Quantum- Semi Live, Family Perspective

[Peewee14]

Hi guys ! Thanks for all the kind replies. On my phone at moment just got back to room, well what was going to be a lazy last day turned out to be action packed. Did the ifly amazing! Watched star water. Fantastic. And now early night as I want to be up for sail in. Will do final and full report in hotel tomorrow I am so excited!!!!! Like a kid at Xmas. I can't believe we are almost in New York!!! It's a dream come true!

[Hoopster95]

And now early night as I want to be up for sail in. Will do final and full report in hotel tomorrow I am so excited!!!!! Like a kid at Xmas. I can't believe we are almost in New York!!! It's a dream come true!

 

Hello Peewee. I've followed your thread from day 1 and really appreciate all your information and photos... thank you very much. Enjoy your early morning Statue of Liberty sail-by party!! You are going to have a great time in New York :D:D

[Kathie13]

Looking forward to your report tomorrow, but that won't be enough. Is there anyway you can tell us about your trip to NY? I know you probably can't do on CC?!?!?! But maybe you could on facebook. Or somewhere else!?!? I want to know how you & family like NY! Oh, American Girl Doll store & FAO Swatrz are no brainers for Dianne. We loved our many trips to the UK. London is one of my favorite European cities. Safe travels.

 

 

Kathie

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[SherriZ366]

Enjoyed your review. You are a beautiful family. I think you could post your NYC adventures on the RCI board -- just call it "Post-Quantum Adventure -- Semi Live, Family Perspective."

Would love to continue hearing about your trip!

[dln929]

Hi guys ! Thanks for all the kind replies. On my phone at moment just got back to room, well what was going to be a lazy last day turned out to be action packed. Did the ifly amazing! Watched star water. Fantastic. And now early night as I want to be up for sail in. Will do final and full report in hotel tomorrow I am so excited!!!!! Like a kid at Xmas. I can't believe we are almost in New York!!! It's a dream come true!

 

Pete, it was a dream come true for all of us Quantum lovers to sail with you and your family this past week. Have fun in NYC!!!

 

[gillyd42]

Excellent review and very helpful - thanks

 

We sail on the quantum christmas cruise from the uk and will also spend time in new york after the cruise for new year.

 

My kids are a lot older than your little one, but it was good to hear your views. I am a little worried about the younger one as he is what we call a picky eater and usually ordered a burger when we were in the mdr and he didnt like anything from the main menu -so that might be a challenge.

Would also be good to hear your views on new york -are you planning to review that part of your holiday?

Edited November 10, 2014 by gillyd42

[Peewee14]

Guys!!! We made it! we are Here! I am speechless!

 

A lot to report on disembarkation and the sail in swell as the last day, and I promise to be back later to give you all the details.

 

I can do a review of the things we get up to in new york, we have a lot planned, maybe it would be relevant to the home ports board for the east coast anyway?

 

for now though I will leave you with these!! a very very happy family!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you later on!!

 

WOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!! NYC Here we come!!!!

[Nhsaltshaker]

Have fun!

 

Can't wait for more!

[Susie51]

Thank you for continuing to post. Looking forward to more of your great review.

[F27TW]

Guys!!! We made it! we are Here! I am speechless!

 

A lot to report on disembarkation and the sail in swell as the last day, and I promise to be back later to give you all the details.

 

I can do a review of the things we get up to in new york, we have a lot planned, maybe it would be relevant to the home ports board for the east coast anyway?

 

for now though I will leave you with these!! a very very happy family!!!

 

See you later on!!

 

WOOOOHOOOOOOOO!!!!! NYC Here we come!!!!

 

 

Welcome to New York!

 

Hey, why not just continue with your report on NYC right here? You've sure got a lot of people hooked on following your trip so there's nothing wrong with covering it just as you would a port stop on any cruise , imo! Why bother to start a new report!?

 

Love to hear all about what you folks do while you're here .... its so neat to see u so excited about ur first trip to NYC .. enjoy!

Edited November 10, 2014 by F27TW

[SherriZ366]

Welcome to New York!

 

Hey, why not just continue with your report on NYC right here? You've sure got a lot of people hooked on following your trip so there's nothing wrong with covering it just as you would a port stop on any cruise , imo! Why bother to start a new report!?

 

Love to hear all about what you folks do while you're here .... its so neat to see u so excited about ur first trip to NYC .. enjoy!

Continuing the review on this thread is a BETTER idea than the one I put forth yesterday. Lots of reviewers detail their pre-cruise experiences in their reviews so I hope you will do the same thing.

[SherriZ366]

Looks like your wife and daughter really loved the limousine!

[EbayCruiser]

Loved your report and would love to hear more about New York. We have never visited and I have always wanted to - DH not so much!!

[#55worktoplay]

I like all others on this thread have enjoyed your thread tremendously. I agree with others just continue on with your report for NY right here.

 

Your family is beautiful.

 

I had tears in my eyes feeling your excitement about NY and seeing the ladies in the Limo.

 

I have yet to see NY city so anxiously awaiting your stories on that.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[Susie51]

Please continue your current thread with your post cruise experiences in NYC! You have a beautiful family.

[Peewee14]

Hi!

 

I just wanted to to say before I carry on, from the 3 of us, thank you all for your kind words about our family and your interest in our adventures, its very flattering indeed :D

[Peewee14]

Hi everyone, Its now Tuesday 11th November, 5.30pm and we are in our room in Times Square, We are having a great time so far, been a long day out today and we are exhausted, Diana fell asleep in her buggy so we have come back to chill for a while. While Michaela watches some US Television (which she seems to have become a fan of) I thought I would update this.

 

We just came back down 6th Ave and by the looks of the news we literally just missed an armed robbery! I wondered while all the helicopters were up in the sky above us.

 

Also to add, typically I have a stinking cold! I had a sore throat on the last day of the cruise but put it down to too much air-conditioning, but now I am aching all over and have a full blown cold! I haven’t been ill for at least a year so I am probably due it, and at least this way I wont miss any time off work I suppose, I feel ok out and about so our first couple of days are going to be spent doing outdoors stuff, plus the fact the weather is great at the moment and turns bad at the end of the week so good timing really.

 

We have a lot of stuff now planned in NY, including the Zoo, top of the rock, Empire State building, Christmas show at Radio City Hall, and I am going to carry on with the review. The reason for writing it was to help anyone with young families looking to do the Quantum, so on that basis they may also be looking for things to do both pre and post cruise. Plus the fact I have enjoyed it so far, and we are going to be having long days but with Evenings in the room no doubt, and as I am not a huge TV fan this will give me something to occupy my evenings.

 

Another reason is, when Diana was 1 year old her uncle gave her a huge box, un known to us he had been colleting things all year since the day she was born, newspaper cuttings, top albums and DVD’s pictures just all kinds of things and put them in a huge trunk for her to keep. We have kept up with this since and add to it all the time. When Michaela and I were young our families didn’t have much and I think I only had 1 proper holiday, we generally had a few days out by the sea but that’s about it, my first “proper “ holiday was actually with Michaela when I was 18. Diana on the other hand has had quite a few but our concern is will she remember them? I really do hope so, but if I can write all this down as I have and save the pictures we can add them to her trunk for her and we can all re live them when she is older, and maybe it will bring the memories back.

 

But before we start on NY to finish off the cruise review.

 

I left off on Sunday, and I was going to leave the review there as we didn’t really have anything planned for the last day, but it turned out to be a really good one.

 

After the moments silence at 11am, we had lunch in sorrentos and Michaela had a 2.40pm appointment in iFly I was going to go up and watch as I hadn’t booked in.

 

I had not spent much time if any on the sports deck or in sea plex so I went up and had a looked around, its all nice and shiny and very new looking! We had been reluctant to take Diana up there as she is not old enough to do the bumper cars (6 years and over) so we didn’t want her to see them at all. Diana was in AO by the way, she had been begging us to go all day, while it was the last night and we had planned to have a go at the snowball bingo we signed her up to have dinner in there, she had also bashed her foot and partly torn her big toe nail off we had no scissors to cut it so had stuck it down with a magic plaster (band aid to you Americans we have now learned!) we planned on popping her into the medical centre after AO to have it snipped off.

 

Sorry went off on a tangent there, back to seaplex, I had a Hot dog which was yummy and then at 2.30pm I went to the ifly desk to meet Michaela, She hadn’t arrived when I got there so I enquired at the desk about a slot, the assistant explained they were fully booked for the rest of the cruise, but I could hang around and see if any cancellations came up, he said every other session at least had one cancellation, so my advice guys is if you cant book just hang around at the desk, as he was explaining this a young Scottish guy came out of the induction room and said he was one missing, before I knew it I was booked in and seated in front of the TV, we did a short 5 minute video and the instructor, who was brilliant, double checked we all knew the hand signals then it was off to get suited. The look on Michaela’s face when she saw me walk out of there before her all suited for the session was priceless!

 

It was groups of 11, and you go into the chamber together then you all have a 1 minute flight each. I would say from booking in to being in the chamber is 15 minutes max, then 1 minute each followed by a 1 minute demo from the instructor of how to do it properly! 30 minutes in total! I was really pleased considering I hadn’t booked.

 

They control the wind speed in the tunnel and It was relatively low for us doing it, you could see they turned it up higher for the instructor.

 

I would say its very easy to do, hence why so many older people did it, and the instructors are really very good, its just down to leg position , arm position keeping your chin up and relaxing your body at the same time, which all the hand signals they go through with you are designed to help you with each of these elements. I had a good ‘flight’ although I got a bit cocky and half way through ended upside down on my ass laughing like a loony while the instructor tried to get me the right way up again. It was great fun, and I highly recommend it.

 

I didn’t manage to get any pictures of me as Michaela was doing the briefing as I was flying, however I hung around and got a video of Michaela having a go.

 

Here it is just click the link

 

http://vid1295.photobucket.com/albums/b640/Pete_Ashcroft/Quantum%20Of%20The%20Seas/IMG_0296_zpsqtwvskbr.mp4

 

 

 

 

We then went down to the music hall for Bingo! It was chaos and many people had to stand, the bingo team did a good job of entertaining everyone throughout though, Michaela went for the buy 2 get one free option and made me play 2 sheets, and being quite new to bingo I found the whole process very stressful!! I missed most of the numbers and I got quite annoyed with the whole thing lol!

 

Needless to say we didn’t win anything, and I don’t think I will be playing bingo again. The jackpot was $5200 and it was won by someone who shouted bingo towards the end of the game.

 

It must have been hot in there for a lot of people as quite a few said they had been sweating for a while towards the end of the last game. I thought the temperature was fine though.

 

Up to the room for a quick change, Michaela went to grab little D and take her off to have the offending toe nail removed and I was instructed to be in 270 for 7pm to grab seats for Starwater. I should also add we had been snacking all day and with Diana having dinner in AO we had nothing planned dinner and decided to give it a miss tonight.

 

The trip to the centre went without incident and I am told the nail was sorted in seconds and Diana told me how brave she was and she therefore deserved a treat, and we all had a treat indeed with Starwater, it was fantastic!

 

It was a little slow to start, and a little different as there is no back stage so the cast appear from out of the audience or from above, and also leave the same way. If there was a story line to the performance then I didn’t get it, obviously some kind of love story, least I think it was, but that was irrelevant as the performance, the singing the dancing all brilliant, the acrobats who came down from above just amazing and so strong and talented.

 

This show is not to be missed! Get it booked! Its probably one you could see twice as you cant take it all in, so much happening live in front of you and on the screens behind.

 

Diana sat and gave it her full attention, and we were pleased we took her to it, again as I have said before if you have young kids give the shows at least a try, she has loved them, and if you had asked us before the cruise if we thought she would be well behaved and sit still through them we would have probably said no!

 

 

 

 

 

[tapchus]

Thank you Pee Wee for the great detailed review and fab pictures. By the way, that is my daughter who is the Elf on the far right. She is also in Mamma Mia and Sonic Odyssey.

[Peewee14]

Having spotted this in our cabin earlier and with the excitement of New York we headed to the cabin early as I really wanted to be up at 4.30am to be on top deck for sail in, I cant describe my excitement at this point, I really wanted to get Diana up with me at that time to share it but Michaela talked me out of it, and explained she wouldn’t be getting up at that time either, so after a few minutes figuring out what time it was we went to be at about 10pm and set my alarm.

 

 

After Diana had watched Starwater she decided to give us a little performance of her own before bed

 

http://vid1295.photobucket.com/albums/b640/Pete_Ashcroft/Quantum%20Of%20The%20Seas/IMG_0316_zpsixbgwpj9.mp4

 

 

I couldn’t sleep, it was a nightmare! The room for a change was perfect, no rocking no banging perfect sleeping conditions, but the excitement was just too much, I was tossing and turning all night, in fact at one point at about 1am I almost gave up and just got up, but I persevered! And wouldn’t you know it when the alarm did go off and wake me from what was now a deep comfortable sleep I didn’t want to get up and almost changed my mind.

 

I didn’t though, I got dressed rather noisily I was later informed and with a warm jacket headed up top, it was quiet at about 4.45am but from 5am it filled up fast. I spent my time on Deck 15 in the open air and then deck 14 trying to find space to see everything, it was great, I don’t know if my goose bumps were due to the cold or the excitement! We sailed under the bride then passed by liberty, it was still dark but dawn was about to break.

 

 

sorry not great pics

 

 

 

 

[Peewee14]

I realised that when the ship turned to go back past Liberty the view from our cabin overlooking the bow was going to be amazing, I also knew Michaela would be disappointed to have missed it, so I went back to the cabin and woke her up and we enjoyed sunrise together looking out of the cabin window with Diana still fast asleep.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Maybaybie10]

Having lived in the US my whole life, I still got goosebumps reading about your excitement sailing into New York. I can't imagine what that must have been like getting your first look at Lady Liberty and the city. Your review is fantastic and I loved Diana's little "donkey" performance. My Mom is from England- she came over here when she was 19 as a Nanny. She met my Dad (in New York) and decided to stay. They eventually moved to Maine after I was born, which is where we live now. I enjoy hearing her stories from when she came to America for the first time as much as I'm enjoying yours. I hope you have a wonderful time in New York and thanks for keeping the review going! :)

[Peewee14]

We sat by the window as we docked stern in and continued to enjoy the view and the fire service boat putting on a show for us, it was now around 7.30 am and we decided to let Diana sleep for as long as possible, this was the worst bit really, we couldn’t wait to get off the ship and time just seemed to drag.

 

We had been given slot number 49 for getting off which I think is last, scheduled between 10.30 and 11am if I remember right, I had changed the pick up time for the limo from 11am to 11.30 the day before just to be sure.

 

Michaela went out and brought us some breakfast back from the Windjammer, she said it was pretty mad out there. We hung around in the cabin until about 8.30 then we woke Diana, we had spent the entire week creeping around her in the cabin if we got up during the night, going to the bathroom without turning a light on etc etc, and on this final morning we had been up chatting away excitedly all the lights on and the blinds wide open and she hadn’t stirred once!!

 

Once up and dressed we headed down to Boleros where we where told cartoons would be playing, they were not but it was ok, pretty chilled out and hardly anyone in, what we did notice though was huge lines on deck 5 not moving waiting for people to get off, the whole process was running about an hour behind schedule and generally seemed as bad as the embarkation at Southampton. We waited patiently but it got to 10.30 and still only up to number 20.

 

Now my thinking here was the reason you waited until your number was called was to make sure your luggage was there, 10.30 was our slot so I assumed that all the delays, which RCI said was because of immigration would not have delayed our luggage, so even though we were still 29 numbers away I was sure our luggage was going to be there, we seemed to be at a space between numbers being called and the lines on deck 5 had gone, so we made a run for it!!

 

We got off the ship no problem and along the gangway, and then we hit a line, a HUGE!!! Line very long indeed. However because we had Diana in her buggy a nice man waved us past and we were waved along past the long line, the really long line, it seemed to take for ever walking by all the other passengers waiting inline and I am sure people were glaring at us! I know if it was me I would have been glaring!

 

This pushchair really has been worth its weight in gold on this holiday, we bypassed the line completely entered into the baggage hall and a porter asked if we wanted help, we did, he grabbed a cart and our cases which were in the baggage hall (thank god my gamble had paid off) and then we got waved down the accessibility aisle with 1 person in front of us, while next to us another huge line for passport control waited, more glares later we were in the US, passports stamped and through. I could not believe how lucky we were, the whole thing took about 15 minutes, however I did feel genuinely bad for all the people waiting, it must have taken hours to get through, all thanks to Diana and her buggy, I just hope she doesn’t look too silly in it when she is 16 years old and we are still using the same tactic!

 

One from today in NYC, those with keen eyes will see that inky is still with us she adores him!

 

 

This is the buggy/stroller when folded,

 

 

 

 

We left the terminal building with huge smiles to glorious sunshine and another huge line of people waiting for cabs, we tipped the porter and then our huge limo pulled up for us within 2 minutes, perfect timing 11.30, more glares from the line waiting for the cabs. But the huge smile and giggles from Michaela and Diana I will remember for ever, Owen was our driver, he quickly loaded us in and we had lots of water on ice and off we set towards New York City!

 

A few have asked about the stroller we got, it’s a Nano Mountain buggy, I did quite a bit of research before we got it, we had to make sure we got one that was big enough to take her, she is quite tall and we wanted to make sure she could put her head back and sleep and her legs didn’t stick out to far, we also wanted it to fold quick and small for jumping in cabs and on buses etc, and it does it folds to the size of a holdall and is very light, with a handle you can carry it just like a bag, my only regret is we didn’t get this one when she was much younger, the ones we have had previously were more expensive and no where near as good..

 

To finish off on the cruise,

 

Was it a great cruise Holiday? NO but it was good.

 

Was it a great way to get to NY? Absolutely

 

That might sound odd, but I suppose what I am saying is if we had just booked the cruise and flown straight home we may have been a little disappointed, however the truth is we would never have booked it for that, we booked the cruise to get to visit NY and only have to fly one way.

 

Why was it not great? Simply the weather and the rough crossing, take that away with a smooth sailing and good weather and yes it would have been great, I just feel we didn’t get to enjoy all the ship had to offer due to the sickness caused by the crossing.

 

So if your booking this ship to cruise around the Caribbean your probably going to have a great time.

 

We have always been a huge fan of the Royal Promenade on other ships and we thought we might miss it on this ship, we did a little bit but what we didn’t miss was how hectic the promenade can be on poor weather days, one thing the Quantum does exceptionally well is spread people about indoors, it really didn’t ever feel that crowded or congested, 270 is just brilliant, and the Esplanade is good also, combined with the Via area and the balcony area on deck 5 over looking deck 4, it really is a great cold weather ship.

 

My only concern would be how it copes on hot sunny sea days, the open air pool area in my opinion is very very small for the amount of passengers it can take, it was bad enough on hot sea days around the med on Indy, I cant imagine how its going to be on Quantum. However sailing out of New Jersey in winter with maybe a 2 day sailing in cool weather and most people indoors then port days in the sun with many people off the ship might work really well.

 

For us as a family we have decided we prefer the Main Dining Room experience, with My Time Dinding, as explained before it gave us the best of both worlds, and mort importantly having the same table and staff Diana got to know them and them to know her making meal times a joy, we usually had a shared table during MTD and that was also enjoyable.

 

Just simple things like the waiters letting her food cool a little before they brought it out and how she liked it cut up made things a little extra special. That doesn’t mean dynamic dining is bad, its not, and I think if it were just Michaela and I, we would prefer the dynamic dining.

 

If we did it again I think we would have let Diana eat at adventure ocean more than one night and on these nights booked a couple of the speciality venues, we did plan to do this on-board, but of course as you know everywhere got booked up fast. It seems more and more pre planning is now needed for dinner and shows etc, the problem is, especially with young kids, you can plan with your best intentions but the plans can often go out of the window depending on mood and sleep etc.

 

The ship certainly is a stunning piece of work, with lots to do and plenty of great indoor space, friendly and helpful staff for the most part and I am sure anyone going on her is going to have a great time.

 

Stay tuned for the amazing time we are having in this wonderful city!! More to come, and thanks again to everyone for the kind words,

[retiredgram]

Have loved reading your personal review and pictures. Thank you. Hope you post about your time in New York.

[SherriZ366]

Thanks for adding the sail into NYC.

 

Hope you feel better.

[Peewee14]

We headed off in the Limo to New York, Diana and Michaela loved it in the Limo, and I must admit so did I, from this point on we didn’t know what to expect, we had been looking forward to this so much and now it was happening, we just kept staring out of the windows in all directions. Owen our driver was great and gave us a little running commentary on some of the sights.

 

I really expected grid locked streets and chaos but it wasn’t, there is obviously lots of traffic but it does seem to move and flow well, Owen explained that rush hour could get bad. He kindly explained about how the street and avenue system worked with east st and west st all numbered and 5th avenue being the dividing line between east and west, it’s the best bit of advice I have been given. The city can seem daunting at first but its actually very easy to find your way around, in fact I cant see how you could get lost its so easy to find your way around and find your way back to the hotel.

 

I can’t remember how many times we used words like “WOW” “Oh My god!” and of course “that looks awesome” on the journey to Times Square, I think Owen was amused by it all but no doubt used to it.

 

 

 

 

As we approached Diana fell asleep and I suddenly realised how exhausted I was, the traffic got worse on approach to times square but not a major issue, Owen had a few angry words with a NYPD officer when we were trying to park in front of the hotel, Owen won lol! I was a bit apprehensive at this point, but Owen just laughed, said it was normal and welcome to New York City!

 

Out of the car in the bustling times square and a porter got all our luggage, we had booked the Double Tree Suites by Hilton at times square after a bit of research, the one main reason is that we knew we would be in the room early with Diana each evening so we wanted a suite type set up to give us a separate area so at least we could stay up and watch TV or something while Diana went to bed early. We booked a 2 double suite, which is 2 double beds in 1 room and a living area with small kitchen type set up in a separate room adjoining.

 

We knew we were too early for check in so we just intended dropping the bags and hanging around, but to our surprise they said our room was ready and we could have it straight away, we got given hot cookies at check in and they were delicious!!

 

The room is up on the 36th floor with a great view over half of Times Square, the corridors and rooms themselves are not as nice as the lobby area, in fact they are very dated with wall paper peeling off the walls in places, but it’s a great location and a great set up in the room.

 

The other great thing is the room is silent! You can’t hear anything outside.

 

We sat in the room for a little while, the time now being about 12.30 and we were exhausted, but I just had to get out and have a walk around.

 

Now this is the funny bit, I was actually a bit worried about this, I have been all over the UK with work, to lots of major cities and a lot of Europe, but never felt like I did on that day here, don’t know what it was, just a little apprehensive and strange and I will admit a little scared! I decided to go for a walk while the ladies chilled out for a bit.

 

I headed out and walked away from Times Square, I cant tell you how I felt, it was a bit nervy at first and I found myself looking over my shoulder all the time for the first 5 minutes, I ended up on 5th Avenue and walked north towards central park, and after a few people smiled and said hello I got used to it and I was loving it!

 

What a buzz, wish I could bottle the feeling I had and sell it, I would make a fortune! There I was walking down 5th Ave in New York. Brilliant! After 15 minutes I felt very safe and relaxed and was really enjoying myself, there are NYPD officers everywhere, directing traffic, standing on corners all seem to be quite pleasant. One thing I am noticing more and more about this city is that yes it is busy, manic sometimes, but it does seem to flow, its got a rush and a buzz about it, but oddly I have found it doesn’t feel like “chaos” a street gets snarled up with traffic, police appear and divert it, the city just keeps moving, mostly anyway.

 

Its so well spaced out as well with so much room, the footpaths are busy but don’t feel as crowded as some places in London, and once you understand how easy the street and avenue system is you feel so confident getting around. I got all the way up to the start of central park turned left down 58th street west then found 7th Avenue and headed south back down to Times Square, check me out!! Proper New Yorker now I thought!! My neck is still hurting through looking around so much, and I soon learned the hard way about stopping abruptly on the pavement to take pictures!

 

I stopped at a small stall and bought Diana a pink I Love NY T Shirt and with my new found confidence and now being a complete expert on the geography of NY I headed back to the room to grab the girls and share the thrill!

 

Edited November 12, 2014 by Peewee14