Question about Suite Amenities??

[hylasgirl]

It lists on Azamara's website that if you are in a suite you get complimentary bottled water and soda? Is this for the entire cruise? Plus it says in-suite specialty coffees...

 

Anyone have any experience with this?

 

Thank you:)

[IowaCruisers]

Hi Hylasgirl,

 

We were in suite 8045 of the Quest for the March 1st Panama Canal. I can answer some of your questions.

 

Yes - Evian water is replenished daily if needed in the big bottles. If you want small bottles to take in port, I believe you still need to purchase them.

 

Canned soft drinks are also replenished as needed. We drank a lot of Coke and Diet Coke, and if it ran out, we just left a note for Albert, and he made sure someone brought some. We did specify how many cans of each we wanted each time. Otherwise, he would just fill the mini-bar with two each. Again, the free soda does not apply to anything ordered at a bar or restaurant. Those, you must pay for - it's about $3 can, I think, by the time you add the 18%. There is a soda card you can purchase onboard for $5 day, but we didn't, so I don't know too much about that.

 

The teacart comes down the hall every late-afternoon, and there's coffee and tea, along with sweets - cookies and beautiful small cakes.

 

I didn't try to order a specialty coffee, so I can't comment on whether there would be a charge.

 

Enjoy - you'll love the spacious room and large television. The bathroom seems huge in comparison to the verandah cabins.

 

Brenda

[gkm]

Brenda, thanks for the information. We are in 8046 on the Quest transatlantic next week. It's nice to know we'll have bottled water and cokes!

 

What are the balconies like? How is the storage in the suites?

 

Garry

[Andy]

Brenda, thanks for the information. We are in 8046 on the Quest transatlantic next week. It's nice to know we'll have bottled water and cokes!

 

What are the balconies like? How is the storage in the suites?

 

Garry

 

Hi Garry !

 

Storage is excellent in the Suites. The balcony was very nice too !

[gkm]

Thanks Andy! That's good to know. I'm so excited.:D :D :D

 

Garry

[hotzej]

Hello,

We will be on the Journey Transatlantic 4/9/08, cabin 8059 and happy to hear about the amenities... Can you please tell me if the balcony has a lounge chair, or just table and chairs?

 

Thank You,

[critterchick]

Hi Garry !

 

Storage is excellent in the Suites. The balcony was very nice too !

 

Do you have any pictures? We just booked the Best of Italy for 2009, and I get more excited every time I look at the itinerary!

[IowaCruisers]

Hi,

 

The sky suite balconies on Quest are not nearly deep enough for a lounge chair. There is a table, maybe 2 ft. square and 2 chairs. You can squeeze around the table to get to the furthest chair.

 

The balconies are not any deeper than a verandah cabin. But, the extra room inside the cabin is great. Lots of storage spaces - a full set of shelves in the large closets. Also drawers in the desk/bureau combination. Our large suitcases fit well under the bed.

 

I have lots of pictures of 8045 and the Quest, but haven't had much luck getting them online somewhere. I'll work on that today and report back.

 

I recommend taking an outlet strip if you have electronics like we did. It helped for plugging in a nightlight, camera batteries, laptop, etc.

 

Brenda

[gkm]

Thanks Brenda! We look forward to seeing your pictures of the sky suite.

 

Garry

[IowaCruisers]

Hi Garry,

 

Well, you asked for them! hee hee I didn't realize I had taken 203 pictures of the ship. I'm also posting the same link under a new thread named "203 Quest photos" or something silly like that.

 

 

http://kenandbrenda.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b34350bbc485

 

Enjoy them!

 

Brenda

[hotzej]

Thanks for the great pixs of the Quest and Sky Suite. all 203 were great

[IowaCruisers]

Okay, maybe I'm a bit... well.... overzealous with the old digital camera.

 

But, in the months leading up to our cruise, I so enjoyed the reviews and photos of the ship.

 

I thought I could answer questions like "what's in the mini-bar" and "how big is the safe" with photos.

 

I enjoyed taking them, especially the food photos - 'cause then we got to EAT them! My dinner companions were very polite when I asked "can I take a picture of that?"

 

Brenda

[gkm]

Brenda, great photos! I think my DH and I will be very comfortable in our SS and we'll certainly have enough storage room!

 

The food looks marvelous. All of a sudden I'm hungry.:D :D

 

Garry

[critterchick]

Brenda, those pictures are great, thanks so much! Now I'm really psyched!:D

[joan24]

Does anyone know if the Sky Suites are the same as the PH suites on Oceania. The picture on their site looks as if it is, but just wondering before I get into booking mode.

Thanks,

Joan

[Lobbylin]

Wonderful photos!! Thanks for taking and posting them

 

....a photo answers a thousand questions:)

[Logo]

Really enjoyed your photos!! Your pictures are definitely worth a thousand words! I do have a question about Sky Suite acommodations (which we've booked). On the website, Azamara describes the "Suite" amenities. Does it apply to sky suites or just the larger suites?

The website description is as follows:

 

Suites

All suites come standard with all of the above, plus priority check-in and departure; priority luggage delivery at boarding; three nights of complimentary specialty dining, complimentary garment pressing (limit of two items per person upon embarkation); opportunity to book in-suite spa services; private portrait sitting; priority tender service; fragrant drawer liners upon request; silk-wrapped hangers; Hansgrohe® showerhead; welcome champagne; daily fruit basket; daily savories 4-6 PM; complimentary nonalcoholic specialty coffees (in-suite), sodas, and bottled water.

 

Do you get priority departure for shore excursions? Were there any problems getting ashore at any ports? We plan to do a lot of private tours and don't want to have to wait for all the ship sponsored tours to depart. What's the scoop??

 

Thanks, Logo

[IowaCruisers]

Hi Logo,

 

Yes, I believe we would have received all of those things had we asked. I don't think it includes priority departure for shore excursions - we didn't take any ship-sponsored excursions, so I can't tell you for sure.

 

We DID get:

Priority check-in in Miami - once through security, the line splits into about four lines: Suites, Elite, Captains Club and regular. The problem here was once we were checked in, the Suites and Elite people had to stand and stand in line to make dinner reservations at one of the specialty restaurants that night. This is, apparently, to alleviate "first night" crowding in Discoveries restaurant. But, people didn't know this, and stood and stood there, talking and looking at menus, deciding which restaurant they wanted to eat in that night. "Make a decision, already!" I wanted to shout, but didn't.

 

We DID get:

Complimentary Specialty Dining - actually four nights. The first night doesn't count towards your "limit". By the way, you can eat in the specialty dining room however many times you want now, if there's reservations available.

 

We DID get:

Silk wrapped hangers - about 6 or 8. There were other hangers in the closets as well. I still brought some wire hangers from home, and used them as well.

 

We DID get:

The welcome champagne - it was already on ice when we got to our cabin. The fruit basket was replenished daily as needed. We got the daily savories (or canapes, whichever), but they were... well, frankly... awful. Four little crackers or dried toast points with some kind of fishy paste on them. One day we got brie on the toast, and that was better.

 

We DID get:

Sodas and bottled water replenished daily. When we needed more Coke (I think all they had was coke products), we just left Albert a note to bring 4 or 6 or however many we thought we'd need the next day. Otherwise, they fill the mini-bar with 2 regular cokes and 2 diet cokes. The large bottles of Evian were replenished daily, but if you wanted the small bottles of Evian to take onshore, you have to purchase them on the way out of the gangway. We didn't buy any, so I don't know how much they cost.

 

I don't know about the following, since we didn't ask or need the services:

Garment pressing, spa services, drawer liners, specialty coffees, private portrait sitting. I don't know about priority tender service, as we only tendered one port, and they were just loading people as they came - no separate express line or anything.

 

I don't know what your itinerary is, so I can't comment on the ship's tours or getting ashore at each port.

 

I DO know you'll really enjoy the Sky Suite's roominess and large interactive television. The bathroom's are twice as big as the regular cabins' bathrooms, so that right there means a lot.

 

Brenda

[katpt]

Hi,

 

We were in a Penthouse on Quest and I can add some answers.

Garment pressing: You are allowed two free pieces (per person, I think) when you first get on board.

 

You could book spa services to occur in your room, but the spa really had no understanding of how to do this. Also, it was very expensive because you pay for the transit time to/from your room plus setup.

 

Drawer liners: Don't remember, but the furnishings on the Quest are beautiful.

 

Specialty coffees: my husband routinely ordered cappuccino or espresso with breakfast, in addition to regular coffee. There was no charge.

 

Private portrait sitting: I've been in suites on several Celebrity cruises and never used this. I don't even know how to arrange it. Certainly no butler has ever offered.

 

Enjoy your cruise and be prepared to be pampered!

Kathy

[Logo]

Thanks Brenda & Kathy,

 

We're on the August 30th Journey Holyland Cruise from Barcelona to Athens by way of Egypt, Israel and many other ports along the way. Getting really excited. Nice to hear that grabbing a sky suite was a good move. They're all sold out on our cruise now. Too bad there are so few of them. Are you all booking another cruise with Azamara after your positive experience?

 

Again, thanks to everyone for the info.

 

 

Lois:)

[critterchick]

Brenda, a question for you: in your picture of the bathroom, it looks as if there's a wall-mounted hairdryer in there. Did you use it and, if so, how did it work? Also, was there a handheld anywhere to be found? I hate to schlep my hairdryer halfway around the world if I don't have to. Thanks!

[Lobbylin]

Brenda, a question for you: in your picture of the bathroom, it looks as if there's a wall-mounted hairdryer in there. Did you use it and, if so, how did it work? Also, was there a handheld anywhere to be found? I hate to schlep my hairdryer halfway around the world if I don't have to. Thanks!

 

I too was disappointed to see that the hairdrier was in the bathroom, so I'm interested to hear if there is another one...

Thanks:)

[DougK]

When we were on the Quest in December, there was a hand-held dryer in the dresser drawer in our Sky Suite. The bad news was that it couldn't be plugged in -- the outlet was placed close enough to the counter that the dryer's adapter plug wouldn't fit. Luckily we had an extension cord along that solved the problem. We commented on this on one of the multiple feedback cards they solicited, so it may well be fixed by now.

 

Doug

[critterchick]

Thanks, Doug! I've added an extension cord to the "must be packed" list, and it's always come in handy!

[Lobbylin]

Doug K do you recall if there were was a UK style 3 pin plug / 240volts outlet in the Sky suites?

 

Thanks for all the info!:)