The Big Booper

We wandered about the ship after the drill and then went back to the cabin to change for dinner. We had late seating at 8 PM and had requested a large table. The first night only one other couple showed up but on the second night another couple appeared and the six of us spent the entire cruise ensconced at one end of the ten top talking and talking every night. Marc & Chantal from Antwerp, Belgium and Alfred & Samia from North NJ.

We were so engrossed in the conversation that we almost missed the welcome aboard parade. By the time we got to deck 5 it had already started so I stood at the end of the Promenade behind the staging area, never been in this location for any parade. Hey Panda. At least I got a different perspective at the behind-the-scenes organized chaos.

We eventually wound up in our favorite haunt, the Schooner Bar, and spent some time listening to Wally B, a New Orleans oriented piano player. DW loved his hat. At the end of his current set, we went up to the cabin, a long day. We looked forward to a nice and relaxing first night on the ship after the stressful travel and boarding.

Here are the gray sail away pictures.

Statue of Liberty

Chrysler Building, note the scallops on the spire.

Empire State building.

New World Trade center building

Going under the bridge.

The Parachute jump at Coney Island.

Day 1

Morning of the first day, we had all our luggage in the lobby at 9:15 AM, as DW gets slightly nervous when traveling. A large Suburban showed up promptly at 9:25 and by 9:30 AM we were loaded and off to Cape Liberty. We paid cash and from memory I think it was Gold Limo Service. The flat rate for the two of us was $50 from the airport to the pier including tolls.

The driver knew shortcuts after getting off the Turnpike Extension and hustled us to the luggage drop-off station by the overhang before 10:10, fast and efficient. We beat the traffic in; I would rather sit in the luxurious terminal waiting area then in a vehicle inching it’s way in from 440.

Eventually we lined up and were checked in and then sat some more but finally we started to board by category. For the last time, we rode the shuttle bus to the ship and were aboard before noon. We then headed up to the Windjammer for brunch along with a whole lot of other people wearing cold weather gear. After lunch we went down to the Promenade to check things out and then, since it was after 1:30, went up to our cabin to wait for the luggage. We were aiming to be fully unpacked by the time of sailaway at 4 PM or shortly after.

Our cabin, 7622, was at the center hump. And when the door was opened, we could see straight across the elevator tower and the same for people standing in the tower and library. Next time in this class of ship, move down a cabin to lessen the chance of our opening the door and giving people in the tower a show. Anyways, all of our luggage showed up timely and DW did her usual efficient unpacking and telling me where to put stuff. We finished in time to head down to deck 4 for the lifeboat drill. Our boat was C16, two down from the infamous C20. Not wild about standing outside in the so-so weather but at least we got there early enough to stand at the back and lean against the wall. And no lifejackets required. The process didn’t take that long and we then made our way up to the Viking Crown for sailaway. With the bad weather, we didn’t have the desire to stand on the open upper decks for maybe our last NY trip under the VZN Bridge. Because of the gathering dusk and shooting thru glass, these photos aren’t the best but…

After reading all these threads it sounds like RCI tried to do too much too fast as far as new procedures. Too many to's and too's in that sentence:D.

These changes should have been rolled out gradually. Glad our Jan 2015 Oasis cruise is before the change to DD, let others be the test dummies.

Yea, I figured out Photobucket. More to come.

Day -1

We had moved from the NY Metro area to the South Florida area early in Summer 2013. Booking the 14 night Explorer repositioning cruise from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, NJ to Port Canaveral, Florida represented a whole new world for us. Instead of being dropped off and picked up at Cape Liberty by car we would now have to plan getting up to NY/NJ by air, staying overnight near EWR and, at the end of the cruise, getting home to Boynton Beach from Port Canaveral.

Since I use Marriott extensively for business, in August I received an E-Mail from them awarding me one free night at most Marriotts to be used by the end of the year. Nice to be rewarded by a company I use extensively. We chose the Courtyard by Marriott near Newark Liberty Airport, right off Rts. 1/9, a hop skip and jump from the airport. As an additional bonus, when we checked in, we were upgraded from a large hotel room to a suite. Sweet. No one at the front desk batted an eyelash when we walked in with our Halloween traveling headgear.

We had made arrangements for our adult son to come by after work and we all went out to eat in the Ironbound section of Newark, Great restaurants in this area and we used our usual method of choosing, lots of good cars in the parking lot and the place looked well kept. We ate at the Spanish Tavern and the food and service were very good. Don’t try this at night if you are not familiar with the area; the place is a block off 1/9 which is loaded with NY/NJ drivers hustling to get somewhere and the streets are poorly marked.

Back at the hotel, we asked the front desk to get us a vehicle to get to the port the next day with a 9:30 pickup at the hotel. We wanted to beat the crowd into Cape Liberty.

This review will also test my new web hosting site.

Thanks.

I think the D event was in Maharajahs. I saw the sign one night on our way down to lose in Trivia at 7:30 PM.

 

...>>>SNIP<<<...

 

Cruise Director – We didn’t care for Jimmy Rhodes, he seemed smaller than the position. Although I hate to say this because, in the past, I have found him to be annoying, but Ken Rush should have taken Quantum out. He is in a different class.

 

 

...>>>SNIP<<<...

 

I thought that Ken was on board doing background organizing and admin while Jimmy was in the front of the house. Jimmy is a former dancer and probably has a better stage presence then Ken.

We were on the Explorer alongside you in Aruba. What was your take on that older ship tied up next to you? We were told that it belonged to the Church of Scientology.

Your review is extremely thorough and well written.

Ooops, here is the one that did not show a few posts ago. . .

 

Cabin 6652 Midship

 

 

More pics later.

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

 

The view of my Balcony from inside. . .

 

 

 

.

Here are a few pics of the Indoor Pool and Main family Pool

 

 

Radio

 

...>>>SNIP<<<...

 

I never viewed the net being off of the H2o Pool

 

 

 

 

.

GoPro specials. Very impressive camera.

The seating on the Silhouette was much nicer, more attractive.

Celebrity is designed to be more upscale then RCI. I would expect the public area furnishings to reflect;) that.

The concept worked well on Silly and Solstice, should work well on this ship.

Maybe I didn't read all the threads, but this is the first time I have seen this pic. I will see this view in person someday, probably on Athem.

Looks very similar to the aft buffet seating on Celebrity Silhouette and Solstice. A great concept. Is there a bar out here?

Oasis class is a warm weather ship with the live forest.

Wow! Truly great photo review.

Hi Radio

Great review! That luggage area is bound to be much more popular after a 10 or 12 night cruise. I wish they had this type of baggage area in Port Canaveral. ;)

 

Denise

I thought the same. PC conveyor belt system is absurd.

Big Booper- Maybe you know something that I or we don't know, but there has been NO indication that the Ovation is coming to FLL, although I suspect at least ONE Oasis new build will come and hopefully one of the 2 new Quantum ships will also come to FLL or PE...

 

Big Al

I remember reading something somewhere that the 3rd ship was slated for Florida. Of course plans could have changed.

I dunno.

The Esplanade reminded us of Deck 4 & 5 on the Silhouette. Did not see much of the outside seating as it was way too cold for walking around outside.

Not surprising. The Q ships are an amped up version of the S ships from Celebrity.

RCI Diamond translates to Elite on =X=, at least it did the last time when we went on Silhouette.

We loved the Grande so much that we booked it for 3 nights on our next 2 Quantum sailings. A small disappointment in the Grande was they did not have the Scallop dish that was presented to us during the NYC reveal.

 

We'll be trying Silk in January. We did enjoyed Coastal Kitchen but did not like their Fisherman Stew dish at all. You'll need a magnifying glass to see the clams in that dish and the sauce was way too thick.

 

Did not try any desserts anywhere on the ship but they did look and sound good.

I was at the NY Reveal in March 2014. Can you compare the menus then to the actual menus on the ship?

Second seating - table 307. Starboard side, near the forward end of the dining room.

That's what I thought. We were at 304?, the last table before the wall, 6 people at a 10 top table.

This is not the first report on toilet and smell issues with the RCI Legend, which is why we won't ever book a cruise on this ship.

Maybe the company will give it to Pulmantur next year when the Anthem debuts; the company will still have 5 Vision ships, plenty to do the Panama Canal and Venice, as well as the 4 Radiance ships.

When the first drawings appeared about this class of ship, my first thought, "this is based on the Celebrity "S" class". How true, especially the large flat hump, the angle balconies and the outdoor seating at the rear of the 'Jammie, similar to Celebrity's Oceanview Cafe.

We're in S. Florida and we will try this class when the Ovation (#3) comes to FLL.

What seating did you have? And where was your table? I think we were near you.

Wow, ship looks great! Unfortunately, we are done with flying up to NY for a cruise, so will wait for #3 to visit Florida:( (Ovation??)