Quantum - proposed changes confirmed, a ship to avoid?

[Gazza64]

We decided to cancel our Dubai – Singapore cruise on Quantum due to the rumors regarding changes being made prior to the ship going to China. Some of the changes would impact our enjoyment as we don’t gamble (music hall changed into a casino, wine bar changed to shops etc). As we weren’t that desperate to sail on this particular cruise (it was the ship rather than the destination that attracted us) we thought the best thing was to transfer our booking to another ship and then book on Anthem next year.

 

I just called RCI to do this, they would not transfer the cruise without me forfeiting my deposit and paying an admin fee.

 

I explained that I was only changing because they would not confirm or deny whether any changes were being made (I had already spoken to them several times about this with no answer). After being placed on hold for a long time they eventually came back and confirmed that music hall is being removed and turned into a casino ready for the China market.

As there are no gaps in the itineraries it has to be assumed that the work will be carried out whilst at sea!

Apparently they are waiting for senior management to decide when to announce this officially, I am guessing they will wait until payment dates have passed and it’s too late for people to cancel.

 

I find this disregard for fare paying passengers very poor, why should I lose out financially when they are clearly not giving me the cruise that was advertised when I booked. Hotels have to let you know before you book if there is going to be work going on, surely the same should apply here.

 

This, along with the confusion over dining makes Quantum a ship to avoid until there are some official announcements.

 

It will be interesting to see how people who have booked react when they do finally make an official announcement. They obviously know that they are making these changes so it must be a deliberate decision not to announce as it may impact bookings.

 

Not the service you would expect from a reputable company.

[Gazza64]

We decided to cancel our Dubai – Singapore cruise on Quantum due to the rumors regarding changes being made prior to the ship going to China. Some of the changes would impact our enjoyment as we don’t gamble (music hall changed into a casino, wine bar changed to shops etc). As we weren’t that desperate to sail on this particular cruise (it was the ship rather than the destination that attracted us) we thought the best thing was to transfer our booking to another ship and then book on Anthem next year.

 

I just called RCI to do this, they would not transfer the cruise without me forfeiting my deposit and paying an admin fee.

 

I explained that I was only changing because they would not confirm or deny whether any changes were being made (I had already spoken to them several times about this with no answer). After being placed on hold for a long time they eventually came back and confirmed that music hall is being removed and turned into a casino ready for the China market.

As there are no gaps in the itineraries it has to be assumed that the work will be carried out whilst at sea!

Apparently they are waiting for senior management to decide when to announce this officially, I am guessing they will wait until payment dates have passed and it’s too late for people to cancel.

 

I find this disregard for fare paying passengers very poor, why should I lose out financially when they are clearly not giving me the cruise that was advertised when I booked. Hotels have to let you know before you book if there is going to be work going on, surely the same should apply here.

 

This, along with the confusion over dining makes Quantum a ship to avoid until there are some official announcements.

 

It will be interesting to see how people who have booked react when they do finally make an official announcement. They obviously know that they are making these changes so it must be a deliberate decision not to announce as it may impact bookings.

 

Not the service you would expect from a reputable company.

 

Update - shortly after this post RCI called me and said that they would transfer my booking to another cruise with no fee. There is some customer service after all!

[brfan]

I'm wondering if there are still threads on here from the time Mariner was moved to China and they did the refit on the way. I'm wondering if the experience that those passengers had would be similar to what the passengers will experience while on the Quantum's trip to China?

[AWOL]

I wonder if they are just changing the 3rd deck section of the Music Hall to a Casino as it would have a direct connection to the existing Casino.

We are on the Barcelona to Dubai section of the trip and have no plans to change any thing. We were on it over Christmas and the feeling was that the major changes will be done in Singapore. They will be in dock for several days there.

Edited February 2, 2015 by AWOL

[heatherb1958]

Update - shortly after this post RCI called me and said that they would transfer my booking to another cruise with no fee. There is some customer service after all!

 

Well done you.

I can confirm that the Music hall venue was the rocking place to be for night life after dinner.

There isn't a night club onboard and during the 10 nights we sailed on Quantum we only saw 270 used once for a late night dancing venue.

 

I consider myself a savvy cruiser and seeing no break in the itineraries for Quantum leaving Bayonne until arriving into China should send alarm bellls ringing.

I am surprised RCI have not already posted disclaimers on the sailings.

As previously mentioned there were issues on the Mariner and Voyager sailings going over to the market, old ships that had been tasted frequently.

The reviews are going to make interesting reading for sure.

[Guest maddycat]

Update - shortly after this post RCI called me and said that they would transfer my booking to another cruise with no fee. There is some customer service after all!

 

I'm glad that RCI did the right thing by allowing you to transfer your booking without charging you a fee. I wouldn't want to be on a ship while it under goes major construction.

[Gazza64]

I wonder if they are just changing the 3rd deck section of the Music Hall to a Casino as it would have a direct connection to the existing Casino.

We are on the Barcelona to Dubai section of the trip and have no plans to change any thing. We were on it over Christmas and the feeling was that the major changes will be done in Singapore. They will be in dock for several days there.

 

There is a small gap in itineraries when the ship gets to Singapore, there is every possibility that any major work will be done then.

They must already know what their plans are so I'm unsure why they are keeping so quiet.

I have booked a week on Allure and will book Anthem next year.

 

Hope you enjoy the Barcelona - Dubai cruise

[Ken at the beach]

DD being replaced on Quantum once she gets to China. Just started a new thread with the article.

[ChipLondon]

There is not a small gap, there is a 3 day sailing, which I am booked on.

 

 

 

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There is a small gap in itineraries when the ship gets to Singapore, there is every possibility that any major work will be done then.

They must already know what their plans are so I'm unsure why they are keeping so quiet.

I have booked a week on Allure and will book Anthem next year.

 

Hope you enjoy the Barcelona - Dubai cruise

[Suzieanna]

I am pleased you got a good result - and I am glad that you have posted here to highlight to people who may not be aware of this situation.

 

I think I would be worried if I was on this sailing, not so much for the fact that there is building work going on - but more the fact that something I value quite highly as part of my vacation (music and dancing) is being taken away to provide something I am ambivalent about (gambling and shopping)

 

If I wanted to go to a casino every night as my main entertainment, I would go to Las Vegas.

 

I hate moaning - and I am not averse to change, but I do expect a close approximation of the product that I spent lord knows how much time researching - and the high K's paying for!

[SHIP TRAVELER]

I am writing in response to a posting about renovations made to the Mariner. We were on that cruise on the first leg from Galveston to Europe. The casino was completely closed and changed on that leg. Some shops on the prom were blocked off during that leg. There was a grand re-opening of the casino when it was done (day 9 of 16) part way over and we found a new baccarat room had been added. There were lots of tables but fewer slots and no video poker left. Not a big deal to us. We like to gamble but usually save it for shore based casinos because there are better things to do on ships.

 

We were all given on board credit for the inconvenience but I don't remember how much. Some people continuing on received different OBC amounts for other legs. We enjoyed the duplicate bridge, dance lessons, progressive trivia and progressive Olympics and entertainment. We didn't have time to miss shopping or gambling. It was a great cruise.

 

I am on the Quantum TA first leg leaving May 2nd. I think the renovations will be major and will start right away but I am not concerned that I will be negatively impacted. I am sure the Music Hall would have been great but a change that big will take some days. We will just wait and see. This cruise is part of a month long trip so cancelling is not a consideration for us.

[baldercash]

I was excited about the Quantum World sailing and had booked the Equinox TA to Barcelona a better itinerary at a better price which would also have given us 3 days in Barcelona before boarding the Quantum. Then a Quantum B2B to Singapore followed by a land vacation in Vietnam.

 

After reading the threads on the Quantum and reviewing our 2 Oasis TA's last fall.

There where noticeable differences between going and returning, not positive on the return. Plus we had experienced a drop in service on our X cruise from Honullu to Sydney when a large number of staff left in Sydney and we continued on to Singapore.

 

We decide to drop the whole thing.

We will eventually do it but on a ship that has more ports on its itinerary as there are just to many empty sea days and we feel the Quantum will not have the facilities to fill the void.

[timtam2]

I was on Mariner just after she first arrived in Singapore and they were redoing the Royal Promenade. Big hoarding up and a fair bit of noise during the day but it wasnt bad. We got quite a sizeable OBC.. I think it was 50% of the fare paid....so I say for that same deal they can jackhammer away on the 3 nighter out of Singapore!