Familygoboston

Yes, there’s a wide variety!!id say for people with kids try to sit in the front, it will be most engaging for the young people. We were up high, there’s one row of balcony in front of the spot lights and it was very comfortable couches and lots of leg room. A lot of the seating is cocktail table style.

Love and Marriage Always a hoot! Mike had his work cut out with his newlyweds, two men who married 6 days ago, but Mike managed the language minefield like the pro he is! Not the funniest L&M I’ve seen but, there were a few good moments! sing along!! IMG_0205.MOV

Fun Stuff Last Night Starwater Show Last evening was our booking for Starwater. I really enjoyed the show- but I’m a zumba instructor, so I really enjoy watching dance- and this really was dance showcase. The vocal star was also showcased, with 2 other female singers. The male singers were all in the balcony with us hooting and hollering in support of their compadres. Honestly, had they not been cheering, it feels like no one would have been. 😳 It’s not because it wasn’t a good show, it just feels like since the pandemic, people don’t really know how to react at a live show anymore. Every performer I’ve talked with from Broadway pros to community theater day they want to hear from us, cheering, clapping, giving support. It’s our role in live theater! But most shows, really good performers have had to fight for a response from the audiences on this cruise. And they are giving the performances all their energy! Lasts night’s show was an example of that- dance elevated to athleticism- just incredible!! And the theater itself is very innovative, with elevators and robotic performers. It’s a must see! SO… where and how to see it! - this is the only book ahead show on the ship, you can book on the app, plenty of performances, but if you are picky about the day and time, you can book before you sail, just look in the app a few weeks before you sail. -they’ll have you line up and scan your sea pass to ensure you are reserved. There’s a standby line for any non reserved passengers. - when you enter the theater you’ll notice several floor areas and the central balcony reserved for Key and suite guests. -If you go up the stairs on your left facing the stage you can sit in other balcony areas. This provides a good view of some of the visual effects from above. -If you’d prefer to be “in the round” with the performers, you can sit on the floor in the front

I never thought I’d like 6 sea days! So far, I’ve been wrong! 🤣 Maybe it’s because we had non stop touring and playing in the Hawaiian islands for 3 weeks, but I’ll be here in my office if you need me! Clam Shell at the covered pool I’d like to get off my butt and take more photos of the ship, but so far I’m not motivated to much more than relax in the indoor pool and the solarium. We went to get some sun outside yesterday and they had removed all the loungers from the upper decks near the bow and aft. The loungers above the out door pools were full, so we found some unattended loungers by the pool deck. Not a good experience 😳 First a fellow whose wife was sitting in one of the chairs that says you can’t “reserve a chair” tried to tell us someone was “sitting there” So I did my usual, “if they return we’ll move on”. He called us a name that might get us banned from CC if I reported it. But after looking at Mr FGB who had 6 inches and 15 less years on him, he decided not to make an issue of it. The “owner” of the chair returned an hour later, and there were then 2 more chairs in that area that were now vacant for her to alight on. Thereby proving my point that if everyone moved their stuff then they plan to be gone for more than 30 minutes, no one would have trouble finding a lounger. But reserving s lounger with a huge pink label on it saying not to reserve loungers is pretty rich! view of the bow from the solarium But that’s not what made it unpleasant! 🤣 That’s just a reality of clientele on the RC ships we’ve cruised. The unpleasant part was the loud music played under the play by play for the officers Vs guest volleyball game. The noise is too much for me, so after an hour we removed all our belongings, and freed up the lounger and took a dip in the solarium pool. There weren’t any chairs their either abs we left our things to the side till we saw someone leave after a little while (they also took all of the there things…system works like magic when you actually do it!) solarium pool

I’m a little nervous that R# is gonna get arrested and tossed into the brig! You should have seen the terror on the faces of the other flyers when he posed with the Northstar controls! 😳 Luckily, he never actually touches the things without permission (the ones he did touch, the person in charge was in on the gag!) it’s all an optical illusion, just like his paychecks for these gigs! 🤣🤣

Let’s hope not! 😳🤣🤣

More flying!!

Day 6 Sea Day Cruise Compasses and Menu

We’d been to FP, but never been to Hawaii. Our guide in Hawaii explained that things have changed a lot in 20 - 30 years and again during the pandemic. It’s not the Hawaii people remember from the past. Places change, and some places get ruined because they are over loved, and they lose the very charm they were once loved for. 😩

I love Alaska!! Really, there are no bad options! Both are beautiful places! Kawaii is the only island we didn’t see! We have friends who love it, but that’s as a winter home, which is quite different than Maui, which has so much to offer as a vacation destination!!

SEA DAYS An odd thing happened on our first day on board. Our whole group was together trying to book some of the included attractions, like Ifly and Northstar. We noticed that those of us who are Diamond loyalty members were able to “see” times to book on the app, while our friends with fewer cruise nights weren’t able to book for several hours after we were able to book. if you’d like to book activities like this with your traveling party, link them all to the account of the person with the highest C&A status. Seems like we were able to book our friends who we’re linked while the others had to wait. IMG_0125.MOV IMG_0116.MOV We did the North Star yesterday and it was really fun and scenic. Here is my photo dump (remember these are all my “bad” photos! 🤣 Not Mr FGBs high quality stuff. That’s “extra!” 🤣

SEA DAYS No clogging chairs! We’ve seen chairs available everywhere. By afternoon the ones closest to the pool get filled, but there’s no towels laid down for hours. If a chair is in use, there’s a human in it! I haven’t heard an official number yet, but the Aussie hold overs say we have more than their cruise form Brisbane (they were limited to how many passengers can disembark in French Polynesia) but the ship doesn’t feel completely full. Loungers and sears are easy to find at the pools and in the lounges at night. There’s a very popular singer in the schooner bar each night- Jen, and it’s SRO when she’s on, but I do enjoy how the Schooner bar on this ship is again the heart of the ship! Also, the Music Hall where the dancing happens is in a main area so it gets lots of use. This ship really feels like a better, more blinged out throw back to Royal’s “roots” silent disco at the Music Hall last night

Sea Day 5- It occurs to me that this ship, is an ocean liner! An ocean liner with bumper cars, sky diving and a flow rider, but she’s still built like an old fashioned ocean liner! It occurred to me as we travel further into the ocean, she cuts through the open ocean so smoothly. After so many years on ships designed to fit the playgrounds m, this one seems to be designed to be an ocean liner with playgrounds. My first trip on an ocean liner did not include giant pink bears or a sea plex, but she reminds me of the Stefan Batory, my very first trans Atlantic crossing when I was just 12 years old. I would have loved aevades and an escape room back then! Instead all the kids (there about 20 of us) used toilet paper to create costumes and perform a parade for our parents and other passengers. We were served blinis and calf’s brains on toast. (My grandfather slipped the waiter a couple of bucks and got me a big bowl of cheerios every morning so I didn’t starve to death! We walked uphill to the MDR both ways! 🤣 But seriously, you can avoid the all the gimmicks at the stern of the ship, (or do them all, like we did yesterday, including Ifly with a 75 yo celebrating her birthday!) and you would think you are on an ocean liner “back in the day”. Or bring the kids and prepare not to see them for a week. Choice is yours!! Each Q class ship features an oversized animal - giraffes, or pandas, Q has a pink bear! Narrow and sleek, she tracks beautifully on the open ocean. Quantum has windows to the sea in most public venues, All three pool areas have ocean facing loungers and clam shells, and there’s a promenade on deck 5 (although half of it is filled with the “friends of Phillip Morris” 🤣) as well as the outdoor jogging track and upper level loungers. The gym is oriented to the sea on this ship too, with huge windows, which I love. What I didn’t love was I had to share the area with the yoga with two of the dancers doing their workouts which meant, there I was with all my jiggly bits doing the downward dog, next to two women half my age with negative body fat. I don’t like to be embarrassed like that! 🤣 (although I give them mad props for working out before I started and after I left abd being able to balance on a moving ship for 2 shows in the evening. And their show “Sequins and Feathers” was fun and sexy AF! These performers are true pros who work hard and deliver! my gym partners on stage - they asked me to join, but I demurred! 🤣

Expect for folks who don’t have a cruise or Quantum booked, don’t know which menus will be used which day, because it’s not a standard 7 day itinerary. Also all the people like me who wanted to see themenus on the app but because we were on a one off transpacific itinerary, we didn’t have menus in the app until just a few weeks before our cruise. Many people like to see the menus ahead of that time frame if they are planning to purchase specialty dining ahead of time online. So I’m hopeful some folks will find them useful!

DAY 5 Sea Day Compass and Menus

That sounds like an amazing family trip! Enjoy! I have not noticed any major defects on the ship, we have an overhead cabinet that has “swelled” and rubs against the adjacent closet door. Soft goods are fresh and clean around the ship. All of the amenities are in good working order, no closures, even after a long stint at sea with no supplies to repair things, so I’d say she’s in terrific shape! And the crew keeps her very clean! A friend did the All Access Tour yesterday and said he was so impressed by the cleanliness of the kitchen and “behind the scenes”. As for feeling connected to the culture on such a short trip, I’d say no, it’s not the way I would go to be immersed in Hawaiian culture. We actually have been in Hawaii since April 12. We spent a few days on Molokai, then boarded the Uncruise, a 28 passenger expedition ship that gave us a great cultural and natural experience. (I’ll be reviewing that when we get home!) After a week aboard the Safari Explorer in Molokai, Lanai, Maui and Hawaii, I found myself telling the people on the rest of our trip the things I’d leaned about Hawaiian culture while we were out and about!!🥰 So I learned a lot! After the Uncruise, we spent a week in Waikiki, hiking, exploring the SW corner and the North Shore, we hiked Diamond Head and went out on a snorkel tour. We do enjoy knitting our cruises or tours together with a “city stay” often to pay bills and get laundry done, but also to allow ourselves to settle in and feel a part of the area for a little while. So we’ve had all those opportunities, plus 3 long busy port days on this cruise. Although most of our tour guides were long time residents, we’ve not met native Hawaiians while cruising Quantum in the way we did during the other parts of our visit here in the Hawaiian islands.

It’s important that I point out that the lousy photos on the thread are mine! Mr Familygoboston takes stellar photos, but as he’s enjoying his cruise and “taking them” he does not want to spend his cruise doing the “process” to get them off his SLR camera. So you get my cell phone photos, which R# will tell you is inferior to not only Mr FGB’s camera(s) but also to his families newly upgraded iPhones. 🤣 So if you see an evening or dark photo, it’s probably R#’s because my are so “inferior”. As an my crummy photo of last nights entertainment … R#’s airdropped photo of the entertainment. Be very grateful that I’m not doing this thread alone (even though it seems that way 🙄) You only have to tolerate my bad photos during the day! 🤣 Of course, every once in a while Mr FGB will feel inspired to pull out the MS surface and process a photo that I can use online (like the photo of R# and I snorkeling) but mostly he might be having a bushwhacker by the pool and I’m not going to bother him!

Oops, it’s late, I’m tired, I messed up the directions on my original post- the corrections are above!

Complaining about the entertainment on surveys hasn’t seemed to improve it sadly! 🥹

Menu, Cruise Compass and Tonight’s Entertainment Tonight’s headliner - Active Comedian Rick Novell, had to work very, very hard to win back a crowd that’s been less than “Wow’ed” over the last two nights! He succeeded, giving the crowd something to cheer about with his high energy unicycle and juggling act, sprinkled with self deprecating humor. At the 10 PM - he won the wary crowd over and gave us hope for the upcoming 6 sea days! ONTO VANCOUVER!

Volcanoes National Park Hawaii For me, the most exciting part of our tour was the visit to Volcano House where there’s an over look to the Kilauea crater volcano. While not currently erupting lava, it’s still very active with steam venting. It was really fascinating to see this national park with a variety of landscapes from barren lava fields to lush rainforest to active volcanoes! Don did a great job answering questions and sharing his love and passion for the area! we were very lucky to have been able to find him and join his tour! IMG_0036.MOV video of Kilauea volcano

Kona to Hilo Volcanoes National Park a stop for lunch and malasadas (Hawaiian donuts) at the southern most bakery! 1970s lava flow and scenic point of Hawaii Black sand beach and turtles National Park sign close up of a lava feild in the NP a tree casting, where lava flow engulfed a tree and incinerated it leaving just a hole the size of its trunk! plants are just starting to grow in the lava fields from the 1970s eruptions. A bridge into the lava tube entering the lava tube at Volcanoes NP rainforest in Volcanoes NP Rainbow Falls

Ok, so we were talking about Kona Hawaii Yes, we had great tender tickets, and we were on a tender just minutes after they started running. Overall, the tender operation went very smoothly! A few times in Maui, we were on a port traffic hold, awaiting the off loading of another tender, but never did we wait for a tender, other than in the early morning to disembark. Whenever we’ve been ready to go there was almost always a tender to walk onto in either direction. Although tendering adds some time and hassle to the process, at least in this part of Hawaii, with QOTS using its own crew and tender/life boats, it ran very smoothly! a tender, quite rugged actually! Once ashore, one of the first in our party spotted a man with a van and a sign. Exactly what we needed to look for because our originally booked guide for the group had canceled last minute. Covid was the stated reason- but here is the deal with tour operators working with cruise ships on Hawaii. Every week Norwegian runs Pride of America around the Hawaiian islands all year long and it ports in Hilo- 2 hours west of Kona. QOTS and other “one off” ships that call on Hawaii for just 1 or 2 weeks, port in Kona, but the guides are all based in Kona, meaning they have to drive 2 hours to Kona from Hilo, take guests to the most popular spots (one of which is Volcanoes National Park) which means going 2 hours west with guests, then 2 hours east to return them and then after leaving guests back in Kona drive 2 hours west to get back home. As you can see, a very long day with 4 hours of non guest driving. Not much incentive to do the tours in Kona. But we found Don, a man with a van and sign in Kona - with 4 pre booked clients for his 15 passenger van, he was delighted to see we were 9 looking for a tour to Volcanoes National Park. It was a match made in heaven, and we all squeezed into his van and heard off on a tour. Not the tour we wanted with no stops at macadamia farms because it wasn’t private- 4 other people had signed on expecting macadamia farms, so we had to take what we could get. What we got was Dan who began our tour describing the white knuckle driving required to get to our destination and scaring the bejesus out of one lady who requested no more car wreck stories (what is bejesus anyway, and if it’s out why don’t we know?!) So instead we got a lot of tales about Don’s past crimes, his general terror of National Park Rangers (is anyone less threatening than a NPS ranger ?!) But Don had had his run ins, which we listened to and cataloged carefully from the back seat of the van. They included but not limited to: -Speeding in the NP -Speeding with children in a bus after swearing them to secrecy about the speeding -Touching the turtles -Taking the lava rocks (leave no trace people!) -Touching the Ne Nes (Hawaiian geese) -Smuggling birds out of Mexico (although the NPS does not have jurisdiction there) and -Peeling out of National Park turnouts like the driver of a bank heist get away vehicle if he spied oncoming traffic that might impede our further progress. (For this last infraction Mr FamilyGoBoston gave him mad props for “driving like a Bostonian” I do want to emphasize, that these are all PAST INFRACTIONS detailed by Don (with quite a lot wistfulness for his lawless ways) and we didn’t witness him do anything forbidden (Except the peel outs) during our tour. We think he’s been scared straight now. So during our tour we all had a fabulous time behaving like a bunch of buddies in a prison break out movie, with all of us on the look out at all times for law enforcement of any type. It was exhilarating for a van full of middle age people! Oh, and we also learned a bunch stuff about volcanoes and plants and the huge price increases in island real estate because Don is very knowledgeable. And we ate a lot of macadamia nuts. A LOT OF MAC NUTS! Truly it was a fabulous tour! SO let’s see some photos!!

Kona Hawaii We got to the volcanos! So long story- Mr FGB woke at 6:20, and headed to Vintages for tender tickets, they were already handing them out and he scored 9 tickets for our group. We were assigned #10 which was called at about 15 past 8 AM. We were all mostly waiting in the casino for them to call our group- all except yours truly of course who was blissfully unaware that plans had been texted because she was on “airplane mode”. At 7:50, I was in the windjammer after a wrong turn trying to get to the solarium bistro for breakfast. Can I interrupt Kona to discuss the Windjammer project on this ship? So let’s make a little cookie out of my critique: positive first / room for improvement/ then more positive. First the good news: On Quantum there’s a wonderful outdoor seating area! This is a feature I love in a ship; you see them on most celebrity ships and others too, and it’s great to sit outside for breakfast. (There is nothing like dining on the stern of a ship!) RFI: The Windjammer is like a Dante’s circles of hell pinball game. Guests from all over the planet with different line cultures careen around the space, where there’s no clear rules of engagement just trying to find a damn hash brown potato cake! Every wants a hash brown and they are hidden like Easter eggs all over the buffet. Guests wander, direction less, in search of the hash brown warming tray, which is most often empty. (Who IS getting the hash browns? Because all of us CANNOT find one?!) We then congregate helplessly by the hash brown tray waiting for a lad from India to return with a full warning tray of hash browns. And then we are bouncing off in another direction in search of the ketchup, which apparently, according to Royal Caribbean rules must be located as far from and equidistant to every tray of hash browns. I was caught in this vortex of seeking hash browns when the rest of the group was gathered in the Casino and being ushered towards the tender despite them have only called up to group 9. I’m grateful my team patiently waited till I dashed from deck 14 to 3 to join them at 5 past eight AM! I fully expected to be voted off the island! I am the weakest link! Another Positive: I am positive I’m not eating another breakfast at the windjammer this week despite the beautiful stern seating area! GAME OVER!

Oh boy! Someone’s not reading the surveys!