Review: Transatlantic on the Celebrity Quantum

Yes, let’s start with the ship herself. Let's be honest. She is not a RCI ship in look or feel, she has the stunning class, style, décor and charisma of an X ship (namely the Solstice class). From the stylish two tier shopping area, to the soft furnishings, to the way the elevator lights changed colour to announce they had arrived at your floor, to the bathroom with the large shower, and the ladies leg shaving bar, to the balcony furniture with the footstool, to the covered solarium... I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. Now this is not a problem for me as I love Celebrity cruises and their ships, but people who have not done their research may have a bit of a shock.

I know that Quantum herself is off to the far East but when Anthem sails out of the UK next year I suspect that the ‘football shirt crowd’ who are used to the Independence in British waters may have a bit of a shock. Perhaps this design is a conscious effort by RCI to ‘up’ the brand and the clientele they attract. And the prices of the cruises of course as Anthem next year from Southampton is extortionate!

So to the crossing itself. On arrival at Southampton our luggage was quickly tagged with the new tracking bar code bag tags. I was disappointed to see that the peeled off bit was just dropped on the ground though – so at the end of the day there would be approximately 8000 pieces of peeled paper floating in the English wind! It took me about 30 minutes from ‘kerb to ship’ so a long way short of the promised 10 minutes; but I was sensible enough to realise that a new ship would have a few ‘glitches’. Many people said it took them several hours to check in. I had downloaded the Royal IQ app but apparently I had no luggage registered. Would I spend 8 days with no change of clothes?? The check in process was slightly chaotic with the InterCruise staff standing with iPads so there were many wavy bending lines. A few weeks prior to the cruise the completed online check in details had been lost; of course those of us on CC were alerted to this and resubmitted the info; but many of course did not realise this which aggravated the delay.

On board after the initial WOW feeling and rushing around to take pictures to be posted on FaceBook before she sailed; the word spread that the enigmatic wine machines in the Vintages wine bar was dispensing free wine - Vintages has never been so busy! In fact they were free all week ( a fact I sadly failed to notice!). Then all drinks were free at all bars until 9pm that night. This was the start of the extent of the effort that RCI went to; to keep us all ‘happy’. It has been posted that they gave us $300 per cabin in OBC which was refundable if you did not spend it; and a 25% FCC. They also refunded the internet packages, and all movies in the cabins were free for the duration too.

RCI went above and beyond IMHO. In addition to the above there were also gifts almost every night (although I notice one ungrateful person had his commemorative book for sale on eBay in the UK within minutes of it being left on their bed!). So onto the cruise itself…..

More later....

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Can't wait to sail on Anthem next year

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Sadly the weather did not co-operate.

Cabins – the cabins seemed bigger: longer and with a much larger balcony than usual. The cabins followed the same alternate formula as on X – that is one has the bed by the balcony, then the next has the sofa by the balcony.

As already mentioned the bathroom was very X. There was no clothes line in the shower but there was a little hook. The shower was on a pole which could be moved up and down. The shower itself was huge (very X…) with a large curved door that opened outwards, giving even more room. There is no more ‘gloop’ but rather little bottles of shampoo and bars of soap. There were wardrobes built around the bed, one long and one shorter with 2 deep drawers. There was a huge flat screen TV which pulled out so you could watch it from the sofa; there were 2 chairs with foot rests on the balcony.

I could not find a balcony light. There were no nets at the window so if you were getting dressed in port you would need to pull the curtains. The hairdryer is in the drawer of the dresser. On our cruise the mini bar was empty. There are plugs for both US and European plugs and there were also 2 USB ports. The power did NOT have to be on (via the card in the light control) in order for items to charge via the USBs.

The décor was taupe and blue. There was also a power socket by the bed. We were on deck 13, upgraded from an inside virtual balcony (like so many others). A good position with only slight noise when they were moving the chairs in the morning in the solarium above. But at the very end of the corridor was a (very heavy) door that led straight into the Solarium which was handy.

I love art. I am constantly amazed at the variety and quality of art on board RCI (and X) ships. I can honestly spend all day just walking around the ship looking at the art on board.

Every time the elevator door opened you were never quite sure who you were going to bump into.....

or

In addition there were funky installations such as:

where they eyes moved and followed you as you walked into the WindJammer.

But my favourite has to be these 3 who drew drawings, and then erased them in the Schooner bar

Take the covered solarium on Oasis and then add the covered solarium on Solstice and put them together to give 2 large solarium areas. Perfect for cold weather cruising. This does mean that the outside pool area was rather small should you have perfect weather. I guess you cannot have everything.

I just loved the Solarium area. Always plenty of chairs, they have a multi-level plunge pool and several Jacuzzis in the front 2-level solarium and then a larger pool in the second area. Again, artfully done with plants, statues, and wonderful furniture. Unfortunately the covered round rattan chair would not fit into my suitcase.

Loving the review!! Keep it coming :D

688 people have read this and only 2 have bothered to post/comment.

Is it even worth continuing? Is no one interested because I only have nice things to say and do not deem it an 'epic failure'......:rolleyes:

688 people have read this and only 2 have bothered to post/comment.

Is it even worth continuing? Is no one interested because I only have nice things to say and do not deem it an 'epic failure'......:rolleyes:

No please continue, there are many reviews to ponder and many of us don't want to post but just hear as much about others experience at the moment.

bob

Thank you for your review. It is awesome so far. I actually stopped reading CC for a bit because I felt quite a bit of venom in some reviews :mad: it made me sad. It seems that the weather didn't cooperate, the ship is new, technology has a way of being uncooperative and the ship faced delays in production so some things were not ready. I would have expected lots of issues on the first sailing given all that.

I felt some reviews were just plain unfair. I know this is cruise Critic and I like balance, I want to know what I am in for but, I feel some reviews were written with no balance and just anger.

So thank you for mentioning things you liked. I am sailing Tuesday then going back out on Friday. I have not cancelled my cruises and am super excited to see her. She looks beautiful and elegant. I will take whatever mother nature gives and any bumps we face. I am looking forward to it. I appreciate your review. :)

688 people have read this and only 2 have bothered to post/comment.

Is it even worth continuing? Is no one interested because I only have nice things to say and do not deem it an 'epic failure'......:rolleyes:

OK, I love it and cannot imaging going back to the Main Dining Room concept again. There are 4 restaurants to choose from; each with a very unique design and feeling.

Silk ceiling lights:

AIG decor:

Chic lighting:

I had made previous reservations on line but to be honest there was no need to do this unless you wanted a specific restaurant on a specific date/time as there was just one line for those who wished to dine – booked or not. This does need to be ironed out and there should be 2 lines.

Each of the 4 restaurants has its own kitchen and its own cuisine. The food in all was excellent with the biggest compliment (surprisingly IMO) going to Silk. You must have the chocolate desserts in Silk and Chic.

You must avoid the peanut butter cheesecake in Silk and the Red Velvet cheesecake in Chops!

I do not actually think there is a need to dine in the specialty restaurants as there is such a variety of menu in the ‘free’ restaurants that you can dine on a rotation basis through the 4 and not repeat your choices (apart from the chocolate desserts in Silk and Chic of course …!) Johnny Rockets was a disappointment as it was not a proper restaurant but more like a takeaway stand. I never saw them do any business all week.

By all accounts Wonderland was sublime.

We did dine at Chops though, and it was very good (better than our meal the previous month in Chops on Oasis).

Much has been said about the Grande restaurant and the RCI website mentions that it is “formal night every night.” Unfortunately, as many of us suspected, this was not enforced. It was such a shame to see approximately 90% of people dressed ‘properly’ (and yes there were many ball gowns and tuxedos on board) and then there were gentlemen who were in short shirt sleeves and no tie. One big bad black mark against RCI for not enforcing the dress code. The line for Grande was also the longest ever night. To me this meant that people liked ‘dressing up’; and perhaps they should keep the formal night concept throughout the ship?

There were so many comfy chairs, where you could curl up with a good book (or that should be kindle..who reads a book these days), there was so much to look at. The 270 area was simply stunning, such a versatile use of space both day and night.

To be honest there were not as many activities on during the day as I thought there would be. It was almost as if the Cruise Compass was produced with wide spaces between each activity/event to make it look as if there was more on! And things kept changing.

My next big bad black mark goes to the Casino. This was basically smoker’s corner – it was impossible to breathe in there; and smokers did not stay to the smoking section – they were smoking everywhere. It was horrid. And the smell of smoke floated up the stairs to the Royal Esplanade….and even worse; along the corridors where you were waiting in line for dinner at the restaurants on the same level. Design failure. If they have to allow smoking indoors (and there was a perfectly good outside, covered area designated for smokers) then there should either be doors on the casino so it cannot escape. Better still, stop allowing smoking indoors. Rant over.

Royal Esplanade and Via. I dislike the Royal Promenade; I think it has as much ambiance as a shoe box; so I loved the 2 tier elegant flow of the RE and Via.

Elevator Atrium butterfly wall

It is very like the 2 tier flow on board X. And there were even ‘Xs’s’ in the window decoration….. Shops on board were high end; Bulgari and Cartier, a good selection of Omega and Tag watches, and a Michael Kors shop. There were no $10 Bijoux Ternier bags or the inch of gold offerings.

Entertainment –There was a charming violinist called Analiza Ching who was on Britains Got Talent and a hypnotist called Christopher Carress. The CD was pretty useless IMHO. The full production of Mamma Mia was outstanding. Starwater was just weird. I never saw the robo-screens working in 270. We did not have the Gatsby show, or Sonic Odyssey, or Wink or the Mamma Mia after show party. No reason was given.. The Music Hall venue hosted live bands - the 80s band and Archie’s band Horizon were good.

The Diamond Lounge joined the Music Hall and the overflow from the DL sat in the Music Hall. The DL was open 5.00 – 8.30pm on the crossing. The DL hostess never walked around or introduced herself so I do not even know her name .

Seaplex to me was strange. It had odd opening hours and it always seemed to be under utilised.

Love your review- honest and thoughtful. I very much appreciate your comments. Thanks for doing this😀

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We are going on on Tuesday and March 1st! Great review!Please continue. We went on the Oasis inaugural and there were glitches but we LOVED it! We expect to love the quantum too.

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Great honest review! Your pictures are fantastic and have unique perspectives!

Thanks for the great review. Sailing her on Dec.1 and am very excited. Our friends just booked yesterday because I kept sending them pictures and reviews. Sometimes peoples' comments get in the way of the review. So believe me we're reading and very pleased to hear about Quantum.

688 people have read this and only 2 have bothered to post/comment.

Is it even worth continuing? Is no one interested because I only have nice things to say and do not deem it an 'epic failure'......:rolleyes:

Oh my goodness yes! Please continue with your excellent review.

As you know I was also on this cruise and agree with your sentiments. There were far too many people looking for negatives, its lovely to read a like minded review.

I also loved the Dynamic dining and also had no problems with our reservations and was even able to swap bookings without any problem and we didn't have to wait long for a table at all. We loved the decor and attention to detail in all the different dining venues and definitely agree the food was a cut above the usual MDR fare.

Can't see us rushing back to the main dining room on other RCI ships so will probably buy a specialty dining package instead if DD is not offered.

Also agree with your comments about the smoke drifting up from the casino and we too found the Diamond lounge hostess had her favourites and if you weren't one of them she basically ignored you!

But these were minor things that didn't detract from the great time we had on the Quantum, I mean where else can you be taken 300ft above the ship in a glass capsule? It was a priceless experience and we felt lucky to be amongst the first to experience it.

Yes please continue. Appreciate your honest balanced review. We sail on Tuesday. Do not expect everything to be perfect, but looking forward to checking out the new ship.

688 people have read this and only 2 have bothered to post/comment.

Is it even worth continuing? Is no one interested because I only have nice things to say and do not deem it an 'epic failure'......:rolleyes:

I like the way you have pictures in your review. A picture is worth a thousand words.....

Great review thanks.

Did you attend the schooner bar during your visit? Do you know the name of the pianist?

please do continue to post! your photographs are wonderful and your comments are so appreciated. we will be sailing on her in April and even though we have not experienced DD, we have for the past several years ALWAYS did my time dining, or what ever the term was on the ship we sailed.

Some persons enjoy the MDR, we really did not and for several years prior to being able to do dining other than MDR would either have room service and dine on the balcony or go to the windjammer.

WE are on vacation and I honestly don't want to discuss with others, what do you do, how many children do you have, etc......or listen to how many cruises you have been on. probably will be slammed for this, but......this is our opinion and our vacation.

what one person enjoys may not the same as another.

love your review!

Thanks for the review. Will sailing on QOS on 12-1-2014

Love to read this review - and see your pictures.

We are booked on Anthem next year and this has really whetted my appetite, particularly for Dynamic Dining as we are so over the same old boring menus.

Just returned from a B2B on Liberty and your comments about smoking in the casino are exactly what I wrote on my feedback form. It's just a smoker's room. If people want to smoke let them go somewhere away from others who appreciate not having to stink like an ashtray thanks to second hand smoke. Sorry to see that, having made provision for an indoor smoking space on Quantum, they are still allowing it in the casino.

I have finally caught up with lots of threads and various pictures since my return from Liberty and can only say how amused and bemused I am by the many petty complaints voiced when sailing on such a stunning and innovative ship.

So glad you enjoyed it :D