Azamara Quest

Where to start !?

Well this was our first time with Azamara but our second time around doing several of the ports included in this Greek / Turkish Med 10 Night itinerary. I have to say in short that the service, food and overall experience on the Azamara Quest really was second to none and a unique experience. I hope you find this useful if you’re thinking about making Azamara your next choice, I can whole heartedly recommend them ! ! ! We have included some pictures as well on the user images tab, please feel free to leave any questions / comments and I’ll try to respond

The Ship / Service
Being a smaller ship (30,000 tonnes) the Quest had a very different feel from larger ships it felt much more intimate and friendly and everything is so close to hand. We found that we got to know everyone in a very small space of time and after about the third day we were greeted by the ships officers and staff on a first name basis in the Discoveries Restaurant and the Pool Bar and Casino. We never had to queue for anything and the open dinning option and relaxed dress code meant we could please ourselves each day and we had much more freedom to enjoy the ports of call. I must recommend as well the thalassotherapy pool which we had two passes for the duration of the cruise. This included use of the steam / luxury showers ( 7 jets !) in the spa centre and had a private deck to relax on. During the whole cruise we only met two other people on there and couldn’t believe more people weren’t taking advantage of the facilities.

Everyone that we met and spoke to didn’t have a single complaint to make about anything onboard which was a first for me as I know how particular my fellow cruises can be ! One evening during the ships entertainment on the pool deck, we noticed that the Captain of the ship and the Officers were joining the guests for a chat and a bite to eat. When we spoke to them about how we were finding the cruise, the itinerary and the food etc. we found out that the staff are treated very well onboard and it made a lot of sense as it really did reflect in the outstanding levels of service and the friendliness of the staff. We found there was a real mixture of ages and nationalities on the ship and quite a few families. As well, I must add that while the service and overall quality of the dining is superb, at the same time the atmosphere is very relaxed as well as the dress code (which we both thought was much better). Some people got dressed up on the occasional evening as we did on a couple of evenings as its nice to make the effort but there are no requirements to.

Food & Entertainment
The specialty restaurants (Prime C & Aqualina) were spectacular but we found that the Main Dinning Restaurant Discoveries was that good that we only tried them once each. (But I would definitely recommend trying them) We also enjoyed the windows café and inparticular the Sushi Bar and the noodle station (I’ve included some pics), when you’re in these small ports with dramatic back drops such as Santorini its great to have the option to dine outside and admire the view as we did many nights in the windows café out on the deck.
The wine included in the price of the cruise was changed each day and included with lunch and dinner, we found on most days the quality was excellent and was chosen to accompany the dinning options.

Ports Of Call

With most of the ports of call Quest would arrive early in the morning (around 7am) and not leave until 10 pm which made the whole experience when visiting the ports of call much more indepth (we haven’t seen many other cruises that stay in ports that long) We could explore around the ports in the morning and visit the various historical sites / points of interest until the afternoon then visit the ship and the thalassotherapy pool for a couple of hours sunbathing and spa then head back out in the evening when the ports come alive. In one day in Mykonos we visited the beach for the morning then headed out for some sight seeing in the afternoon then enjoyed a meal in the bay looking out to see, you really do feel like you’ve visited and experienced all the ports have to offer when you get a full day and evening their. We visited Athens, Santorini, Kusadasi, Bodrum, Mykonos and Istanbul. We would like to say we had a favourite but in all honesty each place had its own charm, highlights and contrasts. We would definitely recommend the grand tour of Instanbul as it’s a fascinating city steeped in history and we had a great meal out in Rhodes sampling the local cusine (we had kleftico).

All in all a great experience and after enjoying several years cruising I can certainly appreciate now the benefits of a more intimate and service orientated cruise experience, which offer more time to enjoy the ports of call.


Paul & Samanatha