pay a fine.....$52.00 Eu pp!!! Whaaaaa?????? We had just gotten on and had not even hit the first stop. I informed her that we were unaware and would get off and validate. That was not good enough, she insisted we pay the fine and there was no way around it. BTW, they had already hit 4 other people with that fine who paid. I told her we refused to pay and would get off. They followed us off the vapperato and were calling the police. I called the Hilton where we were staying and where we purchased the tickets and after an hour on the phone and an hour of arguing, we got our tickets back and headed out to Murano. Moral of the story....it's the biggest scam going and we met many who paid this crazy fine but VALIDATE before boarding. Anyway, lovely, beautiful city. We even did a pub crawl on night to 3 different bars with appetizers and wine at each stop. Very fun!

Pew had a lightening storm the first night and missed Korcula. The lightening actually knocked the radar our on the ship so we headed right to the next port, Dobrovniak . I got a get picture of the lightening hitting the tower in San Marco square as we passed through. While we knew we were in a storm, the ship was smooth and no one knew there was a problem until the next morning when Captain Jose announced the change in plans. It was for the best of the passengers and ship and we were all happy with the decision.

Last night, we did the Azamazing evening in Kotor. What a fantastic evening! A beautiful, talented cellist, Ana Ruchner who performed in a beautiful setting. Wonderful!

Today we were in Montenegro and toured the country side.

Anyway, if you have any questions, please write back and I'll try to answer. If I have one complaint, it's the connectivity to the internet. Very sporadic. But, the good thing is I just found great connections where I am currently sitting....the bad thing is it's right near the Mosaic Cafe! That means a cappuccino and small pastry as I write to you. UGH! :)

Thank you for your posting. We are on or a B2B most of August and are eager to get back aboard. Is Milena still a server in the Specialty Restaurant. We have been trying to email her, but I am afraid she is on vacation and may not be returning.....

Enjoy your cruise aboard a beautiful ship !!! Say hi to Philip, Richard and Russ for us. We look forward to seeing them soon. Gil and Scott

So glad you are having such a good time. I will be on Quest on September 1 and am so looking forward to it.

Do you think you could find out if we will be sailing with Captain Jose or Captain Carl on that date? I have sailed with Captain Carl many times but not yet with Captain Jose.

Thank you. Hope the rest of your cruise is wonderful

It's so nice of you to post while you're on your cruise, thanks!

Hi Farmaceerep,

Thanks for sharing your insights with us. I hope you continue to have a wonderful time on Quest !

Thanks for this, looking forward to further updates. Agree about the internet on Quest but I found the strongest signal (very strong) was in the internet cafe on deck 9.

Hi All, we are currently on board the Quest and having a wonderful time! The ship is lovely and the staff lovelier.

Last night, we did the Azamazing evening in Kotor. What a fantastic evening! A beautiful, talented cellist, Ana Ruchner who performed in a beautiful setting. Wonderful!.

Anyway, if you have any questions, please write back and I'll try to answer. If I have one complaint, it's the connectivity to the internet. Very sporadic. But, the good thing is I just found great connections where I am currently sitting....the bad thing is it's right near the Mosaic Cafe! That means a cappuccino and small pastry as I write to you. UGH! :)

Thank you for your review. We were on the Quest last week and the week before and had a lovely time too. We enjoyed the Azamazing evening too although there were some complaints that it was too loud. However, Ana performed in Hvar on our cruise so it may have been a different performance than where you saw her in Kotor. We love the Mosaic Cafe too. Have a great cruise!

I love that city but we did have a wild experience with the vapperato (sp?) as we did not know we had to validate our tickets. My husband purchased 4 tickets for us and our friends. For those those who are not aware, the $9 Eu tickets will allow you to hop on and hop off all day. The problem is, they don't tell you to validate your tickets before you go aboard the vapperato. When the girl (similar to a railroad conductor) came around checking our tickets, she told us we did not validate and therefore we had to pay a fine.....$52.00 Eu pp!!! Whaaaaa?????? We had just gotten on and had not even hit the first stop. I informed her that we were unaware and would get off and validate. That was not good enough, she insisted we pay the fine and there was no way around it. BTW, they had already hit 4 other people with that fine who paid. I told her we refused to pay and would get off. They followed us off the vapperato and were calling the police. I called the Hilton where we were staying and where we purchased the tickets and after an hour on the phone and an hour of arguing, we got our tickets back and headed out to Murano. Moral of the story....it's the biggest scam going and we met many who paid this crazy fine but VALIDATE before boarding.

Last night, we did the Azamazing evening in Kotor. What a fantastic evening! A beautiful, talented cellist, Ana Ruchner who performed in a beautiful setting. Wonderful!

Vaporetto incident tough start to your cruise. But the validation machines are displayed prominently on the dock and it is the only way for them to know when the time period for your pass has commenced.

We saw Ana Ruchner on our AzAmazing evening on Hvar Island a year ago and thought she put on a terrific show. I never had seen a glass and metal cello previously!

Thank you for your posting. We are on or a B2B most of August and are eager to get back aboard. Is Milena still a server in the Specialty Restaurant. We have been trying to email her, but I am afraid she is on vacation and may not be returning.....

Enjoy your cruise aboard a beautiful ship !!! Say hi to Philip, Richard and Russ for us. We look forward to seeing them soon. Gil and Scott

I think Milena has holiday now. On our cruise she was no longer in Aqualina but in MDR. I think her boyfriend is still on board.

Gitte

Farm,

Thanks for posting. :)

Thank you for your posting. We are on or a B2B most of August and are eager to get back aboard. Is Milena still a server in the Specialty Restaurant. We have been trying to email her, but I am afraid she is on vacation and may not be returning.....

Enjoy your cruise aboard a beautiful ship !!! Say hi to Philip, Richard and Russ for us. We look forward to seeing them soon. Gil and Scott

We were on Quest last week and asked about Milena. Sadly for us, she had recently left for vacation.

Thats what I was afraid of. I hope she may be back by August. Thanks

Hi All,

We had a beautiful day today in Parga, Greece. I have to say the staff inboard is AMAZING. For example, right before sail away today, our cabin steward Caitano, knocked on our door and delivered a sampling of appetizers! We never ordered anything but they were delicious and very much appreciated. They really know how to pamper their guests. I am sitting by the mosaic cafe (again)and listening to Jamie, the art director, interact with the guests. Very upbeat personality!

Captain Jose is everywhere! He is truly a hands on master of this ship. He was at Ana Ruchners concert the other night greeting everyone as they arrived and at the show, Voices, last night. So very approachable. I will find out if he will be the captain in August.

Speaking of entertainment, the shows have been great! Right now, there is a great piano player in the bar closest to the casino. Very nice. As you can guess, we're having a great time!

We tried to get reservations the first day for the specialty restaurant but there were only 2 times available for the entire week. Very early or too late for us. Oh, well, next time we know to book our reservations early!

I will right again soon.

Linda

Hello Linda

Can we please "use" your kind services in order to find out something about a specific port we'll be visiting while on the Quest in August? :o

This is a Black Sea cruise and our first port is to be Amasra (Turkey). Now, we have a "veteran" on our thread who thinks we will dock at a nearby military port (they've done that before) .. while I hope that we'll be indeed tendered to Amasra itself.

I am not sure who is the right person to ask..(apart of the captain, that is!)..

If you'll manage to find out - it will help us a LOT in planning our excursions there..:)

TIA

Miriam

So glad you are having such a good time. I will be on Quest on September 1 and am so looking forward to it.

 

Do you think you could find out if we will be sailing with Captain Jose or Captain Carl on that date? I have sailed with Captain Carl many times but not yet with Captain Jose.

Bonnie posted a complete list of the key players--for both Journey and Quest--through year-end 2014...

You'll find it here [last page/most recent post]...

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1640015

If still accurate, it appears that Captain Jose will be aboard for your sailing...

Hello Linda

Can we please "use" your kind services in order to find out something about a specific port we'll be visiting while on the Quest in August? :o

This is a Black Sea cruise and our first port is to be Amasra (Turkey). Now, we have a "veteran" on our thread who thinks we will dock at a nearby military port (they've done that before) .. while I hope that we'll be indeed tendered to Amasra itself.

I am not sure who is the right person to ask..(apart of the captain, that is!)..

If you'll manage to find out - it will help us a LOT in planning our excursions there..:)

TIA

Miriam

Bonnie posted a complete list of the key players--for both Journey and Quest--through year-end 2014...

 

You'll find it here [last page/most recent post]...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1640015

 

If still accurate, it appears that Captain Jose will be aboard for your sailing...

Thank you Xport,

Members of this forum have only posted positive things about Captain Jose so I look forward to sailing with him

Thanks for the report! Look forward to more live updates.

So glad you are having such a good time. I will be on Quest on September 1 and am so looking forward to it.

 

Do you think you could find out if we will be sailing with Captain Jose or Captain Carl on that date? I have sailed with Captain Carl many times but not yet with Captain Jose.

 

Thank you. Hope the rest of your cruise is wonderful

I'm on the sep 1 sailing too. No idea who is the captain but hope he has a Masters certificate!

I'm on the sep 1 sailing too. No idea who is the captain but hope he has a Masters certificate!

Hope this helps.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=304514&d=1394045637

Thank you Xport,

 

Members of this forum have only posted positive things about Captain Jose so I look forward to sailing with him

We just returned from our first cruise with Azamara on the Quest. We had Captain Jose on our B2B and thoroughly enjoyed him. He provides comprehensive updates on the cruise once a day and he he is very friendly and outgoing not to mention a great captain.

I always love the live reports :)....thank you for taking time to post. I Hope you enjoy the rest of your cruise.

I'm on the sep 1 sailing too. No idea who is the captain but hope he has a Masters certificate!

Hello canny cruiser,

I think Captain Jose's qualifications will be impeccable.

Believe this is your first trip on Azamara. You may be surprised how engaged with the passengers the captains usually are. Many of us enjoy this informality knowing that our safety and well being is not compromised in any way.

See you at the Meet and Mingle.

Thanks so much for your kind report Linda! we will be visiting some of the same ports on our cruise next May so loving your trip reports. Please also say hi to Russ, Ross and Philip. The entire crew is awesome, but my husband and I were especially so fond of these three on our British Open cruise last May. I hope we can see them again someday! Enjoy, and happy sailing!!

Linda and Larry

Thanks for the review and photos! Looking forward to our time onboard starting Sept 1 and continuing on with the Sept 8th cruise. Heaven!!