Quantum Inaugural Disappointment

[xpcdoojk]

We had 7pm reservations. They filled the dining room before we got there shortly before 7pm. There were no tables to accommodate those with 7pm reservations. The family ahead of us was a group of 4, they were also told to come back in a half hour. The family of four went elsewhere since they did not want to miss Momma Mia. We came back in the half hour. We had a 2pm reservation for Momma Mia that day so our evening was not booked.

 

At Grande they did tell us to come the next night at 6pm and we would be seated. We arrived at 6pm and no one said anything about our reservation being for 7:15 and it was only 6pm!

 

It seemed very clear that RCI has no idea how to handle a reservation system. They fill tables and if you get there with a reservation and there is no table...too bad for you! They claimed it was because there were so many families on the ship last week.

I don't know about you but the only real schedule that I worry about most days is dinner... kind of expect that when I show up they want me to show up. Anything very outside of that window is going to kind of irritate me... just sayin

 

Sounds like they have some awesome ideas and content and that they have a lot of work to make it work... I don't quite understand how they think...

 

jc

[PathfinderEss]

Sorry you did not have a great cruise.

[emmy]

$400 for Wifi? Id like evidence of that as everyone else has said it was $200 for 2 devices

 

Oh yes that was the price for the fastest speed and I did take screen captures Of all the pricing packages non the 8 night inaugural. I will post when I have access to my laptop

[The Flying Pirate]

My two cents worth on the inaugural sailing. We enjoyed the ship, yes it has gremlins but that is typical of new ship and anything that "smart" we expected that and it wasn't a big deal. But like many we left disappointed at the lack of anything for the "inaugural" sailing we had paid a premium for.

 

We didn't like dynamic dinning. I thought it was a pain in the @$$, having to screw around jumping through hoops to make reservations. Personally I will avoid ships with Dynamic Dinning in the future. I think the service was effected negatively as well. With a new waiter/waitress every meal you never had the chance to get to know them or them to get to know you, as a result the service was sub par compared to traditional dinning.

 

I was like many shocked at the lack of any sort of celebration for the inaugural. There was so little fanfare when we departed we might as well had been on the Staten Island Ferry. The entire cruise it seemed the only time the crew mentioned Inaugural was as an excuse when something didn't work.

 

We had talked to people that did the inaugural on a Brilliance of the Seas, and there were a bunch on the Quantum that had done the Inaugural on both Oasis and Allure and they were all quite disappointed.

 

My biggest complaint was when we booked nearly two years ago, we booked the "inaugural" and paid a premium for the Inaugural, only to be told by the crew, "we did the inaugural two weeks ago". I can't help feel RCI got greedy with a "maiden" cruise, a "naming" cruise and then the "inaugural" cruise. I have no problem with the repositioning cruise or the short two day cruises to show off the ship. But then to not do anything for the Inaugural was a major dropping of the ball.

 

Would we sail on Quantum again? Maybe, although with it's move to China it is highly unlikely.

 

Would I do an inaugural sailing again? Not with RCI. They really failed on this one.

[nednrom]

 

My wife spoke to a woman on our floor as we were heading to the departure lounge. She was doing a back-to-back 12 -nighter. She said she really regretted booking back-to-backs ans she HATED the ship!! Not what RCL was hoping for, I'm sure.

 

I have read a number of unsatisfactory reviews of the Quantum outlining incredibly unacceptable customer service. I am sure that the lady did hate the ship -- but I cannot imagine hating any cruise I'm on to the point of regretting being on it no matter how many glitches/service issues there may have been. I would be on a cruise, far more desirable than 30 degree weather at home. I have yet to encounter any cruise I haven't been able to find a place to relax and chill.

[ProfessorEFFE]

I believe that everyone knows there will be glitches on an initial sailing. That being said, A stake was put in the sand for the time and date of this voyage. Pretend you're an executive. You know all these things are not functional and the due date is approaching fast. What would you do? If you cancel the cruise that opens a whole different can of worms, and can be disastrous financially. Disastrous as in potentially career limiting. So you make the decision to sail, and hopefully there will be "fixes" happening on board.

 

Now 2 things. First I am not trying to make excuses but that seems like a logical or plausible explanation. Second I am not trying to trivialize the OP's dismay nor say this approach is a good one. Remember Detroit's attitude is they will fix it @ the dealership. This was when we were the premier auto manufacturers. And you see how far that got us.

 

But a Billion dollar investment has to start to bring revenue quickly.

[nednrom]

 

I was like many shocked at the lack of any sort of celebration for the inaugural. There was so little fanfare when we departed we might as well had been on the Staten Island Ferry. The entire cruise it seemed the only time the crew mentioned Inaugural was as an excuse when something didn't work.

 

We had talked to people that did the inaugural on a Brilliance of the Seas, and there were a bunch on the Quantum that had done the Inaugural on both Oasis and Allure and they were all quite disappointed.

 

My biggest complaint was when we booked nearly two years ago, we booked the "inaugural" and paid a premium for the Inaugural, only to be told by the crew, "we did the inaugural two weeks ago". I can't help feel RCI got greedy with a "maiden" cruise, a "naming" cruise and then the "inaugural" cruise. I have no problem with the repositioning cruise or the short two day cruises to show off the ship. But then to not do anything for the Inaugural was a major dropping of the ball.

 

 

Everyone seems to agree with you -- the Maiden TA vs Inaugural voyage seemed to have caused a lot of confusion. I have to say that on the Allure, the party and the Inaugural theme continued for quite a number of voyages so Royal has dropped the ball -- perhaps if they had done something to that nature, people would have been a little more forgiving of the technological glitches and the lines

[CarpeCerevisi]

I believe that everyone knows there will be glitches on an initial sailing. That being said, A stake was put in the sand for the time and date of this voyage. Pretend you're an executive. You know all these things are not functional and the due date is approaching fast. What would you do? If you cancel the cruise that opens a whole different can of worms, and can be disastrous financially. Disastrous as in potentially career limiting. So you make the decision to sail, and hopefully there will be "fixes" happening on board.

 

Now 2 things. First I am not trying to make excuses but that seems like a logical or plausible explanation. Second I am not trying to trivialize the OP's dismay nor say this approach is a good one. Remember Detroit's attitude is they will fix it @ the dealership. This was when we were the premier auto manufacturers. And you see how far that got us.

 

But a Billion dollar investment has to start to bring revenue quickly.

 

In my opinion, in most businesses these days, time to market has come to out weigh initial quality. I think businesses have found that customers have short memories and if a few customers are unhappy, so be it, because in the long run being first to market with something new brings more customers than those that are lost due to "glitches".

[JKrise]

Why did we expect different? They have yet to get the land based IT dept. to work correctly:D!

 

 

I couldn't agree with you more.

 

 

JKrise