Quantum 11/23 Inaugural Review - WOW, So Not Impressed

[hawks026]

So we have cruised on Royal quite a few times on many different classes of their ships. This was the first time that we felt disappointed about wasting our money and vacation time to cruise.

 

We are a couple in our late 20's, we met on Enchantment of the Seas and got engaged last year on Allure, so cruising is very near and dear to our hearts. We really wanted to try out Quantum, as did my parents, so we decided on a Thanksgiving family cruise and were excited for the inaugural after hearing we would have special events, gifts, etc.

 

Boarding: We got there for our 10:45 slot and were checked in fairly efficiently, but the gangway wasn't open yet since cruisers from the prior ship had failed to get off on time or something. We got on about 11:30, so it wasn't the end of the world.

 

Cabin: We went to our cabin around 12:30 and it was ready. The cabin layout is very nice, we had the bed by the balcony, which seems like the better layout. There is plenty of storage and the bathroom seemed more spacious, I like the bar for shaving your legs they added in the shower. We had an obstructed balcony, which was perfect since the weather was cold and I think we spent about 20 minutes out there total.

 

Staff: It seems like they are friendly, but very tired and frustrated. Cosmo in Jamie's was great, as was our stateroom attendant Marta and Ritish who was our serve in the Grande.

 

Shows: We loved all the shows we saw (Mama Mia, Starwater, Sonic Odyssey) and thought they were as good as the shows on Allure and much better than the smaller ships with less of a show selection. The disappointing thing was that they advertised a bunch of other shows and parties that didn't exist on our voyage probably because they are still working on them; this includes the Mama Mia after party, Gatsby, and the adult cabaret night. We paid a premium to go on this sailing and are disappointed they didn't have these shows ready for us.

 

Ports: We did Disney and Atlantis, missed Coco-Cay because of the weather which isn't really RCCL's fault, so that was okay.

 

Onboard Activities: We did iFly, circus school trapeze, bumper cars, roller skating, the Quantum scavenger hunt, and the North Star- all activities were fun, didn't get to Flowrider because it was pretty chilly for the whole trip. The bionic bar is cool the first time you see it, but after that it just seems like a waste of space and never seemed crowded (usually 5-10 people there). I will say that if you don't like more active things, there wasn't much else offered to keep you occupied other than trivia and movies out by the pool (which again, it was freezing out, I don't want to be outside watching a movie at night when it's 40 degrees.)

 

Food: Dynamic Dining needs some improvement. On 3 out of 8 nights, we waited half an hour for a table even though we made reservations months ago. The food was very good, but not a lot of options on each menu, and they didn't have the simple taste alternative menus available yet. For specialty dining, we did Jamie's, Chops, & Devinly Decadence. All of these were very good, my favorite was probably Jamie's though- the homemade pasta is phenomenal, as are the risotto balls and meat plank. We also did Izumi for lunch which is very expensive for what you get, it cost us $13 for a shrimp roll and it wasn't that large. I feel like you are better off spending $15 and doing Jamie's for lunch. We did have some snacks at Michael's Genuine the first day and those were good, especially the potato chips and onion dip.

 

Issues Encountered:

 

We got onboard and immediately went to North Star which was opening at 12 pm. We got on after 20 minutes, only to then get stuck inside, they eventually had to manually pry open the doors. We then waited another 30 minutes while they had the mechanics looking at it, but nobody was giving us any information which was frustrating.

 

Later on in the cruise we went up at 8:30 am to get in line to get tickets for Northstar. This was the most ridiculous thing, it was about 45 degrees and windy and we were blocking the running track and had to wait there for over an hour just to get a ticket with a time to come back. If they are going to make people wait in line, it should really be inside somewhere and they should have more people giving out tickets so it doesn't take so long.

 

With the dining, we waited for tables even though we had reservations and at most of the venues, it took awhile to eat due to slow service and the time it takes for them to type everything into the tablet. The one waitress explained that any modification to an item, they have to type in word by word but each line only fits so many characters, so they have to keep adding new lines and such. It seems much slower with no assistant waiter and takes longer to get water, menus, bread, coffee, etc. It seemed like the restaurant that always had a line and was backed up was The Grande. The first night we were scheduled to eat there and it was so backed up that while waiting in line they offered for us to go to Coastal Kitchen or pay for us to go to Devinly Decadence, but we were all dressed up and didn't want to go somewhere else at that point. Also, they really need to make 2 lines, one for people who have reservations and one for people who don't.

 

Elevators were always an issue, it would randomly go on priority status and you couldn't get off and would end up on deck 2 when you were trying to go to deck 15, multiple elevators were always out of service. I don't mind walking, but we were on deck 6 and it was a long trek up to deck 14 for the solarium most mornings after waiting 10 minutes for an elevator and each one that stopped was already full.

 

There was no sailaway party when we left NJ and went under the bridge, very disappointed. I like when they have music and such and it seems to kick the cruise off with some energy. In general, there were no special activities or parties celebrating the inaugural, not even a glass of champagne. Some of the staff didn't even know and the one activity woman at trivia was arguing with people that it wasn't the inaugural and "I am always right, even when I am wrong, I am always right" I feel like that is a very poor attitude and not what you say to guests who were legitimately right and knew more than she did, but anyways...most of the staff was nice and she was an exception I guess.

 

There was a lack of activities during the day and night, there was hardly any game shows and the one or two that they did have had no participation because they were poorly advertised and nobody really knew they were happening. The Groovy Town disco party in the Music Hall was good. There was no Quest or Love & Marriage or Karaoke (there was Rock-A-Rokie one night but only 3 people showed up to sing). There were also no pool games like Belly Flop or Sexiest Man and the only time I saw the cruise director was on the TV.

 

The technology in general just doesn't work quite yet, they are still trying to work out kinks. Our TV account never worked, so we had to go to guest services to check on our account. The app worked sometimes, but never for messaging or calling people, just for viewing your calendar and even then, it was hit or miss with it working.

 

They were out of a lot of drinks, specifically wine. We paid for an ultimate package, but by day 3, they were out of the wines in the $12-$13 range, so I had to keep paying an extra $4/glass to get something decent, which is ridiculous after paying for the package. A few times we asked for bottled water the bar was out, so they said we had to "go find another bar that has it". I don't think I should spend my vacation tracking down a drink, you need to properly stock your bars.

 

I think the ice-cream station by the pool worked for an hour or two the whole cruise, so when it was working the line was crazy long, they need to add another one I guess. At one point, it actually caught on fire. I am not sure why there was such an issue with it, as I am pretty sure every other ship has them and usually there are no issues.

 

The ship is beautiful and elegant and as I have said, we did still enjoy our vacation (it's always better than being at work). But overall, we were disappointed given the amount of money we paid and the fact that so many things are not fully functional yet. Compared to all the other Royal cruises we have been on, it was our least favorite but cost us the most money. We have Anthem booked for a 10 night trip in April 2016 and will wait to see if reviews improve before making a choice of whether or not to keep our reservation.

[roe2ship]

Sorry to hear about so many disappointments. It appears there are many unnecessary issues that probably should not have happened.

 

In regards to paying a premium price, I guess that depends on when you booked. I had this cruise booked on opening day and while it was slightly expensive, it didn't seem way out of line for a new ship sailing from NJ.

 

After learning about how many things can go wrong during the first month (or 2) on a new ship, I decided to cancel and reschedule at a later date. It's just not worth all the hassle and I'm happy I made that choice.

[regg1216]

So we have cruised on Royal quite a few times on many different classes of their ships. This was the first time that we felt disappointed about wasting our money and vacation time to cruise.

 

We are a couple in our late 20's, we met on Enchantment of the Seas and got engaged last year on Allure, so cruising is very near and dear to our hearts. We really wanted to try out Quantum, as did my parents, so we decided on a Thanksgiving family cruise and were excited for the inaugural after hearing we would have special events, gifts, etc.

 

Boarding: We got there for our 10:45 slot and were checked in fairly efficiently, but the gangway wasn't open yet since cruisers from the prior ship had failed to get off on time or something. We got on about 11:30, so it wasn't the end of the world.

 

Cabin: We went to our cabin around 12:30 and it was ready. The cabin layout is very nice, we had the bed by the balcony, which seems like the better layout. There is plenty of storage and the bathroom seemed more spacious, I like the bar for shaving your legs they added in the shower. We had an obstructed balcony, which was perfect since the weather was cold and I think we spent about 20 minutes out there total.

 

Staff: It seems like they are friendly, but very tired and frustrated. Cosmo in Jamie's was great, as was our stateroom attendant Marta and Ritish who was our serve in the Grande.

 

Shows: We loved all the shows we saw (Mama Mia, Starwater, Sonic Odyssey) and thought they were as good as the shows on Allure and much better than the smaller ships with less of a show selection. The disappointing thing was that they advertised a bunch of other shows and parties that didn't exist on our voyage probably because they are still working on them; this includes the Mama Mia after party, Gatsby, and the adult cabaret night. We paid a premium to go on this sailing and are disappointed they didn't have these shows ready for us.

 

Ports: We did Disney and Atlantis, missed Coco-Cay because of the weather which isn't really RCCL's fault, so that was okay.

 

Onboard Activities: We did iFly, circus school trapeze, bumper cars, roller skating, the Quantum scavenger hunt, and the North Star- all activities were fun, didn't get to Flowrider because it was pretty chilly for the whole trip. The bionic bar is cool the first time you see it, but after that it just seems like a waste of space and never seemed crowded (usually 5-10 people there). I will say that if you don't like more active things, there wasn't much else offered to keep you occupied other than trivia and movies out by the pool (which again, it was freezing out, I don't want to be outside watching a movie at night when it's 40 degrees.)

 

Food: Dynamic Dining needs some improvement. On 3 out of 8 nights, we waited half an hour for a table even though we made reservations months ago. The food was very good, but not a lot of options on each menu, and they didn't have the simple taste alternative menus available yet. For specialty dining, we did Jamie's, Chops, & Devinly Decadence. All of these were very good, my favorite was probably Jamie's though- the homemade pasta is phenomenal, as are the risotto balls and meat plank. We also did Izumi for lunch which is very expensive for what you get, it cost us $13 for a shrimp roll and it wasn't that large. I feel like you are better off spending $15 and doing Jamie's for lunch. We did have some snacks at Michael's Genuine the first day and those were good, especially the potato chips and onion dip.

 

Issues Encountered:

 

We got onboard and immediately went to North Star which was opening at 12 pm. We got on after 20 minutes, only to then get stuck inside, they eventually had to manually pry open the doors. We then waited another 30 minutes while they had the mechanics looking at it, but nobody was giving us any information which was frustrating.

 

Later on in the cruise we went up at 8:30 am to get in line to get tickets for Northstar. This was the most ridiculous thing, it was about 45 degrees and windy and we were blocking the running track and had to wait there for over an hour just to get a ticket with a time to come back. If they are going to make people wait in line, it should really be inside somewhere and they should have more people giving out tickets so it doesn't take so long.

 

With the dining, we waited for tables even though we had reservations and at most of the venues, it took awhile to eat due to slow service and the time it takes for them to type everything into the tablet. The one waitress explained that any modification to an item, they have to type in word by word but each line only fits so many characters, so they have to keep adding new lines and such. It seems much slower with no assistant waiter and takes longer to get water, menus, bread, coffee, etc. It seemed like the restaurant that always had a line and was backed up was The Grande. The first night we were scheduled to eat there and it was so backed up that while waiting in line they offered for us to go to Coastal Kitchen or pay for us to go to Devinly Decadence, but we were all dressed up and didn't want to go somewhere else at that point. Also, they really need to make 2 lines, one for people who have reservations and one for people who don't.

 

Elevators were always an issue, it would randomly go on priority status and you couldn't get off and would end up on deck 2 when you were trying to go to deck 15, multiple elevators were always out of service. I don't mind walking, but we were on deck 6 and it was a long trek up to deck 14 for the solarium most mornings after waiting 10 minutes for an elevator and each one that stopped was already full.

 

There was no sailaway party when we left NJ and went under the bridge, very disappointed. I like when they have music and such and it seems to kick the cruise off with some energy. In general, there were no special activities or parties celebrating the inaugural, not even a glass of champagne. Some of the staff didn't even know and the one activity woman at trivia was arguing with people that it wasn't the inaugural and "I am always right, even when I am wrong, I am always right" I feel like that is a very poor attitude and not what you say to guests who were legitimately right and knew more than she did, but anyways...most of the staff was nice and she was an exception I guess.

 

There was a lack of activities during the day and night, there was hardly any game shows and the one or two that they did have had no participation because they were poorly advertised and nobody really knew they were happening. The Groovy Town disco party in the Music Hall was good. There was no Quest or Love & Marriage or Karaoke (there was Rock-A-Rokie one night but only 3 people showed up to sing). There were also no pool games like Belly Flop or Sexiest Man and the only time I saw the cruise director was on the TV.

 

The technology in general just doesn't work quite yet, they are still trying to work out kinks. Our TV account never worked, so we had to go to guest services to check on our account. The app worked sometimes, but never for messaging or calling people, just for viewing your calendar and even then, it was hit or miss with it working.

 

They were out of a lot of drinks, specifically wine. We paid for an ultimate package, but by day 3, they were out of the wines in the $12-$13 range, so I had to keep paying an extra $4/glass to get something decent, which is ridiculous after paying for the package. A few times we asked for bottled water the bar was out, so they said we had to "go find another bar that has it". I don't think I should spend my vacation tracking down a drink, you need to properly stock your bars.

 

I think the ice-cream station by the pool worked for an hour or two the whole cruise, so when it was working the line was crazy long, they need to add another one I guess. At one point, it actually caught on fire. I am not sure why there was such an issue with it, as I am pretty sure every other ship has them and usually there are no issues.

 

The ship is beautiful and elegant and as I have said, we did still enjoy our vacation (it's always better than being at work). But overall, we were disappointed given the amount of money we paid and the fact that so many things are not fully functional yet. Compared to all the other Royal cruises we have been on, it was our least favorite but cost us the most money. We have Anthem booked for a 10 night trip in April 2016 and will wait to see if reviews improve before making a choice of whether or not to keep our reservation.

Please email this to mycruise@rccl.com

[treaty300]

We feel most of the post-inaugural reviews have been way too kind. We're Diamond Plus and obviously love RCCL. It is well worth it for us to be loyal because of all the 'perks' we receive. We were on the inaugurals for Oasis and Allure and were blown away by the festivities, celebrations, daily goodies/gifts in our stateroom, etc (made you excited to go back to your stateroom to see what was there!).

Having said that...Quantum's inaugural was an absolute bomb! It was so underwhelming that it turned out to be the worst cruise we have ever had. The only thing we received that indicated 'inaugural' were 2 baseball caps and a paper certificate (on regular copy paper no less).

Apart from the crappy itinerary (although we picked the cruise for the ship, not ports) most all of the 'super smart' technology NEVER worked...even down to the elevators - waiting 4-5 minutes for an EMPTY elevator is unacceptable. The Royal IQ app was down the entire cruise. Only thing good were the RFID bands did work well.

We stood in some kind of line an average of 3 - 4.5 hours a day. There was a tremendous lack of communication, coordination and training; it seemed the entire crew were overworked and stressed because of this and it showed.

I have written to Crown and Anchor sharing our disappointment. Their response will determine whether we continue to sail with RCCL.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Tyron]

We feel most of the post-inaugural reviews have been way too kind. We're Diamond Plus and obviously love RCCL. It is well worth it for us to be loyal because of all the 'perks' we receive. We were on the inaugurals for Oasis and Allure and were blown away by the festivities, celebrations, daily goodies/gifts in our stateroom, etc (made you excited to go back to your stateroom to see what was there!).

Having said that...Quantum's inaugural was an absolute bomb! It was so underwhelming that it turned out to be the worst cruise we have ever had. The only thing we received that indicated 'inaugural' were 2 baseball caps and a paper certificate (on regular copy paper no less).

Apart from the crappy itinerary (although we picked the cruise for the ship, not ports) most all of the 'super smart' technology NEVER worked...even down to the elevators - waiting 4-5 minutes for an EMPTY elevator is unacceptable. The Royal IQ app was down the entire cruise. Only thing good were the RFID bands did work well.

We stood in some kind of line an average of 3 - 4.5 hours a day. There was a tremendous lack of communication, coordination and training; it seemed the entire crew were overworked and stressed because of this and it showed.

I have written to Crown and Anchor sharing our disappointment. Their response will determine whether we continue to sail with RCCL.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I think the post reviews were based on personal experience and were very honest.

 

I agree RC dropped the ball BIG TIME with labeling this as an "inaugural cruise" but failing miserably to deliver the experience we've all come to expect.

[hawks026]

We feel most of the post-inaugural reviews have been way too kind. We're Diamond Plus and obviously love RCCL. It is well worth it for us to be loyal because of all the 'perks' we receive. We were on the inaugurals for Oasis and Allure and were blown away by the festivities, celebrations, daily goodies/gifts in our stateroom, etc (made you excited to go back to your stateroom to see what was there!).

Having said that...Quantum's inaugural was an absolute bomb! It was so underwhelming that it turned out to be the worst cruise we have ever had. The only thing we received that indicated 'inaugural' were 2 baseball caps and a paper certificate (on regular copy paper no less).

Apart from the crappy itinerary (although we picked the cruise for the ship, not ports) most all of the 'super smart' technology NEVER worked...even down to the elevators - waiting 4-5 minutes for an EMPTY elevator is unacceptable. The Royal IQ app was down the entire cruise. Only thing good were the RFID bands did work well.

We stood in some kind of line an average of 3 - 4.5 hours a day. There was a tremendous lack of communication, coordination and training; it seemed the entire crew were overworked and stressed because of this and it showed.

I have written to Crown and Anchor sharing our disappointment. Their response will determine whether we continue to sail with RCCL.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

I couldn't agree more, I feel bad for the staff, I think for the most part they are trying but didn't have enough time for training and to learn the new systems. Do you have the e-mail address to send a letter to crown and anchor? Thanks!

[setter73]

So we have cruised on Royal quite a few times on many different classes of their ships. This was the first time that we felt disappointed about wasting our money and vacation time to cruise.

 

We are a couple in our late 20's, we met on Enchantment of the Seas and got engaged last year on Allure, so cruising is very near and dear to our hearts. We really wanted to try out Quantum, as did my parents, so we decided on a Thanksgiving family cruise and were excited for the inaugural after hearing we would have special events, gifts, etc.

 

Boarding: We got there for our 10:45 slot and were checked in fairly efficiently, but the gangway wasn't open yet since cruisers from the prior ship had failed to get off on time or something. We got on about 11:30, so it wasn't the end of the world.

 

Cabin: We went to our cabin around 12:30 and it was ready. The cabin layout is very nice, we had the bed by the balcony, which seems like the better layout. There is plenty of storage and the bathroom seemed more spacious, I like the bar for shaving your legs they added in the shower. We had an obstructed balcony, which was perfect since the weather was cold and I think we spent about 20 minutes out there total.

 

Staff: It seems like they are friendly, but very tired and frustrated. Cosmo in Jamie's was great, as was our stateroom attendant Marta and Ritish who was our serve in the Grande.

 

Shows: We loved all the shows we saw (Mama Mia, Starwater, Sonic Odyssey) and thought they were as good as the shows on Allure and much better than the smaller ships with less of a show selection. The disappointing thing was that they advertised a bunch of other shows and parties that didn't exist on our voyage probably because they are still working on them; this includes the Mama Mia after party, Gatsby, and the adult cabaret night. We paid a premium to go on this sailing and are disappointed they didn't have these shows ready for us.

 

Ports: We did Disney and Atlantis, missed Coco-Cay because of the weather which isn't really RCCL's fault, so that was okay.

 

Onboard Activities: We did iFly, circus school trapeze, bumper cars, roller skating, the Quantum scavenger hunt, and the North Star- all activities were fun, didn't get to Flowrider because it was pretty chilly for the whole trip. The bionic bar is cool the first time you see it, but after that it just seems like a waste of space and never seemed crowded (usually 5-10 people there). I will say that if you don't like more active things, there wasn't much else offered to keep you occupied other than trivia and movies out by the pool (which again, it was freezing out, I don't want to be outside watching a movie at night when it's 40 degrees.)

 

Food: Dynamic Dining needs some improvement. On 3 out of 8 nights, we waited half an hour for a table even though we made reservations months ago. The food was very good, but not a lot of options on each menu, and they didn't have the simple taste alternative menus available yet. For specialty dining, we did Jamie's, Chops, & Devinly Decadence. All of these were very good, my favorite was probably Jamie's though- the homemade pasta is phenomenal, as are the risotto balls and meat plank. We also did Izumi for lunch which is very expensive for what you get, it cost us $13 for a shrimp roll and it wasn't that large. I feel like you are better off spending $15 and doing Jamie's for lunch. We did have some snacks at Michael's Genuine the first day and those were good, especially the potato chips and onion dip.

 

Issues Encountered:

 

We got onboard and immediately went to North Star which was opening at 12 pm. We got on after 20 minutes, only to then get stuck inside, they eventually had to manually pry open the doors. We then waited another 30 minutes while they had the mechanics looking at it, but nobody was giving us any information which was frustrating.

 

Later on in the cruise we went up at 8:30 am to get in line to get tickets for Northstar. This was the most ridiculous thing, it was about 45 degrees and windy and we were blocking the running track and had to wait there for over an hour just to get a ticket with a time to come back. If they are going to make people wait in line, it should really be inside somewhere and they should have more people giving out tickets so it doesn't take so long.

 

With the dining, we waited for tables even though we had reservations and at most of the venues, it took awhile to eat due to slow service and the time it takes for them to type everything into the tablet. The one waitress explained that any modification to an item, they have to type in word by word but each line only fits so many characters, so they have to keep adding new lines and such. It seems much slower with no assistant waiter and takes longer to get water, menus, bread, coffee, etc. It seemed like the restaurant that always had a line and was backed up was The Grande. The first night we were scheduled to eat there and it was so backed up that while waiting in line they offered for us to go to Coastal Kitchen or pay for us to go to Devinly Decadence, but we were all dressed up and didn't want to go somewhere else at that point. Also, they really need to make 2 lines, one for people who have reservations and one for people who don't.

 

Elevators were always an issue, it would randomly go on priority status and you couldn't get off and would end up on deck 2 when you were trying to go to deck 15, multiple elevators were always out of service. I don't mind walking, but we were on deck 6 and it was a long trek up to deck 14 for the solarium most mornings after waiting 10 minutes for an elevator and each one that stopped was already full.

 

There was no sailaway party when we left NJ and went under the bridge, very disappointed. I like when they have music and such and it seems to kick the cruise off with some energy. In general, there were no special activities or parties celebrating the inaugural, not even a glass of champagne. Some of the staff didn't even know and the one activity woman at trivia was arguing with people that it wasn't the inaugural and "I am always right, even when I am wrong, I am always right" I feel like that is a very poor attitude and not what you say to guests who were legitimately right and knew more than she did, but anyways...most of the staff was nice and she was an exception I guess.

 

There was a lack of activities during the day and night, there was hardly any game shows and the one or two that they did have had no participation because they were poorly advertised and nobody really knew they were happening. The Groovy Town disco party in the Music Hall was good. There was no Quest or Love & Marriage or Karaoke (there was Rock-A-Rokie one night but only 3 people showed up to sing). There were also no pool games like Belly Flop or Sexiest Man and the only time I saw the cruise director was on the TV.

 

The technology in general just doesn't work quite yet, they are still trying to work out kinks. Our TV account never worked, so we had to go to guest services to check on our account. The app worked sometimes, but never for messaging or calling people, just for viewing your calendar and even then, it was hit or miss with it working.

 

They were out of a lot of drinks, specifically wine. We paid for an ultimate package, but by day 3, they were out of the wines in the $12-$13 range, so I had to keep paying an extra $4/glass to get something decent, which is ridiculous after paying for the package. A few times we asked for bottled water the bar was out, so they said we had to "go find another bar that has it". I don't think I should spend my vacation tracking down a drink, you need to properly stock your bars.

 

I think the ice-cream station by the pool worked for an hour or two the whole cruise, so when it was working the line was crazy long, they need to add another one I guess. At one point, it actually caught on fire. I am not sure why there was such an issue with it, as I am pretty sure every other ship has them and usually there are no issues.

 

The ship is beautiful and elegant and as I have said, we did still enjoy our vacation (it's always better than being at work). But overall, we were disappointed given the amount of money we paid and the fact that so many things are not fully functional yet. Compared to all the other Royal cruises we have been on, it was our least favorite but cost us the most money. We have Anthem booked for a 10 night trip in April 2016 and will wait to see if reviews improve before making a choice of whether or not to keep our reservation.

 

 

I agree with your analysis. I have cruised 28 times with Royal, and this is the 1st time I was disappointed. Especially since we paid as much for the 2 night cruise, that we have paid for a 5 or 7 night. We were on the 2 night sampler and my brother was on the 3 night sampler. We encountered the same issues and attributed it to the short sailings. I guess not. We also experienced long waits despite reservations, we waited on line in the freezing cold to get a ticket to come back for the North Star, and just walked off the line after 45 minutes. We couldn't get a reservation for ifly. No Quest or Love & Marriage show. I saw Jimmy Rhodes once. He did not intoduce or close Mama Mia or the comedian at night. The only time I saw him was his speech after Starwater. I thought having 2 cruise directors on board meant more face time not less. Oh well.

[yj2cute]

I agree with your analysis. I have cruised 28 times with Royal, and this is the 1st time I was disappointed. Especially since we paid as much for the 2 night cruise, that we have paid for a 5 or 7 night. We were on the 2 night sampler and my brother was on the 3 night sampler. We encountered the same issues and attributed it to the short sailings. I guess not. We also experienced long waits despite reservations, we waited on line in the freezing cold to get a ticket to come back for the North Star, and just walked off the line after 45 minutes. We couldn't get a reservation for ifly. No Quest or Love & Marriage show. I saw Jimmy Rhodes once. He did not intoduce or close Mama Mia or the comedian at night. The only time I saw him was his speech after Starwater. I thought having 2 cruise directors on board meant more face time not less. Oh well.

 

You must have been on the same 2 nighter I was on because I was looking forward to speaking with Jimmy Rhodes personally since I had met him on a previous Explorer cruise. As you said, I only laid eyes on him ONCE. When I saw him pop up out of the shrubbery in 270 after Starwater I thought that would be my opportunity to speak with him but NOPE, he popped back down and that was it! Lol.

 

I was very dissapointed in the activities or lack thereof, but I attributed it to the short sailing. I did read on FB that they've scheduled a L & M show on the current sailing but there will be no Quest on that ship due to "lack of venue" per Jimmy.

[rjs3434]

I had a lot of fun on the 11/23 - 12/01 cruise. It was actually the best cruise I've been on (been on 5). Maybe it's because I enjoyed the Unlimited Beverage Package a little too much. :) Will definitely do it again.

[gaylemh]

You must have been on the same 2 nighter I was on because I was looking forward to speaking with Jimmy Rhodes personally since I had met him on a previous Explorer cruise. As you said, I only laid eyes on him ONCE. When I saw him pop up out of the shrubbery in 270 after Starwater I thought that would be my opportunity to speak with him but NOPE, he popped back down and that was it! Lol.

 

I was very dissapointed in the activities or lack thereof, but I attributed it to the short sailing. I did read on FB that they've scheduled a L & M show on the current sailing but there will be no Quest on that ship due to "lack of venue" per Jimmy.

 

Glad to see the L & M back. I hope it stays.

[Tyron]

I had a lot of fun on the 11/23 - 12/01 cruise. It was actually the best cruise I've been on (been on 5). Maybe it's because I enjoyed the Unlimited Beverage Package a little too much. :) Will definitely do it again.

LOL! I had a GREAT time too but was extremely annoyed by some of the issues. I think the ship itself is spectacular. :cool:

[emmy]

Just finished the survey and noted many things.

 

Beautiful ship but many annoyances on this inaugural sailing and many times I found myself standing in line to get things accomplished and corrected.

 

Have another sailing in April with many cruising friends so am hoping for a more positive experience. I do plan on sending a letter to AG's office

 

all I really wanted was the Quantum Inaugural art book :(

[Tyron]

Just finished the survey and noted many things.

 

Beautiful ship but many annoyances on this inaugural sailing and many times I found myself standing in line to get things accomplished and corrected.

 

Have another sailing in April with many cruising friends so am hoping for a more positive experience. I do plan on sending a letter to AG's office

 

all I really wanted was the Quantum Inaugural art book :(

 

I agree, Emmy! It's such a beautiful ship but it's a disgrace that RC didn't make sure it was properly staffed and stocked. The tech issues were an entirely different matter.

[g3off]

Do you think that they will have a lot of these kinks in performance whether it's staff, process, different onboard activities sorted and greatly improved by feb2nd? Yes, that's when we go on her :) also just wondering from more of you experienced cruisers what you may think about this amount of time to sort it out.

 

I haven't followed a ship build before this one and the reviews from launch through to when I get on before. My last cruise was 2007 on vision down the west coast into Mexico. Things were different then I think ;)

[gkbiiii]

WOW, I feel truly vindicated on my review!!

[A&L_Ont]

For a ship that is considered so high tech it is amazing the only way to ride the North Star is by waiting in line.

[Tyron]

In my opinion, I feel the Anthem will offer guests the cruise experience we didn't receive which is unfortunate for those of us that have recently sailed. Again, the ship itself is absolutely beautiful!!! I love the layout, design and passenger flow.

 

Unfortunately, it's clear RC priorities with the Quantum are quite clear....CHINA!!!

 

I think they'll address and rectify the problems/issue that have been identified.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[ccaxle]

Figured I would weigh in on this...... After 10 days on the Quantum we had a Great Trip. Yes there were some Hiccups, The Ice Cream Machine was one as mentioned, on the flip side, we got free Coke (or Coke Products) since they ran out of the Mugs they sell.

 

We never waited for any did, we had reservations for All dinners and Shows.

 

Biggest wait..... getting into the shows we had reservations for and for a North Star ticket.

 

We Loved being on a New ship, never cruisied on the Oasis or Allure so we found the ship to be Impressive.

 

 

Biggest Disappointments - we were lead to believe the Inaugural Cruise would be loaded with Specials and gifts (RCL agent on another cruise) implied this.

 

Our next Plans - Allure or Oasis!

[regg1216]

Just finished the survey and noted many things.

 

Beautiful ship but many annoyances on this inaugural sailing and many times I found myself standing in line to get things accomplished and corrected.

 

Have another sailing in April with many cruising friends so am hoping for a more positive experience. I do plan on sending a letter to AG's office

 

all I really wanted was the Quantum Inaugural art book :(

 

Emmy, I agree, my letter has already been emailed.

[emmy]

Emmy, I agree, my letter has already been emailed.

 

There were also problems on our Recent Oasis transatlantic but I refrained from sending a letter but many did send one .

 

This time though I will be contacting AG 'a office. Filled out the survey last evening with lots of comments

[yj2cute]

In my opinion, I feel the Anthem will offer guests the cruise experience we didn't receive which is unfortunate for those of us that have recently sailed. Again, the ship itself is absolutely beautiful!!! I love the layout, design and passenger flow.

 

Unfortunately, it's clear RC priorities with the Quantum are quite clear....CHINA!!!

 

I think they'll address and rectify the problems/issue that have been identified.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

 

Tyron, if that's true it's a big problem! We all deserve to get Royal's best when we pay our money to sail with them. There are many options for our vacation dollars, and when we put our confidence and DOLLARS into them we deserve their best in return!

 

I'm also pretty confident that Anthem will be a much better experience. Well at least I hope so.

[nycruise]

As to special inaugural goodies and events, we haven't seen it. We sailed on the inaugural of the Independence of the Seas back in 2008 and the Royal Princess last year and saw no difference from a regular cruise. I guess the days of freebies are pretty much over.

[Maraprince]

As to special inaugural goodies and events, we haven't seen it. We sailed on the inaugural of the Independence of the Seas back in 2008 and the Royal Princess last year and saw no difference from a regular cruise. I guess the days of freebies are pretty much over.

 

 

Freebies are one thing, but to sell the sailing at and sometimes above the normal going rate, call it an "ignaural", have a lot of the high tech gizmos not working correctly, misrepresent it almost from the very beginning by not telling passengers about DD and all the other major changes, tout that every day (or so) you should expect to see goodies appear in your cabin is just plain crazy.

 

Sure, RCCL ended up giving OBCs and such, but it really diminished the overall expectations that many were led to believe they would get to experience.

 

Seems like anyone who sails on Q is being treated like an experiment so that by the time it goes over to China with more changes, etc. it may almost be working properly. Really not fair.

 

MARAPRINCE

[darrencantwait]

Freebies are one thing, but to sell the sailing at and sometimes above the normal going rate, call it an "ignaural", have a lot of the high tech gizmos not working correctly, misrepresent it almost from the very beginning by not telling passengers about DD and all the other major changes, tout that every day (or so) you should expect to see goodies appear in your cabin is just plain crazy.

 

Sure, RCCL ended up giving OBCs and such, but it really diminished the overall expectations that many were led to believe they would get to experience.

 

Seems like anyone who sails on Q is being treated like an experiment so that by the time it goes over to China with more changes, etc. it may almost be working properly. Really not fair.

 

MARAPRINCE

 

did you get an OBC on the 11/23 sailing? We didn't get anything.

[darrencantwait]

So we have cruised on Royal quite a few times on many different classes of their ships. This was the first time that we felt disappointed about wasting our money and vacation time to cruise.

 

We are a couple in our late 20's, we met on Enchantment of the Seas and got engaged last year on Allure, so cruising is very near and dear to our hearts. We really wanted to try out Quantum, as did my parents, so we decided on a Thanksgiving family cruise and were excited for the inaugural after hearing we would have special events, gifts, etc.

 

Boarding: We got there for our 10:45 slot and were checked in fairly efficiently, but the gangway wasn't open yet since cruisers from the prior ship had failed to get off on time or something. We got on about 11:30, so it wasn't the end of the world.

 

Cabin: We went to our cabin around 12:30 and it was ready. The cabin layout is very nice, we had the bed by the balcony, which seems like the better layout. There is plenty of storage and the bathroom seemed more spacious, I like the bar for shaving your legs they added in the shower. We had an obstructed balcony, which was perfect since the weather was cold and I think we spent about 20 minutes out there total.

 

Staff: It seems like they are friendly, but very tired and frustrated. Cosmo in Jamie's was great, as was our stateroom attendant Marta and Ritish who was our serve in the Grande.

 

Shows: We loved all the shows we saw (Mama Mia, Starwater, Sonic Odyssey) and thought they were as good as the shows on Allure and much better than the smaller ships with less of a show selection. The disappointing thing was that they advertised a bunch of other shows and parties that didn't exist on our voyage probably because they are still working on them; this includes the Mama Mia after party, Gatsby, and the adult cabaret night. We paid a premium to go on this sailing and are disappointed they didn't have these shows ready for us.

 

Ports: We did Disney and Atlantis, missed Coco-Cay because of the weather which isn't really RCCL's fault, so that was okay.

 

Onboard Activities: We did iFly, circus school trapeze, bumper cars, roller skating, the Quantum scavenger hunt, and the North Star- all activities were fun, didn't get to Flowrider because it was pretty chilly for the whole trip. The bionic bar is cool the first time you see it, but after that it just seems like a waste of space and never seemed crowded (usually 5-10 people there). I will say that if you don't like more active things, there wasn't much else offered to keep you occupied other than trivia and movies out by the pool (which again, it was freezing out, I don't want to be outside watching a movie at night when it's 40 degrees.)

 

Food: Dynamic Dining needs some improvement. On 3 out of 8 nights, we waited half an hour for a table even though we made reservations months ago. The food was very good, but not a lot of options on each menu, and they didn't have the simple taste alternative menus available yet. For specialty dining, we did Jamie's, Chops, & Devinly Decadence. All of these were very good, my favorite was probably Jamie's though- the homemade pasta is phenomenal, as are the risotto balls and meat plank. We also did Izumi for lunch which is very expensive for what you get, it cost us $13 for a shrimp roll and it wasn't that large. I feel like you are better off spending $15 and doing Jamie's for lunch. We did have some snacks at Michael's Genuine the first day and those were good, especially the potato chips and onion dip.

 

Issues Encountered:

 

We got onboard and immediately went to North Star which was opening at 12 pm. We got on after 20 minutes, only to then get stuck inside, they eventually had to manually pry open the doors. We then waited another 30 minutes while they had the mechanics looking at it, but nobody was giving us any information which was frustrating.

 

Later on in the cruise we went up at 8:30 am to get in line to get tickets for Northstar. This was the most ridiculous thing, it was about 45 degrees and windy and we were blocking the running track and had to wait there for over an hour just to get a ticket with a time to come back. If they are going to make people wait in line, it should really be inside somewhere and they should have more people giving out tickets so it doesn't take so long.

 

With the dining, we waited for tables even though we had reservations and at most of the venues, it took awhile to eat due to slow service and the time it takes for them to type everything into the tablet. The one waitress explained that any modification to an item, they have to type in word by word but each line only fits so many characters, so they have to keep adding new lines and such. It seems much slower with no assistant waiter and takes longer to get water, menus, bread, coffee, etc. It seemed like the restaurant that always had a line and was backed up was The Grande. The first night we were scheduled to eat there and it was so backed up that while waiting in line they offered for us to go to Coastal Kitchen or pay for us to go to Devinly Decadence, but we were all dressed up and didn't want to go somewhere else at that point. Also, they really need to make 2 lines, one for people who have reservations and one for people who don't.

 

Elevators were always an issue, it would randomly go on priority status and you couldn't get off and would end up on deck 2 when you were trying to go to deck 15, multiple elevators were always out of service. I don't mind walking, but we were on deck 6 and it was a long trek up to deck 14 for the solarium most mornings after waiting 10 minutes for an elevator and each one that stopped was already full.

 

There was no sailaway party when we left NJ and went under the bridge, very disappointed. I like when they have music and such and it seems to kick the cruise off with some energy. In general, there were no special activities or parties celebrating the inaugural, not even a glass of champagne. Some of the staff didn't even know and the one activity woman at trivia was arguing with people that it wasn't the inaugural and "I am always right, even when I am wrong, I am always right" I feel like that is a very poor attitude and not what you say to guests who were legitimately right and knew more than she did, but anyways...most of the staff was nice and she was an exception I guess.

 

There was a lack of activities during the day and night, there was hardly any game shows and the one or two that they did have had no participation because they were poorly advertised and nobody really knew they were happening. The Groovy Town disco party in the Music Hall was good. There was no Quest or Love & Marriage or Karaoke (there was Rock-A-Rokie one night but only 3 people showed up to sing). There were also no pool games like Belly Flop or Sexiest Man and the only time I saw the cruise director was on the TV.

 

The technology in general just doesn't work quite yet, they are still trying to work out kinks. Our TV account never worked, so we had to go to guest services to check on our account. The app worked sometimes, but never for messaging or calling people, just for viewing your calendar and even then, it was hit or miss with it working.

 

They were out of a lot of drinks, specifically wine. We paid for an ultimate package, but by day 3, they were out of the wines in the $12-$13 range, so I had to keep paying an extra $4/glass to get something decent, which is ridiculous after paying for the package. A few times we asked for bottled water the bar was out, so they said we had to "go find another bar that has it". I don't think I should spend my vacation tracking down a drink, you need to properly stock your bars.

 

I think the ice-cream station by the pool worked for an hour or two the whole cruise, so when it was working the line was crazy long, they need to add another one I guess. At one point, it actually caught on fire. I am not sure why there was such an issue with it, as I am pretty sure every other ship has them and usually there are no issues.

 

The ship is beautiful and elegant and as I have said, we did still enjoy our vacation (it's always better than being at work). But overall, we were disappointed given the amount of money we paid and the fact that so many things are not fully functional yet. Compared to all the other Royal cruises we have been on, it was our least favorite but cost us the most money. We have Anthem booked for a 10 night trip in April 2016 and will wait to see if reviews improve before making a choice of whether or not to keep our reservation.

 

Sounds like we had a very similar experience.

 

One complaint that I haven't seen online yet and i really hope is "fixed," no facial tissues in the bathrooms of the cabins (didn't check public restrooms). Maybe they just hadn't arrived, or something. I think this is a big mistake if they are trying to promote being sanitary while on board. It would be nice to have a tissue to sneeze into.

 

Another thing that I haven't seen mentioned on these boards, the rooms seem very room. Then I realized, they have done away with any sort of a "coffee table." We actually were quite alright with this, but it is a departure.