Comments Solicited on the quality of service in the Main Dining Room

[slp123]

I am sailing on the Jan 3 sailing of the Quest from Hong Kong. I have sailed on Azamara once before but to be honest it was the maiden voyage of the Quest in October '07 and it is never fair to judge a ship by what happens on its first voyage. In general I had a wonderful time and liked the ship but as a point of reference, on that cruise, there were horrible waits of up to an hour to be seated for dinner and then once seated the service while friendly was inexperienced and the kitchen's timing of courses was erratic. So my questions are-->Have they worked out the open seating so that waiting time to be seated is reasonable or non-existent? Is it easier to be seated after a certain time in the evening? Is the service more professional and the Kitchen timing more even now (as in cruises taken over the last 3 months) than what I experienced on that first cruise?:confused:

[Susan-M]

Hi Steven,

 

We were really pleased with all of the dining arrangements on our October Quest cruise. We ate dinner in Discoveries about 8 times throughout our 2 weeks and only had to wait about 15 minutes one evening. The rest of the time we were seated immediately. (We went at various times... between 7 and 8 p.m.) Service was prompt and and staff were friendly and efficient. If there was a delay between courses I didn't notice probably because I was caught up in conversation, but I don't recall ever coming out of the dining room and thinking that dinner took too long. We didn't eat breakfast or lunch there.

 

In addition to the specialty restaurants we enjoyed dining out on the back deck of Windows a few evenings ... very enjoyable on warm, moonlit evenings, and the food at the buffet was quite good. There were quite a few people who ate in Windows in the evenings which lightened the load in Discoveries. If your sailing has weather that is conducive to outdoor dining, you'll probably have the same situation with a number of people choosing to eat there instead of Discoveries.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

[fPetrarca]

Both service and food on my Quest "Best of Italy" cruise were excellent. Open seating is as smooth as you would find in a fine restaurant. In other words, it works very well and very naturally. No problem getting reservations in the alternative restaurants (as often as you want) either, especially if you are flexible. Food was some of the best I have had at sea and that includes several cruises on Seabourn and Regent.

[slp123]

Thanks Susan M! By the way did you have a preference between the two specialty restaurants?

[Susan-M]

Thanks Susan M! By the way did you have a preference between the two specialty restaurants?

Hi Steven,

 

I would say Aqualina ... I liked the atmosphere and decor, and the food was delicious (for the most part) ... DH didn't enjoy some of the seafood, which lacked flavor. It was such a relaxing place to dine...and quite elegant. Having a table at the stern window both times was nice. We ate there on embarkation night ... a lovely start to our cruise, and went again a week later.

 

We were eating delicious beef at Windows Buffet (prime rib at the carving station at lunch was so good)- so I wasn't too excited about going to Prime-C for beef, but we decided that we should give it a try and went there mid week of our second week on board. Other people had mentioned the delicious rib steak that they had had there, so we ordered it. It was amazingly good ... and just about melted in your mouth. It is such a large steak that I wished we had shared one. Others said the filet mignon was very good as well.

 

I think Azamara has done a great job with dining venues, food choices and food quality!

[slp123]

Both service and food on my Quest "Best of Italy" cruise were excellent. Open seating is as smooth as you would find in a fine restaurant. In other words, it works very well and very naturally. No problem getting reservations in the alternative restaurants (as often as you want) either, especially if you are flexible. Food was some of the best I have had at sea and that includes several cruises on Seabourn and Regent.

 

I especially liked your reference to Regent because until recently that has been our line of choice. But while service remains excellent, I recently found the dining experience to be unexceptional and the lack of enrichment lectures to be unacceptable given the average per diem price one pays to cruise on that line.