Smart Ship has G.E.D.

[wolfcathorse]

I was on the inaugural and one activities girl running a Quantum trivia got rude with the guests who answered that 11-23 was Quantum's inaugural, she insisted it was 11-2 and therefore she was right. The crew did not know it was the inaugural.

 

Check-in at noon was chaotic, I'm D+ and I didn't know there was a priority line! My docs said my check-in was 11:45-12:15 and when we got there at noon, the signage said it was general boarding. Nobody told us we had been upgraded from an interior to a D7 balcony so our luggage went to the wrong room. We had to get to our cabin ourselves. The check in agents iPads kept freezing up.

 

There was always 1 elevator out of the group of 6 that was out of service. And sometimes when the door opened, it didn't know if it was going up or down, the light above it kept changing from red to green! Bionic Bar did not function most of the time. Day2 it forgot to close the lid on the cup before shaking and ended up throwing alcohol over the crowd. The virtual sculpture hanging in the Royal Esplande only worked while the tech was trying to make it work. North Star worked in spurts. Nobody told us you had to show up at 9 am to get a ticket to come back at a later time and day. They said they didn't publish it so you wouldn't get your hopes up. You could only hope it was working when it was your turn. It seems that the computer technology got a little better as the cruise progressed. There is already damage around the ship. They were sanding areas of the pool deck, one elevator had carpet laid down as the tiles were shattered and the other elevators had tiles that were cracking. There is a glass cover in the floor lights in 270 that is shattered. The loungers on the starboard side from Felicia to the end of the Seaplex were spotted with soot from the exhaust stacks, nobody was wiping them off. We were underwhelmed.

 

The giveaways did not say Quantum Inaugural 11-23-14. Instead they said Inaugural season. The water bottle had no ship name on it at all, just the C & A. We got a book that shows what you can buy in the shops, some pamphlets that you can get at your TA office, baseball caps that were child sized, and a photocopy of a certificate saying it was an inaugural. There were no fireboats spraying water in our first ports of call. I can understand nothing happening in Port Canaveral as it was early and still dark. At least in Nassau, the NCL ship docked there blew her horn 3 times in honor of Quantum. Capt Ban didn't honk back.

 

I did not like not knowing who the headliner was until it was in the Cruise Compass. I would have canceled both of my ressies. Ventiloquist Ron Lucas was just OK and I didn't care for Moa5ic. I didn't like Sonic Odyssey, the music was on a track. My DH found that out from a tech after I pointed out that sometimes the motion of the violinist and the guy on the earth harp didn't match the sound. We loved Mamma Mia and Starwater.

 

The food was good, the service was robotic. I went outside at WJ to eat, and 3 waiters were complaining with each other about what they were lacking to do their jobs correctly. There are no assistant waiters, just a waiter and "runners." The waiters have no time to talk to you. They poured your water and if your dining room served bread, he put the bread basket on the table, then he took your order. One night we had to order 3 times because the iPad kept crashing. My ankles swelled up each night so I switched to drinking just bottled water and that fixed my problem. They ran out of Coke cups but the machines in WJ weren't working with them anyway so for the last 3 days of the cruise I had free Coke and Dansani (I hadn't found out you could use regular cups until Day 5), other people who had bought the Coke package and didn't get a cup got their money refunded.

 

The CL and DL were packed to the gills each night. We got better service in the Schooner Bar (which is just a shadow of its former glory) using our vouchers if we tipped the waiter in cash. One bar would give you the drink you asked for but another would deny you saying it wasn't allowed on their list.

 

There were no special celebrations on board or in port for this inaugural. The only activities were bingo, art auctions, a guest lecturer, trivia, and of course spa "seminars". There is no Love and Marriage show, no Quest, no karaoke. On the last night they did do Battle of the Sexes. We were bored. We will not do another inaugural, it was nothing special, especially for the price, and we will not sail a Quantum class ship again. We will not sail a ship with Dynamic Dining, and I heard a lot of people say they didn't like it either.

 

Flame away or ask a question, it may jog my memory on something else that didn't Wow me.

Edited December 3, 2014 by wolfcathorse

[scottrn7]

Thank you for the information and have thought many times about going on a inaugural cruise but fear of experiencing what you went through. From watching documentaries of other ships being built they discuss about the ongoing issues even on first sailing that have to be worked on. Sounds like it was much less a WOW experience, but I am sure there was some parts of it that was impressive.

 

Flame away or ask a question, it may jog my memory on something else that didn't Wow me.

[LMaxwell]

You mentioned the Schooner Bar; something I have not seen a lot about but have seen a few pictures. Does it have outside views? What about it didn't live up to standards? Always liked Schooner Bar; would be a disappointed if it became a viewless alcove.

[Janet524]

Wolfcathorse, your assessment seems to track with most of the other postings I've been reading about Quantum. It almost seems like RC was so smitten with having a "high tech" ship that they went overboard (pun intended) and tried to do too much. Hopefully, they will take a good hard look at the guests' comments and work out the issues. I don't think a Quantum cruise is in our near future. Thanks for your information.

[Coralc]

Thanks for the review. It does sound underwhelming.

[Georgeny]

Thanks for the review, I understand your disappointment about being on an inaugural but not having it designated as such properly. You seem to mirror much of what others are saying, some of which appears to be poor planning and execution of new methods etc. Something to be expected on a new ship first weeks but seems more so on Quantum versus previous.

 

Our hope is that they get it all figured out quickly as we sail 12/20 for the Holiday sailing.

 

Adding all the technology had to be the ruin of the boarding procedures. We sailed from Cape liberty on Explorer just this October, just before the new terminal opening. Then you had to the bus ride to the ship itself at the dock. Now with direct gangway boarding should have been a breeze if they just used desks and issued cards etc like they always did.

 

Oh well will be an experience no matter what I guess. Never had a bad cruise don't expect this one to be either, just some better than others.

 

George in NY - sailing Quantum 12/20/14

[bouhunter]

We have no intention of ever sailing Quantum (or Oasis/Allure), sounds like we won't miss much:D Will stick with Adventure winter 2016. Celebrity this winter. I do think after our past two RCCL cruises they are slipping on the service end and they don't care........:rolleyes: It's not what it used to be.

Edited December 3, 2014 by bouhunter

[wolfcathorse]

You mentioned the Schooner Bar; something I have not seen a lot about but have seen a few pictures. Does it have outside views? What about it didn't live up to standards? Always liked Schooner Bar; would be a disappointed if it became a viewless alcove.

 

it has no windows of it's own. It's at the front of a bank of elevators. A walkway cuts through it. So if you sit on the other side of the aisle and peer behind a privacy screen you can see some windows that open up onto the lifeboat deck. The only nautical decoration is an 8 ft by 8 ft section of rigging and a piece of canvas as a sail by the piano.

[wolfcathorse]

but I am sure there was some parts of it that was impressive.

 

We loved Mamma Mia and Starwater. The bumper cars were a hoot. We love the new color scheme for the cabins and for the ship in general. The butterfly wall in the Centrum and the sculpture in front of Jamie Olivers (The Via) was the best art on board. To be wowed, I guess it would have to be seeing Starwater. The technology used for the backdrops, that made us say 'wow".

[Ocean Boy]

Flame away or ask a question, it may jog my memory on something else that didn't Wow me.

 

There is nothing to flame your for. Thanks for providing your perspective.

[montekat]

We were also on the "Inaugural" sailing and were hoping for more of a WOW experience. The ship was hyped so much that maybe our expectations were too high. I agree with Wolfcathorse.

 

There were some things that were good. I liked that at night the light in the bathroom would remain on at a very minimal level. No needed to be blinded in the middle of the night by a bright light. When entering the cabin, you had to put a card in the slot to turn on the lights. Once removed, the lights would automatically go off in about 2 min. I soon figured out that any card could be used, not just the Seapass card.

 

The toilets in the bathroom would sometimes only flush when the bathroom door was closed and sometimes when open. Go figure!

 

Elevators were a challenge! I think people would hit the button to call the elevator to the floor, then give up and take the stairs. Usually you can't punch a button in the elevator to go in the opposite direction until it has finished completing going to the floors already called. A lot of times, people just gave up waiting for an elevator going down if they wanted to go up and just got on and rode it. However, if you got on on deck 7 and it was on the way to deck 14 and you wanted to get off on a lower floor, you could go ahead and punch deck 5, making it seem as if the elevator was screwed up. Make sense?

 

We waited in line for an hour and 15 min. for Northstar. We were lucky that we were able to get right on, but it was cold and windy in that line! We got there at 8:15 in the morning and my husband wanted to give up. There were a lot of people wanting multiple tickets. The lady in front of us wanted 10 tickets. I really felt sorry for the staff handing out the tickets. They took a lot of abuse for something they had no control over. I felt they deserved combat pay! How can you give out a definite time when there are multiple factors affecting time, i.e. weather, if the computers are working properly controlling Northstar, etc.

 

We liked using the WOW bands (when they worked) as it was easier to get back in the cabin without having to carry the Seapass card in your hand, especially if you were carrying a plate of the cookies and a drink. The coconut cookies were great!!

 

The food was better than we have experienced recently on Royal, but we would have liked the dynamic dining better if the menus changed occasionally, but I understand why. Just don't schedule the same dining venue several days in a row.

 

That pink bear was definitely, how should I say it, "unique".

[Elizanessie]

Did they have the Mamma Mia After Party on your sailing ?

 

What about Wink & Gatsby ?

[Missus Makkem]

Excellent summing up OP

 

Yes the Schooner bar is more or less a windowless alcove.

[wolfcathorse]

Did they have the Mamma Mia After Party on your sailing ?

 

What about Wink & Gatsby ?

 

No After Party and no Wink or Gatsby. We only had Mamma Mia, Starwater, and Sonic Odyssey. The first entertainer was ventriloquist Ron Lucas (meh, so-so) and the second entertainer was the a capella group Mo5aic (blah). I would have skipped both but we didn't know who it would be until we read it in that day's Cruise Compass.

 

P.S. - I gave one of your pins to our cabin attendant and one to the lady who hosted our Kennedy Space Center tour. Both recipients were thrilled.

Edited December 4, 2014 by wolfcathorse

[Elizanessie]

No After Party and no Wink or Gatsby. We only had Mamma Mia, Starwater, and Sonic Odyssey. The first entertainer was ventriloquist Ron Lucas (meh, so-so) and the second entertainer was the a capella group Mo5aic (blah). I would have skipped both but we didn't know who it would be until we read it in that day's Cruise Compass.

 

P.S. - I gave one of your pins to our cabin attendant and one to the lady who hosted our Kennedy Space Center tour. Both recipients were thrilled.

 

We didn't have Wink etc either...heck we didn't even have Sonic Odyssey :(

 

They had to change when Mamma Mia would be on because of the bad weather, they were concerned in case the props fell over. Of course that then caused problems with guests dining reservations but it was understandable that they had to think of the cast's safety.

 

I have no idea who our Headliners were...I think one was a Hypnotist :confused:

 

Loved Mamma Mia...but Starwater was not my scene at all, it had glitches...I was so sick of hearing...strike the pose...strike the pose :(

 

I am so happy your recipients of the pins were thrilled :D