"LIVE" from Quantum of the Seas - Jan. 23, 2015

[Radio]

Hello everyone. . .

 

I left the ship this morning around 9:30 AM and picked up my rental car at Coastal. I like to deal with Coastal as they have newer vehicles and they are the largest car rental agency in St. Maarten. They threw in a free Garmin GPS device and I am glad that I didn’t have to pay for it, as it was terrible. The waypoints built into the device need to be updated.

 

My first stop was at Maho beach which I love to visit. The planes are pretty cool to watch and there is a festive atmosphere that was enjoyed by the guests. Many of them were cruise ship passengers. I could tell by the logo towels. I was able to get some video of heavy aircraft as well as a small, private plane.

 

I then went over to the French side and I took the new drawbridge which was built last year. The drawbridge really helped to eliminate some of the traffic problems over by the airport. I made my way to Orient Beach which I thoroughly enjoyed. I visited the “Sun Beach” club where for $10 you get a lovely chair, an umbrella, a free drink, showers and rest rooms and a wonderful view. The serve a fantastic lunch there as well. The owners are all French, but do speak some English and are very happy to see cruise ship passengers enjoying the beach.

 

I then went up to Pointe Blanche which offers a wonderful view of the A.C. Wathey pier in Philipsburg. I often go here and get some great photos of the ships, but I was facing the sun and the lighting didn’t react well to my lens. Note To Radio>> Always go to Pointe Blanche in the morning.

 

 

I finished my day off with shopping in the pier facility. There always seems to be bargains for souvenirs and local foods. I was able to make it back to the ship by around 3:30 . I felt like I was hit by a truck and had to close my eyes for a moment or two.

 

Tonight’s dinner was at Chic. There was no wait for my 6 PM reservation and the food and service were superb. Being a Marylander, the crab cakes that were served for appetizers were not what I have been used to. The onion crusted chicken however, was delicious.

 

Here are a few pics from today. Thanks for tuning in. I took so many images today, I will post just a few, and will post more tomorrow.

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

I made it off of the ship by around 9:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were docked right next to Regal Princess. . .Both ships glimmered tin the sun !

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the fact that the St. Maarten Cruise facility offers electric scooters and wheelchairs for rent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The waves were strong at Maho Beach today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset Bar at Maho offered lots of shade for guests

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DANGER. . . .The planes will be coming soon. . .

 

 

 

 

.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Radio

[baltchavez]

Until when will the royal wifi onboard complimentary?

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Forums

[Radio]

Here are a few more. . . .Many more pics tomorrow.

 

I will try to post the video I made of the Maho Beach landing. . .

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

The water is beautiful, and it appears that a new resort is being built west of the airport

 

 

 

 

 

 

La Jeva ? It tasted like Coke to me. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset Bar posted the scheduled landing times on the surfboard. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here comes one now !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow. . .This plane was very loud !

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was very cool to see. . .

 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Radio

[Radio]

Until when will the royal wifi onboard complimentary?

 

 

Sent from my iPod touch using Forums

 

I will try to find out before Monday. . .

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

.

[Life is Good Cruising]

We are also on board and having a great time, I don't want to get off Quantum, much improvement with service compared to our 3 night cruise in November.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited January 30, 2015 by Life is Good Cruising

[lovn2liv]

Hi radio. Thank you for all your posts. Much appreciated. I haven't much about karaoke on the ship. Do you anything about what is offered?

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Hobie1976]

So enjoying your postings. I am so excited to be boarding the ship when you return to Bayonne. I have a question for you. We are getting dropped off at the pier by my hubby. He will then take the car to an off site parking area, returning on their shuttle. Is there a place indoors to wait for him to return ?

 

Enjoy the rest of your trip. Safe travels home.

[Sky616]

Thanks for posting the photos of the planes at Maho. Loved it there last month. We were on a tour so only got an hour there but plan on taking a taxi next year when we are on the Adventure and stay all day.

[LBumb]

great job

[liverpoollad]

Hi Radio.

 

Been following your review since the start & am really enjoying them.

 

Great photos of Maho beach, a must visit & such fun.

 

When the planes take off is the best, my wife attempted to take a movie & ended getting blown over & the movie was just sand, the chap next to her had a lot of body hair & with the sandblasting he got he looked like a sandman. I so want to return there.

 

Cheers.

[read52]

I agree with you about the crab cakes, they are not true Maryland crab cakes.

We are expecting more snow Sunday night and Monday morning so enjoy the sun.

[Radio]

Good morning and Welcome to Day 8 of “LIVE” from Quantum of the Seas

Here are a few more pics form yesterday. . .

 

Radio

 

 

I loved my time at Sun Beach Club on Orient Beach

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The weather was beautiful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a lot of people here. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water was sparkling, and very warm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Umm. .. I didn’t go to the other side. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The border maker between the Dutch and French side

 

 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Radio

[LorraineP]

Radio, the Sun Beach Club is how far from the cruise port? What is the cost for a chair and umbrella? Last time there we enjoyed the day at Little Bay. Do you think this is a better choice. Will be there in November on the Anthem. Thanks for taking the time to reply to all our questions. Safe trip home.

[IrishLassie]

Loving your review! Can I ask how much it cost to rent a car in St. Marten?:)

[kroozersfromNC]

Greetings all,

 

At the risk of being a "Debbie Downer" (and there's much about this cruise that I am enjoying), I wanted to post a few "bones to pick" to see if others on this same cruise are having the same problems.

 

(1) Wifi. I realize that they made wifi free for everyone to use, but the net effect of this decision is that everyone is using it, all the time. RCCL seems to be giving QoS priority to UDP packets (Skype/Facetime/Youtube/Netflix etc.) so that I'm walking past people video-chatting home and I can't even get into email or get a web page to load. Also, the quality of wifi you get seems to be a function of your proximity to the access points - if you have a room close to one, you lucked out. I'm here typing this on an iMac in the library because my connection speeds on wifi wouldn't allow decent navigation through Cruise Critic.

(2) Cabin views from Deck 7. We booked our cabin back in 2013 (we were on Allure at the time) and were told our view was not obstructed. Welp, those lifeboat davits block every shot off the balcony (unless I raise the tripod to max height, and even then it's not a sure thing) and when I was on the dock at Sint Maarten yesterday, trying to take a photo of my wife, I had to shoot between them as well. Quick advice: if you're going to book a cabin on 7, make sure it's not on the "indented" part of the ship, because your view will be these two big yellow posts. All I can think of is, "WOW, what an incredible design flaw!"

(3) The motion of the ocean. The only other RCCL ship I've been on was Allure, and she was rock solid compared to Quantum. I get it, there was a storm when we left, but then it seems that the Captain threw both Azipods to redline (and pulled in the stabilizers) to get us down to St. Thomas, so we bounced around like crazy for the rest of the way. Even now, returning home at (what I assume is) a normal clip in (relatively) steady seas, Quantum is bucking like a spooked colt.

 

My full review will contain both these negatives and a lot of positives (the food at certain restaurants, Flowrider, iFly, North Star, the ports) but I just wanted to vent and see if other people's experiences were similar. Thanks!

[Radio]

Radio, the Sun Beach Club is how far from the cruise port? What is the cost for a chair and umbrella? Last time there we enjoyed the day at Little Bay. Do you think this is a better choice. Will be there in November on the Anthem. Thanks for taking the time to reply to all our questions. Safe trip home.

 

Orient Beach is about 25 min from the pier (on the French side). . . Little Divi Bay is about 15 min away (Dutch side). . .I have been to both, but Orient Bay Beach is better I think. The water is very clear. I paid $10 for chair, umbrella, Rum Punch, WiFi, rest Room, and shower. Both places are very friendly

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

.

[Radio]

Loving your review! Can I ask how much it cost to rent a car in St. Marten?:)

 

The cost is between $50- $100. . . You can usually rent a car from the pier for around $75. The rental are cheaper at the airport, but you have to get there first.

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

.

[Susie51]

Thank you for the great pics and valuable info about the beaches.

[LorraineP]

Orient Beach is about 25 min from the pier (on the French side). . . Little Divi Bay is about 15 min away (Dutch side). . .I have been to both, but Orient Bay Beach is better I think. The water is very clear. I paid $10 for chair, umbrella, Rum Punch, WiFi, rest Room, and shower. Both places are very friendly

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

.

 

Radio thanks for the quick reply

[LuCruise]

Thanks for posting such wonderful pictures. And wow, can't believe how close those planes got. Looks like you're having a fabulous trip so far. Loving your review.

[Radio]

Here are some more pics from St. Maarten yesterday

 

 

Radio

 

 

A view of the 5 ships in port in St. Maarten ( Celebrity Summit, Costa Mediterranea, HAL Noordam, Regal Princess, and Quantum of the Seas)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It time to head back after a day at the beaches. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope to be back here again soon. . .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 4 Car Rental vendors at the pier are shown here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Costa Mediterranea and Celebrity Summit are at the long pier next to

Quantum of the Seas

 

 

 

 

 

 

It back to the ship in St. Maarten

 

 

 

 

 

.

Edited January 30, 2015 by Radio

[Radio]

Here is a quick (short) video I made from Maho Beach yesterday. . .

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

Maho Beach - Jan 29, 2015

 

[YOUTUBE]H-AYvLTINlk[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

.

[ckrobyn]

Here is a quick (short) video I made from Maho Beach yesterday. . .

 

 

Radio

;);)

 

 

Maho Beach - Jan 29, 2015

 

[YOUTUBE]H-AYvLTINlk[/YOUTUBE]

 

 

.

 

Awesome!

[dixieva]

I love St. Maarten! The water is so beautiful. We like to walk down to the water taxi and take that over to downtown. If you look over the side you can see the bottom all the way- the water is that clear.

 

Thanks for the nice review and great pics!

[Lloyd555]

Hello everyone. . .

 

I left the ship this morning around 9:30 AM and picked up my rental car at Coastal. I like to deal with Coastal as they have newer vehicles and they are the largest car rental agency in St. Maarten. They threw in a free Garmin GPS device and I am glad that I didn’t have to pay for it, as it was terrible. The waypoints built into the device need to be updated.

 

My first stop was at Maho beach which I love to visit. The planes are pretty cool to watch and there is a festive atmosphere that was enjoyed by the guests. Many of them were cruise ship passengers. I could tell by the logo towels. I was able to get some video of heavy aircraft as well as a small, private plane.

 

I then went over to the French side and I took the new drawbridge which was built last year. The drawbridge really helped to eliminate some of the traffic problems over by the airport. I made my way to Orient Beach which I thoroughly enjoyed. I visited the “Sun Beach” club where for $10 you get a lovely chair, an umbrella, a free drink, showers and rest rooms and a wonderful view. The serve a fantastic lunch there as well. The owners are all French, but do speak some English and are very happy to see cruise ship passengers enjoying the beach.

 

I then went up to Pointe Blanche which offers a wonderful view of the A.C. Wathey pier in Philipsburg. I often go here and get some great photos of the ships, but I was facing the sun and the lighting didn’t react well to my lens. Note To Radio>> Always go to Pointe Blanche in the morning.

 

 

I finished my day off with shopping in the pier facility. There always seems to be bargains for souvenirs and local foods. I was able to make it back to the ship by around 3:30 . I felt like I was hit by a truck and had to close my eyes for a moment or two.

 

Tonight’s dinner was at Chic. There was no wait for my 6 PM reservation and the food and service were superb. Being a Marylander, the crab cakes that were served for appetizers were not what I have been used to. The onion crusted chicken however, was delicious.

 

Here are a few pics from today. Thanks for tuning in. I took so many images today, I will post just a few, and will post more tomorrow.

 

 

Radio

 

 

 

I made it off of the ship by around 9:30

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were docked right next to Regal Princess. . .Both ships glimmered tin the sun !

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the fact that the St. Maarten Cruise facility offers electric scooters and wheelchairs for rent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The waves were strong at Maho Beach today

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunset Bar at Maho offered lots of shade for guests

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

DANGER. . . .The planes will be coming soon. . .

 

 

 

 

 

Have to check out this beach during my Anthem cruise!