Day 4 — Tuesday, 5th August
All Aboard the Azamara Quest!
Missed a Post?
It’s all change today as we say au revoir to Montréal and begin the next chapter of our holiday. We’re with great mates, Ralph and Karen, attaching our sea legs and heading for the water! Over the next 15 days, our Cruise will sail along the St Lawrence River heading for Quebec and then onwards to Greenland and Iceland. It’s an unusual itinerary and one that we’re unlikely to repeat. Especially Greenland which is considered by some as being a mostly unknown and unspoiled habitat (even though Mr Trump wants it, no doubt for its military advantages because of its geopolitical position).
Our Uber arrived on time, and we covered the short distance (just over a mile) to the Cruise Port in about 10 minutes.
Checking in
We were soon joining the queue to officially ‘check in’ – and that was a pain-free experience! Looking around at our fellow travellers, it looks like we might be the youngest by a good 20 years.
It only took about 25 minutes to queue, answer the medical questionnaire, confirm our names and have our photographs taken – so we were soon heading for the Quest
All Aboard the ‘Amazara Quest’
The Ship, design-wise, is a bit ‘old-school’ and very similar in look to the Oceania Regatta that we sailed on, three years ago to French Polynesia.
Registered in Malta and built in 2000 by Chantiers de l’Atlantique, Saint-Nazaire, France, the vessel entered service with Azamara Cruises in 2007 – so it’s old enough NOT to be one of these new MONSTER vessels. It carries up to 694 passengers (double occupancy) plus 400 crew members (1:2 staff to guest ratio). At a length of 181m, it sports 11 decks (9 passenger decks) and pulls a draft of 5.95 metres. For petrol diesel-electric heads, it’s powered by 4 × 4,650 kW (6,240 hp) Wärtsilä Vasa 12V32 engines. Top speed? Around 17 knots! The bad news is that it’s 11 laps around the deck to cover just ONE mile of walking 😯
Having spent most of my adult life failing spectacularly to see any whales on any of my sea trips, anywhere!(even on so-called ‘whale-watching trips), there’s a really good chance that on this one, I will! Here’s hoping!👍
Home!
Our home for the next few weeks is Deck 6 with Ralph & Karen as neighbours – we’re tucked in the corner towards the ‘pointy bit’ so we’ll be first to see any icebergs 🫨, err whales!
Time to explore…
As it was our first time on the ‘Azamar Quest’, part of the fun when on an unfamiliar vessel is finding your way about. Luckily, Ralph & Karen knew this one well, so we were saved the embarrassment (actually, just mine!) of ending up at the bow when heading for the stern – or is that just ME?
OK, it’s just me! 😉
Our Cabin Stateroom was spacious – much larger than we imagined it would be. There’s plenty of room for all our tat, and although we don’t have a balcony, there’s an extended area with a settee. Perfect! 👍👏
We liked it! We were introduced to our Cabin Stateroom Attendant, Trifon’ who immediately earned his first gold star – locating our second suitcase! 👍. Three seconds later, we were sorted. Then, after a quick toast with our ‘neighbours’, we unpacked before one of our first events of the day – a meeting of ‘Azamara Virgin Travellers’. Luckily, the emphasis was on the first and last words! 😉
But before that, we had to muster (of course!) 😊
Muster!
It was the first mandatory event of the Cruise, and it was clearly a well-oiled machine. All it needed was us, the passengers, to do our part – which we duly did!
Virgins!
This was something that we’ve not experienced on other Cruises we’ve been on (and those that know us, know that we’ve been on quite a few!). It was a thirty-minute ‘induction’ for those travelling with Azamara for the first time – ‘Azamara Virgins’ if you like. Hosted by the Cruise Director, Martin Lawson and Hotel Director, Louis Alberts, it gave a thorough explanation of what to expect on this Cruise plus an understanding of the broader Azamara ethos regarding cruising. Having been on BOTH sides of inductions, this turned out to be an excellent ‘first impression’ for those like us.
Food!
One of the constant challenges of cruising is how anyone can make it to the end without exploding through overeating! Azamara is no different, and they helpfully (ahem!) they roll in free drinks too (within reason) to make the process even easier! Tonight, we actually ducked out of the main Café and Restaurant and headed for one of the two speciality restaurants on board – Aqualina, their Italian eatery.
It didn’t disappoint and we were about to experience a first class meal!
Served with a smile, the meal was fantastic – one of the best we’ve had in a long, long time. Top marks for the Chef and our Waiter. Another GREAT first impression from Azamara Quest.
After a quick check of the FREE ‘Mr Whippy’ ice-cream machine (for quality control purposes, of course) out on deck, we called it a night as the Quest sailed down the St Lawrence River and into the night.
Tomorrow…
Our sightseeing begins, and we’re off to Quebec City. We’re probably going to arrange the usual ‘Big Red Bus’ tour to get our bearings.
The highlight though will be one of Azamara’s famous ‘Azamazing’ event. On this occasion, they’re going to bus us into the town to see Steve Barakatt the Canadian pianist (nope, me neither!) 🤔 and his immersive concert. It’s all part of the package, so it won’t cost us a bean. In spite of us not knowing the guy, we’re looking forward to it!
9.00pm: Nighty night! 💤😴💤😴
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