(Belated) 12/8/07 Quest Cruise and Penthouse Review

[katpt]

We had a wonderful time. The food was excellent, the service was very attentive, and the ship was beautifully decorated. Were there a few little mishaps – of course – but that’s life. They were very minor and either we ignored them or made a request for correction – which usually happened immediately.

Our cruising history (for comparison): We have cruised 5 other times, 4 times in a suite and 1 time in an ocean view cabin. Celebrity cruises: Mercury Royal Suite, Mercury ocean view, and Millennium Celebrity Suite.

Embarkation: OK, but not great. The suite line was short, but the person directing traffic alternated between serving the suite line and the Captain’s Club line. That was the first time we have seen that. After checking in we were asked to wait in another line for dinner reservations for the first night. This was awkwardly handled. Apparently Azamara is trying to deal with the first night issues in Discoveries by assigning time slots for everyone and having the suites go to the specialty restaurants. OK, but the waiting for reservations was too long. We almost gave up and left. However, we stayed in line, finished up the reservations, and boarded.

Cabin (7119): The cabin layout is exactly as that pictured on the website. The cabin is truly beautiful. Everything looked new: lovely wood furniture, expansive closets, bedding is great, large bathroom (and even a small guest bathroom). The sofa is comfortable, the dining room table is nicely placed to look out while having breakfast (or more in our case, we would grab some food and eat outside). The two end tables next to the sofa are attached (to the floor) and are so small as to be awkward and not very useful. They each hold a small table lamp, but because they are small tables, the light is very much behind you. We used the overhead lights, instead. Also, you couldn’t really use the little tables for setting a drink down while reading at the sofa unless you were young and had shoulders that could rotate way back. The only protection for the beautiful wood in the cabin is paper napkins. I’ve suggested that coasters would be nice, as the warm climates cause any beverage glass to drip and I was frequently wiping under the glass to make sure there would be no ring. (OK, maybe not necessary since it wasn’t my furniture, but it was too beautiful to knowingly spoil.)

Now, for our favorite place – the balcony. It truly is large and we spent many hours on the balcony. It had two loungers, and two sets of a table with two chairs. In fact, the balcony is so large that we could walk back-and-forth. The balcony has a center support that goes from the railing to the roof. It isn’t in the way and provides some sun shade. We found ourselves sharing that shade on more than one occasion. However, if at all possible a shade screen would be nice. The bed does face the window, and if you are sitting up and are tall, you can see the water (I’m short). Although here are a lot of advantages to the balcony being at the stern of the ship, there were two problems that some folks might find to be severe. First, when we left Miami, the diesel smell was really extreme for the first 24 hours. It was rarely noticeable later in the cruise. It seems to have to do with both speed of the ship and the wind direction. Second, carbon. Some mornings (and during the day if it rained) the balcony would be smeared with black carbon particles. We only blackened one pair of shorts before I learned to clean or look before I sat. The cabin attendants are very aware of the problem and are diligent at cleaning the balcony when they clean the cabin. Unfortunately, no matter how careful we were, we still tracked some of it into the cabin. I noticed black smears on the carpet. I hope Azamara can fix this or they’ll be replacing the carpet frequently. There are two sliding doors to the balcony – from the living room and from the bedroom. Finally a minor nit for Azamara’s benefit: when underway, the bedroom sliding door, if unlocked, will open and slam closed repeatedly. We gave up using it while underway. It was very nice to use, though, while in port.

Butler: In the past, we have had 2 butlers on Celebrity and 1 butler on NCL America. Our butler on this cruise, Antonio, was the best of all! A frequent question on the boards is if the suites get 2 or 3 people to service the room. The answer is 2. On Celebrity, if you are in a suite, you have a room attendant, assistant attendant, and a butler. The butler brings breakfast, afternoon tea, canapés, and reservations. They do more if you ask. On Azamara, the assistant attendant does a lot of the cleaning. The butler does all butler service and also does some of the light cleaning. It has to be light as he wears his black suit all the time. Some people have the attitude “If everyone has a butler, then no one has a butler.” When my husband said this to me, I challenged him to think of one thing that a previous butler did that Antonio did not. Nothing was identified. However, he was unsophisticated in “butlering”, and my husband preferred the two earlier Celebrity experiences.

OK, for those who don’t want to be bored while I sing Antonio’s praises, skip to the next paragraph. Antonio really was special. He introduced himself very soon after we were in our cabin. He oriented us (which I usually find somewhat irritating as I do lots of advance research). This was useful, however, as when he showed me the frig I found the only Coke had sugar. I asked for Diet Coke and he brought some immediately. It was never without Diet Coke again. Antonio is a very detailed oriented person. He is always looking around the cabin, seeing if anything is needed. This can become a little overwhelming for some. For me, it meant special things happened. For example, early in the cruise I asked for hot water with my breakfast. Antonio brought it with a selection of teas. While he was setting the table, I opened a drawer in the credenza and took out a box of Celestial Seasonings tea and placed a tea bag in my cup. Antonio asked me about it and I told him I prefer Celestial Seasonings. I showed him the three boxes, one of which was Sleepy Time. Guess what? Not only did Antonio not bring the tea selection next time (which was great, I just wanted the water), but every night during turndown, he would bring me a teacup and hot water! I could give so many more examples, but to Azamara: “Antonio is a real jewel!”

Food: Wow! OK, was every single meal the best we’ve had on a cruise – no. Was every single meal delicious – yes. Were some of the meals special and memorable – you bet. One that is truly special is the Veal Osso Buco in Aqualina. It is prepared atypically and excellent! Overall, we rate the food equivalent to our three happy experiences previously on Celebrity.

Breakfast: We had every breakfast, except the day of disembarkation, in our suite. The selection is great. Kudos all around on that. However, the hot food (eggs and such) consistently arrived cold, sometimes undercooked.

Lunch: Having cruised before and gained too much weight, lunch is where we limit our caloric intake (or try). We had lunch at the buffet every day except the second day, though we soon got into the habit of taking the plate to our balcony. We typically had salad from the salad bar, then topped it with some prepared salads. My husband had soup on several occasions and loved it. There are no trays on Azamara. This does work out ok, but would have made it easier to carry the food to the cabin. (Antonio would sometimes see me coming and rush to open the door for me!)

Tea: The cabin (butler) service tea has the same food as on Celebrity. The difference is in serving. On Azamara, you select the time you want your butler to deliver the tea. Our experience on Celebrity is that the butler loads a cart and pushes it down the hall, knocking on doors as he goes (no choice of time). If you choose not to have tea in your room, the service is considerably different; instead of a buffet, the tea is sit-down-service in one of the specialty restaurants. Points to remember. There is no tea service on the day of embarkation. On the next day we were given a card to fill out to indicate the time slot we wanted tea (2:30 to 3:00, 3:00 to 3:30, etc). Also, the card asked if we wanted canapés, and if so, what time slot. We made sure we were present at the time we selected. Antonio would check with us to make sure we wanted tea. When it was hot outside, we sometimes skipped tea.

Dinner: OK. This was one area I was very concerned about beforehand. Two reasons. 1) We go on Celebrity primarily because of the food. Berlitz rates it very high and the food and cabin are the two most critical factors for us. 2) We are somewhat loners – we like to sit together and not with anyone else. We’ve had success with that in the assigned seating ships, but were really concerned about it with the open seating. Concerned enough that I came very close to canceling the cruise.

Discoveries is lovely (but somewhat loud depending upon where you sit). We never had to wait for a table. A few times there would be one group in front of us that needed to be seated before us, but that took no more than a minute. The assistant maître d' who greets people and assigns tables is Jan (pronounced Yan). He was truly exceptional. Our first experience with Jan was the second night of the cruise (we ate at Aqualina the first night). We arrived 8ish and asked for a table for two. Jan asked for our cabin number and arranged for a window table on the side of Discoveries. It was very nice. We went to Discoveries for lunch the next day and saw Jan again. While being seated I asked him what time would be best if we wanted a table for two each night. He gave me a time and sure enough, we had a table for two every night, and usually the same table. Jan was very efficient and did an excellent job! I was so happy to consistently have a table for two at open seating.

We ate dinner twice at Aqualina and once at Prime C. Both were excellent, but only a small notch up from Discoveries. Presentation is important (to me). I feel it enhances the food to have someone care enough to present it beautifully. Though the food was very nicely presented in Discoveries (no complaints), this is one area that the specialty restaurants excelled. (I’m not discounting the food – it was really great – just trying to make a distinction.)

Entertainment: We can’t judge. This is an area that we rarely go to, on any cruise.

Shore excursions: Fun. It was great seeing different countries. However, our primary goal with cruising is always the ship (and balcony)!

Disembarkation: Sigh! Why can’t cruise lines recognize that some people really do read and really are prompt, reliable, etc. Anyway, the wait was no worse than other disembarkations, I just wish that if they told you to be at your waiting area at 8:00, they meant 8:00 and not 8:15. Nobody can leave the ship until all passengers go through the onboard immigration. OK. Got it. However, the onboard immigration was scheduled through 8:15. So why do we need to be at the waiting area at 8:00? The disembarkation was typical (not bad).

Acapulco Airport – yuck! We took the shore excursion with cliff diving. It was a boring tour. Unless you really want to shop, just take a standard transfer. The jokes on the bus were that the tour guide was getting a commission, but we sure stopped at a lot of shops. Also, since you can’t bring food “into” a country, and the airport food is VERY limited and VERY expensive, it would be great is Azamara could convince the tour guide to stop at a place to buy food (not diamond rings).

Staff: Since I was told by multiple people that Azamara definitely reads these critiques, I would like to thank the following staff members:

Heike – Hotel Director – for a great dinner and the DVD player – what a problem solver you are!

Lorenzo – Restaurant Manager. Lorenzo circulated through all the food serving areas. He was exceptional at recognizing faces and directing his staff. I believe the absolute pleasure we had on this cruise with the food and restaurant service is a reflection of Lorenzo’s dedication. Lorenzo, I liked the Portland story! (A little detour. Azamara has a comment card that you can fill out anytime during the cruise. The front desk types in your comments or requests and it goes to the heads of each area. They meet every morning to see if they can satisfy a request. Some need to be deferred until the ship can refurbish in Miami; others are policy changes; but some they can satisfy right away. We have always enjoyed the prepared salad on the Celebrity Cruises at lunch. Our favorite is the seafood salad that has calamari, shrimp, scallops, etc. My husband filled out a comment card on a Wednesday, and the salad appeared on the lunch buffet on Friday! How’s that for responsive. When we saw Lorenzo at dinner that night, we thanked him. He explained the process and how they try to satisfy the requests if they can. Way to go!)

Jan – Assistant maître d'. A gem. How he can manage all those tables and passengers coming and going without reservations, with different expectations of how long a meal should take is amazing!

Antonio – Butler – thank you for making this a truly memorable and remarkable cruise!

Overall: Fantastic cruise. Would we go on Azamara again? Already booked!

Kathy and Ken

[Gadgetguru]

Thank you for your review.We are now looking forward to our cruise in march even more.

 

Bob

[marytexas]

Kathy and Ken, thanks so much for your detailed review.

We just (1 hr ago) booked the Quest for May 24 RT Rome.

Your comments on disembarkation were vital as we were looking at

an 1100 departure to NYC. I think we will change it.

We will not be as fortunate as you having a suite. We will have a balcony. No butler serving us tea!

We have spent almost 4 days looking at river cruises, transatlantic cruises, etc and now feel really good because it seems from yours and others comments that we have made a good choice.

Thanks again,

Mary

[katpt]

Hi Mary,

 

I hope you have a great cruise. On Azamara, every cabin gets a butler! Look at the web site before your cruise to see what the butler can do for you... and ask. We have found that they are very accommodating. If you ask for services they are very happy to provide them. You can definitely have a nice, relaxing cup of tea and small sandwiches on your balcony.

 

Enjoy,

Kathy

[Andy]

Hi Kathy and Ken !

 

Thank you for your excellent review, and welcome home !

 

BTW, I agree that Lorenzo is a wonderful person. He is a real gem.

[rockysquirrel]

Hi Kathy & Ken. We were happy to see you post your review. What a nice surprise to see you're booked again on Azamara. Where and when? We're back to work and poking around for our next cruise if we can escape again.

 

Warm wishes,

Sue & Pete (from PA)

[kgr]

Kathy and Ken,

 

Thank you so much for your "belated" review! I believe your approach to cruising is very similar to the quiet approach my husband and I take to cruising including a table for two when dining. We are Elite cruisers with Celebrity and have been concerned after reading many of the reviews. I am so looking forward to our cruise in February especially now that you have posted your review. Thank you for sharing your experience.

 

Krista

[gkm]

Thank you for your balanced review. It's nice to know names before we sail--which we will be doing in less than 3 month. We'll have a wonderful transatlantic crossing with these nice folks. I'm looking forward to getting to know them.:D :D

 

Garry

[crzfanatic]

I have to say that I really enjoyed your review. You really seemed to have had a wonderful cruise. Even your few complaints were well thought out and didn't seem to "bug" you too much. I wish you would reconsider sitting alone just the two of you though, it sounds like you would make wonderful dining companions. I am looking forward to our Quest cruise in SE Asia even more now. Too bad it is not until December...

 

Andy

[orchestrapal]

Thanks for the great review. We are considering Azamara after having loved all of our cruises on Oceania. Just looking for some new itineraries.

We agree sitting alone at meals is the way to go ,for us as well.

We love being with each other and not having to put up with a noisy

table of people we would never be interested in seeing again.:)

[travellgirl]

Glad you had a great cruise. We, too, like to sit at a table for two. We normally do meet people and have had dinner with them, but that has been after meeting and talking with them for a while. Neither is right or wrong, just a matter of personal choice.

 

Do you know if Dominique was the maitre d' at either of the specialty restaurants? I know he had been there, but was moving back and forth from the Journey to the Quest.

[lonestarsteve]

Kathy and Ken

 

Thank you for giving everyone such a clear picture of the Quest and Staff. They are wonderful ......and we have already booked again in March ....this will be number three for us.

 

Hi to Sue and Pete . Join us on the March 29 trip and the the adventures will begin again!! :D

 

Steve and Kate

[lonestarsteve]

Kathy and Ken

 

Thank you for giving everyone such a clear picture of the Quest and Staff. They are wonderful ......and we have already booked again in March ....this will be number three for us.

 

Hi to Sue and Pete . Join us on the March 29 trip and the the adventures will begin again!! :D

 

Steve and Kate

[rockysquirrel]

Hi Steve and Kate,

 

We would love to cruise again so soon but unfortunately we can't join you in March. Us working stiffs are trying to save for retirement and kids educations. We admire what you are able to do and hope to cruise with you again in the future. If not at least a visit to TX to scout out some real estate. Have fun without us but be sure to get the thin crispy fries at the pool grill. I think they are still looking for the BBQ sauce for you.

 

Keep in touch,

Pete and Sue