Laid back luxury

Sailed from Moscow to St Petersburg for 12 days and was totally immersed in Russian culture and life.

We’d always done river cruises with Viking but decided to an ocean cruise with them! We weren’t disappointed as it was amazing as soon as we arrived at Barcelona airport as the Viking were there to meet us ! The ship was beautiful and they’d upgraded us as well! The staff were so friendly and helpful! Food was yummy and excursions and entertainment great! It was our anniversary whilst on the cruise so had a lovely meal at mandfridos who made it special. Certainly a wonderful cruise!

Quite a while since we sailed with Cunard but it felt immediately like going home. Cunard is our favourite cruise line and I (think) this cruise was our 14th with them. We had a very nice cabin on deck 1 which is our favourite deck. The food, service and entertainment were very good. We visited Spain and Portugal which we have done before. It was nice to be on board so near Christmas as it was very festive just like when we were on the Queen Elizabeth a few years ago. I am looking forward to joining Cunard again this year on one of their ships - maybe the Queen Anne!

First time with Azamara . The staterooms were snug and the bathroom tiny but the cruise was one of the best we have been on. The food was the best, and with only having 670 people on board there was never a queue. The itenerary suited us as you could walk to most cities and towns. Cant wait to book with this cruise line again

18 months since we have been on board Azamara and two years since we have been on board the Quest, but within minutes of embarking the Quest for an 8 night Croatia intensive cruise, we were greeted by several officers and welcomed back as family. You cant put a price on that. One of the major benefits of small ship cruising. It was a smooth and speedy embarkation - we were on the ship within minutes of arriving at the terminal in Chioggia. It really felt like coming home. We had a veranda cabin on deck 6 which was perfectly fine with plenty of storage space, a decent sized balcony and an adequate bathroom. We were also blessed with one of the best stateroom attendants we have ever had in the lovely Edgar. All four Azamara ships are pretty much the same with guest services, and concierge on deck 4. The main discoveries restaurant is on deck 5, together with Atlas Bar, future cruise sales, shore excursions, the shops, Mosaic Cafe and the Cabaret Lounge. Deck 6, 7 and 8 are all staterooms. Deck 9 is where you will find Windows Cafe (buffet), The Sunset Bar, The Patio, the pool and hot tubs, the Pool Bar, Gym and spa. Deck 10 is the walking/jogging track, the Drawing Room, The Living Room and the two speciality restaurants - Aqualina and Prime C. There is also a table tennis table and dart board on this deck. Finally on deck 11 is a sun deck. Despite this ship being at full capacity it never felt crowded and it was never a problem getting a seat wherever we wanted one. We shared our dining options between Discoveries Restaurant and Windows Cafe Buffet. We never had a problem getting a seat in either venue, but we do like to dine early. We had a brilliant waiter in Discoveries Jhun - food was always hot, service was great and they were flexible with regard to our dietary requirements. Another option for lunch is The Patio where we ate on a couple of days. They serve a selection of burgers, salads, onion rings, nachos etc. food was lovely but service was always slow. The two speciality restaurants - Prime C and Aqualina were available at $35 dollars per head and proved popular with many of our fellow guests. One of the things we loved about this trip was the free room service breakfast - there was a big variety of cooked and cold items to choose from and service was always cheerful and prompt. With regard to the Spa, as regular readers of our reviews will know we feel the spas on American ships are horrendously overpriced so we dont use them. We didnt book any shore excursions for the same reason. As for the entertainment, the ship has a band, a piano player, a disco, the usual shows, guest speakers and quizzes. We particularly loved the crew karaoke. The things that Azamara are outstanding at are their Azamazing events - on this cruise they arranged a fabulous choir to perform in the local town square in Koper, Slovenia, and they also have their white night (we dress in black as we are rebels 😉😉) with entertainment, the officers cooking and a parade of all the crew. If you are lucky enough to be on a cruise with Ryszard Gusmann as Hotel Director, dont miss his crepes Suzette - they are legendary!! Two other special things happened on this cruise one was the meeting of the four Azamara sisters who came together in Koper, this has only ever happened once before. Also on the cruise into Kotor, Montenegro there was an informative commentary and local food served, as well as coffee with rum liquer. If we were going to be critical of Azamara at all it would be with regard to their internet, which is better than some but not as good as others. However if you are coming on holiday to switch off that would not be an issue for you. In summary, we enjoyed our Azamara Quest cruise so much we decided to stay on. The reason for this is that all the staff on board have been welcoming, friendly and efficient. The officers are highly visible including the Captain and are always up for a chat. We think that Ryszard the Hotel Director is the best on the seven seas, we have never seen a HD who is so hands on and engaged with his passengers. The same can also be said for David his Guest Relations Manager, and Tulita and Romz their team. Regular readers will know we often criticise guest relations but this cruise has proved that Azamara still have the best ! We have cruised many times over the last year but this cruise on the Azamara Quest has definitely been the best. It certainly will not be 18 months before we sail with Azamara again !! Azamara make you feel valued and part of the family - something we really appreciate.

Its been a year since we cruised with Celebrity, and two years since we sailed on the Silhouette. So we were looking forward to this 8-night northern Spain and France cruise. The embarkation process was smooth, speedy and hassle-free - we were on board within minutes of arriving at the terminal. However, being reunited with our luggage wasn't without problems. Having waited several hours for our bags they then arrived two hours apart from each other. For this cruise, we had a sunset veranda cabin as we really liked the views from the back. It seemed smaller than we had remembered but it was perfectly serviceable- with a comfortable bed. There was just about enough storage space and a small bathroom with a shower. There was a large TV with limited channels but it did have Sky sports news and Sport 24 for the football so all was good. There were many bars and lounges. We found the Ensemble Lounge to be very dark, the Martini Bar to be always crowded, so we spent a lot of time in the Sky Lounge which was bright and spacious - located on deck 14 forward. There is also the Passport Bar on Deck 3, the World Class Bar (which often appeared to be empty) on Deck 5, the Pool Bar on Deck 12, the Mast Bar on Deck 14 and the Sunset Bar on Deck 15. We only spent a little time in Café Al Bacio on deck 5 due to its close proximity to the atrium both the noise levels from the entertainment in the foyer on deck 3 and the low lighting were off-putting. There is the usual expensive Spa, a well-equipped and modern gym, and a solarium with an indoor pool and hot tubs. On Deck 15/16forward is The Retreat an outdoor area for suite guests. There is also a private Lounge for suite guests on deck 5. We are Elite Plus on the Celebrity Loyalty programme and attended the majority of the events which were laid on. Our favourite which was new to us was a Music and Mixology event which was great fun. There was also a Senior Officers Cocktail Party, a welcome event, wine tasting and a Backstage Tour. Other benefits of being Elite Plus include some free laundry, discounts on the Internet, drinks packages and speciality dining. With regard to food, there is a main dining room the Grand Cuvee on two levels and you can either opt for anytime dining or early or late sitting. There is also the Oceanview Café the buffet on Deck 14 where some choice of food is available from 6 am till 1 am. There are numerous speciality restaurants available for an extra charge - Tuscan Grille, Murano, Le Petit Chef, Sushi on Five, The Porch and The Lawn Club and for what it's worth we find them expensive compared to other cruise lines. We didn't eat in the main restaurant very often as although it was easy to get a table, service was slow between courses, and the food wasn't always hot by the time it reached you. Quality was fine there just wasn't enough variety generally in the MDR or the buffet. There was a varied choice of lounge entertainment - acoustic, jazz, party, classical. Celebrity seems to have moved away from entertainment in the Sky Lounge with the exception of quizzes - great to be entertained at a number of these by the charismatic former Captains Club Host David Perrien. There were a number of guest entertainers during the week including the talented Jo Little, and The Barricade Boys as well as the usual production shows. We didn't book any shore excursions as we found them to be very expensive compared to other lines we cruise with. In summary, it's fair to say we fell a little bit back in love with Celebrity. We had an enjoyable cruise and actually booked two more cruises while on board. This was partly due to being made to feel more valued, something we hadn't felt in recent times with Celebrity. Max - the Guest Relations Manager and Tania - the Captain's Club Host were absolutely brilliant. We are very well aware that Silhouette in the scheme of things isn't a large ship these days, but it is to us, and its certainly the largest ship we would be happy to travel on moving forward - we are definitely small ship cruisers at heart. If you are new to Celebrity we believe you will absolutely love them, but if you have travelled with them more frequently you will certainly notice a decline in standards and a rise in prices. That said we will continue to travel with them just not exclusively as in the past.