My partner and I have cruised several times before with P&O, Cunard, RCI and Celebrity. As it was a special birthday for me we thought we would step up the ladder a bit and try one of the perceived “more prestigious” cruise lines. The timing, along with an interesting and agreeable itinerary, led us to the Azamara Quest sailing from Nice on April 22nd. On our previous Celebrity Eclipse transatlantic cruise last November we made very good friends who decided to join us on this one also which was lovely.

My partner has since told me that he called Azamara in advance of the cruise to ask if there was something he could arrange in order to make my birthday experience a bit special. He was curtly told “Everything on Azamara is special Sir” and therefore there was nothing they could suggest. So obviously expectations were high!

After a couple of days pre-cruise stay in Nice (booked independently) we made our way to Nice port and were quickly aboard the Quest with little fuss around 12.30pm. We cleared security before boarding but the check-in formalities were taken care of in the Cabaret Lounge where we received a nice glass(or three!) of bubbly before making our way to the Windows Café for our buffet lunch. On our way to the Windows Café we had to run the usual gauntlet of sales opportunities with drinks packages, speciality restaurants, spa treatments and photographers all being touted. Read more