Review of Azamara Quest Best of Italy 5-16 to 5-30-2009

[greeneg]

Review of Azamara Quest May 16-30, 2009 “Best of Italy” Cruise

 

It WAS the Best of Italy.

 

Pre-Cruise and Planning. We had originally booked the Quest for January, 2010, on a Far-Eastern itinerary. However, when we began to try and put the details together, look at airfares, schedule flights, hotels, etc. neither my wife nor I was terribly happy with the end result. When my wife ran across this itinerary, we decided to switch the booking and go back to Italy. Are we ever glad!

 

The roll call for this sailing was/is the most active one in which I have participated in my Cruise Critic Membership. Prior to departing Charlotte, there were over 1550 posts, and we had 75 Cruise Critic Members registered for the Connections Party. I felt that I had already made a number of new friends even before we got on the ship; and I was right. Just a great, great group of people.

 

Departure: I had booked my own travel arrangements using Delta Air Lines from Charlotte to Atlanta to Rome. The flight was operated by North West Airlines, and was a very pleasant surprise, given that our previous International experience with Delta had not been the best. Everything went well this time though and I will certainly put Delta back on the “list”.

 

Arrival in Rome: We arrived at Leonardo da Vinci ( FCO) about 8:20 AM and were met outside the baggage claim area by our private driver. We were transferred to Civitavecchia, checked in, and were on board before 11:00. We had lunch in Windows Cafe and were in our stateroom by 1:30. Our luggage arrived the earliest of any of our cruises and we were unpacked and settled in by muster with plenty of time to attend the CC Sailaway in the Looking Glass and put faces to the names of our new friends.

The ship sailed on time for Sorrento.

 

Overall, a very good start.

 

Ship

 

Stateroom: This was our third Azamara Cruise, having done prior sailings on both the Quest and the Journey. The ships are identical, so we pretty much knew where things were and how to get there. We had originally booked a 1A stateroom, but had changed to a 2A as a result of some price reductions ( more money to spend for Gelato). The cabins differ only in their location on the ship, since my wife and I are both good sailors, we were more than happy to have some extra budget room. We have always found the Azamara Cabins to be extremely well laid out, with good storage arrangements, and well furnished. We received excellent service from our Butler, Jesus, and his assistant, Mark. They were both very gracious and accommodating and we appreciated all they did for us. We were very comfortable the whole cruise.

 

Dining Arrangements: Since the Azamara ships do not have “fixed” seating, you have essentially three types of options for meals: Discoveries, the main dining room, Windows Cafe, the buffet restaurant on Deck 9, and the two Specialty Restaurants, Aqualina and Prime C. We ate in all of them except Prime C ( we prefer Aqualina's menu) and found the overall food selection, quality, and service to be excellent; easily on a par or better with the Celebrity parent. Although you do not have an assigned table or waiter in Discoveries, if you find either a table/waiter that you like, the Maitre d' s will do their very best to accommodate you. We did find Discoveries to be a little noisy at times ( people noises), but always pleasant. We had dinner three times in Aqualina and enjoyed excellent food and service on all three occasions. If you can be time flexible, the Managers of both Aqualina and Prime C will try very hard to seat you even if you haven't made a prior reservation. Just another example of how accommodating the crew try to be.

 

Because this itinerary is so “port intensive” we actually found ourselves having dinner more often than not in Windows Cafe. Although a buffet, the selection was usually excellent, as were the made to order stir-frys; the sushi was fresh and tasty as were the salads. Needless to say, there was a nice selection of desserts and Ice Cream. All this, relative quiet, and some beautiful sunsets to enjoy. A nice way to dine and relax with a very good cup of decaf cappuccino.

 

When we were on board, we had lunch in either Windows or the Pool Grill; My wife had breakfast twice on the verandah, I usually ate in Windows which was quick, fresh, and tasty. There were sticky buns almost every day. The coffee left something to be desired in the morning at first, but got better as the cruise progressed.

 

I am not aware that anyone starved on the cruise ( I know that I certainly didn't.)

 

Ship's Condition and Facilities: The ship appeared to be in excellent condition. Everything that I tried to use worked properly; the ship was sparkling clean. We did not use the Spa Services, although I did not hear any complaints about them. The ships computer services worked well ( albeit somewhat slow, but that's inherent in the nature of the beast). The entire ship, I believe, is Wifi; my notebook worked as well in my stateroom as the computers in the computer center. The public rooms were spotless and functional, the absence of tobacco smoke is very noticeable on these ships and greatly improves the cruising experience to my thinking.

 

Ship's Officers and Crew: There used to be an old advertising slogan about “Service with a Smile”. The Quest Crew, from Captain Carlson on down, does just that. It is clear from the first time that you step on board, that you are welcome and made to feel a part of the team that the Captain, Sue Denning the Cruise Director, and Niazi Korkmaz, the Hotel Manager, have created. Smiles, friendly faces are all around at all levels. The atmosphere on the ship could not be more inviting and friendly. Interesting, I think that the crew's attitude actually spreads to the passengers and you find yourself greeting and smiling at just about everyone you meet. Makes for a very nice atmosphere aboard the ship.

 

Activities: Azamara ships are not the usual type of cruise ship in the sense of the go-go constant activities and announcements that seem common on larger ships. The pool area on sea days tends to be people reading, sunning, napping, or just chatting as opposed to the “Ole, Ole” constant noise and tumult on some other ships. The evening entertainment tends to be cabaret rather than production shows, but it can also be very pleasant to sit outside aft on deck 9 and just listen to the guitarist play, or have a few laughs in the Cabernet lounge with a comedian. I have personally found life on both the Journey and the Quest to be very relaxing and comfortable. The fact that this cruise was so port intensive made a quiet evening very attractive to me so as to be ready for the next day.

 

Ports: As wonderful as the ship experience was, the itinerary just added to the total experience so as to make this one of the best cruises ever for us.

 

Sorrento. We arrived on Sunday Morning, still not quite time adapted from the long flight on the day before. After lunch, we tendered into the town, went to the railway station on the bus and took the Circumvesuvio Train to Pompeii. Using Rick Steeve's most recent Italian Tour Guide we did our own tour of the ruins of Pompeii and then took the train, the bus, and the tender back to the ship. Pompeii was reasonably cool and breezy and uncrowded and we really enjoyed the afternoon. The ship over-nighted in Sorrento.

 

The next day we spent in Capri with four of our new Cruise Critic Friends and Rebecca from Capitime who was our guide. Capri was lovely, again not too hot with a nice breeze and some wonderful Gelato right in the harbor while we were waiting for the ferry back to Sorrento.

 

The third day dawned sunny as we arrived in Taormina Sicily. This was a new port to us; we took the provided shuttle to the town and explored. I was surprised at the Spanish Influence in the architecture and the Churches. The ruins and views from the ancient Greek theater were very impressive; Mt. Etna just loomed over everything as Vesuvius had done at Pompeii.

 

Day Four was a sea day. We just read, went to an excellent lecture ( all of the enrichment lectures were very worthwhile), and generally relaxed.

 

Day Five. Ravenna was a new port/city to us. Because we were overnighting there, we had gotten together with 11 other couples on Cruise Critic and had setup a full day trip to Bologna where we had also never been. The chartered bus picked us up at the pier, drove us to the meeting point near the Neptune Square in Bologna where we met our guides ( we had set the day up as two subgroups of 6 couples each with its own guide) and began our tour of the Medieval City., including the square, the Cathedral, the University ( 2nd oldest in Europe) and the Jewish Ghetto. We then had five hours on our own to shop, have lunch, check out the Gelato, or just plain people watch. We enjoyed the City very much and hope to return there again. We met our bus ( right on schedule!) and then returned to the ship. This turned out to be a great day, one of the trip high points for me.

 

Day Six. We explored Ravenna and its wonderful, and historic mosaics. I can remember seeing pictures of many of the mosaics in history textbooks from the time that I was in school and it was neat to finally see the real things. Then back to the ship and on to Venice.

 

 

Day Seven-Eight: Venice. No matter what you say about Venice, it's hot, sticky, crowded, expensive, it is still one of the most magic places in the World. Overnighting, in Venice was a major reason that we were so excited about this particular itinerary and it did not disappoint. Before arriving, we received a very nice present: several of us had asked the Captain if there was any way possible that the ship's sailing time on Sunday could be delayed so that we could have more time to explore that morning. Captain Carlson contacted Miami, and surprise, surprise, was able to work it out so that our departure could be delayed from 12:00 to 2:00PM. This is perhaps, the best example of how far the Officers and Med of the Quest are prepared to go to accommodate their guests. Ask, and they will try; I have to say that I have never seen that sort willingness to try to meet expectations on any of our previous cruises and that my hat is definitely off to the Quest and her Crew. Thank you so much, Captain!

 

Day Nine: Dubrovnik, Croatia. This was the only non-Italian port on the itinerary and another new city for us. We had a wonderful day just exploring the Old City and a great lunch at The Orphan, just outside the Old City walls.

 

Day Ten: the Second of our Sea Days, a great time for R&R. We passed through the Straights of Messina in the afternoon and were saluted by Stromboli with several volcanic puffs as we passed close-by.

 

Day Eleven: Olbia, Sardinia. Another new port, we took the shuttle into town and people watched again. Found some more outstanding Gelato.

 

Day Twelve: La Spezia. La Spezia is a gateway for both Florence as well as the Cinque Terra. The latter has to be another of those unique places that you find only in Italy: beautiful, breathtaking scenery, little villages where as little as possible is allowed to change. We took a cab to the train station, bought the passes ( go behind the entrance of the station to the track side to find the right office to do that-- it isn't obvious from the signage at the Station) and were off to Monterosso al Mare. We spent the day walking and exploring, with a wonderful lunch by the harbor in Vernazza at Trattoria Gianni. Gelato in Riomaggiore completed another wonderful day.

 

Day Thirteen: Livorno. Livorno is the second gateway to Florence and the magnificence of the Renaissance. This was the only ship's excursion that we took as we absolutely did not want to take the chance of missing the ship at the last port. Even though the Independent Explorations in Florence left the ship early, but the time we actually got to the City, there really was only time for the Uffizi, a quick lunch, more gelato and then back on the bus. I had purchased tickets for the Uffizi on line in advance ( I highly recommend this as it allows you to avoid the entrance lines which can easily be 2 hours in length) so this was my primary focus for the day.

 

Day Fourteen: Back to Rome and reality ( almost, at least, as we stayed two addition nights in the Eternal City.) Finally, Delta/NWA back to Atlanta, Charlotte, and home.

 

Final Comments:

 

Pros: The ship herself, Her Officers and Crew, their welcoming attitudes and desire to please at all levels.

 

Food: I thought that the food quality and selection ranged from very good to excellent. The coffee was pretty weak the first few days, but seemed to get better as the cruise went on. Don't know if the brand was changed during the cruise, or if I adapted, but it did seem to improve.

 

Itinerary: Wonderful in concept, this was the reason that we took this particular cruise. In execution, some tuning needs to be done ( see below), but still we had an outstanding experience. I think that this must have been a good time of the year to do this cruise as we had absolutely perfect weather. We noticed one rain shower just as we were getting back on board in Dubrovnik, and another one evening at sea; otherwise, bright sunshine and gentle breezes were the rule.

 

Cons: Itinerary: Several of the port stops were either too short or too long. I think that Sardinia could have been eliminated in favor of an overnight in either La Spezia or Livorno. Alternatively, the ship could have left Livorno significantly later to allow more time in Florence without compromising the necessary arrival time in Rome. The ship's excursion to Florence stopped at a “Leather Factory” outside the City, effectively wasting an hour that could have been spent more usefully in the City. ( The prices were outrageous, no one bought anything to my knowledge, and at the price that was paid for the trip, this particular item should not have been added in.) The extension of our stay in Venice was an excellent and much appreciated starting point; similar tweaks need to be made for some of the other ports.

 

Final Summary: An outstanding cruise, on a wonderful ship, with a wonderful crew. We are already looking forward to cruising Azamara again next year.

[SkiCruiser44]

Great review I can't wait until we are on the 9/13 sailing doing many of these ports.

 

Do you pay for Wifi access in your cabin? We are thinking about taking one of those small Dell notebooks with us.

 

Thanks,

 

Kathy

[ronanrn]

Thanks for a great review We are on the June Best of Italy Was there laundry facilities How did that work out We cant wait to go It is our first trip ti Italy

[lonestarsteve]

Great review I can't wait until we are on the 9/13 sailing doing many of these ports.

 

Do you pay for Wifi access in your cabin? We are thinking about taking one of those small Dell notebooks with us.

 

Thanks,

 

Kathy

Hi Ed

 

We will be on the Quest in July and your port reviews were great and will be of help.

This will be our seventh trip on Azamara and we agree with all your comments. The Quest has a great staff and crew.

One question...did you take the ferry to Capri from Sorrento and if so is it located near the port?

Regards

Steve

[BurBunny]

Terrific review, Ed - well balanced, and will be very helpful for the August sailing on the same itinerary. Appreciate you taking the time and effort!

[Jancruz]

Thanks so much..we will be on the same itinerary in August and hope we have as good a time!! (I am sure we will)

Regards,

Jancruz1

[greeneg]

Let's see here,

"Do you pay for Wifi access in your cabin? We are thinking about taking one of those small Dell notebooks with us."

 

Kathy, if you are going to use the Internet on the ship, it does pay to buy a package because of the reduced cost per minute ( varies by package). We are actually Captain's Club Elite which gets us a coupon for Internet Service which gets us extra minutes added to the package if you use it. I bought a $60.00 package and with the added minutes didn't use it all.

 

"Was there laundry facilities How did that work out We cant wait to go It is our first trip ti Italy "

Ronarn, the laundry is located on Deck 7 aft, Port side. It takes $2.00 ( Quarters) for the washer, including detergent; the dryers are free. We used it and it worked fine.

 

".did you take the ferry to Capri from Sorrento and if so is it located near the port?"

 

Steve, the ticket office for the ferry to Capri is right at the Port. The ferry boarding area is also right near to where the tenders dock from the ship so it's easy.

 

Any more, fire away.

 

Ed

[New2cruizinII]

Let's see here,

"Do you pay for Wifi access in your cabin? We are thinking about taking one of those small Dell notebooks with us."

 

Kathy, if you are going to use the Internet on the ship, it does pay to buy a package because of the reduced cost per minute ( varies by package). We are actually Captain's Club Elite which gets us a coupon for Internet Service which gets us extra minutes added to the package if you use it. I bought a $60.00 package and with the added minutes didn't use it all.

 

"Was there laundry facilities How did that work out We cant wait to go It is our first trip ti Italy "

Ronarn, the laundry is located on Deck 7 aft, Port side. It takes $2.00 ( Quarters) for the washer, including detergent; the dryers are free. We used it and it worked fine.

 

".did you take the ferry to Capri from Sorrento and if so is it located near the port?"

 

Steve, the ticket office for the ferry to Capri is right at the Port. The ferry boarding area is also right near to where the tenders dock from the ship so it's easy.

 

Any more, fire away.

 

Ed

 

 

 

Thank you for this great review Ed! It was a pleasure meeting you and Gail and we hope our paths cross again on another wonderful cruise!

[tgg]

Great review Ed. Thanks for taking the time to be thorough.

[cruzemaven]

Thanks for the detailed review. We will be visiting some of the same ports in July. We are planning on taking the same bus trip into Florence that you did. However, we are not looking forward to the leather factory stop after your description. Unfortunately, it is far more costly to have a private driver take us back and forth to Florence. So I guess we'll stick to the bus trip. How many hours did you actually have in Florence?

[greeneg]

We actually got off of the Bus in Florence at approximately 10:50 AM. The pickup time was 3:50. We were a bit delayed in traffic on the Autostrada into Florence; this of course, did not influence the time at the leather factory.

 

I had a 12:00 entrance into the Uffizi and I spent approximately 2 1/2 hours in the museum. By the time we had lunch, it was essentially time to get back on the bus.

 

I could have used the time at the Leather Factor to better purposes.

[joelmomma]

Thanks for the detailed review. We will be visiting some of the same ports in July. We are planning on taking the same bus trip into Florence that you did. However, we are not looking forward to the leather factory stop after your description. Unfortunately, it is far more costly to have a private driver take us back and forth to Florence. So I guess we'll stick to the bus trip. How many hours did you actually have in Florence?

 

Cruzemaven,

We are on the same sailing next month and have a tour scheduled with romeinlimo. Please check our roll call for details (on page 6), but in short if you wish to join us, the cost would be under $120 US for each person. Much less than the ship's excursion and we are doing both the Accademia and the Uffizi during our tour (no leather factory!)

Jo

[piscean]

Thanks for the detailed review. We will be visiting some of the same ports in July. We are planning on taking the same bus trip into Florence that you did. However, we are not looking forward to the leather factory stop after your description. Unfortunately, it is far more costly to have a private driver take us back and forth to Florence. So I guess we'll stick to the bus trip. How many hours did you actually have in Florence?

 

We took the excursion that didnt go to the leather factory but had the ships guided tour. (Very good) You could leave this at any time if you wanted and enjoy Florence independantly, but it was worth the extra for the tour.

Carol

[TravelingProf]

Excellent review Ed; makes me want to go back!!

 

Annie

[greeneg]

Annie, I think that we ought to think about a reunion cruise..........

[kingr]

Great review of the May 16 "Best of Italy" cruise. IT WAS THE BEST TRIP/CRUISE OF OUR LIVES! Comments about the Captain, staff and crew are so true. We actually think about everyone on the ship and miss them very much!

 

Note to all future cruisers going to Italy / Sicily / Taormina. Contact Sebastiano Allibrandi from Sicily Life to arrange for ground and/or private/customized tours in Sicily. We have known Seby since we first traveled to Taormina nine years ago. He provides excellent, customized tours and ground service throughout Sicily.

 

We celebrated our 25th Anniversary on the May 16 sailing. Sebastiano arranged for Rosario and I to "RENEW OUR VOWS" in a 1500 year old church in a town high up the mountain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. After, we walked through the town of Taormina, ending with a private lunch in Castelmola with a specially baked "25th Anniversary Cake" by his father, the baker. Can't get more personalized service than that.

 

Sebastiano can be reached at seby@sicilylife.com. Website is www.sicilylife.com.

 

 

Happy Sailing to all future Azamara Quest and Journey passengers. You are in for a real treat!

 

Roy and Rosemary King

[Andy]

Hi Ed !

 

Thank you for an outstanding review. This itinerary is definitely one of my dream itineraries. Maybe someday.

 

I'm happy to hear you had a great Cruise. Welcome Home !

[TravelingProf]

Annie, I think that we ought to think about a reunion cruise..........

 

 

Hey--the 2010 version has the tweaked itinerary!! No Olbia, one day in Ravenna (Trieste is the second day) and an overnight in Livorno!!

 

Annie

[critterchick]

Hey--the 2010 version has the tweaked itinerary!! No Olbia, one day in Ravenna (Trieste is the second day) and an overnight in Livorno!!

 

Annie

 

I'm so tempted, but I really want to go to New Zealand next year. So perhaps 2011?

[joandbun]

Ed- great review. :) Brings back the wonderful memories - we did the Best of Italy cruise on Quest in Sept 08. Aboslutely loved it. Crew were outstanding and it was such a bonus to overnight in some of the ports such as Venice, Sorrento and Livorno. Like you we didnt rate Olbia much

& we visited Split (very interesting place) instead of Dubrovnik so a slightly different itinerary.

Still smile as I recall a sunny day, sitting on a high terrace in San Gimingiano, drinking a cool glass of local wine, looking out across the beautiful Tuscan countryside . Bliss.

We love the Azamara product.

jo

[greeneg]

Thank you, Jo, for the kind words.

 

For us it's sitting in a beautiful 17th century church in Venice and listening to some very talented local musicians play Vivaldi and Mozart on a warm Summer evening.

 

Ed

[joandbun]

Hi Ed - How marvellous. I wish I had been there. I bet that concert was beautiful & very moving. Vivaldi & Mozart are some of my very favourite composers & somehow when you have an appropriate setting the concert becomes magical.

jo

[swigso]

We have sailed both Ships in the Carribean, we need to sail in Feb, these sh ips are wonderful .

Niazi is a great host, we had the pleasure of dining with him and others on the Journey.

I just wish they would go back to the 14 night Itineries in the Carribean.

[greeneg]

Hi Ed - How marvellous. I wish I had been there. I bet that concert was beautiful & very moving. Vivaldi & Mozart are some of my very favourite composers & somehow when you have an appropriate setting the concert becomes magical.

jo

 

You are so right; magic is indeed the word....