May 2010 Best of Italy Review

[bbamacruiser]

Finally have a few moments to give a review of our recent (May 15-29, 2010 – Best of Italy) cruise on the Azamara Quest. After reading so many negative comments and concerns on these boards this spring, I’m happy to report that the Azamara product that we came to love on our first cruise with the line in 2008 is still terrific.To be brief, I’ll try to respond to some of the questions and concerns recently voiced on these boards.The ship’s public areas are all still in very good condition, obviously not brand new, but in great shape. Dining venues are very clean and elegant. Library well-stocked; I enjoy two recent best-sellers while sunning on deck. Pool area is well-maintained. Never had to fight over a deck chair, and clean towels and blankets were always in good supply.Our veranda cabin very near the bow on deck six was very comfortable and immaculately maintained by our butler and cabin steward during the cruise. The mattress in the cabin was a little firm for our comfort, but Danny, our great butler, had an extra mattress pad added the second day out of port, and we were very happy with the sleeping arrangements for the rest of the cruise. The towels in the bath were definitely not thread-bare; couldn’t have been any fluffier. Our comfy robes were replaced if there was any spot, or makeup in my case, on them. Danny was very attentive to any requests we made, such as adjusting the thermostat, replenishing the ice bucket, providing a vase for flowers I purchased in port and a scale to weigh our luggage before disembarkation. We did have a rough first night at sea, but the motion at the front of the ship didn’t bother us, kind of felt rocked to sleep. We did hear some music from the Cabaret Theater below on occasion, but not enough to keep us awake…very rarely in bed before the shows were over in any case.Dinning was a delicious in all venues. We ate dinner in Aqualina and Prime C twice each, the main Discoveries dining room three times, on the back deck of Windows Café three times (couldn’t tear ourselves away from the beautiful port views to go inside to eat), and enjoyed the three sea day pool-side cookouts. Food tastes being subjective and all, we thoroughly enjoyed all our meals, which we found neither too spicy or too bland. Presentation was always good and service very attentive. We never had a problem with reservations at the specialty restaurants, which we made after we boarded the ship. We had room service breakfast several days when we needed to get out early for touring, and the meal always came hot and on time. We got to-go cups of the specialty cappuccino from Mosaics several mornings with a piece of quiche or pastry, but I also found the cappuccino in Windows to be flavorful too. The new inclusive wine was nice and poured freely at lunch and dinner. The selections were along the lines of what we drink everyday at home. I was disappointed that there were not more Italian selections featured since this was a “Best of Italy” cruise. I believe only one Chianti served the entire cruise. We had no problems bringing wine and spirits we purchased on shore onto the ship.Every staff member on the ship, from the captain to the cleaning staff, goes out of their way to make your cruise experience wonderful. When I filled out a passenger questionnaire the second or third day of the cruise, I received three calls (dinning director, wine director and activities director) in response to my comments. The staff hosted several events for Cruise Critic members and Le Club Voyage members. It was rare that we didn’t have some sort of invitation on the door of our cabin each afternoon.We select cruises for the itineraries. We had been to several of the ports before, but the overnights for this cruise allowed us to see more of the cities without feeling so rushed. We only booked one tour through Azamara (the Florence On Your Own bus ride from Livorno to Florence). Highlights for the cruise included the overnight in Venice; Trieste’s beautiful old-world city center and visit to Miramare Castle, which was simply stunning; the clear blue waters of Dubrovnik’s harbor; and a private tour we booked with fellow passengers on the CC Roll Call of San Gimignano and Tuscan wine country.The best part of the whole cruise? …the new friendships we made with our fellow passengers, many of whom we got to know first on the Cruise Critic boards! I’m open to questions…Melinda

[Andy]

Hi Melinda !

 

Thank you for your review. I'm glad that you had a wonderful Cruise on Azamara Quest. Welcome Home !

[maryann ns]

Great report! I am surprised about the mattress comment. I though our mattress last fall was perfect and very cushiony. Maybe some are more worn out than others. I guess technically you did not have a 'butler' but I am glad to hear the service is the same.

 

I can't wait till next March when I get to hear "Welcome Home" each day we reboard Quest.

[Lanz]

Thank you so much for taking time to post this review, I'm so happy you were happy with the Quest. Although veteran cruisers we are sailing Azamara for the first time in October. Which port did you take the private tour to San Gimignano; we are very interested in a wine tour? Thanks and Welcome Home Lanz

[bbamacruiser]

Mary Ann, regarding the mattress in our cabin...we didn't share the complaints of others on these boards about our mattress. It wasn't lumpy or worn out. My husband was fine with it. I just missed our pillow-top mattress at home I guess, so asked for the extra pad.Yes, I guess Danny's title was not "butler"...don't know what they call him now, but he provided the same services as the "butler" did in one of our friend's suites, just without the tails!Lanz, we used La Dolce Vita Tours out of the port of Livorno. We visited two vineyards, Casa Emma and Tenuta Torciano, where we had a fabulous wine tasting lunch...the best meal of our trip. I also thought the shopping in San Gimignano was the best of the trip. Great variety in the shops and not too crowded.

[roberts2005]

Thanks for your positive comments. We will be on the Quest in September. Last November, on the Journey, we had the Butler add an egg crate pad to the mattress. We felt the original was too firm. It worked out perfectly.

[California Native]

Grazie for taking the time to post your review and impressions of

your Best of Italy Cruise

There's been so many negative assumptions and smart alec comments about the new changes before people even sailed

that I'm so thrilled that those who are returning for recent cruises

have so many wonderful things to say about Azamara

One comment that you made regarding the wine...I would agree with you

More Italian wine should have been served.

Was Limoncello served?

Also, Croatia is the consider the birthplace of the Red Zinfandel and they have some wonderful wines...were they offered???

Welcome Home!

Buon Viaggio!

K.

[bbamacruiser]

We had lemoncello and zinfandel on the trip, but alas, not on the ship. M

[Lanz]

bbama, thanks so much for the information on the Wine Tour, I have contacted La Dolce Vita Tours and have already received a response; I hope I can get other CC members to join us. I've posted our trip on "Roll Call" (Oct 23, 2010) but so far very little response, anyway if I can't get a party I hope I can talk DH to take this tour by ourselves. Best Regards Lanz

[holly holiday]

YOU SEEM LIKE YOU HAD A GREAT CRUISE. WE WERE ON QUEST LAST AUGUST AND HAD A LOVELY TIME, I NOTICE THAT THE MENU IN SPECIALITY RESTAURANT NO LONGER HAVE MUSHROOM SOUP THAT WAS TO DIE FOR!! IS THIS CORRECT OR WAS IT THERE?

WHAT WAS THE ENTERTAINMENT LIKE IN MAIN LOUNGE, DOES ANYONE KNOW IS CAPTAIN KARL IS DUE BACK IN AUGUST AND ALSO SUE DENNING?

 

CANT WAIT TO BE BACK ONBOARD

:):):):cool:

[Paulchili]

YOU SEEM LIKE YOU HAD A GREAT CRUISE. WE WERE ON QUEST LAST AUGUST AND HAD A LOVELY TIME, I NOTICE THAT THE MENU IN SPECIALITY RESTAURANT NO LONGER HAVE MUSHROOM SOUP THAT WAS TO DIE FOR!! IS THIS CORRECT OR WAS IT THERE?

WHAT WAS THE ENTERTAINMENT LIKE IN MAIN LOUNGE, DOES ANYONE KNOW IS CAPTAIN KARL IS DUE BACK IN AUGUST AND ALSO SUE DENNING?

 

CANT WAIT TO BE BACK ONBOARD

:):):):cool:

 

holly holiday,

Welcome to CC.

As you are new here you are probably unaware of some "code of ethics" observed on CC. Using capital letters is considered shouting and not appropriate. I know you did not do this intentioanally and please take this in the spirit that it is offered - a well intentioned word of advice.

Again, welcome to CC.

PS Other unwritten rules include things such as not correcting other posters' grammar or spelling, among others,

[critterchick]

Thanks for posting your thoughts and bringing back memories of our equally fabulous cruise last year.

 

I haven't looked lately, but has Azamara changed their policy about bringing wine onboard in the ports? We watched the wine police taking away wine last year - although we knew it was the policy, it was still annoying.

[bbamacruiser]

I believe they still have the mushroom soup in the specialty restaurant, but we didn't have it. The entertainment is pretty much community theater calibre. There's a group of singers that are with the cruise for the whole length of cruise and then they bring on board other specialty entertainers...a violinist, flutest, and a couple singers for our cruise. I haven't looked at the liquor/wine policy lately to know if it has changed, but we had no problems bringing wine or spirits on board on our two previous Azamara (2008 Journey/2010 Quest) cruises...

[rustypuppers]

bbamacruiser, loved your review! Have one question for you, do they still give you the blue bag in your room like they did before. We always used to take it off the ship. We are sailing in sept. and can take one with us if we don't get one but I hope they still give them out. Please tell me if you got a bag. Thanks!

[bbamacruiser]

Yes, they do still give you the nice blue bags...we carried ours with us to the pool and onshore.

[2tsquared]

Melinda,

Great review. As others have stated, it's so nice to hear "good things" about AZ -- and the Quest in particular. It seems that so many of the AZ reviews are of the Journey, so we welcome your comments about the Quest. We are first-time AZ cruisers and have had a couple of second thoughts based upon so many negative comments. Your review has definitely helped to maintain our excitement about our first Med cruise!

 

With regard to your comment on the mattress topper -- our TA has already ordered one for our bed. We feel as you do, we are totally spoiled by our pillowtop at home and it does seem that the mattresses on Quest do tend to receive many unfavorable comments.

 

Again, thank you for your review and know that you thoroughly enjoyed your cruise!

 

tt

[holly holiday]

So sorry if I upset anybody for using upper case in my message. Dont usually do that, so again my apologies. I am onboard in August after having a great time last year. Hope its just as good this year. If anybody has latest menus for all restaurants would love to see.

Also, we are taking our daughter with us, she will be on sofa bed. does anybody know if this is a comfortable sleep???

 

Holly

[Paulchili]

So sorry if I upset anybody for using upper case in my message. Dont usually do that, so again my apologies. I am onboard in August after having a great time last year. Hope its just as good this year. If anybody has latest menus for all restaurants would love to see.

Also, we are taking our daughter with us, she will be on sofa bed. does anybody know if this is a comfortable sleep???

 

Holly

 

Holly,

Don't sweat it - it was just a friedly reminder for a newbie. No one is offended, least of all me.

Again, welcome to CC and enjoy your next cruise :)

Paul

[TrojanTraveler]

Yes they have changed their policy on bringing wine on board We were just on the Best of Italy cruise and brought wine on board from a number of ports. The only questions from the staff was what did we buy.