Quantum & Ovation Plus - 30 Day Live (hopefully)

[Sea Dog]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

Found one!  Yes, that’s a Kraken floater. 

 

 

 

 

Yea!!!!

 

 

52 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

The Lava Flow must have had a hole in the glass. Ordered a Mudslide for the second drink. 
 

 

 

Judging from the empty glass I take it you liked it. How was the mud slide? I always tell them to go heavy on the chocolate syrup.

[bobmacliberty]

While I’m waiting for happy hour to start, let’s talk about The Beautiful Dream. It was a strange but oddly satisfying production show. It’s one of those shows that has a very loose story line that’s hard to follow. They establish in the first 60 seconds that a man and a woman get married and have a couple of kids, then the woman dies. The rest of the show is about, I think, the man dreaming about his wife…maybe?  
 

It’s a very steam punk theme. One of the main singers seems to help the main character travel through time in his dream…maybe?  The singers, dancers, and orchestra are very good. The staging is really impressive. At one point, there’s a very large steam punk dragon puppet that is controlled by 4 or 5 people. It spreads its wings, which are attached to ropes from the top of the stage and flaps its wings. The dragon nearly fills the entire stage. 
 

Most of the music is remixed versions of popular songs like Van Halen’s Right Now and Fleetwood Mac’s Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow. Songs whose lyrics fit the story…I think. The songs are changed enough that it often took me a few seconds to figure out what song it was. 
 

Not one of my most favorite production shows from Royal but it definitely showcased what they can do. I’m glad I watched it. 

[bobmacliberty]

8 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

 

Yea!!!!

 

 

 

 

Judging from the empty glass I take it you liked it. How was the mud slide? I always tell them to go heavy on the chocolate syrup.

Both the Lava Flow and Mudslide were very tasty. Nothing better than a frozen drink poolside on a cruise ship. 

[bobmacliberty]

Plans for tonight…

 

Happy hour in the SL. I keep calling it the Suite Lounge but technically it’s the Concierge Club. I think that normally means that D+ are invited

to participate in addition to Suites and Pins. One of our D+ welcome letters however said that, due to the high number of D+ onboard, they are unable to accommodate D+ in the Concierge Club. 
 

After HH, we have dinner in Coastal Kitchen. We have our rescheduled Pixel’s Cabaret at 8:00. If we last long enough, the adult comedy show with Mike Pace is at 10:15. I hope we make it as he was very funny at the Welcome Aboard show. 

[bobmacliberty]

Weirdly calms seas right now. 
 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

5 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Plans for tonight…

 

Happy hour in the SL. I keep calling it the Suite Lounge but technically it’s the Concierge Club. I think that normally means that D+ are invited

to participate in addition to Suites and Pins. One of our D+ welcome letters however said that, due to the high number of D+ onboard, they are unable to accommodate D+ in the Concierge Club. 

I hate that you do not know before you cruise if Diamond + are going to be permitted in the lounge or not.  It almost makes me wish they would either make a decision to either always allow access or never allow access. 
 

[Sea Dog]

16 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

Weirdly calms seas right now. 
 

IMG_9536.MOV 21.24 MB · 0 downloads  

 

 

What deck did you shoot that from? You look very low.

[bobmacliberty]

2 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

 

What deck did you shoot that from? You look very low.

From our cabin balcony, deck 12. I agree, it doesn’t feel that high up. 

[bobmacliberty]

17 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

I hate that you do not know before you cruise if Diamond + are going to be permitted in the lounge or not.  It almost makes me wish they would either make a decision to either always allow access or never allow access. 
 

I’ve been D+ all of 7 days, so I’m far from an expert, but I’ve seen other people on these boards saying that it’s rare that D+ is allowed in the Concierge Clubs that still exist. I’d assume that I won’t be allowed, and then be pleasantly surprised if I was. 

[DaKahuna]

8 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

I’ve been D+ all of 7 days, so I’m far from an expert, but I’ve seen other people on these boards saying that it’s rare that D+ is allowed in the Concierge Clubs that still exist. I’d assume that I won’t be allowed, and then be pleasantly surprised if I was. 

That is also the attitude that I try to adopt, not always successfully.  
 

The last time I remember being in the Concierge Lounge as D+ was on our Baltic cruise on Brilliance in June, 2018.  

[bobmacliberty]

Great news!  The crew is no longer required

to wear a mask!  Individual choice as to wearing or not wearing. It’s so much more personal talking with someone when you can see their face. I talked with a few crew members who were VERY happy to not be wearing a mask. 

[Sea Dog]

8 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

It’s so much more personal talking with someone when you can see their face. 

 

Plus you can actually hear and understand them more clearly. It was amazing to hear the difference when Donald the bartender from the Schooner Bar worked Coco Beach Club and because it was outside did not have to wear his mask. I could actually understand him where as on the ship I had to have him repeat things.

[TravelGirlinDallas]

What did you think about Pixels? It was not our favorite.

[DaniDanielle]

The Beautiful Dream sounds a lot like The Gift, Anthem’s strange production.

[George C]

11 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

That is also the attitude that I try to adopt, not always successfully.  
 

The last time I remember being in the Concierge Lounge as D+ was on our Baltic cruise on Brilliance in June, 2018.  

I was on brilliance in 2016 in Europe concierge club wasn’t ever that crowded even with diamond plus , we were in a aft corner grand suite , that is my favorite lounge with a real bar , staff and concierge were great.

[DaKahuna]

Just now, George C said:

I was on brilliance in 2016 in Europe concierge club wasn’t ever that crowded even with diamond plus , we were in a aft corner grand suite , that is my favorite lounge with a real bar , staff and concierge were great.

 

 I agree. I consider it one of my favorite ships and my favorite lounge layout.  

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

4 hours ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

What did you think about Pixels? It was not our favorite.

We really liked Pixels, but we’re more dancing than singing oriented for shows. Our daughter danced competitively since she could walk, was on the UK Dance Team, and is back working at the studio where she grew up teaching a new generation of young girls. The choreography was amazing and I loved how they integrated the robot monitors and the screen across the windows.
 

My only complaint is poor sight lines, depending on where you were sitting and where the action was taking place. We were dead center at one of the cafe eating tables, right against the divider that separates the eating area from the theater seats. We thought it would be perfect. When the dancing happened on the lower floor area, we couldn’t see very well. I think that was true for everyone who wasn’t sitting in the lower bench area or the upper deck. 
 

It’s definitely a little different theme and we saw a few people leave mid-show, so your not alone in your opinion. I’ve felt that all of the production shows on both Quantum and Ovation were a little bizarre, but something  about Pixels made us like it a lot more than the other shows. 

[bobmacliberty]

Good morning from beautiful Lahaina. We are anchored and the life boats are tendering. The weather forecast is for temps in the low to mid 80s and a chance of rain this afternoon. We are anchored with the port side of the ship facing the shore. Our starboard cabin has a nice view of Lanai. 
 

[bobmacliberty]

3 hours ago, DaniDanielle said:

The Beautiful Dream sounds a lot like The Gift, Anthem’s strange production.

I haven’t seen The Gift but from everything I’ve read about it, I thought the same thing. 

[bobmacliberty]

3 hours ago, George C said:

I was on brilliance in 2016 in Europe concierge club wasn’t ever that crowded even with diamond plus , we were in a aft corner grand suite , that is my favorite lounge with a real bar , staff and concierge were great.

 

3 hours ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 I agree. I consider it one of my favorite ships and my favorite lounge layout.  

 

 

 

I’m not a fan of Ovation’s Concierge Club. I’m guessing the same would be true for and Quantum class ship. It’s nice that it has a lot of space and has great views from the aft of the ship. It’s a long walk down a cabin hallway to get to it, which is strange. And it doesn’t have a real bar, which has caused drink limitation problems. I previously mentioned that the only Sauvignon Blanc they had the other night was Sea Ridge. That we still true last night (they couldn’t restock??) and they also ran out of any Pinot Grigio other than…you guessed it…Sea Ridge. Micheline gave it a try. Blech. 😵. One of the waiters felt bad and ran to a different bar to get some real wine. The happy hour snacks seem lacking also. Several dessert things (I’m not in the mood for dessert at HH…maybe for after dinner??), a few bits of cheese, some fruit, and usually 4 different little fried things. I recall a better selection on other ships
 

My bigger issue is how separated it is from CK. CK therefore can’t use the lounge bar. Any drinks or specialty coffees that we ordered in CK get charged to us (ie use one of our vouchers). I really like how everything is in one place on Oasis class. On the plus side, service in the lounge has been great and Carlington has been an excellent Suite Concierge. We had a nice

talk with him last night about how his family grows coffee in Jamaica (Blue Mountain…yum) but he doesn’t drink coffee. 

 

 

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, bobmacliberty said:

I recall a better selection on other ships

Go the the DL this afternoon and compare.

[bobmacliberty]

We’ve been to Maui 3 times before on at least 1 week vacations, so we’ve “been there done that” for most things on the island. If you’re here, definitely go to the Old Lahaina Luau. Fantastic, but we’ve done it twice. We’ve driven the Road to Hana 1.5 times (daughters got bored halfway through our second time so we turned around). We’ve been to the top of Haleakala 3 times. We’ve ziplined (highly recommend Flyin Hawaiian), snorkeled, helicoptered (twice…Blue Hawaiian 👍), watched kite boarding at Ho’okipa (Wow). We’ve been to the Iao Valley and driven our rental car places that they are not supposed to go. 
 

So what do we have planned? Not much. We’re going up on North Star this morning at 10:30, figuring it would be better to do in port than at sea. We’ll then make our way to shore and go to Kaanapali. We’ll walk along the beach path and see what’s changed with the resorts in the area. We’ll do a little shopping in Whaler’s Village. We have dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants, the Hula Grill. We are very much looking forward to some fresh seafood. It will be good to walk on dry land, although probably with sea legs. 😁

[bobmacliberty]

33 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Go the the DL this afternoon and compare.

Good idea but too late. We’ll be ashore for happy hour and dinner the last 2 nights. 

[bobmacliberty]

People on balconies do realize that their neighbors can hear everything they say to each other, everything they say on the phone, everything they watch on the internet, right?  RIGHT? 🤫

Edited October 7, 2022 by bobmacliberty

[h20skibum]

Looks like a beautiful day in Maui. When we were there on a Princess ship, we tendered to the dock by the Pioneer Inn and the Banyan Tree.  Met some interesting characters under that Banyan Tree.  I assume you tender to the same location.  
 

FYI, Kimo’s has hula pie if you need a snack.  It is not far from the dock.  Just go left on Front Street