Review - Azamara Quest - Best of Italy '09 5/16 - 5/30

[disneyfan1313]

I realize that my thoughts on this cruise are probably a bit different than some of the other posters so I feel the need to defend myself a bit in advance (although I have noticed that the folks on this board are generally very nice and not as "ready to attack" as some others) so a bit of background...

 

About Us - We are a 31yo couple from Florida who has traveled and cruised quite a bit. I have been on every major line (except HAL) and have been on about 15 cruises although we just started cruising 10 years ago in 1999. We are generally very easy going and low maintenance travelers and I can think of only 2-3 things we have ever complained about on a cruise.

 

The Itinerary - Overall - amazing. The itinerary alone is what sold us on this cruise and we would do this cruise again for such a specialized itinerary in a heartbeat. With the euro as high as it is - it is really the way to see Italy, you get a great feel for all the different cultures within this great country. Yeah, I would rather not have gone to Olbia and an overnight in Ravenna was kinda silly - but they fixed this for next year!

 

This ship - It's nice...but a bit generic. I was actually surprised that for a line that markets it self as a "premium" line there was not much high end art, not as many high end touches in the public spaces, etc. It felt like a nice business class hotel.

 

The cabin - We booked this rather last minute and started off with an inside guarantee cabin, we then went up to an outside guarantee with the price drops and upgraded when we got on board to a *very* nice veranda for an amazing price. I liked the mirrors in the room, the high end furniture on the verandah and the great interactive TV system. I didn't like the lack of lighting in the closet and the fact that you were stuck if you open the closet door and the bathroom door at the same time. Cabin service was good although as others have said in the past the point of the butler seems a bit lost in the shuffle.

 

The service - This is where I realize some of you will disagree with me. Service was just OK - it seemed a bit forced and fake in most cases. Everyone did greet me when I walked past with the "Hello Sir/Madam" but there was no emotion, no asking me if I need assistance. As I leave the dining room I don't need 15 people saying thank you and good night as I walk out (as they are not even looking up from what they are doing) - I would take one genuine "I hope you enjoyed yourself tonight" over that any day.

Part of service is also paying attention to the guest - this is the first cruise that I have been on where the second you are in port 1/2 the staff takes out their cell phones and starts texting while they are working. I haven't even seen that on RCCL or Carnival! There are also some serious service issues in specific departments which I will note in a minute.

 

The food - Food quality and taste was great! Aqualina was perfection and prime - c was OK. The main dining room however was tragically hit or miss. I actually prefer having assigned servers, not a fan of the crap shoot each night because this cruise really showed the best of the best and the worst of the worst. We generally dined late and even though we arrived 30 minutes before the last seating time tables were already being broken down around us, our server was bringing peoples entrees when others were still on their salads, etc. We dined a few times earlier and the service was drastically different. If this line truly wants to provide excellent service it needs to be consistent no matter when people sit down. Overall I have received better service in all other mass market lines (except carnival). Breakfast in the stateroom was good and delivered fast although after hours room service took up to an hour to be delivered. High tea was a joke for a high end line and really should be tweaked.

 

Entertainment - This was a shocker to me. I realized that this ship was smaller and there would be less to do, but I was shocked at how little there was even on sea days. "Recorded big band music" should not be an item listed as something to do - that should be something that always plays in the lounges when there is no main stage entertainment. The main lounge is very small and you should be prepared to sit up front if you want to be able to see since there is no tiered seating. The "main" guest acts were really not good (except the magician) but the Azamara singers / dancers tried hard with their shows with what they were given. I don't expect or want AZ to have belly-flop competitions or a rock climbing wall - but how about more than 1 cooking demonstration (the ridiculous thing with sue at the end of the cruise does not count) and perhaps casino lessons or something... ANYTHING!

 

Guest Services - I have to tell two quick stories which to me summarizes the problem with service on this ship. We ran to guest services upon embarkation to the ship and asked about an upgrade to a veranda. We were told one was available and what the cost was - I asked what category the veranda was and I received a blank stare. She said "Its a balcony" - I then asked "which category of balcony is it". She said "There is only one type" - I then pointed out the sheet in front of her (which listed the multiple categories) and very nicely asked which one of those it was. She then confirmed with her two co-workers and said again "there is only one category of veranda on this ship". Sigh.

 

The second is the A/C issue that our traveling partners were having. It was a good 10-15 degrees warmer in their room than the hallway even with their A/C all the way up, the blinds closed and the veranda door not being open at all. Multiple techs who did not understand the system were sent up, always to be told that either "Everything looks OK" or "Everyone on the ship is having this problem so there is nothing we can do". Neither of which were the case - each time we went down to guest services we got the same "The tech says it is OK there is nothing we can do" response and no follow up with a call or anything to check if it all worked out. The kicker was the night they finally convinced guest services to send out the head engineer (who admitted there was a problem when he started sweating 10 minutes into being in the room, but still could not figure out what it was) but the only time they would send him was during the show we wanted to see. The response from guest services was "If you want to get this fixed you are going to have to miss the show". Sigh.

 

Ports in the next post....

[disneyfan1313]

The Ports! We did all ports on our own very easily and saw much more than any of the excursions offered. In all our cruises we have never taken an organized excursion and we were not going to start now! ;)

 

Getting to the ship - We flew in the night before and took the train from the airport into Rome and then caught the other train back into Civitavecchia. It took a bit longer but the total cost for both of us was less than 25euro. We then stayed at a GREAT b&b (Casamica) that overlooked the ocean that offered complimentary pickup from the train station and a ride to the port the next day.

 

Sorrento - On the first day we explored the streets of Sorrento during the morning (and took a great tourist bus for 8euro each that took us around town, down the coast and to a vinyard). We then went back to the ship to freshen up and took one of the hydrofoil boats to Positano. Positano was amazing and well worth the beautiful trip down the coast. The cost was around 9euro one-way for a beautiful 45 minute boat ride. After walking all around Positano we took the bus back (3euro).

 

Sorrento x2 - We took one of the large boats to Naples (10euro) which was not as pretty a ride, but very fast. We then took one of the open air bus tours around the city and hit a few other sights. We then took the train back with a stop at Pompeii to eat lunch and see the excavations. It is very easy to take the train from Sorrento to Pompeii - not doing it that way and taking an excursion would be a very expensive mistake.

 

Taromina - Really one of the most beautiful ports on the trip. I was surprised how much we liked it but walking around the beautiful streets and doing the greek theater took up most of the day. We found an amazing pizza place by walking about 2 blocks past the tourist area.

 

Ravenna - The first day was all about the mosaics. They are beautiful and worthwhile to see. Doing it at a decent pace took us about 6 hours with a stop for lunch. The port is industrial (but so is Miami and Port Everglades to a lesser extent) so it didn't really bother us as much as some others on the ship. Not much after dark is open so staying on the ship was the best option.

 

Ravenna x2 - We went to a local theme park (one of the biggest in Italy) called Mirabilandia. Fun little side excursion that was only 15 minutes away. I think we were the only folks from the quest there ;)

 

Venice - Awesome. Really the only words to describe this amazing city. We decided to do what worked well for us the whole trip and go to the big sites later - we walked into the Doges palace with no line at all by going after 3. We saw so many amazing things this day it really is tough to remember them all. As many others have said, part of the fun is getting lost so make sure you wander down random side streets to get the full experience. We came back after dark to wander around and have some gelato. We always felt perfectly safe and walking down the canals at night was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

Venice x2 - More exploring and taking the Vaporetti all over the place. I do have to chime in here and say what I did in another thread. I find it incredibly hard to believe that the captain extended the stay for two hours "just to be nice" or "because of complaints" when multiple crew members in multiple areas told me they knew about it since almost the beginning of the cruise and it was because of the special events that day. They *all* said it was "at the request of venice". I do want to hope they were wrong but I really think it was a great opportunity for the Captain to jump on an opportunity and make the passengers happy. I don't fault him for taking credit for it... why not! But regardless we got some extra time in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

 

Dubrovnik - Another charming city. We got to walk along the walls in the rain, eat at an amazing bosnian restaurant and explore the beautiful side streets. What more is there to ask! No need to exchange currency, every where takes Euros almost all take credit cards.

 

Olbia - The one port we were disappointed in. The city was closed for its afternoon nap when we arrived into port at 1pm and even trying to rent a car was a fiasco. This is the one port where I would recommend doing an organized excursion.

 

La Spezia - We decided to take advantage of the longer day in La Spezia to do Florence so we had more time and didn't feel stressed about making it back to the ship. It is a long but beautiful train ride through the country. We hit all the major sites in florence (Ufuzi at 3pm means no lines!) and enjoyed some more great food.

 

Livorno - We wanted our last day on the cruise to be a relaxing one so we simply took the train to Pisa and back. Leaning tower was a bit disappointing even when we had reduced expectations going into it, but we are glad we did it.

 

 

Overall - We realized we are not small ship people. I like the anonymous nature of a big ship and like having a large choice of things to do each day. The itinerary was amazing and we would try AZ again for the right price with another amazing itin.

 

Side note... The smoking situation is a weird one. We are non-smokers but we were traveling with smokers. I felt quite bad for them since both smoking locations are on the same end of the ship and they often had to truck out of their way to get to one. While I realize smoking is a choice I don't see an issue letting folks smoke on open decks on one side. If Azamara wants to have a non-smoking ship that is fine, but hyper-restrictive is almost worse.

[disneyfan1313]

I just realized I totally forgot my other frustration with service on the Quest. In the stateroom there was a list of stateroom "packages" you could purchase. There is a romance package, movie package, etc. One of the folks we were traveling with was celebrating her birthday and we wanted to do the "Celebration Package". The cost was $70 and included special lighting, cake, Champaign and other special touches. We called the number listed in the book "Stateroom services" which connected us to a room service person who hardly spoke english. They said we need to call our butler. Our butler said there was nothing like that offered - we said it is in the book you place in our stateroom and she said "OK I will come and look". She came down and looked at the book and said she didn't know about these things (are we the first person to ever ask for one!?!?) and said we had to go down to guest services. We go down to guest services they said we had to call room service. We said that we already did that and asked them to call from their desk to get to the bottom of this (This is a lot of work to spend 70 bucks!). They call and told us that we need to contact our butler - we said that our butler didn't know about it and they said "Ask again". Our butler meets us in our room and says that she talked to her manager and they don't offer that any more (why is it in every room then?) but they will figure something out. It eventually happened but it is just indicative of not having the proper training in any department. On a "high end" line you would expect the first person to find a way to make it happen, not to be challenged at every turn.

[greeneg]

Interesting. The difference in comments seems to make the point that 1) if two people see the same thing, they may well draw very different conclusions. 2) There really are different strokes for different folks. I would tend to agree with you that you probably are not small-ship people.

 

As far as the smoking policy on the Azamara ships:

 

"Side note... The smoking situation is a weird one. We are non-smokers but we were traveling with smokers. I felt quite bad for them since both smoking locations are on the same end of the ship and they often had to truck out of their way to get to one. While I realize smoking is a choice I don't see an issue letting folks smoke on open decks on one side. If Azamara wants to have a non-smoking ship that is fine, but hyper-restrictive is almost worse."

 

The Azamara policies are very clearly stated in advance and there is nothing weird about them.In my experience on Azamara ( 3 cruises with a 4th booked) the vast majority of the passengers approve of and support the stated smoking policies. Again, you may well want to consider an alternative venue.

 

By the way, all of the verandah cabins on both ships are identical except for location.

[critterchick]

Thanks for posting your thoughts. I posted a similarly mixed review about Journey (actually it was my live diary, which showed my increasing depression over the course of the cruise, LOL) and most people were very nice about it. One or two attacked like mad dogs, but perhaps they've learned their lesson.:)

 

I'm sorry you found the service to be less than ideal. We only ate in the dining room 4 times, around 8:30, and it was very good, except for the struggle to get half & half for my coffee. Everything I ordered was very good, too. But I've been on ships where our service was horrid while the people at the next table with a different team had a great experience (and vice versa).

 

Anyway, I did notice that the Guest Relations people lacked flair. My issues weren't challenging - punch a hold in my Seapass and exchange currency - but I've had the same experience on RCI where they don't know anything about the cabin categories. If it's any consolation, the only difference between a 1A and 2A is the location, and the 1As aren't always in a better spot.

 

Our A/C was also on the fritz several times during the cruise. The first day it was out, our "butler" called maintenance and probably the same clueless guy showed up, twirled the dial that wouldn't stop turning, and pronounced it repaired. When it clearly wasn't, our butler kept on them to call the real tech, who recalibrated the thermostat. I don't know that your friends had the same problem, but it's a pity nobody thought of that solution for them.

 

Possibly because I'm just a few years older than you, I thought the activities on the two sea days were fine (especially the laundry room show:rolleyes:). But I agree that entertainment is a weak link on Azamara - to us, Azamara is an "itinerary" line, not so much a "ship" one. We wore ourselves out on shore, so really didn't much care what was going on at night after the first few days. On the Journey, with its 9 sea days, I was going mad by the end of the cruise - on the final sea day, at one point in the afternoon, the only activity was a Friends of Bill W meeting.:eek:

[Paulchili]

disneyfan1313,

thank you for your review.

I am yet to cruise on Azamara (next year) and thus want to know as much as I can.

The only thing that I would point out to you is that perhaps your expectations were too high based on the "premium" label. The prices on Azamara are not premium and thus the experience is not likely to be premium. For true premium/deluxe you have to pay more (Oceania) or a lot more (Silversea, etc). I believe you then may receive what you expect form a "premium/deluxe/luxury" product. I have cruised on Oceania 4 times (and Silversea as well) and when I will go on my Azamara cruise, my expectations will be on the level with the price I paid for that cruise and spend the money I saved by not sailing Oceania on other things.

JMO

[TravelingProf]

The Azamara policies are very clearly stated in advance and there is nothing weird about them.In my experience on Azamara ( 3 cruises with a 4th booked)

 

Hey Ed--what have you booked?

 

Annie

[greeneg]

Hi Annie. This is where we are for right now at least:

 

http://www.azamaracruises.com/search/vacationSearchResults.do;jsessionid=0000XOItLJ3wgvL1i_SN3j5BlUx:12odfrv1v?dest=EUROP&date=201004&ship=JR&port=BCN&x=18&y=5

 

That's not a bad itinerary, either, non e vero?!

[TravelingProf]

Ed,

 

This is very nice itinerary--I like the 3 nights in Greenwich, which I think is a stone's throw from London center.

[lonestarsteve]

The Azamara policies are very clearly stated in advance and there is nothing weird about them.In my experience on Azamara ( 3 cruises with a 4th booked)

 

Hey Ed--what have you booked?

 

Annie

Hey Annie

You are right on with your comment. We have been on six Azamara trips and two booked for the future and they keep getting better and better. Next trip July 26 and can't wait!

 

Steve

[TravelingProf]

Hey Annie

You are right on with your comment. We have been on six Azamara trips and two booked for the future and they keep getting better and better. Next trip July 26 and can't wait!

 

Steve

 

Hi Steve--I think you were commenting on Ed's quote. BTW--we did the 5/16 Best of italy and are now avid Azamara fans!

[crimsonbird]

the ports! We did all ports on our own very easily and saw much more than any of the excursions offered. In all our cruises we have never taken an organized excursion and we were not going to start now! ;)

 

getting to the ship - we flew in the night before and took the train from the airport into rome and then caught the other train back into civitavecchia. It took a bit longer but the total cost for both of us was less than 25euro. We then stayed at a great b&b (casamica) that overlooked the ocean that offered complimentary pickup from the train station and a ride to the port the next day.

 

Sorrento - on the first day we explored the streets of sorrento during the morning (and took a great tourist bus for 8euro each that took us around town, down the coast and to a vinyard). We then went back to the ship to freshen up and took one of the hydrofoil boats to positano. Positano was amazing and well worth the beautiful trip down the coast. The cost was around 9euro one-way for a beautiful 45 minute boat ride. After walking all around positano we took the bus back (3euro).

 

Sorrento x2 - we took one of the large boats to naples (10euro) which was not as pretty a ride, but very fast. We then took one of the open air bus tours around the city and hit a few other sights. We then took the train back with a stop at pompeii to eat lunch and see the excavations. It is very easy to take the train from sorrento to pompeii - not doing it that way and taking an excursion would be a very expensive mistake.

 

Taromina - really one of the most beautiful ports on the trip. I was surprised how much we liked it but walking around the beautiful streets and doing the greek theater took up most of the day. We found an amazing pizza place by walking about 2 blocks past the tourist area.

 

Ravenna - the first day was all about the mosaics. They are beautiful and worthwhile to see. Doing it at a decent pace took us about 6 hours with a stop for lunch. The port is industrial (but so is miami and port everglades to a lesser extent) so it didn't really bother us as much as some others on the ship. Not much after dark is open so staying on the ship was the best option.

 

Ravenna x2 - we went to a local theme park (one of the biggest in italy) called mirabilandia. Fun little side excursion that was only 15 minutes away. I think we were the only folks from the quest there ;)

 

venice - awesome. Really the only words to describe this amazing city. We decided to do what worked well for us the whole trip and go to the big sites later - we walked into the doges palace with no line at all by going after 3. We saw so many amazing things this day it really is tough to remember them all. As many others have said, part of the fun is getting lost so make sure you wander down random side streets to get the full experience. We came back after dark to wander around and have some gelato. We always felt perfectly safe and walking down the canals at night was one of the highlights of our trip.

 

Venice x2 - more exploring and taking the vaporetti all over the place. I do have to chime in here and say what i did in another thread. I find it incredibly hard to believe that the captain extended the stay for two hours "just to be nice" or "because of complaints" when multiple crew members in multiple areas told me they knew about it since almost the beginning of the cruise and it was because of the special events that day. They *all* said it was "at the request of venice". I do want to hope they were wrong but i really think it was a great opportunity for the captain to jump on an opportunity and make the passengers happy. I don't fault him for taking credit for it... Why not! But regardless we got some extra time in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

 

Dubrovnik - another charming city. We got to walk along the walls in the rain, eat at an amazing bosnian restaurant and explore the beautiful side streets. What more is there to ask! No need to exchange currency, every where takes euros almost all take credit cards.

 

Olbia - the one port we were disappointed in. The city was closed for its afternoon nap when we arrived into port at 1pm and even trying to rent a car was a fiasco. This is the one port where i would recommend doing an organized excursion.

 

La spezia - we decided to take advantage of the longer day in la spezia to do florence so we had more time and didn't feel stressed about making it back to the ship. It is a long but beautiful train ride through the country. We hit all the major sites in florence (ufuzi at 3pm means no lines!) and enjoyed some more great food.

 

Livorno - we wanted our last day on the cruise to be a relaxing one so we simply took the train to pisa and back. Leaning tower was a bit disappointing even when we had reduced expectations going into it, but we are glad we did it.

 

 

Overall - we realized we are not small ship people. I like the anonymous nature of a big ship and like having a large choice of things to do each day. The itinerary was amazing and we would try az again for the right price with another amazing itin.

 

Side note... The smoking situation is a weird one. We are non-smokers but we were traveling with smokers. I felt quite bad for them since both smoking locations are on the same end of the ship and they often had to truck out of their way to get to one. While i realize smoking is a choice i don't see an issue letting folks smoke on open decks on one side. If azamara wants to have a non-smoking ship that is fine, but hyper-restrictive is almost worse.

 

first of all....thank you for putting in the effort and providing an honest, informative review. We are on the august 9th sailing - same itinerary and would like some added info. The boat to positano - and the bus returning.....did you get the ferry at the same location one gets the ferries to naples, etc.? Where did you pick up the bus returning to sorrento? The sightseeing bus to a vineyard, etc......is that easily found? How did you find the transportation in naples to pompei and returning? Did you purchase the ship's transfers in venice for both days? Was there anything - other than olbia - that you would have done a little differently, or recommend to other. Again, thanks so much for your fine effort. We'll look up mirabilandia on the internet. How did you get there? What was the theme? Regards.

[disneyfan1313]

The Azamara policies are very clearly stated in advance and there is nothing weird about them.In my experience on Azamara ( 3 cruises with a 4th booked) the vast majority of the passengers approve of and support the stated smoking policies. Again, you may well want to consider an alternative venue.

 

By the way, all of the verandah cabins on both ships are identical except for location.

 

First let me clarify my issue with the veranda comment at guest services. I wanted to know the category - the fact she did not even know there were multiple categories (which are priced differently and thus could have made me change my mind about the upgrade) makes me realize they do not know much about their own product and what their guests go through and the decisions they make to purchase it. I would understand if my butler didn't know what the categories were, but someone in guest services who is selling upgrades should know what 1A and 2A are if they are clearly on a sheet in front of her.

 

As to the smoking thing - once again, we are NON-SMOKERS who don't even like being in the room with smokers. But traveling with folks who were smokers made me sympathetic to their plight. It is not clearly marked on the web site - I went all the way through the purchasing process and unless you happen to read that line in the cruise contract you will not even know. Or if you happen to go to the FAQ section because you have that in mind. If you book over the phone or through a TA it probably will not be mentioned at all - it wasn't for our traveling partners and they called Azamaras 800 number and also called a travel agent. Nothing was ever mentioned about it being essentially a non-smoking ship.

 

I have no issues with the ship being essentially non-smoking... in fact I like it! But they need to either go all the way and remove the smoking sections and market it as such or be slightly more flexible with smokers. As a non smoker I would rather have them be able to smoke on any open deck and spread out rather than walk through a cloud of smoke every time I enter the looking glass or walk by that side of the pool bar area.

[critterchick]

Side note... The smoking situation is a weird one. We are non-smokers but we were traveling with smokers. I felt quite bad for them since both smoking locations are on the same end of the ship and they often had to truck out of their way to get to one. While I realize smoking is a choice I don't see an issue letting folks smoke on open decks on one side. If Azamara wants to have a non-smoking ship that is fine, but hyper-restrictive is almost worse.

 

I will take exception with this part of your review. I do see an issue with letting people smoke on open decks on one side of such a small ship. It would take very little wind for the smoke to travel to the other side. Not as bad as the days when airplanes had smoking sections, but still not a good situation. And I would bet you a dollar that your friends would rather have had to hike for a smoke than not be able to smoke at all.:)

[disneyfan1313]

disneyfan1313,

thank you for your review.

I am yet to cruise on Azamara (next year) and thus want to know as much as I can.

The only thing that I would point out to you is that perhaps your expectations were too high based on the "premium" label. The prices on Azamara are not premium and thus the experience is not likely to be premium. For true premium/deluxe you have to pay more (Oceania) or a lot more (Silversea, etc). I believe you then may receive what you expect form a "premium/deluxe/luxury" product. I have cruised on Oceania 4 times (and Silversea as well) and when I will go on my Azamara cruise, my expectations will be on the level with the price I paid for that cruise and spend the money I saved by not sailing Oceania on other things.

JMO

 

Honestly - no. I didn't expect it to be as nice as the QM2 - I did my research. I wanted them to have the amenities, perks and "feeling" that they advertise on their web site. I expected it to be a bit nicer than princess but not as nice as Cunard. Instead it felt like it had an identity crisis.

 

Let me use this section of the stateroom description from AZs own website as an example.

Staterooms

All staterooms on Azamara come with complimentary butler service, a daily fruit basket, fresh cut flowers, 24-hour room service, a sweet surprise on your pillow each evening, afternoon canapés, complimentary shoe-shine service, a 23" plasma television, personal stationery

 

The butler service is the biggest example - can ANYONE tell me the difference between the butlers on Azamara and a stateroom host except the butler wears a different outfit? Mine was very nice and she did a great job but it was no different than any other line. Why call it something different and set up expectations that there is a different service provided.

 

Daily fruit basket? Got it - but if they paid attention to details and service the apple that was rotting after sitting in their for 14 days would have been replaced and the banana that was already 1/2 peeled would never have been put in one day.

 

The fresh cut flowers were a nice touch but once again they were all completely dead at the end of two weeks.

 

Afternoon Canapes - another nice touch if you remember to order them in advance and you happen to be available in your stateroom during the 2 hour window they are available.

 

Personal stationary - never got it, but I am guessing it is because our cabin changed. Are my expectations to high to expect that to be sent to us or new one to be made once we upgraded our cabin?

 

 

I realize this sounds negative - but I just felt that this line *could* be great and I think that is what frustrated me the most. I really can't define their brand in one sentence... can any of you? I can define RCCL, Princess, Carnival, NCL quite easily.. AZ... not so much.

[critterchick]

May I ask why it's so important for you to be able to sum up the Azamara experience in one sentence? I confess that I rather enjoyed the "hybrid" experience of being able to indulge in fine dining without wearing high heels and panty hose...

 

I do agree, and have said before, that the butler concept is a bit silly. As far as I can tell, the only thing that a butler can do for you that a cabin steward on RCI can't is make reservations at Prime C and Aqualina.

 

On the Journey we had a Sky Suite and therefore had a HEAD Butler in addition to our butler and cabin steward. A complete waste of $4/day per person additional gratuity IMHO. The additional perks of a Sky Suite didn't really warrant having a third person around.

[Paulchili]

Honestly - no. I didn't expect it to be as nice as the QM2 - I did my research.

 

Apparently not very well - the misnomer of the butler has been discussed here frequently. Again, it was your expectation to have a real BUTLER, while it has been repeatedly noted here that there really is no such thing. Maybe Azamara will take notice and change their designation.

All the other things promised in the brochure have been pretty much delivered, but obviously not in the style it should have been.

From everything I have read about Azamara, it seems that Azamara does have much more difficulty in clearly defining its niche than Oceania did, for example. However, you are paying more for Oceania (and Cunard) and thus you should expect more from them and less from Azamara.

From my observations only, I believe Azamara delivers a good product for the price. Are they as good as Oceania - most people feel they are not. Maybe you too should try Oceania and compare the two lines.

I will have an opportunity to see for myself next year. I think I am going with more realistic expectations and thus am less likely to be disappointed.

[greeneg]

Ed,

 

This is very nice itinerary--I like the 3 nights in Greenwich, which I think is a stone's throw from London center.

 

I think that you should be able to get off of the tender in Greenwich and go right to the tube and then any where in London you want to go. Yum, real English ale and real fish and chips. At least one show, woo hoo!!

[greeneg]

"As to the smoking thing - once again, we are NON-SMOKERS who don't even like being in the room with smokers. But traveling with folks who were smokers made me sympathetic to their plight. It is not clearly marked on the web site - I went all the way through the purchasing process and unless you happen to read that line in the cruise contract you will not even know. Or if you happen to go to the FAQ section because you have that in mind. If you book over the phone or through a TA it probably will not be mentioned at all - it wasn't for our traveling partners and they called Azamaras 800 number and also called a travel agent. Nothing was ever mentioned about it being essentially a non-smoking ship."

 

Sorry, can't buy this. The Azamara ship's smoking policies have been this way since the line was formed and this is well known enough to be considered common knowledge. Certainly your/their travel agent should have been well aware, and it would have taken little effort on anyone's part to find out via Cruise Critic or the Azamara Website for that matter. You may be interested to know, as an aside, that all Celebrity Ships now have exactly the same smoking policies as Azamara.

 

Sorry if I seem harsh, but I will freely admit that I have no patience nor sympathy for smoking. It would perhaps be different if it could be kept to the smoker, but that isn't physically possible.

 

By the way, I agree with you that the name "Butler" is a misnomer and have never understood why Azamara chose to use it. I thought that "Stateroom Attendant " was a perfectly acceptable term.

[TravelingProf]

I think that you should be able to get off of the tender in Greenwich and go right to the tube and then any where in London you want to go. Yum, real English ale and real fish and chips. At least one show, woo hoo!!

 

Ed--I was (and still am) a huge fan of the play Evita--I saw it on Broadway 30 years ago with Patty Lupone. One of my greatest thrills was to also see the West End production a few years later!!

 

I am jealous!!! Wish we could join you--but as Marisa reminds me (every chance she gets) "you aren't a real doctor, you just went to school for a decade not to make money!".:rolleyes:

[BurBunny]

As to the smoking thing - once again, we are NON-SMOKERS who don't even like being in the room with smokers. But traveling with folks who were smokers made me sympathetic to their plight. It is not clearly marked on the web site - I went all the way through the purchasing process and unless you happen to read that line in the cruise contract you will not even know. Or if you happen to go to the FAQ section because you have that in mind. If you book over the phone or through a TA it probably will not be mentioned at all - it wasn't for our traveling partners and they called Azamaras 800 number and also called a travel agent. Nothing was ever mentioned about it being essentially a non-smoking ship.

 

In this day and age, I think smokers need to be a bit pro-active and ask what the policies are. They vary on ALL the lines, and it's one of the questions one should ask when booking. It used to be put upon the non-smokers to ask if non-smoking was available (in restaurants, hotels, etc.), but the culture has shifted the other way. If booking someone on a totally non-smoking ship I think the line/agent should make it clear, but since there are smoking areas on the ship, it should be up to the smoker to determine if the policy suits them.

 

Thank you, however, for the effort in posting your review. While I may disagree with you on this point, I think it's important that differing opinions be expressed so people have the ability to read them and determine which line suits them. Someone else who prefers the big ships, but is attracted to an itinerary like this, may see this and while they may still book, their expectations will be different and they're likely to have an enjoyable experience.

[disneyfan1313]

Apparently not very well - the misnomer of the butler has been discussed here frequently. Again, it was your expectation to have a real BUTLER, while it has been repeatedly noted here that there really is no such thing. Maybe Azamara will take notice and change their designation.

 

Sigh. I never said it was my expectation to have a butler - I was using the butler as an example of the failure of the brand to deliver on its promises. Look - I enjoyed the cruise but I just don't "get" the line. I realize it is probably mostly me and my expectations and the demographic that I fall into...and I am OK with that. Really the biggest issue I have with them is "over-promising and under-delivering" - *I* knew the butler issue going in because I have read these boards and done my homework... does the average passenger on the cruise understand that? No. Should I have to go into an experience with lower expectations because I know the line won't deliver on their promises? I frankly don't believe I should.

[disneyfan1313]

first of all....thank you for putting in the effort and providing an honest, informative review. We are on the august 9th sailing - same itinerary and would like some added info. The boat to positano - and the bus returning.....did you get the ferry at the same location one gets the ferries to naples, etc.? Where did you pick up the bus returning to sorrento? The sightseeing bus to a vineyard, etc......is that easily found? How did you find the transportation in naples to pompei and returning? Did you purchase the ship's transfers in venice for both days? Was there anything - other than olbia - that you would have done a little differently, or recommend to other. Again, thanks so much for your fine effort. We'll look up mirabilandia on the internet. How did you get there? What was the theme? Regards.

 

The ferry was right at the same area that the ones that went to Capri, Naples, ETC were. There are far less ferries to Positano (2 different companies each with 2-3 departures and 2-3 returns) than to Capri but you should not have any issue getting ones. The time schedules that I found on the internet did not match the times when I got there so you are best to find out when you get off the ship. The bus returning to sorrento was at the "top of the hill" for a lack of a better way to describe it. It is a public bus and can be quite crowded so if that makes you at all skittish for a 45 minute journey on twisted roads you might want to take the boat back as well. The sightseeing bus in Sorrento is right where the 1euro shuttle from the port drops you off - you can't miss it.

 

I would not necessarily recommend doing the trip to Naples before Pompeii unless you are very adventurous or you have a particular passion to visit Naples. We were underwhelmed by Naples although we were glad to see another major city in Italy.. it has a very different feel than the others we visited. The train from Sorrento to Pompei is very easy to do - it is a bit of a hike to the train station from where the shuttle drops you off although it can be done in about 10-15 minutes the other option is a quick taxi to the train station and then an easy and quick train ride to Pompei. The train drops you off right next to the main Pompei entrance - can't beat it. The folks we saw in large groups in Pompei looked pretty miserable and often could not see what the guides were talking about because of the crowds. I think renting an audio tour and doing it on your own really is the way to go. On the back of the maps they give you when you rent the audio tour has options for self guided tours of different lengths so you can see how many highlights you can see.

 

We did purchase the ships transfers in venice for both days. I liked the ease of being dropped off right at the square which worked out perfectly to go back at night and hang out right there.

 

Done differently? Probably gone up Mt. Etna in Taromina - lots of folks were raving about it that night. There were lots of places offering 22euro tours when we got off the ship. This sounds horrible, but we probably would not have stressed so much about waking up early for the sail in to venice - you see the same thing leaving the next day... why wake up so early when you need your energy for a long day in venice.

 

Miribilandia is a theme park (or amusement park) with quite a few roller coasters.. so probably not your typical trip unless you are into that sort of thing. :)

 

Thanks for the great questions!

[disneyfan1313]

May I ask why it's so important for you to be able to sum up the Azamara experience in one sentence? I confess that I rather enjoyed the "hybrid" experience of being able to indulge in fine dining without wearing high heels and panty hose...

 

I guess I just feel that Azamara itself can't sum up their product in one sentence and for a customer to understand their brand fully and to have realistic expectations that they are able to meet - they need to know what to expect.

 

For example - NCL makes it very clear they are about freestyle crusing - very casual atmosphere, lots of choices for dining and entertainment but with that you also realize you are going to get laid back service that isn't quite as finished, etc.

 

RCCL brands itself as a vacation on the ship itself - you know you are getting large ships with lots to do on the ship with something for everyone. They focus on the ships being for families and for fun.

 

How would I define AZ?

 

 

Also.. in reference to your other post about having the trip of a lifetime. I did as well - but I feel like I did it regardless of the ship I was on.. not because of the ship I was on. Thanks BTW (really this is for all of you) for being very nice to me with my differing opinions even though I haven't "drunk the kool-aid" when it comes to AZ. I wish I had posted here more in the past so you guys would know I am a generally positive person and not one of these people who has ridiculous expectations who is never happy.. I swear I am not that person!! :)

[Spursgirl]

Hi Disneyfan1313

 

I have been on the Quest twice and had spectacular holidays (probably down to the wonderful people we met)

 

However, on my second trip I had a minor complaint on the second or third day, made an appointment to see the Hotel Director and it was sorted out in a heartbeat.

 

I much prefer the small ships although I totally agree that this means the entertainment offered is limiting. You came to the conclusion that bigger ships were your preference.

 

Hope you enjoy your next cruise more.

 

Ciao

 

Spursgirl