A (Mostly) Qomplaint-Free QUANTUM REVIEW (Feb. 20 - Mar. 1, 2015)

[Yorkvillain]

DAY 5 - ST. THOMAS

Land! I see land after four days at sea! Thank goodness. For a minute there I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life at sea and have to eat my own arm when the food supply got low.

 

This day started off with some breakfast sandwiches at the cafe at Two70 (think Egg McMuffin). They were pretty good and I'm assuming probably taste better than one of my limbs. I guess I did enjoy those sandwiches since I went back a couple more times before the cruise ended.

 

After breakfast we hopped in one of those classic St. Thomas taxi/truck things with a kamikaze pilot that whipped around every dangerous curve as he made his way over the mountain to the beaches. A little known fact is that taxi drivers in St. Thomas are taught to step on the gas and floor it when the roads become more dangerous. Thankfully having lived in New York City for 12 years I am pretty immune to insane cab drivers and just learn to trust them.

 

We have done Magens Bay a few times and while we enjoyed our time there, we wanted to try a new beach. After hours and hours of research, my 3 finalists were: Sapphire Beach, Secret Harbour and Coki Beach. I read a lot of positive reviews about the snorkeling at Coki Beach so I decided to give that place a shot.

 

The reviews were spot on and the snorkeling was fantastic. Some people saw lobsters in the water but I never did. There were a ton of fish swimming around and between your legs and they were beautiful.

 

Also beautiful were the Bushwackers that they served at Coki Beach.

 

Can you balance a Bushwacker on your knee and take a picture of it while sitting in a beach chair? This guy can. (thinly veiled brag)

 

Coki beach

 

After a great day at Coki we returned to the ship where I grabbed a Corona for sailaway on our balcony.

 

 

Ut oh, getting low. Time to visit Ariel & Patrick at the Schooner Bar for a refill.

 

Dinner on Day 5 was at Wonderland. I'm glad I tried it once but I will not go back. The entrees and desserts were ok but the appetizers were just plain weird. "Liquid Lobster with bone marrow and caviar"?!?!? Maybe it's just me but I don't think "bone marrow" should be served at any restaurant anywhere. Thank god they decided to remove "Tumor Turkey with Diarrhea Drizzle" from the menu.

 

The Love & Marriage game show was also on day 5 and it was hilarious as usual. There's nothing better than a 87-year-old man going into full detail about what he likes to do when the lights are off in the bedroom.

 

Day 5 Fitbit steps: 7,637 (Come on! Swimming & Snorkeling has to count towards some steps right?)

 

Next Up: Day 6 - San Juan and a visual that I will never be able to erase from my long term memory

Edited March 4, 2015 by Yorkvillain

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Day 5 Fitbit steps: 7,637 (Come on! Swimming & Snorkeling has to count towards some steps

 

 

Definitely!!!!

[dedosr]

Loving the Review! Loving the Pictures!! Love the your sense of humor! When the girl told you to go away, you said that you would go to Adventure Ocean until you were allowed back in the pool!!!

 

Can't wait for more!

[Yorkvillain]

DAY 6 - SAN JUAN

 

The last few times we went to San Juan the ship arrived late in the afternoon so we didn’t have time to go to the beach and instead just had dinner (and pina coladas!) at Barrachina. Today was going to be a beach day however since we arrived early. When I opened the balcony door to check out the weather, Mickey and Company were right across the way to say good morning to us.

 

 

 

The Disney Fantasy looks very nice however the two cruise lines that I will probably never sail on (for completely opposite reasons) are Disney and Holland America. All of the other lines are fair game including NCL which I am looking forward to going on next year on the brand new Norwegian Escape.

 

We grabbed a cab to Condado Beach and on the way our cab driver almost got into a brawl with another driver. I think our driver in St. Thomas snuck on the Quantum and got off in San Juan and carjacked a cab there. After he cooled off he jokingly said to us, “That man in the other car is a bad Puerto Rican. You know what we do with bad Puerto Ricans here?…We send them to NEW YORK!”

 

I.....I......I......think he was joking.

 

We arrived at Condado Beach mostly alive and found a nice quiet spot where there were hardly any people around.

 

 

WHOOPS! Wrong photo. Here is the real one:

 

 

The water was a little rough so we spent most of our time on our beach chairs before heading back to the ship. There were some people on the beach including the gentleman I am about to post pictures of in my next post.

Edited March 4, 2015 by Yorkvillain

[Yorkvillain]

I never knew Ron Howard was such a free spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

[Donsyb]

Very funny review!

 

There's a review of this exact same cruise over on Tripadvisor totally slating everything - I wonder if that's cranky & frowny?? :D

[Yorkvillain]

DAY 6 - SAN JUAN CONTINUED

 

With those disturbing images embedded into my brain, we went back to the ship and had a few beef on wecks at the cafe at Two70. I am not really sure how I still had an appetite after what I just witnessed on the beach.

 

I also had one slice of pizza at Sorrento’s, not because I was hungry but just because I had not been there all week and I wanted to see if it was the same as the other ships. Talk about your empty calories! It was similar, maybe a little better.

 

I grabbed a Corona and went back to our room to watch sailaway from our balcony and then took a few pictures after we took off.

 

 

 

 

 

We took part in another trivia game at the Schooner Bar and then had a nice dinner at Chops. The Forrest Mushroom Soup is still one of my all-time favorites.

 

The Quest took place for the first time on the Quantum and they held it at the SeaPlex. The setup wasn’t bad however they need to add more seats for the spectators that do not participate. I think the setup at the Ice Rink on the Oasis, Freedom and Voyager classes is still the best for the Quest.

 

Day 6 Fitbit steps: 7,022 (with an asterisk) I forgot to take my Fitbit out of sleep mode when I woke up and I didn’t realize this until we got to the beach. I also forgot to put it back on my wrist after I swam and didn’t realize it until we were in the cab back to the ship. At least I didn’t leave it on that guy’s beach chair.

 

Next Up: Day 7 - Labadee, the great restaurant air conditioning crisis of 2015 and there’s a man on my balcony!!!!

Edited March 4, 2015 by Yorkvillain

[Yorkvillain]

Very funny review!

 

There's a review of this exact same cruise over on Tripadvisor totally slating everything - I wonder if that's cranky & frowny?? :D

 

Haha! I need to check that out.

[Yorkvillain]

DAY 7 - LABADEE

 

Like the swallows returning to Capistrano, it was time for us to return to Labadee for the 12th time since 2007.

 

Cue Narrator: “Here we see the passengers of the Quantum of the Seas in their natural habitat, returning to their little Haitian paradise.”

 

“One passenger breaks away from the pack and looks lost, but in reality is just on the hunt for a fresh Corona.”

 

Today started off with a quick meal at the Windjammer with a nice view of Labadee at the outside seating area. We always fill up before leaving the ship at Labadee since we are not big fans of the BBQ that they have set up on the island. I might be picky but I’m just not really into Haitian burgers with malaria sauce and a side of flies.

 

On our Oasis cruise in November, we had a suite so we ate and swam at Barefoot Beach however on this trip we just relaxed and had a nice day at Nellie’s beach.

 

In the morning I opened the curtain and was greeted by a nice smile of a man on my balcony! Whoh, what the?!?!? Actually, they were washing the balconies today and they warned us about it the day before. I just completely forgot, just like I forgot my IFly reservation earlier in the week.

 

We participated in a few trivia games and then had a great dinner at Jamie’s Italian restaurant. I really like this place and can’t wait to go back.

 

 

In the afternoon, the captain made an announcement that the AC in the 4 main restaurants was not working and encouraged anyone with reservations in those restaurants to eat in the windjammer tonight. For this inconvenience, all the bars on the ship would serve complimentary drinks until 10 PM. LOOK OUT! Hide the women and children! Giving away free drinks on a cruise ship is like giving away free winning Mega Millions tickets.

 

None of this really affected us at all since we had reservations at Jamie’s and we had free drinks until 8:30 anyway with the Diamond Lounge and electronic Diamond drink coupons.

 

They fixed the AC overnight and then gave everyone a 10% discount off the price of this cruise (to be used on a future cruise).

 

 

No arguments here! The AC going out didn’t affect us at all but they are giving us a free $300-$350 (depending on what gorilla math Royal Caribbean decides to use when figuring out the 10%). They could not have handled this situation any better. I’m sure Cranky & Frowny were probably fighting for 11% though.

 

We returned to our room after the Name That Tune game show in the theater and found this towel animal made by our stateroom attendant Herman.

 

 

Herman is a rebel in the housekeeping business. He doesn’t believe in putting towel animals on the bed but rather on top of the cushions on the couch. I think he’s trying to start a movement. He’s a nice guy but don’t stand too close to him when he talks. His breath could knock the Wow band right off your wrist.

 

Day 7 Fitbit steps: 10,561

 

Next Up: Day 8 - Somehow my Royal Caribbean credit card is denied by Royal Caribbean

Edited March 5, 2015 by Yorkvillain

[Quantum#1]

Thanks for the wonderful review! Love love love the humor!:p

[A&L_Ont]

Tim, after that image you just burned into my brain, might I add with repeated photos, I think you owe us repeated Coronas and a 20% FCC. I will have nightmares tonight of what I might see at the beaches next week. I bet Courtney was laughing though, Lisa would have been.

[Yorkvillain]

Tim, after that image you just burned into my brain, might I add with repeated photos, I think you owe us repeated Coronas and a 20% FCC. I will have nightmares tonight of what I might see at the beaches next week. I bet Courtney was laughing though, Lisa would have been.

 

Ha. But you only had to look at 3 photos. I had to look at it live and in person for a few hours.

[A&L_Ont]

Ha. But you only had to look at 3 photos. I had to look at it live and in person for a few hours.

 

You know, you could have just moved your chair. I guess, if you want a positive, at least the guy was thin. :p

[Yorkvillain]

You know, you could have just moved your chair.

 

It's kind of like when you see a bad car crash, you just can't help but look.

[SailorJack]

Great review...love the humor - you have a great outlook! Some great pictures also, albeit some extremely unusual ones that I have not seen before!:)

 

By the way, a friend gave us fitbits for Xmas and now Jill and I have a daily competition to see who has the most at day's end. If you are averaging 10,000 a day you are doing very well, indeed!

[dedosr]

Very funny review!

 

There's a review of this exact same cruise over on Tripadvisor totally slating everything - I wonder if that's cranky & frowny?? :D

 

How do you get to that review on Trip Advisor?

[Yorkvillain]

Great review...love the humor - you have a great outlook! Some great pictures also, albeit some extremely unusual ones that I have not seen before!:)

 

By the way, a friend gave us fitbits for Xmas and now Jill and I have a daily competition to see who has the most at day's end. If you are averaging 10,000 a day you are doing very well, indeed!

 

Thank you sir!

 

And thankfully there are no windjammers in my neighborhood at home where I might accidentally walk into and snag a couple of cookies.

[Donsyb]

How do you get to that review on Trip Advisor?

 

Assuming I'm allowed to post the link, here it is:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/ShowTopic-g1-i10703-k8128942-A_Review_of_Quantum_of_the_Seas-Cruceros.html

 

Post #4

[niksmom630]

By any chance during your beverage consumption travels have you found a barman by the name of Adrian from the Phillipines?

 

We last saw him on Allure in Balero's and he indicated then he would move to Quantum.

 

I would almost consider booking a cruise on Quantum if I knew he was there. :cool: Most personable, entertaining bartender in the RCI fleet. He makes a mean Mojito also ;);)

[Yorkvillain]

By any chance during your beverage consumption travels have you found a barman by the name of Adrian from the Phillipines?

 

We last saw him on Allure in Balero's and he indicated then he would move to Quantum.

 

I would almost consider booking a cruise on Quantum if I knew he was there. :cool: Most personable, entertaining bartender in the RCI fleet. He makes a mean Mojito also ;);)

 

Hmmm, that doesn't ring a bell.

[Yorkvillain]

DAY 8

The last two days of the cruise were sea days as we made our way back towards the beautiful and exotic vacation port of Bayonne, Nueva Jersey. And just like every other cruise, the end of vacation sales were taking place. One great thing about this ship is that you don’t have to walk on the Royal Esplanade with the hordes of people but instead you can walk on the deck above while looking down on these animals as they sift their way through the endless amounts of cheap watches, cheap jewelry and other unique souvenirs that you could probably pick up at Walmart.

 

I guess Ken Rush did get through to some people with his brainwashing sales technique.

 

Day 8 was surprisingly very nice out for most of the day and we took advantage of the beautiful weather since this would probably be it for us on this trip. We hit a bunch of our usual places: breakfast outside at Windjammer, a bunch of trivia games, had some beef on weck at the cafe at Two70 and I also had the pleasure of checking out everyone’s favorite part of the ship - Guest Services.

 

I received a note in my room regarding my preference to settle my bill with cash. Um, yeah, no I never said that. I put my credit card info in before we left and the Mad Scientist who checked us in at the pier asked for my credit card again so exactly at what point did I ever say I wanted to settle my bill with cash?

 

The nice girl at Guest Services informed me that Bank of America would not pre-approve the upcoming charges on my final statement to my Royal Caribbean credit card. This is the same card that I have used to purchase my last 7 or 8 cruises and on all of them I used this card to pay the final room bill.

 

She called Bank of America and said that the bank apologized and said it was a mistake on the bank’s part. Gee, really? You think that’s what it is? I was about to apply for a Carnival credit card and use that instead.

 

We wandered around the ship a little and had dinner at American Icon again. I also took a few more pictures of places that I hadn’t really checked out yet.

 

 

The bumper cars were charging up as the roller skaters skated. We never did either of these activities.

 

On deck 15 (I think it’s deck 15) they have a set of stairs and part of the floor is see-through so you can see all the way down to deck 5. Some people were freaked out by this.

 

 

And here is the opposite view from deck 5 looking up. You can see the three pieces of plexiglass - that is part of the floor on deck 15.

 

 

Day 8 Fitbit steps: 13,593

 

Next Up: Day 9 - I purchase (and drink) a Shirley Temple at the Bionic Bar.

Edited March 5, 2015 by Yorkvillain

[roe2ship]

I enjoyed reading about your experience on board the Quantum. One month from today is our turn! I'm sure we will run into a "Cranky & Frowny" couple too.:D:

[dedosr]

I enjoyed reading about your experience on board the Quantum. One month from today is our turn! I'm sure we will run into a "Cranky & Frowny" couple too.:D:

 

We always run into "Cranky & Frowny" people on a cruise. I swear they just look for something to complain about in an attempt to get an OBC,

The worst ever was an overweight 50's something hairy guy that was complaining to people in the hot tub that he couldn't sun bathe NUDE on his balcony because they were working on the wood rails on the balconies in his area. He went to get services he said to get a comp since his use of his balcony was interfered with for a couple hours.

 

I couldn't get away from him any quicker!!

[A&L_Ont]

I couldn't get away from him any quicker!![/quote

 

I would have been right out of there too. TMI.

[Yorkvillain]

DAY 9

 

Let's get right to it.

 

 

 

Yup, that is a Shirley Temple being made at the Bionic Bar for yours truly. I saw a little girl (not the same one that banned me from the pool) walk up to the Schooner Bar a day earlier and order a Shirley Temple. For some strange reason I started craving one even though I haven't had one in oh, 30 years or so.

 

The Bionic Bar was the perfect setting to satisfy this bizarre desire since I could quietly order it on the little screen in front of me and not have to verbally yell out, "HEY, CAN I GET A SHIRLEY TEMPLE OVER HERE PRONTO!!!"

 

We participated in a few trivia games during the day and then finally picked up our second win of the trip after taking down the Bionic Bar trivia contest. Courtney (and only Courtney) was rewarded with a free drink. It was technically a contest where no teams were allowed and only individual players so I had to sip on my Shirley Temple (which I spent hard earned cash on) while Courtney threw down her free Ketel One and Sprite.

 

 

 

We hit Two70 for breakfast and lunch and went back to Chic for dinner. We returned to Two70 again after dinner for a couple of drinks before calling it a night and mentally preparing ourselves for the harsh reality of waking up in cold weather again.

 

I saw a bunch of people with these shirts on during the cruise. I have no idea who this gentleman is but I had to stop him and take a picture of his shirt.

 

Day 9 Fitbit Steps: 9,960

 

Next Up: Parting Thoughts

Edited March 6, 2015 by Yorkvillain