Quantum 12/1 - 12/12 Review

[andrea lynn]

Final Day at Sea…

As the cruise is about to come to an end we planned to cram as much as possible into the last day at sea. We started off our day in the Windjammer for breakfast. While I enjoyed the food in the Windjammer I sure wish we would have made it to some of the other venues for breakfast so I could have provided more of a review. Truth is we enjoyed sleeping in and the hours at the windjammer just seemed to better fit our schedule. I guess that will have to wait till our next cruise (nothing planned yet) to experience the other breakfast spots.

After breakfast we headed up for our last ride on the bumper cars. This was the only time we encountered a line that wrapped around the sea plex. The wait had previously been no longer than 5 minutes. As we had sailed further up the east coast the weather got colder so most folks were enjoying the indoor activities.

We took a spin around the royal esplanade and to our surprise the 1 hour only $10 t shirt was still going on. The place was mobbed and the shirts were thrown all over the table so we passed on the opportunity. Thankfully we had picked up some logo tees earlier in the cruise, so no need to fight the madness.

Next up we headed over to two70 to see our final Robo Show. These shows are great, as was evident by the packed venue. Following the robo show we stayed around for a chat with our cruise director. We had cruised with Jimmy before and we enjoy him so much that we follow along with his adventures on Facebook. After some fun we went back to the cabin to begin the dreaded task of packing. Hubby felt a cold coming on so he napped while I packed things up. The past 11 days have been so incredible that I wasn't ready to go home yet.

Once all was packed we headed up to the sea plex for the flying trapeze. I was next in line but quickly changed my mind as I was afraid of injuring my shoulders. Some of the other guests were just amazing it was pretty exciting to watch. The activities staff really had to have had a lot of training for that, as they did great job with the folks who were trying it out for the first time. They were really great and worked hard to ensure that each guest had an awesome experience. We also visited the hot dog truck for one last snack. The Coney Island Dog has been my favorite.

Before tonight's show we stopped in the diamond lounge for a farewell cocktail. Tonight's headliner was Earl Turner a motown singer with rave reviews. He had so much energy and really engaged the guests. It was a great show with lots if laughs. For his final few songs he danced across the arm rest of the fourth row. He even incorporated a wonderful John Legend song into his act. He was a wonderful entertainer.

We had switched around our dining reservations for the last two evening so that we could join our friends for dinner. It is important to note that we had no issue switching reservations. Tonight we ate in The Grande. Thankfully tonight's experience was much better than our previous visit. Our waiter greeted us almost immediately and did a great job all night. We shared lots of laughs during dinner. I couldn't think of better way to celebrate our final night on board.

For starters I had the shrimp cocktail (simply amazing), the escargot and the mushroom risotto (too creamy for my taste, but the truffle mushrooms were excellent!). I wasn't a big fan of the risotto as it was too soupy for me. Up next I had the lobster thermador followed by the chocolate lava cake for dessert. Hubby had the same starters along with the lamb shank and lobster thermador for his entree. He ended the night with the napoleon.

I would dine in any of the restaurants again in a heart beat as each evening was better than the previous. Honestly when RCL contacted me in March 2014 to discuss my dinner reservations i had some reservations about the concept. It worked well for us and changing restaurants every night added to the experience. I would not hesitate to book another sailing on the Quantum.

[IRATHERBEGOLFING]

Thanks for your great review of your eleven day cruise. Next time you are at Lobsters Alive in Barbados try the lobsters you will not be disappointed!

Quantum of the Seas May 2 Transatlantic Voyage to Barcelona
Viking Forseti April 26-May 3 2014
Navigator of the Seas July 2003 Edited December 26, 2014 by IRATHERBEGOLFING
Forgot to the add cruises we have been on previously.

[andrea lynn]

In general I would not hesitate to book another sailing on the Quantum. This was truly one of the best cruises I have been on. Thankfully we booked early and were able to secure an amazing price. We certainly got our money’s worth from this vacation. I have read many other reviews that are the exact opposite of mine, hopefully folks will take a chance and judge for themselves. It was just what every vacation should be… Relaxing!!!

Here is my recap…

Boarding – Easy Breezy… the best I have encountered thus far at Bayonne. Left the house at 9am, made a brief pit stop for some coffee, fought the NYC Monday morning traffic to arrive in Bayonne at 10:40am. Dropped the luggage, parked in long term parking, walked across to the terminal, checked in with a roaming agent and sat down for my first meal in the Windjammer at 11:00am. I live 10mins away from each of the NYC area airports and have never had such an seamless experience arriving and checking in for a flight.

Lady Q – She is by far the most beautiful ship I have ever been on. So much to do, so much to see! She shouted elegance at every turn. It was so easy to navigate my way around, I never needed to use the map. While I always enjoyed my December sailings on the Explorer it is nice to have a new ship in my back yard. There are way more public spaces to just chill and relax and the décor adds so much to the experience. The incorporation of technology was fabulous. With the exception of the online reservation system you did not have to be a rocket scientist to enjoy the technology upgrades. The touch screen directories, interactive art, TV notifications, Wow bands and food pagers were a welcomed addition. I heard a lot of noise about the elevators, I personally never had an issue. There were plenty of public restrooms, the new automatic flushers didn’t always work properly so watch out for the vacuum suction while you are in the middle of your business.

Activities – So So So much to do!!! Folks of all ages seemed to be enjoying the added attractions such as, bumper cars, I Fly, North Star, Roller Skating, Games in the Sea Plex, and much much more!!! The staff was simply amazing, they truly went out of their way to provide that WOW experience. The activities staff was always friendly and upbeat. I am sure that Jimmy is behind all the smiles. Big Kudos to Jimmy and his staff for all of their hard work and dedication. I have had the pleasure of cruising with Jimmy Rhodes on the Explorer and it is unfortunate that so many voiced their dislike for him. Jimmy was specifically chosen to serve as Cruise Director for the Inaugural Season because of his wonderful ability to lead and interact with the guests. IMHO… Following the theme of Innovation RCCL is kicking themselves in the butt by shifting Jimmy’s role from a Cruise Director into an Administrator. It is a shame that the Activities Director didn’t seem to be well paired with Jimmy. In the past Jimmy has always been teamed up with an Activities Director who was his twin and provided for lots of laughs. Jimmy, did however take the time on several occasions to make sure that the Hubby and I were enjoying ourselves and I am very grateful for his thoughtfulness. I hope that RCCL will take note and let us have our Cruise Director back! My favorite evening venues were the Music Hall and 270. I have read many complaints about the lack of evening activities, however this was not my experience, as I never got back to my cabin earlier than 1am. My husband is very laid back and usually keeps the seat warm while I dance the night away… There must have been something in the air as he too danced his feet off. Archie and Horizon were AMAZING!!! The Beatlemaniacs were the best Beatle’s tribute band I have ever seen. I was so impressed that each night they played a different set.

Ports of Call – One was better than the next, however Lady Q had so much to offer that I would not have minded being at sea for the entire sailing. We arrive early at each port, giving us some extra time to enjoy being on land. Barbados and St Kitts tie for best port. Having excellent weather during my visits certainly enhanced the experiences. While Martinique got such horrible reviews I would have no objection to returning for another visit. I was most impressed that the staff really seemed to be interested in my opinion of Martinique (I had lost an earring getting off the ship that morning and when I went to Guest Services to see if it had been found the staff had lots of questions about my day in Martinique). Seems that a lot of folks did not have the same opinion as I did. Each port of call offered such a wide variety of activities, something to please everyone. The lines to get on/off the ship at each port of call always seemed to move quickly, even during peak hours. As we arrived early at each port I never attempted to be the first off of the ship, it was just as easy to wait 15 minutes and avoid the chaos.

Dynamic Dining – I only ate in the complimentary restaurants and was not disappointed by this new concept of dining. My greatest concern was the lack of morale displayed by the dining room staff. I was also a little taken back that so many of the venues had run out of the basics like spinach, romaine, bananas and plain bagels, but as this was only the 3rd official cruise I will not fault the staff for this oversight, as we certainly did not go hungry. I did not encounter any of the technology glitches that other seems to have reported, our waiters seemed to have no difficulty operating the tablets. Except for the Grande dinner each night lasted about an hour and fifth teen minutes. The food always came out as ordered and piping hot. I can agree that the staff did not seem to be able to handle special requests very well, as they often got frazzled when my husband would order the sugar free dessert (which was not on the menu). My favorite restaurant was Chic followed by Silk. We received a special invite to dine one evening in the Coastal Kitchen, which I give two-thumbs up. There were a few items on the menu that sparked an interest for me. I wish that I would have had the opportunity to go back and try some of the other entrees. RCCL has always provided excellent food, they simply out did themselves this time. One dish was better than the one before. The quality really seemed to be in line with Celebrity.

Additional Dining Venues…
The Windjammer Marketplace – A nice improvement in design and selection of food. I am not one to eat until I pop, but I certainly enjoyed many wonderful meals and snacks here. The quality of the food has noticeable improved, especially the desserts. I never encountered lines in the Windjammer and the beverage stations were well laid out. I know that everyone has their favorite RCCL Staples, but if you enjoy variety Lady Q has a lot to offer you. Most importantly do miss out on the fresh baked cookies!!!
Café @270 – What an excellent set up! So many delicious choices with the Kummelweck blowing it out of the box. There were so many options for lunch/snacking. I know that they also serve breakfast here, however I never made it. The desserts were simply amazing with my favorites being the chocolate peanut butter cupcake and oreo cheesecake bite. The bit sized snacks were perfect to satisfy a sweet tooth. My only suggesting would be adding a Coke freestyle machine to this area.
Café Promenade – Yum! A much greater selection than on the Explorer. The shrimp sandwich was Awesome!!! Although the variety did not change (several types of sandwiches and for sweets they had the mud cakes, lemonade tarts, cookies and zeppoles) I have no complaints, when I wanted a snack I knew where to go. The lines were always reasonable, even after a show let out.
Sorrento’s – Not much to brag about. As a NYer I am serious about my pizza and this pizza just didn’t do it for me.

Diamond Club – While there have been many complaints about the overcrowding I myself had no issues. I have been cruising out of the NY area on the first December sailing for the last 5 years and this sailing has always been known for attracting its Diamond Members. I was just as happy to grab some hors d'oeuvres and sit at the bar out in the Music Hall. I am not sure if during the design phase they considered the Music Hall for the over flow, but it seemed to work nicely. The bartender made very strong drinks, never swiped my card and was extremely friendly. You won’t hear any complaints from me..

I really hope other will give Lady Q the benefit of the doubt and experience her for themselves. Please feel free to ask questions…

[DaniDanielle]

It took only 20 minutes from check in to Windjammer????

[crayon78]

[quote name='DaniDanielle']It took only 20 minutes from check in to Windjammer????[/QUOTE]

Although we did encounter lines and crowds throughout the cruise (12/1 sailing), our boarding experience was the same - it was super quick. I timed it out of curiosity. It took us about 10 minutes curbside to wait in line and get the bags checked in, but from the door of the terminal to the first step on the ship was a little under 10 minutes. It was so much quicker than we ever expected. We didn't go straight to the Windjammer but we probably could have done 20 minutes from the terminal door to the Windjammer. It was impressive (although it sounds like the waits may have been longer for some other sailings).

[karen1821]

What a great review. I was just asked yesterday by a friend of mine if I would like to go on Lady Q at the end of March. I already have a cruise booked on the Jewel to the Pacific Northwest in September. Being that I am traveling alone, that means double the price and airfare, I am going to cancel that and pay half of what I would have been paying. No brainer. I really haven't been investigating everything that needs to be checked out to cruise on the Lady Q. I am D+ and usually go on the smaller ships. My question is, do I have to make reservations for the complimentary restaurants ahead of time? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[12times]

I realize there seems to be a lot of complaints. I have been on 21 cruises,and I am a Diamond member on RCL. the reason I enjoy cruising is because I DON"T have to wait in lines. I chose my dining time and go to the show that is related to my dining time......no lines......no making reservations.....just relaxing. We travel with other couples and it took us over three hrs ,just to get our dining reservations on Quantum.First to decide ,where we wanted to eat,what night,what time and then try to link them all. Not even knowing what the show times were at that point.
Many people might like DD and if so they have the right to cruise ships that provide it.

I cruise to relax and there are enough ships out there they I don't have to wait in lines and can just sit back and enjoy.

Good luck to everyone,including myself who is sailing on Quantum in March.

[Hoopster95]

[quote name='karen1821']Being that I am traveling alone...I am D+ and usually go on the smaller ships. My question is, do I have to make reservations for the complimentary restaurants ahead of time? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

D+ and solo here. Nope, go to whatever restaurant you want and ask to be seated in a group table with others... that's how it worked for me, exactly like MTD on "regular" ships in the fleet. Seems that on the much fuller sailings recently (Bahamas) there many dining issues that I never witnessed nor experienced on my sailing. I booked 8 out of 11 nights ahead of time, changed 3 of the nights on the fly, cancelled one outright during the cruise. I found it easy. Not to hijack this review, if you haven't seen it yet I have a review going from my solo perspective.. click on my signature below. :) Edited December 31, 2014 by Hoopster95

[karen1821]

[quote name='Hoopster95']D+ and solo here. Nope, go to whatever restaurant you want and ask to be seated in a group table with others... that's how it worked for me, exactly like MTD on "regular" ships in the fleet. Seems that on the much fuller sailings recently (Bahamas) there many dining issues that I never witnessed nor experienced on my sailing. I booked 8 out of 11 nights ahead of time, changed 3 of the nights on the fly, cancelled one outright during the cruise. I found it easy. Not to hijack this review, if you haven't seen it yet I have a review going from my solo perspective.. click on my signature below. :)[/QUOTE]

Thanks. What awesome reviews you have. They really helped me understand what to check out. Come on March!

[MJonTravel]

Thanks for the terrific review, Andrea! We really enjoyed Quantum of the Seas. The only reason I'm not cruising on her again is because I can't put together enough time off before she leaves for China.

[andrea lynn]

Check in took less than 5 mins and we boarded right away.

[andrea lynn]

[quote name='crayon78']Although we did encounter lines and crowds throughout the cruise (12/1 sailing), our boarding experience was the same - it was super quick. I timed it out of curiosity. It took us about 10 minutes curbside to wait in line and get the bags checked in, but from the door of the terminal to the first step on the ship was a little under 10 minutes. It was so much quicker than we ever expected. We didn't go straight to the Windjammer but we probably could have done 20 minutes from the terminal door to the Windjammer. It was impressive (although it sounds like the waits may have been longer for some other sailings).[/QUOTE]
When we returned to Bayonne there seemed to be some sort of delay and the traffic was really backed up. Thankfully we did not encounter any delays.

[andrea lynn]

[quote name='karen1821']What a great review. I was just asked yesterday by a friend of mine if I would like to go on Lady Q at the end of March. I already have a cruise booked on the Jewel to the Pacific Northwest in September. Being that I am traveling alone, that means double the price and airfare, I am going to cancel that and pay half of what I would have been paying. No brainer. I really haven't been investigating everything that needs to be checked out to cruise on the Lady Q. I am D+ and usually go on the smaller ships. My question is, do I have to make reservations for the complimentary restaurants ahead of time? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.[/QUOTE]
I highly recommend making your dinner reservations in advance. It made a huge difference for us.

[Taconic]

I discovered yesterday that none of the dining reservations that I made were in my cruise planner. Of course, since it was New Years day, they were closed. Today when I was able to reach them they said that I never made reservations for dining.. If I had, they would be in the records. That is just not true! Before I finally was able to make my reservations I was kicked off numerous times because they were having problems. Today I was finally able to reach someone and she could only give us reservations for three nights in Silk. Am I supposed to spend $5,000 for a cruise and eat in a cafeteria? Has anyone else had this problem?

[ncbn0902]

[quote name='Taconic']I discovered yesterday that none of the dining reservations that I made were in my cruise planner. Of course, since it was New Years day, they were closed. Today when I was able to reach them they said that I never made reservations for dining.. If I had, they would be in the records. That is just not true! Before I finally was able to make my reservations I was kicked off numerous times because they were having problems. Today I was finally able to reach someone and she could only give us reservations for three nights in Silk. Am I supposed to spend $5,000 for a cruise and eat in a cafeteria? Has anyone else had this problem?[/quote]

When is your cruise?

[Taconic]

Feb 2

[rvcruz]

We are cruising on Quantum on 1/11/15 and glad to hear Dynamic Dining worked for u. Usually we eat later but we are cruzing with another couple so we have to eat early. Sorry to hear about the service...this is a pet peeve with me and I can only hold my tongue for so long.This is a vacation for us and we all know life is hard etc It is what it is.. We love the sea and the line so we know we will have a great time. Thanks again.

[crayon78]

[quote name='Taconic']I discovered yesterday that none of the dining reservations that I made were in my cruise planner. Of course, since it was New Years day, they were closed. Today when I was able to reach them they said that I never made reservations for dining.. If I had, they would be in the records. That is just not true! Before I finally was able to make my reservations I was kicked off numerous times because they were having problems. Today I was finally able to reach someone and she could only give us reservations for three nights in Silk. Am I supposed to spend $5,000 for a cruise and eat in a cafeteria? Has anyone else had this problem?[/QUOTE]

Yes, but not for all of them. We had a couple of reservations that just vanished from our cruise planner and when we called them, they said they were never there for those nights. They couldn't really give us anything either, so we just kept checking daily, both for new times and to make sure nothing else had disappeared from other nights. Eventually we were able to get something on our own doing it that way, but it was pretty annoying that even though we had confirmations of the reservations, they acted like we hadn't done anything.

[Taconic]

We didn't even have confirmations. Have you cruised already. If so, how did you make out with dinner?

[crayon78]

[quote name='Taconic']We didn't even have confirmations. Have you cruised already. If so, how did you make out with dinner?[/QUOTE]

Yes, we were on the 12/1 sailing. For the most part, the reservations we had were okay, although they couldn't find one of them at the desk. When we said we had one and a printed confirmation that we forgot in the room but could go get, she was very dismissive and told us it wouldn't make a difference. They did seat us, but it was frustrating, after dealing with all the reservation headaches before going on the cruise.

We had a couple of days we couldn't get reservations for ahead of time and using the app/iPads on-board, they still showed no availability. So we went at off times to the reservation desks to talk to them to try to get reservations. They eventually found some space, but the app was no help. I know some other people seemed to have an easy time with switching stuff on the app but every time we checked for anything, there was always no availability. Might be our party size (4) but we were looking at all different times of night and there wasn't anything.

For those days with no reservations, before they found anything, the people at the check-in desk said we could walk in at 5:30 those days and see if there was space, or likely we wouldn't get in for the night. That was why we tried so hard to get reservations for those nights. They really made it seem like we couldn't just walk in unless it was at 5:30 (although it sounds from reviews like people were able to sometimes).

[ocav]

I discovered yesterday that none of the dining reservations that I made were in my cruise planner. Of course, since it was New Years day, they were closed. Today when I was able to reach them they said that I never made reservations for dining.. If I had, they would be in the records. That is just not true! Before I finally was able to make my reservations I was kicked off numerous times because they were having problems. Today I was finally able to reach someone and she could only give us reservations for three nights in Silk. Am I supposed to spend $5,000 for a cruise and eat in a cafeteria? Has anyone else had this problem?

 

 

As a tip, print a your calendar after making reservations.

[ga1928]

Having sailed on the 2 night preinaugural cruise in November, I have been most interested in the comments of those who have sailed since on the Quantum, and who have paid real dollars for what seems to be, in general, miserable vacations.

At the naming ceremony, it was interesting to heard Richard Fain talk about the ship in terms of attracting people who have not yet cruised. That seems to imply a new generation of millenials to whom RCI wants to introduce the whole concept of cruising. That was obviously the intent of EVERY technologic gimmic on the ship, right down to the dynamic dining tablets. The MBA's in marketing in Miami were certainly well-intentioned in their quest to change every paradigm of cruising, but throwing the baby out with the bathwater obviously has failed, as evidenced by the "delay" (read "elimination") of the planned DD rollout on the Oasis. Any adult at HQ in Miami should have the common sense at this point to realize that the superb wait staff throughout the fleet is simply not tech-savvy enough to handle tablets, and people can only be enthralled so long with a robot mixing a drink. Throw out your Quantum business plan, or better yet, have some of the execs see for themselves what a mess has been created on the Silicon of the Seas. At what point will Messieurs Fain and Goldstein realize that they have a New Coke problem on their hands, and go back to square one with this ship? If a millenial has not yet cruised, trust me, they are not going to, Quantum or no Quantum. Stop screwing things up for tens of thousans of the rest of us.

[karmacats]

ugh, leaving in a few minutes for tomorrow's cruise, and just discovered that all of the dining reservations for our party of 6 are gone, too. :mad:

 

i have printouts of everything - we'll see if it helps.

 

everything has gone smoothly thus far, but i will be livid if dinner doesn't work out.

 

fun times!

 

i will report back when i return...

[ocav]

Having sailed on the 2 night preinaugural cruise in November, I have been most interested in the comments of those who have sailed since on the Quantum, and who have paid real dollars for what seems to be, in general, miserable vacations.

 

At the naming ceremony, it was interesting to heard Richard Fain talk about the ship in terms of attracting people who have not yet cruised. That seems to imply a new generation of millenials to whom RCI wants to introduce the whole concept of cruising. That was obviously the intent of EVERY technologic gimmic on the ship, right down to the dynamic dining tablets. The MBA's in marketing in Miami were certainly well-intentioned in their quest to change every paradigm of cruising, but throwing the baby out with the bathwater obviously has failed, as evidenced by the "delay" (read "elimination") of the planned DD rollout on the Oasis. Any adult at HQ in Miami should have the common sense at this point to realize that the superb wait staff throughout the fleet is simply not tech-savvy enough to handle tablets, and people can only be enthralled so long with a robot mixing a drink. Throw out your Quantum business plan, or better yet, have some of the execs see for themselves what a mess has been created on the Silicon of the Seas. At what point will Messieurs Fain and Goldstein realize that they have a New Coke problem on their hands, and go back to square one with this ship? If a millenial has not yet cruised, trust me, they are not going to, Quantum or no Quantum. Stop screwing things up for tens of thousans of the rest of us.

 

 

But from what I've read, this ship has gone down well with new cruisers, and the stock (which is actually Royal Caribbean's one and only goal) is quite high at the moment.

 

Just because it isn't targeted at you and therefore not that enjoyable to you, doesn't mean it isn't working.

 

There is no proof that the delay on DD on Oasis class is admittance of defeat, it could be anything.

[andrea lynn]

ugh, leaving in a few minutes for tomorrow's cruise, and just discovered that all of the dining reservations for our party of 6 are gone, too. :mad:

 

i have printouts of everything - we'll see if it helps.

 

everything has gone smoothly thus far, but i will be livid if dinner doesn't work out.

 

fun times!

 

i will report back when i return...

None of my reservations showed the night before sailing and as I mentioned in my review the Royal IQ App did not show any either. I waited on the dining line for over an hour and a half before confirming that everything was OK. To add injury to insult when I returned to my room there was a print out listing all of my reservations as booked prior to boarding. I hope you will have the same positive experience with dining. I suggest you check your TV before waiting on that long long to see if your reservations exist. Good luck!