Quest Review (8/30/08 Western Med)

[brightonguys]

I finally was able to put together a review of our recent fantastic cruise on the Azamara Quest. Here is the link to the review for anyone interested:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=47212

 

If you have any questions at all, I'll do my best to answer them.

 

Ed

[Susan-M]

Hi Ed,

 

Many thanks for your very interesting and comprehensive review ... I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

 

We are doing the Ancient Empires itinerary on Quest on Oct. 11th and will have a day in Sorrento. Since we've been to Pompeii we thought we would go to Herculaneum by train this time. Did you take a bus from the port to the train station, or walk?

 

Thanks again,

[brightonguys]

Hi Susan, we walked to the train station in Sorrento. We had walked up the looooong stairway up from port to the town, so we figured walking to the train station at that point would be a breeze . . . and it was. It's probably a 10-minute walk from the central square in town. I don't remember there being many signs, but we asked a policeman (in English, since neither of us speaks Italian unfortunately), and told us how to get there. It's essentially a straight shot about 6 blocks down one street, and then a right turn on the street that goes right to the station (about another 3 or 4 blocks, as I recall). If you haven't spent time walking around Sorrento in the past, I would recommend allowing a little time to walk around before getting back on the ship. It's awfully charming (and some good shopping). Have fun!

[Andy]

Hi Ed !

 

Thank you for your outstanding review. I enjoyed reading it. I was great to see you had such a wonderful Cruise. Welcome Home !

[Jancruz]

Loved your review..I was on Journey in August and cant wait to go back again!!

Jancruz1

[daju22]

Brightonguys,

Thank you so much for your detailed review! We will be on Quest soon and the excitement is mounting!! So glad that you enjoyed your cruise on her.

[cruisey69]

We sail from Athens to Singapore in Nov. on the Quest and was wondering if the staff was Gay friendly?

 

We have been on 49 cruises so far and never had a problem but it is nice if they are open minded staff.

 

Never been on this ship or line so it will be a first. I had asked about the gym on your other posting.

 

Thanks Paul

[world~citizen]

Well that was a great review.

 

We are planning an Azamara cruise next year. What would you say distinguishes Azamara from say X or HAL - which is to say what differences did you notice most?

 

I understand RCL has stated they have no plans for newbuilds for Azamara. I hope it doesn't. mean they are going to abandon that segment of the market to Oceania. It might have negative consequences for the continuing quality of Azamara if there is an intention to just wind the "brand" down.

 

I really like the whole concept of Azamara and the reviews are reassuring.

 

Smooth sailing....

[Lobbylin]

Loved reading your review, so thanks for posting! :)

We like the smaller ships so are looking forward to our first time on the Quest next Mar 09.

 

Did you have any trouble getting dinner reservations for the speciality restaurants?

 

Thanks

[brightonguys]

Thanks for all the positive feedback, I'm glad I could finally give a little bit back to Cruise Critic after all the reviews I've read over the last couple of years. Let's see if I can answer some questions . . .

 

Lbackwith: I'm glad you asked about the difficulty in getting reservations at the specialty restaurants. We went to Aqualina the first day to make reservations (as is our habit soon after boarding any ship) and had no trouble making reservations for Aqualina and Prime C at that time. However, when we went back during the second week, both places were booked solid. So my recommendation would be to reserve Aqualina for early on in your cruise (skip Prime C) and then see about making further reservations soon thereafter if you enjoy it.

 

Cruisy69: I think I answered your gym questions in the other thread, but let me know if you want more info. As for the crew, yes, I thought they were incredibly friendly, professional, and welcoming across the board. There were quite a few gay couples on our sailing, and I don't think anyone had anything but great experiences.

 

World~Citizen: I, too, hope that they keep the Azamara sub-brand going. It's a great alternative to the bigger ships (and I do still love the bigger ones, too -- we're going on the 122,000 g.t. Solstice in 6 weeks!), and a really different experience. As for what I would say felt different that our experience on Millinium or Maasdam, I think I would say that the size. The smaller size gave you a better passenger/space ratio, fewer (or no) lines anywhere, more attentive service, and easy access to everything on the ship. The quality of a lot things on the Quest was superior, too -- the towels, the linens, the breads/pastries -- so that was really nice.

 

Hope that helps!

[cruisey69]

We have been on most other cruiselines but not this one. Can we charge slot play to our rooms like other lines??

 

Thanks:D