NY212

Sometimes they give free WiFi to test the system with high load.

Then they have their info. It took me over 20 minutes to upload and see my last post.

In general internet had been very good.

Thanks again for all the info in your live report.

Did you happen to notice if the TV's on the ellipticals are working? Someone on a prior cruise said the TV's were not working in the fitness center.

Thanks.

It looked like they were all working although:

1) I plugged my ipad into its dock on the treadmill and didn't try to watch tv; and

2) I was not able to create a My Wellness (or whatever it's called) account.

I don't know why we have free wifi. The ideas I've heard are loss leader and attempt to get good PR. I'll ask a concierge.

Weather: DH believed that it would be cold until Tuesday (we left NJ on Saturday.) I thought it would be warm enough for outdoors to be pleasant by Sunday afternoon. It was warm enough midmorning on Sunday. BUT we left as bad weather came in. waves were very high from the time we left port until sometime late Sunday afternoon. The barf bags were out on some stairways. The treadmill posed extra challenges. My fitbit registered nearly 150 flights of stairs, but I probably climbed fewer than 30 - the only way I can account for it is the movement of the ship. There was also rain part of the time. Aside from the extra challenge, the weather didn't affect us, other than the solarium having more people than usual. Some of the pools were closed, as were the north star and perhaps flowrider.

The solarium has more ambient noise than I am used to, but it is still a peaceful place.

Food - baked goods:

I think they have new baking standards. Gone are the breakfast donuts (since I couldn't resist them, i'm glad), in are new rolls and lots of foccacio.

Day 3: woke up to peaceful seas and blues skies. Hit the fitness center @7:30. I had undercounted the treadmills - there are more than 20. It wasn't crowded, but by the time I left, the weights area looked a bit full. Some kind of class (body sculpting?) was going on, without the usual music.

Your Cruise Director's name is Jimmy Rhodes. :)

Merion_Mom: you always have all the info. How??? And thanks for telling me his name before i got it wrong publicly (again) or speaking with him.

Day 2

I went to meet and mingle (sorry, attendees, that I was a few minutes late). the activities director did his thing. For the first time since elementary school, I won one of the raffle prizes, as did the people with whom I'd spoken at cc the previous evening.

I went to make my donation to the casino. It was a little after ten, so it hadn't been open that long, but it was very smoky. I asked at the cashier when their smoke-free times were and was told they didn't have any times, but did have a "smoke free area". In all honesty, I didn't check out the smoke free area, but I suspect it was adjacent to a smoky area.

Went to WJ for breakfast. as always, there were lots of vegie foods. The fresh fruit was excellent, although they also had canned fruit (why?) While WJ did not feel crowded, it took a while to find a place to sit. Eventually two people joined us at our table and we had fun talking with them. They said that they had done two complete laps and hadn't found an empty table.

Off to the fitness center. One treadmill was out of order and all the others (15?) were in use, but i only waited a minute or two. This was around 11:30.

checked out the shops. Aside from the specialty shops (Bulgari, Kiehls), things seemed familiar. if you like the shops on other ships, you will probably like these.

A few words on prices. My last RCI cruise was Jan 2014. I remember cocktails being around $8. The ones I've seen here are $12. I don't drink very much and one drink in cc or dc in the evening is enough, but that strikes me as a big increase. The alcohol prices in the shops also seem high - Absolut for @$22?

Peope who are diamond or higher may be pleased to know that you can get up to three free drinks at any bar, excluding robot bar and restaurants , during the cc and dc cocktail hours. What a smart way to reduce crowding! But there are limitations on what you can order. when i get home, I'll try to scan the list and upload.

There was a robotic light show in 270. As far as I could tell, it was some kind of computer generated graphics displayed on several screens that were being moved around by robotic arms. i found it moderately interesting for a few minutes.

Dinner tonight was at silk, at six. We waited for one party ahead of us to give their info or scan their wristbands, then we did the same and were seated WITHOUT reservations. Once again, we probably would have been out in a bit more than an hour, but were having a fun conversation with the Aussies at the next table. I talked about my food in an earlier post; DH's salmon was very good.

Thanks for taking the time to post. You're passing along some very useful information. Enjoy your cruise.

We aim to please. I hope it is helpful. i perused the boards a lot before boarding, and i believe that other people are, as I was, a bit nervous about going on a new ship with so many reported glitches.

continuing...

At dinner last night, DH loved some of the food and thought the rest was at least ok. he did not think that the quality of the food had changed. my arugula salad was quite good; pasta primavera was fine, if not exciting. I try to avoid pasta when i cruise - there's so much tasty fattening food that I don't want to waste the calories on something i could have easily at home. but vegie options were limited so...

we left chic perhaps 70 minutes after we got there, although we had only coffee at the end, no dessert. It was nothing like the two plus hours I've been reading about.

We walked around a bit. We went to 270 for a while where there were live musicians and singers, plus the CD, Billy Rhodes (?), and then went to the theater at about 8:10. Most of the really good orchestra seats were taken by then, but we found perfectly good seats. before i get to the show, be warned: the theater is very warm. there is some kind of blower on the back of each seat. perhaps the one in mine was malfunctioning, but my back was actually hot-hot-hot. i had brought a sweater with me because I'm usually cold in theaters. i used it to insulate me from the heat.

I don't go to a lot of the production shows on cruises. I am a former dancer and know how hard they work. But i have been disappointed in the quality of various aspects of the productions, so I don't go and am fine with that. (Just background so you understand that i am quite critical.) Nonetheless, we decided to see Mama Mia. The dancers and most of the singers were very good. And enjoying that music is a dirty little secret that so many of us share. So we did enjoy the show. it started at eight thirty; there was a 15 minute intermission, and the last curtain call ended around 11.

What happens if you don't make dinner Rez and walk up and want to sit with other couples at a large table? Do they comply with your wishes right away?

The short answer is i don't know. both nights thus far, there were no lines at the restaurants when we went, but we went early. it certainly seems that they try to accomodate people, but probably arelimited in what they can do when there are people with reservations waiting to be seated. I will try to keep eyes and ears open.

I am curious about the vegetarian choices for dinner in the complimentary restaurants.

 

Could you find out if they have a vegetarian menu available or just the 1 or 2 items listed on the regular menu. We are on the 1/23/15 cruise and we were hoping for more than just the few vegetarian choices shown on the regular dinner menus.

 

Thanks.

thus far, vegie options haven't been quite as varied as i remember from previous cruises.

the dinner menu says "ask your server for vegie options" or words to that effect. last night at chic, the waiter pointed to the items on the menu that i had already figured out were vegie and said there were no other options. tonight at silk, when i tried to order the tofu, the waitress told me it was cooked in a meat sauce. the best she could do for me was the beef salad without the beef. she did find vegie samosas for me eventually, but it was an appetizer portion. when DH finished his salmon, which he liked, we went to windjammer, where i found an eggplant dish. Thus far Windjammer has always had vegie pasta and pizza; they have had a few vegie dishes at lunch. I've been to 270, WJ, silk and chic and have posted what i saw. i will try to let you know what i see at other places.

Betwe lunch and going to the fitness center, I checked out the concierge and diamond lounges. i haven't been on Oasis or Allure, so what's new to me may be old. the concierge club was huge and gorgeous. All the way aft, it has big windows overloooking the wake - so much nicer than the interior cc on voyager and freedom classes. seating areas are well separated. there is no bar - as i found out when i went back in the evening. All beverages except coffee and tea are served at tables by waiters. the diamond club is also large with many windows.

I had read many complaints about dynamic dining and was concerned. We needed to be at Mamma Mia by 815. Our reservation at chic was for 6:45. we got to chic at 6 and were seated right away. Our waiter and assistant waiter were both named Marko. I have read people complaining that there are no more busboys and that service is very slow. that was not our experience. Service was quite fast and quite pleasant.

at 230, we went to the fitness center. It was not crowded at all. it was much like the fitness center on other ships. there was a little confusion about the muster drill. I thought that they said that everything would close at 3:30, but by 3:15, they were asking us to leave the fitness center and proceed to muster. our muster location was one off the restaurants. they scanned our sea pass card to see that we arrived and then gave us no further direction for about 15 minutes. the screen in the restaurant (there are video screens EVERYWHERE) started the standard muster speech and the life jacket demonstration. People were talking however and I suspect that at least half the people in the restaurant did not hear or see the tv. after a while the captain started speaking over the TA. I could not hear much of what he said however he did say that we would all get free wifi for the remainder of the trip. That was the end of muster. Even if it was not supposed to be, people clappedal so hard that little else was audible.

Knowing from past experience that our rooms were unlikely to be ready and that Windjammer would probably be packed we walked over to 270, found a place to sit and got beverages and food from cafe at 270. I am a vegetarian and my DH eats everything. there was a salad that I could eat and one or two sandwiches without meat; DHC found many good things. I was surprised to see that they put out bags of Lays potato chips - small bags, but it's unusual for them to give away prepackaged items that one can buy at regular stores on land.

270 is a lovely idea and they do a pretty good job with it. it is at the very back of the ship with enormous windows which somehow contain video screens. there are a variety of different seating and table options including comfy chairs and comfy couches. It's kind off like a giant living room, at least in the daytime. on the way to 270 we saw lots of places where people could just sit and lounge around including some "pods".

at around a quarter to one we left 270, did a little bit of wandering, and went up to our state room which was on Deckeep 8th after, with a balcony. dh thinks the staterooms is a bit narrower than the balcony staterooms we are used to on other RCI ships. the decor in our state room is quite nice. they also do a terrific job with storage. the storage itself is arranged differently than other RCI ships. For instance there are no drawers in the desk. but we are not light packers and had plenty of space to put all our things away.

I had been warned that there was no soap or shampoo dispenser in the bathroom and that I would have to ask my stateroom attendant for toiletries. I don't know if it is because we are diamond+ or if they have simply changed the way they do things but there was plenty of soap and shampoo and conditioner and lotion when we got there. the shower is a little nicer than we've had when not in suites. There is a clear plastic door rather than the curtain that blows in and interferes with your shower, and there is a little ledge you can put your foot on while you are shaving your

At present, I am on the January 3rd cruise out of Cape Liberty on quantum of the seas with DH. Please bear with me as I am using voice recognition on my phone for the first time.

As always there was a long line of traffic coming into Cape Liberty. once in, there was some confusion. I got inside the terminal about noon. I saw several Royal Caribbean employees with iPads helping register p assengers, but they were all busy, so we went through the regular security and then to a check in desk. the check in process took a few minutes, about what it has been in the past. we had not uploaded photos so we had our photos taken. apparently they weren't good enough because a few minutes later we had to get them taken again. the agent who helped us check in told us that in our state room there would be one wristband and one seapass card and we could decide which of us would use which. That was not the case. There were two wrist bands and to seapass cards in the state room. the agent was not able to scan our luggage tags. She was however able to get someone else to use his scanner and that worked. There were a few other minor technical glitches but by and large check in went smoothly and we probably were on the ship and about ten minutes.

I was just logging in to start my own "live from Quantum" thread, but you beat me to it.

By and large, my impressions are similar, but not identical to those of the OP.

After seeing so many negative comments on these boards, I had gotten nervous. Thus far, aside from muster and some trivial things, everything has been very good. And I thought so before we were told about free wifi!

Off to meet & mingle.

...

P.S. Your signature shows SS France I. Would that be the one that became the Norway?

I don't know. It was the mid sixties and I was very young. Most of what I remember was having croissants and French onion soup for breakfast.

Internet is great on Breakaway - unlike most ships you do not pay for the amount of time you are on the computer - just the amount of time you use to send. It charges by bytes instead of minutes and i was surprised at how little i used. I bought the most and had to get everyone in my group to use my time before we left the ship.

 

The shows are really great too.

When you say "send", do you mean that you don't pay for download, only for upload? That is too good to be true.

Given how slow Internet is on every ship I've ever been on, paying by byte instead of minute sounds great! No more gnashing my teeth while my DH surfs. He always buys the biggest package and always runs out halfway through the cruise.

(This is the OP)

Thank you all for the useful info. On to follow-up questions:

Re food

As a vegetarian, I have found that the extra-fee specialty restaurants are generally not worth it. Does anyone disagree?

I usually find ample choices of vegie food without any trouble on RCI. Are there any vegies who can tell me if the same is true on NCL? I would expect so.

Is there a 24-hour food place on Breakaway? DH enjoys night time snacking.

Re Other

What is not-to-be-missed?

That's a great tip about Spice H2O. I'm not expecting a lot of children on my cruise, but adult only areas are generally pretty peaceful.

For those of you who have traveled in spa staterooms, The Haven, other suites - what makes them worth the extra money? I'm willing to spend, up to a point, if I get something other than a larger stateroom and balcony. I'm planning to stay in a mid-ship balcony stateroom.

Are there things I should bring that I don't have to bring on RCI? Bathrobes, toiletries, hangers, ...?

Are there enough outlets that I both of us can charge our eReaders, iPods, cell phones and other electric or electronic items overnight? Is there an outlet in the bathroom?

I'm about to take my first NCL cruise, seven nights on Breakaway. I have taken many Royal Caribbean cruises. My husband and I are, at least per legal documents, mature adults and we will not be taking any children with us this time.

I would appreciate any insights into differences between the two cruise lines.

Is there anything I am likely to be happily surprised to find?

What am I used to that I won't find, like the Solarium? On RCI, this adults-only pool and whirlpool area is free, but on NCL, one pays for Vibe.

Are there things that are free on NCL for which one pays on RCI and vice versa, other than the aforementioned Vibe?

Is the internet speed as bad as it is on most RCI ships?

What should I sign up for in advance?

What are the not-to-be-missed activities?

Any cabins on Rhapsody 8 floor not to book, please let me know.

 

Sent from my GT-N8013 using Forums mobile app

On Royal Caribbean's Rhapsody in Nov 2013, I had tablemates who were in an aft-facing stateroom on deck 8. The noise from the crew bar below their balcony was so loud that they were given another room for sleeping. I was just a half-dozen or so staterooms away from them and had no problem.

Yes that is correct. It is a fairly new rule. If you make any changed when you are under the 6 month mark, even if you are giving them more $$ your balcony discount gets adjusted to the lower amount.

I sent the post while on hold with RCI. When the agent came back, she did say that the rule was new since the system upgrade at the end of October. That makes sense, because I am 99% certain I kept the balcony discount in the past when I made changes, e.g. for my cruise last month. For short cruises, the difference is only $25. I can live with that!

We booked a balcony stateroom @ one year before the cruise. We are now post-final payment. I am trying to switch to a JS which is now at the same price as the balcony. I am being told that my balcony discount will be decreased to the less than six month-out rate. Does that sound right?