Quantum- Semi Live, Family Perspective

Hi everyone,

I am writing this from 270 on Quantum of the seas, as we look out on the beautiful scenery of the Azores.

I know there is a separate very active thread live from this ship with all kinds of great information on, but I thought I would do a mini live from review just to give the perspective of a family to help anyone who is looking for information on this ship in the future.

I am no professional writer, so please forgive my erratic writing style,

There are 3 of us in our Party Myself (Pete) wife (Michaela) and Daughter who is 3 (4 in January) and her name is Diana. From the UK

We last cruised in August around the med on the Indy, and this cruise on the Quantum was not planned, I spotted it online when checking prices on our Indy sailing, and having never been to the USA and having always wanted to visit New York, but no desire to fly long haul this seemed like the perfect opportunity for us and we only had to fly back. We have 6 nights booked in Times Square when we arrive.

We originally booked a balcony cabin on this ship, but having sailed Independence in August we had a Family ocean view on that ship (cant remember the cabin number now but it was over the bow on the corer and consisted of 3 rooms think it was 8500) anyway I spotted cabin 8110 available for this crossing which was a superior ocean view and we switched to it.

I am pleased to say the cabin is huge but only 1 big room (pictures below)

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b640/Pete_Ashcroft/Quantum%20Of%20The%20Seas/IMG_0112_zpsc94becd9.jpg

In hindsight I wish we had stuck with the balcony on Deck 6 mid ship. The movement in our cabin has been awful for the first couple of days and nights, with a lot of loud banging from outside. There is a massive difference in the cabin to deck 4 or 5 midship, so it really does make a difference on cabin location for movement, so please bear this in mind if booking one of these cabins.

At some points it would almost lift you off your feet, and we have had a few breakages with things falling off in the bathroom especially.

The worst one was the little girl using the toilet and not flushing it and leaving the seat up, that night my aftershave and toothbrush fell in! YUCK!!

Because of this movement my wife and daughter where quite ill for the first few days so it spoiled it a little bit, the problem I find is that you take the pills to help but they knock you out and you just want to sleep and feel tired all the time, or you don’t take the pills and feel sick! but we are not going to dwell on that! Its beautiful now and we are all good again!

You can see it across the ship also, many more people around today and a lot more happier looking faces. I have yet to go up top today so will report on that later.

One great thing about the layout of this ship is it doesn’t feel over crowded so many places to go and relax, I can imagine what the Indy would be like on the last 2 days, the promenade would be really busy and probably uncomfortably so.

The cabin itself is very nice, and very new but I would describe it as budget hotel, people in the UK who have stayed in a Travelodge, it is similar I would say, not very “plush” functional but I would not say luxury.

I wont spend too long on problems that I believe are just teething problems, as hopefully they wont be relevant for anyone reading this with a view to booking in the future. For example a few quick points on the room.

Minibar not stocked on day 1, and still remains empty, No batteries in the safe so we cant use it, still waiting for it to be fixed.

The big one here I think is going to be the sofa bed, its awful, Rock hard!! My daughter is managing on it but there is no way I would be able to sleep on it, it does feel like a plank of wood with a sheet on it!

The rest of the room is great though, plenty of storage feels like we have more storage here than on the IOS, and also all our cases feet easily under the bed!

You may have also heard report that the Aircon wont turn down past 71 or something (22c) I don’t know why, I thought I would try to take it to pieces to see if I could unlock it maybe another button under the cover as I have seen on some units before., but unfortunately I have broken it and it is now literally in pieces on the floor, the great thing about having a 3 year old is the amount of things you can blame on them….

We have also noticed the room service menu is a lot more limited if I remember correctly, the main thing to note is that any hot breakfast item is now chargeable, and hot food like burgers etc is also. One tip though is the kids menu is free and good so just order double portions off that!

The pork sliders in Michaels pub are amazing and you can order them on room service where they come with fries, they don’t come with fires in the pub though.

I have also tried the wings in Michaels and I was not impressed, good flavor but I like it when the wings fall off the bone and the meat doesn’t put up such a fight in coming free! The Polenta fries are delicious also!

Speaking of Michaels Pub since starting to write this I have now moved to the pub, There is a talk about the technology in 270 about to start in 270 and the place is filling up fast and people cant find a table, I am not that interested in this and as I am only relaxing typing this, which can be done anywhere I have given my seat up and now moved to Michaels pub.

A lot has been said already about the check in at Southampton so I will not dwell too much, I think the main problem was the length of time it took to check 1 person in, on the tablet they used they had to enter all the info you had already entered during online check in, things like address of post cruise stay including zip code! And of course this info a lot of people didn’t have to hand, and you had entered it all during the online process anyway.

It seemed chaotic at the time, but actually when you think about it, it took us 1hr 30 to walking in the terminal and getting on the ship.

I think another problem is, people don’t mind waiting a while in a queue if they know what’s going on, the whole feeling of a lack of organization was the problem which naturally stresses everyone out.

The first time stepping on board through deck 5 though is WOW!! She is a beauty!

I don’t think I have formed a decisive opinion yet on what I really thing of the ship, so we will see how the rest of the cruise goes.

I do remember on the first day sat at Michael’s pub with a drink saying to the wife that it feels like we are just sat in the Trafford Centre (large shopping center/Mall in Manchester) rather than being on a ship, if this is good or bad I am yet to decide. You cant help compare the ship to other cruises you have done and the Indy has been our ship of choice up to know and we love that ship very much so the Quantum has a lot to live up to.

As I am writing this as I go please remember my opinions may change as we go throughout the cruise! But as I sit here on Day 4 and the seas are now calm, I can say that we are very happy and smiling lots!

I bought the unlimted internet package on the day we boarded, the speed is just the same as on the Indy , its terribly slow! We are not on the new Satellite yet.

On Day 1, we had a good look around the ship but the first thing we did was sign up at adventure ocean, Diana is in Aquanauts which is deck 11. The room is obviously brand new and nicely decorated, my first concern was the over powering smell of new paint which initially I was worried about, but this was gone yesterday when she went for her first session. The room does seem small to me, smaller than that on the IOS, and maybe a little basic, it has a Slide (which when she climbed up she banged her head on the roof as the gap at the top is small, she only did this once though lol) 4 or 5 tables and chairs and a big TV.

120 kids on this crossing I was told, although you wouldn’t know it only see 1 or 2 kids about.

Diana had her first session as I said before, and I am pleased to say she loved it, I sneaked in early to see how she was getting on and they were all sat together reading a story, they had all got their faces painted and she had made a sheep for me!

She is excited about going back, I asked about dinner and like on the Indy they have a separate area in the Windjammer they take them too if you sign up for dinner. We haven’t done this yet, but might do later in the cruise.

I had promised her an ice cream for being such a good girl so we came back down to deck 4 to try and find one, Mission impossible! No ice cream on the lower decks I am afraid, we got too used to Ben & Jerrys it seems, so we had to go back up to the windjammer for ice cream!

I am going to try to catch up on the past 3 days today so look out for new posts if you are interested, I plan on a relaxing day doing very little today and I enjoy writing about our holidays, that way I can just update on a day by day basis once I have caught up.

first pics on boarding

Room Service Menu

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b640/Pete_Ashcroft/Quantum%20Of%20The%20Seas/IMG_0118_zps3b6e5c2b.jpg

minibar

we had toiletries some didn't, out attendant said it was because our dispenser wasn't working

Great report, thanks! I look forward to reading more.

WOW about paying for hot breakfast and burgers through room service! That stinks!

Thanks, this is interesting.

Shirley, Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

Thanks for your family perspective.

Some 'family' questions:

- I know you got the children's menu crisis sorted but would love to see photos of the different kids menus from the different restaurants.

- Photos of Adventure Ocean.

- Sorrentos options? Make your own pizza? Antipasti options? Just pre made pizza?

- Age/weight restrictions for various new activities (Circus school, iFly, bumper cars, etc.)

Thanks!

Thank you for your very nice live TR. I look forward to the rest of your trip! Thanks...Sharon

Thanks so much. Loving your review and pictures. Casual and honest, in a good way. Looking forward to more.

I have the DO balcony 8112 booked next door to you. I'm somewhat worried about the insane rocking you're describing. I've booked similar (first balcony on the ship) before and have always enjoyed it as i can sit and watch the water hit up the front of the ship.

Unfortunately my boyfriend is way more sensitive to ship movement than I am. Here's hoping for the best, I guess. :eek:

Nice review. Following your adventures

Thank You. Great Pics looking forward to more.

Your room looks fantastic stayed in family oceanview on Freedom...loved it.

A quick question if you don't mind.

Do they have Coke Freestyle machines?

Thank You. Great Pics looking forward to more.

 

Your room looks fantastic stayed in family oceanview on Freedom...loved it.

 

A quick question if you don't mind.

 

Do they have Coke Freestyle machines?

I read that Quantum did have the machines, and they were built-in, not freestanding machines like on the other ships.

Very kind of you Pete to write this up for us! We're on the transatlantic next spring in a DO balcony at the far front of the ship so I thank you for the description of what it's like. I'll be sure to pack several packets of Bonine!!! I'm so glad the seas have calmed down a bit. I get seasick like your wife does so I know it's no picnic.

Great reveiw and pics! Thanks for sharing, looking forward to more. Hope the rest of your cruise is smooth sailing.

Peewee, thank you for this detailed review. Your photos are very good.

Would you have any way of knowing if suite guests must pay for hot breakfast and hot room service items. On Celebrity - sister line - suite guests have a wider variety of options for free room service?

Can't wait to read the rest! Have a fantastic cruise and thanks for taking the time to write this review. :)

Thank you! Fantastic so far... I've read your other posts on the other thread as well. I'm glad to hear your family is feeling better :) Yes, those front bow rooms have noise from the crew area below, specifically with heavy steel doors... I reported this as well on Navigator. I hope you can get past this for the rest of your sleeps. Your room looks beautiful and spacious!

I am looking forward especially to your experience with dynamic dining and any details regarding the venues you dined in. :D

The luggage tracking just simply didn’t work, not that I was too fussed about it anyway, I really don’t see the point of it to be honest, it made dropping the bags off a slow process as you had to wait while each bag was tagged etc, and what can it really tell you?? Your bags are going to be in 1 of 3 places. On the ship, off the ship, at your cabin. I personally am not to bothered about an app that tells me which one of these places it is!

Its not like its tracking it across a country where I might be interested in updates about its progress, its either at my room or its not.

Talking about the app, my wife and I have it for our iphones and in Southampton we got it set up and just clicked on the button to pay the extra charge to use it to communicate with each other. It worked fine on day 1 but since then its been pretty useless, it keeps saying invalid extension or not available, it works now and again but typically never when you need it, in fact it only works when we are both sat opposite each other with the app open at the same time, and then at that point it thinks my wife is Diana, so it’s a pretty handy tool to communicate with each other over dinner together but that’s about it.

I have tried using the app to call guest services and other things but it doesn’t work, most things are invalid. But I am not too bothered about it, I am sure they will sort it eventually, its funny I am sat here watching Diana with her Ipad and cant help thinking maybe they should have got some 3-5 year olds in to sort the IT issues out, they seem to be very good at it!

Back to luggage, it hadn’t arrived in time for dinner so we headed down to our American Icon which we had booked for day 1. Liked the atmosphere and liked the place and we where soon seated at a nice table.

Now dinner in the MDR on the Indy together was usually my favorite part of the day, and Diana loved the kids Menu in there, So I assumed we would have the same thing on board even with dynamic dining. However we were very disappointed when we asked for the kids menu and was told there wasn’t one, they simply did smaller portions off the main menu. I knew Diana would not eat any of it and asked if just one of the restaurants had a kids menu, I was told No and to eat in the Windjammer.

We left.

I was very disappointed about this, and my opinion was that at least 1 of the venues should provide a kids menu, eating in the windjammer for me every night is not going to make this holiday enjoyable.

We went to the windjammer, and I have to say that I wasn’t impressed, to be fair I have never liked the place I call Facejammer and this was no exception, the choice seemed even more limited to what I have seen before and the food I did try I didn’t think was great, so we left and went to Jonny Rockets!! Which like the drinks on the first day was free!

Jonny rockets very different though, more of a take out place feel to it now, also its half inside and kind of half outside so was very chilly there, we took our food and went indoors, I am not sure if the dancing will still happen, as I cant see how they would do it. The food though was excellent!

I will report back on this though as I have no doubt I will be there again,

Also very problematic getting a can of soda or soft drink in a morning before 11 on the lower decks sorrentos etc, told had to go to pool bar on deck 14.

Just to finish off on the kids menu, and so as not to dwell on it

We had a message on cabin phone from the Director of food and beverage he wanted a meeting with me over a coffee as he put it. Met with him next day and he basically said that he agreed with me about the kids menu and it was not right they didn’t have one, we had good chat, I said even if 1 of the restaurants’ had one that would be fine, he said no that wasn’t acceptable and that every restaurant should have one. He assured me he was sorting it that day and booked us a table himself for American Icon.

He also said that drinks would now be available on deck 4 and 5 in the cafes, sodas etc, he said honestly it was an over sight, they didn’t consider guests who couldn’t use the free style machines, problem solved! They now have cans.

He didn’t disappoint! We arrived for dinner and presented with a kids menu, and also told that vegetables and Spaghetti Bolognaise would also be available to order. Had a great dinner and felt a bit like royalty! Diana was spoiled rotten, the manager kept coming over making sure all was ok, and offered to book us into dinner the night after, he has booked us into Silk now for this evening and I am really looking forward to it, I will collect the kids menus as I go to post on here.

RCI deserve credit for sorting this out quickly and effectively I didn’t make a huge fuss just expressed my disappointment the first evening, and they have gone above and beyond what I would have expected in resolving this issue, It might sounds a small thing to some people reading this, but if you have young kids you will know that a happy mealtime is very important for the enjoyment of all your family, and come to think of it, the people around you!

Food so far,

American Icon last night was very good, with top service, I had chowder and burger both very good, and wife had Salad and Salmon again excellent. Diana had vegetable sticks and Spaghetti Bolognaise, and would you believe it, typical kid after all the fuss she wouldn’t eat it! How embarrassing, so I made Michaela eat some so it looked as though she had!

We ate in Chic the night before I had the crab cake which was very good followed by the rib eye beef which was good but I wouldn’t say excellent, one thing in Chic is the food was not very hot, It was only just warm I am fine with that and wouldn’t cause a fuss, but It might not suit some, the waiter did advise someone against ordering the vegetable dish, think it was a casoulette or something, explaining that she had some sent back, and indeed the lady couldn’t eat it saying it was far too salty.

So up to know American icon Excellent, Chic scored a “good”

Sorrentos is the same as I knew it on IOS but the pizza tastes much fresher and better and yes you can make your own pizza, you also have the café just at the side which does really good sandwiches and wraps and also mud cakes, OMG! These are awesome I cant stop eating them, along with cookies!

No real queues at these venues like I have seen before, so all good!

Opposite you have la patisserie, most things chargeable including starbucks coffee, and they do lots of chocolate!! Really really delicious things like peanut butter and jelly chocolate, and individual chocs at a dollar each, very very good and Diana and I have spent quite a bit of time and money here!

Will get some more pictures of it later

I think I already mentioned, it doesn’t seem crowded at all, everything is so well spread out on this ship its great and one of the things I like a lot.

The service so far has been good, I am a fan of tipping a bit up front to ensure good service and that’s what I have done, getting well looked after in most of the venues I like. Up to now I have spent a lot of time in Michaels pub, we get good service and good views to people watch, I really like 270 and see us spending more time there now, The movement in there has been too much for us the first few days being right at the back of the ship, but it was brilliant in there this morning, by the way, I don’t drink Alcohol so if I talk about me having a drink, it a soft one!

Michaela on the other hand does, we had the drinks package on Indy but I don’t think it was worth it so we didn’t bother on here, and after a bit of adding up I think it’s a good job we hadn’t, until yesterday that is, when I went for a sleep, Diana went to kids club and Michaela went for a good few drinks at the solarium bar!

She reported back that the service up there was really bad, with some people waiting 15 minutes for a drink, and also getting drinks orders wrong, she came back pretty merry anyway though so the service cant have been that slow!!

Just to add at this point, I think it is worth getting the kids to go to adventure ocean if you can, After Diana went yesterday she came back a different person, very happy and a joy to be around, up to then she was being a little monkey, I think she was a little bored and missing having other kids to play with, so we were happy to have our pleasant little girl back with us.

We have just dropped her off again and I forgot to mention they give you a phone!

Off to spend some time with the wife, back later, will take some pics on our travels

http://i1295.photobucket.com/albums/b640/Pete_Ashcroft/Quantum%20Of%20The%20Seas/IMG_0143_zps14bcaa97.jpg

this was fun

bumper cars

few more

see if this works

what a great review thank you.

Thanks for posting this info. Appreciate you taking the time. Your Pictures are wonderful.

What camera are you using and what process are you using to upload them? Thanks.

Ready for more!!! :D

Great review! I'm really enjoying your dialog from a parent's prespective.

You're right about the slide platform being too high for the ceiling. I sure hope they remedy that. Someone is going to come away with a good bump, at the least, on their head. My granddaughters have just aged out of Ocean Adventure and some of their fondest memories are times spent there. In fact, they still keep in touch with kids they met over the years.

I am a little concerned about the charge for hot breakfast. Did the charge continue during the day for other hot food items? I have a feeling we will be seeing this across the board soon.

And honestly... I think the design of the room is a little stark. But that's just my opinion. It does not look cozy. (Or maybe.. you're just very neat!!) The sofa does look like a board and not something I'd want (OR COULD) sink into and enjoy a good book. I'm not sure I even saw anything to put one's feet up on.

All that said.. I'd be on there in a heatbeat if given the chance! Growing pains I'm sure. Quantum is definitely on my list.

Thanks again for the great review... will be following along...