Quantum of the Seas - Maiden Transatlantic Voyage - Nov 2-10, 2014 - Live Report

[boingboingbaggy]

Look what's popped up on YT

Congratulations. :D

[Elizanessie]

Look what's popped up on YT

Congratulations. :D

 

And CC posted about the Flash Mob Proposal here -

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2014/11/11/cruise-critic-members-pull-off-flash-mob-wedding-proposal/?isalt=0&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CC%2FTheLidoDeck+%28The+Lido+Deck+-+Cruise+Critic+Blog%29

[maggieq]

No flames here. I need a cool room for sleeping too (meaning 68 or less).

 

I am dreading my Quantum cruise next week if it is going to be too warm in the cabin at night.

 

Don't worry Donna. By the end of the cruise they had worked on this and we had temps in the 60's to sleep at night. The first couple of nights we opened the balcony door.

[maggieq]

Hi everyone - I'll report more later, and as Tracy mentioned, we had a fabulous Meet and Mingle!! After that we did the cabin crawl, which was so much fun!!! Thank you to Kirsten for organizing it so well. Pics will be posted later.

 

After the cabin crawl, DH and I did iFly. So much fun! It requires a reservation, which I had done in the morning. The first booking is complimentary for a 1 minute ride, and then subsequent two minute sessions can be booked at $49.95.

 

It was a fun experience! Very different and the staff is top notch. It was easy - I definitely want to do it again.

 

Because of the weather, the Flowrider, Rock Wall Climbing and North Star are closed. Weather is supposed to be better tomorrow.

 

More pictures will be posted later, but here's more food porn from Michael's.

 

 

Those chips were addictive.....soo yummy.

[kmurph22]

I've had an odd "balcony" injury to my hand. When moving the locking handle it popped into place with a lot of pressure and whacked the bottom of my pointer. In seconds it was swollen up like a new knuckle. Ice helped though and it doesn't really hurt. Sure ugly though, about a third of my hand is purple and puffy like a black eye.

 

!

 

Mindy! Nearly the same thing happened to me! While trying to close the balcony door a little more firmly (so it wouldn't bang and bump and squeak from the high seas), my thumb kind of got caught between the handle and the side of the door - I guess i used too much force... and my thumb knuckle was all black & blue for two days! Ouch!

[darrencantwait]

I had pins for 11/2 and 11/23 sailings designed by a friend and I designed a lanyard and tshirts. I found a great UK company for the pins and then I put everything out there for ordering.

300 pins for both sailings sold out some time ago.

As I am not now doing the 11/23 sailing, Eshop (Bob) will have everyones packages of pins ready for them to collect on 11/23 sailing. Actually the pins are now on the ship.

 

I knew there was going to be a MAW sailing 14-16th November which is why I made the presentation to Captain Patrik at our 11/2 M&M of all the funds from the Critters 2014 Project...Captain Patrik will then be able to hand it over to MAW on their sailing.

 

Liz, glad you had a great crossing and helped warm Quantum up for us. Good to hear the pins are having a pleasant few weeks onboard! We'll miss you on the inaugural.

[Tank1234]

Good morning gang ! Where's my Mimosa and NYC skyline? That was a great ending the cruise:D So glad to hear you're OK Dan. What a shock that was for you !!! I've had an odd "balcony" injury to my hand. When moving the locking handle it popped into place with a lot of pressure and whacked the bottom of my pointer. In seconds it was swollen up like a new knuckle. Ice helped though and it doesn't really hurt. Sure ugly though, about a third of my hand is purple and puffy like a black eye.

 

 

 

Yesterday flying home we had a stop in Denver with a mini-blizzard going on briefly. I've noticed I'm still rocking a bit too. Haven't received my electronic comment form - anyone else ? I noticed Carolyn Brown has posted her official CC review of the crossing. http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2014/11/10/just-back-from-quantum-of-the-seas-hits-misses/

 

 

 

I'm going to miss everyone - Happy Trails to you !

 

 

Oh no! Hope you feel better soon. Hope we see you guys while we're sailing the seas again.

 

 

Diane and Mike

[Tank1234]

Good morning from the UK.

 

Well I think it's morning I've seen sunrise over New York & London in one day.

 

Firstly I have to say it was brilliant meeting everyone and I hope all are either almost safely home or where they are meant to be.

 

 

I'm not sure if some of you heard the rumour of some guy falling down a drain pipe when a plywood manhole cover gave way on the pier

 

Well Vicky and Liz witnessed it and the guy didn't fall all the way into the water below the pier or get stuck in the hole.

 

The guy with his case ended up in the pipe with his right leg stopping him falling all of the way in. I didn't witness this as I was to busy trying to get out of the pipe. :)

 

Nothing like going out with a bang

( crash and a thud)

 

 

Anyway nothing broken and we are almost home.

 

As to Vicky it's time to go and get the cats soon.

 

For those that knew Liz had a bit of a wait for her plane well after using our hotel we dropped Liz off at terminal B for her flight so all been well she will be at Manchester by now.

 

Thanks everyone for a stunning cruise with out you guys it would of been even harder than it was at times

 

Dan :)

 

 

 

 

 

Dan (Clansman 37)

 

 

Dan I'm so glad you're ok. Not a wonderful ending for sure. It was fantastic meeting you guys and look forward to sailing together again.

 

 

Diane and Mike

[topanga49er]

Thank you so much fordoing this! could you pls put me on the shutterfly list? Thank you

[topanga49er]

Hi. Thank you for the info on Royal IQ; that will be really helpful. But the phone app I was thinking about lets you locate members of your group that might be lost somewhere on the ship. Oasis and Allure had this and when you got your phones (about 30 per week) they programmed all people in group that rented phones, so that if you were looking for "mom" she would be trackable, as long as phone was on. Does Quantum have anything like that or an app to do so? Thanks, c

[internetwhiz]

Hi. Thank you for the info on Royal IQ; that will be really helpful. But the phone app I was thinking about lets you locate members of your group that might be lost somewhere on the ship. Oasis and Allure had this and when you got your phones (about 30 per week) they programmed all people in group that rented phones, so that if you were looking for "mom" she would be trackable, as long as phone was on. Does Quantum have anything like that or an app to do so? Thanks, c

 

 

For a fee you are able to text and phone members of your party. I don't remember tracking being mentioned. We used those Wow phones you mentioned in 2010 on Oasis.

 

 

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[tokyo1949]

Hi everybody, we're home so I can answer a few questions.

 

I was in DO 6196 (a 50%). I didn't get great photos of the whole balcony but this one kind of shows the lifeboat in the foreground so you can get an idea. (I hope this works)

 

IMO we thought being on deck 6 was great - easy walk to almost all restaurants, shows, shops, and 270. Would book it again.

 

Casino - plenty of penny machines. I would say 3 or 4 dozen at least? I think i ended the week up on machines, down on tables, pretty close to break-even. Hubby played more tables and lost.... could be a theme.

 

swimming - well for much of the trip the pools were closed due to the significant rocking. But yes the solarium and indoor pool were both warm enough (air temperature wise) to swim in both the pools and hot tubs.

 

 

Overall we enjoyed the trip. The 'motion of the ocean' unfortunately limited our ability to fully access all of the events, as shows and activities were often closed or cancelled. There were so many crew/staff working on things - like a promenade parade/show they practiced for a few times, and the rock wall (? - you would think they would know how to get a rock wall ready, but it was closed on day 8 as they were putting in new flooring).

 

We thought the food was great and loved Dynamic dining - we ate in a different restaurant each night. Favorites were Devinly Decadence, American Icon, Jamie's,and the Grande. We were seated with others at the Grande and Chic (by choice) and really enjoyed the company - these two restaurants were pretty crowded and had waits. At the others (American Icon, Silk, Devinly Decadence, and Jamie's) we were seated by ourselves - they generally weren't too crowded. Only bad meal was husband's ribeye at Chops - he should have asked for something else but ate half my filet, which was excellent, and no one went away hungry. Wished we had discovered Cafe 270 before day 7! That's what happens when there are so many choices.

 

If no one has mentioned chef Devin Alexander was on the ship making sure her new restaurant got off to a great start. It's up in the solarium so not everyone seems to know it's there... definitely check it out, even if just for the AM buffet (no added charge).

 

We did the North Star on day 5 (I think), 2 hour wait but worth it imo. Wouldn't probably wait in line a second time though. We also did the Ifly... I would definitely do that again, a great free amenity.

 

Spa isn't big enough imo. Gym was beautiful but got very hot and stuffy on day 6 - I heard there were some AC issues but I'm not sure.

 

I didn't get my luggage until about 11 am on day 2 - there was a brief scare when hubby asked Guest Services to at least confirm that my bag was on the ship and they said they weren't sure. Yikes! I don't want to wear Quantum T shirts for 8 straight days !!!! But it was found thanks to the help of a random sports deck staffer hubby complained to, who called the Executive Housekeeper, and bang I had a bag 30 minutes later.

 

I didn't read the whole thread so if there's anything out there that hasn't been covered, I would be happy to give my thoughts on it.

 

 

ETA a final thought: In addition to the $300 OBC and future credit, there was a lot of randomly free stuff, like drinks on day 1 and the internet. Overall I think Royal did right by its customers. We definitely had to put up with some glitches, and honestly more glitches than I expected, but I feel that the overall value of the trip based on what we paid was very fair for the experience. The ship is beautiful and I think it will be a hit.

 

Thank you for this. Do you know if they have reserved seating area for Diamond Plus etc

[swiss2619]

Hi. Very excited will be in RFS ooN 4/12 sailing Quick question:do they have the go phones to keep track of group or is there an iPhone app for this as promised? Thank you

 

 

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Our family is sailing Quantum in January. We have been anxiously awaiting (and been promised) actual photos of the RFS on Quantum....but it hasn't happened. Have you located any ACTUAL photos of the RFS on Quantum? I have seen just about every other suite in the various reports, etc. but not the RFS - even in USA Today's suites pictorial. Just curious if you have been able to locate any?

Thanks,

Swiss

[HandE]

No flames here. I need a cool room for sleeping too (meaning 68 or less).

 

I am dreading my Quantum cruise next week if it is going to be too warm in the cabin at night.

 

Donna - I haven't managed to get through all of the posts yet so I might be repeating but our room was three to four degrees higher than the thermostat said. We called maintenance and I asked if they could make it so we could turn the temp down during the evening. The nice lady told me that they could reset the thermostat to 66.6 but it had to stay that way all of the time. Said not to touch the controls ever or it would reset back to 71.6. So we said okay and put a sign on it saying, "please do not adjust this thermostat" and we slept so well all night long for six of the eight days!

[HandE]

By the way...there were only two temperature settings...71.6 (which we feel quite sure was higher) and 66.6 so we opted for 66.6. If we unlocked our balcony door, the A/C shut off but stayed at 66.6 (displayed on the thermostat) when we closed it. Also, I had just been given a stack of business cards the day before we left for London & had shoved them in a zippered part of my purse so we used those in the room's (occupied) card slot and it worked fine. We just left it in there the entire cruise..we just turned off all of the lights before we left the room.

[Alsgal12]

Look what's popped up on YT

Congratulations. :D

 

 

Would love to see the full length version if anyone spots it on YouTube? So romantic!

[cruiselife4me]

Thanks isn't adequate enough to thank you all for letting us "sail" along with you. The shutterfly site is great and I loved going through all the pictures. Looks like Dynamic Dining is going to be a hit. I'm sure there are many kinks to iron out, but you all rode the (very high) waves with class and good spirits.

 

Thanks so much, Mary

[boingboingbaggy]

Came up on YT

[AussieVisi2r]

Thanks so much for all your hard work. It was wonderful.

 

Raina

[Elizanessie]

Came up on YT

 

Thanks Daz :D...had to find the tissues again :o

 

They had to have rehearsals out by the elevators etc and with just the music playing very quietly so as not to disturb anyone.

 

None of those who took part in the Flash Mob actually knew each other until they got on the ship. It was a very heart warming event and fantastic to see all those CC members come together for Greg and take part in his surprise marriage proposal.

 

What a birthday that was for Eve :D

[Clansman37]

https://vimeo.com/111709193

 

 

Silk to 270 in 25 seconds time lapse from my phone

 

 

Dan (Clansman 37)

[Clansman37]

https://vimeo.com/111709260

 

This is away to end a cruise

 

 

Dan (Clansman 37)

[JudyjudyjudyS]

Have just read through all the pages on this forum and thought I would add some info. We had a fabulous time. We were in D1 cabin #12644 which is on the angle of the big hump kind of mid ship. The balcony was awesome as over double the normal size. Loved it!

Thoughts:

AC was a problem. Room stuffy and hot at 71.6. Opened our balcony door at night but a lot of wind noise. We were told by diamond concierage this was going to be fixed in NY. Per her, they had to shut down something on the ship to fix the settings and were concerned to do it midcruise due to possibility of losing AC altogether for the cruise.

We made all our reservations for dining the first day they opened them up. So glad we printed our calendar and brought it with us as some reservations were wrong on the ship and didn't match what we had booked and paid for.

Chef's Table - A BIG disappointment. We booked this the first night thinking it would be so special the first night of the cruise. We do Chef's table on all our cruises and enjoy it. Just not done well on Quantum. They crowded 20 people around a table that is supposed to be for 16. Only used 2 bottles of wine per course for 20 that should have been for 16 so very little wine. Food good, but never saw the chef or had information regarding the food being served and the pairing of wines. A small room with very bad acoustics and just too loud. I sound lie a complainer, but really I am not. We paid $170. We canceled the second Chef's table we had booked for Friday night and changed to Choppes with a nice bottle of Caymus for the same price as Chef's table. :o

Rip Cord - Loved it. So much fun.

Steam and Sauna in spa - We bought the package for couples for $190ish giving us access to the steam, sauna and thermal beds for the cruise. Never had to pay the steam and sauna on other cruises as was free. Only 6 thermal beds and 1 shower only in the ladies locker room. Sauna and steam nice, but I wouldn't do this again. Too small.

Solarium Bistro for breakfast- Loved it. Casual, relaxed and not crowded.

Solarium - Lots of good seating here. Loved chilling here and watching the ocean go by.

Diamond lounge - a bit small given the large number of us there were. They opened it up to the Music Hall and really did a good job.

Room service menu - VERY limited. NO more hot breakfast delivered to your room without paying. Very limited for all meals. Disappointed with this change.

Bathroom in cabin - Liked it. Loved the shower. Shelves in shower open on the sides allowing RC products plus whatever you bring with you to easily fall. Given the seas we were dealing with, a lot fell.

Ship motion - We do not get seasick and were on 12 close to midship. You do feel more motion on this boat than others I think. I like that you can tell you are on a boat at all times due to a little motion even in relative calm waters no matter where you are on the ship. I really don't like no motion. However, the motion was a problem for those prone to seasickness.

Dynamic dining - Really liked it for the 2 of us. Could have others join your table or just eat alone. We travel with kids and grandkids. I think it would be hard to get our reservations for a group of 20 based on how hard we worked to get reservations for 2.

Esplanade - Loved it. Loved all the seating available throughout the ship. Lots and lots of choices and always an available comfortable spot wherever we were.

Jamies - FABULOUS!!!! 2 nights there were not enough.

Vintages and MIchael's Pub - LOVED THEM

The Grande - Dissapointed. My husband only one with a jacket at our table for 10. Lobster tough. Food overall not up to RC expected quality.

 

270- Loved it. The swing was lots of fun. The café there had great breakfast, sandwiches and soups.

 

We would definitely cruise again on Quantum. I think she will only improve as they work all the kinks out. We loved our maiden cruise. RC owned the problems and did what they could to make for an enjoyable time for all. Overall, we were very impressed.

[berbet]

Did I read the esplanade was 2 levels?

[SailingSiggy]

Did I read the esplanade was 2 levels?

 

Yep. From what I've seen in photos looks a little like a 2 floor shopping mall.

 

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