My Quantum Review - December 12-20

[freddy07043]

Just got off the Quantum yesterday and have to say this was one of the most beautiful and best ships out there. It's like if Celebrity and Royal Caribbean had a baby-this is what it would look like! The layout of the ship was perfect-never felt crowded...the Royal Esplanade, 270 and Via are simply amazing areas. Technology had some glitches during this cruise, but it seems like they are starting to get better after each cruise.

 

Embarkation

We arrived around 1:15pm and was onboard by 1:45. Pretty quick process but a little confusing trying to find a "floating" check in agent. The poor lady checking us in seemed overwhelmed trying to juggle the ipad and setsail passes. They need to go back to basics and have a large desk area checking guests in like they do for the Oasis/Allure terminal in Ft Lauderdale.

 

Stateroom

Had a large interior stateroom with a virtual balcony. Seems more narrow,yet more spacious compared to other RCL ships. It was very comfortable. I am so glad they got rid of the coffee table by the couch! Nice not tripping over it when walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night. LOTS of storage and closet space.

 

Public Rooms

Like I have mentioned before, this is one of the most beautiful ships out there. The decor and art work in each area is simply amazing. It feels more sophisticated and classy than other RCCL ships. Via is a gorgeous space--feeling airy and calming. Vintages and Jamie Italian is located here. 270 is great for the amazing views that can be seen from the large floor to ceiling windows. Royal Esplanade is impressive but I still feel the Royal Promenades on the Voyager and Freedom class have more of a WOW factor. Casino is smaller than I had expected, but sufficient. Sometimes it was hard to find a blackjack table during busy times. The Seaplex is AMAZING! If you have kids, this is a great place for them to hang out and be all day. There is multiple basketball hoops, an XBOX room, ping pong tables, roller skating, trapeze classes, bumper cars. I was not expecting much from the seaplex prior to the cruise, but it really works and lots of activities going on throughout the day. The Ripcord Ifly was a nice addition---it was fun to do once for me and even more enjoyable watching because everyone gets a "facelift" while flying. It's hilarious! The flowrider is great as always. The rockwall didn't seem to have much action...it was open but not really utilized as much. The Royal theater is smaller than other RCL ships, but it creates a more intimate space with less "bad" seats. Bionic Bar was fun to watch once---but seems like a wasted space that they can replace on the Anthem.

 

Service

Service was spotty throughout the ship. Our stateroom attendant was wonderful! Very nice and personable. Dining room staff in the Grande were great, American Icon-good, Silk-good, and Chic-good. For traditional cruisers who like the same waiters and same time for dinner every night will hate the Dynamic Dining concept. For me personally, I enjoyed it. Food came out fast and it gave me more options on where to eat. However, if it was a longer cruise, I can see how the menu can get repetitive throughout the cruise. Other staff around the ship seemed burned out and discouraged because of all the technical problems from prior cruises. Seems like they are just tired of being yelled at by the guests because of technical issues that they cannot control. I think as technical issues get fixed, service and staff morale will improve.

 

Dining

American Icon- Typical American Fare food.Not very imaginative but still everything was tasty. Items I enjoyed were the Louisiana Wings, Buffalo Mac and Cheese, Shrimp Po Boy and for the entree the Porkchop which was very tender and moist. Definitely recommend that.

Chic- Modern type of food. Dishes are similar what you would get in a traditional dining room. Enjoyed the Crab Cake, Salmon entree, Chicken entree. For me it was just ok.

Grande- Formal attire. It was the best complimentary restaurant. Very tasty and the service was spot on. Enjoyed the escargot, Lobster, and the lamb shank.

Silk- It was good but only worth a visit once. They serve all the appetizers there family style and then you pick an entree. The appetizers were fair--things you would see on a Chinese take out menu, although the Vietnamese tacos were yummy. The duck was good.

 

My take on Dynamic Dining. Reservations were lost, times were mixed up on some days. More of a technical issue than anything. People did not enjoy lining up and waiting for their table when having a reservation. I think they should have two separate lines for people with reservations and ones without. I think by the end of the cruise, they were just seating people as they come in which is what they should be doing all along. The issue is it seems like the system is telling the hostess that people have reservations at a certain time when they don't. This leads to holding a table that could be used to sit others. Another issue is sometimes people take longer to eat and this backs up the time for others who are waiting for them to finish. Again my recommendation is to do it like on a first come first serve basis. For future cruisers, I would tell them to eat early like 5:30-6:30 time slots so you are guaranteed to get a table right away. The busiest times are starting from 7:30pm and on and after shows.

 

Entertainment

Mamma Mia was amazing and very well done. Broadway quality. Enjoyed it very much.

Sonic Odyssey was another amazing show with great energy and innovative sets.

Starwater- Did not enjoy this show at all. It was confusing and left you thinking after the show what the hell was that? lol! The performers were talented but the production was a failure. Just MHO.

I guess after so many complaints from prior cruises, some traditional activities started to reappear. Love and Marriage, Game shows (majority rules, battle of the sexes),Karaoke/Rock a Rokie, themed dance classes, etc were all put back on the daily planners. True there is waaaayy too much trivia on the ship. If you like trivia--you will be very happy. lol!

Sailaway party,Quest and 70's were still missing.

I was talking to a cruise staff and asked them why things have changed with this ship in terms of entertainment. I was told one of the VPs who was in charge of operations for Celebrity came over to Royal Caribbean side and tried to change things. Obviously it hasn't been working and this VP was sent back to Celebrity.

Cruise Director was not as visible like on other ships. Jimmy Rhodes was good but would have thought they would put a more polished cruise director for an inaugural season. Activity Manager Zach was non existent --only seen on TV.

 

Overall

I had a wonderful time on this cruise. The ship is stunning and there is plenty to do. I would definitely sail on this class again. They do need to improve on the technology or just get rid of it all together and go back to basics. If they do this, this is one of the best ships out there. Happy Cruising!!

[derrick22]

Thanks for your review.

 

Nice to hear that things are getting better.

 

Looking forward to cruising in March.

 

Denise

[KCMiller]

Thanks for the review! Did you keep your daily Compasses? And if you did, can you share them here?

 

KC

[bravostar]

How was the entertainment scheduled? Was there two shows nightly? At what times?

[3DBeach]

Great review! Thanks for sharing.

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[bay guy]

We actually had two separate 70s nights on the 12/1 cruise because the first one was so successful.

 

Jimmy Rhodes was good but not very visible at most times. However, I have noted the same thing on other recent cruises. I think the CD job has taken on so many responsibilities that they don't have the time any more to be out and about as much as before. Plus, with the larger ships, there are so many people that the CD doesn't have the time to schmooze with as many.

[cruiseclues]

Thanks for your review...and it's nice you enjoyed your cruise. :):):):)

[edjny]

Thanks for the review! Did you keep your daily Compasses? And if you did, can you share them here?

 

KC

 

All the daily Compass were posted with all the details on one of the Dec 1st cruise reviews. There is a separate post for each day starting at Post 208 of this thread.

On my browser, that is on page 11 of the thread.

[rednancy1]

Great review. Thank you for sharing. :)

[resh123]

Hello

 

We will be staying in a large interior and have 3 adults and a baby in the room. Is there enough room to accommodate this? Do you have any pictures of the stateroom? Thanks

 

 

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