Azamara Quest Costa Rica-intensive cruise Jan. 15-25 Review

Azamara Quest Costa Rica-intensive cruise Jan. 15-25 Review

Just posted my blog and pictures from this wonderful cruise:

https://jazzbeauxcostaricacruise2018.wordpress.com

Here is the text of the review [last post on the blog]:

We enjoyed our first Azamara Quest cruise a year and a half ago in Norway, but this one topped it! The destination-intensive itineraries [both Norway and Costa Rica] are something that Azamara should be proud of!

The embarkation port had to be changed at the last minute [see details in the blog] and the AzAmazing Evening had to be moved onto the ship at the last minute – and everyone pitched in so beautifully that it all went off without a hitch; the entire staff and crew should be commended for this cruise! Also Azamara clearly incurred significant costs for both these moves, and that issue did not seem to impact their planning at all – their only concern was to give the passengers the luxury experience they were hoping for [and they did!].

Staff: Captain Carl is the best captain on any of our 16 cruises [including the one on the Erie Canal where I was the captain!]. Russ remains our favorite Cruise Director. We have never had a Hotel Director as approachable or charming as Philip. And the entire staff and crew of Azamara Quest are totally top notch.

This was Captain Carl’s last voyage on Quest as he prepares the renovation and launch of Azamara Pursuit, and it was touching to see how the series of ‘lasts’ affected him and his loyal staff. You can get a glimpse of this on his blog:

https://www.azamaraclubcruises.com/blog/desk-captain-carl

The Cruise World Owner’s Suite is a wonderful accommodation – the space, the layout, the storage, the balcony and the views, the quiet, the service: all top notch. Only two minor quibbles: the shower door leaks unless the ship is tilted just the right way [and once the tilt was quite opposite so a brief shower left a river running all the way to the cabin entrance!]; and while there are lots of mirrors in good locations, it would be a cherry on top to add a make-up mirror on an arm at the main bathroom sink.

Food: Discoveries [the MDR] is terrific. In fact it is so good that the specialty restaurants aren't significantly better – they should be upgraded [uSDA Prime beef in Prime C, Italian food that would satisfy a New Yorker in Aqualina]. The Indian food in Windows could be a little spicier [if you call it 'Vindaloo' it should burn the skin off the roof of my mouth!]. Gelato always had ice crystals, both in Windows and Discoveries [on our earlier cruise too] – it must be a bad machine that should be upgraded. One minor quibble about Discoveries is that we would prefer better butter and extra virgin olive oil rather than pesto and hummus with the bread, and would like to have some of the brown rolls from Windows in the basket selection at dinner.

Shops: We are not big-time shoppers so the small size of the shops on the Azamara ships isn’t normally a problem – but this time we had a lot of OBC to use up so we discovered how limited their selections are. That would have been manageable, but there were two snafus that cumulatively hurt a lot of passengers on this cruise. First, on the second to last night they were unable to restock the shelves because the watertight door on the storeroom was locked. Then to compound it, the brief opening hours on the last night [8:30-11:00 pm] were severely truncated when Quest docked very early – the shop then had to comply with the law and immediately cease all sales, even with passengers lined up at the register waiting to pay. [i’m sure Captain Carl had a good reason for docking early, especially after the problem getting into that same port at the beginning of our cruise, but it did have this unintended side effect.]

Entertainment: Between the small size of the stages and the small passenger count you aren’t going to find mega-resort ship type entertainment on any small ship. Azamara has done very well within these limitations, but except for Danzare the production shows really aren’t memorable enough that you want to see them again. So we weren’t distressed to learn that the entire entertainment program was going to be revamped shortly after this cruise. [We are distressed that the singers, dancers and some musicians won’t have jobs on Azamara, but hopeful that they will find places on other stages.] The featured performers on this cruise were hit [mostly] or miss [one]: Russ and Kevin's one-man shows and the violinist guest performer were all very good; the pianist/magician not so much. The announcement of the new entertainment scheme, which came out shortly after we got home, sounds promising.

The AzAmazing Evening and the White Night are unique entertainment activities that add a lot to Azamara. We are glad to hear that they will continue.

Casino: We never gamble unless we get a free stake [and then quit as soon as we are ahead a dollar or so…] so the elimination of live dealers won’t bother us – in fact we would prefer it if the casino would be shrunk and enclosed so that you aren’t forced to walk through it.

Art Auctions: Happy to report that they are gone! This was our biggest complaint on our previous Quest cruise, and the new approach is acceptably invisible. We didn’t ‘get’ the artistic style of the Artist in Residence but it was classy to have such a post and watching him paint was interesting.

Excursions: We didn’t book any excursions through the ship. We were able to observe them as we boarded our private-excursion minivans and small boats – and we were glad that we had so much more room to stretch out. Our itineraries also included far more than the ship excursions promised, within the same amount of time. We didn’t necessarily save a lot of money, but we got a much more personalized experience. This is one area where it doesn’t appear that Azamara is any better than its lower-priced corporate cousins.

Questionnaire: As soon as we got home we coincidentally received the Azamara questionnaire about adding ‘Veranda Plus’ cabins and the amenities that Azamara thinks might justify charging more for them – very scary! Private lounge: which space will they take away from the rest of us? VIP seating: so regular passengers feel like steerage. Celebrity can move toward this class system because their ships are bigger [and Edge is a new design with the class system built in] – but it will really ruin the ‘Club’ feel of the Azamara ‘Club’ Cruises. "Welcome home," except you non-elite passengers – you can use the service entrance around the back… [And yes, we were in a CW and see our future bookings at CC or better – but we still value the equality of today's Azamara.]

Summary: Azamara is now clearly our favorite cruise line. American Airlines not so much [we’re glad to be back on Delta for our next trip!]. Costa Rica is a beautiful country with lots of interesting wildlife and scenery, but one intensive visit like this was probably enough. Sharing his last voyage on Azamara Quest with Captain Carl was really special, and that did elevate this trip although it doesn’t replace Galapagos or the Camino de Santiago as life-changing experiences – but it was really nice and we’re glad we went.

Also if you haven't seen my blogs from earlier trips [link is in my signature, but some platforms don't show sigs], they're all here:

https://jazzbeauxblogs.wordpress.com

Thanks a lot for this comprehensive and balanced review!

Ivi

Delighted to read your very well balanced review and I will pop over to your blog for a look at the pictures. Yes, it was very good cruise and we certainly had some special moments with it being Captain Carls last on the Quest.

You are too modest to mention the wonderful job you did with our roll call! Over 100 members which made for a very sociable cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed our many private tours arranged through the roll call.

Thanks again and hope our paths cross again someday.

Host Jazzbeau,

I really enjoyed your Blog which I began reading on Monday night.

Very informative and a great read.

Thank you.

Keith

Delighted to read your very well balanced review and I will pop over to your blog for a look at the pictures. Yes, it was very good cruise and we certainly had some special moments with it being Captain Carls last on the Quest.

 

You are too modest to mention the wonderful job you did with our roll call! Over 100 members which made for a very sociable cruise and we thoroughly enjoyed our many private tours arranged through the roll call.

 

Thanks again and hope our paths cross again someday.

Totally agree with this. Thanks, Jazzbeau.

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We enjoyed our Costa Rica cruise last January.

Looks like yours was even better!

Thank you for your review.

Yes the Art Auctions disappeared some time ago a lot have reported that here, it is indeed a welcome change though I am sure there will be another revenue generator along soon :)

Did you know in the dining room you can have virgin olive oil and brown rolls, as with so much Azamara you just have to ask and they will get it for you and if you are there each night by about night 3 they will automatically bring it, thats what sets Azamara apart from elsewhere.

Its certainly an itinerary I hope to do one day soon, looked a good adventure

We were in the Owners Suite last May and had the same issue with water leaking from the shower and into the hallway. We were told they were aware of it and it would be corrected. What are they waiting for?

Goodness, that linked blog of yours is fantastic. Thats the benchmark for us all, for future reviews!!

We were in the Owners Suite last May and had the same issue with water leaking from the shower and into the hallway. We were told they were aware of it and it would be corrected. What are they waiting for?

Having travelled in both the Owners and Ocean suites, and experienced the unsuccessful efforts at resolving the shower leaks, it would be much easier for them to be declared as ‘wet rooms’ :D

I believe that the issue needs quite a bit of work for the solution to work and is a dry dock issue. I understand that it was tackled during Journeys dry dock in January so it will be interesting to here reports from those travelling in these rooms post dry dock.

Having travelled in both the Owners and Ocean suites, and experienced the unsuccessful efforts at resolving the shower leaks, it would be much easier for them to be declared as ‘wet rooms’ :D

I might have been able to cope with a wet room, but a wet toilet was just a bit much to bear.:D Transatlantic in April 2016 was a very interesting experience, until I got the hang of dam building with towels. The water was everywhere.

Phil

I believe that the issue needs quite a bit of work for the solution to work and is a dry dock issue. I understand that it was tackled during Journeys dry dock in January so it will be interesting to here reports from those travelling in these rooms post dry dock.

I’ll let you know in 4 weeks time:cool:

Thank you for your review and beautiful photographs which transported us to the times we have visited Costa Rica. Our first visit was in 2000, before American tourists had really begun to discover it. We stayed at the Arenal Observatory Lodge (not yet a resort!!) and we, too, were disappointed not to see the volcano. We also stayed at the Hotel Grano d'Oro, and dined in their beautiful courtyard. Costa Rica is indeed a beautiful place and I can just imagine that an intensive itinerary such as yours would be over the top!

Hi Host Jazzbeau, I too thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog with all the great pictures! It’s nice to put a face to your handle as well :D

And a big thank you for choosing Azamara as your favorite cruise line! That means so much to us.

Thank you for the review!

I have to completely agree with everyone...your blog and photos are wonderful. It was indeed a memorable cruise and we so enjoyed meeting you and DW and also Host Grandma Cruising (and her DH) Apart from my wonky ankle, this cruise was one of the most enjoyable we've had on Azamara. In your blog you captured all the wonderful moments...even dear Eyup, the butler, who wanted to "butle" us so badly (and I am afraid we disappointed him somewhat) and make sure we ate constantly!

The itinerary, Costa Rica intensive, was terrific, but it was the wonderful officers, crew, and staff on board who made the experience outstanding. And our roll call was definitely the largest, most active, and friendliest of any cruise. Hope to cruise with all of you again.

mare

Thanks for a great review. Just want to say that Captain Carl is awesome! Our very first Azamara cruise was Irish Seas on Quest in July 2016 and Captain Carl came to the Cruisecritic gathering and told us all about the Isle of Man which was one of our ports and his home! Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate much that day and it rained buckets—and Captain Carl acted like he felt personally responsible:). We’ll be on Pursuit’s maiden voyage and are so excited!

Thanks for a great review. Just want to say that Captain Carl is awesome! Our very first Azamara cruise was Irish Seas on Quest in July 2016 and Captain Carl came to the Cruisecritic gathering and told us all about the Isle of Man which was one of our ports and his home! Unfortunately the weather didn’t cooperate much that day and it rained buckets—and Captain Carl acted like he felt personally responsible:). We’ll be on Pursuit’s maiden voyage and are so excited!

I wish I could join you! Yes, Captain Carl is the best!

We enjoyed a similar itinerary (with PC) on Journey a couple of years ago. Looking forward to seeing your blog photos. Im also concerned about this spiriting away of lounges for private access, there are already too few places on AZ to “go” in the evenings as it is! Thankfully, being destination immersive, we could count on being in port late, or so tired, if nothing was interesting is going on, we go to bed!

Thanks for your review!