Our first Azamara cruise

[Paulchili]

I am the next of several passengers from the happy Quest cruise of Sept. 20th from Venice to Rome to post on these boards about our experiences onboard the Quest.

We have cruised extensively before, but this was our first cruise on Azamara.

There have been several reviews of this cruise already so this will be just a few impressions and observations through the eyes of an Azamara "virgin".

The first thing I have to say is that it was a fantastic cruise. What made the cruise so special was the hard working and fun loving staff of Quest.

Starting from the top with Captain Carl, HD Ryszard and CD Russ, all the way down to all the crew members you couldn't ask for a nicer and harder working group of people. The officers were visible and approachable; very much part of the cruise, unlike on many other ships where top officers and rarely seen and even more rarely interact with passengers.

We had some trepidations after reading a few unfavorable reports about Azamara in general and Quest in particular. I am here to say to all those who have cruises booked or are thinking about booking on Azamara - relax, as you have nothing to worry about. We did not see any evidence of poor condition of the ship; nor did we have any problems with the mattresses, which have been so hotly debated on these boards. Maybe we were just lucky, but I don't think so. The ship is in good condition and ALL the staff are there to make sure you enjoy yourselves. It just may be one of the best cruises you have ever taken.

Understandably, not everything was perfect.

We did not think the specialty restaurants were "special" enough to warrant any additional visits after the first visit to each one. They were fine, but not memorable. Of course, when it comes to food, it's a very subjective matter. YMMV.

We sorely missed the trivias. They were scheduled at 10 AM and 10:45 PM on most days. This does not work well for most people on a port intensive cruise. Also, the few trivias that we did manage to go to, were poorly attended. In fact, one time, the two of us were the only people there. We did manage to go to two trivias that were at 4 PM and had a lot of fun. The reason I mention all this is because we not only enjoy playing trivia but we also find it a good place to meet like minded fellow cruisers. We do not drink so we do not socialize at the bars, were many others meets fellow cruisers. We did attend the two CC meetings and enjoyed meeting people from the roll call and putting faces to the names.

I also had an "issue" with club soda. It is the only soft drink that I enjoy but the soda was served from larger bottles, which were always flat. Towards the end of the cruise I took cans of club soda from our cabin fridge with me to enjoy elsewhere on the ship. If they will not serve club soda in cans, they should use fountain soda, which I find bubbly enough to enjoy. This is not likely to be an issue for too many people; I mention it more to bring it to attention of those that like club soda as well the home office of Azamara that may be reading this.

None of the issues above were serious and would not stop us from cruising with Azamara. Quite the opposite - we would be more than happy to cruise with Azamara in the future. At the moment the issue is finding an itinerary with Azamara that would interest us. As soon as that happens (and the price is right), we will be very happy to go back on the Quest with its great crew.

A special thank you to Kathy (TourDeCruise), who was the driving force as well as the glue organizing and meshing our roll call together (with moral support from Jack). We also enjoyed meeting Toni and John, Carol and John, and Caroline and John, as well as some others from our roll call.

To summarize - it was an excellent cruise as well as a fun cruise experience. Despite a few "hiccups", we were well satisfied and would happily return to Azamara.

If you have specific questions, I'll try to answer them.

Happy cruising to all,

Paul

[Deeliteful]

Thanks Paul - I will be sailing on the Quest on Saturday - an Azamara virgin too!

 

Really looking forward to it and thanks for the reassuring post. I will post a review on my return.

 

Cheers

 

Pat

[Eileen G]

Hi Paul, I'm sorry we never got to meet on board. How was your side trip to Meteora? How did you get there from Athens? How many of the monestaries did you get to see?

[TourDeCruise]

Paul,

 

Thanks for your review. Jack and I felt this was our best cruise ever and like you, it was our first but not last Azamara cruise. I posted our reasons on Eileen's review thread. The entire rollcall contributed to our pre-cruise and/or onboard cruise experience, but I would like to especially thank you, Eileen, Toni, and Terry for all the information and assistance you provided for us on the rollcall thread, for offers of assistance, and for port arrangements. These contributions were very valuable to many of us in helping to streamline and finalize plans and maximize enjoyment of the ports.

 

None of the issues above were serious and would not stop us from cruising with Azamara. Quite the opposite - we would be more than happy to cruise with Azamara in the future. At the moment the issue is finding an itinerary with Azamara that would interest us. As soon as that happens (and the price is right), we will be very happy to go back on the Quest with its great crew.

 

Now we know you are back from your cruise/land vacation, we can email you. Actually, I was hoping that the Quest Holy Land cruise October 26th would be an itinerary that would interest Marsha & you. We know you have done it/been there before, so it probably is not what you are looking for but we can always hope. I was hoping Eileen & David would consider too but I know they like ports where they can drive or easily navigate on their own. A couple other couples on our rollcall said no when I asked on the cruise, but Sam & his daughter Lindsey may go on the same Holy Land cruise. The Holy Land cruise fits well with our cruise schedule for next year (although we have to cancel another cruise to make room), and all ports except Athens & Rhodes would be new for us. Then maybe Black Sea or Asia for 2012.

 

Kathy

[Andy]

Hi Paul !

 

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Im glad that you had a great time on Azamara Quest. Welcome Home !

[TRIANDA]

Hi, Marsha & Paul & Kathy & Jack,

 

May we reiterate that John & I also count this Our FIFTH Cruise with "Azamara" four on "Quest" and one on "Journey", as our most memorable. The staff, people we met, wonderful places we visited, are lingering long in our minds.

We also hope to book another cruise with Azamara when hopefully there are more 12-14 night cruises in the Med. and the price is right!

Nice to have met you.

 

John & Caroline:)

[Emdee]

Paul can you compare this one with Regent - I have seen you on the Regent board. Thanks. I am on my first Azamara cruise next week.

[Paulchili]

Hi Paul, I'm sorry we never got to meet on board. How was your side trip to Meteora? How did you get there from Athens? How many of the monestaries did you get to see?

 

Hi Eileen,

I too am sorry that we did not get to meet onboard. It was a very port intensive cruise and with us being gone for 2 days (including a sea day), that reduced the chances for social interactions. Maybe next time..

Our trip to Meteora was better than even anticipated. We had full 24 hrs there with great sunny weather; we went to 3 monasteries and of course saw them all from various vantage points. What a magical place!

All went smoothly until our early AM flight from Athens to Malta was cancelled last minute. It worked out OK as we flew from Athens to Rome to Malta; we still got to Valleta by 1 PM (we were there before) and spent an afternoon in town. We got a refund from Air Malta for the cancelled flight but the new flight was about $ 265 more - will claim it from trip insurance (with any luck).

[Paulchili]

Paul,

 

Thanks for your review. Jack and I felt this was our best cruise ever and like you, it was our first but not last Azamara cruise. I posted our reasons on Eileen's review thread. The entire rollcall contributed to our pre-cruise and/or onboard cruise experience, but I would like to especially thank you, Eileen, Toni, and Terry for all the information and assistance you provided for us on the rollcall thread, for offers of assistance, and for port arrangements. These contributions were very valuable to many of us in helping to streamline and finalize plans and maximize enjoyment of the ports.

Now we know you are back from your cruise/land vacation, we can email you. Actually, I was hoping that the Quest Holy Land cruise October 26th would be an itinerary that would interest Marsha & you. We know you have done it/been there before, so it probably is not what you are looking for but we can always hope. I was hoping Eileen & David would consider too but I know they like ports where they can drive or easily navigate on their own. A couple other couples on our rollcall said no when I asked on the cruise, but Sam & his daughter Lindsey may go on the same Holy Land cruise. The Holy Land cruise fits well with our cruise schedule for next year (although we have to cancel another cruise to make room), and all ports except Athens & Rhodes would be new for us. Then maybe Black Sea or Asia for 2012.

 

Kathy

 

Hi Kathy,

We are back physically but not mentally yet. Between the jet lag and all the catching up we have to do after an extended trip, it will be a while before things are back to normal.

The Holy Land itinerary is very nice but having been to all the ports before and to Egypt 3 times (and the long trips from Cairo/Alexandria), do not make this an attractive cruise for us. I am sure you will enjoy it as they are mostly new ports for you.

Hope we can cruise together again or maybe when you come to SF, we can see you here.

[Paulchili]

Hi, Marsha & Paul & Kathy & Jack,

 

May we reiterate that John & I also count this Our FIFTH Cruise with "Azamara" four on "Quest" and one on "Journey", as our most memorable. The staff, people we met, wonderful places we visited, are lingering long in our minds.

We also hope to book another cruise with Azamara when hopefully there are more 12-14 night cruises in the Med. and the price is right!

Nice to have met you.

 

John & Caroline:)

 

Hi Caroline and John,

We enjoyed meeting you as well, however briefly, and hope our paths will cross again. I love your avatar (?), especially now that I know what it means.

Happy sailings!

[Paulchili]

Paul can you compare this one with Regent - I have seen you on the Regent board. Thanks. I am on my first Azamara cruise next week.

 

Regretfully not as yet since our first Regent cruise is not until November.

I hope you will enjoy Azamara, as long as you take it for its own merit and don't spend too much time comparing every detail with Regent. After all, they are different products at different prices.

Please let us know what your take on this is after your cruise.

Thanks.

[meow!]

... all those who have cruises booked or are thinking about booking on Azamara - relax, as you have nothing to worry about...

So glad to hear from you, Paulchili and happy to know all is well. We are going on the Silver Spirit some time next month, and then looking forward to the Journey for Copenhagen - Norwegian Coast - Iceland next August.

 

We value your insight on this board, and feel good that you enjoyed your voyage .. meow!

[Emdee]

Hi Paulchili,

I will definitely not obscess. Someone compared Azamara to the Radisson of old ( precursor of Regent) and I wondered if that was the case. We are ardent cruisers, love Regent but still love the mega ships. As each has different charms and caters to every mood.

 

I hope to love Azamara .

[Paulchili]

So glad to hear from you, Paulchili and happy to know all is well. We are going on the Silver Spirit some time next month, and then looking forward to the Journey for Copenhagen - Norwegian Coast - Iceland next August.

 

We value your insight on this board, and feel good that you enjoyed your voyage .. meow!

 

meow,

please post your thoughts on the Spirit (on the Silversea board) as we have a cruise booked on her in the future and I too value your sober judgement. I will look for it.

I hope you will enjoy Azamara as much as we did (of course it is not Silversea, but then neither is the price, especially as we paid "old" Azamara prices).

Paul

[meow!]

meow,

please post your thoughts on the Spirit (on the Silversea board) as we have a cruise booked on her in the future and I too value your sober judgement.

Thanks for the compliment. We hope to post some time in December ..meow!

[piscean]

Hi Paul

 

It was lovely to meet both you and Marsha and a shame we didnt get to talk about Meteora a place I have now decided we should visit sometime. However we thoroughly enjoyed Delphi.

We also enjoyed Azamara despite a few 'niggles' and when they have longer and more interesting ( We have done many of the Med ports several times) intineraries we look forward to sailing with them again.

Maybe we will meet on Regent? We did St Petersburg with them in July, an excellent trip and the included excursions were a plus. The food, for us, was not as good as Azamara!

 

Kathy

 

We went with AZ to the Holy Land last October, again a wonderful time. Look up the Roll Calls there is some interesting information, particuarly guides in Israel, on them.

Thank you again for all your hard work.

 

If Florence is 'looking' sorry we didnt get to say goodbye it was lovely to meet you and maybe we will meet on a future AZ cruise?

 

Also 'The Doughnut Couple' and friends and many others. Lovely to meet you.

 

That is what makes AZ so special, the chance to meet lots of nice people!

Carol

[takemewithyou]

Carol - the "Doughnut Couple" say....it was lovely to meet you and your DH, also! :) We enjoyed chatting with you. I may shoot you an e-mail soon!

 

Paulchili: Sorry we didn't get to meet you onboard, but I enjoyed all your posts on our roll call. Maybe we will have the opportunity to sail with you some other time. Glad you enjoyed your first Azamara cruise. Some day we may try Oceania.

 

Kathy

[Paulchili]

Paulchili: Sorry we didn't get to meet you onboard, but I enjoyed all your posts on our roll call. Maybe we will have the opportunity to sail with you some other time. Glad you enjoyed your first Azamara cruise. Some day we may try Oceania.

 

Kathy

 

+1.

Maybe next time :).

Paul