Quest Positive Review-Long

[swigso]

I have recently returned from the QUEST 14 night 16th Feb sailing. This was our first cruise on a ship under 70,000 tons

having sailed previously with Celebrity, RCCL and once on the SS Norway.

I have read most if not all of the postings on the Azamara boards and having experienced the product first hand

find some of the complaints about service etc to be a little over the top.

Azamara is a premium product- in the words of one of our fellow cruisers, quite upscale.

The ship is beautiful, very well designed and decorated to a very high standard. Similar to many 5* hotels in Europe.

The service levels and attention to detail from the hotel director, the guest relations desk,

restaurant, bar and spa personnel was first rate.

Our cabin attendants were superb and we found that the whole floor seemed to cover for each other when necessary

and everyone was always ready with a smile and assistance where needed

 

. Within days it seemed that everyone knew your name and wanted to make sure that your stay on board was exceptional.

The waiters and bar staff worked tirelessly and again were friendly without being intrusive.

One of the things that we really enjoyed was the open seating.

We ate 3 times each in Prime C, Aquilina and Discoveries the other nights we ate in Breezes.

The food in Discoveries was good and the service was on par with our experience on Celebrity,

Prime C is an excellent restaurant especially. if, like me you like meat. The steaks were first class and always served as ordered.

The starters and Sweets were also very good including the no sugar option and indeed in both speciality restaurants

the service was excellent and worth a lot more than the requested minimum gratuity of $5.

Both restaurants provided a fine dining experience that delivered excellent food and service.

The real find for us was Breezes.

The sushi was fresh, tasty, well prepared and presented. The sauces and dips also perfectly complemented the choices.

Whilst we never had the roast it always looked appetising and well cooked. The Stir Fry station was brilliant, it was cooked fresh for you and the choices of meat ,

fish and vegetables were enough to satisfy most palettes.

The Pasta station also offered a nice selection of delicious freshly prepared dishes.

 

The breakfast buffet was varied and the Egg station always seemed busy,

the choices of cereal and fresh fruit were as you would expect and again service was done with a smile.

The Smoothie bar was also very popular and offered a varied menu as well as made to order selections.

Despite what I had read coffee was readily available and the waiters were only too happy to provide refills.

 

We took advantage of the room service breakfast on 2 or 3 occasions and for us it was quite adequate,

arrived on time and hot dishes were hot and coffee was good.

We found the entertainment in the cabaret lounge to be quite good, the resident musicians were very very good

as were the ship’s ensemble of singers/performers.

This group were very professional and the hard work and rehearsals they must have put in

really showed in their performances.

For me the cruise activity staff were good, they were there if you wanted to get involved and again

worked very hard to make sure that there was always some sort of activity taking place.

I would imagine that with the age /demographic profile on board their job would be a difficult one.

 

The loungers around the pool were the best I have ever come across on a cruise ship

and yes sometimes it did take 5 or ten minutes to find a lounger but all in all not too bad-

it seemed that there were always some available and indeed after 2ish it was never a problem to get a bed by the pool.

The pool was adequate for the size of ship but did sometimes get a little crowded;

the hot tubs were hot and could perhaps do with a little shade.

The spa tub was OK but not worth the charge imho .The deck area here was secluded and tranquil but a little too quiet for me.

 

I have read comments regarding the tipping policy and the 18% gratuity. This is only my opinion.

 

First the tipping policy – all cruise-lines have a policy with suggested guidelines.

Azamara have theirs and they state how they are distributed, before I book I know what to expect

so I cannot understand why anyone has issues with this. I can understand not wishing to pay for bad service

but in all the time I have been cruising I have not experienced bad service-perhaps I am lucky.

 

With regard to the 18% gratuity, all I can say is that in real terms

if I spend $1000 I will pay an extra $30 as compared to other cruise-lines,

well my friends all I can say is that from my experiences on the Quest, I don’t really have a problem with this,

as the level of service I received was up there with the best.

 

I have not covered Embarkation/Debarkation/Tours/Cabin as these have all been covered on the boards

however this is a personal view of my time spent on the Quest.

Some may say that this review is all rosy but I must say that we had a fabulous cruise,

and yes there was a norivirus outbreak but again I think the crew and management of the ship did an excellent job of containment,

others no doubt will have had some bad experiences and to them I say

I am sorry your enjoyment was not as good as mine, but to anyone going on this ship

you will have an experience that will be memorable and enjoyable- if my experiences are the norm.

 

In closing thanks to all the wonderful people who we had the pleasure of meeting,for making the trip so memorable.

Too many to mention but again thanks and happy cruising.

 

 

Bye for Noww.

[hotzej]

Thank you for the wonderful, comprehensive review. We will be on the Journey 4/9/08 Transatlantic to Barcelona. We are hoping and are sure we will experience the wonderful cruise. Could you please tell me what cabin you had?

[swigso]

Hi bill,

#7105- great location, but the ship is very user freindly.have a great trip

[Susan-M]

Thank you for posting your review .... it's nice to read such positive comments! Glad that you had such a good time...we're really looking forward to cruising on Quest in October! :)

[crzrr]

Hi Steve,

 

Great review. We agree 100%. We really enjoyed meeting you. Thanks again for organizing the Tobago trip.

 

Sue and Darren

[StLouisCruisingGuys]

Now that is a review that has me more excited than ever about our upcoming Baltic cruise on Journey!

Thanks for the wonderful descriptions.

Ben and Christopher

[Bodger]

Nice review Steve, and I fully concurr.

 

Thanks for not mentioning the snoring from the adjacent cabin.:o

 

Bodger (Cabin 7103)

[uktog]

Lovely review, it is a few month before we sail on Quest but I am positively encouraged by the improving postings. I always take posts on the balance - after all I have just been to a very upscale 5* hotel in the UK who had an off day but hey it was still better than a night at the Travel Inn :)

[gkm]

What a nice review. We will be boarding her in just a little over 2 weeks and I'm really getting excited!:D :D :D

 

Garry