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Istanbul and Egypt on a small ship
Reviewed By: Lewis, Canterbury on 26th Nov 2008
Cruise Line: Azamara Cruises	Times cruised before: 10+
Cruise Ship: Azamara Quest	Sailed: November, 2008
Destination: Mediterranean	Age: 56-65

Our previous cruises have been on P&O's Oriana (1) and Regent, formerly Radisson (9) and we have covered both European, South American, Caribbean and Asian areas. We like smaller more intimate ships which carry around 750 passengers. This cruise was booked as a last minute deal and we were keen to see how the ships compared, Regent being a 6 star fleet and Azamara a 5 star rated. Well the first big difference was the price - we paid one third of the price of a Regent cruise with a similar itinary and although we paid for the same size cabin as we usually book (a small suite) we were lucky enough to be up-gradedd to a huge cabin called a Royal Suite. The balcony alone must have been well over 20 feet long and it was pure luxury to have two bathrooms, a jacuzzi bath, a dinning table and chairs, two desks, multiple fitted wardrobes/cupboards, two plasma T.V.'s, a lovely sitting area, a superb bed and TWO butlers. The service? Well I have to say that this is one of Azamara's strengths and although there is a lower crew to passenger ratio we only experienced a lower level of service in the self service buffet where we also found the food choice somewhat limited compared to Regent. The main restaurant has dispensed with the 2 sittings/allocated seating and functioned extremely well. The menu choice was good and the food worthy of 5 stars. Service was quick and always polite. There are no 'formal' nights on board and the ship has a relaxed dress code. Gent's wear was suite or jacket or just a long or short sleeved shirt. Ladies casual or dressy, we saw both. I would advise to take perhaps a couple of evening type outfits. The ship has two speciality restaurants and according to which cabin you book you are allowed some complimentary dinning in them. You may book more providing there is space and you will be billed extra for this. The food is wonderful. All wines and drinks are chargeable and have a service charge added (we found this quite annoying as it applied to bottled water and pretty well anything else. I would prefer a higher booking price and an end to this practice. Other tips for staff are added as a matter of course to your shipboard account on a daily basis. We did give our two butlers extra as we experienced extremely good service ! Activities... well we were a bit bored on the 'at sea' days and would have liked more choice. The shows were acceptable, the musicians very good. Excursions were pretty good as the guides were well chosen for their knowledge and able to pass on the right level of information with a great deal of charm. Some of the excursions were incredible, Istanbul, the Pyramids/Nile cruise & the rock tombs of Dalin viewed from a river boat. The Spa.. well I used the Acupuncture clinic for some post op. nerve pain and was greatly helped ! My husband needed the doctor at 3.30 am for very bad toothache... no problem. The crew and officers on this ship do an excellent job, I dont think I've ever seen so many genuine smiles in one go.
Quality of Food
Acqualina Prime C Main dining room. We ate a lot of seafood,pasta, some meat.
Entertainment

Shore Excursions
Pyramids/nile cruise: Dalin Rock tombs by river boat: 2 day Istanbul: Pompei all amazing Minoan ruins - dreadful guide and site too reconstructed
Staff
Butlers/ships officers/waiters
Children's Facilities	n/a
n/a
Onboard Activities
need a little more imagination
Cabins
Royal suite - huge suite amazing comfort
Overall Rating

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Opinion: Agree Comment by Reynolds, Exeter (29 Nov 08 07:14) about this REVIEW.

We were on the same cruise .....but no upgrade! Nonetheless our cabin and butler service was excellent. A particular good point about this cruise is the port talks which acknowledge that fact that passengers may wish to do their own thing (the excursions were often very expensive) and gave the information that was needed - price of trams, how to get a ticket, avoiding the well known ripoffs etc. My only real complaint was the attitude of staff on the customer service desk - surly - a real shame as all other staff were excellent

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Comment by Lewis, Canterbury (30 Nov 08 12:34) about a COMMENT by Reynolds (29 Nov 08 07:14)

I agree the excursions WERE expensive but good value at Istanbul and Cairo. We also enjoyed the Dalin trip. We found some of the others weren't such value for money and we also were annoyed by rudeness of some of the US passengers but thought better of publishing that fact ! Was this your first cruise and if not what line are you comparing with? Richard found the same attitude with the staff at the customer services desk on two occasions which is a great shame and did let the rest of the crew down.

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