Just back from 24 nights - Quest

[DebsUK]

Just returned yesterday from a 24 night Singapore to Athens onboard the Quest. This was our first sailing with Azamara and based on our experience will not be the last.

 

My husband and I are early 40's and loved the Quest. From the food to the staff it was a great cruise and met our expectations. We met some amazing people on board and the only down side was having to get off the ship in Athens :(. We had an aft balcony cabin (sunset veranda) and chose to eat in all venues (dining room, buffet and both specialty restaurants). We did the wine pairing dinner twice ($60 per person) and really enjoyed it. We thought the food throughout was excellent in all areas. Staff went out of thier way to ensure guests were well taken care of and looked after.

 

We did all private shore excursions so can't comment on what Azamara offered in each port.

 

I will be writing a full review once I catch up on laundry. For anyone that has a few questions before then I'll be happy to try to answer them.

 

Deb.

[Project_gal]

Deb

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. Do you agree with me that they have spoilt it by making it 2 x 12 day cruises in the future?

 

Was the disembarkation dalay in Athens due to the problems they are having at present [strikes, etc.}? Last year we were off the ship, into our car and away really quickly.

 

Sue

[Sprit]

Deb,

 

Did you sail at the old or new prices ? If the old prices, would you sail again for the new prices or think it's worth the new prices ?

[Jade13]

DebsUK,

 

I am looking forward to your review as we will be on the 12 night Dubai to Athens next year. We are glad they split this into two cruises as we are still working and could not go away for a month (with pre and post travel on a 24 night).

 

My Dh wants all of the sea days. My concern is that I just wish they spent 2 days in Eqypt vs one day. Do you know if the cruise line offered the chartered day tour to Luxor? We also do mainly private tours but that is one I would consider with Azamara. I understand it is a 1.5 hour flight from Alexandria. I also can't figure out how it takes Azamara so long to go from Dubai to Egypt when other cruise lines make multiple stops in the same amount of time. Anyway, this trip will be all about Dubai pre-cruise and than the ship. Was there enough to do each day. We are not pool people.

 

In 2012 Azamara isn't even going to Dubai, but does turn this into a red sea cruise with Jordan.

 

Thanks.

[Jade13]

Deb,

 

Did you sail at the old or new prices ? If the old prices, would you sail again for the new prices or think it's worth the new prices ?

 

The new prices are not too bad on this cruise next year because it is a repositioning cruise and almost all sea days.

[Jade13]

Deb

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. Do you agree with me that they have spoilt it by making it 2 x 12 day cruises in the future?

 

 

Sue

 

How do you think that affects the cruise? If you stay on for 24 days what is the difference? This is now actually one of their longer cruises considering Azamara has so many 7 nights. Also, by splitting the cruise Azamara has the chance to load up on supplies after India.

[Susan-M]

The new prices are not too bad on this cruise next year because it is a repositioning cruise and almost all sea days.

 

I thought pricing looked reasonable for these itineraries also...a 1B is $500/day taxes in for two people...not including the B2B credit. That's on ACC's site...so perhaps even better deals elsewhere.

[Susan-M]

Deb, thanks for the early feedback. Great to hear such positive comments...looking forward to your review!

[150edmiston]

Hi Debs and welcome back. Looking forward to the full review.

 

How was the Phi Phi trip. Did it all go to plan?

 

David

[Lanz]

Thank you, I am so glad you were pleased. We booked Azamara for the first time and after reading this thread we were beginning to think we made a mistake. We too are on the Quest Best Regards

[Project_gal]

How do you think that affects the cruise? If you stay on for 24 days what is the difference?

 

It is hard to explain but on such a long cruise with so many seadays there was a real feeling of family especially in the aftermath of the terrorism in Mumbai and with the pirate threat in the Gulf [and even Swine 'Flu affecting most of the rest of the outside world]. When we boarded, we knew that we were all on for the duration. I believe that on a small ship, you would really notice the change of passengers and so not build the bond we did when it was 24 days. Just a few crew, the Captain's wife and someone from HO in Miami left in Dubai on our cruise and we really missed them. It was just really special IMHO.

 

Sue

[DebsUK]

Deb

 

Glad you enjoyed the cruise. Do you agree with me that they have spoilt it by making it 2 x 12 day cruises in the future?

 

Was the disembarkation dalay in Athens due to the problems they are having at present [strikes, etc.}? Last year we were off the ship, into our car and away really quickly.

 

Sue

 

 

Sue, I wasn't aware of any disembarkation problems in Athens. We heard rumours of strikes but last we heard was that it was planned for the 5th. My DH and I had asked for an early disembarkation time of 7am. They were happy to oblige as long as we would carry off our own luggage which for us was no issue. Guest relations called the day before to advise they would be required to walk us over to the terminal as we were disembarking early. As we had to hand our passports back in the day before (after Egypt) so Greek immigration could clear us, guest relations also made arrangements for us to pick up our passport from them instead of waiting until 7:30am that morning. We met one of the officers from guest relations at a little past 7am, who personally walked us out to the terminal (very short distance) and we walked right out of the terminal in to a taxi to the airport.

 

As for splitting it in to two sections next year, I think in some ways it's spoiled it only because many 0of us agreed that the friendships developed on board (both with other guests and staff) was enhanced given the extended duration. Even with guests that we didn't spend much time with, it was hard to walk anywhere without a friendly greeting from someone that you had run in to at some other point.

 

Deb.

[DebsUK]

Deb,

 

Did you sail at the old or new prices ? If the old prices, would you sail again for the new prices or think it's worth the new prices ?

 

Sprit, we sailed at the old prices so got a fabulous deal. We priced several trips for 2012. Although of course more expensive we really liked the semi-all inclusive aspect. We enjoyed the wines (we are not wine snobs and were very happy with the house wines served), the frequent trips to the Mosaic Cafe, plentiful bottled water and included gratuities. The only reason we didn't re-book while on board was that our plans on a personal basis are a little in the air and we just couldn't commit to something. We will definately sail again with Azamara.

 

Interestingly, we had friends on board who have an Amazon River cruise on hold with Oceania for 2011. They have now re-booked with Azamara instead (this was also thier first time on Azamara and enjoyed it enough to book the Amazon now with them ). As this is a trip that interests us we compared prices that they had been quoted by both lines. On first glance. Oceania looks much cheaper, but once we factored in the inclusions they were very comparable.

 

We were also very happy with Azamara's bar prices. I had read previosuly that the drinks on board were extortionate and would disagree (based on our tastes). Every day they had 50% beer specials (often Corona, Bud, Heineken, Red stipe etc). As my husband put it as he sipped on a Heineken by the pool that cost us $2.50 per beer, we can't even drink that cheap at home...and we were in the middle of the Indian Ocean at that time! They also had drinks of the day ($5, although often not my taste) and half price bottles of wine at lunch and dinner for those that did not want the choice of the house wine. These wines ran anywhere from $14 up.

 

Deb.

[Sprit]

Deb,

 

Thanks so much for your valuable comments on this. We’ll be onboard the Quest in two weeks and more than happy to share our review once back!

 

All the best and good to hear you’ve had such a great time.

[DebsUK]

DebsUK,

 

I am looking forward to your review as we will be on the 12 night Dubai to Athens next year. We are glad they split this into two cruises as we are still working and could not go away for a month (with pre and post travel on a 24 night).

 

My Dh wants all of the sea days. My concern is that I just wish they spent 2 days in Eqypt vs one day. Do you know if the cruise line offered the chartered day tour to Luxor? We also do mainly private tours but that is one I would consider with Azamara. I understand it is a 1.5 hour flight from Alexandria. I also can't figure out how it takes Azamara so long to go from Dubai to Egypt when other cruise lines make multiple stops in the same amount of time. Anyway, this trip will be all about Dubai pre-cruise and than the ship. Was there enough to do each day. We are not pool people.

 

In 2012 Azamara isn't even going to Dubai, but does turn this into a red sea cruise with Jordan.

 

Thanks.

 

Jade13,

 

They did offer the day trip to Luxor and I spoke with someone that did it (and loved it). They said there was about 13 from Azamara that did it and they were joined by about 17 people from the Navigator of the Seas. He siad they were in Luxor by 10:30am that morning and had a great day. We would also have liked more time in Egypt (an excuse to go back).

 

We also would have liked a couple more days in Dubai. Those that went to the Burj (hotel) loved it. We went up the Burj al Khalifa (tallest building). Tip - if you pre-book tickets even the day before it is about a quarter of the price. Tickets can be bought at the Dubai Mall. It costs us about $27.50 per person by pre-purchasing.

 

There was never any issues going through the Gulf of Aden and we were escorted by an armed security boat for about a 24 hour period which was done out of an abundance of caution. This was paid for by Azamara.

 

Deb.

[DebsUK]

Hi Debs and welcome back. Looking forward to the full review.

 

How was the Phi Phi trip. Did it all go to plan?

 

David

 

Thanks David, we chose the Phang Nga day trip and had a great time. Weather was great and the company met expectations. The scenery was stunning and has now given us the desire to go back and see more of Thailand.

 

Deb.

[DebsUK]

Thank you, I am so glad you were pleased. We booked Azamara for the first time and after reading this thread we were beginning to think we made a mistake. We too are on the Quest Best Regards

 

Lanz, Although cruising experiences are so personal based on likes and dislikes, I struggle to see how Azamara has received bad reviews based on our first time with them. Was every single thing perfect...no....and we did give some suggestions when asked about a week in to the cruise but these suggestions were very minor things.

 

We thought the food was great and people have commented in the past about lack of spice etc. I disagree and we found the food to be really enjoyable. Several staff members for us went beyond and I tried to recognise them in our guest comment cards. We also chose to tip certain individuals at the end (even with the now included gratuties) as we felt they had gone aboe and beyond.

 

I think you will have a great time, and don't second guess your choice in booking with them.

 

Deb.

[surus]

We are interested in the wine pairing dinners you mentioned. Is this available to all passengers and how do you find out about it? Do you remember the the food and wine you were served? Since you went 2x I assume you found it worth the $60 pp charge. We are on a 10 day Quest cruise in July and wonder if they will have such an event on a shorter, port intensive cruise.

[Jade13]

Jade13,

 

They did offer the day trip to Luxor and I spoke with someone that did it (and loved it). They said there was about 13 from Azamara that did it and they were joined by about 17 people from the Navigator of the Seas. He siad they were in Luxor by 10:30am that morning and had a great day. We would also have liked more time in Egypt (an excuse to go back).

 

We also would have liked a couple more days in Dubai. Those that went to the Burj (hotel) loved it. We went up the Burj al Khalifa (tallest building). Tip - if you pre-book tickets even the day before it is about a quarter of the price. Tickets can be bought at the Dubai Mall. It costs us about $27.50 per person by pre-purchasing.

 

There was never any issues going through the Gulf of Aden and we were escorted by an armed security boat for about a 24 hour period which was done out of an abundance of caution. This was paid for by Azamara.

 

Deb.

 

This sounds great. How many days do you think would be good for Dubai? Of course this would be our pre-cruise. I wonder if it would be foolish to skip Cairo and the pyramids and go to Luxor. I just think there is a more likely chance we would end up in Alexandria again. Ideally, Azamara would make this a two day stop and it still seems they must be moving really slowly from Dubai based on other cruise lines schedules should have time for at least 2 more port days along this route.

[suec12]

DebsUK - I started a thread about Athens disembarkation and flight. At the end of our cruise, we overnight in Athens - I am thinking about booking a flight that leaves Athens at 10:15am. What time did your flight depart? I am thinking if we can get off the boat at 7, then maybe 45 minutes to the airport? Is this reasonable? I am a little frustrated as we are booking our own air and all the flight departures out of Athens on our airline of choice seem to depart EARLY - 10:15 is the late flight out. Not sure we want to spend a night in an Athens hotel - I think we want to pack up and go home at the end of the cruise. Did you have a taxi pre-booked or just get hail one at the pier? Thanks! SueC1

[DebsUK]

This sounds great. How many days do you think would be good for Dubai? Of course this would be our pre-cruise. I wonder if it would be foolish to skip Cairo and the pyramids and go to Luxor. I just think there is a more likely chance we would end up in Alexandria again. Ideally, Azamara would make this a two day stop and it still seems they must be moving really slowly from Dubai based on other cruise lines schedules should have time for at least 2 more port days along this route.

 

Jade13, we had the two days in Dubai and for us it wasn't enough. I had pre-purchased the two day Hop on Hop off bus. They stop right outside the cruise terminal. The HOHO bus offers two routes (Blue for the new part of town and red for the older part of town). We struggled to do both routes in two days as there was so much to see and we got off at numerous stops. We would have liked a third day for the city and a little shopping, a day to do the dessert safari and perhaps another for a day trip to see some of the surrounding country side. If I hadn't been before I would allow at least 5 full days.

 

Deb.

[DebsUK]

DebsUK - I started a thread about Athens disembarkation and flight. At the end of our cruise, we overnight in Athens - I am thinking about booking a flight that leaves Athens at 10:15am. What time did your flight depart? I am thinking if we can get off the boat at 7, then maybe 45 minutes to the airport? Is this reasonable? I am a little frustrated as we are booking our own air and all the flight departures out of Athens on our airline of choice seem to depart EARLY - 10:15 is the late flight out. Not sure we want to spend a night in an Athens hotel - I think we want to pack up and go home at the end of the cruise. Did you have a taxi pre-booked or just get hail one at the pier? Thanks! SueC1

 

Suec12, Our flight was at 11:20am and we actually walked off the ship probably at around 7:25am. It took about an hour as we did hit a little rush hour traffic. If you can be off right at 7am then you might be alright but if it's an International flight they want you there three hours early. I might try for 6:30am but perhaps you may want to check with Azamara that you can actually disembark that early (there may not be any issues as you will have done the immigration the day prior). We just got a taxi right outside the terminal and they were plentiful. Cost us 50 euros.

 

Deb.

[suec12]

Thank you Deb! not sure what we will end up doing but I do appreciate the response. SueC1

[Lanz]

Thanks for your comments, very much appreciated. I think the "perfect" cruise is just about unobtainable, there will always be a few things that could have gone better but hopefully the good outweighs the bad. My husband and I tend to go with the flow, a bad mattress or excessive noise can be hard to deal with. We have been on cruises where the food was almost uneatable (RCCL, Europe 2000) but you manage to get through and eat on shore and just set your mind to have FUN! Thanks again, if you have any tips on Barcelona we would love to hear them. Best Regards Lanz

[150edmiston]

Thanks David, we chose the Phang Nga day trip and had a great time. Weather was great and the company met expectations. The scenery was stunning and has now given us the desire to go back and see more of Thailand.

 

Deb.

 

Debs, I've been chatting to VickyN about doing this again in 2011. Although she loved this trip, she'd prefer to understandably do something else. Can I E mail you to discuss how you went about setting the trip up?

 

Thanks

 

David