Update from 2/6/2010 Hong Kong to Singapore aboard the Quest

[coyboy1971]

Hello everyone! We're currently docked for two nights in Bangkok and have checked into a Silom area hotel for a couple of nights enjoying the famous restaurants and nightlife of this remarkable city. Since our hotel has free internet (as opposed to $0.65/min on the Quest), I thought I'd post an update. We are absolutely loving things so far...

 

First of all, the Quest is a wonderful ship. Every good thing you read on these boards is true, and the few complaints I've seen don't seem to stand up regarding the ship itself. Of course, we're lucky to be in a Royal Suite (soon to renamed Club Ocean Suites) on deck seven forward. The suite is huge and has the feel of a Ritz-Carlton one bedroom, 1.5 bath suite. We received a complimentary bottle of Mumm Cordon Rouge for sail-away, and complimentary liters of Absolut and Dewars with mixers as suite guests. (They will gladly switch out the liquor for another selection of comparable value if you don't favor vodka or scotch.) There is no stereo or ipod dock in the suite, so bring your portable speakers or CDs to play on the DVD player, if you like.

 

Our Head Butler, Alwyn, Butler Giri, and Steward Adolpho have gone above and beyond every day. For our anniversary, Alwyn made homemade hearts and tied them to ballons with ribbons and made a "balloon forest" to surprise us when we returned for dinner. At dinner in Aqualina (the hands down best dining on the ship, though all is superb), there was even a special cake for us.

 

Take the time to get to know the bar servers. Bartender Wayan, and servers Maria, Jimson, Nicolas, Angkara, and Ernesto know us by name and ensure that even when we're high up on Deck 11 for sun, that we don't go thirsty! They also keep us informed of the daily location of the 2 for 1 happy hour.

 

The Cruise Critic social was on the first sea day, and we received coffee, pastries, and mimosas. Captain Smith attended, along with all of the department heads (F&B, HR, Safety, etc.). Captain Smith, at age 38, is young, smart, witty, and loved by the crew and guests. He and his officers are frequently mingling, and very affable. Bridge tours are by invitation only - as a suite guest we received one on the second sea day. Officer cadet Carlos lead the tour, assisted by 2nd Officer Marius. They have said hello to us every time we have seen them since - a nice touch!

 

The precautions around hand-washing and sanitation have been ratcheted up since Danang port. Captain Smith has been very transparent about this activity (apparently a small number of guests with GI issues) and assures us that the ship is in a good state of health, but reminds how important it is to use good handwashing and hand sanitizers, especially when ashore.

 

Finally, our one complaint. We are not fond of Cruise Director John Howell at all. He seems to be insincere at best. On the first sea night we saw him in the Looking Glass loung and spoke to him. He left around 12:30 a.m. while we danced to the great DJ until about 2:30 a.m. The next day, he saw us again, apparently had no clue who we were, and lied to us saying he was soooo tired because he danced in the Looking Glass until 3:30 in the morning. Huh?!?! About midway through the cruise, he did a horrid "cabaret" act with Jim Badger, who seems to be a "Don Rickles" class of "entertainer." They made no less than five stereotypical homophobic "jokes" of the "don't look at me that way" and "don't touch me that way" variety while butchering an Ira Gershwin tune. We walked out, and have not been to any of the entertainment venues where either John or Jim are performing since. There are no less than 6 gay couples on board, including my partner and myself, so we made a complaint to the Hotel Director. It will be interesting to see how they respond...minor requests have been immediately and exceedingly addressed so far. (The next two Azamara Quest sailings are all-gay Atlantis charters - the staff are very excited and we have not experienced any signs of homophobia from anyone else on board.)

 

That being said, Asst. Cruise Director Kelsey is super! Harpist Mary-Amanda, and Guitarist Germann are wonderful musicians who perform at small venues (Mosaic, Discoveries Lounge), and lecturer John Fleming is fantastic.

 

So, with the exception of the off-color/offensive jokes from the CD, this cruise is proving to be an absolutely wonderful experience, and we plan to explore another Azamara sailing in 2011.

[coyboy1971]

I almost forgot: be sure to meet the delightful Cellar Master, Stephanie. Her wine tastings are a lot of fun, and she puts together special wine discounts at each one - up to 30 percent off the wine list price. She is hosting a special wine dinner on the last sea night. I will include it in my review. The Quest has about 14,000 bottle on board with some excellent French, California, Australian/NZ values under $45.

 

Also, we notified Guest Relations when we boarded in Hong Kong that we would need our passports in Bangkok to check into our hotel. They were wonderful and expedited them for processing in Bangkok and we had them one hour after docking. Its fun seeing the Vietnam and Cambodian visas that the ship handled behind the scenes. It is handy, but not necessary, to bring 4x6 cm passport photos for the Cambodian visa. We did not have them, so the crew just photocopied our passport pics, which was just fine apparently. The Quest is great about making all these little details painless.

[uktog]

Glad to hear you are having a wonderful trip. John Fleming is without doubt the best on board port lecturer I have ever heard - he really helped make our trip very memorable last year as we quickly developed such a great appreciation of each port before we arrived. He and his wife were on one of our shore excursions and they were a lovely couple.

Last saw Wayan on the Mercury - assuming he is the same chap - he was really friendly and attentive

Do continue to enjoy your trip

A

[DrKoob]

(The next two Azamara Quest sailings are all-gay Atlantis charters - the staff are very excited and we have not experienced any signs of homophobia from anyone else on board.).

 

Loved your review and thanks for all the good info but that fact that the next two Quest sailings are all gay Atlantis charters is certainly news to those of us who board her in Singapore on February 20 the day you disembark. I would hate to think that the 40+ people on our CC roll call will all be turned away. :D Maybe you have your dates wrong?

 

Jim

[fPetrarca]

The two back-to-back Atlantis charters run from March 20-April 9. Crews generally love them because the crowd is much younger and the tips much larger.

[suec12]

Glad you are enjoying your cruise! I'm always looking for food details...you mention the food is superb...any particular recommendations? Will the waiters advise you as to which menu items are extra tastey? Are some of the chioces local dishes? We are cruising in May, hoping to make the best of our voyage cuisine wise! Thanks!

[coyboy1971]

Yes, you're right - our head butler thought it was the next back-to-back cycle, but I checked the Atlantis Events website and it's March 20-April 9.

 

 

The two back-to-back Atlantis charters run from March 20-April 9. Crews generally love them because the crowd is much younger and the tips much larger.

[coyboy1971]

Aqualina has a signature duo of lobster - choose a tail prepared broiled, steamed, or thermidor and you also get a lobster pot pie. The waiters always make recommendations of the specials - usually fresh fish items. There is definitely a cultural influence from the itinerary, but standards are always available for weary tastebuds.

 

There have been cooking demonstrations in Prime C around 10 or 11 a.m. on most sea days, including one sushi-making class.

 

 

 

 

 

Glad you are enjoying your cruise! I'm always looking for food details...you mention the food is superb...any particular recommendations? Will the waiters advise you as to which menu items are extra tastey? Are some of the chioces local dishes? We are cruising in May, hoping to make the best of our voyage cuisine wise! Thanks!

[coyboy1971]

Also, be sure to check out lunch in Discoveries on sea days... the dining room is very uncrowded at lunch on our cruise, and the food has been wonderful. We had an exceptional "****ake and goat cheese macaroon" for an appetizer one day, and duck consomme with noodles was a nice twist on Vietnamese pho.

 

It seems to indicate that they will reflect the local cuisine on your cruise.

 

Enjoy your trip! If he is on board for your trip, we have loved Mr. I. Gedi (Bali) as our headwaiter and Theodora (Romania), his second, in Discoveries.

 

 

Glad you are enjoying your cruise! I'm always looking for food details...you mention the food is superb...any particular recommendations? Will the waiters advise you as to which menu items are extra tastey? Are some of the chioces local dishes? We are cruising in May, hoping to make the best of our voyage cuisine wise! Thanks!

[coyboy1971]

Hello! Last sea day before arrival at Singapore. Had a terrific sit-down with CD John Howell last evening over cocktails in the Looking Glass to clear up our concerns with the show a few nights back. Chalk it up to unrehearsed ad lib that went astray. We spent almost an hour and half with Mr Howell and feel like he went above and beyond to make amends. We're very, very happy.

 

Last nights performance by Australian singer Janine Reed was smashing. She took several songs from the Shirley Bassey songbook and brought down the house. A must see if she's on your itinerary.

 

Began the evening with a private dinner for suite guests hosted by Captain Smith, Chief Engineer Baltsavias, Hotel Director Winkler, and Staff Captain Ikiadis in the Drawing Room. Eight courses prepared by Executive Chef Mauboussin with deliciously matched wines. Mary-Amanda played on the harp, taking the elegance of the dinner to new heights. If you're in a Penthouse or Royal Suite, you can't miss this dinner!

 

Azamara has far exceeded our expectations! We'll be sad to say goodbye.

[Marie-Claude]

Glad you got to 'clear the air' with John... I was a bit concerned about your earlier comments as I have friends sailing with you... Having sailed with John last year, I was upset that he had been 'inconsiderate' as we really enjoyed - so very happy to read your report...

 

That Suite dinner sounds absolutely lovely... we've seen the room being set-up for that dinner on our last cruise and were very jealous!! Lucky you!

 

Enjoy the rest of the cruise!

MC

[little britain]

Great reviews - my mouth is watering already....only 13 months to go!

 

Would really appreciate if you could detail where you docked in each port and how you got out of the port into town, were taxis allowed etc and what you did as always useful to learn off other's experiences.

[uktog]

So glad you managed to clear the air with John. Knowing him I am sure he was very unhappy that he offended you as he is a very genuine person

Glad it has been a good cruise, you have been reminding me why I love Azamara Quest in your posts and why I want to redo that itinerary again one day

Lovely to hear Jason Ikiadis is on board as well, he is great fun - last time we saw him he was going on leave to get to know his gorgeous son who at theage of 16 weeks joined him for the last few days of the cruise - he and Captain Carl make a great team

A

[trippa35]

Hello! Last sea day before arrival at Singapore. Had a terrific sit-down with CD John Howell last evening over cocktails in the Looking Glass to clear up our concerns with the show a few nights back. Chalk it up to unrehearsed ad lib that went astray. We spent almost an hour and half with Mr Howell and feel like he went above and beyond to make amends. We're very, very happy.

 

Last nights performance by Australian singer Janine Reed was smashing. She took several songs from the Shirley Bassey songbook and brought down the house. A must see if she's on your itinerary.

 

Began the evening with a private dinner for suite guests hosted by Captain Smith, Chief Engineer Baltsavias, Hotel Director Winkler, and Staff Captain Ikiadis in the Drawing Room. Eight courses prepared by Executive Chef Mauboussin with deliciously matched wines. Mary-Amanda played on the harp, taking the elegance of the dinner to new heights. If you're in a Penthouse or Royal Suite, you can't miss this dinner!

 

Azamara has far exceeded our expectations! We'll be sad to say goodbye.

 

yes i agree the best show for the whole cruise was Janine reed..she was natural and powerful and very very loveable...what a great show she has and a really nice person as i met her after her show a few times on deck and she was so very natural and friendly