QUANTUM Dec 1-11, 2014 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

I woke in anticipation this morning as I was booked on the All Access Tour. So after my normal sea day routine (workout, CL, small breaky) I headed down to deck 3 to the entrance of The Grande to meet the start of our tour. Upon arriving, I noticed right away that I was the only one wearing long pants... everyone else said they were not told otherwise. So we asked our tour leader... she made a phone call and of course was told long pants were mandatory. After a short conversation, they cleared our group for shorts (very rare I understand), so I was able to quickly go up to my room and grab some shorts to be more comfortable for this tour. Note that closed toed shoes are 110% a must. The tour was approximately 3 1/2 hours long.

 

We began our tour in the primary galley... this is the galley where all foods are "pre"-prepared for all other dining venues on the ship and transferred there when needed. I wish I can remember the name of the Chef who led us through his galley as he was super personable and excellent at explaining things and answering questions.

 

 

 

 

We got a good look at all sorts of equipment including the ovens, walk-in fridges, bulk cooking areas (note 1st picture above are beets and corn on the cob for Windjammer), etc... plenty of things to look at

 

 

 

And some of you may recognize the goodies below... these are the hors d'oeuvres served in the CL and DL

 

 

 

The kitchen is soooooo clean! Sparkling, almost hospital-like. It seemed like you just couldn't touch anything. This is a good thing, yes??! This galley part of the tour lasted about 1/2 hour.

 

[Hoopster95]

Entering The Grande, we came in through the front door. Leaving the galley, we departed out the back to the crew only areas of the ship. Look at pitch of these stairs... quite steep. These are the stairs the crew uses everywhere. And of course normally passengers are strictly forbidden from all of these areas.

 

 

 

 

We were escorted down to deck 2 right below this galley to the vast spaces of the storage areas. Of course being day 9 close to the end of the cruise, there was quite a bit of space. You can just imagine when the forklifts are loading into this area enough provisions for 4000+ passengers. Note on the "Deck 2" map shown above.... if you look close enough, the areas of the second deck are written in red, and all crew plus all guest areas are labelled. I'll blow one up close-up later in the review

 

 

 

 

Once done in this area, we were escorted down the well known I-95 corridor of every ship that connects the bow to the aft of the ship on the crew deck. Here we're still on deck 2. What's interesting, and I don't know if this is true on other ships, each deck on Quantum has street names from different cities! Here on deck 2 it's New York... here we're on the corner of 4th and I-95, down the hallway of 4th street you come to the corner of 4th and Broadway. One of the decks (I forget which one now) has Italian street names, there's London and others depending on the deck.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

We arrived to the all important control room, the real engine of this ship. We were not allowed at all into the engine rooms. Here we got to see all the inner workings of what goes on to propel Q through the sea.

 

 

 

 

The room itself is quite impressive, as are the controls and screens. The high level officer here was working on a problem as he had little time for us and was very busy on the phone, etc discussing something throughout. I ended up walking around and taking closer photos of this area... the officers kindly mentioned that I was lucky I was able to roam around as we were not allowed to do so, so I feel fortunate they felt comfortable enough. I did take several close up photos of various controls and screens that I feel I should keep private because of this. I wish to thank the officers for being open to allow us in there when something was going on they needed to address rather than dealing with passengers in their work space.

 

 

 

The officer speaking to us was prepared with various ship info spread out across the table... I keyed in on this one that really caught my eye. Some of you may remember that I've been in various CC discussions regarding Panama Canal and the ability for various ships to traverse the old (and new) canal but also get under the Bridge of Americas on the Pacific Side. If you are a seaman whereby you have sailed or have the knowledge to process this info, are you able to tell me whether Q can make it under the Bridge of Americas??? Also note that Q has a telescopic funnel that can come down 15 feet as well. Maybe they have plans for Anthem or Ovation in the future regarding canal crossings.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

I was really enjoying myself in this tour, being able to see what almost everyone else other than crew never gets to see. Everything is very clean and well arranged. Here you can see they have a well publicized training schedule

 

 

 

And here we are passing the crew's "Windjammer" so to speak. We got to pass back through this area when it was closer to lunch and it felt exactly like the Windjammer as the bustle of people grabbing their food and getting seats was underway.

 

 

 

 

The coffee shop and internet cafe are at the very front of the ship... you can't go any more forward than this on deck! It's actually a nice space and popular with the crew supposedly. They have at least 10-12 computers in cubicles for privacy there as well.

 

 

 

Gotta love the "street signage" all over the place... you can't get lost down here.

 

 

 

We were now due to head for the Housekeeping area, so down the stairs we went.... and now for the first time ever, I can actually say I've been to deck 0 of a ship!

 

[Hoopster95]

I couldn't believe it... Housekeeping was actually really impressive and i think most everyone had a lot of fun down there! The equipment on Q is state of the art. Not enough room here for all my pics but they have a massive towel machine, HUGE washers, and other state of the art mechanisms. Most impressive was the specialty item area for dry cleaning, pressing, etc. I've got some cool video of a coupe of the machines they demonstrated for pressing jeans or de-wrinkling.

 

The officer leading the way was great... again I can't remember his name as I should've taken notes, but he deserves mention here if RCL is reading reviews. This guy was again very personable and excellent in showing us around with his staff.

 

 

 

 

 

Housekeeping comprises of 2 decks. So we headed up the stairs we had come from up to deck 1 and into more of the automation and machinery of Q's housekeeping areas.

 

 

Again, we were given opportunity to view various things being done, with the final machinery demonstrated the one that folds all of the bedding. This machine so super fast... and so are the staff clipping the sheets into the pins. They asked for a volunteer... me! Seriously a monkey could do this (probably better than me lol)... it comes down to speed and the hundreds and thousands of sheets daily that go through this machine. Just clip the two ends of the sheet, the millisecond you clip in the machine moves rapidly, it spreads and presses the sheet through the rollers to the others side and folds.

 

 

 

 

Again I'll mention that a few of talking couldn't believe how much fun we had and how impressed we were to see the Housekeeping area, a real surprise and really interesting to see how they deal with 4000+ passengers.

[Hoopster95]

Done with Housekeeping, we headed up to deck 4 and ended up right behind the theater and stage side entrance. Rather than going through the theater stage, we ended up through the crew door at the seating level (likely where Jimmy Rhodes and others enter/exit the stage area when needed). We did not get a stage tour this day as Sonic Odyssey was rehearsing. We were able to sit and watch for 15min or so.

 

 

 

 

And finished here, we were heading up to deck 6 and the crew lounge. Here I'll show you a close-up of the signage, with the deck we're on in red lettering, describing both guest and crew areas on that deck.

 

 

 

 

We got to chill out a bit here with some water, a pop, or glass of wine.

 

 

 

I also noted from this room the exit door out to the open deck... this is it! No fan fare, no large sliding glass door, nothing spectacular... watch your step lol.

 

[Hoopster95]

And now it was time for what we were all waiting for... access out to the crew deck and helipad... well, not really a helipad, but we'll just call it that. The undercover crew area was very large, and there were plenty of them there at this time enjoying their breaks.

 

 

 

The "helipad" (ok ok, I know it isn't!) is actually on deck 7, and we had to climb this set of stairs to get up to it from the crew area.

 

 

 

And there we were!!!!

 

 

 

I won't bore you with another egotistical shot of me jumping in the air again perfectly timed by my fellow cruiser in only one attempt lol!! So here's an iconic shot unobstrcuted.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

We were all having a great time up there taking turns helping each other out with photos, and the usual "King of the World" Leonardo DeCaprio photo with your arms up leaning over the bow. The weather was perfect for us, and of course my fellow cruiser took one my favorite shots of this trip right here (first post of this review) so this was a great memory for me. Again like in St Kitts the day before (a guy thing I guess) I just had to take this photo ringing the bell. We also noticed many people in the Solarium congregating at the glass and pointing down at us (we assumed with some form of jealousy as to why they weren't invited) so we all waved back in jest lol!!

 

 

 

And here's a good shot of the expanse of the crew area below, and the good number of loungers

 

 

 

And now for some final parting rare shots as we are escorted back to the staircase and into the bowels of the ship

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Coming out of the crew area deck 6 takes you right onto the main corridors of the guest staterooms, where we headed for the forward elevators to take us up to deck 12... I guess we weren't allowed to take the crew elevators, and truthfully I never asked. Getting up to deck 12 for our Bridge access we were told we had to wait for the previous group. So rather than just sit around, it was obvious Adventure Ocean was right there which I had forgotten all about and not explored nor taken pictures of. So this was my chance to take a look.

 

 

Adventure Science Lab? Never heard of it, but must sound cool for kids.

 

 

 

 

 

All in all some really nice and large rooms up there for the various ages with what seemed to be a billion things to do to keep kids busy.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

And now we were cleared for the final part of this tour, the bridge. Security pads you down, and we were off. As mentioned, each crew deck has names of streets down their corridors, and the bridge deck officer area is no different... Bourbon Street, NOLA

 

 

 

And for the second time I am fortunate to have set foot on the bridge alongside the fine officers who run this ship.

 

 

 

And of course the unreal view down onto the bow where I was just standing a few minutes ago

 

 

 

If you remember day 3 I posted my Bridge Tour... Future captain Lauren, from Ontario, was manning the controls that day. Today she was running our tour and like Sean was excellent in giving us a run down of the equipment and answering questions.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

Gotta love the controls and learning about the technology up here. Here's a shot of the radar which Lauren zoomed in to to show Q close up (right screen). You see the solid red line as well as the dotted red line... I can't remember which one is which, but one is where were are going and the other where we're supposed to go. It's dynamically changing with the movement (pitch and roll) of the ship, currents, etc... tons of factors. Very interesting, I can't explain obviously everything that was said but super interesting going through other screens and controls, the azipods, etc.

 

 

 

 

That forward view is magic. It really is so sad that the whole guest access to the helipad idea has gone away since the intro of Oasis & Allure (by invite only) and now here on Q no one gets out there, the only passengers are from this All Access Tour.

 

 

 

And here were are behind the main "Star-Trek" console area in their inner control room. here you'll find full deck plans of the entire ship in great details, alarm control areas, cctv security cameras and monitoring, amongst other things

 

 

 

 

But it's here that it was time to end the tour, so we bid our farewell to both Lauren and Sean, and the rest of the crew up there, and we headed out through Bourbon Street and into the elevator area where we were asked to gather... were were presented gifts! These were "Inaugural Season" items and we were told they were now starting to run short... when the last ones are gone, there will be no more

 

[Hoopster95]

So after a superb morning of exploring the ship like no one else can, I had an IFly booking with my friends Beth & Judy so that we can take pictures and video of each other. I can say that Judy was a little anxious in that she says she dropped my camera and thinks she didn't get any pictures, but she did an awesome job! The video is great and she was able to take captures while videoing.

 

 

 

This attempt was by far my best, and the instructor noticed it right away. I was up and flying, he didn't need to do much. About half way through he came around and motioned to move my hands in the way a rudder or wings of a plane would move... I got it right away, he was trying to see if he can quickly teach me how to turn on my own.

 

 

 

I don;t know how she did it, but Judy must've snapped multiple still shots when she saw me doing this and got me turning on my own as I adjusted according to the instructor. I turned about 180 degrees one way, and then changed my arms to turn back the other way as the instructor hovered around me to make sure I didn't bail, but it turns out he didn't have to grab me

 

 

 

You can see below the very slight difference in my left arm... it's slightly lower then my right. This is how you turn, kinda like dipping the wings of a plane and banking into the turn.

 

 

 

 

So very cool!!! The instructor stopped me, and motioned to keep my head up and stay still. He also motioned that I would land on my feet... which I understood that he was bring me to the entrance. But instead of grabbing me and forcefully bringing me to the side as was normal, he gently pulled me and let go... I saw myself move towards the opening on my own and when I was about a foot away, I immediately felt the air pressure subside so I put my feet down... voila! I was out by myself. What a thrill! Ya, I was pretty proud of getting that right away and had a good chat with the instructor afterwards. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to try this on land someday where I can have more than just 60 seconds

 

[Hoopster95]

I have barely any pictures for the rest of the day as I believe I was just done with pictures for a while as events turned out. I had a 1 hour Thriller rehearsal, and then I headed up to the Florider... no camera work there! I also did an early night at the CL to hang out with everyone as dinner was not planned until 7:30 with Beachcruiser & Merion_Mom this evening, so we met up in the CL along with our other friends.

 

At 7:30 we headed down for dinner at The Grande. Although this was my favorite restaurant overall, tonight's dinner was very boring and the least appealing of the 4 nights I dined there. I can't remember my appies that night, but my dinner I do remember as both Laura and I had it, and it was very bland: the Bouillabaisse. Not bad, but not good either, so rather disappointing. Thankfully the desert and especially the company were outstanding so all was good :D

 

Groovy Town rev2 was on tonight, so after dinner I didn't want to stay in my suit, so after changing I had time to check out what else was going on around the ship as I had no show booked. I walked into Two70... nothing going on yet but here's an example of some of the displays when a show is not on. Just gorgeous. Hard to believe those are glass windows

 

 

 

 

The movie up at the outdoor pool had started as well. Here you can see some of the pool chairs strewn about as the pool was sloshing around as the ship moved. We had encountered up 5-6m swells (15-18feet) during this sailing and tonight we had some movement.

 

 

 

My rest of the evening was really tame... I checked out Groovy Town just for a bit but didn't feel like seeing an exact repeat from the other night, so I headed for the always reliable Boleros. Met friends there and hung a bit. This was going to be an early night as I was just plain tired. With another very cool day on the books, I was off to bed .... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Edited December 29, 2014 by Hoopster95

[sparkx]

Great photos from the All Access Tour we were on! It was great to see how Quantum works behind the scenes. I also agree with you the Laundry was amazing and so so (surprisingly!) interesting.

 

Btw I've started to get mine up online, with a review to follow soon.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[jmrothermel]

Awesome pictures from the tour! Love them!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Beachcruzer]

Aaaw shucks :o! I'm just thankful you and Merion_Mom adopted me lol!

Remember the selfie you took of us in the theatre?? Hmmm... maybe not? lol, I'll be posting it :p

 

Oh, yeah, I remember that selfie! :D We did have some fun times for sure! :D:D

 

Carol said she wished she could have gotten some pictures the night of Earl Turner's show when he was standing right above us. She said the look on my face was something else! LOL :p

 

I love all the pictures of you doing the Ifly. You were doing great!

[klemeci]

MerionMom told me about your review and I've thoroughly enjoyed it. To be honest, my experience on the 11/23 was less than stellar, I wasn't wow'd. Loved the ship, let's face it she's gorgeous, and loved the iFly, NorthStar, bumper cars and dining venues. Just couldn't take the lack of service from the crew and it was just disappointment because I wanted it to be a Wow.

 

You've got a really good point too, that a vacation/cruise is what you make it. I'm not sure I'll book an inaugural ever again, or even a cruise on a newer ship after what I've learned. But you're point about the conversation in the CL with the Pinnacle folks was spot on, they let a few sour moments 'ruin' their vacation. I think my sailing was filled with a lot of those folks and I don't enjoy that type of crowd, nor did I stop to realize that the CL & DL were filled with them and glass half empty folks, including myself.

 

So thank you Claudio. I really like your perspective and I needed to read it. I hope we end up on the same sailing some day. My hubby is the one who takes the outside sailaway pictures as you do. He found the same challenge on Lady Q. Funny story though on Explorer leaving San Juan-he was on deck 13 forward taking video of the people 'running' back to the ship and at that moment the bridge let loose with the horns, which were only a few meters behind him. He dropped the camera which would have gone down had it not been on his neck. At least I think it was 13 but just forward of the ships horns. The bridge staff must love doing that, it's got to be pretty funny.

 

Again, thanks.

 

Cindy

[Hoopster95]

Btw I've started to get mine up online, with a review to follow soon.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

 

O M G ! ! !

 

Everyone looking through this review, please check out sparkx's photo library. Amazing!!!

 

Thx sparkx! :)

[Hoopster95]

Carol said she wished she could have gotten some pictures the night of Earl Turner's show when he was standing right above us. She said the look on my face was something else! LOL :p

 

I've got some excellent close-ups when I post Day 11... by all means save them for yourself if you wish :)

[Hoopster95]

I really like your perspective and I needed to read it. I hope we end up on the same sailing some day. My hubby is the one who takes the outside sailaway pictures as you do. He found the same challenge on Lady Q. Funny story though on Explorer leaving San Juan-he was on deck 13 forward taking video of the people 'running' back to the ship and at that moment the bridge let loose with the horns, which were only a few meters behind him. He dropped the camera which would have gone down had it not been on his neck. At least I think it was 13 but just forward of the ships horns. The bridge staff must love doing that, it's got to be pretty funny.

 

Again, thanks.

 

Cindy

 

Lol! Great story :)... and thank you Cindy for the kind words.

 

I think the above post brings out more general thoughts I've had in the last few weeks reading the many threads, mostly negative, on this forum....

 

• While there's an RCL symbol on this ship, it really isn't a RCL product that we know at all... it's not even close to what an experienced RCL cruiser is used to
  
• While the Solarium and Two70 provide comfort, this ship is made for an active lifestyle, not sitting around staring at the ocean all day.
  
• I've read several posts recently regarding older cruiser's expectations changing from when they first cruised 20 years ago when they were younger... what they want in a ship has changed.
  

 

Bottom line.... this ship is failure for the experienced, older, non-active cruiser. I say this with the utmost respect as someday if I'm fortunate to be sailing at 70 years of age for example or mobility challenged, I not give a rats a$$ about IFly, Florider, Seaplex, the multi-level Solarium, Music Hall with stairs, a CL 2 miles down the aft corridors, etc etc. Many of these older, non-active cruisers perhaps love the Vision & Radiance classes for their smaller size, no frills, and ease of getting around, the comfort of knowing what table they are at every night, amongst other comforting and familiar things.

 

I may be wrong, but by looking at various avatars and handles on this forum, I think the majority of posters are experienced and older, and perhaps fit exactly into the stereotype above perhaps. I am generalizing, but I think the younger couples on board our cruise were the ones with more positives, and those with the most negatives by far were the experienced older aged cruisers.

 

Just my 2 cents and observation

Edited December 30, 2014 by Hoopster95

[UNV-IT!!!]

Who woulda thunk it. I thought those chairs at the pool in the water were bolted down.

[bob brown]

Lol! Great story :)... and thank you Cindy for the kind words.

 

I think the above post brings out more general thoughts I've had in the last few weeks reading the many threads, mostly negative, on this forum....

 

• While there's an RCL symbol on this ship, it really isn't a RCL product that we know at all... it's not even close to what an experienced RCL cruiser is used to
  
• While the Solarium and Two70 provide comfort, this ship is made for an active lifestyle, not sitting around staring at the ocean all day.
  
• I've read several posts recently regarding older cruiser's expectations changing from when they first cruised 20 years ago when they were younger... what they want in a ship has changed.
  

 

Bottom line.... this ship is failure for the experienced, older, non-active cruiser. I say this with the utmost respect as someday if I'm fortunate to be sailing at 70 years of age for example or mobility challenged, I not give a rats a$$ about IFly, Florider, Seaplex, the multi-level Solarium, Music Hall with stairs, a CL 2 miles down the aft corridors, etc etc. Many of these older, non-active cruisers perhaps love the Vision & Radiance classes for their smaller size, no frills, and ease of getting around, the comfort of knowing what table they are at every night, amongst other comforting and familiar things.

 

I may be wrong, but by looking at various avatars and handles on this forum, I think the majority of posters are experienced and older, and perhaps fit exactly into the stereotype above perhaps. I am generalizing, but I think the younger couples on board our cruise were the ones with more positives, and those with the most negatives by far were the experienced older aged cruisers.

 

Just my 2 cents and observation

 

Very perceptive observation....I have to agree with you, for the most part...

For those wanting the ultimate, traditional, sedate cruise experience, there is alway HAL to fall back on. But some of us in our mid-sixties are still young-at-heart, and like to try out all the toys the newbuilds offer....;) :)

[Hoopster95]

Very perceptive observation....I have to agree with you, for the most part...

For those wanting the ultimate, traditional, sedate cruise experience, there is alway HAL to fall back on. But some of us in our mid-sixties are still young-at-heart, and like to try out all the toys the newbuilds offer....;) :)

 

Lol!... busted :p Great point, you're totally correct. I made a very large generalization to make my point. Re the HAL comment, I think both Vision & radiance classes fit this bill somewhat, although Radiance has an excellent Viking Crown/nightclub area.

 

I also wish to point out I'm on Legend next, the polar opposite of Q, and I am positive I will have a great time without IFly and everything else just soaking up the sun on the aft deck and pool deck. In fact, my 12 days on Vision last year is ranked in my top 5 ever cruises, 6 days at sea with a TON of down time on pool deck in the sun was made special by so many other factors (friends made on board, the best ever cabin in my life aft wrap around JS, Capt Srecko was a big part of this trip, etc).

[Hoopster95]

Today I put my camera away somewhat as I've truly already enjoyed most every nook and cranny on the ship. My morning workout was much tamed though as I promised Zumba instructor Deandra that I'd be taking her up on her challenge to join in (pics tomorrow).

 

In the meantime, Roller skating was on from 9am-12, so I fugured I would head up there before 9 (and any lines) to give it a go for 15-30min before Zumba just to say "been there, done that".... no lines, place was empty. I had almost the whole floor. And I was having fun! This is just as cool as ice skating, but you have the full floor to gain momentum, crossover, and properly skate.

 

 

 

 

So I skated right through to 9:30 and rushed down to Zumba to join Instructor DH Marshall at the back... I'd estimate a good 35-40 people, very well attended with supposedly regulars throughout the cruise. Zumba was about 45-50min, then I went back to my room to change to catch the last hour of roller skating as I was having so much fun up there. I skated right through to noon when they had to shut us down for a new activity. I would say at approx 11am there were max 20 people on the floor, zero line-ups to get skates, and quite a few people hanging around the railings on both levels and watching for quite a while.

 

[Beachcruzer]

Lol!... busted :p Great point, you're totally correct. I made a very large generalization to make my point. Re the HAL comment, I think both Vision & radiance classes fit this bill somewhat, although Radiance has an excellent Viking Crown/nightclub area.

 

I also wish to point out I'm on Legend next, the polar opposite of Q, and I am positive I will have a great time without IFly and everything else just soaking up the sun on the aft deck and pool deck. In fact, my 12 days on Vision last year is ranked in my top 5 ever cruises, 6 days at sea with a TON of down time on pool deck in the sun was made special by so many other factors (friends made on board, the best ever cabin in my life aft wrap around JS, Capt Srecko was a big part of this trip, etc).

 

Claudio, I think you'd have a great time no matter what size ship you were on because of your great attitude! :D If you choose to have a positive attitude and live life to the fullest, it makes all the difference in the world. :D People often tend to sweat the small stuff. Life is just too short to always worry about the little things. Maybe all the IT stuff on Quantum didn't work exactly as planned, but it certainly didn't stop me from having a great vacation. :)