mommastav

I would love to give my husband this helicopter excursion as a Christmas gift, but his weight is probably slightly above the weight limit. Do they actually weigh you when you get there?

We had a regular grand suite on Quantum. There are two tv's -one facing the sofa and the second one is in the other "room" facing the bed.

We were in a Grand Suite on the 1/23 sailing. We ordered breakfast from Coastal Kitchen one morning. We called room service the night before to place the order. It was nice and hot, and exactly as ordered. We didn't use room service any other time.

I am not familiar with the port, but it sounds as though you would have less traffic if you stayed to the left, went directly to the parking area, and wheeled your luggage to the terminal. Is that correct/allowed? We are on Q in January and would prefer to avoid potential issues.

Thanks, queenL. If we have already uploaded a picture, would we go directly onto the ship after check-in at the counter or with the "floater" with the tablet?

Could someone please explain how the embarkation works for Quantum? What do you do first, next, etc. until you actually are on the ship? Once on, can you go immediately to your stateroom? Thanks!

Thanks Txcowboy10 for verifying my observations. Our first NYE cruise on Anthem was exactly as described, but we thought it might be an anomaly so we tried Oasis the next year. According to the crew, because of the long vacation period, the Oasis class ships are a favorite destination for large number of Brazilians (as you stated). On our Oasis cruise, our waiter shared there were fewer than 800 passengers for whom English was their first language. I consider that to be a very small minority on a ship with 5000+ passengers. When you heard someone speaking English, you quickly made friends. :) You are also correct about the very large number of unsupervised children and teenagers running around. We still sail over NYE, but no longer on the Oasis class ships.

My DH and I cruise every year during that week, as it is the easiest time for me to be away from work. As the other poster said, it is very festive. It is not, however, what I would call the "spring break party" atmosphere. The only caution I have is this does somewhat depend on the ship. Oasis Class ships are a favorite for large groups of extended families from Brazil during this cruise. We have found (and heard from others) that English speakers will be a very small minority of passengers. While the language isn't the issue, the fact that there are numerous very large groups can become an issue. They tend to save large areas of loungers, seats in the Windjammer, theater, etc. in case other members of their group want to join them. We no longer sail that class over the holidays to avoid the frustration.

We cruised Oasis over New Year's two years ago. No fireworks - it was a formal night and there were noisemakers, hats, etc. on the table in the MDR. There is a large "ball-drop" event in the Promenade, and parties in various locations throughout the ship. According to crew members we spoke to, it is a very popular sailing for families from Brazil every year. I mention that because we were told there were only 700 or so passengers for whom English was their native language. It was rare to hear English spoken around the ship, and communicating with other passengers was often a challenge. We switched to Anytime Dining as our assigned table mates all spoke Portuguese. Since they tend to travel with large groups, it was nearly impossible to find chairs in the pool areas, solarium, etc. We have sailed with Royal for 15 cruises, and this was the most frustrating cruise we have been on relative to passengers not following rules (numerous children in the Solarium running around and in the pools, large groups of chairs "reserved", etc.). We sailed on Navigator the following NYE, and did not experience the same issues.

I learned about the opening of reservations for dining from Cruise Critic. I haven't received any direct communication from Royal about the need to do this. How are passengers being informed that they need to go online and book dining reservations?

Thanks for the reply. I will have to follow up - that would definitely throw a curve ball at my plans!

I have booked a cruise for January 2015 on Quantum, and plan to have significantly more points accrued to use toward the cost of the cruise by final payment. What happens if all of the Oceanview staterooms are sold out? How do they determine the value of the points?

We are now Emerald, doing a 12 night Alaska cruisetour this summer. The cruise itself is 7 days. Will I get a $125 or $225 discount?