Live from Quantum of the Seas - 3 Jan

[iceburg1]

When we did our cruise on Q and visited San Juan, we had to turn our clocks ahead 1 hour and it remained that way throughout our port stops in the Caribbean. If you are cruising prior to March 8th 2015 you will experience the same.

 

Cruise is on 1/23/15 so 1 hour time difference between NJ and Puerto Rico. Thanks for your reply.

[dibblette]

I am enjoying reading this thread. My family and I are going on February 13. I was wondering if anyone had feedback on how the kid clubs are? We have a few going and wanted to get some feedback :)

 

Thanks!

Heather

[gc]

Last night we went ashore to look around a little (second time in Old San Juan) as it was s a holiday (3 king's day). Back onboard, we ate at Chic again using standby as we originally had reservations at Silk. No problem being seated at 5:30 and we were on our way to the theatre at 6:40 having enjoyed a great meal. Love that Crispy Chicken! The entertainer (Rondell Sherman) was great. This morning we headed out relatively early (PR is one hour ahead of ship's time) to do a walk around the old city wall. Back on board we had lunch in the windjammer as AI is not serving lunch on port days. Everyone has their own opinions of ports so I'll just mention that we found Old SJ to be very safe (lot's of police presence) with opportunities beyond the typical Caribbean cruise port. There were 4 big ships in port including NCL Breakaway (also built by Myer-Werft) pulling in as we were preparing to leave. This delayed our departure as they don't allow passenger traffic along the pier whilst a ship is tying off. Good thing too as there is always that one family who doesn't seem to understand when they are due back on board. Nearly 1 hour after we were supposed to be all aboard, the last 3 passengers came walking up the pier (to rounds of applause from many standing on deck!!). We head to Labadee for tomorrow. Tonight, we're doing standby at American Icon and heading to a headliner (Earl Turner) in the theatre at 8:30.

 

Of note last night was we tried to find our Ripcord pictures. As of 9:30 PM (nearly 10 hours after our flight), they still were not registered to our room number/account. We were able to view "unassigned" pictures on a special screen on the forward bulkhead area of the picture place on Deck 5 (right near the Schooner bar). There we did find a picture of DW and I as we were heading into the Ripcord that we added to our account. More on this later as we see if we can find our pictures.

 

Let me know if you have any questions or anything in particular you want me to find out.

 

Would you happen to know if they allow in-line skates ( rollerblades ) at Seaplex...instead of the roller skates??

 

thx's

[Trixie21]

Hi

Also enjoying this thread.

Have booked some of my dining so am interested in your observations on it. Any chance you could post a picture of the simple tastes menu? Am booked on anthem in June and one of our party of 4 is a very plain eater! How flexible are the complimentary and speciality restaurants on amending a dish if you do not like some aspect of it?

Thanks.

[Lady Hudson]

When we did our cruise on Q and visited San Juan, we had to turn our clocks ahead 1 hour and it remained that way throughout our port stops in the Caribbean. If you are cruising prior to March 8th 2015 you will experience the same.

 

On this sailing the only stops are PR and Labadee. We have remained on ship's time for the entire trip.

[cfrance44]

Would you know whether the listed arrival time in San Juan is actually the local time since Puerto Rico is 1 hour ahead of NJ time? In other words, does the ship change the time to move an hour ahead before arriving in San Juan?

 

Thanks.

 

As others have said, DST vs standard time makes a difference. However, all reference times are SHIP'S TIME which is the time zone you departed from. So, when it says you arrive at 4 PM, that is 5 PM local in PR in the winter. We departed at roughly 3 PM local time (2 PM ship's time). You all aboard time will be on ship's time as well.

[cfrance44]

Thank you for this info. My husband is wondering if Oatmeal is also

included in the complimentary cereals??

 

Yes it is. I looked again and found it under "cereals." It is complimentary.

[cfrance44]

Would you happen to know if they allow in-line skates ( rollerblades ) at Seaplex...instead of the roller skates??

 

thx's

 

We walked by tonight and it was very busy. I am going to say I don't think so (I didn't ask anyone as they were so busy). All guests must wear a helmet and by using the loaner skates, the reduce their liability. If you brought your own it may increase their liability or your risk of injuring others. I'm going to guess it will be a no.

[cfrance44]

Hi

Also enjoying this thread.

Have booked some of my dining so am interested in your observations on it. Any chance you could post a picture of the simple tastes menu? Am booked on anthem in June and one of our party of 4 is a very plain eater! How flexible are the complimentary and speciality restaurants on amending a dish if you do not like some aspect of it?

Thanks.

 

Hi, read post 68 in this thread about DD thoughts. We have asked to substitute chocolate sauce for the espresso sauce on a dessert in American Icon and were accommodated nicely. We haven't mixed up anything else but have seen others make special requests. In some cases it may be easier to order multiple main courses/appetizers, rather than try to mix and match things among them. We have ordered multiple apps at almost every seating.

[SherriZ366]

Hi

Also enjoying this thread.

Have booked some of my dining so am interested in your observations on it. Any chance you could post a picture of the simple tastes menu? Am booked on anthem in June and one of our party of 4 is a very plain eater! How flexible are the complimentary and speciality restaurants on amending a dish if you do not like some aspect of it?

Thanks.

Here is a picture of the Simple Taste Menus -- a separate one for each complimentary restaurant. They are simpler versions of dishes on the regular menu.

 

From posts I have read, RCI may have put together an Alternative Menu, similar to what is on the ships with MDR dining.

Simple_Tastes_Menus.pdf

[cfrance44]

We spent the day in Labadee today after making over 23.7 knots on the way here. This ship is FAST! I'm going to do some follow up to earlier things I posted and make some further observations today.

 

1. Drink of the day - apparently there is a DOTD that is in each bar and is different in each bar. In the theatre, the servers just tell you there isn't one -although there is. (Make them go ask the bartender if they don't know). The DOTD is $7.95

 

2. At Labadee, they were handing out beach towels as you got off the ship. This was great, except they were doing it the old way by scanning your seapass card and noting how many you had. This contrasts with onboard where you stop by and pick up as many as you like with no accountability.

 

3. I spoke earlier about the soda machines not working. They miraculously began working as we left Puerto Rico. I now see people walking around with the cups and see them using the machines. Good for those on the soda plan. You can finally get your soda somewhere other than a bar!

 

4. Our show is 270 (starwater) is coming soon but we watched a virtual concert in there the other night. Great group but the venue is the coldest place on the ship. Remember to bring a warm coat (and maybe a hat for those of us gentlemen with less hair than we used to have!)

 

5. PHOTOS: I am going to try not to vent too much here. First, the machines. I mentioned earlier that my wrist band did not work to bring up my photos. It turns out is still wasn't working (an error message said something like no file exists). So, on a whim, I scanned my seapass card. It worked! There were my photos! They show up on the screen with a visible watermark so you cant take a picture of the screen image. Unfortunately, sometimes the watermark is so prevalent it is difficult to fully appreciate what you are seeing on the screen (smiles, background, etc). Maybe if you ask an attendant they can show you images without the watermarks. Now, the price... RCCL used to charge you $20 to print out an actual photo. They still charge $20 per photo up to 8 photos. And get this, they charge $5 to put it on a CD for you. Yeah, the photo paper for an 8 X 10 was free but the little plastic CD costs $5. Also, $20 for a jpeg file is a little steep. If they cut the cost in half, they'd sell almost every photo! Just my opinion.

 

6. Royal iQ app: The app works great and you can make dining reservations on it. However, I have found that going to the restaurant gets you times that aren't available should you look at the app. For example, tonight it said we could book American Icon at 9:15 PM. However, we showed up at 5:15 and the hostess allowed us to make a 5:45 reservation. So, don't trust the app folks! Go to the restaurants (you can go to any of the MDRs) to make your reservation changes.

 

7. Virtual Balcony: Our controller has a volume button on it but we never heard any sound from our VB. Today, it was broadcasting sound! We thought we'd love to hear the sounds of the ocean as we go to bed this evening. However, after working for a few hours, it seems to have cut out again. Hope it doesn't come on real loud at 3 AM!

 

8. Internet connection from iPhone. I'm going to caveat this by saying my iPhone has several security management things on it that make it different from the run of the mill iPhone... My wife's android device has not had a single lapse in internet service since it was granted right after muster our first night. My iPhone had no problems until we reached PR. Then I could not connect to the wifi any longer. Suddenly, on the morning of Day 4, I was able to connect again. Then, in the evening, I wasn't again. Then, during the day today (day 6) I wasn't able to connect again. Then, I was able to connect and use the Royal iQ app, but not much else. During all the problems with my iPhone, my wife's android device never once had any difficulty. Maybe it's me.

 

We have 2 sea days ahead of us heading back to Bayonne.

[Trixie21]

Here is a picture of the Simple Taste Menus -- a separate one for each complimentary restaurant. They are simpler versions of dishes on the regular menu.

 

From posts I have read, RCI may have put together an Alternative Menu, similar to what is on the ships with MDR dining.

 

Many thanks for this SherriZ366

Will help in deciding on the rest of our dining.

[Trixie21]

Hi, read post 68 in this thread about DD thoughts. We have asked to substitute chocolate sauce for the espresso sauce on a dessert in American Icon and were accommodated nicely. We haven't mixed up anything else but have seen others make special requests. In some cases it may be easier to order multiple main courses/appetizers, rather than try to mix and match things among them. We have ordered multiple apps at almost every seating.

.

 

Thanks for that - useful to know there is some flexibility.

We were on norweigan epic year before last and they were always willing to make amendments to orders where possible.

[SherriZ366]

You are both welcome!!

[cfrance44]

We got up early as the bumper cars were supposed to operate from 0900 to 1300. We walked past the seaplaex one time while the bumper cars were in operation and the line was wrapped half way around the floor. So, we ate and ran up to the seaplex by 0830 and found almost no one around. The ship was rocking pretty rough so we thought they may not have the cars out. But, they brought them out and we rode them twice. They have about 16 cars on the floor. Folks, this is much more fun than it looks. While you are waiting you can cheer on those on the floor to go after a particularly egregious driver. We really enjoyed this! We spent most of the day lounging around and attended a late showing of Starwater in 270. This venue is incredibly versatile and they use most of it's capabilities for this show. Many of the dancers from Mama Mia are featured in the show and some of the aerial acts are quite breathtaking (like the lady who does a couples dance in the air with no harness!!). The show is close to a cross of Ocean Aria and Blue Planet (from Allure) but has many unique components and hidden gems in the performance. We did arrive about 40 minutes early and got great seats up front. There is a pre-show activity with the dancers that starts about 15 minutes before the show time. Without spoiling it, I'll say there is audience participation involved. And no, it does NOT involve the cruise director!

 

Our final day at sea is today and we are making excellent progress towards return to Cape Liberty. Disembarking is like other ships in that you are assigned a number. Those near the front of the ship go to the theatre near their appointed time, those near the rear go to 270. Embarkation and disembarkation are from Deck 5. Self-service disembarkation begins at 0645 throughout the process. Suites and Diamond plus members have instructions to go to Music Hall to disembark when they want to, I guess. Breakfast starts at 0600 on final day. We are making such good time that at our current speed we could dock in Bayonne at 0145. I guess we'll slow down at some point!

 

I may get a chance to post tonight about Sonic Odyssey. A few more things...

 

1. I continue to have drop outs of wifi on my apple iPhone but not on the android and windows devices. Again, this may be due to security protocols on my iPhone but I don't understand why it works some of the time and then other times it wont connect to the network. Again, not one problem from other devices.

 

2. Finally, we have had excellent service in all restaurants every night for dinner. Our average time in the restaurants is maybe 75 to 80 minutes at this point. Again, we usually eat around 5:30 or 6. Also, due to eating at this time, we found ourselves getting the same waiter on many occasions when eating at the same restaurant. Maybe it was just a coincidence. We also made special request with respect to dessert or modifications to the menu and they were all accommodated and no mistakes were made. Looks like they are figuring out the tablets!

[Hobie1976]

Thank you again for all your helpful information. We set sail on February 2nd and I am getting more confident that all the wrinkles will have be ironed out prior to our sailing.

Did you eat in the Grande? I noticed that someone commented on the dinner attire.

If you ate there, how was everyone dressed? Safe disembarkment and safe travels home.

[Ernie B]

Thank you for your informative, honest and practical posts! We are set to cruise on March 21st and like most, we were a bit nervous about the negative reviews. Much more confident about things now. Thank you and safe travels!

[cfrance44]

Thank you again for all your helpful information. We set sail on February 2nd and I am getting more confident that all the wrinkles will have be ironed out prior to our sailing.

Did you eat in the Grande? I noticed that someone commented on the dinner attire.

If you ate there, how was everyone dressed? Safe disembarkment and safe travels home.

 

Hi, we did eat in the Grande on the first night and dress code was not enforced. It appears it was enforced on other nights or at least an attempt was made to have guests dress better than the other restaurants. We didn't care for the menu (except the lobster which was the best my wife ever had). BTW, the lobster was available in Chic and American Icon on two other nights during the cruise. This was not announced ahead of time - a surprise upon dining there.

[cfrance44]

Hi all, if you are still following along here is what happened when we had to leave.

 

First off, I wanted to mention that the lobster (on the Grande's menu) was served on at least two other nights in Chic and American Icon. We did not know this until being seated in those restaurants. Now, it may have appeared on the menu outside but we didn't think to look on it - thinking the menu was static throughout the cruise. This was to the delight of DW who loved the lobster!

 

Sonic Odyssey: Very interesting show. Cant say it had much of a plot but the music and energy is something to behold. All in all, I found the entertainment to be better on this ship than other RCCL ships. I believe the talent is generally higher caliber than in some of their productions I have seen. However, don't feel especially cheated if you miss Sonic Odyssey. The other entertainment is much better I think.

 

Most of the places to eat open at 0600 on disembarkation day. We had to slow down as we were getting to Bayonne too fast! We ate around 0610 in the Windjammer (yes, I know...) and headed back to our room to prepare for self-assist departure. This means we carried our own bags off. We walked down as the announcement was being made and walked right off the ship. I'd say it was maybe 15 minutes from our 7th floor stateroom to our car in the parking lot. Customs had at least 8 agents in booths if not more and we walked right up and right through.

 

In summary, I found this ship to be truly setting a new standard for RCCL. I have been on Freedom Class and Oasis class vessels but this one has something special. For me, the range of dining options and activities seal the deal as one of my top 3 favorite ships. Hard to tell which one is really my favorite though.

 

Hope you enjoyed the review and if you go on QOTS, I hope your experience is at least as enjoyable as mine!

[Hoopster95]

In summary, I found this ship to be truly setting a new standard for RCCL. I have been on Freedom Class and Oasis class vessels but this one has something special. For me, the range of dining options and activities seal the deal as one of my top 3 favorite ships. Hard to tell which one is really my favorite though.

 

Thank you for your review and thoughts. Great to hear you had such a good time. I was surprised at all the issues reported by CC'ers from Xmas through New years since I hadn't encountered hardly any Dec 1st. Sounds like they're making things much better via the feedback (Devinely Decadence, lobster on other venues, etc)

 

And me too, like your last sentence really hard for me to differentiate my favorite ship also! So close. It's because Q is so vastly different. But if you're getting board with the "same old same old" MDR, menues, entertainment, etc... Q class will get rid of your boredom in a minute. Thx again for your report and happy furture cruising :)

[Flying Scott]

I noticed you had some issues with the Royal IQ app on your iPhone but your wife's worked fine. We usually take along talkies so we can find each other but it seems this app would make that unnecessary. Were people able to message, or even talk with other people on the ship, using the app? Do they charge by the day or a flat fee for that? Do you recall what the fee is? I realize they also have internet and calling plans. Thanks for your feedback.

[CrusinAgain]

Hi, we did eat in the Grande on the first night and dress code was not enforced. It appears it was enforced on other nights or at least an attempt was made to have guests dress better than the other restaurants. We didn't care for the menu (except the lobster which was the best my wife ever had). BTW, the lobster was available in Chic and American Icon on two other nights during the cruise. This was not announced ahead of time - a surprise upon dining there.

 

Yes, that happened on our cruise from Jan. 11 - 23rd as well. They are listening and responding. What a fabulous cruiseline. I cannot say enough about it. So glad you enjoyed it as much as we did. :)

 

I also can't decide what class of ship I love the most; right now anything that Royal does. Trying Holland America to Alaska in May only because Royal does not go to Glacier Bay NP......bummer.

 

Here's hoping everyone following us has a wonderful cruise on the Quantum of the Seas!