We sailed in September-October on a four week cruise Montreal-New Orleans on the Azamara Quest, under charter by a consortium of Australian travel agents.. As far as I am aware, there was no advertising of this charter on the Azamara website, which was a pity because I am sure many Americans would have appreciated the opportunity to sail down their east coast. The major benefit would have been more rooms sold at full price, instead of the generous last-minute deals, which no doubt necessitated the charter company's cost-cutting. However, if Azamara was prepared to have its brand undermined because of what was clearly a poor relationship between it and the charter company, then that is the product presented to we first-time passengers, and the experience on which I comment. The rooms on the Quest are small and we had to walk sideways between the end of the bed and wall-mounted TV. The upright chair and coffee table were too heavy for regular movement ... but to use one, the other had to be repositioned. The curved sofa was only comfortable for one person to sit; its shape and size did not fit its corner placement, and the best place to watch the TV was from the bed. The designer of these ill-chosen pieces only needed to spend one night to know how unsuitable they are. The bathroom was minute and had no extraction. For a relatively small ship, 700 passengers, I found it impersonal. Middle management was invisible and obviously has no role in engaging with the customer ... except for the marketing people who, in a few ports, invited travel agents into the main guest lounge and spruiked their product. Blinds were lowered, a microphone and AV presentation used. How dismissive of we passengers using the lounge, when two empty restaurants were available to them to conduct business. The cruise director daily produced a long list of activities, most of which were “unhosted”. This was my first cruise where Bridge was not arranged; on ships of only 300 passengers, there can be a hardcore group of 30-40, especially on seas days. In poor or cool weather when the outer decks could not be used, the main dining room and cafeteria were over-crowded and noisy and, over a month, with too few daily changes, the a la carte menus became ordinary. The food was generally okay, but the superior meals were in the two speciality restaurants at an extra $60 a head. Standard alcohol was included, but a number of the wines were not acceptable. To overcome its aging ships, Azamara promotes its Land Discoveries as setting it apart from its competitors. Most of the 20 or so ports and shore excursions on our cruise were tremendous, but attention to detail by the ship’s staff was missing, e.g. presumably to keep down the cost of coaches timeframes were tight, and we were too often moved at a fast pace by guides (who were often half the age of most passengers, but we all kept up); guides unnecessarily cut short some tours; aging coaches; dubious drivers (one who drove with only one fist on the wheel!) who often didn’t know the route; dirty windows which have spoiled photographs. The ship’s New York berth, altered from Manhattan to a remote wharf in New Jersey with a poor shuttle service, was a disaster, and totally spoiled what most would have regarded as the major port of the cruise. Presumably this was cost cutting, and was an absolute disgrace. I have noticed reference in a previous review of Azamara’s “dysfunctional” website, and dirty windows; comments I completely endorse. Having been told Azamara is viewed as a 5-star ship ... I don't think so. Read Less

Azamara Coastal California Voyage February 10-18 We were 2 couples from California who didnt wish to fly this time to get on a ship. We normally sail on Crystal and this time we tried Azamara. It was the worst experience ever ! The girls in Guest Relations were nasty , rude and useless. They seemed to be bothered every time you asked them a question. The staff in the main dining room (Discoveries) were all wonderful. The managers were all wonderful as well. Unfortunately the food got progressively worse as the cruise went on. The NY strip was thin and very bad quality meat. The chilean sea bass tasted like it had been frozen for a year ! We had stroganoff one evening served with rice ! C'mon, who serves stroganoff with rice ? There was never a lobster night either. Decks were shabby looking and public bathrooms smelled and some didnt even have toilet seats ! On Valentines evening there was a dessert buffet with lots of sweet confections and an unappealing lackluster ice sculpture ! The entire spread was broken down and removed after 1 hour while people were still dancing ! I asked where all the desserts were and one staff member said that they were told to remove everything !!! At the buffet during breakfast my husband and I opted for pancakes one morning. We asked for maple syrup. We were brought some artificial version of maple syrup. It was definitely not real maple syrup. It is clearly evident that Azamara is trying to come off as being a luxury cruise line, when in fact they are anything but that. Not to have real maple syrup on a cruise ship ! Thats really tacky and inexcusable. Both the cream cheese and butter were not on ice and were not cold enough. (breeding ground for food borne illnesses). We noticed one of the staff members at the buffet picking his nose and then serving guests ! The entertainers were 2nd rate , including Max DiFaz a horrible pianist, and a guitarist named Simon Belair who was truly awful as well. The sound system by the pool was horrible with loud feedback all the time. This was like the amateur hour. It is quite obvious that Azamara doesnt really make preparations and and only cares about selling things to guests on board. There is constantly someone trying to sell you something on board to the point of ad nauseum. This cruise line is for inexperienced cruisers that think they are going on a luxury cruise. I will never ever listen to my travel agent again ! The only good thing about this cruise was Russ Thomas Grieve, the cruise director who is not only extremely talented but interacts with guests and seems to really care about making the passengers happy. I would never go on another Azamara cruise again nor would I recommend this company to my worst enemy ! Read Less