Azamara Quest
After our long day yesterday we slept in. Checkout was late morning so we headed to the rooftop restaurant for breakfast allowing just enough time to get back to the room and pack for checkout. Our ship check in time wasn’t till 2PM so we had a little time to just relax in the hotel lobby which has really comfortable chairs. It felt great to just relax after the long day yesterday.
Our ride picked us up around 1PM and we were at the post by about 1:25. Boarding started early at 1:30 so there was no wait . We were one of the first 10 or so groups to check in so the entire process was painless and we were onboard in just a few minutes. After attending the mandatory safety drill we were free to explore the ship. Since our cabin was ready we went directly there to drop off our luggage.
The Azamara Quest is a.lovely ship, although much smaller than many ships we’ve sailed on. Our cabin is fantastic and much larger than just about any cabin we’ve ever had on a cruise ship. The bathroom is large and there is plenty of storage in the main room and the bathroom. We had upgraded from a regular cabin to the smallest suite class on the ship which in addition to the larger room gave us unlimited complimentary access to the specialty restaurants, breakfast in one of the specialty restaurants, 1 bag of laundry and 4 hours of internet access.
Four hours of internet access seemed like a lot, but we soon learned that the ship internet speed is unbearably slow. Since access is measured in time and it takes about 5-10 times longer to do anything, the minutes will be gone in no time so I will be converting to unlimited internet but that only partially addresses the problem. I don’t want to spend all of my time on my computer.. Not sure how updating this site is going to work, but I’ll try. I will definitely be changing my process to get as much done off-line and minimize anything done while connected.
Since we have unlimited access to the specialty restaurants we booked each one twice. The first one is tonight. We also booked the Captain’s Table French Dinner which is not complimentary but I really wanted to do it. One night has a special party and we want to try the main dining room at least once. A few nights we might eat at our port stop because our port departures are often 8 or 9PM.
We headed to the buffet restaurant for lunch and sat outdoors. There was a good variety and we especially liked the variety of oils and vinegars for salad. Today is pretty overcast but warm so it was nice to sit outside and enjoy lunch. Gelato is also available at no charge. I wish I had not noticed that. I will restrain myself. The raspberry gelato was delish.
For the rest of the afternoon we went back to our cabin and unpacked. We also met our room attendant Robert and his assistant. Both are very nice. In the suites the main attendant is called an English Butler. The butler can do some added things for you like unpack your suitcase and make reservations for you, neither of which we awere interested in, so other than wearing a butler’s suit with tails, I am not sure what the difference is from a room attendant. Robert is a super nice guy and I am sure he is going to be a great butler.
For dinner we had a reservation at Aquailina, the Italian restaurant. We stopped at the bar for a cocktail before dinner and were seated at a nice table by the window. The food was very good, not what I’d call outstanding, but quite good. I got a beautiful salad of shaved vegetables, David had ahi tuna salad and a cream soup. We both had the lobster, shrimp dish with squid ink pasta for the main course. It was cooked perfectly and tasted great, I had a lemon ice gelato for dessert and David had a very pretty and tasty custard with fruit. We thought we might go listen to some music after dinner but by the end of dinner we were both tired. Yesterday definitely wore us out.
Tomorrow was supposed to be a day to snorkel on the Island of Milos. We had been contacted by the snorkeling company 2 days ago that the water was going to be a bit rough and the needed to eliminate one of the snorkel stops, then this evening we were told the entire port stop at Milos has been cancelled because the tenders will not be able to dock. As an alternative we are going to the Island of Syros where we will be doing a tour of the island. While we are disappointed we won’t get to snorkel in the Mediterranean Sea, port changes can and do happen when you cruise.
Looking forward to whatever we do tomorrow, how can I complain we are on vacation.