OK...take out the "flame throwers"..I'm going to tell you my "tale"...

[LuAnn]

OK...I KNOW that everyone has a different idea of what is "good" food. But...TBH...this last cruise on Journey..the Trans Atlantic...I was very disappointed in the food in the MDR....and I did speak to many others who felt the same way. We enjoyed all the buffets in the "Windows"...and the food in the "special dining areas" was excellent!!! Our 2 nights in "Prime C"...were amazing!!! BUT..if you can provide that kind of food in the "special restaurants" and even in the buffet...why can't you provide that in the MDR? We ate there 3 or 4 times...and each time..we were disappointed. Especially on the "surf & turf night"...which was the "White Night" as well...and the "beef" was the size of a large "Us Dollar"..and the "surf"...was so hard and tough...it was hard to even eat!!! We love AZ...and we are back for the spring T/A...but will we eat in the MDR...yes..to try and see if it is better than this last cruise...but...if not...we will not eat there again...and I have an "Open Passage"...so I do love AZ...and I have always thought their food was excellent..this time...not so much!!! And on T-Day???? Don't get me started!!! LuAnn

[Prefdavid]

OK...I KNOW that everyone has a different idea of what is "good" food. But...TBH...this last cruise on Journey..the Trans Atlantic...I was very disappointed in the food in the MDR....and I did speak to many others who felt the same way. We enjoyed all the buffets in the "Windows"...and the food in the "special dining areas" was excellent!!! Our 2 nights in "Prime C"...were amazing!!! BUT..if you can provide that kind of food in the "special restaurants" and even in the buffet...why can't you provide that in the MDR? We ate there 3 or 4 times...and each time..we were disappointed. Especially on the "surf & turf night"...which was the "White Night" as well...and the "beef" was the size of a large "Us Dollar"..and the "surf"...was so hard and tough...it was hard to even eat!!! We love AZ...and we are back for the spring T/A...but will we eat in the MDR...yes..to try and see if it is better than this last cruise...but...if not...we will not eat there again...and I have an "Open Passage"...so I do love AZ...and I have always thought their food was excellent..this time...not so much!!! And on T-Day???? Don't get me started!!! LuAnn

 

Have to agree with most of what you said above LuAnn. We had a great cruise but the MDR experience was not at the level we experienced last year on Quest and there seemed to be a more limited choice available but that might be our aging memory failing.

 

The dining we enjoyed in the Specialty restaurants and the Chef's table were excellent and it was a shame that this one aspect of the cruise was a little weak.

 

However we also bought an Open Passage so we'll be back.

[tv24]

Well LuAnn, you may get some flames back at you for your heart-felt posting. But I respect your courage for you comments. We were on the same cruise, and I will post a full review later, maybe this week. Food quality will be one of the things that I will comment on. We were lucky to have dined in the specialty restos most nights, and there we were quite happy, although we grew to be a bit bored of the menus (we should be called spoiled brats). But when we went to Discoveries for either lunch or dinner, we were indeed disappointed. Not as we remembered, and not as I have always raved to others who were shopping AZ as a possible future cruise. I will write more in my review. Windows and room service, on the other hand, were just fine, no complaints. And we had a terrific time and arrive in Miami fat and happy.

[Host Jazzbeau]

I hope you won't be flamed, because my impression of the Azamara forum is better than that. Now, on some other forums ... :eek:

[sollan]

OK...I KNOW that everyone has a different idea of what is "good" food. But...TBH...this last cruise on Journey..the Trans Atlantic...I was very disappointed in the food in the MDR....and I did speak to many others who felt the same way.

 

We where on the cruise before you and fully agree!!!

[Lottie A]

Luann, you have a perfectly valid opinion and I'm sure no-one will flame you for it. We may politely disagree with you though!

 

We were on Journey a month ago and had no problems at all with the food in the MDR or Windows. I would agree that it is more than time that the MDR menu's were revamped though. I can more or less recite the menu on any given day of the cruise now and that gets boring. We took the speciality Dining Package so had four meals in Aqualina or Prime C, which were superb. The Italian Night in Windows was also fantastic.

 

Maybe the variation in quality is due to different head chef's? Or perhaps because you were on a T/A there were no opportunities to load fresh produce?

[Bloodaxe]

Luann, you have a perfectly valid opinion and I'm sure no-one will flame you for it. We may politely disagree with you though!

 

We were on Journey a month ago and had no problems at all with the food in the MDR or Windows. I would agree that it is more than time that the MDR menu's were revamped though. I can more or less recite the menu on any given day of the cruise now and that gets boring. We took the speciality Dining Package so had four meals in Aqualina or Prime C, which were superb. The Italian Night in Windows was also fantastic.

 

Maybe the variation in quality is due to different head chef's? Or perhaps because you were on a T/A there were no opportunities to load fresh produce?

 

We were on the same cruise has Lottie & I agree with her about the speciality & the Chefs table, we also had the dining package.

But we did find that the choice & quality of the food in the MDR was in our opinion disappointing compared to previous cruises.

I made that point in the mid cruise comment card & several senior officers did come & speak to us about it.

[kathy9]

I'll take some more heat but LuAnn I agree with you 100%.

Just off the Quest in SE Asia and they had Quail 4 times in 14 days in the MDR.

Dessert selection was not very good, but on the bright side I didn't gain any weight.

 

The Thanksgiving meal in the MDR was really bad.

No cranberry, sweet potatoes and you had to request pumpkin pie, which many guests did not know. Sadly I have had better Thanksgivings meals while on duty at the hospital.

The food in Prime C and Aqualina both excellent!

The service in all venues was excellent.

[ellbon]

I was on quest last winter and felt the same way. i went thru two exec chefs. Food in prime C was great. MDR needed work then. sent back over cooked fish at lunch and went one to one dinner and the main was so bad it was replace. They do better with starters. thought Robert replaces some of the mains. over all the buffet is good too. i also know it is hard but they do need to switch up menus more often as with all good places one does get bored.

[Grandma Cruising]

On our recent fat east cruise on the quest we felt the food quality in Discoveries was not quite up to previous cruises. We thought there seemed to be fewer choices and no 'wow' dishes - no fillet steak (filet mignon) or lobster, very little crab. The food was well cooked and tasty, tho' and I loved the Dim Sum Brunch.

 

 

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[Andy]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thank you all for your comments, and to member LuAnn for her initial post and insights. It's always my sincere wish that members do not fear retaliation when posting negative comments, but I can understand why some feel that way. Thankfully, our forum is extremely friendly, and relatively calm.

 

I must say that I'm very surprised to read this, as food reviews have (for the most part) been quite positive. Of course, the topic of food is always subjective, though I also wonder if the sailing being a transatlantic, has anything to do with this. Inquiring minds would love to know !

 

I'm sure that Azamara is reading this thread, and will share the comments with the proper management and onboard teams. Hopefully, the appropriate changes will be made.

Edited December 15, 2015 by Host Andy

[Prefdavid]

A few comments have questioned whether the fact that this cruise was a T/A may have affected the MDR quality but our only other experience of Azamara to date has been on the Quest for the West to East crossing last April and we certainly noticed the difference in the MDR for the evening.

 

In the end we only dined there on three evenings, partly because we'd purchased the dining package and spent 5 nights on special meals and partly because a quick peruse of the menu persuaded us to head off to Windows for the buffet.

 

A couple of examples though to highlight our reasoning. One night the main course choice was between Veal and Pork, no fish option other than the healthy choice.

 

Another night when we did dine in the MDR I opted for the Salad Entree which was a Shrimp Ceviche. Well if this had been served as a starter I'd have been very satisfied but as a main course :eek:! Just wish I'd taken a picture of this to post here.

 

As Brits we've never experienced a proper Thanksgiving dinner and after listening to LuAnn's descriptions of what it was like, we were salivating at the prospect but once we saw the menu in the MDR it was off to Windows.

 

Apparently you could ask for a Turkey dinner in the MDR that evening but nowhere was that clearly communicated (if at all).

 

Having said all that we certainly didn't go hungry, as my recent step on the weigh scales confirmed :( and now just need to find the right Az cruise to book.

[Bloodaxe]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thank you all for your comments, and to member LuAnn for her initial post and insights. It's always my sincere wish that members do not fear retaliation when posting negative comments, but I can understand why some feel that way. Thankfully, our forum is extremely friendly, and relatively calm.

 

I must say that I'm very surprised to read this, as food reviews have (for the most part) been quite positive. Of course, the topic of food is always subjective, though I also wonder if the sailing being a transatlantic, has anything to do with this. Inquiring minds would love to know !

 

I'm sure that Azamara is reading this thread, and will share the comments with the proper management and onboard teams. Hopefully, the appropriate changes will be made.

 

Andy, many of the comments about the MDR food are about previous recent cruises not just the transatlantic, I hate to say this but it does seem to be an on going problem

Edited December 15, 2015 by Bloodaxe

[Grandma Cruising]

We were on the Quest for Thanksgiving this year and Turkey and all the (US) trimmings was on the menu on Discoveries(MDR), and very nice it was, too.

 

 

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[dovestones]

I have to agree as well regarding the food in the main dining room. We were on Journey in August and the food in Discoveries dining room was very poor. The fish dishes were of poor quality, the fish was tasteless and watery. One night we both had lamb and although mine was ok my husbands was so tough he couldn't eat it. He did ask the waiter to change it, but it was still as tough & he couldn't eat it. We found the choices were not very good and the food never lived up to the description on the menu. A lot of the time we thought strange flavours were put together.

 

We were also disappointed with the food at the buffet upstairs. We found nothing looked appetising as a lot of the meat and fish was sat in greasy sauces. This was a shame as we were on Quest in August 2014 and found the food very good at the buffet and enjoyed eating outside on the back of the ship.

 

Infact I was on Celebrity Equinox in May this year and the food was far superior. Especially the fish.

 

It's a shame cause we love everything about Azamara but feel it is let down now by the quality of the food and considering that Azamara is a lot more expensive than Celebrity you would expect the food to be excellent and of good quality.

[Glenndale]

We were on the Quest for Thanksgiving this year and Turkey and all the (US) trimmings was on the menu on Discoveries(MDR), and very nice it was, too.

 

 

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Unfortunately it wasn't offered in Discoveries restaurant for dinner.

There was a brunch in Discoveries where turkey was served - a sea day - but not for Thanksgiving dinner.

[LuAnn]

Unfortunately it wasn't offered in Discoveries restaurant for dinner.

There was a brunch in Discoveries where turkey was served - a sea day - but not for Thanksgiving dinner.

 

OK...here is my T-Day Deal!!! Let me know..if you want to know...because...I'm so upset!! It was so upsetting!!! LuAnn

[kathy9]

Go ahead LuAnn tell us!

I beg to differ with Denise ( Grandma Cursing)

but we were not served sweet potatoes and cranberry so to me that is not Thanksgiving Day dinner. The menu in the MDR said sweet potatoes but they were not.

Kathy

[munch1]

We have been cruising with Azamara since 2010 and we have noticed over the past few years that the quality of food in the MDR has been going down. For example when they had a steak on the featured menu for one night it was not much thicker than the sole of a shoe . A lady sitting at our table sent hers back 3 times as they could not get it cooked to medium as per her request , probably because it was so thin !! She finally gave up after the 4 th one . This was the cruise which took in Thanksgiving., and the so called Thanksgiving meal a few days later was a disaster ! It was a turkey roll which was very disappointing when you are looking forward to turkey carved from a bird and yes we had sweet potatoe -- 1 little round slice and a few green beans . Pumpkin pie was served but the slice so small that it looked like maybe they got 16 slices from 1 pie !! A totally disappointing meal. It is a shame to see that each year the MDR food seems to be going downhill.

We spoke to the food & beverage manager the following day and all we got from him were excuses about the quality and quantity and that it had nothing to do about making his budget

 

 

Yes we do still continue to sail with Azamara each year hoping that this will soon start to go uphill. Sorry to hear that things seem to be remaining on a downward spiral.

Yet we still love the Azamara experience .

[Kamlee]

On our recent fat east cruise on the quest we felt the food quality in Discoveries was not quite up to previous cruises. We thought there seemed to be fewer choices and no 'wow' dishes - no fillet steak (filet mignon) or lobster, very little crab. The food was well cooked and tasty, tho' and I loved the Dim Sum Brunch.

 

It sounds like we were on the same cruise. The dim sum brunch was very good, but the food quality for dinner in Discoveries has declined. We still enjoyed the starters, especially the soups, but the main courses and desserts were disappointing. What ever happened to the multi-component desserts we used to have?

 

Given the decline in food quality and the same old itineraries it looks like we may soon be trying Oceania.

[Kamlee]

We have just found some old menus with a choice of five main courses. On our last cruise we were only offered three. That explains why we often had a problem finding something we liked.

[Grandma Cruising]

Go ahead LuAnn tell us!

 

I beg to differ with Denise ( Grandma Cursing)

 

but we were not served sweet potatoes and cranberry so to me that is not Thanksgiving Day dinner. The menu in the MDR said sweet potatoes but they were not.

 

Kathy

 

 

Hi Kathy,

You're right about the cranberry sauce - I can't remember about the sweet potatoes! It was very nice turkey, though.

How're you doing! Hope you had a good time in Hong Kong and good journey home. Ready for Christmas? I'm just about there now.

Denise

 

 

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[wuppis]

I´m writing about cruises. So it´s interesting to read about different aspects from other cruisers.

 

We´ve cruised 38 times with 10 different cruiselines, twice with Azamara Journey with a difference of 2 years. 2012 a cruise through Suezcanal was good and the quality of food and drinks were excellent. But two years later around British Isles, everything was lets say, only mediocre.

 

Example: 2012 the included Rosewine was a Beringer White Zinfandel, excellent. 2014 it was a mediocre Portugese wine and for the Beringer you had to pay $ 8 extra when ordering.

 

MDR: 2012 you could get a wonderful Filet Mignon, thick like two fingers. 2014 you had to ask for it or to visit one of the specialty restaurants.

 

It seems that Azamara follows the same politic like other cruiselines, where quality is going down and they try to sell more packages: for a better food quality the dining package, for better drinks the ultimate drink package.

 

I speak with a lot of passenger for my reviews and I also have contact about german cruise boards to a lot of cruisers. Many former Azamara cruisers changed to Oceania and told that its a huge difference meanwhile. Much better quality from included food, because the specialty restaurants are also included, excellent service (but for me Azamara has one of the best services). And many people told me and I can agree from our own experiences, that Celebrity, Holland America and Princess have also very good food in the MDR.

 

So Azamara has to change their quality or they will lose more cruisers to other, sometimes less expensive cruiselines. And some of them are now also offering the All Inclusive concept.

Edited December 16, 2015 by wuppis

[kathy9]

Hi Kathy,

You're right about the cranberry sauce - I can't remember about the sweet potatoes! It was very nice turkey, though.

How're you doing! Hope you had a good time in Hong Kong and good journey home. Ready for Christmas? I'm just about there now.

Denise

 

Hi Denise, We had a wonderful time in HKG, stayed at the Peninsula!

Amazing hotel we did not want to leave, but we are home safe and sound.

Hope your trip home was uneventful!

Not ready for Christmas at all.

Merry Christmas To you and Nick!

Kathy

[luv2travel100]

I am about to go on my first Azamara cruise. If you are eating in the main dining room and enjoy an appetizer, main dish or dessert, is it OK to order another one, or are you limited to the one offering?