Azamara Quest Review

4.0 / 5.0
724 reviews

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Review for the Western Mediterranean Cruise on Azamara Quest
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Raven Glass
First Time Cruiser • Age 80s

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Sail Date: Nov 2008

First may I say that my husband and I have cruised for over 30 years and being British and retired we quite enjoy the pomp and ceremony which used to be the norm on certain ships 30 years ago even though we were then in our mid-30's. And so here we go, the flight arrangements to reach the port of Civitavecchia meant no sleep on Friday the 7th and a change of aircraft in Munich. Lufthansa proved to be as good as it gets, spacious seating and excellent food (despite criticism from a few fellow passengers and we arrived on time and were met as planned. All luggage present and correct and we were in our cabins very quickly. We were travelling with friends and I had taken care of all the holiday arrangements for the 2 couples. Luggage weight was limited and therefore we had unpacked within 15 mins but cabin 6090 had a different butler to us next door (6093) and their man spent a further 15 mins giving all necessary info to his guests. Our man was in and out in 30 secs. We have since learned in our class of cabin a choice of pillows etc and laundry allowance was par for the course, not so for us. For my husband Trifon the butler was not a problem but I was uncomfortable with him the whole of the cruise. Daily flowers stopped after 10 days, sometimes no fresh water and when I rang the service number as requested to order a sudoku game he tapped on the door and asked "Can I do something for you" I started to apologize because I did not expect it to be delivered at once until I realized the sudoku was in fact on the tray in front of him....what was that about? We found the Windows, where we ate breakfast most mornings, excellent that first day and throughout the cruise, also the poolside cooking and menu was extremely good. I could not however recommend Windows as an evening dinner venue. It was still a lunchtime buffet style menu. We ate in Discoveries the first night and it was OK. First day sailing is never to be taken as a pattern for the next 13 days and this was indeed the case. We booked the Aqualina for Sunday and the Prime C for Monday. My husband had the Lamb and declared it was the best he had eaten, we three were not overly impressed, it was OK. The Prime C was 5* plus. The staff were excellent and the food mouthwateringly delicious. So we booked Aqualina for later in the holiday - our mates wanted to savour the lamb - but we ate at the Prime C on several nights all of which encouraged us to tip more than the required 5$ per person - until the last evening. We had managed to have a table in the same area close to the bar and with the same service lady. Maria was due off the ship the following day and had such a different attitude I felt compelled to ask who had upset her. She said no-one but the change in service was from 5* to 1*. The table became empty at 8.30 but it was 20 mins later before Maria set it ready for us and then only after help from the bar tender whom we also had a good rapport with. By the time we actually sat down only one other table had diners so no atmosphere and 3 large trays of dirty glassware/crockery collected was piled around us instead of being taken to the kitchens. However all meals in the Prime C were on a par with its name sake - the Bellagio restaurant - Prime - in Las Vegas which has a reputation of one of the finest. Said barman, Angelo, was a delight quite happily taking instructions of the odd cocktails he had not heard of. After one night in the SUN VIEW cabins it became clear the ships engines, if not in the room, were certainly not a million miles away. We four bleary eyed guests - no sleep on Friday due to travel arrangements were now 2 nights with very little sleep. At 20 to 40 we could have coped but now 65 years old we were a little jaded.We presented ourselves in reception first thing Sunday morning and were advised a move would be possible. 1 hour later we returned to our cabins and our travelling companions had indeed received a phone message to say a room was available, same class cabin at the front of the ship. I went to reception and the extremely arrogant young man on the desk, who obviously felt he had been troubled enough for one day, told me "I left a message on both phones and we only have one room available" . I pointed out there was no message on my phone and I asked to see the head of guest relations. "Gary" appeared most upset by his staffs' attitude but the fact remained there was no suitable cabin. I offered to pay for an upgrade and the reply was that was definitely not necessary - if we had anything else we would move you. All four penthouse cabins were "Bingo'd" off over the next few days, one right around my corner. There were less than 560 passengers on a ship that holds some 694. No one will convince me only lower class cabins were free. I was offered sleeping arrangements in a small boxlike cabin on the floor above and halfway down the ship???????? I declined. Thereafter if the ship docked or someone shall we say attempted to dock before 8am forget about sleep. Vibration we can handle, having sailed one way or another around most of the world, that is not a problem but hearing a 30,000 ton ship being reversed, shunted sideways, forwards everywhichway at least 15 times early one morning is no fun at all. This ship was beautiful when we boarded but after only one week most of it's paintwork was gone from its' sides and it was covered it scrapes and tire marks from the dock side. Even the comedians were making references to the "Captains driving". I think Turkish Gulet captains should offer lessons. The various stops were, on the whole good, but we found Chios pretty depressing. We did take a taxi around for a 2 hour tour but back in the town it was bad. I also think Kusadasi an excellent swap for Canakkale. Maybe Mamaris could be substituted for Chios? Overall the Quest is clean, friendly and for the most part the food was simply the best. The daily entertainment staff were very good and efficient. The songsters we felt were another story. The Back to Broadway show was like wailing banshees apart from the fact none of us could name more than 2 tunes, and me an ex-amateur nightclub singer. I feel more language education is required. As soon as you veer from the everyday words the staff are perplexed and out of their depth. Not fair on them or your guests. We found Abigail the drinks waitress extremely pleasant and Jean-Michel very informative. We are well aware American humor is very different from English but having been lured into the Lookout for Jim Badgers "ONE MAN SHOW". The only show we saw was him shaking hands with the elderly ladies he had befriended. He appeared at 10.45, he sat at 10.55 and he disappeared at 11.20....Wow What a show!  I found it rather disconcerting to have a couple of the higher crew members say, rather proudly, "Azamara has come a long way in 12 months and we are still learning". My reply was I did not expect to be paying for a learning curve on a ship billed as A LUXURIOUS BLAST FROM THE PAST. When we booked the cruise we were not aware of the casual dress code. We four did in fact keep the British Flag flying, always dressing for dinner, never appearing in restaurants in shorts etc. We had been advised the dress code reflected the American market - Country Casual - (can only hazard a guess at the country) and boy did it show, not only in their dress but I have to say manners are definitely not on the school curriculum. Not ONCE did we hear the words PLEASE or THANK YOU when addressing restaurant or bar staff. My husband and I were actually complimented by fellow American travellers for giving a front row bus seat up for a gentleman in a wheelchair accompanied by his wife. I politely said "We are British - it is normal" The price of drinks is still a bone of contention for ALL. 2 tables only within our view had wine on them at dinner, one couple shared a bottle of beer! As my husband says... to serve 2 cokes it costs 72 cents to serve the cheapest bottle of wine and a beer costs 5.76$. Why? Is it more difficult? I think not. Also if this is the norm now on all cruise lines is this not a CARTEL. After many years and many cruises with both Celebrity and Royal Caribbean from the Century - beautiful ship, fabulous crew and amazing food - through Galaxy, Explorer, Voyager, Constellation and Infinity to name a few the Quest will definitely be the last, let us see how far Celebrity go with their American market...oh yes before I forget....One thing they were quite correct about that was reverting to the old style of cruising, after paying an inflated price for this fabulous sun view cabin with this large verandah which had table, chairs and sunbed we found none of it could be used until after 3 pm, if docked,....the reason? a downfall of soot from the funnel, rather a lot, everyday, plus pieces of carpet from the decks above which were having new carpet laid and of course the odd cigarette butt!!! I remember back in the seventies on the much beloved Epirotiki ship, The Atlas, anyone sunbathing on the decks had to shower at least once an hour but hey it was all so new and exciting. I certainly did not expect the backward trend to be quite so black!

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