Quest Best of Italy May 16, 2009 - REVIEW!

[critterchick]

I can't do anything briefly, so the executtive summary is that we had a boffo trip on the Quest! Here's the full story:

 

Transportation:

 

We flew United business class to and from Rome. We booked with them because they had availability for upgrading with miles. Although I am certain that business class on United still beats most airlines’ coach sections, I won’t be in a hurry to travel with them again. The 777s are due for upgrading in business class (to install lie-flat seats) and it seems that they’re not “wasting” money on maintaining them cosmetically. In addition, the troubles of the airline are apparent in the minimal services – cold plates only in domestic business class, a very dispirited flight and ground crew, thin blankets (and not enough of them) to cut down on fuel costs, etc. Flights; C-

 

On the ground, we used Rome Cabs for our basic transportation. A private car for two was 45 Euros from Fiumicino to central Rome, only 5 Euros more than a taxi. The first ride was the only one that wasn’t just perfect: Our driver was on time, but our flight was early, so we had to wait a bit for him to arrive. Then he got turned around in Rome and had to fight his way through horrid traffic to get to our hotel. The other three segments (to and from Civitavecchia and back to Fiumicino) were flawless, so we would definitely use Rome Cabs again. Rome Cabs: B+

 

Hotels:

 

We spent three nights pre-cruise at Roman Residence, a terrific little B&B. It’s in a building with 5 other tiny hotels (4-10 rooms each), which Massimo (the owner) told us is quite common in Rome. It’s on the 3rd floor (U.S. 4th floor), which gave us a workout. We did use the elevator to haul our luggage (a tiny elevator that gave us another reason to take only carryon luggage) but otherwise were fine with the stairs.

 

Massimo and Stefano, who helps him out on weekends, are very friendly men who made our stay at the hotel very pleasant. We mostly saw Massimo, who recommended a couple of restaurants (the Gallina Bianca is right around the corner with hit or miss meals but good house wine, like every other restaurant we tried).

 

The hotel has free Wifi. For breakfast, we were given vouchers to the Orologio Bar about a block down the street, where they served croissants, panini, fresh oj, coffee and bottled water.

 

The neighborhood is funky – lots of young people (our 3 Cruise Critic couples probably raised the average age in the building by a good 30 years), bars, restaurants and shops. It’s near the Termini rail station, so very conveniently located. We were out as late as midnight and felt perfectly safe, taking the usual urban precautions. Roman Residence:

 

We stayed one night post-cruise at the Westin Excelsior. We used Starwood points; the rack rate on our courtyard-view room was 1,254 Euros! We likely won’t stay there again – although the hotel is deluxe and located across the street from the US Embassy in a very chi-chi neighborhood, they would have charged for the air we breathed if they could have. Internet access was 16 Euros for 24 hours and one must pay even to check in for one’s flight. The room was gorgeous in an overly ornate way, but we missed the charm of the Roman Residence. I guess we’re just not deluxe people. Westin: C

 

The Cruise!

 

We had sailed on the Azamara Journey in December and had issues with her (there’s a review posted on the main reviews; no need for me to rehash them), so we had a bit of trepidation going onto the Quest. We stuck with it because of the amazing itinerary and price – after 4 price drops we paid $1799 each for a balcony for 14 nights.

 

Well, our fears were for nothing – this cruise was just about perfect. Let me tell you more:

 

Embarkation:

 

Easy. We arrived at the port about 12:30 and went from curbside to onboard in about 10 minutes. We brought 4 bottles of wine in our carry on. Our cabins were ready by about 1:00 (stated time was 1:30), so after a glass of welcome-aboard champagne we headed up to unpack.

 

Cabin:

 

We had cabin 6052, a 2A balcony on the portside. The cabin was well laid out and had ample space for our belongings. Of course, we had travelled with only carry on luggage; I think we would have had issues if we’d packed two large suitcases. The bathroom is compact but large enough. We had the terry robes, big fluffy towels, slippers and one complimentary bottle of Evian waiting for us in the cabin.

 

The balcony was a nice size, with a full table and two chairs. We found that putting both chairs on one side of the table made the balcony seem a little larger. It was a great place to have coffee or breakfast, not to mention a glass of wine or three.

 

Our cabin steward, Alwin, and his assistant, Victor, were terrific. We did have issues with our air conditioning and had to call the A/C tech (as opposed to the general engineering person, who seemed not quite to know how it all worked) several times.

 

Dining:

 

We ate in every venue on the ship. Discoveries had very good to excellent food and good service at dinner. We ate breakfast there once and it was just ok – Windows had food that seemed fresher and hotter. And Windows had ½ & ½ for coffee, while at Discoveries one had to beg for it.

 

Prime C was awesome for the two wine pairing dinners we attended (a $60 surcharge, but the quantity and quality of the wine and service were worth it), and just ok for the one standard dinner we had there. My entrée wasn’t cooked to order and it took 30 minutes to get it right. Our waiter had to help out with a wine pairing dinner, so wasn’t as attentive as we would have liked, but I blame management for that.

 

Aqualina had sublime food and good service. Our first dinner there was terrific; our second was slow mainly because a large party came at 8:30 and insisted on being out in time for the 9:45 show, so their orders trumped ours.

 

Windows/Breeza (why do they change the name at night?) was very good. We ate most breakfasts there and enjoyed the made to order omelets, pancakes and waffles. Smoothies were ok, but the solid food was better. Lunches and dinners were also very good – we enjoyed the sushi at the cocktail hour, had the stir fry and pasta several nights. After some very long days in port it was nice to have a low-key dinner. And the view from the outdoor dining area was incomparable.

 

My biggest complaint of the entire cruise is the quality, or lack thereof, of the coffee. Windows has an espresso machine that brews transparent stuff. The regular coffee was bitter and weak at the same time, and getting ½ & ½ in any venue was an exercise in sheer frustration. I prevailed all but one time, however.

 

Entertainment:

 

We went to a few shows, but in general were too tired or too interested in food to attend many. We saw one comedian with a tired Borscht Belt act, the Orchestra’s trumpeter in a very avant-garde jazz concert (excellent) and a Broadway review that was insipid. I realize that they can’t have full on productions, but there’s a lot of talent in the world, and I think they could step it up a notch.

 

Mary Amanda was the harpist, very good and very funny. She played mostly at Mosaic. I don’t recall the name of the piano bar guy. He seemed to be at Mosaic every night, and was quite good and funny, although we were always just passing through.

 

We love to dance, but didn’t get much in. There was one session live with the orchestra, and they had a “Dancing With the Stars” that I would have loved to attend, but it was on the Venice overnight and we were out late in the city. They also had late night disco in the Looking Glass, but we tried to get to bed before midnight because of all the activities we had planned onshore.

 

Miscellaneous:

 

I did have a couple of spa treatments, something I usually avoid. The prices are astronomical and they automatically add 18% as a gratuity. I had a fill one day, then an in-port special of a massage and pedicure on another. The massage was mediocre and not deserving of that large a tip. The fill and pedicure were well done.

 

We didn’t purchase thalassotherapy pool passes on this cruise – IMHO they would have been a waste of money on a cruise with only 2 sea days. One could buy a daily pass for $19 (to which I’m sure they would have added 18%). It was $99/$175 for a couple for the cruise (plus 18%).

 

Service by the pool was great – they had a rolling cart with cold towels, and offered carrot juice and cucumbers (for your eyes or to eat, LOL) plus spritzers to keep us all comfy.

 

Bar prices were fair - $7+ for a glass of wine or house brand drink, $10+ for a martini or other special drinks. Wines were expensive. At the lower end, they were marked up 3-4 times retail. On the higher end, 1.5-2x retail, which I think is quite fair. They had some wonderful selections, and the cellarmaster and her sommeliers provided wonderful advice and service.

 

The gym (which I visited once) is well-appointed, with treadmills, ellipticals and one or two stationary bikes, plus a decent selection of weight machines. They had a bunch of classes, all complimentary, which I didn’t attend.

 

The ship’s store had some clothing, a few logo items (the manager said they were moving away from “Quest” or “Journey” items in favor of generic “Azamara Cruises” merchandise, a shame if you ask me) and limited amounts of alcohol. They also had a few toiletries. Their sunblock only went up to spf 15, which is shocking IMHO. There was also a jewelry/perfume/cosmetics store with prices higher than on land, at least in LA.

 

The ship’s photographers were at every port and around the ship, but they did take no for an answer the first time.

 

Excursions:

 

We did everything independently of the ship. We relied heavily on Rick Steves’ Italy guidebook, and booked several tours with members of our Roll Call. They mostly worked out brilliantly.

 

Rome: pre cruise we purchased a Roma e Piu (Rome and More) pass and used it to ride the Metro, and get into the Colosseum and Villa Adriana (in Tivoli) for free, with reduced admission to other venues. We did get our money’s worth, but you do need to see at least two sights and take a few Metro rides to do so.

 

We also took the Scavi tour, which takes you under St. Peter’s Basilica. Our guide, Andrew from Wilkes Barre, PA, gave us some history of Rome. It’s a fabulous tour – we learned a lot about the ancient Romans and their burial rites, plus saw the tomb of St. Peter. Tickets are 10 Euros apiece and must be ordered in advance by email. If you do not fill out the application exactly as instructed they will ignore you, so make sure you mind their instructions.

 

We hired La Dolce Vita Tours for excursions to Tivoli, Sorrento and Taormina. Fabrizio and his agents provided comfortable, clean vans for 4-8 of us (I think 6 is the perfect number for price and comfort; with 8 somebody has to sit in the middle seat in front, which is a bit tight). For Tivoli and Sorrento, we had only a driver (Fab in Rome and Vito in Sorrento) who provided excellent commentary and itineraries. In Taormina we also had a guide, Flavia, who was able to go into some venues with us (only licensed guides may do so).

 

Tivoli is a charming little town about 20 minutes outside of Rome and the home to the ruins of Villa Adriana and Villa d’Este. We used our Roma Pass for the 10 Euro admission and spent the next couple of hours wandering through the broken walls of what must have been a fabulous complex in its day. We then stopped for lunch at Sibilla, where we were plied with wine, antipasti and a veal entrée. After that we were off to Villa d’Este, the home of a Cardinal in the 1500s. The house is intact, although mostly unfurnished. The grounds are spectacular, with lots of fountains that reminded us of the Peterhof in St. Petersburg, Russia (those fountains were designed by Italian engineers). The cost was 420 Euros for Fabrizio and his services, plus about 60 Euros each for lunch.

 

Sorrento: On the first day we had a CC party of 8 for a private tour of the Amalfi Coast with La Dolce Vita. Vito from Naples was our driver, and proved to be every bit as capable as Fabrizio. We visited Positano and Amalfi, then went to Pesce d’Oro in Amalfi for a Neopolitan feast that was out of this world – two kinds of fresh pasta, antipasti, fish, calamari and dessert, plus three bottles of wine, four of sparkling water and then, with dessert, limoncello, mandolino and another that was fennel-based. Fortunately the only thing we had to do after lunch was nap in the van on the way back. I think we may have frightened Vito, LOL. After a Diet Coke in the cabin, we rallied to go back into town – we hadn’t seen any of Sorrento during the day, so we strolled the incredibly crowded streets, had a late bite to eat and headed back to the ship. The cost was 560 Euros plus 390 Euros for lunch, plus gratuity.

 

On day 2 we took the hydrofoil over to Capri. Buying a ticket (13.50 Euros per person each way) is interesting, since there are multiple ticket windows, but they don’t sell all of the destinations at one place. No biggie – we each tried a different line until we found what we were looking for, and easily made the next scheduled boat. After a quick 20 minute ride, we bought bus tickets (1.40 Euros each segment) and boarded the funicular to ride up to Capri town. If you like shopping at expensive designer stores, you’ll be in heaven. We don’t, so we fled the town in favor of a walk, which turned into a hike of pretty substantial proportions, especially the 700 stairs we had to climb to get back to civilization. I lived to tell the story, and my legs are stronger for it. And the scenery was incredible.

 

After re-hydrating with water and wine, we boarded the bus to Anacapri. I asked a local where to go for lunch and he recommended a good pasta place that turned out to be closed on Mondays. So we went next door and had a fabulous lunch of tomato salad, bread, pasta (for me) and pizza (for Don). Washed down with wine, of course. It was then time to make our way back to the hydrofoil. The wait for the bus was too long, so we shared a 20 Euro cab ride with two young women from Australia.

 

Taormina (the port name is actually Naxos): we had booked our third tour with Fabrizio, and Flavia (guide) and Francesco (driver) were waiting for us on the pier. Francesco spoke little English, which is why we had a guide on this tour. We drove to the town of Savoca, which famous because the Godfather was filmed there. It’s a gorgeous hillside town with a lot of history besides the movie, and we enjoyed walking the steep streets and seeing the churches (and our gelato/cappuccino stop).

 

We then went to the Gambino (no relation to the Mafia family) winery on the slopes of Mt. Etna for a wine tasting. There was a ship’s tour group there and they rushed through their tasting as the guide urged them to hurry to their bus. We saw them driving out in a couple of winery vehicles that took them to their tour bus – it looked rather like a pair of clown cars. Feeling smug, we enjoyed a leisurely tasting of 5 wines along with big plates of antipasti, cheese, salamis and baskets of insanely good bread.

 

The cost for the day was 520 Euros (the van would have held 7; there were 6 of us) for the tour and 15 Euros for the wine tasting. It was another fabulous day. We did purchase a bottle of wine and were able to bring it aboard the ship, although some people had to turn theirs in.

 

Ravenna: A curious choice for an overnight port. The ship is docked in an industrial port – our view was of piles of chemicals and containers. Azamara ran a complimentary shuttle into town as there is no other way to get there.

 

On the first day there, Greeneg of our Roll Call arranged for a walking tour of Bologna, along with bus transportation for 24 of us. We broke up into two groups for the tours, and I think that our group drew the better guide. Although we were supposed to have Anna, she was apparently indisposed, but Tamara provided excellent commentary. The bus was comfortable, clean and uncrowded.

 

On the second day, I went and paid homage to Dante (I spent a year in college studying La Divina Commedia) and then went and were awed by the mosaics. We had lunch in a randomly chosen cafe and it was spectacular. The Bolognese recipe for lasagne usually uses spinach noodles and a creamier cheese than we Americans are accustomed to. Delish!

 

Venice: on the other hand is worth 2 nights. We were off for 12 hours on the first day. We walked to San Marco (Azamara had a shuttle but it’s a ripoff at $15pp when the other lines have a free one to Piazzale Roma where you can purchase a 24 hour vaporetto pass for 16 Euro), took the Secret Itineraries tour of the Doge’s Palace, had lunch in an out of the way café, then took the vaporetto to the Lido, Burano, Murano, back to the main island, had dinner and then walked back to the ship at 10 pm, perfectly safe.

 

On the second we were in port until 2 (the power of Cruise Critics whining got us an extra 2 hours), so we took a vaporetto ride around the Grand Canal and arrived in San Marco just as a regatta was starting. I don’t know what the holiday/event was, but we saw rowing and gondola races – great fun! We took a walk to the Castello district, where the locals live, and were pretty much the only English speakers, so I got a lot of practice speaking Italian.

 

Dubrovnik: what a lovely city! We tendered in, which saves time as the commercial dock is about an hour's bus ride from the city center and the tender dropped us right in front. We walked the perimeter wall around the old city (puff, puff), and were afforded spectacular views of the city and the lands beyond. We then found a restaurant down a relatively quiet alleyway where Don had pizza and I let the waiter talk me into a local calamari dish that was terrific. And quite the bargain after the prices in Venice - 4 beers plus our meals were about 25 Euros. The onboard guide (Az provides a hospitality guide in each port, a very nice touch for those who have no firm plans) told us that they would not accept Euros for the wall-walk, so we converted 20 into about 145 Kuna. As it turned out, the onboard person was incorrect, so there's no real need to convert. Oh, well, we spent them all.

 

Olbia (Sardinia): it's a pretty town, but there isn't much to do right in town. The cabs wanted about 120 Euros to take people to the Costa Smerelda, where all the resort hotels are. We just took the complimentary shuttle into town, walked around, had a fair lunch and then walked back to the ship (it takes about 20 minutes at a leisurely pace. I didn't talk to anybody who took a ship's tour, so can't report on those.

 

La Spezia: - my favorite stop! We walked to the train station (about 20 minutes) and took the train to Monterosso, the northwesternmost of the Cinque Terre towns. There is also a boat that will take you there for about 6 Euros, I think, and it's right by the tender stop.

 

We then hiked the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza, and it's a killer. We passed on man who had collapsed, and waited to make sure that his companions were able to get help from somebody who spoke English before we kept on going (I saw them in the evening in La Spezia, and he had recovered fully, thankfully). We had lunch in Vernazza, then took the train to Corniglia (that's another difficult hike that we had already done in 2005). We then walked the last two trails, which are easy ones, to Manorola and Riomaggiore, and had a glass of wine while we waited for the train back to La Spezia.

 

We ran into some other shipmates and we all had dinner at a sidewalk restaurant in town. We then strolled back to the ship a little after 9:00. We were among that final 50 to return (we had a midnight sailing).

 

Livorno: We were supposed to tour with Unforgettable Tuscany, but due to a communications snafu ended up in a private taxi with Luigi, who was earnest and willing, but not the greatest tour guide. And his cab was painfully small, not built for the American body, at least not in the middle front seat to which I was relegated. But Siena and San Gimignano were spectactular, as was the winery we visited later. We were back onboard by 5:00, and watched the last few excursion busses follow us in. One was late, so we left a little after our scheduled 6:00 departure time.

 

Final reflections: no cruise is perfect, but this one came close. All but one of the ports were spectacular, the ship and the service were wonderful and I can’t remember a better vacation.

 

I've read many posts about "who's the Captain" and "why do you care". I give Captain Karlssen full credit for the Quest crew being as topnotch as it is. I had no real complaints about this cruise, other than the horrible coffee (and not enough half & half for it) and some recurring problems with our air conditioning (which were fixed promptly, even last night). The entertainment could be better and more varied, but with so little time or energy to attend the shows, anyway, I can’t complain about that, either.

 

Were there not so many other places in the world to see, I would be booked on another European itinerary for 2010. Well done, Azamara!

 

[lonestarsteve]

Excellent review ....and thanks for all of the port info, it will be very usefull for our July trip on the Quest.

Regards

Steve

[critterchick]

And shame on me for forgetting one of the most important parts of the cruise, our phenomenal Roll Call. Between the pre-cruise chatter and planning and the fact that we got along brilliantly onboard, our vacation experience was enhanced by an astronomical amount. Thank you all for your camaraderie and new friendship!

[TravelingProf]

couldn't resist the cucumbers, could you!!!:p

[critterchick]

I was going to put "and you know who you are...":D

[greeneg]

Nice review, Jean. We all really did have a good time together, didn't we. Maybe we should seriously look at that reunion cruise idea....

 

Ed

[critterchick]

I think it would be a wonderful idea. I'm seriously looking at that cruise that Mike & Judy have booked. Although I REALLY want to go Down Under...

[greeneg]

As of now, we have the May 23 Journey sailing booked: Barcelona to Copenhagen via Gibralter, Lisbon, St. Malo, Antwerp, London ( 3 nights there), Amsterdam. Mike and Judy's is also nice and tempting.

[crzrr]

Hi,

 

Thank you for a great review. We are on the Journey Western Med cruise on Sept. 13th and stop in some of the same ports. One question, what was the snafu with Unforgettable Tuscany? We have them booked for a tour from Livorno. Just wondered what I have to watch for so that they will be there when we arrive. Thanks for the help.

 

Sue

[SkiCruiser44]

Great review Jean - I'm also on the 9/13 sailing - we're in cabin 6060 - was deck 6 in that location pretty quiet? Any vibration in that area?

 

I enjoyed your posting from the ship too it sounds like you guys had a great time and I can't wait until we sail.

 

Kathy

[Andy]

Hi Jean !

 

Thank you for your excellent review. I'm happy to hear you had a great time on Quest, and all the wonderful cities you visited. Welcome Home !

[Jancruz]

We flew United business class to and from Rome. We booked with them because they had availability for upgrading with miles. Although I am certain that business class on United still beats most airlines’ coach sections, I won’t be in a hurry to travel with them again. The 777s are due for upgrading in business class (to install lie-flat seats) and it seems that they’re not “wasting” money on maintaining them cosmetically. In addition, the troubles of the airline are apparent in the minimal services – cold plates only in domestic business class, a very dispirited flight and ground crew, thin blankets (and not enough of them) to cut down on fuel costs, etc. Flights; C-

 

 

We also flew United home frome Rome on our last trip and we were in the last row of business class on Rome to Washington and Washington to LAX and they ran out of food on BOTH trips and had no 1st class food left so brought us food from coach..we did not use points, paid full fare..they gave us 5,000 miles as an apology.. In addition everything Jean said is really true plus nothing on the plane seemed to work..believe me I will never fly the unfriendly skies of United again!

Jancruz1

[Paulchili]

..believe me I will never fly the unfriendly skies of United again!

Jancruz1

 

A fellow on FT has a motto I love (and strictly adhere to, based on my own experiences):

"I'd rather walk or swim than fly UA"

[DURSEYGIRL]

When do you work?

Enjoyed your review of the QUEST.

We're going on her Nov. 28th for 24 nights & have the cabin near yours. I hope the air conditioning is fixed by then.

We live near the Block Island ferry & it, too, was my first cruise in the fifties. First real cruise - 1969 to Bermuda from NYC on a Greel ship. Durseygirl

[critterchick]

Hi,

 

Thank you for a great review. We are on the Journey Western Med cruise on Sept. 13th and stop in some of the same ports. One question, what was the snafu with Unforgettable Tuscany? We have them booked for a tour from Livorno. Just wondered what I have to watch for so that they will be there when we arrive. Thanks for the help.

 

Sue

 

It was a miscommunication between the person who organized it and the guy who runs the company. I'm sure you'll be fine.:)

 

Great review Jean - I'm also on the 9/13 sailing - we're in cabin 6060 - was deck 6 in that location pretty quiet? Any vibration in that area?

 

I enjoyed your posting from the ship too it sounds like you guys had a great time and I can't wait until we sail.

 

Kathy

 

Thanks, Kathy! 6052 was a great location - right near the stairs and very quiet. We had no vibrations in our location - I seldom even stirred when we came into port most mornings, and we were docked portside, which means that the thrusters on that side would have been working pretty hard. Had it not been for the A/C issues in our cabin (it just stopped working a couple of times), it would have been just about perfect.

 

When do you work?

Enjoyed your review of the QUEST.

We're going on her Nov. 28th for 24 nights & have the cabin near yours. I hope the air conditioning is fixed by then.

We live near the Block Island ferry & it, too, was my first cruise in the fifties. First real cruise - 1969 to Bermuda from NYC on a Greel ship. Durseygirl

 

I'm self-employed and my boss is very lenient about vacations.:) The A/C problem was just our cabin - the people next door were complaining about being cold - I offered to swap with them!

[lisiamc]

We brought 4 bottles of wine in our carry on.

 

When I read that you'd just brought carry-on luggage, I was impressed. Now I see that you managed to fit two bottles of wine and all your clothes in your carry-on. I'm truly in awe!:D

 

Lisa

[critterchick]

When I read that you'd just brought carry-on luggage, I was impressed. Now I see that you managed to fit two bottles of wine and all your clothes in your carry-on. I'm truly in awe!:D

 

Lisa

 

Don't be. We had an extra bag by then, since Azamara doesn't care how much crap you carry onboard with you.:)

[disneyfan1313]

Our cabin steward, Alwin, and his assistant, Victor, were terrific. We did have issues with our air conditioning and had to call the A/C tech (as opposed to the general engineering person, who seemed not quite to know how it all worked) several times.

 

Interesting - the folks we were traveling with had pretty severe A/C issues the whole cruise as well (also on deck 6) and the A/C tech was very confused as well. We even had to bring the tech up to our stateroom on 8 to show him the 15+ temperature difference because he would walk in and say "it was OK" each time.

[vintagebabe]

Hi Critterchick,

 

We have booked cabin 6050 on the Quest in October. I see that you were in 6052. How was the location? Are noise from the Casino below? No obstructions? How about the motion?

 

Can't wait for our trip!! So glad to hear that your trip was fabulous!

 

Terri

[critterchick]

Hi Critterchick,

 

We have booked cabin 6050 on the Quest in October. I see that you were in 6052. How was the location? Are noise from the Casino below? No obstructions? How about the motion?

 

Can't wait for our trip!! So glad to hear that your trip was fabulous!

 

Terri

 

The location was fabulous - the stairs are right around the corner (as are the elevators) so it was a perfect location for up and down (and she's a tiny ship so forward to stern is about a 30 second proposition). The laundry room is one flight up and two seconds forward. The casino isn't directly below - it's the Mosaic Cafe and I didn't hear anything from the cappuccino maker, which was my worry.:p

 

There were no view obstructions - my only quibble is that the views were better from above as you could see over the buildings (duh). The motion was.. what motion? We were blessed with nearly flat seas for the entire cruise, but those cabins are very nearly midship and down low, so even in rougher seas it would be a fine choice. And if you have Alwin as your butler, he's terrific.

[New2cruizinII]

The location was fabulous - the stairs are right around the corner (as are the elevators) so it was a perfect location for up and down (and she's a tiny ship so forward to stern is about a 30 second proposition). The laundry room is one flight up and two seconds forward. The casino isn't directly below - it's the Mosaic Cafe and I didn't hear anything from the cappuccino maker, which was my worry.:p

 

There were no view obstructions - my only quibble is that the views were better from above as you could see over the buildings (duh). The motion was.. what motion? We were blessed with nearly flat seas for the entire cruise, but those cabins are very nearly midship and down low, so even in rougher seas it would be a fine choice. And if you have Alwin as your butler, he's terrific.

 

LOL! Was his name really Alwin, Jean? He was our butler and I kept calling him Alvin! Left him notes too!

[Floatplanner]

Wow critterchick, thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review. My wife and I are cruising this itinerary on 6/28 and really appreciate the info and opinions. :)

[critterchick]

LOL! Was his name really Alwin, Jean? He was our butler and I kept calling him Alvin! Left him notes too!

 

Yep. I asked him how he pronounced his name, and he did say that some people called him Alvin, and referenced the chipmunks.:D

 

Wow critterchick, thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed review. My wife and I are cruising this itinerary on 6/28 and really appreciate the info and opinions. :)

 

If you need a valet, I could rearrange my schedule...