Live Review: Quantum of the Seas August 15-22, 2022

[CatLadyFemme]

Hello - it's time for another live review!

 

I'm CatLadyFemme, a recently tenured professor at the University of Michigan, a cat lady (obviously, with four cats and one cat like blue nose pittie across our two homes), and a fairly experienced cruiser. I am disabled/live with chronic pain, and so walk with a cane, plus I am a vegetarian and have Celiac disease, so am super duper gluten free.
 

In addition to things like photos of the rooms, pools, etc., I will post about finding vegetarian GF food (we've had some AMAZING luck like with Belic on the Explorer, and some not great experiences where I ate iceberg salad and berries for days), and access/ADA issues. Oh! I'm also queer and nonbinary (as is MxCatLady), so there may be some stuff about the LGBTQ meet up, etc. I like to stay in the shade/find a nice lounge and read, or enjoy the hot tubs. Yes, even when it is fairly chilly (see my May review of Voyager in the Baltic).

 

One of my partners, MxCatLady, will be joining me. They run a Starbucks on land (sadly, cannot use their discounts aboard), and this is their first time in Seattle or Alaska, and second time on a cruise. We both will likely frequent the shows depending on how crowded they are, napkin folding/towel animals, observation decks, and the pools. I have been on a similar itinerary before (in 2018 with MrCatLady); Any tips for a first time Alaska cruise to make sure I give them the best experience?

 

 

We'll be staying in an accessible ocean view balcony, which we got for a free upgrade after y’all the changes. So stoked to be able to sit on the balcony, listen to audio books, and enjoy the water.

 

We have early seating at dinner, like seeing most of the shows, and are super excited to travel together for the second  time in over 3 years.. We both have the refreshment package, internet packages (surf only). This cruise is our honeymoon (see wedding picture below!) and a celebration of their birthday earlier this month. We have excursions planned for all the ports now, though most aren’t through Royal, given cancelations. Currently scheduled to do a multi stop tour in Juneau, a trolley to see Toetems and raptors in Ketchikan, a bear/otter quest in Sitka through Royal (that hasn’t been rescheduled since the schedule change, so am afraid this one will be cancelled), and a shot bus tour of Victoria through Royal (I had been SO excited to get GF high tea at the Empress again, but it ends at 4pm. Alas.).

 

 

 

I should note I am immuno compromised, and despite isolating for two years, I finally got COVID in January (MxCatLady caught it from work for the second time). We are both dealing with some pretty seriously long hauler syndrome. We also know getting it more than once can be additive, so at my HCP’s advice, we will be masking indoors or in crowded outdoor spaces. I also got my 5th shot (which is considered my booster)  end of July so I will be at maximum protection for this cruise. Please don’t argue COVID stuff with me, and I won’t spam you with peer reviewed studies, and we can all have a nice time.

 

Our trip starts tomorrow, Friday the 12th, with flying out to Seattle, getting to the hotel (the Graduate near the University), and finding a vegetarian/GF friendly place for dinner. My best friend who lives in Seattle will be taking us to the port on Sunday, and I have a town car scheduled to take us back to the airport on the 22nd.

 

Let me know if you have any specific questions or requests; otherwise, I'll try to do regular updates (assuming the internet isn't wonky), post occasional pictures, and hopefully induce a small amount of envy.

 

Oh! And if you see us on board, come say hi 💜

[leojagpreet]

Hey Catlady, I hope you will have good time.

 

We will be cruising on 22nd Aug, one question - we will be coming from London UK 4 days prior to cruise. Do we need to pay for test or can we get free test in seattle? (all vaccinated guests)

[gowensricks]

I am on this cruise too! I will certainly say "hello" if I run into you. Congratulations on your marriage - my very first cruise was my honeymoon 22 years ago and we have been smitten with cruising every since (this will be our 23rd cruise - all with Royal). BTW you said your friend will take you to the port on Sunday...the cruise leaves on Monday😀

[CatLadyFemme]

2 hours ago, gowensricks said:

I am on this cruise too! I will certainly say "hello" if I run into you. Congratulations on your marriage - my very first cruise was my honeymoon 22 years ago and we have been smitten with cruising every since (this will be our 23rd cruise - all with Royal). BTW you said your friend will take you to the port on Sunday...the cruise leaves on Monday😀

Ope! That’s what I get from copying and editing the post from our Allure cruise 😂 Don’t worry, will be there monday!

[Husky1987]

Yay!  Love your reviews....

 

Welcome to my city, I hope it treats you well.  You're staying in my old stomping grounds around the UW...I have a feeling you'll find plenty of vegetarian/vegan/GF choices around there.  I'm sure it has changed a lot since I was there for four years in the mid-80's (hence my screen name), but University Way ("The Ave") used to be full of good food choices.

 

Have fun!!!

Edited August 12, 2022 by Husky1987

[CatLadyFemme]

2 hours ago, leojagpreet said:

Hey Catlady, I hope you will have good time.

 

We will be cruising on 22nd Aug, one question - we will be coming from London UK 4 days prior to cruise. Do we need to pay for test or can we get free test in seattle? (all vaccinated guests)

We are going to do the Emed virtual testing so we don’t have to bop all over Seattle looking for a site.

 

I will say that compared to the UK and much of Europe, the US is totally failing regarding ongoing testing. Many of the drug stores that were doing it have stopped, and many places are making you pay, even if you have US based insurance. I’m happy to ask my BFF who lives in Seattle about places still doing preemptive testing, but you might want to think about other options depending on how long before you get on the cruise and where you are staying.

[perfect match]

I always enjoy your reviews, so I’ll definitely be following along. Congratulations on your wedding! That’s a beautiful picture!

[Bailey & Sophie]

 

I adore your reviews.

Congrats on your wedding.

Alaska is amazing.

 

[Jam0610]

Always enjoy reading your reviews and thoughts. Have a Great Trip.

I grew up in Tacoma, just south of Seattle.

We are sailing on the Ovation next month. Can't wait.

[justKirbo]

Congratulations on your wedding! This is my first time getting to read along to one of your reviews and I'm excited for it. We'll be getting on the Ovation next month. 

 

(Also, I have a Zia tattoo as well.)

[justKirbo]

13 hours ago, Husky1987 said:

Yay!  Love your reviews....

 

Welcome to my city, I hope it treats you well.  You're staying in my old stomping grounds around the UW...I have a feeling you'll find plenty of vegetarian/vegan/GF choices around there.  I'm sure it has changed a lot since I was there for four years in the mid-80's (hence my screen name), but University Way ("The Ave") used to be full of good food choices.

 

Have fun!!!

Our twins start at UW next month. Go Huskies!

[Ukigirl]

I love your reviews, always so detailed and your writing style is amazing. Congratulations on your wedding and on achieving tenure and wishing you safe travels. Alaska is on our bucket list so this will be fun….and as always, Go Blue!

[Sea Dog]

Always love your reviews. Congratulations on your wedding I love the picture. I hope you have a great cruise and I look forward to following along.

Cheers,

Sea Dog

[StanleyandGus]

Have a great honeymoon cruise! And congratulations on tenure!
 

I love your reviews- you write extremely well.

[CruiseWendy]

We will be on this cruise with you and live just outside of Seattle. My commute to Quantum will be 45 minutes. I've also ordered amazing weather to greet you today! 😉 I'll be sure to say hello if I recognize you. 

[RedSails1968]

Looking forward to reading your review!

[sandebeach]

Congratulations and have a fabulous honeymoon cruise!!

[CatLadyFemme]

Boarded! Seattle, here we come!

 

These are EnvoMasks for those who are interested. Bought them for our occasionally air travel where no one is masking and we are higher risk. Also wiped down our seats with bleach. Trying to avoid both COVID and MPXV on this trip. Plane is full, so we are settling in to watch a movie.

[Mrs.Dukes]

Always enjoy reading your trip reports. Safe travels and have a great time!

[PrincessAmore]

14 hours ago, CatLadyFemme said:

Boarded! Seattle, here we come!

 

These are EnvoMasks for those who are interested. Bought them for our occasionally air travel where no one is masking and we are higher risk. Also wiped down our seats with bleach. Trying to avoid both COVID and MPXV on this trip. Plane is full, so we are settling in to watch a movie.

Thanks for the share and have to give them a try.  

[CatLadyFemme]

Y’all are so nice and are gonna make me blush! I used to be a blogger back in the early days (mid 2000s), and have a few popular press books out in my area…though now mostly just write academicy stuff, so it’s nice to know people still enjoy reading my stuff.

 

Yesterday, our flight was a bit bumpy, but ok otherwise. The Seattle airport is a bit of a nightmare to navigate, especially since I use wheelchairs through airports, and their elevators shut so fast. More than once, the doors closed before we could get me and my luggage in. Oy! However, we made it out and got a lovely and really kind taxi driver to take us to our hotel (the Graduate Seattle in the University District). Somewhere either in the wheelchair or the taxi, both of our hoodies were lost. I am particularly sad since mine had a big polar bear and little polar bear and said “Protect Trans Kids.” Alas. Hope to buy one at our first stop.

 

Hotel is fun and funky. Definitely more of a hip and younger crowd, but lots of fun art work through out the hotel; you can even take a virtual tour. Way less expensive than downtown (same with the StayPineapple options MrCatLady and I used in 2018), and still nice rooms. The bathroom doesn’t have a roll in shower, but does have a lot of grab bars and a transfer bench, so at least is useable for me. Bed is quite comfy and SO many pillows.
 

Last night we ordered in from Capitol Cider, an all GF place. I had charred broccoli, pea/truffle soup, and gluten free cheese curds with housemate apple compote. It blew my mind. MxCatLady had fish and chips, and said they are also phenomenal.

 

 

Today, we slept in and went to meet an internet friend of mine (we met on TikTok maybe 3 years ago, and have been Instagram friends since). They came up from rural Washington with their partner and kid, so that was really lovely. We sat outdoors at the Portage Bay Cafe, where they do amazing GF Swedish pancakes (lots of other GF and vegan options,

plus a breakfast bar with fresh whipped cream and tons of beautifully fresh and delicious berries). MxCatLady had biscuits and pork gravy, and reported back they were yummy. Both were huge servings so we took food back.

 

 

Let me tell you, a walk downhill is much more enjoyable than the walk back up the hill, especially on Seattle. My disabled self is exhausted and my feet are swollen, so now relaxing in the cool room while MxCatLady makes a run to Target for tissues, bandaids, foundation, and bug spray; all things we forgot! Tonight’s meals will be Thai food from Araya’s vegan Thai. Thai food is my absolute favorite and most places in the Midwest are rubbish in comparison, so getting good food is the highlight of my trip. One of my friends from middle school also lives near by and is going to stop by to say hello. I actually introduced her to her now spouse a week before my wedding to MrCatLady in 2011, and now they have a 2.5 year old baby. I love that I have people in my life for decades still. 💜

 

If it wasn’t for all the spiders (I am severely arachnophobic), and the ridiculous gentrification/cost of living, I’d be trying to get UW to recruit me all the time. It is SO lovely here, seeing other visibly queer/trans folks, having such an easy time eating meals, having folks talk about accessibility openly. Maybe I can retire out here one, if it hasn’t gone underwater yet.

 

 

Oh! We did our Emed tests too. Thought that would be easier and potentially cheaper than chasing down a free test center. I had used them for Voyager on May, and MxCatLady for Allure in April, so we knew what to expect. No problems here, and we are both negative. I basically never leave my house and mask 100% of the time inside when I ever do, and MxCatLady managers a Starbucks and has gotten it twice from work, so I was worried a bit, but not a ton. Glad to have that out of the way!

 

For tomorrow, we are meeting up with my BFF from college (who was our wedding officiant and lives here). Plants include the Fremont troll, Ballard, the lochs and salmon ladder, and then meeting their adorable pup Turbo in person. Also, one of my online students from my class I just finished is in Ballard, so we may meet up with her and her wife to meet in person. 
 

I am autistic, and haven’t met up with this many folks in 2.5 years (other than our wedding, but I knew everyone). On our last two cruises, we didn’t meet up with anyone anywhere, and I wore my loops a lot and kept to ourselves. It’s been really nice getting to see folks I like and also really overwhelming. I am exhausted and it’s just day 2 of the trip. Really looking forward to some quite time on the balcony this trip to try and reset a bit before our semester begins. So gonna try my best to be my authentic self, and hope that my awkwardness is endearing instead of annoying to people. It’s also the first time many of my long time friends are getting to meet MxCatLady, since we had only started dating a year when the pandemic hit. They have been so good in helping me navigate all of this stuff, and I am so glad I get to show them some of one of my favorite cities (along with Denver, SF, and Portland) and take them on this cruise.

[Husky1987]

Sounds like a fun day tomorrow!  My dad was raised in Ballard, and my grandma lived there while I was growing up so we spent lots of time there, walking down to Shilshole Marina and the Ballard Locks.  It's a very Scandinavian neighborhood (or at least used to be). 

 

Just a few blocks down from the Fremont Troll is a large (like 15-16' tall) statue of Lenin.  Growing up we called Fremont "Hippietown" every time we drove through it on the way to Grandma's.

[justKirbo]

Love the update! My husband grew up in Ballard and we met while at UW. Seattle's a great town, glad you're enjoying it (and I hope you're all rested by tomorrow).

Did your friend name her dog Turbo after the Kraken player? I love him and hope he's able to have a full season this year (the hockey player, not the dog, though I'm sure the dog is lovely).

[JamesEM]

Following along, I enjoyed your last review.

[Coralc]

2 hours ago, JamesEM said:

Following along, I enjoyed your last review.

I hope you are doing well, James.