The butler didn't do it !

[chefgarden]

Our experience on the Quest was the worse cruise we'd ever been on !

Our butler walked over our suitcases while we unpacked, then returned

an hr. later to ask if we'd like him to unpack.

We arranged for him to bring h'orderves, he never showed.

We arranged from him to bring afternoon tea, that never happened.

The inroom breakfast we ordered never arrived.

He did fill our flower vase, with half dead flowers, when I presented it to him asking for the flowers.

At 11:05 pm the last nite, he almost banged our door down to deliever our

baggage tags. If we were using that service, we should have had our bags at the door by 11:00pm.

 

There was dirty crewmember clothes in our bureau, & other small problems. The butler was our biggest problem.

 

It appeared that he had no training. Certainly, they should not boast

wonderful services that repeatedly never happen.

 

If anyone is booked on a future cruise on the Quest and can cancel with a

full refund, I suggest they do it.

 

The Emerald Princess was, however, fabulious !

[floridatravelersforlife]

Sorry for your troubles. What Stateroom where you in?

 

Did you make any complaints to the Guest Relations desk and did they respond?

[Jimmy G]

Certainly, they should not boast

wonderful services that repeatedly never happen.

 

Butler??? What a huge mis-representation in their web site and brochure. We did not have a dedicated butler and stateroom attendant. They were one and the same person and in trying to do two jobs he failed miserably at doing even one of the jobs.

 

In our opinion they had too many cabins to take care of or had too many requests for service. What a bunch of hype over nothing. Did Celebrity think their customers were stupid and wouldn't notice? This ship is horribly managed and I think if falls back to the head office for failing once again.

 

I read some glowing reports here and felt obligated to voice my opinion that all is not as well as some would lead you to believe. The eighth deck reeked of smoke. If the passengers can't smoke why do they think we won't notice the crew smoking right behind a door to our corridor?

 

This ship was not ready to be put into service. I don't know why they rushed it again after the problems they had with Journey. Once again I guess they think their clientle is all stupid or won't notice.

[tbelian]

I think the Quest was in fine shape, and was fully capable of being put into service.

 

I WILL agree that the use of the term butler is quite a stretch ... more info on that in my upcoming review.

 

I don't know if the crew was actually smoking on deck 8, but, there are 2 designated smoking areas on the ship, so, the passengers can smoke. Both of the smoking areas are on Deck 9. The Quest is NOT 100% smoke free.

[Jimmy G]

I don't know if the crew was actually smoking on deck 8, but, there are 2 designated smoking areas on the ship, so, the passengers can smoke. Both of the smoking areas are on Deck 9. The Quest is NOT 100% smoke free.

 

Thank-you for your response about the butler issue and I do appreciate the fact that the ship is not 100% smoke free. The crew had to have been smoking on deck 8 forward or they did an absolutely horrible job of cleaning this ship in the several weeks that they have had it. I suggest that any of you walk all the way forward on deck 8 and you will notice a big difference than on any other deck.

 

Our cabin was no different than the corridor in that it really reeked of stale smoke. What put me off more was the indifference of guest relations to my complaint about it.

[chefgarden]

There was a letter, I believe, left in our cabin welcoming us to the Quest...

I quote " Our aim, and singular focus, is ensuring your total comfort whilst on board; our caring staff are dedicated to ensuring your cruise experience is nothing short of exceptional. Your Butler and Stateroom Attendant are at your disposal and can assist you with any manner of special services, such as those detailed below:

Assistance with unpacking/packing

Daily news delivery

full breakfast

evening hors d'oeuvres daily

shoeshine service

delivery of requested board games

fresh cut flowers

fruit basket and Evian water

Assistance with reservations for specialty dining: Prime C & Aqualina

assistance with shore excursions

assistance with reservations for astral spa

one complimentary night specialty didning

elemis bathroom amenties

appointed with luxurious robes and slippers

 

It's not my intent to get into the specialy dining issues ... My point is,

they market services they don't give ... we pay for that in our fare !

 

We spent more time that one should at the Customer Relations Desk...

they were very professional and fixed what they could. ie, the mix-up in

our bill at diner .. our neighbor was presented with my bill for 2 glasses of wine & one bottle of water .. he signed for it, then read the bill and noticed the problem. I was charged for his bottle of wine & 2 bottles of water... the CR desk handled that with the help of the Maitre'd, who we

found to be very professional. My sister lost a pin at dinner..with the assistance of CR desk & the effort of the Maitre'd, that pin was found and delivered to our cabin. 2 people who live up to the "standards" and advertising of this ship do not make up for all the other areas that were

lacking. ...cold eggs at the buffet station ...no hand sanitizing machines on the entire ship .. no service at the buffet, no tags saying what the food is, broken ice machine.

 

They did have both a cabin steward and butler for each room... I met both of mine. I think they probably had only 10 cabins to care for...

 

My cabin mate has been on 50 cruises and said this is the worst experience she's had ...

 

I wonder if other people on this cruise tried to avail themselves to the

advertised amenties ??

[tbelian]

The butler thing is definitely an issue that they need to address. We've had butlers on Celebrity's Century, Mercury, Infinity, and Constellation. Some were better than others but ALL were better than the butler on Quest. Granted, we were only on board the ship for the 2 day inaugural cruise, but I immediately recognized that the 'butler' was out of his league, and not prepared to deliver what was being marketed. I do hope they correct that deficiency.

 

In re: the smoke smell, I actually found something almost opposite of that and, to me, it was annoying. Wherever I went on the ship, there was a very obvious fragrant odor, almost floral. I first noticed it when we toured the spa, but, over the course of the 2 days, I did notice that this floral frgrance seemed to be everywhere.

[uktog]

Can I clarify, is this feedback in relation to "butlers" in verandah/inside cabins or the butlers who are looking after Sky Suites and above. If it is the latter, I will be even more concerned

[NotChoppedLiver]

"In re: the smoke smell, I actually found something almost opposite of that and, to me, it was annoying. Wherever I went on the ship, there was a very obvious fragrant odor, almost floral. I first noticed it when we toured the spa, but, over the course of the 2 days, I did notice that this floral frgrance seemed to be everywhere."

 

Oh boy, that's just grand.

We're sailing Quest for 14 days on 12/8. I'm a non-smoker with a sensitivity to fragrances.

Quest was formerly owned by Pullmantur, a Spanish company, which allows smoking everywhere.

The Europeans are heavy smokers. After a while smoke odor permeates everything and can be virtually impossible to eliminate

without tearing down everything and starting from scratch.

It's just a guess the floral fragrance might be used to mask the

telltale smoke odor left over from Pullmantur.

Not a good thing in my view.:mad:

[qe2]

I really didn't notice a smell of smoke except in the casino. No one was smoking so it was a "left over" smell.

I noticed the perfumed air at the spa but not anywhere else on the ship.

[Xcruiser]

The butler thing is definitely an issue that they need to address. We've had butlers on Celebrity's Century, Mercury, Infinity, and Constellation. Some were better than others but ALL were better than the butler on Quest. Granted, we were only on board the ship for the 2 day inaugural cruise, but I immediately recognized that the 'butler' was out of his league, and not prepared to deliver what was being marketed. I do hope they correct that deficiency.

 

In re: the smoke smell, I actually found something almost opposite of that and, to me, it was annoying. Wherever I went on the ship, there was a very obvious fragrant odor, almost floral. I first noticed it when we toured the spa, but, over the course of the 2 days, I did notice that this floral frgrance seemed to be everywhere.

 

Tbelian, May I ask which Quest cruise you were on? The reason I ask is I’m seeing some very impressive review’s of what appears to be the free all inclusive FAM cruise for invited T/A’s, Media and VIP’s on the Oct. 22-24 sailing. Correct me if I’m wrong (and that would not be a first) but my understanding is the official “inaugural” sailing of a cruise ship is the first passenger booked revenue sailing of the vessel and if correct that would be the Oct. 24-26 sailing.

 

I was on the Oct. 24-26 sailing and am having a hard time believing it is the same cruise. Both my wife and I never recall smelled anything remotely like a “floral” odor anywhere on the ship. We did smell something like an acetone or disinfectant smell around most of the ship the first day. After that all I could really say is our cabin was on deck 8 forward next to the officers quarters and the smell of smoke from this area was likely more intense in the hall outside our cabin than any other cruise can recall.

 

Both my wife and I feel the service on Quest this sailing was the worse we have experienced in our (9) prior cruises. We are in the process of writing a review to cover this in more detail after the initial disappointment subsides. :mad:

[kk99]

Hi everyone,

I was also on the inaugural sailing. The floral smell was very evident in the spa, but I did not smell it in the other public areas. I was also in a sky suite cabin on the 8th floor midships. I did not notice a strong smoke smell, as since I am an asthmatic who uses a daily inhaler, I certainly would have complained about that. At the spa, I just asked to go outside on the deck for some of the services. I also mentioned it to the spa manager, that they needed to tone down the fragrance in the spa for people who may have allergies. As I said in my review, after being on many Celebrity sailings with concierge class and also butler service, our butler flunked the service test. If Celebrity wants to charge a premium for this separate line, they need to immediately address this problem, as veteran cruisers are used to getting a certain level of service especially when it is prominently advertised in the cruise line's materials. I am willing to go back on Quest, because I do believe the executives read our posts and will address the problems promptly.

kk

[NotChoppedLiver]

"I was also on the inaugural sailing. The floral smell was very evident in the spa, but I did not smell it in the other public areas.

I did not notice a strong smoke smell, as since I am an asthmatic who uses a daily inhaler, I certainly would have complained about that.

I also mentioned it to the spa manager, that they needed to tone down the fragrance in the spa for people who may have allergies.

 

 

Glad to know you didn't notice a floral smell (yechh) in other public areas.

Here in Los Angeles area we've been living with a smoky atmosphere so I'm looking fwd to our cruise with fresh ocean breezes on a non-smoking ship. I supposed I'd better take along an inhaler anyway.

 

I phoned Azamara to ask about penalties for violation of smoking regs.

The gal I spoke with hemmed & hawed, was vague at best, indicating they can "ask" an offending party to not smoke...... Then I was shuffled to 3 add'l people at Celebrity, none of whom had a definitive answer, though they were all very nice about it. One person at Celebrity indicated that the Honor System is not usually effective.

 

Being curious I then phoned Oceania:

According to the person I spoke with they're "verry strict" and have

actually "kicked" people off the ship for violating the smoking rules.

 

So unless the policy in enforced it's useless.

 

Laura

[Dale Jr]

Being curious I then phoned Oceania:

According to the person I spoke with they're "verry strict" and have

actually "kicked" people off the ship for violating the smoking rules.

 

So unless the policy in enforced it's useless.

 

 

Oceania is basically zero tolerance with one warning and then you are gone. I have seen it happen.

 

One good thing is that the Officers on Oceania residing on deck 8 are also held to the same level of accountability and if they do smoke are limited to the two same areas as the passengers as well as I presume a crew smoking area down on deck three somewhere.

 

I agree that unless Azamara adopts this attitude their smoking policy will not be taken very seriously.

[Xcruiser]

Oceania is basically zero tolerance with one warning and then you are gone. I have seen it happen.

 

One good thing is that the Officers on Oceania residing on deck 8 are also held to the same level of accountability and if they do smoke are limited to the two same areas as the passengers as well as I presume a crew smoking area down on deck three somewhere.

 

I agree that unless Azamara adopts this attitude their smoking policy will not be taken very seriously.

 

Thanks Dale Jr, could not have put it better - policy needs to be set from the top down and inforced to make it work. Hey what's up with you not making the chase this year?:)

[Dale Jr]

Hey what's up with you not making the chase this year?

 

Too busy planning cruises I guess. Plus somebody didn't want to give me good cars to play with. Watch out next year!!!!

[Jancruz]

Just to jump in here..when I was on the Journey in September I smelled smoke in and out of our stateroom on deck 7 (with a balcony) so I am not sure whether the smell was from inside or out..I complained many times and NOTHING was done..I do know Oceania has zero policy ESPECIALLY since the Princess fire..I said it when I came off Journey and I will state it here again..I do think EVENTUALLY Azamara should be successful..but right now it is a work in progress and people taking these trips should be aware of it..

I remember very well when Oceania first started cruising their prices were very low as they were new and feeling their way..I do believe this should be Azamaras plan also..give the client more for less money and grow into their own clientel..but in using Celebrity clientel who like big ships and Oceania clients who are used to being pampered..they are not doing anyone justice..

I say lower the price and fix the problems and you should have a nice cruise line..

JMHO

Jan

*****

[bububr]

I think the Quest was in fine shape, and was fully capable of being put into service.

 

I WILL agree that the use of the term butler is quite a stretch ... more info on that in my upcoming review.

 

I don't know if the crew was actually smoking on deck 8, but, there are 2 designated smoking areas on the ship, so, the passengers can smoke. Both of the smoking areas are on Deck 9. The Quest is NOT 100% smoke free.

 

This was far from the worse cruise that I have ever been on. And we are planning on booking for a longer cruise next year after all the 'little' bugs have been worked out. Looking back I would do it all over again. Granted there were a few SMALL issues, but nothing that would ruin a nice little getaway.

 

I have to laugh at the OP. they remind me of the woman I met on CocoCay whos whole cruise was ruined because she didn't have cell service after we left Miami, She was the same loud mouth that had her phone glued to her ear talking obnoxiously loud and about nothing trying to look important before sailaway...She wanted a refund:confused: .

 

 

Dave:eek:

[qe2]

Of course there are chronic complainers but there were SERIOUS service issues on the Oct 24th sailing. Azamara is marketed as an upscale product. The ship had an upscale appearance but "pretty is what pretty does", or doesn't do.

 

One of the most serious flaws, which has not been mentioned and is easily corrected ,is the lack of hand sanitizer ,and ice machines which require one to put their glass up and touch the top of the machine. Since the public has access to that machine and the glasses are small, there are bound to be "double dippers". It's a health problem waiting to happen.

[GRBlizz]

Hi Dave,

 

You know I love you, but I have to take a little issue with what seems to me to be cheerleading.

 

As you know, I am a new cruiser, but my parents are very experienced cruisers, so we had a point of reference. We did experience many of the issues that the OP and others have mentioned. We all happened to have a wonderful time. We think the ship is beautiful and a perfect size. The staff was very service-oriented, if not expertly trained. I have already posted my "handicapable" review on the Disabled board, and recommended the ship highly.

 

But there were glitches, and they should be addressed.

 

Also, I think you are missing the point that the OP, X, etc. are making about smoke from the crew quarters. We all understand that this is not a 100% smoke-free ship. But the cabin areas are supposed to be smoke free. A person passing by the smoking area of the pool deck would have no excuse whatsoever to complain that they smelled smoke. But a passenger in Deck 8 should not smell smoke in their cabin!! If the crew needs to be allowed to smoke in their quarters, then an appropriate buffer or ventilation needs to be conceived. Otherwise, the word will get out that these Deck 8 cabins are undesirable, and X will have trouble selling them.

 

We were on a crew-cabin deck as well (3), but the only smoke we smelled was in the hall right outside our next-door neighbors' room - we think they were either heavy smokers whose clothes were saturated with the smell, or they were smoking in there. Either way, it wasn't in our cabin as it apparently was on 8, so no worries.

 

I also take issue with your comparing the OP to the cell phone lady. The OP complained about the inavailability of services that were plainly promoted by Azamara, or basic parts of a cruise. That is a far cry from complaining about cell service, which anyone should know is not going to be great at sea.

 

PS, my internet access was smoking, by dial-up standards. And free for the first 24 hours. Bonus!

 

PPSS, did I mention we really enjoyed meeting you and John!

[bububr]

Sorry but the comparisson I was trying to make was the based on the first sentance of th OP's post.

 

"Our experience on the Quest was the worse cruise we'd ever been on !"

 

I have a Question, for you. I am an experienced cruiser as you parents also are. Did they feel it was the worse cruise they had ever been on?

 

I agree about the wrinkles that need to be ironed out, and also with the fact that maybe the officers quarters need to be more highly ventilated. For a ship that is suppose to limit smoking I agree 100% that this WILL be an issue.

 

As for cell service, although I am ANTI-cellphone, Azamara is supposed to have Wi-Fi and cell phone at sea service, which was also having its glitches.

 

BTW: Your review is a fair and balanced one as opposed to a bitch and moan session as some are posting. As for cheerleading, not everything in my review is favorable, however there were MANY things I enjoyed about the cruise and the ship, including the people we had the please to spend time with including youz guyz.

 

Dave:eek:

[GRBlizz]

Sorry but the comparisson I was trying to make was the based on the first sentance of th OP's post.

 

"Our experience on the Quest was the worse cruise we'd ever been on !"

 

I have a Question, for you. I am an experienced cruiser as you parents also are. Did they feel it was the worse cruise they had ever been on?

 

:eek:

 

Fair enough. No, my parents did not think it was "the worst" or even "a bad" cruise. They loved the ship, they loved the effort of the staff, and they loved how un-crowded it felt. They did have some critiques (they were VERY annoyed that my room phone didn't work, because it meant they had to run to our cabin frequently, they were not pleased that someone knocked on their door after 10p both nights, and they were concerned that they couldn't get a final bill). They thought the food was very good, although they had problems with the food service (cold, slow, etc). But these did not interfere with a nice time.

 

ON THE OTHER HAND - my folks are premium cruisers, right in Azamara's target market. Their next planned cruise is Oceania to Asia, where they have what I now learn was your suite (thanks for letting them peek in, it made their trip). They did not see Azamara as being comparable to those lines. Since my training is in market research, I grilled them extensively on this. If I were to go into all the reasons they gave, it would seem like nitpicking. But it all revolved around the same areas that others have mentioned - cabin service consistency, food service consistency, and communication.

 

I think Azamara has the "will", they just need to work on the "skill" to deliver an experience that is worth paying a premium for.

[bububr]

:) :) :)

 

Dave:eek:

[tbelian]

Tbelian, May I ask which Quest cruise you were on?

 

We were on the 2 day 'cruise to nowhere' from 10/22-10/23 (disembarking on 10/24). It was the 'invite only' cruise, and was presented to us by Azamara as 'The Inaugural Cruise'. We are not travel agents, and were among the very few (26) captain's club people who were invited. "Free" is a relative term. We paid our own airfare, our own boarding costs for the pets, our own transportation to and from the airports here at home, and in Miami. It was not 100% 'free'. yes the cruise part was no charge, but it did cost us some $$$. We went because we wanted to see the new ship and find out what it was all about.

 

We did enjoy it, and also did notice some things that needed attention. Those will be covered in our review which is almost completed.

[uktog]

I think my earlier query got lost in the debates on cruise quality. I am reading a lot about butlers doubling up as room attendants. Does this happen in every cabin? When we booked our suite we were told that the Bulter experience was "Enhanced" ie above that given to ordinary cabins. I had assumed once I started to read the posts about doubling up that suites would have a butler and a room attendant but to date, no one has been able to confirm or otherwise that this is the case. I was expected a butler experience as good, if not better than we get on Celebrity where, yes we have had good butlers, OK butlers and absolute superstars.