On a cloudy September day of 2018 I was invited by Azamara to check out one of their ships, Azamara Quest in Rijeka, Croatia. This is the smallest ships I’ve been on but by far the most luxurious one!
A little bit about the ship:
As a ship geek you know I have to tell you something technical about this ship and it’s history! Azamara Quest is an R-class cruise ship that entered service for Azamara Cruises on 24 October 2007. She was built in 2000 for Renaissance Cruises as R Seven. Following the collapse of Renaissance Cruises in 2001 she was laid up for two years, until chartered to the Germany-based Delphin Seereisen as Delphin Renaissance. In 2006 she was sold to the Spain-based Pullmantur Cruises and renamed Blue Moon. She sailed for Pullmantur until 2007 when she was transferred to Azamara Cruises. I love that this ship has such a rich history, it makes the ship so much more interesting!
Quick facts:
| Class and type: | R-class cruise ship |
| Tonnage: | 30,277 GT |
| Length: | 181.00 m (593 ft 10 in) |
| Decks: | 11 (9 passenger decks) |
| Capacity: | 686 passengers |
| Crew: | 408 |
It was a rainy day but nothing could stop this ship visit from happening! We arrived at the pier and were immediately greeted by Azamara’ crew, of course we had to show our identification and ¨Voila”! We’re onboard! As soon as you board the ship you feel glamorous and rich because Azamara Quest is a really luxurious ship… I could get used to that feeling!
Public spaces – tour
Azamara Quest is classified as a luxury butique ship do don’t expect it to be big, but it still has much to offer. We started our tour in the main atrium which is small but still spans two decks and features a gorgeous central staircase, which reminds me slightly of the Titanic’s staircase I might add! This is where you’ll find Guest Services and the Shore Excursions desk. After a couple of mandatory pictures we continued our tour towards this ships version of the main theatre. It’s called the Cabaret Lounge and it seats around 200 people. All sorts of shows, lectures and other types entertaiment happen here. I’ve heard they do four different main shows! I did not have a chance to witness entertaiment onboard since it was just a day visit but I’ve heard that it’s really good! You can also participate in educational lectures which cover various subjects. What I really like is that they do lectures about the the ports/countries you’re visiting, since Azamara is a cruise line that offers you more culturally immersive and destination oriented cruises.
Let’s continue our tour! Towards the back of the ship you will find The Den. It’s a lounge that was recently added in a big refurbishment and it inspires you with tools to travel to all corners of the world, those “tools” are travel books, guides, and destination – focused activities. Again, this just shows you how culturally immersive and destination oriented Azamara can be.
At the very back of the ship you will find the Discoveries Bar and the Discoveries restaurant. The Bar is located just outside Azamara’s main restaurant, it is a favorite gathering place for pre- and post-dinner conversation and drinks. On this deck you will also find The Quest shop, photo gallery and the atrium cafe.
If you love beautiful sea views you will love The Living Room! It’s a lounge on the top deck that overlooks the bow of the ship and it really looks like a living room, it has cozy, comfortable furniture and a bar where they also serve snacks during the day. You can also enjoy some quiet time and read a book at The Drawing Room, a quiet library onboard with a wide variety of books to choose from! This is one of the best libraries at sea, it’s not the biggest but it has so much charm and they have so many books in there, everything from teen novels to city guides (believe me I checked!)
Cabaret Lounge 
Shops 
Strange heads sculpture! 
Staterooms
Decks 6,7 and 8 are all cabin decks. Sadly for us, the whole ship was sold out so we couldn’t see any cabins, but that just shows you how much people love Azamara! You can rarely find a sold out ship in late September in the Adriatic. Since Quest is a luxury cruise ship, most of her staterooms are balcony cabins or suites, and don’t expect outdated cabins… all of them were recently refurbished so nothing in your cabin should be older than a year or two!
Top deck activities
No, on this ship you won’t find rock climbing walls and rollercoasters but there is a decently sized pool and two hot tubs with plenty of sun loungers, and each one is covered with a plush towel… you can truly see how luxurious the ship is just by looking at the towels! There is also a pool bar and a small stage. A pretty basic top deck but in a best way possible, I can only imagine how relaxing this deck is on a sea day!
Fitness & Spa
What would a cruise ship even be without the spa and fitness center. The Sanctum spa onboard offers all sorts of treatments and massages, it even has a terrace overlooking the bow of the ship with a hot tub that offers amazing forward facing views! The gym onboard is pretty large too for such a small ship. They also offer a variety of group classes, like yoga, pilates and even cycling classes! But you know that I don’t really like to venture into gyms other than to take photos on the first day of the cruise!
Dining
Now we can talk about food! Like on every ship, there is a main dining room (Discoveries restaurant) and the buffet! I saw the MDR lunch menu and everything on it looked interesting and it’s all probably delicious.. The buffet onboard is not big but a large variety of food is offered, there is even an ethnic corner with local dishes, so for example that day they had local croatian dishes like Strukli and Cevapi!
This ship offers two specialty restaurants too. Aqualina and Prime C. Aqualina is where we had lunch and I must admitt, it was one of the best lunches I had! The food and the service on this ship is excellent!
In conclusion, I have to say that as a person who loves big, newer ships I would not think twice about cruising on this smaller ship or with Azamara in general. You would NOT think that this an older ship since everything looks and smells brand new. I also really love the decor on this ship, it has that old cruising charm with contemporary elements. I love it! This ship is great for what it serves, amazing destination oriented itineraries, it is small enough to visit ports that cannot accomodate large ships but the ship is still big enough to offer you all you might need on a cruise. In the end I would have to say that this ship is one of the best ones I’ve been on!
Have you sailed with Azamara? What are your thoughts about this cruise line?
Thanks for reading, Dominik!
Cruise Ship Paradise 