mamacruiseroftwo

Yes phishfano4 I completely forgot about that 10% off discount certificate. That was a pretty terrible night for some with no air conditioning or their dining preferences.

Jenjer you are correct that I could have discussed the dirty bathroom issue with the steward but I was actually embarrassed to bring it up to him.

This review is for the Quantum of the Seas ship. My family of four sailed from Feb 20th-March 1st. I am a seasoned cruiser and have sailed many different times on Royal Caribbean, as well as a number of other lines (crystal, ncl, princess, carnival, holland, and wind song). To be honest I have cruised so much on royal I am a diamond member.

This vacation was terrible, and if anyone has children under the age of 7 I would strongly reconsider going on this ship. The ship was not designed with the intention of children in mind. The kids club was utterly depressing and the staff seemed sad to be there. One of the staff members even said to us when we went to the kids club that if you want the "family cruise", go on oasis or allure as this ship took away the space from the adventure club to make bigger staterooms. We have been on oasis and we were very impressed with the kids club on that ship, this was nothing like that. It was dark depressing, separated to span over two floors, no children's theater like oasis and really just a dismal place for children to be sent to. Also, the staff in the kids club were not enthusiastic and seemed sad to be there themselves. I just in sep. went on NCL, and their kids club shines over this one by leaps and bounds. There staff were enthusiastic and happy with each encounter.

To continue on the kids note, we were very disappointed to find out that our 3 year old could not go on the North Star (observatory) due to height restrictions. Also, our 4.75 year old could not go on the bumper cars as a passenger, as a child has to be 5. For months we had been talking to him about the bumper cars and then found this out once on board. Luckily we found out before heading up there from a fellow cruiser, however we heard many people waited in line and then found out. What an utter fail on Royal Caribbean to disappoint so many young children. I understand not letting them drive, but to not let them on as a passenger. The restaurants were not geared for bringing your children. Each time it took over 5 minutes to get a children's menu.

In regards to our room we decided to do an inside cabin as with our children we tend to be out of the room most of the day. However, do not do this as the bed for my child was a sofa (not pulled out) but with a sheet placed on top. It was disgusting. Every time he slept he would wake up with the sheet not on the sofa but his head on the sofa direct. This can not be considered sanitary. Also our bathroom had pubic hairs on the floor when we came in for the first time. We went through complaining on the phone (took 45 min on hold) to find out that nothing was done. By the way if you want to call the front desk, your phone in the room does not have a speaker phone and the average wait was 30-45 min. We opted to not complain a second time as we didn't want to be a slave to the wait time. Another complaint about the room was the virtual balcony. The virtual balcony was good when working, however for us it didn't work half the time. It was either green or purple (pics will be uploaded to business site).

The ship was so overcrowded that buffet was very difficult to find seating. I have never not been able to find a seat at the buffet on a cruise before however this happened twice on this one. With two children under 5 that is not fun. On prior ships if staff saw me with my children they would always rush in to aid with finding a table, not on this ship.

The royal IQ ap worked 50% of the time. I have an apple device, yet still had such difficulty connecting. Also, the photo-shop place kept having technical difficulties when trying to view photos, very frustrating.

The dinner service in the Grande was absolutely terrible. In the entirety of my 2 hour dinner I never received the bottle of wine we ordered (despite inquiring about it twice). The staff were not using their digital devices that night, but instead had returned to paper ordering. On a whole the staff were unhappy and unenthusiastic during dining service throughout the cruise ship. Per conversations with staff, it seems to be due to the electronic component that made them unhappy as there were so many technical problems for them.

Another issue was the smoking. Somehow right when you would exit the indoor pool area to the outdoor pool area you would be confronted with cigarette smoke. I think the placement of this section should be reconsidered.

So to sum this up do not go on this ship. The oasis and the allure are much better ships, this one had that old cruise feel with a cramped royal esplanade area. Better spend your money elsewhere.