This was only an 8 night cruise, so we didn t get around to trying the steak house Prime C until the

This was our first cruise on Azamara. Our favourite cruise line is Celebrity, and we particularly love their S class ships. We bought an open passage for an Azamara cruise while on a Celebrity ship nearly two years ago. Azamara only have two small ships, historic wooden hotels so it s not often that an interesting itinerary comes along at a good price that fits in with our holiday dates.
historic wooden hotels This was also our first cruise together in the Caribbean (although I visited a few Caribbean islands on a Transatlantic that I did on my own earlier this year). We like cruising in cooler climes, but had been curious to experience the Caribbean, and thought that a smaller ship was the way to go, so when we saw an Azamara cruise in the Caribbean at Xmas, it rang all the right bells. We booked the holiday back in April, historic wooden hotels and paid just under 2200 each for the cruise (balcony cabin), scheduled flights out to Miami, back from Puerto Rico, one night s hotel accommodation in Miami, and transfers from the airport to the pre cruise hotel, from the hotel to the ship, and from the ship to Puerto Rico airport.
We arranged to fly out to Miami a week early and spend some time independently in Florida. We returned our rental car to Miami airport the day before the cruise, and met up with an Azamara rep who arranged our transfer, sharing a minibus with just one other couple. Our pre cruise hotel had been changed quite late on from the Marriott at the airport to the JW Marriott downtown, a nice upgrade in both quality and location.
We know Miami Beach, but had never visited downtown Miami before (and God willing, we will probably never visit it again!) On our pre cruise afternoon, we took a ride on the free elevated metro system, historic wooden hotels which runs in a loop around the downtown area, and gives a good view of Miami. We weren t impressed. We also took a walk along the harbourside next morning, but there is a very short area you can walk along. The hotel itself was excellent though, with a very comfortable king size bed, high quality furnishings, linens, and toiletries, plenty of space, free Wi-Fi, an outdoor rooftop pool, health club, and a good choice of restaurants. The hotel is very close to the Mary Brickell Village shopping centre, which has some good restaurants, and about 10 minutes drive to the cruise terminal. Miami looks better after dark, and better still after a couple historic wooden hotels of Margaritas. Even so, we are in no hurry to return to the central business district.
Our transfer to the ship was provided by Azamara, but was nearly half an hour late, and as you might expect with a group of 50 people was quite slow to get underway with people historic wooden hotels faffing about. historic wooden hotels We also had to endure an annoying driver historic wooden hotels prattling away for the (mercifully short) journey, attempting to entertain us and boost his chances of a tip. (I would have paid him to shut up.) If we ever stay in the CBD again pre cruise, we will definitely take a cab to the port. (Had a transfer to San Juan airport included at the end of the cruise, but we took a taxi instead).
Despite a group of 50 people turning up together, check in for the ship was very swift, helped historic wooden hotels slightly by our Discoverer status in Le Club Voyage (LCV), Azamara s loyalty scheme, which let us use a priority queue.
We were soon on the beautiful Azamara Quest, one of a fleet of 8 R Class ships that used to belong to the now defunct Renaissance Cruises, but which is now split between Oceania, Azamara, Princess, and P O. We had previously cruised on twin sister Ocean Princess, so we immediately felt at home on Quest, although the general quality of decoration and furnishing seemed better that we remembered on Ocean Princess.
We were on board at around 12:30, and cabins would not be ready until around 13:30, so after a welcome glass of fizz, we went up to the windows caf for lunch. Here was the first sign of the Azamara experience - waiter service for the free wine, beer, or soft drinks, and proper coffee (espresso etc).
I find that expectations affect one s enjoyment of an experience. We remembered our cabin on Ocean Princess as being quite compact with a small balcony historic wooden hotels and tiny bathroom. Our memories had not lied about the bathroom, or the body hugging shower curtain, but the cabin itself didn t feel cramped. The storage space is well organised, and although the balcony is not big enough for reclining chairs, it had a very large dining table and a couple of comfortable wicker chairs with cushions. A great place for breakfast. I also like the fact that the balconies on these ships have metal railings historic wooden hotels rather than glass panels. It feels more like a ship somehow. Inside the cabin, we had the usual fruit and flowers, and a welcome back bottle of fizz from LCV. The unusual touches included a fridge historic wooden hotels stocked with soft drinks, and bottled water, all free and replenished daily. Another nice touch was a room fragrance, very handy for the bathroom. We always take our own, but it was nice that this was provided. Other touches were what you would expect in a Concierge cabin on Celebrity; big towelling dressing gowns, slipper (nice touch!), binoculars historic wooden hotels (not very good, but ok), an umbrella, and a going ashore bag. Our cabin steward was soon along to introduce himself, and explained that the top shelf of the fridge was free, but the alcoholic drinks on the bottom shelf were chargeable.
For a small ship, Azamara offers a good range of dining options. There are two speciality restaurants, a Steak House (Prime C) and a Mediterranean style restaurant (Aqualina). There is a small cover charge of $25 (free for guests in suites).
historic wooden hotels We had breakfast on our balcony a couple of time. It was good, the menu was extensive, delivery was prompt, and it was a quick option, but apart from the steak the hot items were not particularly hot. I was curious to see what level of service we would get for a room service breakfast. A few years ago on Summit in the Med, our Room Service lady would bring the breakfast tray and lay the table on the balcony with a crisp white cloth and flowers, historic wooden hotels a level of service that sadly you no longer get on Celebrity (except in a suite I suppose). I was hoping that this might be one of those special touches historic wooden hotels that you get on Azamara, but no. The tray was just delivered and left on the table.
We also tried breakfast in the MDR a couple of times, but we found the service was slow and disorganized. The first time, breakfast took over an hour. The second historic wooden hotels time was faster, but on each occasion the waiters didn t seem to know who should be looking historic wooden hotels after us. We would get three different waiters historic wooden hotels asking us if we had ordered coffee within a few minutes of each other. historic wooden hotels Also, the choice in the dining room was not as good as room service.
Although we are not normally buffet people, we tried the buffet for breakfast and loved it. Great choice (including English bacon, English sausages, and a delicious historic wooden hotels black pudding - the only thing missing historic wooden hotels was the fried bread!) Freshly made waffles, doughnuts, French toast, eggs, pancakes etc. Really good freshly squeezed OJ (also available in the room or the MDR), and best of all, the best coffee on the ship. For some reason, not only did the coffee in the buffet taste much better that the coffee in the coffee shop or the MDR (where it had a slightly bitter taste), but you also have the option of serving yourself, so we could get just the strength we wanted.
A lasting memory of our cruise on Ocean Princess was the quality of food in the MDR, the best we have ever experienced on a cruise. These are small ships, typically catering to 650 people spread out over 4 restaurants, so the MDR food is more restaurant quality than banqueting. With this experience, we had high expectations of the MDR on Quest, but we were slightly disappointed. The quality at dinner was generally on a par with Celebrity, historic wooden hotels although one thing that was outstanding was a ribeye steak cooked to order. historic wooden hotels Apart from the first night of the cruise which had fixed sittings (you chose your sitting when boarding), Azamara offers open dining turn up at any time and sit anywhere. There are plenty of tables for two, and turning up as a couple we found we were automatically given a table for two, no pressure to try and share a table, which you sometimes find on larger ships. Some of the tables for two are very close together, not the worst we ve seen there was space to walk between the tables, but it was hard to ignore the people at the next table. Also, a lot of couple seated at tables for two seemed to want to socialise. Perhaps the greeters should be more proactive at seating historic wooden hotels these people at larger tables. On one occasion, we were seated at the middle table of three tables for two, where the people in the outside tables were having a conversation which we found ourselves historic wooden hotels in the middle of. Most awkward. After this, a request for a quiet table for two always produced one with some privacy.
We avoided the first night in the MDR and went to the Aqualina speciality restaurant, which was very good, somewhere between Tuscan Grille historic wooden hotels and Murano on the X ships, so good that we went back a second time. The bouillabaisse was particularly good.
This was only an 8 night cruise, so we didn t get around to trying the steak house Prime C until the penultimate night. I love eating beef in the States or on an American cruise ship. The quality is so much better than we get in the UK, so I was looking forward to a really good steak. We also wanted to have the bouillabaisse again, and knowing that Aqualina and Prime C share a galley, ordering this dish in Prime C was not a problem. I love food (as you can probably tell if you are still reading this!) I also eat a lot of meat (I ve been on a low carb, high protein diet for the last two years). The rib eye steak, on the bone, that I had in Prime C was one of the best steaks I ve ever eaten in my life. The whole meal was outstanding and memorable. Prime C has a nice bar at the entrance, so we arrived early and ordered historic wooden hotels a couple of complimentary cocktails at the bar. We like f