Quantum itineraries - you guys really like them?

[LetsGetWet!]

I agree totally.

 

We always cruise in the cold first three months of the year. This is to recharge our batteries from the drain the Great Northeast puts on them.

 

A few cruises were out of Florida or San Juan and were fine and always wonderful.

 

We enjoy being on a ship even if a few days are cold, or rainy or not the best for sunning on an open deck or veranda. Always enough to do and explore, especially on a new ship.

 

We have been to just about every port in the Caribbean, several times over so itineraries play only a small role in our selection, after all what is really so different about each port other than different magnets, tee shirts and maybe a few different snorkeling sites.( I know there is always a certain bit of excitement and curiosity when doing a new Island).

 

To us the 2 days spent in airports, the baggage restrictions, hotel stays and all the associated expenses of travelling to Florida or San Juan are better spent on a ship enjoying ourselves, even if a few days are spent indoors.

 

OMO

 

bosco

I definitely understand the attraction of cruising from Bayonne for the NY/NJ'ers here. And those within a relatively short driving distance. If I were in that situation, it would change my thinking too. But ignoring my driving option for a moment (Galveston), if I'm going to fly to a cruise departure port - NJ in the wintertime just isn't at all interesting, compared to Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. I don't want to fly to where its colder, and then spend a day or two at the beginning of the cruise, and another day or two at the end in COLD climates. If you're not in easy driving distance to Bayonne, I think most would think that way.

 

Not arguing for a moment whether or not Quantum out of Bayonne will be successful for RCI or not, I'm sure it will. But it will have to rely much more heavily upon those within driving distance from Bayonne than will cruises from Florida or other warm weather ports, that's all.

[Donut23]

Quantum will be our hometown ship and we far prefer to drive to the port vs. fly. We did do the old 13 night Explorer from NJ in early December---wicked lucky with weather.

 

We are not pool people, nor sit in the sun people so Deck Chair Olympics are not a worry. There was plenty to do and that cruise we had a crazy-busy roll call so we were socially active.

 

The big drawback and currently a deal breaker is we are aft-cabin rats. We do enjoy our quiet time together on our aft balcony. Not being Vanderbilts or Trumps, those aft suites are out of consideration.

 

DH enjoys longer, port intensive cruises. Explorer worked because we had so many stops. Quantum does not.

 

Oh well. I guess we will continue to chase our favorite girls.....the Radiance class ships.

 

 

......and yes. The itineraries are a bit stinky.

[boscobeans]

Quantum will be our hometown ship and we far prefer to drive to the port vs. fly.

 

 

The N.Y. and N.J. ports are within a short cab ride from three major airports.

 

They are within a 200 mile (a nice 4 hour) ride by car from

most of New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, Maryland and Delaware as well as all of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and parts of New Hampshire and Vermont.

 

Of the thirteen or so cruises we've taken from NY or NJ during the January through March (COLD) season the ships always seemed to be sailing at full capacity.

 

Granted these sailings were at least 10 days, most longer, so 3 maybe 4 days without warm sunny decks is not that important to us and in fact made the transition from cold to hot and back again a pleasant plus to the entire experience.

 

We've done several cruises starting in Florida or San Juan and enjoyed every aspect of those as well. Bermuda cruises however were always planned during the warmer months due to their length as well as where we sailed from.

 

Since most (emphasis on MOST) places in the Caribbean offer much of the same to us, the cruise to and from is a major part of what we look for on an ocean vacation.

 

I'm sure the bean counters at each line know the demographics of the ports they sail from and have thought out their schedules and the ships accordingly.

 

bosco

[LetsGetWet!]

Not arguing for a moment whether or not Quantum out of Bayonne will be successful for RCI or not, I'm sure it will. But it will have to rely much more heavily upon those within driving distance from Bayonne than will cruises from Florida or other warm weather ports, that's all.

 

The N.Y. and N.J. ports are within a short cab ride from three major airports.

 

They are within a 200 mile (a nice 4 hour) ride by car from

most of New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, Maryland and Delaware as well as all of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and parts of New Hampshire and Vermont.

 

Of the thirteen or so cruises we've taken from NY or NJ during the January through March (COLD) season the ships always seemed to be sailing at full capacity.

 

Granted these sailings were at least 10 days, most longer, so 3 maybe 4 days without warm sunny decks is not that important to us and in fact made the transition from cold to hot and back again a pleasant plus to the entire experience.

 

We've done several cruises starting in Florida or San Juan and enjoyed every aspect of those as well. Bermuda cruises however were always planned during the warmer months due to their length as well as where we sailed from.

 

Since most (emphasis on MOST) places in the Caribbean offer much of the same to us, the cruise to and from is a major part of what we look for on an ocean vacation.

 

I'm sure the bean counters at each line know the demographics of the ports they sail from and have thought out their schedules and the ships accordingly.

 

bosco

Agreed... I'm sure RCI has thought it out well and there's no doubt the Bayonne sailings have been and likely will continue to be successful. The cruise to and from (sea days in general) is a major part for us too, just not a cruise to and from spent largely in frigid weather. And often, vacation schedules preclude the longer than 7 night cruises, although we do enjoy longer ones when we can schedule them.

[Maraprince]

The other downside to the Port Canaveral, Nassau and Coco cay itinerary is that over Christmas/New Years this is a 7 day itinerary.

 

The weather in Port Canaveral can be pretty darn cold at this time of year. Last Christmas on our way to Ft. Lauderdale it was in the low 50's at Canaveral. With temps that low I would certainly not be heading out to do a shore excursion.

 

Also tendering at Coco Cay can be hit or miss at the best of time.

 

This 7 night cruise could end up having 6 days on the ship and one day in Nassau.

 

 

The port stops are not the greatest..almost a repeat of when Oasis was first sailing. People kept justifying it by saying that they didn't even plan to get off in the ports...just wanted to say they were one of the first to sail on Oasis. For that matter, you could just as well have taken a cruise to nowhere if your intention was to sail on the ship. With the cabin prices they are asking, you would think ports would be a little different from the normal ports that their other ships at making.

 

We sailed on Carnival last 12/3 and lucked out with the weather in Nassau, Freeport and Port Canaval. However, in Freeport our guide informed us that anything pass the 2nd week in December you should not expect temps in the 80's...more like high 60's or low 70's. He further said passengers who come for the X-mas and New Year sailings are disappointed in the weather. Heeding that warning, this time around we are sailing on 9/28 but with another cruise line. We want to experience warmth as long as we can once we reach the ports. :D

 

MARAPRINCE

[LetsGetWet!]

We want to experience warmth as long as we can once we reach the ports. :D

 

MARAPRINCE

That pretty much says it all for us, except I'd modify it to say, "we want to experience warmth as long as we can once we board the ship!" :)

 

If I cruise Alaska I expect cold weather. If I'm going to go on a Caribbean or Bahamas cruise in the winter though, I want it WARM the entire time! :cool:

 

We'll be waiting for Anthem out of Ft. Lauderdale, and then maybe waiting longer for prices to get reasonable!

[LoneStarJeffe]

12 night itinerary is really good when combined with the ship design for colder days. We took a similar cruise last year out of Baltimore and loved it even though it snowed the last sea day.

 

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[BND]

We did a dummy booking on Quantum a couple of weeks ago when we were on Grandeur so we can get the obc like we always do. We booked for April 2015 (12 night) but what we really want is Nov 2015. I really wish they would release the dates after Apr 2015 so we can switch.

 

We've done 10, 11 and 12 night on EX. 12 nights was wonderful and just like every cruise, too short. The ports were all pretty much the same, except we did get to St Kitts and Antigua which was a first for us.

 

We don't drive to NJ. We take Amtrak to Newark and stay overnight and get a car service to Cape Liberty. EX has always sold out as I expect Quantum to.

[Eng23]

We did a dummy booking on Quantum a couple of weeks ago when we were on Grandeur so we can get the obc like we always do. We booked for April 2015 (12 night) but what we really want is Nov 2015. I really wish they would release the dates after Apr 2015 so we can switch.

 

 

 

We've done 10, 11 and 12 night on EX. 12 nights was wonderful and just like every cruise, too short. The ports were all pretty much the same, except we did get to St Kitts and Antigua which was a first for us.

 

 

 

We don't drive to NJ. We take Amtrak to Newark and stay overnight and get a car service to Cape Liberty. EX has always sold out as I expect Quantum to.

 

 

You are gonna be disappointed about Nov. 2015. The only way you will get to the Quantum then will be to fly to China.

 

 

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[BND]

You are gonna be disappointed about Nov. 2015. The only way you will get to the Quantum then will be to fly to China.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

Not really. I posted yesteday about that on another thread. I saw the announcement right after it came out, so my only disappointment is that they are screwing with us. We're waiting for Anthem's schedule and then we'll shift out reservation. My only issue is that with the dummy booking by only changing the date we would get to keep our obc because we booked on GR last month. I plan to argue with them about it due to their change of ship since the port hasn't changed.

 

But, then again, due to the extreme costs for the new ships, we may just book something out of FL since it will be cheaper to go out of there even with transportation costs included. Maybe FR out of PC or Vision out of Tampa. We'll see. Plenty of time to decide.

Edited April 17, 2014 by BND

[rjrpar]

We are on the 2/2/15 eleven day cruise and love the itinerary. Great ports but we would prefer 2 days on the return; 3 gets a little long. After being on the Eclipse last month, anything is better than FLL on a weekend. $700 for the two of us to fly and what a mess, prefer a cool day relaxing on the ship.

[hubofhockey]

I'll admit that the itineraries scared us off. For us, it's a four hour drive to NJ and then dealing with parking, etc. the extra $300 to $400 per person for warmer weather still means FLL ships and itineraries make more sense. We would consider a summer cruise on the Quantum/Anthem. That's about it.