We chose this cruise because of itinerary. Unfortunately due to hurricanes in the Caribbean 2 scheduled stops were changed but can't blame Azamara for the weather. We sailed from Barcelona having had 5 days in Barcelona prior to cruise. We stayed at Avenida Palace hotel which was very good and a short walk to all the sites. Embarkation was not as smooth as previous boardings with Azamara. Took a while to line up through customs ( not Azamara fault), but then a lengthy walk to ship and another line up in the Caberet lounge to be issued ship passes etc. this was our first trip on The Quest our other 3 cruises have been on The Journey. We noticed pretty well immediately, as did a lot of other passengers, that the crew did not seem as happy as they should be. For the first 5 or 6 days service from bar areas was slow, tables on the 9 deck area were not cleaned very often. Service in the windows cafe was very slow or non-existant - there was 2 mornings where we were not offered water,tea or coffee! After the first 5 or 6 days though things improved in these areas and staff were very attentive and "on the ball" for the rest of the trip. The food, staff and service in the Main Discoveries dining room and the 2 specialty restaurants were outstanding. Special mention of Afley in Discoveries- he was excellent.

Our cabin attendants were wonderful, very friendly and helpful without being intrusive.

The trivia games and other activities were fun and well run but sometimes overlapped so you had to miss something. Especially on sea days perhaps more thought could be given to scheduling. We did not do any of the offered shore excursions preferring to go out and about at our own pace. I have given an average score for entertainment- this is only because we have seen all but 1 of the guest acts and crew performances before - that said we did see most of the shows and even though it was 2nd or 3rd time around, we enjoyed the shows and they are certainly professional. Read more