timtam2

Does the cruise go to Port Douglas as well? If so, you would get better reef trips from there anyway.

Also, be aware that the tendering in Yorkeys Knob can be long and laborious. ....

Love the penguin photos! I hope to be able to do this trip....one day.....

If it's in Civitavecchia on May 15, I agree that the writing is on the wall for the April 25 cruise and possibly the cruise prior.......

I'm estimating the call in Singapore around about 6 June approx

You didn't?! Well going off-topic a bit, here is a link to a website that is following the construction of the property. Its going to be awesome!

 

http://www.themeparx.com/shanghai-disneyland/

Thank you! Now I know where I'll be going for my 2016 holiday....but I'm waiting for those 2015 Quantum itineraries to get next year sorted :D

Ive just been on Mariner in Asia, I've just been to Shanghai and I made a side trip back to Hong Kong just to go to Disneyland.

I was excited to hear that Quantum is going to Shanghai and had already decided to go.....but now I find out they are building a Disneyland in Shanghai , I am SUPER excited!!!! How did I not know this?!!

Hmm . I booked the Explorer 3 nighter 29 November yesterday afternoon on the website and it applied BOGO. I checked pricing on several other Explorer cruises and it also showed BOGO pricing. Going to pay my deposit this morning!

I wonder if the move of Quantum to Shanghai has caused Princess to reshuffle the deck. The Sun Princess wiuld not be much competition for Quantum, whereas Sapphire would definitely be a more attractive proposition for Japanese cruisers

Just about all the Golden Princess cruises are NZ cruise...that thread is very hard to read...I think there were only 2 Pacific Island cruises on her. Even the repo takes in several NZ ports, so not interested now. However , the Diamond repo from Tokyo does interest me

just need to know the date now - I'm thinking I'll do a repeat of this year on Mariner...Singapore to Shanghai!

hmmm....seems like '15' night repo voyage may have been misheard instead of 50....

"It will take more than 50 days for the ship to sail from New York across the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean before arriving in Shanghai." (here's hoping for a Dubai to Shanghai sector....)

http://www.shanghaidaily.com/metro/society/Quantum-of-the-Seas-cruise-ship-to-make-Shanghai-homeport/shdaily.shtml

love this too - 'Before arriving in Shanghai, Quantum will have a trial run in North America.' :)

I did this tour a few weeks back. I was on a Royal Caribbean ship but it is the same tour.

I decided a ship tour would be best due to the distance from the port. It wasnt the best tour Ive ever taken, but it was enjoyable. The museum was interesting - I like to wander in museums but the tour guide kept trying to rein us all in and make us listen to his commentary!

The temple...well, it was a bit grotty and you have to watch you dont get pooped on by the pigeons!!

The lacquerware factory - if strong chemical smells give you migraines or asthma or anything, dont go in! Some of the stuff is actually quite nice and you can get some cheap little souvenirs.

Lunch- depending on how many buses, they will spread the groups across a few hotels. The lunch is a buffet including salads, fruits, curries and Vietnamese dishes. I am a bit wary of these types of set ups so I just had fruit, bread and rice, but none of my more adventurous companions did not have any ill effects.

The tour moves at a cracking pace and there is no spare time for shopping unless you make a break for it! The tour stops at the Cathedral abd the Post Office and there is a good souvenir shop in there.

It looks like Voyager will greet Explorer on 28 November......great photo op and wonderful publicity! I love it when the cruise lines schedule "meetups'

A few short cruises...1st one is 4 nights and in March 2016, 2 x 6 nighters?

Quantum will not have an MDR - the new concept is Dynamic Dining. There will be approx 18 dining venues of which I think 4 or 5 are included in the cruise fare. Everything else is at an extra cost.

There are Asian restaurants in the mix but the you have to remember that the Chinese passengers also cruise to experience new things and they dont exclusively eat 'oriental' food

With Quantum, it is advisable to prebook your dining venues in advance - there is a thread about this on the RCI board

I note that the hoarding says 2015 Asia & China STRATEGY - and not 'band aid' or '2nd best option because Bermuda is a PITA'

this move has been planned for quite some time (if you Google around and bother to read some of the press releases over the past few months in China re the development of Wusongkou port you will see it has been leading up to this) and is not some knee jerk, last minute decision.

Obviously from this long thread, some cruisers seem to feel slighted as they weren't kept in the loop or even consulted by RCI before this change was announced and have a hard time accepting that the company would dare 'take the ship away from THEM' - sense of entitlement much?

The world is a big place , RCI is an international company and why should they not choose to move their assets to where they see the biggest potential in market growth. And they don't need to go ,cap in hand, to anyone to 'explain' or 'apologise' this decision

Oh, and believe it or not, the Chinese will and do eat 'Western' food :rolleyes:

The activities on Asian based cruises are quite different to the US or Australian based cruises. There are definitely not as many organised activities such as trivia, as these cruises tend to attract large groups and the groups have their own activities and social events planned.

I have been on 3 Mariner Asian cruises now - 2 of which Westerners were in the minority, and there would generally be 1 poorly attended trivia session per day. On my last cruise, the repo from Singapore to Shanghai, Westerners were in the majority and the entertainment staff had to scramble and schedule more and more trivia sessions each day due to the demand. The Chinese in general did not participate in the trivia but seemed to enjoy watching on.

Bingo is ever present, but certainly not as well attended as on Australian based cruises. No art and craft classes although the towel animal folding session is always popular. Organised pool games aren't that popular but the theme nights- 70s night, the Red party (instead of the White party) are always very crowded and a lot of fun on the Asian cruises. And if you love Karaoke - they have it morning, noon and night! There is the occasional line dance class.

The Quest was only on my last cruise - and the CD indicated that it had been quite a while since they had done it on Mariner .

The only thing that you can really count on filling the pages of the Cruise Compass - unfortunately - are the dreaded 'seminars' - lose belly fat, wrinkles, flat feet, arched back, puffy eyes etc etc.

So, in general, on the Asian based cruises, if you love to have a full schedule of daily activities, you may be a little disappointed. If on the other hand, you like to just go with the flow and enjoy the mix of cultures , you will enjoy the different experience.

however, Quantum may be entirely different as it will be a destination in itself and as such, I believe many more Westerners will be cruising on her out of Shanghai. Therefore, the demand for the 'usual' shipboard activities will be there and I'm sure that RCI will do their best to cater for everyone. Anyway, there's always the dodgem cars!

Where are you seeing that?the Marina Bay Cruise Centre schedule only goes til the end of March

The poll questions seem a bit biased towards the negative. Where is the "I'm very happy with the recent news and will cruise more with RCI in the future?"

This board is not just for US based cruisers. Many of us are indeed thrilled that Quantum is going to Asia and with Explorer coming to Australia, I see a lot more Royal Caribbean cruises in my future

The report that mentions the repo as being 15 nights also says the refit will be done during the voyage. I was on Mariner when they did this - yes, it is noisy and inconvenient, but the generous onboard credit they gave us made up for it!

I have done 3 Mariner Asia cruises - the last one being only a few weeks ago.

All 3 of my cruises commenced in Singapore - the main language was English, with announcements also being made in Mandarin.

for R/T cruises out of Shanghai, it may be the other way around, as Westerners will definitely be in the minority on those ones.

the newsletter is printed in as many languages as is deemed necessary - there will be no trouble receiving one in English.

This year, I found the Chinese crew quite proficient in English - much improved from last year.

yes, there are no bars in the Promenade now but there are still plenty of other ones around the ship and I guarantee you will not have trouble finding a spare seat.

If you go expecting it to be just like a US based cruise, you will probably be disappointed. But if you go with an open mind and be prepared to experience something different - you will have a wonderful time

My money is on it leaving from San Francisco on 19 September

I don't think the decision to homeport Quantum in Shanghai has anything to do with Bermuda - I'd say it's always been planned that way.

This report from last year shows that the Chinese have long held plans for the development of Baoshan and big $$$ are being invested and spent there. I don't think they would be doing that on the off chance a cruise company or 2 might schedule a ship there....

http://maritimeintel.com/baoshan-aims-to-be-the-long-beach-of-shanghai-as-it-establishes-cruise-industry-development-zones/

I'm another Australian doing the happy dance over this news - I have done 3 Mariner Asian cruises, the last one ending in Shanghai. And I'll be going on Quantam now for sure!

I love the multi cultural aspect of Asia based cruises - it's not just the Chinese who will cruise on Quantam - people will travel from all over Asia (and further afield) - South Korea is another big expanding market for cruise group travel - On these cruises, it is not unusual to have over 50 nationalities represented amongst the passengers - I applaud this move by RCI :)

Excellent news! - I just completed a cruise in Shanghai and would love to go back there - and I didn't think I'd ever have an opportunity to try out Quantam but now it looks like it will be a definite possibility.

I noticed on the Sydney port schedule that Golden Princess actually arrives in Sydney on 18 October (the end of the trans-pacific), then back again on 28 October.

So, it looks like us Sydney siders will have the opportunity for a 10 nighter ex Sydney :D, as well as a 2 nighter down to Melbourne.

Golden Princess departs Honolulu on 24 September 2015