OSUZorba

Let's also remember that the reviews posted overall represent about 0.9% of the Quantum cruisers and those who have bad experiences are more likely to submit a review compared to those with a good experience

That is true of every ship in every fleet, and for that matter everything with internet reviews. But Quantum currently has a 38% on CC, where Disney Fantasy (which doesn't even have MTD, only two specialty restaurants and targets young families) is currently at 96%.

I do believe Quantum's reviews are skewed more negative than normal, but there is no way it is as loved as Oasis or Freedom, and I think DD is probably a very big piece of that.

I've never had a problem with the pools on a ship, but I haven't sailed in the winter. In the winter, the water would have to be warmer to be conformable, and I am sure it actually cooler.

I'll swim in just about anything, including in the ocean in Homer, Alaska in April* (water temp of 31), but unless you are doing some serious lap swimming or horse playing, 64 is pretty cold.

*Only lasted 3-5 minutes before my legs started going numb, luckily there was an indoor pool at the hotel for me run to to warm up.

My answer comes from an experience I had 3 years ago when I brought my then 29yr old phenom business partner and wife on the Freedom. After the 2nd night of MDR he hated it... and truthfully I would agree in that the waiter/asst were a couple of the worst I ever experienced. Night 3 we went to the Windjammer in Billabongs and t-shirts, free and easy, just like you'd expect from the younger crowd. He loved it, we got great service once they knew we were up there every night. The rest of the ship was only so-so to him, he felt "disconnected" from the world. My business partner a triple AAA personality, house full of technology (Apple TV, do dads everywhere, etc), and he bores easily. I showed him my Quantum cruise and now he wants to give it a shot.... Wifi, handheld control, choices everywhere you turn, right down his alley.

 

DD is part of what the world is changing to imo... choice and control. DD you choose and control everything, MDR you control nothing. Hate to be so blunt but younger generation want control and constant change, older demographic want stability with zero change which is what MDR gives you on a nightly comfortable basis. Just my 2 cents... I think RCL is starting to target the younger generation and newer cruisers as many other threads have indicated. Those of us who don't like change as we age will keep HAL in business when we leave RCL.

Funny, I am an early millennial, and I and all of my cruising friends hate the idea of DD. On cruise critic it seems like mostly D+ people who seem very in favor of DD, because they are sick of MDR after doing it 150+ times (nights).

I just don't remember that many people complaining about the old system, until DD was announced. DD seems to be getting at most a 50/50 review at the moment, so it appears to be producing worse results that MDR/MTD. Also most of the positive reviews I've seen of DD seem to be from people that ate at specially restaurants multiple times.

Any ways, I won't give DD a negative review, but I also have no interest in going on a cruise with it.

I've used my tripod all over Oasis, Freedom and Disney ships, no issues. Just remember ship photographers get the priority, and I have had to make way for them in central park before.

FYI, there are a couple little balconies by the elevators on deck 9 (IIRC) that overlook central park. Makes a nice spot to photograph Central Park at night.

Not sure if RCL will care, but some venues are fine with point and shoot cameras, but get upset when they see the SLR and 400mm lens come out (a lot of sporting events and concerts ban cameras with interchangeable lenses). That being being said I've used SLRs in the theater no problem, but not with a long zoom. So I doubt you'll run into any issues.

Although we were on over Easter, and not NYE, the activities and shows would be essentially the same. If you go to post 98 of my review ( see signature below), you will find the Patters from the cruise that will give you an idea of the shows and activities.

 

As an Easter cruise, there were some kids, but not a lot. The demographics were mostly 40's to 60's. If you like rock climbing, flow rider, ice skating, and those types of activities you find on Royal, you will not find them here.

 

Overall, it is probably a little lower "energy level" than you would find on one of the larger Royal ships.

Yeah, I enjoy all of the activities on RCL, but I've had just as much fun on Disney without that stuff. I think RCL depends on the ship entertaining you, where Disney provides more entertainment. Thanks for the link to the Patters, that will help a lot.

1 & 2. I'd expect a range of ages for a holiday cruise. Our longer cruise had 250 children, which were a lot for this ship, but you hardly noticed them. We had oldsters, middle-agedsters, youngsters; a good mix.

 

5. Good selection of stuff to do at night: main production shows in the theatre, comedians & game shows in the smaller venues. A pianist/singer in the piano bar, Crooner's (kind of a Rat Pack vibe place -- my favourite). Bands for dancing in the Wheelhouse Bar. There will be a big party ship-wide for NYE. Our cruise had dancing out on the Lido deck and the countdown on the MUTS screen. Lots of confetti, etc. There's a nightly "disco" late-night dj in Explorer's Lounge, from about 11pm. It wasn't terribly busy every night but it was there.

Nice to hear there was a good mix, that is what I hoping for. I don't really mind kids on ships. It is just usually kids take up the extra berths, so the ship starts feeling really full. (I did Oasis once in April and once in June, both "full" but the April sailing the ship felt like it had tons of space, in June it felt very crowded, the difference was about 1000 kids).

The entertainment sounds enjoyable.

I would also say that if you're the sort of young adults chiefly into popular music from later than, oh, 1985 (which is to say, made during your lifetimes), the production shows won't particularly float your boat. On the Royal, someone was piping the Decemberists over the Lido's PA, and I was gobsmacked to hear something from the 21st century.

That is what I was a little worried about that the shows would be "too old" for us, opposite of Disney being a little "young" for us.

Thank you for everyone's responses, they have been very helpful.

I am sure this type of question gets asked all the time, so I will go ahead and apologize. I did search first and couldn't really find what I was looking for.

My wife and I are thinking about doing a New Years Eve cruise this coming December, and I noticed the Coral Princess partial Panama Canal transit cruise.

My wife (31) and I (30) (no kids), have been on 4 RCL cruises and 2 Disney cruise, ships ranging in size from Disney Magic (same size as Coral) to Oasis of the Seas. We enjoy going to the shows, comedians, guests performers, etc. We also like interactive entertainment, like karaoke, trivia, and a little dancing.

So I had a few questions.

1. What are the age demographics like over NYE, specifically on this cruise if anyone has experience? I know Princess has a reputation of having an older clientele, I was wondering if this was true over NYE.

2. I know RCL and Disney are awash in kids over NYE, is this true for Princess?

3. Do the shows and guest performers appeal to young adults? One thing I dislike about Disney is the guest performers are definitely slanted for the family shows, so even their "adult" shows are pretty PG.

4. How is the pool situation on Coral? Is there plenty of space and are the pool areas enjoyable to hang out in? (I love the RCL pool areas)

5. Are there plenty of activities in the evening? And what time does the ship start shutting down?

Thanks for the help!

Thank you for the review. If you don't mind me asking, how much was the ferry through the remainder of the canal?

You know Cincinnati International Airport is actually in Hebron, Kentucky!!!

And for that matter the Dallas-Fort Worth airport is in neither Dallas or Fort Worth, yet American Airlines sells thousands of tickets a day claiming to take people to Dallas and/or Fort Worth.

I for one am quite outraged.

Can I add one--true, true, true from Wednesday morning 11/19/14 at Breakfast in Devinely Decadent (the healthy food option venue)--A woman was yelling at the crew member in there because she was "Diamond + and had bought a beverage package" and she wanted a cappuccino and regular food for breakfast there. Why wasn't that there!!!! The crew member actually had an omelette made for her and went and got her a cappuccino from some other part of the ship!! While he was gone, she kept complaining to the other crew members that she was going to leave because it was taking too long.

Well I have a personal story somewhat like this (no yelling, though). The first time my wife and I ate breakfast at JRs on Oasis I asked for some peanut butter (for my pancakes), the waitress said sure, and then she left for what seemed like forever. After 8-10 minutes I complained to my wife about it, finally the waitress comes back with a bowl of peanut butter and apologizes telling me she had to go down to the deck 3 MDR galley to get it. I felt really bad, gave her a nice tip and never asked for peanut butter at JRs again.

I solved the problem in the future by taking some extra peanut butter packs out of the WJ and then taking them with me to JR.

Moral of the story: sometimes people are ridiculous out of ignorance not stupidity. But a lot of people are just crazy.

Interesting, so the "hard" numbers on the Panamax website are not hard at all? It says there in black and white 205' is the absolute max at the lowest tide... there's not another 20' to play with :confused:

 

As an aside, I've posted in other threads and in my NoS review... Capt Srecko Ban and the head administrator of the new canal were sitting at Capt's table on Vision last Nov 2013. Sapt Srecko was unsure about a Voyager Class get under the bridge and chancing it, clearances doesn't seem right. Head administrator of the new canal also agreed. On NoS I spoke quite a bit to Capt Claus Anderson, he assured me he was 100% positive Voyager can go through and I was truly confused by that. I told him about my dinner with Capt Srecko & the new canal admin, but still said Voyager would be fine. We then talked about the Radiance first sailing to Tampa and how close the clearance was when he sailed her under the bridge. I am really confused... the number just don't match up for me on paper and those who would likely know for sure have given me different opinions.

 

My conclusion is that the clearances would be so very tight, and even if the sailing were to go ahead the ship would have to wait for the perfect low tide situation.. and PAY for that specific slot through the locks to the Panamanian authorities to go through the locks at that specific time.

 

 

 

 

Didn't think so, not even with the most recent drydocks. Thx Bob :)

You must also remember the Panama canal is fresh water, so the water draft is higher and air draft lower. The published numbers are all for salt water. Been awhile since I've looked into it so I don't remember the actual ratio.

You have to be careful with places like consumeraffairs.com and pissedconsumer.com. No one goes there to post good stories and you only see one side. Heck, pissedconsumer.com tells you right in their name what to expect. Even on here, people are more likely to post about negative experiences than positive ones. My father-in-law who has own his own business for 30 years always says for every person you upset, you have to make at least 12 people very happy to offset the negative publicity.

One problem cruise lines have that land vacations (at least non-AI land vacations), is if on land I go to a restaurant and have a horrible experience I just wont go there again or if I don't like my hotel room I can probably change. On a cruise it is all one company so if the dining room upsets you, a lot people will carry those feelings over to other areas.

I've seen a lot mentioned about circus school in this thread, but can someone explain it in a little more detail? Is it free? Do you have to have a reservation?

Snip

Thanks for the pics. In the rough seas did the clothes moving around in the closet bother you while you were trying to sleep? I know I've been able to hear closet noises from across the room before, so I am a little worried about them right next to my head.

 

I always give the waiters 1-2 USD who delivers the breakfast to your room:

 

But I want to know if he get some part automatically before and not at the end of the voyage.

 

Hot items from the griddle are also at fee with the in-room-breakfast: 3.95 USD per item plus 15%.

 

Regards

HeinBloed

I can't believe they have added a charge for room service items. The 12-6am delivery fee already gets brought up in every "which cruise line is better?" thread. I haven't ordered room service since my first cruise, but the addition of charges really bothers me.

You haven't answered my questions and I assume you aren't currently on Quantum so your comment on service is just a guess. Also, My inquiries had nothing to do with other cruise lines.

 

Lastly, JR's has been a fee based restaurant for many years so I don't understand your question.

I believe JR's always had the gratuity included in the cover charge, now it is additional. Considering most Americans have probably experienced counter ordering hundreds or thousands of times in their lives, I think must of us have a pretty good idea what the service is like counter ordering at JR's, especially when the OP included a picture of the buzzer they gave him so he could pick up his own food. Sounds a lot like a McD's with a buzzer.

Oh, I didn't realize the Quantum's Dog House has free fries, burgers, shakes and sundaes. That must be something new. Also, does the Dog House have better service than the "crappy" service you've received at Johnny Rockets on the Quantum?

Considering the OP got a hot dog, I think that can be gotten at the dog house. Fries, burgers can be gotten at WJ for free. Shakes and sundaes I can understand, paying the $6 cover to get a fun experience with sit down service and all you can eat burgers, fries, hot dogs that are slightly higher quality than WJ, I can understand. Paying $2.50+15% for a hot dog and service that is free elsewhere on the ship, I don't get.

Maybe crappy was the wrong word, how about basically no service? Or the same as McDs.

Oh the DCL cruise I just got off, their quick service windows had no fee for anything, and had higher quality food and more variety than JRs. No shakes or sundaes, but as many hot dogs or brats as I wanted.

Has management lost their minds?

Well there are a few people in this thread that have shown they are willing to pay any fee RCL asks for and are just thankful Royal allows them on the ship. Enough people with that mentality and management just made a great discussion.

I liked JR with the cover charge format, but not idea why you'd eat there al-a-cart with crappy service when you can go to the dog house and get the same thing for free.

I personally think Quantum is setup to make everything an add on, and they are going to slowly add them little by little. I know a lot of people on here think it is the new wave, and this is what the young cruiser wants. But the young people I know (myself included) the all-inclusive aspect is one of the biggest selling points. I doubt there are many 27 year-old new parents at Chief's Table or in GSes.

I too was on the Oasis westbound TA and just received an e mail from RCCL saying I would receive a certificate for 20% off my next cruise due to all the problems on the Oasis TA. My faith in RCCL is restored.

Does anyone have links to what the problems on the westbound TA were? I've looked in a few threads and it seemed like people were having a good time.

I'd tried using .com but it just reverts to .co. uk even clicking on the link to connect to international sites at the bottom of the home page gets bumped back to the UK site. It's as though RCCL doesn't want UK guests to see the big difference in price that they have to pay; or am I just being cynical?

You can turn off auto redirection in the browser http://www.jkwebtalks.com/2010/02/disable-automatic-meta-refreshredirect.html this should prevent it from automatically loading the UK page. You can also use a US proxy server.

Not sure the link is current, but gives you an idea of what to search for with your browser. Firefox and Chrome probably both have plugin that can block this behavior on certain sites.

Jumping is difficult from the West Coast. :rolleyes:

Just depends on your flexibility. I've booked cruises in FL with less than 2 weeks of notice from Oklahoma. So I'll give it a caveat, if you have the flexibility, booking last minute is the best time to do it.

If you don't have the flexibility to book last minute, the best time is probably day one, then you have the most time watch for price drops.

I learned the hard way that that is NOT the policy for most other cruise lines (booking a guarantee and moving cabins, within the assigned category, once assigned). Other cruise lines take the position that part of the "risk for reward" of booking at the lower GTY price means that you go where they send you.

 

That's one of the reasons I AM a fan of RCL! :)

I just did a GTY on Disney, and their rules are nuts. Basically, no cancelling or changing anything, period. At least officially, you can't change a name, can't change number of guest, you can't even upgrade to a more expensive category.

They did accept my request for a small table, though :).

The weird thing in this sort is the RCI is still offering a GS guarantee cabin.

 

There was one cabin left, he booked a guarantee... he got the one empty cabin. So far, everything is as expected.

 

So now either they are full (if so, why is there someething to book) or they aren't (and could move him.)

They don't want to discount the more expensive suites officially, so they over sell the GS GTY, and then someone gets "free" upgrade.

Edit: I had a JS on Deck 6 of Oasis (D1 GTY with free upgrade), and loved the location. Especially because the ship was rocking and rolling a lot that sailing, the lower deck was nice.

Best time to book is last minute, and no to be picky with dates. IIRC last week's going going gone sell had D1s on Navigator for ~$360 pp for this week. If I hadn't just gotten back from Disney Fantasy, I would've jumped on that in a heartbeat.

Is it just me or do others see an end game here as well? Royal is going to incrementally make it so for dining you have the Windjammer free and ALL pay venues otherwise.

 

They could not do this with a main dining room. It would have to be done all at once. Am I being too much of a conspiracy theorist?

I personally think that is their dream, whether they will ever get there or how long, I don't know. Another step in that direction, it looks like Quantum charges for a lot of the items on their room service menu.

Any one have an opinion on cemetery beach, verses the others closer to the pier? I was planning on checking out Cemetery and maybe Eden, but if I can walk to a couple beaches better than Cemetery, I might as well save the taxi fare.