Why no love for the Quantum class?

Apologies if this has been discussed before ... but I was browsing the ratings of the Royal Caribbean ships here on Cruise Critic, and noticed that all 3 Quantum class ships are the least loved bunch from Royal.

Mariner, Serenade and Freedom are all 80+. And most other Royal offerings are in the 70's. Has there been a consensus here on CC as to why there's no love for the Quantum class?

Anthem of the seas - 51% loved it

Ovation (41%) and Quantum (46%)

Personally we love the modern feel and innovations of the Quantum Class. The Bionic Bar and Two70 are both fun and wow moments respectively.

For us regulars, the lack of Promenade takes something away from the class as does the dining experience. There were also a lot of teething troubles and staff inexperience issues reported here which would have not given them a good reputation.

That said if the itinerary was right, we wouldn't hesitate to book Quantum Class in the future.

I did not realize Anthem did not have a promenade. My first and only Cruise was on explorer and we loved it. One of our favorite spots was the Royal Promenade.

One of the reasons we stuck with royal even with other lines being cheaper is for the wow factor of the promenade. Plus the people watching. Very disappointed to hear this?

Is it noticeable the lack of it? Does it really make a difference to many people?

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I did not realize Anthem did not have a promenade. My first and only Cruise was on explorer and we loved it. One of our favorite spots was the Royal Promenade.

 

One of the reasons we stuck with royal even with other lines being cheaper is for the wow factor of the promenade. Plus the people watching. Very disappointed to hear this?

 

Is it noticeable the lack of it? Does it really make a difference to many people?

 

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It has an Esplanade vs the Royal Promenade.

We enjoyed it and would book any one of the 3 depending on itinerary

The dining was the cause of many issues to date, compared to other ships.

With the switch away from that I'd expect scores to improve, but it will take time given old scores will keep the average down.

We loved Anthem. We sailed before the dining changes, but we did have traditional dining (our waiter changed dining rooms with us) and we rotated dining rooms. I had originally pre-reservered all our dining times but once they opened up traditional we went with our usual late dining time. The menus were already being adjusted, but we still enjoyed it. We will sail Quantum class again, probably Anthem since it's in NJ. I think there were people who just couldn't handle the change so they gave negative reviews. Our experience was great.

How does the Royal Esplanade compare to the Promenade. I have looked at pictures but hard to really get a feel. Is it smaller and therefore more crowded, or is it spread out well?

How does the Royal Esplanade compare to the Promenade. I have looked at pictures but hard to really get a feel. Is it smaller and therefore more crowded, or is it spread out well?

Not as long, not as high, not as wide.

Thanks Bob, the grandness of the Promenade was something we really enjoyed. I am sure it will not spoil our cruise and we will still have a great time. Just a bit disappointed.

On the bright side, plan on doing a next cruise booking for Oasis class from this cruise, I am sure I will find plenty of grandness on that ship.

Thanks Bob, the grandness of the Promenade was something we really enjoyed. I am sure it will not spoil our cruise and we will still have a great time. Just a bit disappointed.

 

On the bright side, plan on doing a next cruise booking for Oasis class from this cruise, I am sure I will find plenty of grandness on that ship.

We love the Royal Promenade. That is why we mostly only cruise on Voyager/Freedom/Oasis class ships. Once in a while we sail the Radiance class if the itinerary is really good but we miss the Promenade when we do. My mother really dislikes ships that don't have one. And since we almost always take my parents along when we cruise and I prefer as little complaining as possible....

If it had a better itinerary I would love to try it. I live in Florida so call me biased but if it departed from Florida I would book right now. It is not the having to New York that I mind. Its the itinerary that wastes four days for me. I can take an inexpensive shorter cruise and go to the same places. That along with the weather is a deal breaker for me.

Thanks Bob, the grandness of the Promenade was something we really enjoyed. I am sure it will not spoil our cruise and we will still have a great time. Just a bit disappointed.

There is a chance that you may end up liking the Esplanade and Via more than the Royal Promenade.

I think it's got the lowest staff to passengers ratio of any class of RCCL's ships. You notice it with the wait staff, and bar servers especially. I'm sure that's a decent reason why ratings are lower than others. That said we had a great time on our cruise in September and I'd have no issue booking again.

Thanks Bob, the grandness of the Promenade was something we really enjoyed. I am sure it will not spoil our cruise and we will still have a great time. Just a bit disappointed.

 

On the bright side, plan on doing a next cruise booking for Oasis class from this cruise, I am sure I will find plenty of grandness on that ship.

The promenade on Oasis class ship is much bigger than other ships. Very wide in comparison. If that's your thing, you are in for a treat.

I loved the Quantum when we sailed on her out NYC. Our most memorable cruise due to all the unique features - iFly, Bumper cars, North Star, the dining (we liked it), Chubby (the giant pink bear as named by my nieces), all the artwork.

Another Ovation lover here! We spent 30 days onboard last year, Barcelona to Singapore, and it was one of the best cruises we have had! LOVED THE SHIP AND THE STAFF. We also enjoyed the dining rotation among the 4 dining rooms, just the change in ambience as well as the slight changes in each menu made it very enjoyable and not monotonous. 270 is hands down one of the best and most interesting venues and we loved Spectra's Cabaret in the evenings. I believe that may now be called Pixels.

If it had a better itinerary I would love to try it. I live in Florida so call me biased but if it departed from Florida I would book right now. It is not the having to New York that I mind. Its the itinerary that wastes four days for me. I can take an inexpensive shorter cruise and go to the same places. That along with the weather is a deal breaker for me.

I agree with you about the itinerary on some of the sailings. We did however sail on the Liberty from NY that went to Bermuda, which was somewhere I hadn't been before.

Just too big, just too big with too many people on them. I prefer a smaller cruise ship because they can get into more ports of call than the mega ships.

I'm on the Anthem right now. This is our first time on the quantum class. We're loving it, with exception of the 'dining room'. Dining is cramped and awkward compared to the Freedom and Voyager class ballroom style. We did one night there and have been going to the Coastal Kitchen ever since.

We're spending a lot less time in the Windjammer on this boat. It's just too crowded. Honestly if we had not gone for a suite and did not have access to Coastal Kitchen, this cruise might have gone down several notches for us.

Entertainment is great and the shows have been fantastic. WiFi is good as well. Quick enough for easy Web surfing and SD streaming.

I definitely recommend the Quantum class if you're planning on booking a suite. If you're booking a standard room, just be warned that the Windjammer is always packed and the dining room doesn't have the charm of previous classes.

We don't book suites in any cruise lines, and have almost completely cut out the buffets. I just find it the opposite of relaxing and enjoyable. There are so many place to eat on these ships now you don't have to go to the windjammer anymore. The beauty of big ships, I love them, the bigger the better.

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I would love to sail on the Anthem however until they put a Quantum class ship in Florida (very doubtful) we won't sail on her. We limit our cruising times to Christmas and March break and are therefore stuck with the 7 or 8 day itineraries out if New Jersey which I refuse to do. (Barring some incredible deal showing up.)

We don't book suites in any cruise lines, and have almost completely cut out the buffets. I just find it the opposite of relaxing and enjoyable. There are so many place to eat on these ships now you don't have to go to the windjammer anymore. The beauty of big ships, I love them, the bigger the better.

 

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I wish more people felt like you and then maybe the Windjammer in the evening would be more like it was years ago..... quiet and relaxing.

We spent 12 days on Quantum and 30 days on Ovation so we are quite familiar with the class. I believe it is my favorite class. My wife prefers Radiance but Quantum class is up there. There is just so much to do and see. I also like the Promenade on Voyager/Freedom/Oasis class but the Esplanade on Quantum class is bright and lively. I did notice after doing a consecutive cruise on Harmony followed by Freedom that the Freedom Promenade seemed small compared to Harmony's Promenade. So perhaps the wow factor of the Promenade is a matter of what you are used to. Also I think the "mall look" of the Promenade is getting a bit dated.

Some of the features we really love about Quantum class that you can't get on other ships are the indoor pool, Seaplex, the beautiful enclosed solarium, Northstar, iFly, puzzle room, and the wide variety of entertainment. One evening on Ovation we saw a show in the theater, a cover band in the Music hall, a virtual concert in 270 and late night comedy in the theater. I would not recommend that every night but the variety was incredible! I do wish they had a dedicated comedy club like they do on Oasis class.

We liked Dynamic Dining but I understand that many don't so I understand why it was eliminated on Anthem. We did find on the 30 day Ovation trip that Dynamic Dining got somewhat repetitive.

If you are somewhat adventurous and open to change, I would highly recommend Quantum class. If you like your cruise ship to fit like an old shoe (nothing wrong with that!) then maybe Quantum is not for you.

We enjoyed our cruises on Quantum and Ovation so much that we have booked a cruise on Anthem for later this year!

We sailed the Quantum in March 2015 and loved it. We loved the unique things we could do; how many rounds of mini-golf and rock walls can one climb? Bumper cars people! LOL

Our sailing was deemed the "embarkation from hell" as there was some kind of outbreak which I can't remember what it was now on the sailing before ours. Ship was scrubbed top to bottom before we could get on, so of course we had delays getting on. Some people didn't get into their cabins until well after dinner, luggage arrived into the wee hours of the morning, smell from cleaning solution was making some people feel ill, etc etc etc. But we still loved the ship. We had Dynamic Dining and liked it. We had a very interesting mix of crew, as she was already being prepped for the transition to China, so half the crew was new and barely spoke English. But we still had fun. We tried each of the Dynamic Dining dining rooms, only dressed formal for the one night WE chose to when we booked The Grande. Loved getting to try new specialty restaurants like Jamie's Italian...I can go on and on.

If you go onto a new class of ship with the attitude "I'm not going to like this cause it doesn't have..." of course you won't like it. You've already decided, so why waste your money to try something new. I think, OP, you won't find lots of love for the Quantum class because the most vocal are the ones who don't accept and embrace change.

I've been sailing since August 1992, when Majesty of the Seas was big and shiny and the latest thing. I sailed The Norway in 1993 (who at the time was one of the very few ships too big to go through the Panama Canal.) I sailed Disney before they started seven day sailings - and guess what? No casino. Even though we liked casinos, and spent time in them on every cruise prior, we still LOVED the cruise. We've been on tiny ships, medium ships, large ships and will be heading out on the giant Oasis later this year. We've sailed on RCCL, Disney, Norwegian and Carnival. Each line and vessel is so different; and if as a passenger you aren't willing to be open to what each ship has to offer, then you will come back and post a negative/low star review here. I've found over the last few years I've visited CC...those are the majority of passengers leaving the reviews. I don't even read the reviews anymore.

So happy to read all the love shared in this thread. I may have to go post a review from my Quantum cruise; not that anyone will care, since she's in China now anyway.

Apologies if this has been discussed before ... but I was browsing the ratings of the Royal Caribbean ships here on Cruise Critic, and noticed that all 3 Quantum class ships are the least loved bunch from Royal.

 

Mariner, Serenade and Freedom are all 80+. And most other Royal offerings are in the 70's. Has there been a consensus here on CC as to why there's no love for the Quantum class?

They replaced the main dining room with four smaller facilities. But the combined capacity of the four is not enough to service the guests even with other dining choices on board. They also cut the staff too much. Otherwise, the ships are good. But the cutbacks in dining capacity and staff hurt the ratings.

In addition to the things previously mentioned, we greatly missed the vast multi-level dining room. Loved the MDR in Explorer, hated the single level DR's on Anthem.

Also, we had D1 cabins on both Explorer and Anthem. Explorer's D1 had much more usable space and open feel than Anthem. All this said, we'd sail on Anthem again, but she is not our first, or second choice.