Our first impression of Azamara

We just returned from the West Indies 11 night cruise aboard the Quest. This was only our second "luxury" cruise and we came away quite happy. We flew to Miami the day before and stayed at the Doubletree right near the port. The hotel was nice, not spectacular, and quite pricey, but it did include a full breakfast and a shuttle to the port. To get this you would book the cruise package. Embarkation was a breeze. We left the hotel at noon and were onboard by 100 pm. Cabin (7035) was ready by 200 pm and luggage was delivered before the muster at 400 pm. Considering the age of the ship and limited recent dry dock we were surprised by the overall good condition the ship was in. In many ways it reminded us of our only other luxury cruise on Regent Mariner. We will continue to post more of our impressions in quick lil bursts like this....more to come

Looking forward to hearing more. I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves on the beautiful Quest. What did you end up doing in Virgin Gorda, the Baths or the other park that's just down the road (the one we went to in December)?

We had done The Baths on the Regent cruise so we didnt go ashore. We did no tours the entire trip, just got off the ship to do minimal exploring and shop for a xmas ornament. Lots of people like to go to a beach, but we spent 30 days alone just in Jamaica last year being beach bums. Our least fav stop this trip was Guadeloupe. Beautiful lil port, but just didnt get tht warm "vibe" there....might have been the language barrier, and if we had found a xmas ornament, they would not accept much anything but Euros, definitely no American money and few accepted credit cards.

We found the cabin to be exactly as advertised. Plenty of storage, and the shower definitely small, but it all worked for us quite fine, and we give Azamara credit in the shower department simply due to the fact the water stays within the confines of the shower. The sliding glass door to the verandah has to be the safest one we have ever experienced so far as the worry of pinched fingers or hands and there was no air leakage at sea. In fact the cabin was the quietest we have ever been in. Thankfully on Thursday they switched the ESPN on the TV to show March Madness!

The meet and mingle was indeed the very first night. I wish they would change it to the first sea day as boarding a ship for the first time and unpacking all just seems too rushed. Or at least change the meeting till later, not right before dinner. We chose to dine with others about half the nights so we were able to meet many others and share past experiences and future plans. Our first full day was St Patricks Day and there was a special Irish buffet at lunch including green beer.

JandL,

Thanks for posting. :)

Our Amazing evening was held on board the ship while in St Barts. Caribbean buffet with local singer and dancers. It also included a childrens band from St Maarten which I think was the highlight and maybe the saviour of the entire show cause the singer and dancers were just not that good. The food setup could have been better as the buffet line started at the dessert line which had everyone confused. If they had better explained the setup it could have been much better. The food we thought was just ok and by being outdoors it as cold before we sat down to eat. A local entertainment group started taking over the ship deck at 100 pm for decorating.

Our Amazing evening was held on board the ship while in St Barts. Caribbean buffet with local singer and dancers. It also included a childrens band from St Maarten which I think was the highlight and maybe the saviour of the entire show cause the singer and dancers were just not that good. The food setup could have been better as the buffet line started at the dessert line which had everyone confused. If they had better explained the setup it could have been much better. The food we thought was just ok and by being outdoors it as cold before we sat down to eat. A local entertainment group started taking over the ship deck at 100 pm for decorating.

Your assessment of the Az Evening was spot on. Except for the one performance by the carnival drummers and horn group, it wasn't that amazing. Food was just okay and buffet line was chaotic.

That chaos at the buffet for the Amazing Evening was disappointing to me...it just wasnt very well thought out, and it could have been better explained prior to serving where the line needed to start. For us overall, we agreed the food in general during the cruise was good, not great. We ate at the Windows Cafe twice for dinner only because nothing on the main menu at Discoveries thrilled us. We did the Italian and French buffets. My worst meal at Discoveries was the ribeye steak. Was also a lil disappointed in the fish offerings nightly, but finally on our last night they had sea bass, my favorite! We also thought lunch at Windows got a lil boring but was good. Between breakfast and lunch I think they had a fresh steak strip loin half the days at Windows and I can only wish I could prepare as good at home. My favorite dessert....the endless selections of gelato. We did not dine at either Prime C or Aqualina.

We did not purchase a liquor package but think I will next cruise(we booked Journey and Panama Canal while on board) only because I like to sample after dinner liquers. We were quite happy with all the comp drinks and wines, and if we didnt care for the daily wine theyd gladly get what we wanted.

I did an Caribbean on the Journey in 2010. 10 nights of bliss. It was nice to see places like Virgin Gorda which most ships pass by. WE hired a private driver who in VG who took us around the island. Then we spent some time at Dix Bay. A lovely day. A lovely cruise. Wish that Azamara did Caribbean cruises more often. I like the Caribbean in the winter...January preferred. I sailed on Eclipse in January. Very different from the Journey. However, Eclipse was a good time. Doing it again in January 2015. For us, leaving from Florida is easy.

Capt Smith even commented how few times they visit the Caribbean. I know the crew seemed to be enjoying! The cruise after ours was a trans-Atlantic so most of the crew we talked to was kinda dreading that.

For me there was one slightly annoying incident on the cruise. We had filled out the mid-cruise survey, and despite all the positives we noted on it, we had commented that service in Discoveries was sometimes "spotty" and pool deck drink service could be better. So during dinner one night, the head waiter shows up at the table we were sharing with 4 others to discuss my comment! I commend them for the personal response, but for me, the timing was awful! Some of the waiters were stretched really thin some nights we thought trying to keep up with multiple tables of 6-8 people. My comment regarding deck service was pointed at crew walking around with trays all day and never stopping to ask if wed like a drink. I really believe after my comments all wait staff knew who we were and at times we felt like we were under a microscope.

We ate mostly in Prime C and Aqualina and both were outstanding. Each had a nightly special in addition to their normal great choices. We thought the food overall was better on Quest than Journey (except the aforementioned Az Evening dud buffet.) We also did the Italian and California Chef's Table dinners to burn up OBCs. Both were superb...esp the Italian. Chef Robert and Sommelier Boban (sp?) outdid themselves on those special meals!

Agree that most lunches were good, but not memorable. Pool grill does excellent burgers. Also, the Indian buffet is excellent due to the large number of Indian folks now working on the Az ships. We're not big breakfast eaters, so most mornings we had coffee, juice and light fruit/yogurt in the room (except for sneaking up for excellent smoothies!)

Think the pool grill was good and a great variety to choose from!

Im not sure the OBC thing. Regent cruise we had an excessive amount...900...this cruise zero. With the current sale going on the verandah upgrade seemed like the best choice, but the OBC choice tempted us too.

Capt Smith even commented how few times they visit the Caribbean. I know the crew seemed to be enjoying! The cruise after ours was a trans-Atlantic so most of the crew we talked to was kinda dreading that.

The 2015 itineraries are already set but I hope Azamara considers doing more Caribbean cruises. We certainly enjoyed the smaller island ports the Quest brought us to!

Im not sure the OBC thing. Regent cruise we had an excessive amount...900...this cruise zero. With the current sale going on the verandah upgrade seemed like the best choice, but the OBC choice tempted us too.

We wouldn't choose OBCs on an all inclusive cruise anymore esp in lieu of other bennies like cabin upgrade or air discount. But we got this one last year as a Valentines promo when we booked this cruise while on the Journey.

After two cruises on smaller ships, we are hooked, especially all-inclusive. We have travelled exclusively to the Caribbean resorts that are all-inclusive and we just like the concept of pretty much knowing the cost upfront. Am already looking forward to next March and boarding the Journey. We were even able to book same cabin, 7035. It was very convenient to the stairs/elevator to deck 9. We did room service the first couple mornings but it was so easy to get to deck 9 for coffee we decided we really didnt need room service