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I sailed the Quantum before the pandemic from Shanghai to Japan.  I only chose to sail from China because I took a bunch of my wife's family along.

Since it was China, the North Star cost $ and the Solarium was only for suite or diamond.  There were more public spaces for smokers.  

The buffet and MDR menus were changed to more Chinese food.  Instead of Johnny Rocket, another specialty dining serving Chinese food was in its place. Instead of cheap souvenirs, there were plenty of high end stores on the ship.

Since the vast majority of the customers were Mainland Chinese, the experience will be significantly different than your typical cruise experience.   Most of the Chinese people on board travel as a huge group so many of their activities were done all at once, such as leaving the ship together during port days or going to meals.  The lounges were practically empty all the time.  On the other hand, the buffet was always PACKED. Its was so packed you couldn't find seating or had to share a table with others.  During dinner time at the MDR, you had to queue at least 30 min beforehand or else it would be a challenge to get seated soon after you arrive.

During port days when waiting for buses to take passengers to the city downtown, a fair share of queue cutting.  When coming back onto the ship undergoing the security screening, more queue cutting by middle aged Chinese ladies (大妈).

I booked my sailing through the RCL China site （https://www.rcclchina.com.cn/）and got fantastic deal for the China sailings.  So if you know somebody that understands Chinese who can help you navigate the site, you could even book from there.  However, they don't accept Western credit card and only takes payment from Chinese bank accounts.  It does take Alipay so you could potentially use that to pay if you book there.

Due to pandemic with RCL ships at lower capacity, hopefully the same could be true for China sailings. 

Thanks for the informative review. 

Can I ask what time you arrived at the port for embarkation?

Which room did you have in Deck 7 and did you experience the smell in other places on Deck 7? What other places on the ship did you experience the smell?

I sail Magic on Dec. 1 with Deck 7 cabin and I would be super pissed if I experienced the same cabin issues along with the smell.