T-2

Everyone is going to have their own take on how their cruise fulfilled their expectations, to give a broader perspective than just my experience.... I can say that the 2 comedians and the cruise director received massive appreciation from the audience on night 1 and we just saw the new ice show tonight.... a massive standing ovation with applause that went on and on.... just electrifying, if you've seen an ice show on other Oasis class- be prepared to be blown away again at the technology and skill that went into this show. We can't all be wrong, but I don't want to give it away... just bring your smiles and luggage.... I will try to check on the Escape room, the laser tag is running, its hard to fit everything in. They did open 1st dining 15 minutes earlier tonight, food was very good in the main dining room and Windjammer. I appreciate how hard they are working, and there are not all that many new cruisers onboard, we've met quite a few who were on for the last 2 weeks and are still on this one :0)

We also boarded the Wonder on Sunday and are completely in love with her. We are not in suites and I haven't paid any attention to the casitas but I did experience that first day and thought the crew did an amazing job. Dinner was a bit chaotic as they had not had time to remake the table assignment /staff labels, we had a slight hiccup as our four family members were seated at 2 different 2 tops but the head waiter was right on top of things and it was quickly fixed. I do think MTD is the most challenging, the crowds entering at 5:15 were backed up, usually the first day they have a soft opening 15 minutes early to ease this until everyone knows where their table is, but remember, they just came off a full inspection coming into a US port for the first time and had less time to be ready for incoming passengers than they will going forward, I felt everyone was going above and beyond to try and make it a fantastic first day. We ate at El Loco Fresh today for lunch and there seemed to be plenty of tables, plenty of chairs around the pool, I passed through Windjammer at 1:30 and there was zero wait, they have way more wash sinks so that goes so much faster. Fantastic layout so lots of seating and food islands. The lines for the flow rider were the shortest we have encountered on an Oasis class ship, our room steward is a jewel and guest services does get a little backed up but there were a guests who apparently arrived at the terminal, saw the porters loading the carts and dropped their luggage before anyone noticed they weren't tagged. Plus they too were a bit behind trying to get luggage for just shy of 6,000 passengers to the right place. Even with the delays of passing the inspectors coming into the U.S., they still had the rooms ready by 2pm and we had our luggage by 3:30. We are having fantastic weather, there are some really gorgeous spots on board for photos and some very, very busy cruise photographers. New backdrops and talented photographers. We have the top Cruise Director in the fleet onboard (we met him on the Ovation in Alaska over the summer) and he has taken the challenge of this huge ship flawlessly. I do wish I had brought a few magnetic hooks, the only thing I miss is maybe 2 or 3 hooks in the cabin for hanging a hat or a place to lay your clothes while you are in the shower. Water pressure is phenomenal, all the venues have been gorgeous, I have not felt crowded except for that few minutes of pile up trying to get into 1st dining, but again, they lost quite a bit of time with that inspection and rose to the occasional with everything they had. Really appreciative to be onboard. I wouldn't hesitate to book on her again!!!!

I couldn't stand the suspense, I did go back into RCCL online booking tonight and they had opened up cabins that they did not offer me on Monday. Scored the perfect pair of balconies on a mid level floor aft and now I just have to figure out how to ever get to sleep tonight, excited more than words can say. For anyone else who experienced the same struggle booking cabins for just 2 people, everyone who helped me was on target, they are opening things up as I was just able to book 2 cabins with only 2 pax in each. There are some awesome locations now available. THANK YOU everyone!

And thank you Everyone, I've never worked so hard to try and get someone to take my money for a RCCL cruise. (we'll make Diamond Plus on this voyage so very, very Loyal)

I'm going to try calling RCCL first thing in the morning because when I tried to book online it said there was nothing for 2 passengers in a cabin except those I mentioned, a few on deck 14 and a single cabin on deck 12, but I knew others were being shut out because they were not more than 2 people per cabin. It can't hurt to ask. I got that they might need to maximize capacity to speed up their recovery, but I would sure love to sail on her that week. Fingers crossed and I will share what they say.

And a lower deck, like 8 or 9 would help, but a pair on deck 12 could work, that is why I wish we could share when someone finds a good TA But I also realize that shouldn't be part of cruisecritic, just a wish on my part. Funny RCCL couldn't offer me 2 on deck 12 and only offered one.

Rats, I wish they let us share TA names here, I tried through RCCL on Mon, and khen the big box store on Tues, both said zero available other than RCCL would let me have a couple spread out on deck 14 only, or the single room on 12. Lower is better for one in our foursome who is sensitive to ocean motion so I was trying not to be so high up, closer to 8 actually. I knew lots of other people reported not being able to book unless they had more than 2 to a room. RCCL certainly nailed it with their new ship, we are going to need more of them.

Secretlyfi, thank you for thinking of me, thanks to your deck plans I had picked out quite a few pairs of staterooms, not realizing they really didn't open bookings as they had on their other ships. We haven't been able to get anything yet for the week we wanted, Mar 30th. I didn't want guarantee. But are hoping they open it up more further down the road. We tried 2 to a cabin and booking 2 cabins, nothing available except on deck 14! One cabin was available on deck 12 but then we would be on different floors. I saw on here many ran into the same problem so I will just be patient until they relax that requirement a bit, was just unprepared. Can't imagine 4 adults in a cabin, even a balcony type. But given the losses trying to stay afloat during a pandemic, they probably need to get some revenue flowing. Love this ship, those first few months onboard are going to be Packed. I hope you were especially able to get what you wanted and again, thanks for all the much appreciated help.

Secretlyfi, your search skills are phenominal. I never ever found that map of the cabin layouts. It is such a huge help as its always a relief to know what is above and below you. Plus I value TAs time and like to be set to go, not waffling trying to make decisions. Now we will just wait to see what they say all those beautiful cabin colors equate to- as there are some new cabin categories to tempt everyone. But I was able to pick out my first 10 pair choices (need 2) to try for depending on how long it takes to get through, the phones are going to be hopping. Cannot shout out thank you loud enough for the help, THANK YOU!

Secretlyfi, I had tried that link a couple days ago but my McAfee balked at it and wouldn't let it open. I am hoping for something like that, just was surprised I hadn't seen anything released by RCCL and wondered if I should count on something like that being released in time for member bookings?

Not sure if I missed something as never tried booking on opening day.... but as almost Diamond Plus I'd like to try. If you know what level you want to be on and the sail date you want, how do you then tell your travel agent (Big Box) the connecting rooms you are trying for. We might like something similar to what we have on the Wonder in just a few weeks but I am sure the room numbers and layouts might be different plus there are some new interesting categories, depending on where they are, we might consider rather than our standing Oasis class locations. Does anyone think there will be cabin layouts posted before they become available tomorrow? Or is this more like only getting a guarantee category and not actual cabin numbers? We are so Excited to be trying out this new ship, she blows us away, and I would love to wrap the reservation and give it to my grandson as one of his birthday gifts next week. Do we think that might be the next big announcement, cabin locations?

CamaCama, we have been twice in early August, then the last 2 years were in late July, I had never done June because they used to have mosquitos if you went too early. But my brother went in June 2022 and had no mossies, and i never saw any mention of it at all in the threads this year. I would hesitate to push it to May but I know they did have some nice weather this year in June, the worries with late Aug or early Sept is some of the excursions run into problems with the weather, yet there have been some great sailings even then. Hopefully the excursions will be more plentiful in 2023, this was a challenging year as they worked to attract employees and get them trained once cruising resumed, I never heard a bad word about any side trips- only lamenting because they were in such short supply or canceled after being booked due to staffing shortages.

I can offer one other advantage for checking in with the teen/tweens club, they sometimes have teen specific events, like the time slot they gave them to have only the teens using the bumper cars, it was age 12 and up ONLY< not sure the upper cut off, but those who had been to the club already had the sticker on their card. They check Very carefully, those of us who had teens who had not yet been, they checked their cards against a list they had of everyones ages. Then he got the sticker, they were fast but he would have gone on sooner if he had already registered his age with the club and been stickered, the teens love those takeover events... great for meeting friends. Club staff were on hand since these events are outside the walls of the club space, I was really impressed.

we also didn't have to scan in our passports but we had on previous trips so guessing they have it until it expires. We did have to re=enter the number and expiration date so that probably lets them know you are still using the one they have on file, in case you had had to replace a lost one. They sure have made online check in much easier. :0)

that is slightly weird, definitely still check on the 13th. Super thanks BND, I could not get online check in to work but I was using google. I changed it to Edge and it worked perfectly- sure keeps me from beating my head against the wall for the next 4 weeks, super appreciate the assist!!!

I super appreciate knowing I am not the only one, so perplexing. I will just keep trying, thanks!

I have been trying for a couple weeks to check in online from the computer and it always says they are working on it and to please check back, the cruise is down to about 33 days away- the Wonder. I have never had a struggle before, we were able to do the PAT from the app but nothing else. Anyone else know of a suggestion that got them past the - we've encountered an error message. I like knowing its done and not waiting until the end, we're close to diamond plus and this is a first for us. The app also just asks us to check back later... everytime I look. Anyone overcome this glitch?

CamaCama, I'm a little late answering you, its been one of those weeks... but for his favorite excursions, this is over 4 Alaska cruises, the first and 4th cruise he did the Deadliest Catch crab boat in Ketchikan. It was even better the 2nd time and we thought it was amazing the first. An easy 5 min walk from the ship which gave us the morning free for shopping and exploring Ketchican, one of our favorite ports. We have done the helicopter dog sledding on a glacier out of Skagway and tried to do it again our 2nd trip but weather makes that extremely ify- it is good to have a backup- first cruise it was spectacular, 3rd cruise it was canceled the first week of Aug because the weather was already too warm. It has a super short season. But Awesome. We did the train in Skagway our 2nd trip and loved it but didn't repeat it this time because they had to shorten it due to the damage to the train tracks, if they get it fixed that is a nice trip but better when he was younger and thrilled with trains. In Juno there are some incredible whale watching trips but we skip it because we love seeing them down in Puerto Vallarta- but have heard great things if you don't already live near an active whale area. Besides the flowrider and the bumper cars, especially teen/tween takeover :0) he also loved the indoor pool, IFly and the North Star. Plus the rare chance of being on a Quantum class as they normally were not on our west coast. super glad we went, next we are taking on the Wonder of the Seas, he wants to do All the Oasis class... insatiable cruise lover. But I love Royal for all the things they have for family memories- irreplacable. Just know port excursions can run into snags, the ship is the destination too. Have a great cruise

We took our 12 yr old on the Ovation this July, he has been on 3 oasis class but this was his first chance at a Quantum class, very glad we did it. The sea plex and the flowrider were top hits for him, they have one session where they let the 12 to 18 year olds have the bumper cars to themselves for half an hour, he got to go 6 times and could not have had more fun with it being taken over by tweens and teens. He did not do the kids club but Loved the ship. Of course he has not been disappointed in any RCCL or Disney ship but we chose this over the smaller because there was more for him to do And because we don't get many chances at a Quantum class itinerary from the west coast. No supply issues or staff issues that we were aware of, the shows were incredible, he had never been in a 270.... for us, it was amazing. It was our 4th trip to Alaska so it was really to enjoy the ship. Our port hours and location in ports were all outstanding which is another major plus.

Nice to know that the footwear didn't raise any alarms, we are most often about the ship in teva's or sandals so it's really nice to know we don't have to race back to the room just to change shoes :0) I may just skip the line dancing and zumba rather than try to take that 4th pair of footwear. Super thanks.

The challenge of getting everything into one suitcase is much easier when its the island type stops... our dressy sandals are not closed toe, we did not think about line dancing, which we all love, wouldn't that cause some looks in hiking boots.... but I can see that they might require lace up shoes for that and zumba and bumper cars. It wasn't until I saw this weeks activities that I realized how much cool stuff they have going on in the SeaPlex. When we did the Quantum in her early days they still had the trapeze, the Ovation doesn't have that but they sure made awesome use of the space. But a 4th pair of shoes to take sneakers for all of us is really a strain on the luggage situation, I may have to just chance that we will have to skip some things, really excited to see the Ovation. Chillier weather projected this coming week so no skimping on the layered clothing. I'll keep my fingers crossed, thank you both!

I probably should have asked this sooner but in packing for Alaska, we have shoes for dinner, shoes for around the ship (teva type), even hiking boots for ports.... and I am not sure if any are allowed on the SeaPlex flooring. I know you need tennis shoes for basketball or iFly, but what about walking on for the bumper cars? Is it sneakers only? I'm sure the hiking boots are out :0) Or the line dance classes that are half an hour. Anyone happen to remember shoes being specific, I could not find anything in a google search. Any chance I can get away with not taking sneakers?

That's encouraging it went so well, we won't mind the tendering. There have been several reviews of the Quantum lately but its been very quiet regarding the Ovation- so I'm especially thankful for your post.

My brother is on the Carnival Miracle in Skagway this morning, they are tied up to the dock but using the tenders to take everyone off the ship and to the parking lot, since no one is allowed to walk it as a result of the rock slide. He says its going very quickly but that everyone who was booked on the 8am train was moved to the noon one since tendering didn't start until 8am. We are on an Ovation stop in Skagway in a few weeks so hoping they are able to work something out.

My brother is on the Carnival Miracle in Skagway this morning, they are tied up to the dock but using the tenders to take everyone off the ship and to the parking lot, since no one is allowed to walk it as a result of the rock slide. Not sure if that would have been an option for the Quantum or not, we also have an Ovation stop there in a few weeks so hoping they are able to work something out.