Just returned from 12 night on the Quest...any questions ?

[animal lover]

My partner and I are booked on the Quest for the 12/22 cruise from Acapulco. We like the small ships as we are used to Oceania. We are trying this as we couldn't arrange space on Oceania. The ships are identical. My concern is that every night before dinner on O, we all would meet in the Martini Bar which Azamara has made part of the casino. Their new Martini Bar has no piano player but Michaels Pub does.That room was the library on O. We're fine to sit in a different room although it is a bit out of the way.

I don't understand how they can service that room for drinks as there is no bar in there. If they are ferrying them in from the pool bar, a tall martini will have spilled out and chilled down by the time it arrives!! Did you have an occasion to spend time in the Pub and if so was there service readily avialable? Was there any other quiet spot to meet for drinks before dinner? I'm hoping that they work out most of their problems by the time we get there. Thanks for any info you can offer.

 

Richard

[bryanjaync]

We were in the SS,and it took three conversations to get the point across....we wanted diet cokes in the frig, and replenished as used. Finally the got it right, with NO limitations. (We usually had about four a day

[Lobbylin]

Is there a list of SS perks for Quest - I booked this some months ago when there was little info and things kept changing, but I wasn't aware of the free soft drinks aspect.

 

How did you find the speciality restaurants?

 

Thanks for all the useful info.

 

Linda

[bryanjaync]

About the Speciality Restaurants: Well, not that special. The decor is wonderful, very plush and rich, especially Prime C. The service is what one expects in the dining room, which is good, but nothing special. The food was non-descript.

[bryanjaync]

TO Animal Lover:

 

On my cruise there was piano in the Drawing Room, but never in use. I think they canned the idea of the library and piano bar sharing space.

[cruzingduo]

Can you share any dinner menus with us? Did you go to the specialty rest?

 

thanks!

[Andy]

We were in the SS,and it took three conversations to get the point across....we wanted diet cokes in the frig, and replenished as used. Finally the got it right, with NO limitations. (We usually had about four a day

 

Hi Bryan !

 

We had the same problem on Quest. Early in our sailing, I asked for several Diet Cokes to be delivered to our Sky Suite. I noticed I was charged for them. I went to guest relations about 4 times during our Cruise. Each and every time, I was told "it would be removed off our bill". It never was, and I wound up paying for the Sodas.

 

About the Speciality Restaurants: Well, not that special. The decor is wonderful, very plush and rich, especially Prime C. The service is what one expects in the dining room, which is good, but nothing special. The food was non-descript.

 

Have to disagree on that one, we thought the food was wonderful in both Prime C, and Aqualina. We thought it was amongst some of the best we ever had on a Cruise ship. Of course, the topic of food is very subjective though !

[Andy]

Can you share any dinner menus with us? Did you go to the specialty rest?

 

thanks!

 

Hi Cruzingduo !

 

You can find Journey Dining Room Menus here : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=584238

 

You can find Aqualina & Prime C Menus here : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=671520

 

Enjoy !

[CAcruisin']

Hi

When were you able to get off the ship? We have a flight at 11:20 from Fort Lauderdale on a Sat. and thought that would be enough time on a weekend but now I'm getting nervous as it sounds like the ship doesn't get into port on time. What was your experience??

[gillianrose]

There is another thread about a cruise contract that has been presented to passengers that must be signed before boarding and which states in part that the cruise line does not warrant the seaworthiness or condition of the vessel or the food and drink onboard.

 

Were you presented with something like this and did you sign it?

 

Did you hear of anyone not signing and being denied boarding?

[Lobbylin]

For those of you who have sailed Azamara and Celebrity (eg Infinity) did you feel things were a "touch nicer/better" on Azamara, or should I expect the same level of "celebrity experience" as I would find on the M Class ships?

 

I appreciate one is a large ship and one is much smaller, so I am not talking about choice of entertainment etc but the overall ambience, experience, service etc.

 

I have been on smaller ships before and love the aspect that with fewer passengers the service seems more personal and you get to know a lot of the crew by the time you leave.

 

Thanks for all the useful - great to see the menus:)

[bryanjaync]

My cruise was 10/31, so things may have changed. But that being said, I thought service was better on the M class ships

[cruzingduo]

Hi Cruzingduo !

 

You can find Journey Dining Room Menus here : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=584238

 

You can find Aqualina & Prime C Menus here : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=671520

 

Enjoy !

 

Andy,

 

I believe you were on the Quest, were the menus the same as these Journey menus?

 

Thanks.

[lemursf]

I noticed in another post that you are a same sex male couple. My partner and I are in our 50's and also gay men. We have been on one gay cruise and a number of straight cruises. We hardly ever spotted any same sex male couples on the straight cruises. On the Grand Princess (2800 passengers), I think we only spotted 2 other gay couples. My intuition is that gay men prefer gay cruises. We have never really had any problems on straight cruises though.

 

I noticed that they had a Friends of Dorothy meeting most days. Did anybody else attend besides you and your partner? I just have this feeling that we will be the only gay couple on the boat. Any feedback, comments or advice? Thanks.

[Carolny]

Thanks for the chance to get some questions answered. Do rooms have robes? One less thing to pack if they do. Also, if you did the Caribbean routes I would appreciate any info about the ports and tours you took. We have only 1 tour booked in Dominica that we booked from a board recommendtion. Thanks!

[Andy]

Thanks for the chance to get some questions answered. Do rooms have robes? One less thing to pack if they do. Also, if you did the Caribbean routes I would appreciate any info about the ports and tours you took. We have only 1 tour booked in Dominica that we booked from a board recommendtion. Thanks!

 

Hi Carol !

 

Yes, our Cabin had robes. I cant tell you much about the ports, as we were on a different itinerary. Enjoy your Cruise !

[wtrmdr]

CruiseGuy is correct that sodas from the minibar in SkySuites are included in the fare. BUT, I had to go to Guest Relations three times to get the point across that I wanted my minibar filled with Diet Cokes, and replenished as used. ( I was not taking advantage of the service, since I used my purchased soda card during the day, just wanted the in room sodas after nap time and first thing in the morning). There seemed to be a communication breakdown between Guest Relations, HouseKeeping Director, HouseKeeping Supervisor, and our Butler. Both Guest Relations and the Butler were very nice about the situation, just a communications kink. Once it was straighted out, the Diet Cokes were always in the mini-bar. A nice feature !

 

We were on the 11/24/07 cruise, in a Sky Suite, and were told that one bottle of water was free, but any further bottled water used in the cruise would be charged to our cabin. No problem, we had gone on board with water (crazy as that sounds). But, like you, my husband had purchased the soda card for daytime use, but wanted cola in the cabin at night. When we asked, we were told there would be a charge. We explained "no", the literature said the suites had free cola provided. They actually told us "no" again, and said that the free cola was not for Sky Suites, just penthouse suites. When I called Customer Relations, it took them until the next day to get back to us, and they said that "although Sky Suites don't get the free cola, they would provide it us because of any misunderstanding the literature had caused".

Obviously someone finally got them to realize that the Sky Suites ARE "suites" and do receive the free cola.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I also had the same problem on the 10/24 and 10/26 sailings. I requested Diet Coke at all times in my Sky Suite. My Parents who were in the next cabin, asked for bottled water. The cabin attendant told me I would be charged. I told him no, that it was included in Suites. I was immediately charged anyway. I went to Guest Relations at least 4 or 5 times, to ask them to remove it from my room charges. Each time, I was told the charges would be removed. Well.... you guessed it, they never were removed, and I wound up paying the bill.

 

To this day it still annoys me that I was charged for it, as it should have been complimentary. I know, I should call Azamara and make them credit me back !

 

Hopefully, Azamara has straightened this out, and current Suite passengers do not have to deal with it.

[crazytsma]

Did you take any excursions that were particularly good? Any that you would recommend?

[NotChoppedLiver]

Are you packed?

 

VS'60 :)