My "Long awaited I'm Sure" review of 12/8 Canal cruise

[Napi's Mom]

Since several of our roll call members for our 12/08 Azamara Quest Panama Canal Cruise have been asking where my review was, I shall attempt to put down what my (our) impressions were. To start it off I've read a couple of the reviews to see how others felt the trip was..My ideas are not always in agreement but all things are always subjective are they not??

Starting out: we were met by a very helpful lady at the Ft Lauderdale Airport, and we in a bus 20 min later with about 3 other couples (but a full coach bus!) Promptly deliverd through Miami (with running commentary from driver) to terminal "J", "This is your ship..." looking up at the three HUGE floating hotels bearthed there, I said "I don't think so..."(having been on Renn ships before) as did all the others . He checked at his home base, and took us to I believe "C" (Perhaps I've got the terminals mixed, sorry) Anyway there she was nestled in amongst more huge hotels on water... barely visible from the road....It was like coming home!!! (WE love these Renn. ships!) Our check in was very fast and well handled, no lines, perhaps because we came with so few people ? On board the free champange ... by now it was 1pm and we asked if we could drop carry-ons (after Oceania losing mine (with all my meds) from the dock to room, we carry ours the whole way) in room, we were told yes...it was essentially ready, lunch was in Windows, and so our adventure started.

First off we contacted Guest relations, to set up the C Critic party for the 39 of us that signed up on our Rollcall...she said she felt the 2nd "at sea" day in the library was best, and took my list of room numbers...and said she'd handle it all. Well in the long run Beckyb(the CD) did the work I believe (I again aplogise to Mary for having the wrong room so she never got her invite). When the time came, we were hoping for Becky to attend, but as they walked in we had ALL SORTS of white uniforms to address us...You better believe WE HAVE POWER!!! as a group...We ended up with Hotel, Guest relations, Dining, Waitstaff, Cruise director Becky (all the HEADS of Departments).. answering our queries, however silly some were! Then wonder of wonders...in walked the best looking guy I ever saw (had seen him the day before tho) and introduced himself to those not at the" Welcome Toast" the day before...Capt. Emmanuoil... (Won't even try the last name) from Athens. Don't know who was running the ship??? Stayed at least 15 min.answering questions. YES they are listening to what we have to say (note the news about the Specialty Rest.!) Several things were changed because of this meeting! Laura (Not Chopped Liver) and I were pleased our attempts to do this worked out so well! We also requested Christmas caroling, which Becky brought off with a great flair, in the Coffee shop, with the whole ship invited.

As you know we missed Jamaica,( a huge disappointment as we had a great tour set up) but I 100% agree with the choice not to tender..it would NOT have been safe! The seas were at least 15',(caused we discovered later by a tropical storm approching from the east) High enough that Mike (my DH) was feeling "not well" and we never get seasick! We also discovered what it was like to be a pin ball in a game, bouncing from wall to wall (Let me say tho sleeping was fine, I still miss being rocked to sleep each night, and beds are wonderful!) Being on the top cabin deck (8) we were bounced abit more than we were used to....So we had 3 at sea days in a row. We couldn't wait to get off at St Marta....well...the least said about the ships tour we took there the better. We took the "Quebrada etc etc. Eco tour". Believe me you get far more eco than you want to...fording a river 4 times each way in your shoes, (and without being warned about it beforehand.) I decided to leave the tour less than 1/2 way, as I use a cane it was way longer and harder a trip than advertised. NO NO it was not the best trip, but the part we did see was fascinating. We also got NO free coffee as was previously reported, just people pushing it to sell to us! (did get a free bracelet)Taxis were the way to go I guess from others. Our guide was great, the TOUR was awful!

Next day Cartegena..(Please "Cart-a-hay-nyah!") Had a great private tour of the major sites with "Encarnacion" of Tessor tours. Vendors a little pushy but still polite with it, (still sorry I didn't buy a tablecloth there). It's a beautiful old city and tour was well worth the time. Our guide was a native and gave us a lot of history, when we bothered to listen.

About time I addressed what seems to be everyones overwhelming concern,(except the Butler question, no ours wasn't and didn't pretend to be, he quickly realized we wouldn't want afternoon tea "nap time" or 5pm Canapes, but they did a wonderful job of cleaning etc., without "being there" when we were, thanks Mario, as he said "Butlers don't change beds etc." and he had to! ) On to the FOOD. We had a very mixed bag of food and service, none of it really BAD but some better than others, first night the Sea Bass in Discoveries was fabulous, so were many other meals there, but the Lobster night fell really flat (I was spoiled by a family member who'd bring live lobster from Maine,) and this wasn't tho was supposed to be...it was spotted shells and tails...(Maine Lobster turns bright red when cooked). And what they did with it was supposed to be great...wasn't, and Mike had the prime rib, previously great, and it ...wasn''t..! Those desserts some were very good, others...NOT. The cone like (1 1/2"top)serving... "bowls??"... look really cool, can't eat out of them though, unless you use the handle of your spoon 50% of dessert in unreachable. Mostly though the food was very good both upstairs at Windows and Discoveries, and yes Gustave sang to us too, (and anybody who asked,) very nice voice. Was fun .The waitstaff circulate from Venue to venue, the guy being Maitre D' in Aquilina was working the breakfast buffet the next day.(Promised to send us Kadota Figs from his home in Turkey ....) Some were very inept...those 2 guys from Croatia doing Windows..looking like KGB muscle delivering OJ and not doing much else. Above all, the enthusiasm and drive to please was very strong. The next to last morning the fab. HUGE blackberries had run out...and the ones they had were still red...unripe and sour so I didn't eat them...the very young waiter was worried that I didn't like them...so I explained. He went inside...(We were on the back terrace) Mike said "you'd better go check on him" (we were done and leaving) and there he was at the bowl of berries fishing out the few ripe ones he could find for me with his boss behind him chuckling!! All the staff had this attitude if you approched them with the right attitude! We never asked for "Special treatment, or special treats" we are firm believers in the midwestern ideal all truly ARE created equal and nobody is better than me, conversely I am not better than the others. I did ask for 2 desserts once though!

To tours: We had a very GOOD tour from Oscar Brown in Limon which I set up not somebody else, to Zipline. His sister was our guide and made it a very fun day. Concensus has it that the dual tour we took of Ziplining and the Canal tour was perhaps too much. The road repairs made it hard to do all we wanted, but we did make it back in time. We saw few animals on the afternoon Canal tour, would suggest that to be in the morning, but it was interesting. Our guide played games and gave prizes to those who won, and gave us history in a fun way also (but she gets seasick so didn't ride boat on canal, I missed her wit!) next to the St Marta tour it was great! Limon is a poor area, and we discovered from our guide in Caldera that the people from Limon are different from most of Costa Rica, who are indian and spanish ethnically, and the Limon people are from slaves escaped from Jamaica, and are mostly African blood. So both ports are worth visits. Next we did the "Canal"...the whole day was very interesting, no tours for us, we thought people should have found the Canal enough, plus the fact that it rained half of the day (When in the Locks naturally) would have made tours unpleasant. After an at sea day we were in Caldera, this time we'd set a ships' tour "Costa Rican Traditions". It was probably the best tour of the trip, a very comfortable bus... with the most delightful guide, who explained the traditions and people of Costa Rica, answered all questions, with excellent english. She was an Engineering student about 30, and very pretty, and very intellegent. People were worried about the long ride each way to reach the Doka Coffee estate, but the counrtyside is extinct volcanic mountains, so green, verdant, and covered with coffee trees. The plantation is beautiful, and set up to explain coffee growing and processing. Afterward we had an authentic Costa Rican lunch (included) at a Hacienda owned by the bus provider, who's wife runs this for passengers on tours. Very good (surprisingly not spicy) food. Nap time on way back, as we traveled the famous Pan-American Highway. MY only complaint is the bus took 2 different ways, and somehow coming & going I ended up looking at the 2000' drop offs next to the road!!! Which terrify me! Ah Yes.. On to San Juan Del La Sur Nicaragua: What can one say about the road from there to Grenada...or anyplace else I guess. We didn't understand why the trip should take 2+ hrs...until.. "THE ROAD" ...a kind term frankly. We alternately named it (NOT affectionatly) the minefield and/or the "worst thing we'd ever driven over!!", for the 1st 30 mi., then a nice road (the Pan Amer. again) then into Grenada . The cars, buses even semi's did what I thought of as the "Nicaraguan Minuet", swerving from side to side to avoid the 6' wide (maybe that deep too) potholes that covered the road...at least half was potholes. The strange thing was the cars from the left swerved to the right while those on the right swerved left...all over the road...if it was good enough for them to drive on why are we on their side???where they won't drive??? And again looking at (mere 20') drop off as they drive within inches of edge to avoid those blessed potholes! Once we got to Grenada we had a wonderful tour, with horse drawn carriages and boat ride to the Isletas, to see the homes that take up the whole small Island, and the Monkey Island (Begging for cookies).One is for sale..20th Century only 1/2 mil. This was a private tour again which cost only 65$pp (ships tour...234$) lunch was included at a wonderful Hotel/Rest. a very nice meal.Tierra Tours. Next port was Huatulco, we were so tired we finally decided to not do anything but a little sightseeing and shopping (grand-daughters gifts were still missing). All else thought it was a beautiful port and enjoyed their tours.

Acapulco was just rushing to get to airport, only to wait...others have had comments about that...we only had to sit and wait forever. Mexico City however...we changed planes had a layover that had shrunk because of late planes in Aca. They suggested a wheelchair for me...am I glad they did. That place is HUGE and we had no real idea about where to go and where our flight was out of. As we traveled Mexican Air...we landed at a domestic terminal, not realizing that Mexico City airport is just as huge as O'Hare and no shuttles to get you around! My "Pusher" must compete in the olympic event for pushing. HE RAN the whole way and the whole way was like going from International Ter. in O'Hare to the domestic terminals, (which you use a shuttle for) but being pushed high speed through MANY many people, with poor Mike carrying our carry-ons running to keep up. If he'd lost sight of us he had NO idea how to get where ever it was we were going! As I'm NOT a small person the poor guy was panting (as was Mike) when we finally got to...the wrong place...luckily was still in near vicinity of proper desk. When we went to tip...Mike had only 50$ or 7$ small bills...well guess what the guy got...and was NOT happy! Finally getting on our plane we taxied (late)Mike asked if we were going the whole way to O'hare on the ground? to the takeoff place only to have announcement of trouble (No water in restrooms or kitchen)..next thing we knew we're going back (the whole way) for Maintenence to look at it...and again taxi-ing far enough to reach O'Hare on ground...we fixed our problem (A valve turned off!). Then the plane proceeded to back up (no ,not with help of those little trucks) at least 2 blocks around other aircraft and around corners, to reach taxiway again. We were only 2 hrs late to O'Hare but were greeted with freezing downpour.....What a day!!!

In closing: We had a great trip, the ship is beautiful, had NO problems with staff, water was fine, though the tossing of the ship ruptured a pipe on deck 4 and another on 8 near our cabin, it was needed to shut off water (After a swift "duck" tape job), but we were well warned beforehand by a couple hrs. The Azamara lines are trying very hard to be what they advertise with everyone as a big team, The staff for us was friendly, helpful and always there for us, but our expecations were "to be treated well, not as royalty (tho some say they actually were)and have greatmeals with many different people and staff" ...all of which we did do. Several people will always be in our minds, Mary the 83 yr old lady we spent much time with and didn't get to say goodby to...she was so special. Carol and Bob, Laura & Marv , Don and wife (sorry the Badgers didn't win but WE thought they played well) and many other Cruise Critic folks, as well as others we met along the way. All in all it was a wonderful, tiring vacation and we enjoyed almost every min. of it .(Sorry St. Marta. we just took the wrong tour, if we'd realized the Atocha treasure was there we'd have done a city tour) Napi was glad to have us home too!

:D

[capegranny]

Great info., Napi's Mom. Thanks for taking the time with this.

[Taxguy7]

Aren't the Mexican pilots great? I once flew over 50 miles in fog and rain close enough to the VERY high voltage power lines to see them, and sometimes the road, into Reynosa with about 100 other people. We used the entire runway as it was slick, and gave the pilot a standing ovation.

[Mic Rikelson]

Hi Nancy, We (some of us on the Feb. 2 Quest cruise) were waiting for your review before we start putting a few private excusions together. I remember how great you did last year putting together excusions on our Oceania cruise. I was very happy to hear that you and Mike had a great time. I believe I can now rest easy that we will not be disapointed with our cruise.:p I would be interested in your opinion as how the Quest compares with the Nautica. I know we believed that Oceania was very close to perfect, so if Azamara comes close, then that would be high praise. I also wonder if you found a worship service on Sunday like aboard the Nautica. I would like to think one of the Quests talents would volunter to hold a simple worship service. Raymond and I will be in Chicago on January 31st, we have aloud for at least one full day prior to departing for Acapulco. We have been watching the storms hitting the midwest and we will feel more comfortable about makeing our connections is we "plan" to be at least one day early. And we yet do not know what great:rolleyes: airline connections that Azamara will have in plan for us. Again ~ thanks for writing such a great review, and hope you and your hero are having a great "New Year".

[NotChoppedLiver]

Hey Nancy,

 

Good review. Glad to see you're back among the living.

Wasn't that Quebrada Eco tour something else!

Marv said he's never seen me walk so fast; I just wanted to

get back and forth in one piece without breaking an

ankle. Though the walk thru the forest was beautiful

I had to keep a close eye on the treacherous ground.

You were smart to turn back.

Climbing back up that rocky area near the bus was

much easier going down than back up which you must've

found out!

I would NOT say that was a "Moderate" activity level

excursion as indicated on tour description with two **s.

 

After all the airport hassles I'm content to stay home

a while.

 

Laura

[Napi's Mom]

Hi Nancy, We (some of us on the Feb. 2 Quest cruise) were waiting for your review before we start putting a few private excusions together. I remember how great you did last year putting together excusions on our Oceania cruise. I was very happy to hear that you and Mike had a great time. I believe I can now rest easy that we will not be disapointed with our cruise.:p I would be interested in your opinion as how the Quest compares with the Nautica. I know we believed that Oceania was very close to perfect, so if Azamara comes close, then that would be high praise. I also wonder if you found a worship service on Sunday like aboard the Nautica. I would like to think one of the Quests talents would volunter to hold a simple worship service. Raymond and I will be in Chicago on January 31st, we have aloud for at least one full day prior to departing for Acapulco. We have been watching the storms hitting the midwest and we will feel more comfortable about makeing our connections is we "plan" to be at least one day early. And we yet do not know what great:rolleyes: airline connections that Azamara will have in plan for us. Again ~ thanks for writing such a great review, and hope you and your hero are having a great "New Year".

Mic as I said in email don't think they did services, never saw a posting

We are still recovering but almost back to normal I really didn't feel well upon our return home, thought it was he dread "Noro" striking late, as it was on ship, only a few were affected, but in the end they ran notices in each days' news letter...advising how to keep from contracting it (NO hugging & Handshaking etc...use the wipes before meals..) in the end...they stuck them in our faces/hands rather than just have them available at entrances to eating spots, so I begain to realize they must have a small problem. It never got major tho.I don't believe. But in the long run I feel it was exaustion that got to me...but to be safe my daughter prepared the "Christmas Feast" To be safe..get some anti-biotic from your Dr. and take Pepto with you.

I really feel that we enjoyed the cruise as much as the one on Nautica, our "Cabin Attendants" who never professed to be butlers did at least as good a job as on Oceania (Our gal there never emptied the fridg we had as I ASKED several times!) THe Officers and all who were in authority (especially that LOVELY Capt.) were very quick to stop and chat with any & all of us. (We were invited to tour the bridge, and sorry to say it was the day we were in San Juan Del La Sur, and couldn't go!!! It was a great disappointment but we had a full days tour, only 24 people were invited, and at least 4 of us were on this tour!) They waitstaff was really trying VERY hard to be great, sometimes it fell a little flat but they were SO ernest!! Remember the tale of the English Tea from Cruiser 1975??? a few weeks back? Well mine was a waiter trying to use 2 forks (or spoon & fork) to squeeze a lemon for my water glass...which went OK, until he ...dropped it NEXT to the glass (Same waiter???) Thereafter we just added it ourselves!...Laura (Not Chopped Liver) had a run-in with a glass of champagne for shampoo....but ALL these things could happen on any Cruise. Usually the food was very good...except when they try to get really adventuresome to prove they are "As Good" as "O", and those things were not so good, usually. Up in Windows they have Pasta to order, plus what they call "Stir Fry" but is really a Mongolian BBQ, which is much better, when it's Breeza at night. We ate outside most times we were in the Buffet. No maybe Azamara isn't "Quite there" but you can't say they aren't trying VERY hard, and coming very close!:D Have a great New Year...and we are sure you will enjoy this cruise very much..say Hi to Ray

[Napi's Mom]

Hey Nancy,

 

Good review. Glad to see you're back among the living.

Wasn't that Quebrada Eco tour something else!

Marv said he's never seen me walk so fast; I just wanted to

get back and forth in one piece without breaking an

ankle. Though the walk thru the forest was beautiful

I had to keep a close eye on the treacherous ground.

You were smart to turn back.

Climbing back up that rocky area near the bus was

much easier going down than back up which you must've

found out!

I would NOT say that was a "Moderate" activity level

excursion as indicated on tour description with two **s.

 

After all the airport hassles I'm content to stay home

a while.

 

Laura

We've got a couple Pics of all the group climbing down that hill, and fording the rivers!!! :eek:

 

You are SOOO right about resting for a LONG while...people say already "Where're you going next yr??" I feel like screaming!!! I really am that tired. Did I tell you of the time we waited for you when we left the tour early??? Mike took off his shoes & Socks to try to get them a lttle dryer, and when he attempted to get a coke from the little "lean to stand" there...the owner (of the whole area of the tour I fould out) yelled at him...NO SHOES NO SHOES...he had to stand outside of the shack to buy the coke! Then the horrible sqwacking of the nearby Chickens...then we see a guy pedaling away on his bike...with 2 dead chickens hanging on the handlebars....Ah what a day that was!!!

[karolm]

:) :) Nancy what an excellent thorough report.

 

I hope you put your pictures on line. I really want to see that group in Santa Marta marching thru the rivers. Esp Laura and Marv hiking thru the

mud, etc. This is one of the Azamara "exotic destinations".:confused:

 

Thank you from all of us for all your time and effort on your report.

 

Great meeting and hanging out with you.

 

Carol

[photojunkie]

Thank you for your thorough review. I think we might have been in the same van for the zipline and canal cruise with Oscar's sister in Puerto Limon. She was delight wasn't she? You may have set up this tour for your group but so did I for our group of two (and then added two more that we met on the ship). People should be aware that Oscar combines the trips into what people in common want. So you may think that you are the only two or four on a tour and then be joined by quite a few others and crammed into a van. Not really terrible if you aren't going far. Being in a foreign country I guess we just go with the flow. We emailed Oscar frequently before our cruise and set this up. We finalized the details, especially the unexpected time difference of ship time vs. local time via email while on the cruise.

 

Carol

[NotChoppedLiver]

"I really want to see that group in Santa Marta marching thru the rivers. Esp Laura and Marv hiking thru the

mud, etc. "

 

Hahahahahahahah

And Carol, I want to see photos of you climbing up those 132 stone steps

at Tayrona Natl Park.

:)

[VIRGINIAKATHY]

:) Thank you for the great review............we can't wait to go on Feb. 2nd

[Napi's Mom]

Thank you for your thorough review. I think we might have been in the same van for the zipline and canal cruise with Oscar's sister in Puerto Limon. She was delight wasn't she? You may have set up this tour for your group but so did I for our group of two (and then added two more that we met on the ship). People should be aware that Oscar combines the trips into what people in common want. So you may think that you are the only two or four on a tour and then be joined by quite a few others and crammed into a van. Not really terrible if you aren't going far. Being in a foreign country I guess we just go with the flow. We emailed Oscar frequently before our cruise and set this up. We finalized the details, especially the unexpected time difference of ship time vs. local time via email while on the cruise.

 

Carol

No wonder I couldn't figure out who you were(!), seems Rockey claims he was with YOU but our Roll Call had him as signing up with us. Yes I was surprised that Oscar did that. I guess you "takes your chances" when dealing online. I found out our Guides' name..."Tonie". Perhaps all the rest of you knew it but I was kinda left out up in front as I was, and didn't hear a lot of what was said. She was delightful and I wrote to Carol Brown to tell them we thought so. Carol said that it made her day to hear that we enjoyed her so much. Guess the other tour had even more trouble getting it all in !:)

[Mic Rikelson]

I checked with out travel agency yesterday to see what flights we were to get for our Feb. 2 cruise. Much to my surprise Azamara has choosen a flight from Chicago to Acapulco and then Miami back to Chicago that are a direct non stop flights. Not only that, we don't have any early morning or late night flights. This will be much better than the flights offered by Oceania. Looking Good!:D

[Napi's Mom]

I checked with out travel agency yesterday to see what flights we were to get for our Feb. 2 cruise. Much to my surprise Azamara has choosen a flight from Chicago to Acapulco and then Miami back to Chicago that are a direct non stop flights. Not only that, we don't have any early morning or late night flights. This will be much better than the flights offered by Oceania. Looking Good!:D

Mic: Many who got the Air from Azamara got direct flights, I just didn't want to pay what they wanted for the Air. I did decide that never would we stop in Mexico City Airport ever ever...a madhouse. No matter what the cost...KarolM left at 3pm from Acapulco (we at 12, and beat us home to Chi.)