My husband and I (same sex couple) chose Azamara on the recommendation of close friends, and we were not disappointed! I have been on only one other cruise, being a Royal Caribbean about 10 years ago, and I swore to never cruise again. With 3,000+ passengers, many with unruly children, I could barely ever find a quiet spot or even a deck chair during the entire cruise. We were forced to eat at large tables at pre-appointed times with people that rarely talked to us. Not the case with Azamara. We boarded the Quest, and from the beginning, it was like an exotic vacation in a private resort. NO kids onboard! Deck chairs whenever you wanted one! Table for 2 in all restaurants! No one looked at us as anything but a loving couple enjoying their cruise. Heaven! And the cabin (a club veranda) was roomy and comfortable. Our cabin steward, Giri, was a real professional and was available for us any time and answered every question or request with a smile. The entire staff was fantastic and friendly and we enjoyed all of the public spaces and restaurants. Every time we returned to our cabin, it was spotless, towels replaced, impeccably clean at all times. Our favorite experience was breakfast on the veranda each morning, delivered exactly on time with a white table cloth and silver service. An amazing touch. We especially enjoyed the 2 specialty restaurants on board. On and off the ship in ports was a breeze and we were always provided with maps of port cities. We did all excursions on our own, so can’t comment on those provided through Azamara, but we did hear some complaints from fellow passengers about hiccups in their itineraries. Our only complaints, and they are few, was we asked for a second umbrella (one was provided in stateroom) during a drippy day in Monte Carlo, and you would have thought we asked for a kidney! We waited at the departure point on the ship for 15-20 minutes while staff phoned each other, etc., until finally they rather reluctantly gave us a second umbrella. 2 rather well built guys don’t fit well under one! Also, our Azamazing Night in Livorno was not so amazing. The 4 tenors that we were promised in the opera house became 4 sopranos that just “screeeeeeeched” for over an hour, and it was painful. One of the singers kept giving dirty looks and gestures to the sound man, I guess her mic wasn’t up loud enough. Anyway, a long wait to get on and off buses and a long walk through town to the opera for nothing. It was supposed to be in a historic opera house which we found out was completely destroyed in WW II and rebuilt in the 40’s. Nothing special. The final faux pas was that NO ONE bid us “farewell”, “thanks”, “come again”, “thanks for choosing Azamara”, NOTHING upon leaving the ship at the end of the cruise. That surprised us most, as everyone was so friendly and accommodating on the rest of the cruise. We felt as though we were thrown off at 7 AM and that was that. All of these things were inconsequential in hindsight as the rest of the cruise on Azamara Quest was above par in all respects. If we choose to cruise again in the future, it will be with Azamara!