Review and SB cabin 7648

I will try to keep this as organized and descriptive as best as I can:

Embarkation:

As I had done all of the pre-check in at home and had arrived a little before my assigned embarkation time, getting to the area reserved for suites, diamond plus and diamond members was swift. However, once there, boarding was slow as there were a number of guests on the line for whom simply scanning their boarding pass did not work. I don't know what the difficulty was, but the line to board often came to a dead standstill. Both my sea pass card and my wristband were waiting for me in the cabin. As I am a VIP member of Casino Royale, I needed to carry both my card (they can only place the VIP sticker on the card when I went to the Casino) and my wristband. The wristband worked beautifully, but I found it made my wrist sweat.

Cabin:

I booked one of the new studio balcony cabins as I was the single traveling with two other couples who had each booked D1's. The cabin itself was clean and definitely compact. As I am normally used to traveling in a JS or a D1 balcony, I found the storage space to be very limited. It is definitely tight in there as the comforter on the bed had to be pushed aside to close the one thin closet in the room that abuts the right side of the bed (it matches the size of the smaller of the two closets in a D! without the door racks). I was left with just leaving my shoes at the base -- the location of the cabin lighting makes looking for something at the base of the closet like a scavenger hunt. Note: you must close the closet door or you can not open the bathroom door (the bathroom door must be fully open in order to enter it if you are a large person as once open it leaves little room to pass between the bed and the door).

The left side of the bed contains the other closet - which is not really a closet at all- from top to bottom - this is the configuration of three deep shelves, the top shelf allows for about 18 inches of clearance from top to bottom but which you need to be 6 feet plus to access it of pull the ottoman that serves as the only seating in the cabin over to it. Once there you need the arms of an orangutan to reach the back, so at best, you can store clothing in the front. The second shelf is at eye level and also allows for about 18 inches of clearance (I am 5'7") but you still need to remove any clothing in the front in order to reach anything behind it. The third shelf has about 6 inches of clearance and the only use I could find for it was to store two evening bags side by side - the height of the shelf made the back area essentially useless. The next shelf contained the safe and underneath it was what could have been another 18 high shelf but it was covered, presumably to allow maintenance an area to secure and if necessary, access the bolts that held the safe in place and to allow a small inset about 8 inches high next to the bed to put a clock or charge your phone/ipad. The "closet door" ends here. Below that are two 12 inch drawers.

To the left of the bed there is a low cabinet which houses both a small drawer for the hairdryer and below that the refrigerator. The refrigerator was stocked with water and soda, leaving no room for anything else - the top of the cabinet was the area that Beverage used to pile the snacks, wine, and alcohol. It also contains the register for heat/air so there is little room for anything else. Even the box of tissues was in with the hairdryer. Your luggage, once emptied is stored under the bed alongside what appears to be additional bedding wrapped in plastic.

Directly opposite this cabinet area is a small arc shaped vanity with mirror and along with that tiny alcove on the left side of the bed provides the only other plugs in the cabin. There appeared to be some type of plug in the ceiling of the bathroom over the shelves, but I was unable to get the cover opened. There is a small ottoman (approx. 18 in. round) that must be tucked into the corner when not in use it will interfere with opening the balcony door. There is one full length mirror in the room opposite the clothes closet.

The bathroom in this room was the same size and contained the same layout as those in the D1. Again, being used to D1's and JS's on other RCCL ships, I found the shelves and countertop area to be very limited.

The cabin lighting is designed to stay on with the use of the sea pass card. It must be placed in the slot in order to turn on any light in the cabin. This made for some interesting stories: one person I spoke to said his wife left the cabin one evening to do some shopping and removed her sea pass card upon exiting the cabin. He was in the shower fully soaped from top to bottom when the lights went out, leaving him no other choice than to rinse off in the dark, fumble for a towel, and then make his way in the dark to find his sea pass and insert it into the slot so he could turn on the lights. My experience was less dramatic: having returned from dinner, changed to less formal clothes and having left my card in my evening bag, I was forced to do the blind-man's walk across the cabin to retrieve my card. After that experience, I went to Guest Services and asked for a second card to leave in the slot. Apparently, this type of issue must have been occurring fairly regularly as Guest Services had large stacks of blank sea pass cards from which they were handing one to anyone who asked for it. I kept mine as I am booked on four more Quantum Class sailings. If you plan on sailing either Quantum or Anthem, get a spare blank card a.s.a.p.

The bed is a full sized one and is more than adequate. The TV is directly opposite he bed but do to technical difficulties many of the options were not available. I was unable to access my account and several other features four out of the eight days on board.

The balcony for this cabin larger than others, deep, sheltered from the wind and rain, and contained to lounge chairs and a small table -- really the best feature of this solo cabin. Though it can be booked for two, I would not recommend it as you would find yourself needing to climb over each other and things to get around.

Dining and Entertainment:

I was fortunate enough to be selected to be part of the crowd that was able to book both dining and entertainment early. That said, having reservations did not necessarily guarantee some people their seating nor did it eliminate waiting in long lines to be seated. Some, despite having copies of their reservations found themselves without any reservations once aboard and had to be placed in other venues according to availability. I especially found myself sorry for those people who found they had no reservation for Thanksgiving dinner and were forced to eat in the Windjammer.

I had linked my family's cabins to my reservations and fortunately, all the reservations were still there when we arrived at each venue though for dining, we often had to wait for a table to accommodate us. There were two shows where apparently having a reservation meant nothing were Starwater and the Ventriloquist Guest performer. We arrived 15 minutes early for each performance only to find that the staff had allowed anyone in, leaving our group (one who has MS and another who relies on a scooter/wheelchair) without seating. We did see both shows, those of us who could stand, did, and those who could not viewed it from their vehicles. The design of the 270 area really limits the views of the upper tier level seating area, so plan on arriving very, very early if you want to have a good seat.

During our 8 night voyage we ate in The Grande, Chops Grille, Silk, Devine Decadence, American Icon and Jaime's Italian -- by far Jaime's was the best! The food was delicious and Cosmo, our waiter, was knowledgeable and attentive - so much so we cancelled Wonderland for a second night at Jaime's. Not everyone in our group liked the offerings at Izumi's, so we never made it there. Thanksgiving was at The Grande and the service left us a bit wanting; there was too much time between courses and not everyone got what they asked for when they asked for it.

The Windjammer - having eaten in many of them - I found this one to fall short in the variety of the hot food available and is probably due to the push to have customers utilize the specialty dining.

I did throw out one of my morning omelets when I saw the grill cook put my chees on my omelet with his bare hands. I questioned the Windjammer Supervisor about this and he filed "a report" and assured me that the cook's behavior was contrary to the training provided to the kitchen staff and that the Executive Chef would be notified. I did not see that grill cook at that station for remainder of the cruise.

Technology and other activities:

Some worked and some did not-

The elevators, at times, were like playing a slot machine - you pushed the button and hoped for the best. At least three times over the course of the cruise myself and other passengers found themselves riding the elevator for an extended time hoping it would stop on the floor we had pressed the button for. I found myself thinking about a very old Brothers Four song about "the man who never returned" riding the MTA beneath the streets of Boston.

The wristband, while convenient and working 100% of the time, took some getting used to and felt constrictive and sweaty on my wrist.

The Bionic Bar - interesting to watch ONCE - after that, it's boring. Personally, I think better use can be made of the space as few people utilized it.

North Star - lines were long and due to the weather, chilly. Again, do it once for the experience, but note it can become an uncomfortable place to be trapped when it fails, which it did on several occasions during the cruise.

Flo-rider - lines were short, when it was opened, but we had unusually cold weather for the entire trip and I along with the rest of my family chose to forego trying it.

RipCord Ifly - there is a weight limitation (in small print on the waiver) that some did not notice and after waiting on line a long time, were turned away when it came their turn

Bumper cars - the teens and children basically took over this - when it was opened, the lines were long. There were some technical difficulties with the batteries charging, which made the wait even longer.

Bingo- despite the large screen depicting all the called numbers and the image most recent ball that had been called being about ten feet high behind the girl calling out the numbers, there were too many "false bingo's" making the games drag. To be fair, this was not an RCCL problem but definitely interfered with the enjoyment of the game. Perhaps a required reading/hearing pre-test should be given before allowing people to participate (lol).

Trivia - Depending on who was running the game and where they had to be next, the rules changed. -- Scheduling conflicts seemed to be par for a number of the staff.

The Bars - spent most of the time pre-dinner at the Schooner Bar - it was usually packed between 6 and 7. No problem at any of the bars using the preloaded free drinks for being a Diamond C&A member. I did not have any problem with being billed for drinks that I ordered at other times or, like some others aboard, being billed for drinks that I had not ordered. Check you account. Many people had errors.

The Game Room -

We spent over an hour on the first day trouping behind a Guest Service staff member trying to locate it as he was sure he knew where it was. It had not been labeled yet. We gave up and played cards in the Solarium. I spotted it two days later, now sporting a sign. It is tucked in an alcove directly across from Guest Services on Deck 4. Tables/chairs - bring your own stuff.

Diamond Club - small - no bar - rarely saw the waiter assigned - the Concierge was very helpful, though at times, misinformed.

Biggest problem aside from having my food manhandled by the grill cook = the Beverage Mini-Bar man -

I opt for my Diamond Welcome Back Gift to include water - The only thing in the room when I arrived was a pack of shortbread cookies and two bottles of water. I opened the water and with that action set into motion a conflict which would take 7 phone calls, three notes to the Mini-Bar man and 4 visits to Guest Services, the last being 15 minutes before disembarkation. The mini-bar in my room was not set up the afternoon of day 4. Once set up, a charge for my water kept appearing on my bill; Guest Services would remove it and it would appear again, sometimes only hours after it had been removed. It was only a $5.18 charge but it became a sort of war between myself and the Mini-Bar man. I won.

Inaugural Gifts, etc.:

Apart from the Captain's speech to the Diamond, Diamond Plus, and Pinnacle Cruisers aboard, there was no real ado that marked this sailing as an inaugural celebration. Gifts began arriving in the stateroom on day three - and continued on an off for the remainder of the cruise. - a book, a certificate, a metal water bottle, a hat, petite fours and chocolate covered strawberries, and a tray of cookies.

Ports - the weather did a number here: Port Canaveral was rainy and cold, many people cancelled their excursions, Coco Cay was cancelled, and Nassau was the warmest day. Because of the weather, the shop selling sweatshirts did well as many, myself included (and this was not my first rodeo) did not pack enough warm daytime clothing.

The Casino:

There were the usual number of jackpots - with one woman playing a $25.00 per spin machine hitting $31,000. immediately after the casino opened on the first night. Despite being a VIP member of Casino Royale and having recently returned from a B2B on Jewel, I was surprised to find out right before closing that RCCL is no longer allowing players to cash in their points (every 1000 points = $20.) but that points must now be played out using the Personal Banker installed on each slot machine. Apparently, this is going fleet wide and is already in place on the larger ships, none of which I have been on recently.

Things I and others who I spoke to wished were still part of the Quantum experience - the Love and Marriage show, other nightly entertainment, contests.

The Crew:

Of those that I spoke to many were unhappy with having been "assigned" to the ship, but did their best to make those of us sailing feel welcome.

The Cruisers:

There were many unhappy people aboard - the weather, staff confusion, port/excursion/reservation cancellations made for some pretty short tempers and a few very loud, vocal people.

On a few occasions over the course of the cruise, I spent some time with Mario S. and was surprised to find that he was not enamored with the ship or dynamic dining. Unfortunately, despite his cruise record, it's unlikely that RCCL will likely take his feedback or others and change the path they have chosen. At least, that seems to be the general consensus of the people I spoke with.

Thank you. Looking forward to my cruise but getting more and more nervous about where I will put things on a 12 night cruise in a studio cabin

I am rethinking my packing for my 12 night in March. I will likely need to keep things like pajamas, tank tops, and shorts in my suitcases under the bed.

Thanks for the review. Based on your experience, any concerns about spending another 12 nights on the Quantum?

There are always glitches when turning out a new ship, so hopefully most will be fixed by the time I board again. As I said earlier, I am going to have to modify my packing/storage. I am hoping the Windjammer has more variety in its hot food and that the weather is warm. Apart from that, 12 nights aboard a ship that floats, is clean, and has a solarium is still better than 12 nights of cold NY winter weather.

How was the view from the outer corner edge of the balcony? I will be in 6648 a deck below in Jan.

There was nothing to interfere with seeing forward from the outer edge of the balcony or aft. You can see down the entire ship. However, unlike other RCCL ships that I have been on (never been on Oasis Class so don't know if it is the same) the lifeboats are mounted on the edge of a lower deck, so looking down and to your right you look right into them.

Thanks to another CC member, who explained how to post the pictures correctly.