rjrpar

Been on both cruise lines several times. The cost differences of onboard purchases is insignificant. Of course things may be a few dollars different but who cares if you are spending thousands on a cruise.

Agree with most of the previous posts that the dress code is trending more casual on all nights with little enforcement by RCCL. However, as you roam the ship on formal nites around the dinner times, you will notice a higher level of dress by most people which makes for a very nice atmosphere on those few evenings. That will not exist on the QOTS as the new dining system is introduced.

New ships are generally more costly, however, we booked a balcony on the 11 nite Feb. 2, 2015 QOTS for $3300 - for both of us. Booking early usually pays off.

You can jet ski at Orient Beach for about $40, cheaper than most excursions. I'd take the question to the St. Maarten Port board for more input.

Celebrity has tablets in Q'Sine, which is one of there specialty restaurants.

We were on Celebrity earlier this year and the place was empty every night, despite discounts being offered for a couple on the nights.

I read that they going to make passengers wear wristbands, they can also keep track to you, what you do, etc. I don't want to wear a wristband I am not a child I like the key card and prefer that!! I also don't want a robotic bartender either, but the question is if a robotic bartender serves you a drink I would have to say the robot doesn't deserve a tip!!

 

http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Quantum-to-use-wrist-bands-instead-of-key-cards/?a=cruise&cid=eltrcruise

Don't let the facts get in the way of any of your posts.

Chops is not what it was 5 years ago. Cheaper steaks, sides, and desserts. Really not worth the $35 surcharge anymore.

Well, I'm glad to hear I'm not alone with trying different brands. We worry about it because we know what to expect with Royal....but variety can be good and maybe make us appreciate Royal more.

Other cruise lines are great in Europe. Don't think Royal is anything special, besides, it all about the ports.

Have a great time.

There are several Hump cabins. Those in the middle of the hump, will have no obstruction to either direction. But if your cabin is in the back of the hump, like 7324 in Mariner, you would not see forward past those middle hump cabins.

Likewise, forward hump cabins will have obstructed view backwards.

 

Me thinks. ;)

Agree, a center hump has a slightly better view, but any other is obstructed in one direction, which can be annoying. Any balcony not close to a hump has a great view - save your money.

Has anyone been able to book show times yet on Quantum? If so' date=' when are you sailing?[/quote']

 

No, not for the 2/2/15 cruise.

That's great to hear. We are booked on Avalon this spring from Nuremberg to Budapest. There really isn't much on the boards about Avalon. We were going to book on AMA but the dates on Avalon worked better for us.

 

It's our first river cruise so it's nice to hear positive things about Avalon.

We did the same cruise last year on Avalon and had a great time. Had a great cruise director, very good food, just thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. My advice is to take as many tours as possible, they are so memorable.

Both cruise lines are similar so go with the 5 days. easy choice

Come on Liz, you like I and many others were happy to book on the first day available. Sure I would have thought that they would have given more detail by now, but it hardly effects our want to book.

We know the product and that Royal will only ever step up to even more exciting things, they will not go backwards. Sure I know that some people will argue that over the years certain things have changed and as such are never the same. But we all know the brand is now more of a family holiday, and some do not like that or the payable extras. But we know that is now the way, and we knew that when we booked.

Relax and look forward to being part of another set of "firsts" with a cruise line that has rarely let you down :D

Well said. Can't understand why some are so upset.

We are booked on the Quantum next March. If I understand correctly then "Formal" in The Grande is not really formal but kind of smart casual. We are old timers and enjoy dressing up so we booked The Grande assuming it would be "Formal"; Tux or Suit. Were not able to get a definitive answer from RCCL customer support except that the dress was formal.

Guess the days of Classic cruising are coming to an end.

True formal eliminates too many passengers from partaking in the "formal" venues. In the mass markets, the cruise lines are forced to compromise or risk alienating too many customers.

Unfortunately the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. They still can't correct the problems with Dynamic Dining, 22 hours on the phone they still can't get our rervations fixed.

 

It really tarnishes the brand image.

 

JUst like Timex and Kodak

 

I guess this is what you call a WOW experience!!

Agreed, in many respects a very poorly managed company.

If you are talking about this Christmas, then you better book NOW!!

 

By the way, the float out is this weekend and will be LIVE on the web. Also, on youtube.

Book early, in your case asap, then watch for price drops. That is always the best smart strategy, unless you are flexible enough to book last minute bargains; doubt that will be the case for a while with Quantum.

If you cancel, you will lose the OBC from Visa and Royal. If you had another booking, you could transfer the Visa OBC to the future cruise.

In other words, you don't lose the Visa obc. We cancelled 2 years ago within a week of the cruise(with insurance) and got our Visa points back, no problem.

My advice is to pick a beach (most are great), get there early to get a good spot, and enjoy. Have a nice lunch and a few drinks. If the zip line is what you want, wander over and do it.

Don't overspend on a tour, it not necessary IMHO.

I know it is a hard question but are we likely to see much sunshine in the Baltics in August?

We were there last year in late August and the weather was great. Sunny, highs of 65-75 degrees during the day, a little cooler in the mornings. Remember 1 colder day in St. Petersburg

We have been on 12 RCCL cruises and 3 on Carnival. Although the overall experience is very similar, each has it's strengths and weaknesses. I think an earlier poster summarized the differences very well. Don't believe anyone who claims there is a vast difference between any mass market cruise line.. If you really want a different, upscale cruise, you have to pay a much higher price -more than double.

We are on the 11night Feb 2 cruise and really appreciate the times for an eleven nighter. Thank you rakes5.

Are these shows the only entertainment in the main theatre or will they have the regular production shows?

I think two things have happened; 1] RCI thought they would get more paying diners, 2] they completely miscalculated the number of slots they have available. If I book 6:30 that chair will be empty from 5:30 - 6:30 because I can't kick someone out of their seat based on a stop watch. I also probably cannot book the chair again until 8:15; until the 6:30 chair is empty and I clear and reset the table. If you book someone at 7:00, the only time available maybe 5:30, with a quick turn-a-round when I show up at 7:00.

 

With traditional dining I'm positive that chair will be used twice a night. With DDD it may well be empty half the night depending on the buffer they have built in. If they use a 2:30 hour buffer for traditional dining, DDD will need to be significantly tighter.

I doubt your first point. They have years of data from 20 ships to determine how many people eat at the specialty restaurants. If point 2 is correct, they should fire their planners, it's simple math.

Hi,

We r booked on the Dec1 ,2014 Carribean Cruise on the Quantum.

Suddenly, we were e mailed to book our entertainment and dinner reservations.

 

I tried to book the entertainment and did most of it when I had trouble with their website.So I called Royal to finish booking and do the dinner reservation.

Well, Royal could not book any dinners for me until after 7:30pM. We r early eaters and we wanted dinner between 5-6 PM.

We then went to our Travel Agent to complain...she called Royal.nothing available...then she gave it to her Rep.after several weeks, we have 6 dinners...4 at the Grande and 2 other to pay...which was ok.We r still missing 5 dinners,and have not heard anything in a couple of weeks.

We cannot understand..are the restaurants that small..They did not build a large dining room...big mistake.

We wonder how people will get dinner who book the cruise in the future...we r so disgusted with the problem with the dinners and the entertainment. They tell u to book..so we booked and it says ' guest entertainer' .They have 6 shows out of 11 nights.

We r thinking of canceling the Cruise...The Quantum is a big disappointment to us!!

I believe most of these problems are related to a very poorly designed website and will resolve themselves before or during your cruise. However, I agree that RCCL did a poor job in the introduction of their new dining program and it is frustrating. One has to wonder when they clean house in their IT organization because it's a black eye for the whole company.

An earthquake flattening a city or a tsunami is a disaster. Not being able to reserve your dinner for a cruise is not! [emoji34]

Wow, being a little picky on grammar. Call it what you want, but it was a very poorly implemented system that doesn't work after 1.5 months with no indication when the problems will be fixed.