Slept OK thanks to the earplugs – traffic on Gaffey Street is non-stop.
The Breakfast Buffet is “La Quinta Like” – waffles, scrambled eggs, cereals, fruit, etc. Pretty nice. Full of cruise people when it opened at 7:00 AM – thought we would have a quiet breakfast but wound up having a pleasant chat with other cruisers. The food was good.
Set up a taxi pickup at 11:15 AM.
You can see the Azamara Quest (along with the Star Princess) from our hotel window.
Azamara Quest from Hotel Window
A little after 11 AM, we went down to the desk to check out and inquire about the cab. The clerk said she would call the cab company and get an ETA. We took our bags and went down to the front of the hotel to wait for the cab.
Waiting for the Taxi
A few minutes later, the clerk came down to tell us our ride was on the next floor up. She then said her boss would take us to the port since we had to call a taxi (confused am I). We didn’t even ask and just loaded our bags and ourselves into his SUV and in less than five minutes we were at the Port (a savings of at least $10).
We checked in and had lunch in the Windows Cafe (the staff served all the guests and there were more sanitizers visible than on our previous sailings). Lunch was great – Greek Salad, Tuna Salad, Soy Salmon and Veggies, Asparagus Soup – hopefully, a portent of future meals.
We are now in the Looking Glass Lounge on Deck 10. From here, I could get a great picture of the USS Iowa Warship, docked just a few hundred feet in front of us.
USS Iowa from the Quest
San Pedro Harbor from the Quest
At about 2 PM, we got the word from Cruise Director Russ Thomas Grieve that the staterooms were ready. We have a very nice stateroom – 4016. Nice window – nice bed. (In the past, we have always been in Cabin 6044 – so I am missing my view of the lifeboats). I had a letter from Activities Manager, Alex McHale, outlining my speaking schedule for the cruise.
Cabin 4016
We spent some time in the Looking Glass Lounge and then changed for dinner. After the lifeboat drill, we went out on Deck 5 to see the sail away. It was an interesting, if not picturesque, sail away.
San Pedro Sail Away
To document our departure from San Pedro, we took a “mirror selfie” in our stateroom.
Dinner is open seating in the Discoveries Dining Room – we arrived a little early since we wanted to get the table for two in the corner (a historically quiet area). Since we were early, we ordered a Margarita and an Appletini from the Discoveries Bar. It was very nice not to have to drag out my Sea Pass card – there are about 20 complimentary cocktails and about two thirds of those look real good. The Margarita was very good (a fine amount of tequila in this drink).
The dinner menu is pretty extensive compared to other ships and we settled on Mushroom Vol au Vent/Pan Fried Snapper/Eggplant Parmesan/Cesar Salad/Crepes/White Wine – Pan Fried Sole. The service was quick and excellent and we were finished with dinner in about 45 minutes.
We listened to Max DiFaz play piano in the Cafe Luxe. He is an excellent piano player but in this lounge, he is like background music. I’m sure the audience will find Max before long.
The Welcome Aboard Show was at 9:30 PM in the Cabaret Lounge.
AM Alex describes the Entertainment Activities
Following Alex, Cruise Director, Russ Grieve came out singing – I guess all cruise directors on Azamara are singers. Russ did indicate that he had spent eight years in “Mama Mia”. He does have a very good voice – I guess he played one of the four dads.
CD Russ Grieve belts one out
Welcome aboard entertainers – Katy Knudsen (Production Vocalist), Katy Setterfield (Guest Entertainer – Vocalist and hyper-belter). There are four vocalists and four dancers (many are from the US and two of the dancers, Anton and Olga, are from Ukraine). The production cast looks pretty talented as a group and they are scheduled to do four shows including the spiffy “Voices”.
Azamara Quest Production Cast
By the end of the show – 10:30 PM – we were pretty tired. A few minutes in our room and then it was lights out.
The seas are smooth and the neighbors are quiet – the best combo.
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