Edinburghgirl1

Totally agree with your comments however a survey is surely based on your individual experience of the product being surveyed in this case rating different aspects of the cruise out of 5. If it was only the odd person who thought the cruise didn’t meet their expectations surely the star ratings would be higher.

Personally I have experienced 4 other lines and still agree with the ratings given to Azamara based on my recent experience.

Obviously many don’t agree with you judging by the result of the survey!

After my first Azamara cruise in November this is likely how I would have scored them. I may have given an extra star for cabin but then we were in a Club Continent suite. Maybe things were different pre Covid but I think the scores given in this survey are pretty spot on for the current product on offer.

Thank you

We are taking our first cruise with Holland America next February and it’s a long one 35 nights. We will have been in San Diego for 4 nights when we board the Koningsdam. We will definitely need some laundry done and wondered what options would be open to us on such a long cruise in terms of cost.

On the Quest our bed was no where near the size of our super king at home. We actually asked the steward to split them into two singles as we didn’t think we’d sleep well in such a smaller bed than we’re used to.

I am aware of that. We sailed in November disembarked in December and I spoke to RCI in January. They were great to deal with unlike Azamara pre and post cruise customer service.

I to had occasion to call Azamara about a suitcase which was damaged on embarkation by the crew taking if the luggage.. I got no joy from calling the Azamara number so tried the Royal Caribbean one. They were excellent and took full ownership of the issue. When it was established the case could not be repaired they arranged a settlement to be made to my credit card.

I’m from Uk so were issued a visa free of charge on arrival.

On our cruise there was a “white Party” and Arabian Nights” party. There’s also a Silent Disco. The kids club is open 9.00am till 12.00pm.

That certainly wasn’t my experience of the Den on the Quest in fact quite the opposite. It was totally lacking any music except when the piano player appeared!

If you need any other information about Dubai or the ship just ask.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Great value for money. We only had 3,000 on board so might have thought different if ship had been full. Thought ship was very stylish, food was good service was good but not often with a smile like other cruise lines. Didn’t find the majority of the crew particularly friendly. Never had so many late nights on a cruise as entertainment went on much later than other lines. My drinks I found a bit limited but I coped lol.

Charging €79 euro for women when’s its free if you go on your own is a rip off in my book. I appreciate some people are nervous about doing things on their own but they are basically charging €79 for a bus there and back which is only €11 per person in a taxi!

Anyone going on this cruise do not book the Al Maya beach day through the ship. They charge €79 euro per person. If you go on your own it €22 euro return in a taxi. Ladies are free if you arrive before 12.00pm and if you have to pay it 200AED which is fully redeemable against food and drink on the Island. We arrived at 10.30am. The Costa busses arrived 15 mins later so we went over on the same boats. Costa are basically ripping folks off.

Update when checking in online hairdryer and straighteners were not listed as prohibited. Took both with no issues. Spoke to other passengers whilst onboard who also had brought theirs. They must scan cases as heard someone had a travelling kettle confiscated. Think the Costa website has just never been updated.

We left a tip in the speciality restaurants by adding it to the slip and a $5 a day tip to our steward and butler.

Taxis are the only thing that is cheap in Dubai. There were no shuttles provided.

There were shuttle busses at Doha which took you to the souk but there were only 3!!! We waited an hour to get on one. I would recommend just taking a taxi to maximise the short time you are in port here.

We just got off the Toscana last Friday. Taxis in Dubai are very cheap so no need to use Uber. Just head for the taxi rank at the airport where there at plenty of taxis waiting just make sure you get a regular taxi and don’t be persuaded to use one of the “VIP” ones which aren’t metered and charge 3 times the price. There are two cruise terminals in Dubai so make sure you ask for the Marina cruise terminal.

Just one and probably unlikely to book another. Not because of the air con issue i was merely pointing out that problems can be resolved just as quickly on larger ships. Just not our cup of tea!

We had an issue with our air con one evening when we returned to our cabin on the Celebrity Constellation last April. This was at 12.00am. We called guest services. An engineer was there within 10mins and cleared a blocked filter. The next day they called to check everything was sorted to our satisfaction and said they’d like to give us £300 future cruise credit for our inconvenience. So it’s not just small ships that have fast service and resolution. We had a similar issue on the Quest where our air con wasn’t cool enough. It took three phone calls and two days before the problem was resolved.

I would say the food in the MDR is no better than Celebrity but the food offerings around the ship including the buffet are better. The service may be a bit better and the officers are certainly more visible as it’s a much smaller ship. The pool area is very small and cramped on Azamara which I hated but if you’re not a sun worshiper it won’t bother you. The ship we were on, the Quest, looked very tired and lacking in general maintenance. Outwith the cabins and restaurants I didn’t feel the standard of cleanliness was too high either on Azamara this may be due to lack of staff. The included drinks package is not as good as the Classic package on Celebrity. We upgraded ours on board. I love Jed the fact Azamara has a free to use laundry room where you can access an iron. Overall i think in most areas Celebrity is better apart from food.

Personally I think what they are doing with the Ocean View cafe is a great idea. In 12 Celebrity cruises we used it for the first time in the evening on the Beyond in June. It was empty! Such a waste of food and staff. Makes sense to cut back in the evenings if it’s not being used but fail to see what this has got to do with the poor customer service two Azamara cruiser’s experienced on the Quest!