Quantum of the Seas Review - November 18 thru November 21, 2014

[Biker19]

I just got back also. People were told that they don't have an ice skating rink on Quantum, but they did on our cruise. The pool staff decided to hose down the pool deck one night and seemed to forget that the temp was headed down to 26. The next morning there was a crew of guys with ice scrapers and shovels working on all of the ice!!!

 

For all those folks complaining about the lack of a water slide, see above. Now you get it?:rolleyes:

[floridaglen]

Subscribing, thanks for writing a review ;)

[roe2ship]

Thanks for sharing your experience. I look forward to reading more.

[roe2ship]

For all those folks complaining about the lack of a water slide, see above. Now you get it?:rolleyes:

Just an FYI, NCL Breakaway has many water slides and sails from (freezing) New York year round.

[heatherb1958]

On the Transatlantic we were locked out of our cabin several times. It did become very frustrating.

 

First occasion when the door lock did not work there was a maintenance guy 2 cabins down who using his computer and inserting the USB cable into the lock still could not get the door open.

Our room steward also could not get in to service the room:mad:, he even suggested we leave the door on the latch so he could do.:eek:..

One night , 10.40pm , we came back to find the lock covers stripped on both sides of the door and the room abandoned. Thank goodness all valuables were in the safe.

Another night , again locked out, maintenance came , their pass did not work, in the end head of Guest Security came and their pass did. All this took over an hour.

I get there were technical issues but not being able to get into your cabin at your own convenience on numerous occasions is not funny.

 

We enjoyed the actual ship and the food on Quantum but all that stands out for us is spending so much time inline at Guest services sorting out getting into our room:(

[Darkingnj]

Wife and I were on this sailing as well...thanks for posting.

 

Overall, we enjoyed the ship and had a great time. I was a little disappointed to find out they were not selling alcohol from the Logo Shop this cruise. Free drinks everyday at the Bionic Bar made up for it..lol.

[Dave85]

Just an FYI, NCL Breakaway has many water slides and sails from (freezing) New York year round.

 

 

We had an amazing time on Breakaway last week but she's clearly not a cold weather ship. The fact that only the Haven pool area has a cover is problematic IMHO. I look forward to seeing how Anthem compares next November!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[DonnaK]

Cabin

Since we already had our luggage with us, we unpacked straight away. Our empty suitcases easily slid under the bed. The cabin had a ton of storage: Double closets on either side of the sofa, overhead storage above the bed, several drawers in the desk area. The shower in the bathroom was huge compared to other ships, with a curved clear glass door. Tubes of shampoo, conditioner, shower gel, and lotion were provided. We had to ask for robes, which were quickly delivered to us.

 

The décor was reminiscent of a boutique hotel. Clean lines; browns and blues. The balcony was deep and had loungers on it (as opposed to chairs), which was a nice surprise! Too bad it was too cold to sit outside, with the exception of a few hours on the last morning.

 

The sofa and bed were very firm. Anna said that it was the best nights of sleep she’s had in a long time. On the other hand, I found the bed too hard for my lower back and sciatica – I am still feeling the pain. Had the cruise been longer, I would have asked for an egg crate or bed cushion, but it seemed like a lot of work to put the steward through for just a 3 day cruise. The duvets were very thick and heavy, which was cozy on a cold weather cruise. I would likely ask to have them replaced with a lighter weight blanket if we were traveling in the Caribbean during the summer.

 

There had been a lot of talk in earlier reviews about the cabins being too hot. This was a concern of mine because I need to sleep in a cool room. Good thing we had an extra key card to keep inserted in the slot, which kept the air conditioner from shutting down when we left the room. We were able to manually adjust the thermostat to 68 degrees. It reset itself a few times, but I just turned it back down. One plus of a cold weather cruise is that anytime the cabin felt too warm, we just opened the balcony door for about 10 minutes, and it cooled back down in a jiffy. We found the temperature of the ship to be comfortable throughout, except when someone opened a door to the outside and let a blast of cold air in!

[DonnaK]

One thing I forgot to mention about the Windjammer. In addition to the usual Purell dispenser, there are actual wash-up sinks in the entrance area!

[DonnaK]

We spent the time before the muster drill walking around exploring the ship and marveling at the beauty of the public areas. In retrospect, the first day would have been the best time to ride the Northstar and bumper cars because the lines were short, and there were no glitches. We should have jumped on those activities, and explored later!

 

We stopped in Bolaros to listen to the reggae band called Hot Spices, who were AWESOME! I imagine them rocking the pool deck if this were a warm weather cruise.

 

One comment/suggestion: We truly appreciate live music. One thing that I was blown away by on my last two cruises with Celebrity was the quantity and quality of live music available throughout the day all over the ship.

 

During this cruise, we constantly walked passed a lot of empty pianos and music venues. (For example, on the first night, Bolaros was empty from 4pm until 10pm.) The various house musicians were only scheduled for one brief set per day. What this cruise sorely needed was more live music, especially in the open areas (such as Vintages) to lure people in as they were passing between the entertainment venues at the front of the ship and the restaurants at the aft.

 

Anyway…our muster station was on the upper level of the Music Hall. Our Sea Passes were scanned upon entry. There was no instructional video. Instead, a crew member briefly demonstrated how to put on a life jacket and we were sent on our way. It was hard to see and hear, and not very informative or helpful.

 

Our dinner reservation for the evening was at Silk for 6:45pm, which was the earliest time slot available online when I made the booking. We showed up at 6pm, gave our cabin number to the hostess who inserted it into her iPad, and we were seated immediately. There were only 2 other tables occupied.

 

The restaurant is beautifully appointed, in deep shades of Oriental Reds and Golds, with lots of attention to detail. Appetizers are served family-style, in large portions. The problem with this is that Anna and I each wanted different appetizers, and it ended up being way too much food. But, it was all delicious! I had a hard time finding an entrée that appealed to me. I ordered the salmon, but only ate a few bites. Anna ordered the Thai Beef Salad and found the meat to be tough although she enjoyed the rest of the salad. We passed on dessert (I generally only order ice cream for dessert, and vanilla was the only option). If this were a longer cruise, I don't think we'd return to this restaurant. Even though the appetizers were delicious, we already tried everything on the menu that appealed to us, and there was nothing else we would feel compelled to try on a subsequent visit.

 

After dinner, we headed over to Two70 for a presentation by the Vice President of Entertainment, Nick Weir, on the technology of the venue. It is an amazing space. They referred to it as the "living room" of the ship because it was a comfortable lounging area that transforms into a unique entertainment space. The Roboscreens are 6 panels that operate in synchronization with each other to project images - quite fascinating!

 

We had a reservation for the 9pm Headliner Show. Mo5iac is a 5 piece vocal band. No instruments – just voices. They were incredibly talented and entertaining! One of the best headliners I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing on a cruise!

 

We headed back to Two70 to listen to Sante Fe and the Fat City Horns, a 15 member jazz-type band. No doubt they were talents, but they were way too loud for this space

 

 

We walked around a bit more, and ended up in Bolaros for a little while listening to the Latin band called Manati Salsa. They were excellent, and we really enjoyed watching the people dance. After a quick late-night snack at the Café and Sorrentos, we called it a night.

 

The sandwiches in the Café were all outstanding! I've read all the negatively about the pizza in Sorrentos (worse than frozen, yada, yada, yada). I thought it was wonderful, especially the 5-cheese, the Naples, and the Frutti di Mare pizzas. The make-your-own pizza was thick crust, which was still delicious even though I generally prefer the thin cruise.

Edited November 23, 2014 by DonnaK

[Bocker3]

I was on this cruise also. The ship is beautiful, the entertainment was probably the best I've seen on any ship. The food was average, but I did like the variety of restaurants. I concur with the incredibly slow service in The Grande, that others have mentioned. We left, without dessert, after 2+ hours.

However -- I will not sail this class of ship for a very long time -- until the the technology gets fully worked out. In our 3 days onboard, we made 13 trips to Guest Services, between us. There was always a fear, when I returned to my cabin, that neither the card or wristband would work. We had ours replaced 2x each. Our Royal Replenish package never showed up in their system (but Guest Svc could see we bought it), so they put the old stickers on our cards. Yet, we still had numerous drinks charged to our account. Then my card was "declined" in one of the shops -- yet another "new" card from guest services. Went to get cash at the casino -- couldn't do it, as I was told I was on a "cash basis". I told them that my Amex was on the account (confirmed at check in), but he couldn't see it. Back to Guest Services -- where I'm told, "No, you have no credit card on your account and you are past what you can charge without paying some money." I, calmly, asked how they lost my credit card info -- "technical issues". Was told to get my Amex and bring it down to be reconnected. Guess what -- can't get in my room again, back down to get that fixed, back up to get my credit card from the safe, back down to have it reconnected to my account (this is day 2, mind you).

 

Final trip, on debarkation day, to have the last of the drink charges removed.

 

I have been on many cruises and this is the ONLY TIME I'VE EVER BEEN HAPPY TO GET OFF A SHIP. Debarkation was a breeze, thankfully!!

 

I truly felt badly for the crew -- especially the Guest Services crew. They were always busy, but one told me it was better than the previous cruise. The set up there stinks too -- no single line -- just a number of stations for folks to stand in front of, no real order at all. It seemed that the crew member needed to run off to a back room to "fix" anything too. This required them to go through the crowd waiting and, invariably, getting pulled aside with a question from another guest -- making everyone's wait even longer. Just seemed to be some bad choices made in setting this up.

 

Finally -- I have never made a negative review like this in all my years of cruising, so please -- spare me the "remember you are on a cruise" and "relax, there are always bugs on new classes of ships" comments. I'm an experienced cruiser who had an incredibly inefficient experience with Quantum's technology "enhancements"

 

They did give me a 15% future cruise credit (based of the price of my Quantum cruise) - I appreciated that, but would have preferred they had more thoroughly tested and fixed their technology.

 

Mike

[roe2ship]

We had an amazing time on Breakaway last week but she's clearly not a cold weather ship. The fact that only the Haven pool area has a cover is problematic IMHO. I look forward to seeing how Anthem compares next November!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

Hi Dave, good to hear you enjoyed the Breakaway.:)

 

Bocker3, your complaint about technology issues is quite common so far. I don't blame you for being annoyed. Have to say that for a "smart" ship, Quantum is having some dumb problems. I know its early on but key cards not working properly?:rolleyes: I'm interested in reading how the cruise that left today turns out.

Edited November 24, 2014 by roe2ship

[akcruz]

Bocker3, we were on the same cruise and definitely agree. We are glad we did this trip but not really sure Quantum is for us. We expected a lot of kinks but ran into far too many than we figure on and guest services just wasn't there.

 

There are many more reviews out there so won't do one myself but willing to answer any questions people have.

[DonnaK]

Bocker3, we were on the same cruise and definitely agree. We are glad we did this trip but not really sure Quantum is for us. We expected a lot of kinks but ran into far too many than we figure on and guest services just wasn't there.

 

There are many more reviews out there so won't do one myself but willing to answer any questions people have.

 

akcruz, even though we loved the ship itself and our experience on the 3 day sampler was mostly positive, Quantum isn't for us either. Our issue is not with the technology, but rather with Dynamic Dining. We felt that service, while wonderful, was too impersonal and rushed. We don't pay for food on a cruise, and with the limited non-rotating menus, in the complementary restaurants, it would be hard to return to those restaurants again on a longer cruise.

 

I didn't expect my review to take so long to write. I am almost finished writing up day 2. Hopefully I can post it when I get home from work tonight.