Quantom review 2/2/15

[blkjac]

Hello Folks, Just completed our 11-day Quantom cruise. This was a birthday and retirement cruise for my wife. ( Really just a excuse for another cruise) I know that there are lots of experienced cruisers on this thread and I thought I would tell you about the cruise.

DW and I had a wonderful time (as always) but will not sail on her again! I have to say that this is my own opinion and I am quite sure that an awful lot of cruisers will disagree with me. We usually spend most of the time in the solarium reading and relaxing. We get a nice shady spot and chill all day. We thought the entertainment was very good and we enjoyed all the shows, the exception being Starwater. Again , I have to say it that this is just my opinion and when roaming the ship we heard lots of people saying how wonderful it was. We enjoy Broadway Show tunes, rock and roll, comedy and production shows. Personally, I am tired of people flying through the air wrapped in sheets. :-) We thought Momma Mia and Sonic Odyssey was fantastic. Nancy did the I-Fly and loved it. The bumper cars are a nice touch and there are numerous places to sit throughout the ship. All in all the ship is beautiful.

My main complaint is Dynamic Dining. What a joke! If I had to name it I would call it

Un-Dynamic Dining.

We are Diamond on RCCL, Platinum on Princess and have cruised on all the major cruise lines. We made all our dining and entertainment reservations well in advance and researched everything we could about the cruise. We made three reservations for the Asian ( love Asian) Restaurant (Silk) and canceled two of them. After ordering our food the waiter brought our soup and appetizers at the same time and I got the impression that he couldn't care less. Looking around I noticed other tables with the same thing happening. The only thing different at the other tables was that the people eating soup actually had special (Asian) soup spoons. Guess our waiter put them near our unfilled water glasses for our table. Not the end of the world, but c'mon!

When we ate in the formal (Grand) restaurant the food was good but the menu was very limited. I enjoyed my meal and for dessert (not a big deal for me) I looked at the four choices and did not see anything I wanted so I asked for some sorbet. Again let me say I am not fussy, but when I asked if there was a sorbet choice our waiter said not here, but he could send out for it, but it would take some time to get it. Duh!!

The specialty restaurants were great. We had a FANTASTIC meal at WONDERLAND, we let the waiter choose our food. And the pasta at Jamie 's Italian was excellent.

We usually cruise by ourselves and try to get a table with at least six or eight table mates.

Traditional dining aboard a cruise ship is what we missed. Walking into the dining room and having the same waiter and assistant waiter is for us is part of our cruise experience.

Looking forward to good conversation at dinner is important to us. Talking about favorite

books, movies or TV shows is important to us. Saying goodbye to the waitstaff and table mates after the last meal is special. Seeing all the waiters singing and smiling and watching all the people at the different tables taking pictures and hugging their own waiters is for us what makes cruising so SPECIAL!!!

 

 

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[DM_KidAtHeart]

A nice summary. You might want to try a Quantum class ship again once they institute Rotational Dining.

[cruisenfever]

A nice summary. You might want to try a Quantum class ship again once they institute Rotational Dining.

It's actually going to be called Classic Dining which will be in addition to Dynamic Dining.:D

[billsgal]

Funny how different people have totally different experiences and opinions about the same cruise.

 

We were also onboard Quantum Feb2-13, and loved Dynamic Dining. We had excellent service in Chic, American Icon, Grande and Coastal Kitchen. Friends of ours loved Silk (we don't like Asian food). Loved the food at 270 and loved the hot dogs at the bumper cars. Did not like the entrees at Jamie's, however, the starters and meat boards were outstanding. Friends had the chicken and lamb, and both were much too tough and inedible (their opinion, not mine). I had the shrimp scampi pasta, and it was just OK, could make it better myself.

 

We did have reservations for most nights, and only one night did we have a wait.....the rest of the time we were seated within 1-2 minutes of arriving.

One night we didn't have reservations we walked up to American Icon and were seated immediately.

 

Do agree we didn't care for Starwater, but that's a personal opinion, and I didn't like Sonic Odyssey, much too loud for me. Saw Mamma Mia on Quantum in November and loved it didn't go this time. Not a big fan of production shows, but my husband saw the comedians and thought they were very good.

 

Solarium is wonderful, very beautiful and relaxing. I would sail this ship or Anthem in a heartbeat we enjoyed it very much.

 

Has it been officially announced that they are going to rotational dining? I must have missed it.

 

rita

[cruisenfever]

Funny how different people have totally different experiences and opinions about the same cruise.

 

We were also onboard Quantum Feb2-13, and loved Dynamic Dining. We had excellent service in Chic, American Icon, Grande and Coastal Kitchen. Friends of ours loved Silk (we don't like Asian food). Loved the food at 270 and loved the hot dogs at the bumper cars. Did not like the entrees at Jamie's, however, the starters and meat boards were outstanding. Friends had the chicken and lamb, and both were much too tough and inedible (their opinion, not mine). I had the shrimp scampi pasta, and it was just OK, could make it better myself.

 

We did have reservations for most nights, and only one night did we have a wait.....the rest of the time we were seated within 1-2 minutes of arriving.

One night we didn't have reservations we walked up to American Icon and were seated immediately.

 

Do agree we didn't care for Starwater, but that's a personal opinion, and I didn't like Sonic Odyssey, much too loud for me. Saw Mamma Mia on Quantum in November and loved it didn't go this time. Not a big fan of production shows, but my husband saw the comedians and thought they were very good.

 

Solarium is wonderful, very beautiful and relaxing. I would sail this ship or Anthem in a heartbeat we enjoyed it very much.

 

Has it been officially announced that they are going to rotational dining? I must have missed it.

 

rita

Here's a link to the presentation on Freedom of the Seas by Michael Bayley and Vicki Freed about the new dining concept courtesy of Gina...Mommabean.

 

 

Congratulation on becoming PC.

Edited February 14, 2015 by cruisenfever

[billsgal]

Thanks, Patti for the link and the good wishes:)

 

Looks like the Disney set up

[cruisenfever]

Thanks, Patti for the link and the good wishes:)

 

Looks like the Disney set up

You're welcome. That's what many are saying. We'll stick with DD as we also really like the concept.

[lara68]

A nice summary. You might want to try a Quantum class ship again once they institute Rotational Dining.

 

Any idea when they will introduce rotational dining on the Quantum? We are sailing her on March 29.

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Any idea when they will introduce rotational dining on the Quantum? We are sailing her on March 29.

 

 

From what I've read. Not introducing on Quantum. Will start with Anthem.

[LongTimeTvlr]

Agree with original poster about DD.

 

The food and service inside each of the restaurants were great, but the reservation process was anything but dynamic.

 

Very difficult on the 2/2 sailing to change reservations.

 

If we had no alternative we would not choose a ship with only DD, including Quantum which is a gorgeous ship with a super staff.

 

Just too time consuming to adjust reservations, and walking up did not work in most cases for us.

 

I wonder if it makes a difference to be Diamond or above, which we are not? It seems from my readings on this site that most of those who like DD are loyal Royals with elevated status.

 

Also we were frequently told that large groups had booked up the times we were trying to book, and because of this there was no availability.

 

We also talked to several fellow cruisers who were in large groups organized by travel agents and they said their group had reserved large numbers of seats each night, but if individuals wanted to go somewhere else they did, but they were not able to cancel their individual group seats. They told us that they frequently had many tables with many empty seats in their groups.

 

Just wondering.

[lovelife]

Funny how different people have totally different experiences and opinions about the same cruise.

 

but my husband saw the comedians and thought they were very good.

 

rita

 

 

Cannot find anything about a comedy club on Quantum. Is there one? Do you make reservations for the comedy show prior to cruising? It is not offered on my upcoming Quantum cruise planner. Thanks.

[PennStateFan123]

Did you have entertainment every night? We're on 4/5 sailing and only 4 of 7 nights available now. Mama mia, starwater, sonic odyssey and one guest entertainer

 

 

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[blkjac]

Agree with original poster about DD.

 

The food and service inside each of the restaurants were great, but the reservation process was anything but dynamic.

 

Very difficult on the 2/2 sailing to change reservations.

 

If we had no alternative we would not choose a ship with only DD, including Quantum which is a gorgeous ship with a super staff.

 

Just too time consuming to adjust reservations, and walking up did not work in most cases for us.

 

I wonder if it makes a difference to be Diamond or above, which we are not? It seems from my readings on this site that most of those who like DD are loyal Royals with elevated status.

 

Also we were frequently told that large groups had booked up the times we were trying to book, and because of this there was no availability.

 

We also talked to several fellow cruisers who were in large groups organized by travel agents and they said their group had reserved large numbers of seats each night, but if individuals wanted to go somewhere else they did, but they were not able to cancel their individual group seats. They told us that they frequently had many tables with many empty seats in their groups.

 

Just wondering.

 

Last night of cruise we has reservations a Jamie's Italian for seven thirty and wanted to move it to six or so. I went to the Diamond lounge and spoke to Carolina our (Wonderful,Fantastic Really Cool ) Diamond Hostess. She called "Jamie's " and was told a large group was coming in at six and that nothing was available. She then told us and apologized and said nothing was available. We told her "no problem" it was on us and "no harm - no foul" Around six thirty we then made our way to the very comfortable seats across from the restaurant to read and wait. I saw quite a few unoccupied tables for two and asked the hostess if I could move my reservation up and was told to come back about fifth teen minutes before scheduled time.

I have to say that Jamie's was very busy and I am not a expert on any facet on running a restaurant.

Except Eating...

 

As I said in my post we are Diamond and just one TA away from D + (Soon)

[toad455]

was also on this cruise, and overall it was a wonderful trip and my family & I are strongly considering the Anthem next year. Overall, the ship is beautiful and nicely laid-out. Entertainment was some of the best I've seen on a cruise expect for Starwater. As mentioned by others, feel free to avoid this if you want, you're not missing anything. Loved their comedians. Outside of Mamma Mia, reservations aren't needed for any shows. There were always plenty of seats at any of the comedy acts.

 

My two problems with the Dynamic Dining is the variations in our reservation times. Some nights our reservations would be at 8:45, other nights at 6:45 & other nights somewhere in between. My family & I typically prefer the 8:15 time we've always had on past cruises. My hope with the rotating dining is that we can have the same time EVERY NIGHT. Problem #2 is the inconsistency in the service in EVERY DINING ROOM. The worst was in American Icon where we ate 3 nights. All three nights our server(different every night) seemed lost, unsure of menu items & completely confused by our bar drink orders(2 beers, 1 martini & 1 glass of wine). Grande & Silk provided the best service. Overall, the food in each restaurant was fantastic. Some of the best food we've ever had. I was also nice to see a head waiter approach our table each night and ask some questions about the service & the food. And I'm sure the addition of an assistant has really helped them, but there could be some training re-enforced.

 

My rankings of the complimentary restaurants:

SERVICE

#1: Grande

#2: Silk

#3: Chic

#4: Devinly Decadence

#5: American Icon

 

FOOD

#1: Chic

#2: American Icon

#3: Grande

#4: Silk

#5: Devinly Decandence

 

Also, the food in the Windjammer, the Cafe @ 270 & Sorrento's/Promenade was also fantastic. No complaints there.

 

Also, for those interested, the sports complex is easily the best of any ship & am really glad it's indoors which prevents any activities from being cancelled(& the hot dog stand serves some of the best hot dogs!!). LOVED the bumper cars!!

[brianmyers2]

Whoa whoa whoa... wait a second. The waiter brought the soup and appetizers at the same time and didn't bring a special (Asian) soup spoon for you? On top of that he didn't seem to care?? Wow... I'm sure your vacation was ruined at that point.

 

I think I might be done with RCCL after hearing that. Absolutely appalling.

[blkjac]

Whoa whoa whoa... wait a second. The waiter brought the soup and appetizers at the same time and didn't bring a special (Asian) soup spoon for you? On top of that he didn't seem to care?? Wow... I'm sure your vacation was ruined at that point.

 

I think I might be done with RCCL after hearing that. Absolutely appalling.

 

I guess you did not read the whole review. I never said that I had a lousy cruise onboard the "Quantom". I always have a wonderful time on all my cruises (36 and counting) all I said was I did like like the service in a single Restaurant or the whole concept of DD..

Now if you have a problem with that.

I really do not care. Pal