Quantum in Asia, a review

[mugtech]

Thanks for the Hot Pot info.  My wife is a Filipina, she loves to cook her own stuff.  We will be on in February going from Hong Kong to Singapore, with one stop in Japan and three stops in the Philippines.  Hope they don't change the Hot Pot before then.

[xxHadleyxx]

5 hours ago, mugtech said:

Thanks for the Hot Pot info.  My wife is a Filipina, she loves to cook her own stuff.  We will be on in February going from Hong Kong to Singapore, with one stop in Japan and three stops in the Philippines.  Hope they don't change the Hot Pot before then.

It was a lot of fun, I hope you get to enjoy it too.

[3monkeys4me]

Thanks for your review so far! We were looking at doing one of these cruises awhile back but we just couldn't find anything to interest us that met our schedule. My 2 older kids speak some Mandarin (they are in their 3rd year now) so it seemed like an easy way for them to get some practice in. I am not sure we will do it now, as we are moving back to the mainland USA and have other places we would like to travel to. Maybe someday. 

 

 

[xxHadleyxx]

We had both a lunch and a dinner at Jamie's Italian (lunch before docking in Osaka, our first port, and dinner on the last night--the menu is the same at lunch and dinner).  We have never sailed on a ship with a Jamie's so I do not know how it compares, but did not see anything which I would guess to be any kind of a change for the Asia sailings (beyond translated menus, and the like of course).

It's tucked back on deck 5 as you head toward Two70, right by Vintages.  It opens to the main walkway, but most of the seating is tucked back and away, and unlike the central shopping areas this walkway is not that loud---and the dining tables themselves are up in the eatery, not scattered among the halls like in Izumi.  It has an intentionally casual, "homey" vibe and includes a couple of screens which show Jamie in his kitchen cooking (no sound) that actually fit the feel nicely.

 

We got two really good meals at Jamie's and feel it and Hot Pot are the best dining venues on the ship.  I am happy to see both will be in the new Spectrum.

[biksgirl]

thank you for this review. My family and I (group of 16) will be on the Singapore cruise on the Quantum next year March, and although different, I appreciate your insight. So few reviews of the Quantum, this is so nice to see.

[xxHadleyxx]

I'm glad people are finding this helpful and not overly  boring.

 

Next up: Wonderland.  Where we had diner after our early port day in Kobe.  Yes, we had Kobe beef for lunch and Wonderland for dinner!  ALL the extravagance.

 

the only other ship I have sailed on with a Wonderland was Harmony of the Seas. On that sailing we did not dine there, but went into the upper bar area a few times for the themed cocktails and interesting atmosphere.  The atmosphere on Quantum is not nearly the same caliber.  It's in a single story, mostly uninteresting room right off the main shopping district (on level 5, most of the shops are down below on 4, but the area is open to the hallway just outside Wonderland.  There were nods to whimsical theming with black and white chairs with large pocket watches on them and waiters in those crushed velvet tail coats, but lacking the architectural details on Harmony and the whimsy in the food presentation and creative drinks, it just felt incongruous.  Worse, there were TV screens all over running ads for Spectrum throughout our meal---this fit neither the whimsical theme nor the elegance of an 80$ upcharge meal by a renowned chef.  Also, because the large doorway is open to the shopping area below, when the shops ran a special with loud speaker announcements and LOUD music, it filled the space.  Nothing like enjoying an 8 course gourmet meal while seeing ads on TVs and hearing specials for marked down handbags announced, followed by the Macarena.  Needless to say, the atmosphere did not win us over.

 

We started the meal by being brought a "menu" in a gold frame and a large paintbrush and some water to "paint your own menu"  Wipe water on the paper in the frame and a menu appears---another nod to the whimsy meant to be there---but given no choice and that the menu was literally removed from in front of me before I finished my last brush stroke and looked at it at all, well, it felt more of a reminder of what could be and wasn't than like a fun thing.  

 

And then the courses began coming.  NOTE, there is NO choice to be had here---you get the one menu.  period.  Kind of like chef's table without the wine pairings.  (maybe i should mention that there were a couple of specialty cocktails.  Unlike those at Wonderland on Harmony, these did not fit the whimsical theme at all, nor did they go with the food.  They were all very tropical, fruity, sweet things with no special presentation.  think Margaritaville or the like.  My husband quickly gave up on trying them and went back to drinking wine).

 

The food was, overall, really good.  Lots that picky me did not eat, but I did my best and could appreciate it all, and DH really liked most courses.

 

We started with kind of cold clams in a smoky sauce with thin sliced onion.  I do not eat shellfish, so I ate the onions to try the flavours and DH ate the clams.

 

Next up was salmon wrapped in avocado and bean paste.  This was the one course we both disliked.  The waiter made a point of explaining we should eat the entire thing as one so that the flavours would mingle appropriately, but the smoked salmon was so overpowering you could not even taste the bean paste or avocado.  

 

[xxHadleyxx]

[Glide_Path]

Thoroughly enjoying your wonderful pics.  Keep them coming. 

 

A bit more info about the hotpot.  The raw egg is usually either cracked and dropped into the soup base and cooked, or (at least back in the older days) the raw egg yolk is mixed into the dipping sauce.  The raw yolk thickens the sauce, so that when you dip the cooked items into it, the sauce coats and sticks better to the food, giving it more flavor.  Of course, I don't think there's a wrong way to eat hotpot, yummy either way!

[bonsai3s]

Thank you for the great review!

 

Is there still a charge for the iFly, flowrider, and bumper cars for the Chinese market?

 

Thank you.

[xxHadleyxx]

4 minutes ago, bonsai3s said:

Thank you for the great review!

 

Is there still a charge for the iFly, flowrider, and bumper cars for the Chinese market?

 

Thank you.

Yes on I fly and also on Northstar.  I did not see charges listed for flowrider (I never saw it in use either, our warmest day hit 64 degrees as a high, most days we did not get out if the fifties) or bumper cars (lines were loooooong).

 

I fly was 29 dollars.

 

North Star was 20 for approximately ten minute rides while in port or 40 for approximately an hour while at sea.

 

No discounts for diamond plus.  We'd been excited to try those features, but chose not to for those prices.  

 

We did learn later on that we could have skipped the bumper car queue using status had we wanted to

[xxHadleyxx]

11 hours ago, Glide_Path said:

Thoroughly enjoying your wonderful pics.  Keep them coming. 

 

A bit more info about the hotpot.  The raw egg is usually either cracked and dropped into the soup base and cooked, or (at least back in the older days) the raw egg yolk is mixed into the dipping sauce.  The raw yolk thickens the sauce, so that when you dip the cooked items into it, the sauce coats and sticks better to the food, giving it more flavor.  Of course, I don't think there's a wrong way to eat hotpot, yummy either way!

It is yummy.  We just had hot pot for lunch at the HI chain.   Very yummy.  No eggs this time though (but sweet potatoes, oh YUM)

[xxHadleyxx]

Continuing on at Wonderland:

 

The third course was salad.  Greens from northern China which only grow where it is "very cold and very dry".  They had a bit of a succulent quality.   Served with a mustard dressing.

This was delicious and unlike anything either if us have ever had.

 

Next we had a truffle oil and cuttlefish soup with bits of tofu.   They said it tastes very different cold and should be eaten quickly while hot.  It was served in a heated bowl to help maintain the temperature.  Also very tasty.

 

The last "appetizer" was a saffron rice with vinegar balls topped with crab.  Again, I don't eat shellfish, but my husband enjoyed the crab and the rice was excellent.

[xxHadleyxx]

[xxHadleyxx]

The crab with saffron rice was actually the first of the three mains, now it's too late to edit (including moving that photo to the end where I though I placed it!).  My apologies.

 

Moving on, the next course, also considered an entree was beef filet bites in a light cream sauce.  It was good, tender and moist.  A nice contrast to the Kobe beef at lunch on land (my husband also said it was good.  This is important because those two meals that day were the first beef I've eaten since 1989, so maybe I don't remember how it ought to taste).

 

The final main was duck.  They brought someone over to show us how to eat it (David has this just about every business trip to China, so we didn't really need the tutorial, but that's ok).  

There's a platter of meat and a basket of wrappers (similar to little crepes ) to share and each person gets their own condiment plate which had sugar (for the duck skin), cucumber, melon, scallions, sprouts, garlic and oyster sauce.   

Essentially you put the duck meat and whichever extras you want in the wrapper, fold it up and eat.  My husband calls it "Chinese fajitas"

 

Once again, it was pretty good.  We were getting really full though.

 

[xxHadleyxx]

[Pencruise]

2 hours ago, xxHadleyxx said:

Thank you so so much for all this info - we are sailing Quantum from Tianjin in Sept/Oct, 7 days around Japan followed by 12 days to Singapore and I was concerned about the food offerings.  Did you go to Coastal Kitchen ?

[debgreg]

I didn't realise they charged for IFly etc in Asia, will this be the same on Spectrum ?

[Biker19]

14 minutes ago, debgreg said:

I didn't realise they charged for IFly etc in Asia, will this be the same on Spectrum ?

Likely, yes. Spectrum is likely going to use the RCI app, which may list all the prices.

Edited April 2, 2019 by Biker19

[Joseph2017China]

I'm really enjoying your review!  The Hot Pot was something new after I sailed on her, and the menu's changed in the MDR to the picture menu's.  You mentioned that only one person is allowed with the drink package, and that is still allowed.  I did it online for me, since my wife does not drink, and the Diamond drinks are enough.   But the price was great (cheaper) than other ships.  Also, the ultimate dining on the Spectrum was on sale for awhile, and anyone that grabbed it, got a bargain.  So the pricing should be similar on upcoming Spectrum cruises and I think your review, will be great for anyone going on Spectrum also.   (54 more days for me.).  I think you have the first review of Hot Pot and I'm looking forward to it.  I still love how the crew is so used to explaining how things work, that they are taken by surprise when someone comes in with full knowledge!

[xxHadleyxx]

2 hours ago, Pencruise said:

Thank you so so much for all this info - we are sailing Quantum from Tianjin in Sept/Oct, 7 days around Japan followed by 12 days to Singapore and I was concerned about the food offerings.  Did you go to Coastal Kitchen ?

You're very welcome

 

No, we didn't go to Costal Kitchen. I was for full suites, and gold VIP only.  I suspect Pinnacles might be allowed in, but we had none on our sailing.   Diamond Plus was not allowed, and we did not book a suite, just a plain old balcony.

[xxHadleyxx]

Ok, before I go to bed, I'll wrap up my review of Wonderland.   The final two courses were noodles and ice cream.

 

The noodles were a cold (slightly chilled, almost room temperature) potato noodles with beans and on the side was a salty pork sauce to mix in.

My husband thought it was ok, but not great, plus he was getting full 

 

I was eating mine without sauce because I don't eat pork and when the waiter noticed I was brought a spicy chili sauce instead.  It was very yummy 

 

Dessert was vanilla bean ice cream with tangerine zest and merengue crumbles.   It was ok, but nothing to write home about.

 

All in all, we were glad we gave this version of Wonderland a try.   The food was really good (and the chef really does seem to be well known here in China).   However, we won't repeat it.  The atmosphere just doesn't work and at that price we'd like food and atmosphere.   So for us it's a no regrets meal but not worth repeating.

[xxHadleyxx]

[mugtech]

Thank you for a wonderful review, gives us a good idea of the way the Quantum is like the Anthem and also the differences.  Looking forward to next February.

[xxHadleyxx]

So the final specialty dining we tried on board was Chops.  My husband used to say  he'd never had a bad meal in Chops.  Used to.  Sigh.

 

We dined in Chops on night 6.  It was packed with a good mix of Western and Chinese guests.

 

My husband's starters were fine.  I ordered the Goat Cheese Salad without the goat cheese (I know, I know lol  but that big thing of deep fried cheese is too rich for me).  What I got was lettuce so wilted it ought not to have left the kitchen (really, it looks much better in the photo than it did in person), mushy apple slices, all of three cranberries and no candied walnuts.  There was no fresh bread or flavoured butter brought out, just some of the MDR rolls.

 

The waiter did ask why I did not eat the salad and I tried to be polite and just said it must be too late in the cruise because the lettuce is so wilted, but not to worry.  I was told it is not possible to have fresh lettuce on a cruise after the first day and I should not expect it.  I did not respond--no point in arguing but that was comical.  We did joke about taking a photo of the lovely green salad we had in Jamie's on the last night and taking it over to Chops to show them 😄

 

For entrees David had the filet and I had chicken.  The chicken was fine though lacking in flavour.  The filet, ordered medium, was still COLD and fully red except for the very outer edge was seared.  Most got left on the plate---waiter did not even ask about it.  

 

For sides we ordered the truffled french fries which were delicious, baked potatoes which were cold (not room temp, pulled from a fridge cold!) and no sour cream or butter offered (probably could have gotten some if we had asked) and Macaroni and Cheese which was literally just plain noodles with some cheese tossed on top and baked until that layer of cheese was hard.  

 

Dessert was fine but unmemorable.

 

All in all it was a fail on a few levels, including particular way the steak was cooked, poor quality ingredients like the salad, lackluster service and then foods (like the Mac n Cheese, etc) not being made to the recipes normally used.

 

I am sure the waiter knew we were unhappy---when we were ready to go he brought back my husband's card (had been used for drinks) and said we could head out whenever we wanted (no slip to sign as normally there is) and then we never saw him again.  I do not fault him for the food quality, but he didn'T help matters either.

 

I do regret not finding a manger and saying something onboard.  At the time I was coming down with a cold, and we had reservations for StarWater and I just wanted to laugh it off and move on.   But we really should not have paid extra for that sorry excuse for a meal and i wish i had spoken up and given them a chance to rectify the situation onboard by either returning a portion of what we paid for the dining plan (like 25 each) or something similar.  That was a failing on my part.´and now it just nags me  Oh well.

[xxHadleyxx]

So all of the above posts pretty well cover anything I can think of to say about the food onboard.  One small added comment is that, with the exception of Wonderland, the meals tended to move along faster than on most ships (even Wonderland moved fairly quickly for what it was).  We NEVER felt rushed, but also never felt like we had to wait and wait and wait for the next course as sometimes happens on other sailings.  Dinners usually took 60-80 minutes (Wonderland was close to, but under, two hours) and lunches were quite quick.  we really enjoyed this aspect of the sailing.