Silversea cruiser, first time on Azamara Quest to Cuba today

We just got back today from the Quest! I decided to wait to post any further thoughts once we were done with the cruise. All in all it was a very good cruise...and while there are things I liked about Azamara better than Silversea and vice versa...at the end of the day, we would be perfectly happy on either ship. We dont feel the need to only be on one cruise line, we like to spice things up. So we will definitely be back on Azamara.

I really dont like that you have to wait until you get on board to make specialty reservations. We went (about 230p)to the reservation desk at Windows Cafe right after lunch on day of embarkation . There was only really late times left. We got 845 at Aqualina one night and 9p last night at PRime C. We are early eaters...so this wasn’t ideal, but on the plus side, the canapés you get in Club Continent Suite are substantial, so we werent starving when we finally went to dinner. We ate one night main dining room (Discoveries), one night Aqualina, one night PRime C and one night room service. Everything was good to very good except for breakfast at Windows...I wasn’t a fan ....so I just ate my usual cereal and yogurt that I have at home, so it was fine. I would rate SS a little better in food dept...feel like food was seasoned better on SS than AZ. But still quite happy with everything.

Our butler was the best butler we have ever had....better than any on SS.

Internet speed wasn’t great ...about the same as SS....at least we had free time instead of having to pay!

We found people much more social, friendly and outgoing than SS. Maybe because it was mostly American as opposed to SS which is normally more European. Or maybe it was just the destination. There was a mixed range of ages which we appreciate as well....younger overall than SS.

We loved our suite...much better than the usual veranda suite we get on SS.

A lot more people out and about in the public areas. Eg..Living Room than Silversea.. Can be very quiet on board after dinner on SS.

Our tours were great...Azamara did a great job with them. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

We loved having Mosaic cafe on board...a nice coffee bar is great...wish SS had that.

And btw... Cuba was great...very interesting experience. And there’s no one checking whether you have tours or not...you have to fill out an affidavit saying you will do a tour. But thats it. It is perfectly ok to wander on your own after a tour or just doing your own thing. We did 2 tours the first day and did our own thing yesterday. All Cuba and Azamara questions welcome!

We just got back today from the Quest! I decided to wait to post any further thoughts once we were done with the cruise. All in all it was a very good cruise...and while there are things I liked about Azamara better than Silversea and vice versa...at the end of the day, we would be perfectly happy on either ship. We dont feel the need to only be on one cruise line, we like to spice things up. So we will definitely be back on Azamara.

 

I really dont like that you have to wait until you get on board to make specialty reservations. We went (about 230p)to the reservation desk at Windows Cafe right after lunch on day of embarkation . There was only really late times left. We got 845 at Aqualina one night and 9p last night at PRime C. We are early eaters...so this wasn’t ideal, but on the plus side, the canapés you get in Club Continent Suite are substantial, so we werent starving when we finally went to dinner. We ate one night main dining room (Discoveries), one night Aqualina, one night PRime C and one night room service. Everything was good to very good except for breakfast at Windows...I wasn’t a fan ....so I just ate my usual cereal and yogurt that I have at home, so it was fine. I would rate SS a little better in food dept...feel like food was seasoned better on SS than AZ. But still quite happy with everything.

 

Our butler was the best butler we have ever had....better than any on SS.

 

Internet speed wasn’t great ...about the same as SS....at least we had free time instead of having to pay!

 

We found people much more social, friendly and outgoing than SS. Maybe because it was mostly American as opposed to SS which is normally more European. Or maybe it was just the destination. There was a mixed range of ages which we appreciate as well....younger overall than SS.

 

We loved our suite...much better than the usual veranda suite we get on SS.

 

A lot more people out and about in the public areas. Eg..Living Room than Silversea.. Can be very quiet on board after dinner on SS.

 

Our tours were great...Azamara did a great job with them. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

We loved having Mosaic cafe on board...a nice coffee bar is great...wish SS had that.

 

And btw... Cuba was great...very interesting experience. And there’s no one checking whether you have tours or not...you have to fill out an affidavit saying you will do a tour. But thats it. It is perfectly ok to wander on your own after a tour or just doing your own thing. We did 2 tours the first day and did our own thing yesterday. All Cuba and Azamara questions welcome!

Ben & Gary,

Thanks for a very nice summary. I can agree with everything you reported, but I must say the sit down dinner with table service on the Silver Cloud one night was kind of a treat.

I think I like the complimentary wines on Azamara better than Silversea. We have only been on the Silver Whisper, Silver Shadow and Silver Cloud.

We have taken to Azamara mostly because of the staff. The CDs, Hotel Directors, Concierges and ships officers just seemed to make us feel more at home. Not quite as formal an atmosphere as on Silversea.

Yes I think Azamara is Celebrity's answer to Silversea and a good answer it is.

In Oct 2016 we were able to make all our specialty reservations right after we checked in and before we actually went aboard. We had the times and dates ready and had them done before we went aboard. I would make them now if I could. Everyone is treated on a first come first serve basis even if you have one of the owner's suites.

We sail January 2018 to Cuba if all goes well.

Thanks again for your report.

Wish we had known that reservation times for speciality restaurants went so fast...we would have done it the second we boarded or looked in the check in area for a table. Just seems pretty unfair ..a lot of people have flights etc and cant be there so early. The guy who made our reservations said they had a line at 1130am ..so I still prefer SS where you can make reservations online up to 120 days before embarkation...we have always gotten the times we wanted. I made a typo in my original post yesterday, i feel that Azamara was much more social than SS.

We are cocktail drinkers, but have wine with dinner and we pretty much only have Pinot Grigio...and the selection they had was very good.

I agree with you about the staff...they are very friendly and all seem very proud of Azamara and seem to really enjoy it.

Oh, thought of something else I really liked....having tea service brought to your room. I thought it was pretty cool that the butler rolled a cart with tea and sandwiches and desserts etc to our room, we have never had that on SS.

Also we noticed that in the shop there was a better variety of items for sale including travel sized toiletries, aspirin etc....SS doesnt have anything like that to buy...certainly great if you forgot something or run out. It’s the small things that really make a difference.

Funny, I feel the same about the little things. I am i on. Cystral and I am missing bottle water at gangway and water when you come back to ship. Yet this place as real sushi and I keep ordering it. Yum! Plus I needed a hat and a couple things not around.

Glad you loved Havana great city and I wandered all over again.