Solarium Access Quantum of the Sea from Singapore

[Bonnielass]

Dear fellow cruisers, can you help me please?

 

As a diamond plus guest would I have access to the Solarium on the Quantum of the Sea, sailing from Singapore. Thank you in anticipation.

[Biker19]

7 minutes ago, Bonnielass said:

As a diamond plus guest would I have access to the Solarium on the Quantum of the Sea, sailing from Singapore.

We will need confirm this after she comes out of dry dock but pretty sure the Solarium restriction was only on sailings from China.

[welshrich]

Hi

 

We just got off the quantum, the solarium was open for all guests as she has left Chinese waters, the Northstar and Ifly was also complimentary, the crew we spoke with did say this would remain the case while she sailed out of Singapore.

 

 

[kernow]

4 minutes ago, welshrich said:

Hi

 

We just got off the quantum, the solarium was open for all guests as she has left Chinese waters, the Northstar and Ifly was also complimentary, the crew we spoke with did say this would remain the case while she sailed out of Singapore.

 

 

Do you happen to know what is happening in the drydock?  We are onboard in Feb and haven't been able to find much info.

 

How was your cruise?

[Bonnielass]

Thankyou for a swift reply.

[dolphingirl47]

2 hours ago, Bonnielass said:

Dear fellow cruisers, can you help me please?

 

As a diamond plus guest would I have access to the Solarium on the Quantum of the Sea, sailing from Singapore. Thank you in anticipation.

Even sailing out of China you would have access as they have essentially used the solarium as a diamond lounge on those cruises. The solarium on cruises from China is reserved for Diamond and higher Crown and Anchor Society members and suite guests. I will kind of miss this next month.

 

Corinna

[dolphingirl47]

2 hours ago, welshrich said:

Hi

 

We just got off the quantum, the solarium was open for all guests as she has left Chinese waters, the Northstar and Ifly was also complimentary, the crew we spoke with did say this would remain the case while she sailed out of Singapore.

 

 

That is interesting. Earlier in the summer, I saw a press release from Royal Caribbean stating that with the effect of the 16th November, they will charge for North Star, etc. On sailings from Singapore, but that this does not apply for cruises of 9 nights or more or repositioning cruises. I can no longer find the original press release, but it is referenced on a number of third party sites. I also remember that back in late spring/ early summer two different paid for North Star options were available on my cruise planner for the 25th November sailing. I wonder if they had a change of heart.

 

Do you know what provisions were made for Diamond and higher Crown and Anchor Society members? Quantum does not have a Diamond Lounge and looking at the new deck plans, there still won’t be one after dry dock. 
 

Corinna

[snaefell]

Another fresh off Quantum on what was our first & probably last RCI cruise.

Not sure I would believe anything that RCI tell you before your cruise in that in the weeks & days preceding our departure we were still getting messages about plans to charge for Northstar,I-Fly,etc,all of which changed,messages about the Cultural diversity on board & how announcements & introductions about entertainment would be made in Mandarin,the diverse food to be expected to cater for the large Chinese contingent on board,what a load of rubbish,Oriental passengers were in a serious minority,the vast majority were of a Western nature or Australian from what we saw & heard,the food was largely what I would expect from a normal RCI cruise with a few exceptions & charges for activities were dropped,curously enough when we first got on board there was still a sign outside the Pub inviting passengers to try the fish dish which,along with,I believe,Chicken Feet,had been a favourite with the Chinese,that vanished,never to be seen again,how they can have not known where the majority of passengers were coming from well before departure I really don't know,I got the overwhelming impression that they make it up as they go along!

Diamond lounge was the upstairs part of the Music Hall as shown by some very smart pieces of paper!

Edited October 23, 2019 by snaefell

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, snaefell said:

I got the overwhelming impression that they make it up as they go along!

Not sure why anyone would expect shoreside personnel to know details like this. 

[snaefell]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Not sure why anyone would expect shoreside personnel to know details like this. 

You mean in this modern world nobody in RCI knows where people who book with them are from?

[kernow]

There has been nowhere to book ifly/North Star on our planner either paid or free. There is the option to book dinner in the Solarium Bistro for £26. It sounds like things may change cruise to cruise after drydock!

 

To anyone who has seen the deck plan post drydock, is the Concierge lounge changing to a Suite lounge? Hoping it won't but expecting that it will 

[dolphingirl47]

16 minutes ago, kernow said:

There has been nowhere to book ifly/North Star on our planner either paid or free. There is the option to book dinner in the Solarium Bistro for £26. It sounds like things may change cruise to cruise after drydock!

 

To anyone who has seen the deck plan post drydock, is the Concierge lounge changing to a Suite lounge? Hoping it won't but expecting that it will 

This is still showing as Concierge Lounge. The only change that I have detected is on deck 5 and that is that the Shore Excursion area and the Japanese pharmacy have switched places.

 

Corinna

[dolphingirl47]

49 minutes ago, snaefell said:

Another fresh off Quantum on what was our first & probably last RCI cruise.

Not sure I would believe anything that RCI tell you before your cruise in that in the weeks & days preceding our departure we were still getting messages about plans to charge for Northstar,I-Fly,etc,all of which changed,messages about the Cultural diversity on board & how announcements & introductions about entertainment would be made in Mandarin,the diverse food to be expected to cater for the large Chinese contingent on board,what a load of rubbish,Oriental passengers were in a serious minority,the vast majority were of a Western nature or Australian from what we saw & heard,the food was largely what I would expect from a normal RCI cruise with a few exceptions & charges for activities were dropped,curously enough when we first got on board there was still a sign outside the Pub inviting passengers to try the fish dish which,along with,I believe,Chicken Feet,had been a favourite with the Chinese,that vanished,never to be seen again,how they can have not known where the majority of passengers were coming from well before departure I really don't know,I got the overwhelming impression that they make it up as they go along!

Diamond lounge was the upstairs part of the Music Hall as shown by some very smart pieces of paper!

Thanks about the info about the Diamond Lounge. I think we will give this a miss as on this cruise, we will have access to both the Diamond Lounge and the Concierge Lounge.

 

Corinna

[kernow]

1 minute ago, dolphingirl47 said:

This is still showing as Concierge Lounge. The only change that I have detected is on deck 5 and that is that the Shore Excursion area and the Japanese pharmacy have switched places.

 

Corinna

Thanks, fingers crossed for Feb then.

[Biker19]

1 hour ago, snaefell said:

You mean in this modern world nobody in RCI knows where people who book with them are from?

Sure, some folks at RCI (and some on the ship) know the demographic for those booking, but it's not likely to be the front line CSRs you speak with. The folks you speak with, may have never sailed on an RCI ship and are mostly reading from scripts when they give you an answer (especially when it's outside of the US CSR) - you need to keep that context in mind whenever you speak with one.

[snaefell]

3 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Sure, some folks at RCI (and some on the ship) know the demographic for those booking, but it's not likely to be the front line CSRs you speak with. The folks you speak with, may have never sailed on an RCI ship and are mostly reading from scripts when they give you an answer (especially when it's outside of the US CSR) - you need to keep that context in mind whenever you speak with one.

Sorry,really don't buy that,IMO it is so unproffesional if on one hand they know the make up of who is on board & on the other hand people who don't know are being allowed to make misleading announcements which are at odds with what is actually happening,hardly surprising that they get bad press for their Customer service.

[Biker19]

3 minutes ago, snaefell said:

Sorry,really don't buy that,IMO it is so unprofessional

You may not buy it but if you read enough postings here and from personal experience, you'll realize that's exactly the way RCI chooses to do business. You also have to realize that the great majority of the time for most issues, the CSRs get it right. Most of the posts which get the attention here are the few times they get it wrong and most of the time that is due to the incorrect (IMO) expectations on the part of the poster.

Edited October 23, 2019 by Biker19

[Ethanol95]

Do we actually know what Quantum is getting/changing in drydock, given it's probably started already?

[dolphingirl47]

4 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Do we actually know what Quantum is getting/changing in drydock, given it's probably started already?

it looks like most may be cosmetic and mechanical. There was an article on here a week or so ago mentioning a pop up Escape Room and pop up Laser Tag. Other than that, it has been rather quiet.

 

Corinna

[Ethanol95]

Just now, dolphingirl47 said:

it looks like most may be cosmetic and mechanical. There was an article on here a week or so ago mentioning a pop up Escape Room and pop up Laser Tag. Other than that, it has been rather quiet.

 

Corinna

Yea.. Hope there's more than just that, it won't be another five years till we see another change. By then she'll be a decade old. It'll be sad if Royal doesn't plan to amplify the whole Quantum class given how modern the ships still are. But once they age, new ideas pop up.

[dolphingirl47]

3 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Yea.. Hope there's more than just that, it won't be another five years till we see another change. By then she'll be a decade old. It'll be sad if Royal doesn't plan to amplify the whole Quantum class given how modern the ships still are. But once they age, new ideas pop up.

Quantum, Anthem and Ovation were never on the list of the ships that will be amplified even though all of them have a dry dock during the time frame of the amplified program. 
 

Corinna

[snaefell]

We were quite astonished at how good Quantum looked,apart from some wear & tear,so little that it is hard to see what needs such a lengthy period out of action,we were on P&O's Britannia 2 months after she started service & she looked worse then!

[Ethanol95]

Well I'll be going on Quantum for NYE. I'll check out what else has changed during dry dock.

[snaefell]

1 hour ago, Biker19 said:

You may not buy it but if you read enough postings here and from personal experience, you'll realize that's exactly the way RCI chooses to do business. You also have to realize that the great majority of the time for most issues, the CSRs get it right. Most of the posts which get the attention here are the few times they get it wrong and most of the time that is due to the incorrect (IMO) expectations on the part of the poster.

My Wife works in an hotel & one thing that puts the fear of God into the owners is bad reviews,no matter how small,petty or ridiculous it may be & will do pretty much anything to avoid them happening & I cannot understand why any company would do otherwise.

I know full well from what I have learned since making our origional booking that the majority of the complaints were because the passengers expected something very different to what they ended up with,now whether you say that is their fault or not is probably debateable,the cruise planner after we booked still showed standard RCI menus,including Wonderland,these eventually slowly changed or vanished completely,so it is hardly surprising that some people expected their normal RCI food,I just cannot understand RCI's reluctance to save themselves bad reviews by giving the correct info in the first place,they seemed to make an effort late on for us but even then what they were telling us was incorrect,I cannot see how that is right or helpful in anybodys' view. 

[kernow]

6 minutes ago, Ethanol95 said:

Well I'll be going on Quantum for NYE. I'll check out what else has changed during dry dock.

Please come back and post, we can't wait to get some info on the Singapore sailings.