Juandebowwow

Most of the folks posting here are likely much more experienced with the various cruise lines than us so I’ll take your word for it. Guess I’ll just have to pack a folding camp chair next time I board an A cruise (nice problem to have 😆).

We did our first Azamara cruise a month ago, two week South American itinerary on Quest, and had a wonderful time. It was our first cruise since 2019 and we’d previously cruised on Celebrity and NCl. We found Azamara to be in a totally different league. Amazing service, smaller ship but classy/ comfortable/ clean/ well maintained. Much better food than bigger ships, included wine/ beer quite drinkable and plenty of options and good lectures on sea days. Staterooms seemed about the same as bigger ships. Loved the fact that we were never nickled & dimed. Loved the option of self service washing a load of laundry during mid-cruise for free. Only criticism is the archaic “wait in line / index card” specialty restaurant reservation system that has to be done when you first board the ship - a grade schooler with a laptop could bring this system into the 21st century in under an hour! Azamara please fix this !!!!!

Apologies for not remembering/ giving credit to Captain Lyddby, not only a competent ship master but also a charming host and very funny man in the Lier’s Club game show.

There was quite a bit of chatter on this board in the past months about the “failed coil/ port engine” issue in the Quest. I have no direct knowledge about the technical status of this rumor but I can say that when we were near/at Puerto Montt on 1/24-1/25, the Master of the Ship (captain) announced that a specialist boarded the ship to assist/ certify repairs and afterwards the prop wash from both port and starboard engines appeared to be equal and speeds were up in the 20-21 knot range so I would assume everything got resolved. I was really impressed with the transparency and frequency of communication from the captain during this minor bump in the road. We had a fabulous cruise on the Quest, wishing safe travels to you!

We just finished our first Azamara cruise on Tues, the Quest Chilean Fjords (Santiago to BA). We previously cruised on Celebrity and NCL before the pandemic, this was our first since 2019. Our impressions: 1. Azamara exceeded our expectations. Classy, non-glitzy, well maintained ship, nice size, incredibly good service, no nickel & diming. The entire staff was wonderful every single day. 2. The veranda stateroom felt about the same size as every other ship we’ve been on. Shower/bath was fine unless you’re super obese. Cabin storage excellent and plenty of real hangers. Good bed and TV. 3. Food was better than Celebrity and NCL. All my meals were excellent except for two (avoid the veal cordon blue and pork based Greek thing). Small portions which we like, we never left hungry. House wines were quite drinkable (good Syrah, SB, Rose, ok Chardonnay). Bread & Butter Pudding was incredible!!!! 4. Entertainment very good to so-so. The eight lectures by Col. Mike Ryan were really interesting. On sea days, wife attended several craft classes and I enjoyed a wine tasting event. Lots of options on sea days. Pool/ two jacuzzi’s were small but not over crowded. 5. We had a minor engine problem near Puerto Montt and missed out on Puerto Chacabuco but Azamara compensated us with pretty a generous refund (we took the 15% FCC option). We’re also coming home with a $900 credit card credit, not too shabby! 6. The White Night Party and Azamazing Evening in Montevideo were an absolute blast. 7. Fellow passengers: mostly well-educated friendly seniors, made good friends with two European couples, all fun courtesy classy folks to travel with. We had so much fun we booked two more trips with Azamara in ‘25. John