Azamara Quest - Dubai and the Arabian Gulf
Our balcony cabin on deck 6 was spacious with plenty of storage. There was a flat screen TV, safe and mini bar. The shower room was also a good size. The Azamara Quest is a small ship by today’s standards, 30000 tons with 694 passengers. The dress code is smart casual and there are no formal evenings although a number of ladies wore cocktail dresses some evenings and a number of men wore jackets on some evenings.
Breakfast, lunch and a themed buffet dinner was served in the Window Café on deck 9 which also had an outside seating area for dining. There was a grill outside on deck 9, the Patio, serving burgers, salads, chilli and paninis.
Breakfast and dinner was also served in the main restaurant, Discoveries, on deck 5. The service in all dining venues was excellent and the staff were very friendly and attentive. For a small ship the choice of food was also excellent. There was a great choice of hot dishes, pizza, cold dishes, salads, desserts and ice cream in Windows Café. In the main restaurant the choice was excellent with 5 appetizers, 6 soups and salads, 7 main course alone with 3 classic dishes that are available every night. There was also a choice of desserts, ice creams, sorbets and cheese and biscuit. Restaurants catered well for vegetarian, vegan and gluten free dishes.
Azamara is all inclusive so drinks and gratuities are included. The spirit, wine, cocktail and beer selection was limited on the included package but there was enough choice for me. You could pay to upgrade to a premium package for $16.95 per day or an ultimate package for $21.95 per day.. There was a choice of two white wines and 2 red wines each day in the restaurants and bars. They were of good quality. All the drinks were branded drinks.
The cruise only had one sea day and perhaps because of this there was a lack on on board speakers. We found the entertainment limited. A good trio played in the Living Room every evening and a pianist played in the Living Room lounge most evenings. The entertainment company consisted 3 men and three women and an excellent orchestra. The singers and dancers performed about 3 shows. One evening the cruise director did a show. He had been on Broadway and had a good voice. The assistant cruise director also did a show. They had a guest pianist on board one night, Kym Purling, who was excellent and a magician on for 2 nights. We only went to see one of his shows and were not impressed. There were three quizzes per day, which we enjoyed.
Two of the highlights were a trip to the Oman Conference Centre (Azamazing Evening free to all guests) to see Oman Brass Band and local band. There was also a White Night party on deck one evening where we were encouraged to wear white. Party night with entertainment. The selection of food at the outside buffet/barbeque was amazing.
The first day was Khor Al Fakkan. We did not book an excursion here but took the free shuttle to what we thought was the local shopping mall in Khor Al Fakkan but instead we were taken on over one hours journey to Fujairah shopping mall. Many complained about the lack of information about this and it was a wasted journey.
The next day we arrived in Oman and were there for 2 days. Having visited before so we just took a walk to the local souk. In the evening we had the Azamazing Experience event. After Muscat we had a restful day at sea. The ship had a very relaxing atmosphere. There was no difficulty in finding an empty sunbed and the queues were minimal in the buffet.
Day 6 was Al Manamah, Bahrain. We took a coach into the city and walked round the souk. This was not one of my favourite ports.
Day 7 were were in Doha, Qatar. This was one of my favourite destinations and my first visit. We took a 4 hour tour to the Souq Waqif and Msheireb Museums which was very interesting. We also has a tour of the modern part of the city to arrive there. I bought spices in the souk and we saw falcons for sale and a falcon hospital On day 8 we arrived at Sir Banyas Island close to Abu Dhabi. We booked a scenic tour of the nature reserve which lasted 90 mins. We saw wildlife including giraffes, oryx and flamingos and other birds. We accessed the island by tender. The island is quite unspoilt but the beach facilities from the tender drop off were very good with plenty of sun loungers and free food and drink were available.
Days 9 and 10 were spent in Abu Dhabi. I have visited here twice before and like the city. We visited the Grand Mosque, the second largest mosque in the world. It is an amazing building but it was much busier that it was when I visited 10 years ago. Abayas were provided for the ladies to cover up when going into the mosque and the entry was free. We took a taxi there and the driver waited for us and took us back to the hotel for a cost of about £20. We took a shuttle to the World Trade Centre shopping complex on the second day for two hours and then relaxed by the pool.
Day 11 was our final port of Dubai where we stayed overnight. We have been to Dubai before and have seen many of the sites. We took a shuttle to the Mercado shopping centre which was quite small. We then took a taxi to the Dubai Mall near the Burj al Kalifa. It was huge with many famous designer brands including the biggest shoe section I have ever seen. There was also a souk there, an ice rink and an aquarium. In the afternoon we took at taxi to Dubai Creek. I like this area which has an authentic souk selling handicrafts and spices and a gold souk. We took an abra boat (old water taxi) across to the other side of at the cost of 1 dirham per person (about 20 pence each way).
Disembarkation was smooth and we were able to stay on the ship until 9.30am when we took a taxi to Dubai airport for our afternoon flight home.
Despite having a downpour of rain one evening in Abu Dhabi, which lasted about 30 minutes and a shower in Dubai when we disembarked the ship, the weather was perfect, 25 to 28C. It was a great destination for winter sun and we really loved the small ship experience of Azamara, it was a very relaxing cruise. The age profile was mixed but the majority were 55+.
I could definitely recommend Azamara and we will certainly travel with them again.