Black Sea Cruise June 2009

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Black Sea Cruise June 2009
Reviewed By: Bramwell, Gloucester on 30th Jun 2009
Cruise Line: Azamara Club Cruises	Times cruised before: 10+
Cruise Ship: Azamara Quest	Sailed: June, 2009
Destination: Mediterranean	Age: 65+

We have just returned from a Black Sea cruise aboard the Azamara Quest. Our journey began with a National Express coach journey from Cheltenham to Heathrow, which now has the advantage of dropping you off outside terminal 5 so no cross airport transfers to undertake. The flight with BA to Athens left on time at 06-15 and arrived half an hour early but the Azamara representatives were at the airport and quickly had us on the coach for our transfer to the port. The necessary formalties at book in were quickly completed and we were soon on board enjoying and welcome glass of bubbly and an excellent buffet meal in the Windows Cafe. We had previously had a Sky Suite on Azamara Journey but decided to downgrade to a Sunset Balcony cabin at a considerable cost saving and we were not disappointed with the size or facilities. For anyone considering a cruise on either of the Azamara ships I would like to point out that cabins in the area 8059 - 8069 and 8056 - 8066 and the cabins on the lower decks beneath them do tend to be noisier due to the position of the engines which are situated midships. The ship departed on time and after a day at sea we arrived at our first port of call Varna in Bulgaria, from there we continued to Odessa (Ukraine), Sevastopol (Ukraine) and then to Yalta (Ukraine) the venue for the meeting of the Big 3 (Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin) in 1945. We visited the Livadia palace which has a museum devoted to this conference. Sinop in Turkey was next port of call followed by an overnight stop in Istanbul for visits to the well known sights in the city. Then on to Sinop, Kusadassi and Santorini. The problem with this port of call is that the town is situated at the top of very steep cliffs and access is available by cable car, a donkey ride up some 600 steps or walk the same route. This was our first tender port but due to local regulations cruise ships must use local tenders not their own. Despite an early arrival and the ship being cleared the local operators would not start work until 8-00am and with 6 cruise ships in (originally 8 were expected but 2 decided not to call due to sea conditions during the night) Santorini was packed. Being on a small ship (approx 700 passengers) we had no problem getting ashore but once there encountered long lines for the cable car. We decided to walk and run the gauntlet of many hundreds of people and horses and donkeys who were not very fussy were they went. Once at the top the streets were equally crowded. We see this sort of experience as a problem which can only get worse with larger ships carrying many more passengers vying for space at a limited number of ports of call. After another day at sea we arrived at Sorrento and a day later at Rome for disembarkation. The ship was as we expected excellent and staffed by friendly ever helpful people from the Captain down and we have nothing but praise for the efforts they all made to ensure we had an enjoyable memorable cruise. We have two citicisms, firstly the cost of organised tours was extremely expensive, had we taken the most expensive tour at each port of call the total cost for 2 people amounts to £2158 and even taking the cheapest comes to £1052. Secondly our flight from Rome to Heathrow (which we had booked with Azamara) was scheduled to take off at 17-15 but the pre- booked transfer from the ship to the airport was to leave at 8-30. The journey time is approximately 1 hour so this would have meant hanging around at the airport for over 7 hours. One alternative was to take the organised tour to Rome which would have dropped you at the airport much later but as we had previously visited the city and the cost of the tour was £223 with no rebate for the transfer for which we had already paid. After some 'discussion' they agreed to refund the prepaid transfer fee ($182) and arrange a private transfer at an equivalent cost in Euros. From our point of view the matter was resolved satisfactorily, we obviously had to vacate our cabin at 8-00 but then had the run of the rest of the ship until transfer at a much more acceptable time of 13-00. Taking account of the cost of airfares and transfers booked through the cruise operator (approx£700) it is probably worthwhile considering booking these separately at some considerable cost savings and control over timings. In doing this of course the responsibilty for arriving on time at the start of the cruise is ours. We met a number of people on board who had taken this approach and overcome the delayed flight problem by going one or two days earlier and booking into a hotel but still at a cost saving. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and despite the above quibbles would have no hesitation in cruising with Azamara again or recommending them to anyone else. The entertainment is limited when compared with the larger ships but then as our Brummie Cruise Director Sue said ' You can't please all of the people all of the time' but they did try very hard. I hope our comments may prove useful to anyone else considering a cruise with Azamara.
Quality of Food
Breakfast and lunch in Windows Cafe Dinner in Discoveries Restaurant
Entertainment
Most enjoyable was Cruise directors solo performance Least was comedian who was not funny!
Shore Excursions
Only went on 2 excursions to use up on board credit at Yalta and Istanbul
Staff
Sue Cruise Director
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities	n/a

Cabins
Balcony Cabin 8001 quiet and very satisfactory
Overall Rating

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Comment by Dansey, Rochford (01 Jul 09 17:14) about this REVIEW

If yo're worried about ports like Santorini, you can always do some research and uncover the cruise schedules to see how many ships are in with you when you call... The particular one for Thira (Santorini) is http://www.santorini.info/cruiseboats/ - I always just type the name of the port into Google and see what I can find. Hope that helps.

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Comment by Donnelly, Ludlow (01 Jul 09 11:23) about this REVIEW

Glad you enjoyed your cruise. We have enjoyed 2 with a 3rd in October and looking at another 2010. Your info on the noisy cabins was useful and I agree. Azamara have now put these cabins into another grade at reduced cost. We also take SS grade. Can you confirm that SV is smaller and with a shower only? I am also looking at the air/transfer package (which we normally take) and may opt to go a day earlier. Of course the Americans and Canadians do cruise only and they have further to travel. As to disembarking, we had the same problem and were offered the same solution on our first cruise but on the last one in May we opted to go to the airport, drop our cases off (8 euros each item) and took the fast train into Rome (approx 22 euros) and enjoyed walking the sites at our own pace until our return flight at 18.40. We agree also with the cost of the excursions and only took the important ones. Like the expensive wine perhaps they will look at these costs! All in all there are some things that could be improved but the cabins/staff and the food are all great.

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Comment by Bramwell, Gloucester (03 Jul 09 09:39) about a COMMENT by Donnelly (01 Jul 09 11:23)

When both ships were taken over by Azamara the SS grade suites were created by converting 3 cabins into 2 suites so they are 50% larger. The SV grade only have a shower. Unless you intend to spend a lot of time in the cabin we found the one we had more than adequate. On our first cruise we had 8061 which we found quite noisey, this last cruise we opted for 8001 and were very satisfied. The only time you might get noise as you move towards the front is when thrustors are used during docking. Hope you find info useful.

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Comment by Donnelly, Ludlow (03 Jul 09 17:53) about a COMMENT by Bramwell (03 Jul 09 09:39)

Thanks. We had these cabins on Swan Minerva and were quite happy with them. The SS on Azamara are that much nicer with a bathroom and we enjoy our time in the cabin.

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Question by thompson, keighley (03 Sep 09 13:12) about a COMMENT by Donnelly (03 Jul 09 17:53)

We are considering a cruise with Azamara - can you please give an indication of the general age of passengers? Much appreciated from Mark & Rosemary ages 47yrs

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Answer by Donnelly, Ludlow (04 Sep 09 07:19) to a QUESTION by thompson (03 Sep 09 13:12)

Hi Which cruise?The age range is probably 40-60 plus so you will fit in very well. I have tried to post on the the forum as I would like to start one on Azamara but I have not had any luck getting 'past security'. Enjoy

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