Adventures in China - Quantum of the Seas Nov 7 Sailing

[rsato]

The bumper cars are first come first serve, and with the predominantly Chinese cruisers, the lines can be a bit disorganized. The bumper car times are listed on the Cruise Compass and on the Seaplex monitors. So depending on how motivated you are, you can line up - it isn't a strict line, people just stand next to the glass in a clockwise direction from the entry point.

 

They have about 15 cars going at any one time and I think the rides are for 3 minutes so you can get a feel of how long your wait is based on the number of people in front of you assuming there isn't a lot of cutting - it isn't just people holding spots for friends and relatives, some people simply just jump in line - something that appears to happen a lot in China. Sometimes people (who speak Manderin) explain the virtues of waiting in line to the ignorant, other times it just happens...

 

There are not reservations in advance of the cruise for the North Star, I'm not sure if you can make reservations during the cruise on your phone, tablet, or the iPads set up for reservations placed at various locations around the ship. The first time we rode the Northstar it was right after we boarded the ship, and we just jumped on. Later it never seemed to be a problem, each flight takes about 10 minutes and a lot of times very few people were in it. There was never a significant line even early in the cruise at the entry staircase. Either people were getting a reservation or they just showed up and were put on the Northstar in the next flight or two.

 

As I mentioned earlier, the iFly is the attraction you really need to book in advance or end up shut out. Everyone seemed to like that. I have done the iFly before in Las Vegas, but it is still fun and while 60 seconds seems so short it actually is quite a good time for a ride. The Flowrider was used very little during my cruise due to the 50 degree temperatures. The one time I rode it, I spent a half an hour alternating with one other cruiser. I didn't go back because the next step would be surfing and I was a little wary of getting injured - you can wipe out pretty good on that very fun attraction...

[cruisenfever]

 

The Quantum of the Seas was the first of RCL's high tech super ships holding 4500 passengers of which 4100 were Chinese Nationals on this sailing. The 2 year old ship featured attractions such as an ascending capsule ride called the North Star giving passengers a high perspective over the seas. Other highlights include an iFly skydiving simulator, the multipurpose Seaplex, a Flowrider surfing simulator and some very high tech theaters. The ship opened to rave reviews before being assigned Asian routes. The Tianjin cruise port is very large and modern although check in was a bit chaotic due to the volume of people and the lack of clear flow from baggage check-in to room key issuance to immigration and finally to boarding.

Just a slight correction to the above, but Quantum did her maiden voyage on November 2, 2014 from Southampton to Port Liberty New Jersey so she just celebrated her "FIRST" birthday.

[The_Big_M]

Thanks, it was primarily ifly I was after. As I can't find it anywhere there including the planner, I'll call RCL up now that I know it should be there (or has been in the past anyway), and see what they say.

 

Thanks again!

 

I checked with RCL.

 

Apparently they have run out of reservations for ifly (great). As for restaurants they say nobody is able to book any, but they don't know why.

[rsato]

Grande restaurant was listed as "Smart Casual" (like all of the other restaurants during our cruise)...