9 Nights France Intensive Voyage Cruise

Cruising Scotland Aboard the Azamara Quest

We’ve just returned from an unforgettable Scotland Intensive sailing on the Azamara Quest and after 25+ cruises on Princess, NCL, Royal, Celebrity, Windstar, Oceania, Silver Sea, Seabourn, and more, I can say this voyage still managed to surprise and delight. Embarkation & Accommodations Southampton remains one of the most efficient and welcoming ports we've departed from, swift, streamlined, and stress-free. Our Continental Suite was the perfect fit: cozy, comfortable, and cared for by two of Azamara’s great employees, Alfie, our gracious butler, and Putu, our meticulous room steward. From chilled bubbly on arrival to daily afternoon tea (don’t miss the best scones), their attention elevated our stay. Though the room itself felt a tad dated and could use a drawer in the bathroom, the spacious balcony with three chairs and a table made up for it. One hiccup? The initial toiletries' scent left much to be desired. It looked like they switched brands for the next leg. Cuisine That Captures the Region The dining onboard was consistently very good with creative, diverse dishes that were refreshingly non-repetitive. Dinners highlighted Indian entrees, Scottish specialties, and familiar fish, chicken, beef, and vegetarian preparations. If you’re a steak lover, do yourself a favor and book Prime C and don't count on the main dining room. Breakfast deserves special mention: it may just be the best buffet at sea. The fresh berries alone were a daily highlight. That said, the bacon could use some love due to a taste of cooking oil. Onboard theme nights truly shined. White Night featured grilled lobster tails and the Scotland Immersion Night was an unexpected culinary journey from the haggis ceremony to sticky toffee pudding. Just skip the faux whipped cream on cakes as real frosting or whipped cream would do those beautiful desserts justice. One tiny plea: can we get unsweetened iced tea consistently available? It felt awkward flagging down busy staff for a basic beverage which they had to prepare from scratch, and not everyone wants soda or cocktails around the clock. Also, a DIY drink station would help during peak buffet hours when beverages sometimes arrived post-meal. Show-Stopping Entertainment Azamara absolutely outdid themselves on entertainment. From trivia, game shows, lectures, dance lessons, lounge music, and performances to Scottish immersion, the offerings were top-notch and varied. Vybes, the Living Room dance band, deserves a mention for their versatile repertoire. Pre-dinner dancing in the Living Room was such great fun and we would love to see more of that. A slightly earlier start for those of us with morning excursions is better. Entertainment was the heart of this cruise and I hope Azamara continues to invest in it. It brought energy and a very special vibe to the cruise. The entertainment staff worked very hard and made this cruise exceptional. Excursions & Onshore Adventures Like many cruise lines post-COVID, prices for shore excursions have surged. We made the most of our onboard credit, but opted for more DIY exploration this time. In Invergordon, we hired a local taxi for the day which was a great value and a wonderful way to connect with the locals. However, a note of concern: the two staff members handling excursions were consistently unhelpful and, frankly, unfriendly. A scowl when asking a simple port question is not what we've come to expect from Azamara’s otherwise stellar service. Everyone else on the ship, from servers to entertainers of course provided exceptional service. Final Notes Debarkation in Dublin was a bit soggy (no shelter for the taxi line), but we secured a ride within 20 minutes. Our hotel, The Grafton, kindly let us check in right away. Final Verdict Azamara remains our favorite cruise line for good reason. Despite a few bumps, the overall experience from Scottish immersion to the stellar entertainment were magnificent. I didn’t want to leave, and we’ll be back soon.

Perfect Scotland intensive Cruise.

The cruise was the Scotland intensive cruise. This is our 10th cruise on Azamara. We go for the unique itineraries that are, for the most part unmatched in the cruise industry. We brought another couple with us that had been on most of the other 5 and 6 star cruise lines, but not Azamara. so, for the Highlights 1. The ship was immaculately clean! forget that it is 26 years old. 2. White night was sensational. every aspect from the band and singers to the food and to the participation from the ship's officers was well planned and executed. 3. The Azamazing evening was one of the best! The Red Hot Chili Pipers performed for a solid hour without break and put on a performance that had everyone on their feet. 4. The food on the ship at all times was terrific. The highlight were the specialty meals at both prime C and Aqualina. A shout out to April, Irena And Katarina at prime c and Aqualina. They were out servers and performed Beautifully. We made sure we asked for their areas at lunch also.. Milan was also always around making sure things went smoothly. 5. Shore excursions were A+. Highlights were Edenborough Castle, Lerwick, ecpecially Hell e Ya, and Orkney. 6. Our Butler, Virgi and attendent, Paulo were as great as any we have ever had on any cruise. Virgi was always on time, cheerful despite being slightly under the weather, and attentive. Paulo kept our suite immaculate and always seemd to appear out of nowhere when needed. 7 Finally, Captain Dario and his crew were always visible and engaging. There is a certain vibe on this ship that is welcoming and congenial. That starts with Dario. He also makes the hard decisions to keep us safe as we missed 2 ports due to weather. Instead of putting that off on the subordinates, he was upfront and detailed with his reasons. OK that's it. I understand the naysayers. The itineraries are not for everyone. The ship is old. More room for us!

Great First Time on Azamara

Am a first time Azamara cruiser and we chose this particular cruise for both the Scotland Intensive itinerary and to try Azamara based on a friend's rave reviews. This is about our 20th cruise, having sailed mostly Celebrity. What we loved: - Cabin - We had a continental suite so loved the size of the cabin and bathroom. While the balcony was a nice size, the scale of the table and chairs made it a bit squishy as the table took up most of the depth of the balcony making it hard to walk around it. But my goodness those two odd chairs rather than a small couch need to be replaced. - The itinerary - Having never been on any intensive cruises, it was great to see so much of Scotland which was amazing. - The special events - The Red Hot Chili Pipers for the Azamazing night were fantastic. White Night would have been fantastic if it was not so cold and windy (not their fault). While it was a nice touch to have blankets available, we ate and left before the entertainment started as it was just too cold (for us). The Scottish show the night before the trip ended was outstanding. - The brunch - What a buffet!! - Size of ship - I personally loved the size of the ship. (700 passengers) and layout. Our go to hang out was the Living Room. - The Captain was outstanding, friendly, informative and funny Some minor disappointments: - Day to day entertainment. Having sailed on primarily large ships like Celebrity and RC, and while Azamara tried hard, the quality of shows could not compare to large ship offerings. The special events did make up for that IMHO. On board entertainers worked hard and were talented but shows, not so much. One highlight was the classical guitarist. - Food Yes an ongoing subjective topic. We only ate dinner in the dining room once, service slow and food just ok. We tended to eat in the buffet as it was easier after long days of touring. The buffet has a daily theme and while the food was plentiful, they seem light on seasoning and temperature. And where were the ribs on American BBQ night? We loved The Patio and often had lunch and a couple of dinner there. Our specialty dining experiences were excellent and appreciated the nice touches of snacks available in the Living Room and Mosaic Cafe. Would love to see some options like veggies and dip too for those of us who love the desserts but need healthier choices too if you want a little something something. - Service Levels - Having read so many reviews and comments from the day we booked, which suggested the service was outstanding and all staff were friendly etc. Well, yes but not all. Kuddos to our butler and cabin attendant, specialty dining staff, Mosaic staff, sorry I forgot her name but the woman making toast in the Buffet, Living Room staff and many people we saw work so hard all over the place. A few hiccups but nothing of consequence. Disappointments: - By the time we got on the ship (2pm), our free specialty dining options were limited. The butler could do no better for us. Plus not having the advantage of knowing which nights were themed nights, we missed a couple of things. Our fault perhaps but in a 13 night cruise, we only were able to book 2 nights for each specialty restaurants. - Missing two ports - I appreciate they want us to be safe but missing two ports was disappointing. One, in particular our timing was off. I would have loved to see Oban but with tenders being stopped into town by 10, you snooze you lose. - Running out of food items midway through the cruise - while I appreciate that products are brought on throughout the cruise, bananas were brown by day 3, berries went from full cups to pieces mixed with fruit, no bagels left by midway through. And please bring on better sliced breads that do not dry out completely when toasted. - Beverage Packages - come on! We got a Premium beverage package for booking so early. No better than the package everyone gets. My husband upgraded to the ultimate package just to get his single malt whiskeys. - Internet - another come on! The early booking included unlimited internet for 1!! Any cruise we have taken included one device per person not one device! Plus Azamara has a long way to go with IT in general. For a cruise line of this cost, it should have developed an app years ago like the other lines. - Daily paper - We were inundated with paper each and every day - the daily, news from our respective countries, promotional materials. Plus the dailies were clearly not proofread as each day there were typos or just errors. I hope Azamara has a paper recycling program as we tossed many pieces of paper each day. - Cost of excursions - the most expensive excursions of any lines we have taken. Only took one from the ship as even with our excursion OBC we had to pay a lot to use it. Thank goodness we booked private in most places. Overall impression Yes Quest is an older ship showing its age in some areas and yes some hiccups. Having said that, I most certainly would cruise with Azamara again.