Quantum May 9, 2022 7 Nights Alaska Not Very Live

[twangster]

Crystal block cruise

 

Progress report

 

 

 

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, twangster said:

To use the ship wifi without buying a Voom plan use the second option when connecting to the ship 'guest' wifi.

For those who may not know, if you click on the link by the arrow, you magically get about 15 min of Stream, free. It's a one time use per device, so make good use of it.

 

 

[twangster]

Limited visibility this morning at 6am.

 

 

 

 

Nearly to Ketchikan.

 

 

Still holding onto O3b just over 55° N.  

 

 

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=109 time=232.006 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=109 time=239.527 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=109 time=232.344 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=3 ttl=109 time=481.365 ms

[twangster]

We have arrived in Ketchikan.

 

Ping times indicate we have switched over from O3b to legacy satellites.

 

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=109 time=690.327 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=109 time=677.325 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=109 time=680.701 ms

 

But then a few minutes later we are back on O3b

 

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=109 time=207.233 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=109 time=202.024 ms

64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=109 time=198.933 ms

 

We are at the downtown dock today.

 

 

Last week when Quantum was here the downtown docks were full so Quantum berthed over in Ward Cove and they ran shuttles to town.  

 

[MellowMilk]

Thank you for all the updates. It has been very helpful. Our cruise with Quantum is on June 6th. Hopefully, they solve the line situation, but just curious. Did RC abandon all sorts of not only "time" lines, but also a suite, key, etc lines and just make one big line, or do they still do suite/key lines?

 

We were thinking of grabbing the Key for check-in and for the shows, but I heard that shows are first come first serve and not reservation-based can you confirm?

 

It will also be our first big cruise. Having done RC smaller boats never done a full cruise I assume its looks very busy hopefully we can try all the specialty restaurants and is not fully booked. 

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, MellowMilk said:

Did RC abandon all sorts of not only "time" lines

Welcome to CC.

 

This varies by port, date, time, staff and maybe some other factors.

Edited May 11, 2022 by Biker19

[screwsmcernst]

We will be sailing Quantum in Oct.  Thanks so much for posting.  😀  I saw that chef's table was an option every evening. Am I seeing that correctly?  If that is the case, that will make our planning much easier.  😃

 

Are the lifeguards still limiting the amount of time people spend in the pools and hot tubs?

 

I'm loving the thread.  Have a great trip.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, MellowMilk said:

Thank you for all the updates. It has been very helpful. Our cruise with Quantum is on June 6th. Hopefully, they solve the line situation, but just curious. Did RC abandon all sorts of not only "time" lines, but also a suite, key, etc lines and just make one big line, or do they still do suite/key lines?

 

We were thinking of grabbing the Key for check-in and for the shows, but I heard that shows are first come first serve and not reservation-based can you confirm?

 

It will also be our first big cruise. Having done RC smaller boats never done a full cruise I assume its looks very busy hopefully we can try all the specialty restaurants and is not fully booked. 

 

This was the first full ship near capacity cruise for Quantum in Seattle so it will be a learning curve for the contractors that do the lines and security in Seattle.  Presumably it will get smoother.  

 

Only 1,760 of the 4,270 guests are return RC guests so lots of newbies are cruising and many of those folks don't follow social media sites to learn about the process.  It's all new to them.  Many first-cruise-ever kind of guests are sailing.

 

Everyone wants to cruise likes its 2019 and just show up but with the gatekeepers that have to stop the lines and validate test results and ArriveCAN it's not 2019.  Cruisers are human so many are not prepared and have to fumble through their phones trying to find test results and so on.  

 

We can't cruise like its 2019 until the CDC gets rid of testing and Canada gets rid of ArriveCAN.

 

I did not see any Key queues in Seattle.  Once through security inside the terminal there was a Suites and Pinnacle queue but it was no faster than the regular queue once the ship is boarding.  That isn't the hold up.  The actual RC check-in is very quick assuming you did everything in the app.  The problem are the choke points that occur before security and in Seattle there is no Key/Suites/Pinnacle queues before security so 4,200 guests get to do the same line. Only Star Class get their own queue.

 

It's not going to be perfect as long as we have governments involved.  

[EndlessSea]

Any suggestion on which floors to avoid when booking a balcony cabin?  For example - obstructed with lifeboats, best location?  We always prefer midship. 
 

[twangster]

39 minutes ago, screwsmcernst said:

We will be sailing Quantum in Oct.  Thanks so much for posting.  😀  I saw that chef's table was an option every evening. Am I seeing that correctly?  If that is the case, that will make our planning much easier.  😃

 

Are the lifeguards still limiting the amount of time people spend in the pools and hot tubs?

 

I'm loving the thread.  Have a great trip.

 

I haven't been using the pools or hot tubs so I can't share any experience with that. 

[twangster]

10 minutes ago, EndlessSea said:

Any suggestion on which floors to avoid when booking a balcony cabin?  For example - obstructed with lifeboats, best location?  We always prefer midship. 
 

 

Deck 6 have the most obstructed balconies and they are labelled as such.  Some deck 7 are also considered obstructed but are less obstructed compared to deck 6.  Other decks have very few obstructed balconies and all cabins are virtually the same on decks 8 through 13.  If your budget is tight the obstructed deck 7 balconies are friendly to your wallet.  

 

I chose deck 13 so I would be close to the upper decks where I can get out and easily move between port and starboard for the best scenery of that moment.    

 

On this class I have been on most decks at one time or another and no deck stands out as best to me.  In Alaska for me it's all about ease of access to outside areas.

 

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by twangster

[twangster]

Photo dump time.

 

Ketchikan:

 

 

 

 

Eagles are more common than seagulls in Ketchikan.  They are everywhere.  If you don't see an Eagle in Ketchikan you haven't looked up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Snowing at elevation.

 

 

Juvenile bald Eagle soaring around the ship. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

North Star complimentary session in the rain.  It is Ketchikan after all, so rain happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Oceansaway17]

11 hours ago, twangster said:

Crystal block cruise

 

Progress report

 

 

excellent.  I got one so far and it is Ovation from May 2019 but did not get it until I asked in Nov on Anthem.  I was overlooked

[Oceansaway17]

57 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

 

 

 

nice photo.  Love the mascots on the various Quantum ships.

Hoping Icon class will start doing the same thing but with different mascots

[LaCal]

Can’t wait for Monday when you guys disembark and we’re onboard 

 

Thanks for your review and pics 

[irishgal432]

1 hour ago, LaCal said:

Can’t wait for Monday when you guys disembark and we’re onboard 

 

Thanks for your review and pics 

Please post your embarkation experience.  We are on in 2 weeks

 

[LaCal]

2 hours ago, irishgal432 said:

Please post your embarkation experience.  We are on in 2 weeks

 

Will do….I’m sure hoping it’s faster than these last two….our check in time is 11am and I read if you have a suite you can get the port 1 hour earlier so we plan on being there at 10am 

 

Seems both of the last cruises the people who were there early got on pretty quick but then as time went by the lines got longggg and backed up 

[twangster]

Getting off the ship is a bit different due to the tidal changes and level of the dock.  At times it's deck 2, at other times it's deck 3 but at peak times they have you start on deck 4 to queue.  Listen to announcements.

 

 

 

I did a little shopping and found a little tap house with some great Alaskan beers on tap so I "contributed to the local economy".  It had turned in a beautiful sunny day but turned back into a rainy day when I departed the tap house.

 

Departure coincided with some rain moving through. 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Coming back on the ship we boarded on deck 3 but then had to head down to deck 2 for security and the metal detectors / x-ray machines.    This was due to the height of the pier relative to the ship.  Large tidal swings here so your experience may vary.

[twangster]

Into the Inside Passage for a bit on our way to Sitka.

 

From my balcony the North Star dropped in to say hi.

 

 

I bundled up with a C&A bottle of wine on my balcony instead of going to the Concierge Club tonight. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Later I went up to the Suite Sun deck which is a great place for pictures as you can move back and forth between port and starboard with ease and it's nearly unused in Alaska.

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

On this occasion this was also a great place to watch the sun going down which is an extended experience this far North.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is also a prime spot to get North Star photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

Your pictures are so beautiful and prove why Alaska is one of our favorite destinations.  The scenery is amazing.  I can only hope my pictures will turn out half as good as yours. 

 

Thank you again for sharing. 

[twangster]

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you look closely at the bottom you'll see this picture was photobombed by a whale as I took it.

 

 

 

[twangster]

I have a time lapse video of the North Star doing it's thing but it's too large to upload over Voom.  Later...