Comparison between Oasis class and Quantum class

Hi fellow cruisers. I haven't posted for awhile, but we are going to book a cruise within the next 6-8 months. The theme for this cruise is our 50th Anniversary. We will probably have around 20 people going including around 5 kids. (No babies). When I am about 3 months out from a cruise I start doing my research. I mainly use this website because there is always so much useful info to be obtained from everyone. I have given advice on many occasions myself. Some good some bad I guess, lol but every opinion counts and is helpful. The wife and I have been on 10 cruises, so we are not newbies, so to speak. I also did 3 years in the USN so I know my way around a ship.

What I want to throw out there for discussion is feedback from people who have sailed both Oasis and Quantum Class ships The wife and I have sailed on most of the Voyager class, and on both the Oasis and the Allure. We loved all of them, especially the Allure and Oasis. We are sold on RCCL and basically I am in charge of making the decision for the family on which ship, itinerary, etc.

We love the Caribbean, so that's where we want to go.

The only drawback to taking the Oasis or Allure is flying to Florida. I'm not crazy about flying, too much hassle any more, but I would put up with it because I love these two ships.

The Quantum or probably now the Anthem of the Seas are home ported in Bayonne N.J. which we can drive to, (We live in Philadelphia PA).

I have been hearing a lot of complaints regarding some of newer policies instituted for the Quantum class, Most notably having to make reservations for dinner.

I heard from some posts that you don't sit at the same table or have the same waiters etc. every night.

We are traditionalists we like the early seating with, the same table and waiters, etc. If your not happy with the seating or the waiter you can ask to be moved and there is no problem with the Staff. Although we have never had to do this on any of the ten cruise we have been on.

The dinner reservation thing I believe would really create a problem with a group of 20 or possibly more.

I am leaning towards the Oasis or the Allure out of Florida. Even with the flying vs. driving.

So to sum it up I would appreciate cruisers that have experienced both types of ships and will you give what you liked or didn't like about them and the dining arrangements.

All of the others with the exception of 4 people are new to cruising.

Hi fellow cruisers. I haven't posted for awhile, but we are going to book a cruise within the next 6-8 months. The theme for this cruise is our 50th Anniversary. We will probably have around 20 people going including around 5 kids. (No babies). When I am about 3 months out from a cruise I start doing my research. I mainly use this website because there is always so much useful info to be obtained from everyone. I have given advice on many occasions myself. Some good some bad I guess, lol but every opinion counts and is helpful. The wife and I have been on 10 cruises, so we are not newbies, so to speak. I also did 3 years in the USN so I know my way around a ship.

What I want to throw out there for discussion is feedback from people who have sailed both Oasis and Quantum Class ships The wife and I have sailed on most of the Voyager class, and on both the Oasis and the Allure. We loved all of them, especially the Allure and Oasis. We are sold on RCCL and basically I am in charge of making the decision for the family on which ship, itinerary, etc.

We love the Caribbean, so that's where we want to go.

The only drawback to taking the Oasis or Allure is flying to Florida. I'm not crazy about flying, too much hassle any more, but I would put up with it because I love these two ships.

The Quantum or probably now the Anthem of the Seas are home ported in Bayonne N.J. which we can drive to, (We live in Philadelphia PA).

I have been hearing a lot of complaints regarding some of newer policies instituted for the Quantum class, Most notably having to make reservations for dinner.

I heard from some posts that you don't sit at the same table or have the same waiters etc. every night.

We are traditionalists we like the early seating with, the same table and waiters, etc. If your not happy with the seating or the waiter you can ask to be moved and there is no problem with the Staff. Although we have never had to do this on any of the ten cruise we have been on.

The dinner reservation thing I believe would really create a problem with a group of 20 or possibly more.

I am leaning towards the Oasis or the Allure out of Florida. Even with the flying vs. driving.

So to sum it up I would appreciate cruisers that have experienced both types of ships and will you give what you liked or didn't like about them and the dining arrangements.

All of the others with the exception of 4 people are new to cruising.

It is called Dynamic Dining.

If you like Traditional dining, then you can choose Dynamic Dining Classic, which allows you to move through the complimentary restaurants on a preset rotation at the same time each night with the same waitstaff and table mates. Dynamic Choice is the other option which recommends having reservations every night.

Dynamic Dining could also be on Allure and Oasis depending on when you are traveling. However, there is currently no set date of implementation on those two ships.

Just to throw my input in here, Dynamic Dining currently was the only option to choose from when I booked the Harmony for next year. I picked the "choice" option because I like the MTD concept that it replaced.

Tom

We are traditionalists we like the early seating with, the same table and waiters, etc.

Hi JAYRAY.

There is nothing at all traditional or resembling the RCL brand on Anthem. Quantum/Anthem are nothing like any other ship in the RCL fleet. You will not recognize anything nor will you feel at home for the first couple of days. It's like being on a totally different cruise line that you've never been on before.

As quoted above, you are a traditionalist... To me that word indicates that you don't want to try something totally different. I suspect you dislike change, you like things to be set with same people/waiters/table/etc, I suspect you don't like decision making when on a cruise... ALL things you must require to like for Quantum Class. It pains me to say this because I am a big Quantum Fan, but I really think you should stick with Oasis or Allure from what you described for us to let us know what you and your family might wish to expect.

Whatever you choose have a great cruise! :D

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it. I am a traditionalist, but I'm not against change per say. If it was just me I would probably give the Anthem a try. I have to deal with a bunch of people who never cruised before and don't need to deal with having to hold their hands all day. As most people on here who have cruised many time before, you have to defend cruising to people who have never been on one before and have 101 reasons for not going on one. You know what I'm talking about, "You can fall overboard," You will get seasick." "there is all types of crime going on the ships." I could go on and on. So I just want things to run as smoothly as possible. I did tell them that once you go on a cruise, you will want to go again as soon as possible. Most of them are relatives along with some friends, I think only four of them have ever cruised before. I already told them to go their own way and do their own thing, We just hope to all dine together, to talk over the days activities. BYW what is it exactly that makes you a big Quantum fan, just curious?

I have to deal with a bunch of people who never cruised before and don't need to deal with having to hold their hands all day.

This might be a good thing for the newbies!!! No preconceptions of MDR, same tables, same waiters, etc. They might absolutely love Dynamic Dining and being able to choose what they want when they want.

BYW what is it exactly that makes you a big Quantum fan, just curious?

Pictures say a thousand words. Have a you got a half hour?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137643

I did not love Quantum the first day. I loved her by the last 4-5 days after I got used to the ship design, location of everything, etc.

Two70 is a marvel!!! In my humble opinion for me hands down 50 million times better than any Viking Crown.

IFly, NorthStar, Seaplex, the new Solarium design... just awesome. I really embraced the change and I really REALLY loved dynamic dining. Travelling solo I got to meet several CC'ers here that post often. I found the food for the most part much better than the previous few sailings. I was able to change my dinner times several times (remotely on my iphone!) and was able to make reservations with others, something you just cannot do whatsoever with traditional MDR. The gym is awesome, Music Hall is totally different but a fantastic nightlife venue... I can go on. The technology was really fun, I loved the use of the Royal IQ. The story in my review is pretty clear... and I also point out many negatives as well throughout.

If you don't choose Anthem this time around, you'll just have try for yourself so you can form your own opinion... I'd love to read your review! :)

We haven't tried Anthem yet, but we're booked for Oct 2016 and I have talked some friends into going. I kind of wish Liberty would still be up here, but I'm willing to try the new ship. I like the new Dynamic classic option since my dh likes set dinner times. I also think the ship looks really cool and have read some good reviews. I figure as long as there's a bar, a pool and some lounge chairs I'll be good :)

PS I also love being able to drive up from Philly as opposed to flying!

 

 

Pictures say a thousand words. Have a you got a half hour?

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2137643

 

wow all I can say is what a review! The ship looks amazing, thanks for posting the link

The Quantum and Oasis class are more alike than different. There both part of the new way of cruising for Royal Caribbean. I've only sailed on the Oasis once back in January 2010 when she had about a month of sailing experience in the books. I sailed the Quantum's inaugural sailing and the second sailing. So Oasis had a bit more time to iron things out before I boarded than Quantum did. Both ships were new and exciting. Each one had mind blowing features but the Royal Caribbean essence is still felt throughout the DNA of each.

I personally prefer the Quantum class over the Oasis class. Both ships are solid designs (I don't think Royal has a design that isn't), but the Quantum has the edge with more usable spaces that seem to offer more to do and experience. The ship also had a higher quality and upscale feel to it than the Oasis did. There were many times on my Oasis sailing I found myself bored and looking for things to do, many spaces were often vacant. That never happened on the Quantum, even with the activities lineup lacking since they weren't fully up and running yet. Having said that I know the Oasis product has improved and evolved over the years and many people love it.

The same is true for the Quantum though. Our first sailing was terrible. It wasn't the ships fault, but Royal's. They sold the ship on lies compared to what they delivered and they weren't ready for guests yet. The second sailing was incredible though, the best cruise we've had. They made a ton of improvements from just one sailing to another and the reviews have shown that they've maintained that same pace of improvement ever since. By the time you would sail Anthem she'll have at least 6 months of learning and Quantum will have a year of data. I'm sure it'll be a vastly improved experience compared to what I experienced.

The main issues that don't seem to be improving fast though are the technology. That's not a Quantum thing though. The horrible pre-cruise planner that the Quantum uses for booking entertainment and dining is the same one used by the Oasis class for it's entertainment. The Oasis class will be receiving dynamic dining later this year with no exact date specified yet, so that may be in place before you sail her. The Royal IQ app is headed to the Oasis class just like it's already on the Quantum class. When Harmony sets sail in May she'll be a brand new Oasis class ship that operates like a Quantum class ship. No matter how much people may want to say otherwise, Royal Caribbean really is trying to position both of these classes to operate in the same way and target the same audience.

Since you've already experienced the Oasis class and would have to fly, it seems like an easy choice to go for the Quantum class. If you hadn't experienced an Oasis class it could be open for debate, but it's always good to try all the classes instead of getting stuck on one that you assume is the best and not knowing what you could be missing out on with the others.

You can check out the final summary post from my Quantum thread here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=46447379&postcount=44

It has all the links to my 31+ hours of Quantum video coverage and nearly 12,000 photos.

We had a 12 day cruise on anthem at the beginning of this month and we absolutely loved it. So much to see and do and such a beautiful ship. The technology worked really well and dynamic dining was perfect for us - we don't want to have a set time for dinner every night. Changing reservations was easy with the royal iq app . This was our first royal Caribbean cruise and we have just booked harmony for next year . A different class of ship but already has some quantum class features announced for her so I am hoping for just as good an experience! Do not be afraid of dynamic dining - it really is easy to use and the food was really good for the most part.