''Azamara Quest'' is an that entered service for Azamara Cruises on 24 October 2007. She was built in 2000 for

Renaissance Cruises Renaissance Cruises was a cruise ship operating company that was founded in 1989 and owned by Fearnley & Eger Rederi in Oslo, Norway. It was purchased by Edward Rudner (founder of Alamo Car Rental) as the company faltered during the Gulf War. It o ...

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 Pullmantur Cruises was a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by U. ...

and renamed ''Blue Moon''. She sailed for Pullmantur until 2007 when she was transferred to Azamara Cruises. The ''Azamara Quest'' carries about 710 passengers (double occupancy) plus 410 crew members (1:2 staff to guest ratio). Her first season was in the Caribbean. Due to her small size, she is able to call at some of the lesser-visited ports such as St. Barts and Guadeloupe. Sisterships: '' Azamara Journey'', '' Azamara Pursuit'', ''

MS Insignia MS ''Insignia'' is the lead ship of the of cruise ships built for Renaissance Cruises. She is now owned by Oceania Cruises as part of its of ships, but recently sailed for Hapag-Lloyd as the ''Columbus 2''. She was built in 1998 by the Chantie ...

'', ''

MS Sirena ''Sirena'', formerly ''R Four'', ''Tahitian Princess'', and ''Ocean Princess'' is an formerly owned by Princess Cruises. When part of the Princess fleet, along with the , Ocean Princess was one of the two smallest in the fleet. In March 2016, s ...

'', ''

MS Regatta MS ''Regatta'' was built for Renaissance Cruises as an , she is owned and operated by Oceania Cruises where she is part of their . She was built in 1998 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France for Renaissance Cruises a ...

'', ''

MS Nautica MS ''Nautica'' is a cruise ship, built for Renaissance Cruises as part of their . ''Nautica'' is now owned and operated by Oceania Cruises, where she is part of their Regatta Class. She was built in 2000 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyar ...

'', ''

Pacific Princess MS ''Azamara Onward,'' formerly ''R Three'' and ''Pacific Princess'' is a cruise ship owned and operated by Azamara Cruises since 2022. She was built in 1999 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France for Renaissance ...

''.

Service History

2012 fire

In March 2012 the ship suffered a fire in one of the engine rooms which temporarily disabled the ship, carrying 1,001 passengers and crew in waters south of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. Five crew were injured in the fire, which broke out on 30 March 2012 at 8:19pm EDT, a day after the ship left

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

for

Sandakan Sandakan (, Jawi: , ) formerly known at various times as Elopura, is the capital of the Sandakan District in Sabah, Malaysia. It is the second largest city in Sabah after Kota Kinabalu. It is located on the Sandakan Peninsula and east coast of ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. It was limited to the engine room and "quickly contained", according to Azamara. None of the passengers were injured. Many guests praised the efforts of the crew and the entertainment department for keeping spirits high immediately following the harrowing experience.

2016 Marlborough Sounds Collision

On 27 January 2016 the Azamara Quest was heading to the port of Picton,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. Whilst entering the Tory Channel (which leads through the

Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. The Marlborough Sounds were created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels. According to Māori ...

to Picton) the ship made its turn too late, turned too slowly and hit Wheki Rock. The hull and propeller sustained minor damage and the ship was able to continue to Picton. The

Transport Accident Investigation Commission The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC, mi, Te Kōmihana Tirotiro Aituā Waka) is a transport safety body of New Zealand. It has its headquarters on the 7th floor of 10 Brandon Street in Wellington. The agency investigates aviatio ...

report found that the accident was caused by a miscommunication between the Captain and the Pilot.

Effects of the worldwide pandemic

In 2020, due to the worldwide

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, sailings were suspended, on various dates in the various regions, by all cruise lines. As of 12 January 2021, a report indicated that Azamara was suspending all sailings "through April 30". From June 2020 until 26 July 2021, ''Azamara Quest'' was berthed in Glasgow's King George V Dock along with two of her sister ships '' Azamara Journey'' and '' Azamara Pursuit'' while cruise sailing was suspended.

In popular culture

In 2015, the ''Azamara Journey'' and the ''Azamara Quest'' were the ships used by television presenter and biologist

Nigel Marven Nigel Alan Marven (born 27 November 1960) is a British wildlife TV presenter, naturalist, conservationist, author, and television producer. He is best known as presenter of the BBC miniseries '' Chased by Dinosaurs'', its sequel, '' Sea Monsters ...

for his

UKTV UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...

documentary and travel program ''Cruise Ship Adventures with Nigel Marven''. The program highlighted wildlife areas at popular cruise destinations.

Gallery

File:Delphin Renaissance.jpg, As ''Delphin Renaissance'' in Kiel in Delphin Seereisen colours Image:Azamara Quest off Santorini.jpg, ''Azamara Quest'' in her previous livery, as seen off the coast of Santorini in July 2008 File:Azamara Quest (ship, 2000) IMO 9210218; in Split, 2011-11-13.jpg, ''Azamara Quest'' departing

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, entertai ...

, 13 November 2011 File:Azamara Quest.jpg, ''Azamara Quest'' at Southampton in 2013 File:Azamara Quest_IMO 9210218_P_Alghero_13-06-2018 (2).jpg, ''Azamara Quest'' 2018 in the Mediterranean

References

External links

Official website
– review by Jane Archer in ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was f ...

'', London. *Azamara Ques
current position
{{Azamara Ships Ships of Azamara Cruises Ships built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique 2000 ships