QUANTUM Dec 1-11, 2014 REVIEW w/lots of photos

[Hoopster95]

We all headed out to the cabin crawl in staggered groups of 10 or so. It was an interesting tour that's for sure. First we stopped in an obstructed view balcony cabin on deck 6. I have posted these photos already in another thread but I'll repeat them here so that you can see that the obstruction is definitely significant.

 

 

 

 

 

I noticed in the other balcony cabins that they seem thinner than other classes of ships. I truly can't say whether that's an illusion or actually true, but the cabins are truly well appointed and high-end hotel-like in design and color scheme. I'll share with you one other picture with an observation I had made on the other thread about Quantum balcony cabins.... take note of the picture below

 

 

 

Take a look at the overhang up above the deck 13 cabins very top... these mid-ship balconies have almost the same view and characteristics of the Radiance Class mid-ship cabins with their overhangs at the top deck and lack of view straight down. Like Radiance Class, the further aft and forward cabins have views straight down to the water without the lifeboats obstruction and with better views both forward and aft imho as they stick out more.

 

Even worse, if you are starboard deck 6 or 7 midship, you are right above the smoking area. I haven't seen anyone post if they had any issues with smoke in the lower balconies but that would be interesting to hear from someone with experience staying right above the "Bus-stop" (smoking pit)

[Hoopster95]

The cabin crawl was done close to noon so I had to get going to IFly to get ready for my first attempt. I got the the registration desk early, they weighed me in, and then had to wait for the group before me to finish their introductory video and instruction. The group I was with was then sent into the video room and the instructor would also speak to us about safety, hand signals, what to expect and what to do. These guys are really really good, especially when you consider they have to repeat everything over and over again. They are very attentive in explaining everything and especially when you're actually in the machine helping you to fly.

 

Many cruisers just could not overcome the adrenalin to follow the instructors hand signals in order to have him help stabilize you. Many cruisers flailed all over the place. It's really important to relax and immediately follow the instructions given to you (ie. straighten your legs, relax your hands, chin up, etc). You only have 60 seconds and if the instructor struggles with you for too long you become a lost cause, there's not much he can do if you are not making the changes in order to be successful.

 

Here are a few of the professional photos I bought

 

 

 

 

 

 

THIS IS A MUST MUST MUST-DO activity!!! What a total blast! Although I had heard previously you would only be allowed to book once, I got all my equipment off and made a bee-line to the registration desk. I was able to book again for tomorrow day 4 :D

Edited December 18, 2014 by Hoopster95

[Hoopster95]

Having tried to find a forward view last night for sailaway, and having run the jogging track this morning, I wanted to take a couple of pictures top deck at the front of the ship. As I walked to the front, NorthStar was in motion today and also swinging out to the side of the ship since we were out at sea.

 

From this vantage point I'm almost at the very front of the ship looking back. The glass beside me is deck 15 Vitality spa, and the glass above is the glass of the gym. Note the gentleman's head in relationship to the height of the glass at the railings. Also note the 4-5 inch slots between the glass pains.

 

 

 

So at that very same spot that I'm standing, I turn and face forward, I put my arm and camera outside of one of those slots in the glass and took this show below... You see predominantly the top glass of the Solarium with no 180 degree view from starboard to port like on all other ships on top deck.

 

 

 

This is the actual very front of the ship on top deck... no view at all as you walk/jog around the front. If any of you have followed my other reviews or threads/posts about other ships, I put great importance on the sitelines for sailaway and sailing into ports. I have amazing video and pics from top deck forward sailing into Venice, Santorini, etc etc... but you can't do that on this ship. This was my biggest design flaw and disappointment for Quantum.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

What a great start to the day so far! I wasn't overly hungry so I made my way down to my cabin to change and then immediately head out to explore again.

There is some great art all over the ship. I always walked down the stairs there's one I quite liked between decks 5 -6

 

 

 

 

I decided to grab a small and quick bite rather than sit down at the Windjammer, so I headed down to Sorrento's to see if anything is at all different down there. I hadn't walked deck 4 much at all the previous day so this was my first close-up inside Sorrento's. I grabbed one of the reliable shrimp sandwiches and a brownie... yum yum very good! And by the way I stopped by for cookies very often... their triple chocolate (white and dark chunks) was gooey and soft!!!!!! ooooo ya baby!

 

 

 

I hadn't taken a good look at Michael's Pub either. I took a quick look at the a la carte menu and walked through, and decided then and there that I wouldn't spend a minute there. I can go into any pub around my home town and get the same atmosphere and food anytime I wish... there's so much more on this ship to enjoy imho.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

It was right here it dawned on me that I hadn't walked to the back of the ship to see Two70 yet! I made a bee-line up the stairs to deck 5 leaving the Esplanade, entering the elevator "shaft" area with the butterfly wall, and out to "The Via". When you enter the via, there's an awesome wall of more art and butterflies flying around, it's very cool. I have video and other pics on other days when not so many people are hanging around so I'll leave that alone for now. As you get past this butterfly area, I got my first close-up view of "Waves of Light". Jamie's Italian is to the right of this photo and Vintages is dead ahead.

 

 

 

Moving forward and passing Vinatges (quite large and a nice venue by the way, I never spent any time there) there are plenty of seating areas as well as the art center. And of course Cafe Two70 comes into view. I'll have other pictures later in the review, but this is almost exactly like the Park Cafe for breakfast and lunch with many of the same foods (ie. made to order salads)

 

 

 

And just past Cafe Two70 I get my first glimpse of Two70 itself... unreal

 

 

 

This place is just absolutely gorgeous. By far and away in my humble opinion a massive upgrade to any Viking Crown... and a view to die for! This space was used all day with many people having breakfast or lunch on the tables above by the cafe, or those reading or simply relaxing on the wonderful furniture. Two70 also features various 10-15 minute sample demo's of the robot TV's throughout the day, and of course at night it features Starwater.

 

And the view!!!!

 

 

 

[Hoopster95]

 

 

 

Take the time to explore both sides and all around... there's some really cool furniture, a swing, and other little surprises. I headed up behind the bar and up the stairs to deck 6. In fact, I think I likes Starwater the best from that Vantage point as you can truly appreciate the performance of the robots and the cinematography on the back windows way better from up there.

 

 

 

 

Also up on deck 6 is the library. Here you will find a decent selection of books if that's what you're in to. Here you'll also find the only 4 available computers on the entire ship... yes, that's not a typo... four! lol. And it makes sense... RCL wants you to use your own device from wherever you wish to sit on the ship rather than line-up up at the normal RConline venue.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

I hung out at Two70 for a while just poking around looking at things and began thinking to myself if I had missed anything on the ship so far. It dawned on me that I had not been outside on deck 5. I wanted to see if there was anything there, if there was access to the back of the ship, etc. Heading back from Two70 on deck 5, past Jamie's, past the butterflies, I found the exit to deck 5 "hidden" past the elevators and stairs. My first views as I stepped out are below

 

 

 

 

There are couple of small jut outs with chairs but that's all there is. It's also the smoking area on the starboard side. Walking all the forward or back all you have are the lifeboats and that's about it... oh, and a great view up into various balcony rooms! Once you walk as far back or forward that you can go, it's a dead end in both direction... there is no access to the front or back whatsoever.

 

 

[Hoopster95]

So in the above post I had walked forward to that dead end. Now I turned around and walked back past the sliding door entrance I had come out from heading towards aft and found the "bus stop"... the smoking pit! Wow, what a nice set-up for smokers

 

 

 

 

And as suspected, not too much further was the dead end to the back

 

 

 

I went to check out the port side as well, and again dead ends both front and back. There is no smoking on that side but I did find this interesting life boat that I'm not sure what it is. I assume it's more of a command boat perhaps for an officer to take command of all other lifeboats. Anyone know?

 

 

 

The other major difference on this side is the outdoor seating for Jamie's Italian. I didn't really see this as an appealing area to enjoy Jamie's to be truthful, I thought it was quite strange actually

 

[Quantum#1]

Such great info....Ty for your positive outlook and great info. Cannot wait to cruise Q in March 2015. Yay:p

[Hoopster95]

I re-entered onto deck 5 and stopped at one of the many screens at the elevators to check out what was going on for the day. I had not been up to the Seaplex all day today and I noticed that they had the Trapeze available today for the first time, so I immediately headed up to deck 15. They were just in the middle of beginning to set it up when I got there

 

 

 

 

I wish I had someone take pictures for me, but I can tell you this was a ton of fun. I was able t go twice in a row. Later in the cruise there was a good line-up that took close to an hour. Looking closely at the pictures here you see that you have to climb an approx 20ft ladder to get up to the platform. There is no way for anyone who is mobility challenged to do this activity.

 

The guys and gals running this activity were awesome! You are qued on loud speaker to jump when ready and also when to lift your legs (if you can) so that you can hang upsidedown from your knees. The ques are important as they optimize your momentum during the swing... miss the que and it's almost impossible. On the 2nd go I was able to get them to que me for a full fpli on dismount. Very cool!

 

 

 

 

 

After at least a good hour and half doing this and watching others, it was time to get going to get ready for dinner. Tonight I had to get dressed up for the Grande, but not before snapping this shot of the sunset

 

[Hoopster95]

I got dressed for The Grande and got down to deck 3 about 25 minutes earlier than my reserved time... no problem, I asked them for a group table and was the first to be seated at a table for 8. Within 10 minutes 3 other couples were seated and we were all ready for dinner. Eyeing the menu there was a ton of choices I would like to try but I had already decided that I was having lobster tonight! The lobster was much better than recent offerings from MDR ships, while it was still on the small side it was not stringy nor chewy, just right. This was a great dinner tonight and so much better than Chic the night before. I'll have more to say about The Grande on other nights as I ended up eating there 4 nights. It was my favorite restaurant.

 

Tonight I was booked for 8:30pm Starwater right after dinner, so at approx 8 dinner was over and I made my way through the ship to Two70. The venue was already packed!! Being solo, I normally have no problem at all getting a single seat in the theatre for example, but not as easy here I found. There was nothing in the center area of the seating right in front of the stage so I had to settle for a seat up above close to the entrance to Two70 (close to the cafe). This was not a good seat as it's obstructed. I did attend Starwater 2 more times and sat in different areas so I will pst more (and better) pictures later in the revue, plus give you some hints about the "Pre Show" that I didn't know until later in the cruise

 

 

 

 

 

Great show! And I was looking forward to finding a better viewpoint the next time. I headed back out to enjoy the entertainment for the evening. I did a walk through all the way to the Music Hall to see that Beatlemania was there again performing to a packed house. I'm a salsa/merengue fan and really enjoyed Boleros on other ships so I instead headed back to deck 4 to Boleros. Unfortunately this was supposedly the only night of the cruise that the latin band was taking off so the Caribbean band was in there this evening. I went back to the Music Hall to enjoy Beatlemania. After a bit I spent a little time at the Bionic Bar as the DJ was providing music and there was a good crowd

 

 

 

 

I found myself feeling tired early again, so after enjoying watching people order drinks and the robots serving for a little while, I was ready to hit the sack for the evening. A great full first day aboard Q with many more to come.

[Elizanessie]

So in the above post I had walked forward to that dead end. Now I turned around and walked back past the sliding door entrance I had come out from heading towards aft and found the "bus stop"... the smoking pit! Wow, what a nice set-up for smokers

 

 

 

I have a question for you if you don't mind.....did you see one....did you see a bus ?

We waited and waited for 8 days and 8 nights :eek: but alas we never saw one :D

[KCMiller]

LOVING your review, and the pictures - keep 'em coming!

 

KC

[Lloyd555]

LOVING your review, and the pictures - keep 'em coming!

 

KC

I didn't see a bus. Maybe they came every 9 days!

I have a question for you if you don't mind.....did you see one....did you see a bus ?

We waited and waited for 8 days and 8 nights :eek: but alas we never saw one :D

[snyderc635]

This review is awesome! So informative. Great pictures from you in the IFly. Do you ever go any higher up than that, or do you stay pretty close to the ground as the picture seems to indicate?

[heatherb1958]

With reference to the small vessel it is called the rescue boat.

We have seen it used on our cruises.

One time in Alaska when the Cruise director went out on it to bring back a huge block of ice to put on the pool deck and for the photographers to video the ship .

First time it was for an actual 'rescue' of two guests who missed the Brilliance in Key West. The captain stopped the ship off shore and made an announcement that he was feeling generous and was going to send the rescue boat to retrieve the guests.

 

Great review. I loved ifly

Edited December 18, 2014 by heatherb1958

[Georgeny]

Great review and pics so far!! Sailing Saturday so can't get enough :)

 

George in NY

[jmrothermel]

Still following! Loving this review

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[SHIP TRAVELER]

Thank you SO much for this well balanced review. We know folks that were on this cruise and they were disappointed in their experience to the point they advised us to cancel our May 2nd Transatlantic to Barcelona. We told them we were going and hoping for the best as this was the first leg of a month long trip. I think we will have an experience much closer to yours. We were looking forward to a lot of new things to experience on this ship. It is amazing that you sailed on the same cruise they said was so terrible. They said the food was sub par and the service was so awful that everything was cold etc. etc.. I am relieved to be reminded that some things are experienced in the eye of the beholder. I am looking forward to the TA again thanks to your review.

[A&L_Ont]

 

 

It's hilarious that RCL is supposedly allowing double occupancy in this room when it gets to China.

 

 

 

This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode when Kramer has tourists sleeping in his dresser. Maybe the extra occupant sleeps the in the open cupboard above the bed?

 

Hoopster, what a great review!! It is making me very excited to try Anthem.

[Hoopster95]

This review is awesome! So informative. Great pictures from you in the IFly. Do you ever go any higher up than that, or do you stay pretty close to the ground as the picture seems to indicate?

 

Thx for the kind words! :) Stayed pretty low and never really saw anyone get higher than the instructors head. I think if theyy knew that you could do that, they would really frown on iot as they'd have no control over you if you were to bail and plummet down. The instructors would do a show for us (and the crowd) once all cruisers were done with their minute and these guys can fly up and down very quickly with great speed.

[Hoopster95]

With reference to the small vessel it is called the rescue boat. We have seen it used on our cruises. One time in Alaska when the Cruise director went out on it to bring back a huge block of ice to put on the pool deck and for the photographers to video the ship.

 

First time it was for an actual 'rescue' of two guests who missed the Brilliance in Key West. The captain stopped the ship off shore and made an announcement that he was feeling generous and was going to send the rescue boat to retrieve the guests.

 

Great review. I loved ifly

 

Ah! Thank you for this, now I know :D

[Hoopster95]

Thank you SO much for this well balanced review. We know folks that were on this cruise and they were disappointed in their experience to the point they advised us to cancel our May 2nd Transatlantic to Barcelona. We told them we were going and hoping for the best as this was the first leg of a month long trip. I think we will have an experience much closer to yours. We were looking forward to a lot of new things to experience on this ship. It is amazing that you sailed on the same cruise they said was so terrible. They said the food was sub par and the service was so awful that everything was cold etc. etc.. I am relieved to be reminded that some things are experienced in the eye of the beholder. I am looking forward to the TA again thanks to your review.

 

Human psychology is interesting in this respect isn't it?

 

In the CL day 9 or 10, I was introduced and sat with a very nice couple, the gentleman wearing his pinnacle badge proudly everywhere. Him and his wife were always the smiling and lively type, saying hi to everyone and really looking happy. In speaking with them we began speaking how each other liked the cruise so far. They said they were not happy. I had been asking everyone to be specific with their issues as I wished to determine real issues vs. whiners... this couple began to explain their American icon experience, the food was sub par as was the service. I asked them if that was it. They said no, they returned to American Icon and again weren't happy, vowing never to go back there again. I asked them yet again was that it? They said no, there was an issue at Jamie's the night they went, the service was really slow and took two hours to get served. My friends Noelle & Stan and I had a great lunch meal there so we told them our experience, and they also heard of other friends who had a great experience at Jamie's but not them. I asked them for the third time, was that it? They said well, I guess so. So I asked, have those three issues ruined your cruise and everything else you have experienced over 10 days and nights? They said absolutely, that one or two bad experiences, especially with regards to and during a meal, can set the table and ruin everything for the whole cruise.

 

I never wanted to speak to them again.

 

For the record, there were several issues that I dug deeper on for several cruisers I had spoken to that were legit, but I would say at least 75% of the gripes were of the type I mentioned above... total b.s. They may as well go on any other of the 21 ships on the RCL fleet, have 1 or 2 things happen to them at the MDR on those cruises, and also claim they had an awful cruise. I'm at a loss at making sense of it.

[edjny]

Thx for the kind words! :) Stayed pretty low and never really saw anyone get higher than the instructors head. I think if theyy knew that you could do that, they would really frown on iot as they'd have no control over you if you were to bail and plummet down. The instructors would do a show for us (and the crowd) once all cruisers were done with their minute and these guys can fly up and down very quickly with great speed.

 

I was watching a couple groups come in to 'fly'. I was right next to the 'tube' and could easily hear the change in fan speed. When the guests were in there with the instructor, the fan speed was lower so the guests could not get blown up too high that they might lose control and get hurt. When the group had gone through, the fan speed gets turned way up and that is when the instructor did his stunts flying easily to the top along with the acrobatics.

[Hoopster95]

I wish to remind everyone that LoutheGlue also posted a great review of this sailing with an excellent series of posts with all the compasses in order from Day 1 - 11. I won't be posting the compasses in this review to save bandwidth, please refer to LoutheGlue's....

 

I worked out with anticipation today.... today I had originally booked the All Access Tour of the ship, but postponed that to day 9 as I received a complementary bridge tour for this morning through my D+ status. I hadn't seen Capt. Srecko around the ship yet and was really looking forward to seeing him. Some of you who've read my posts in the past know that I was on the Vision last year for twelve days and had a superior time with both Capt Srecko and then CD Rico De Briel. I had seen Capt around a lot that cruise, by chance, at the gym, playing passenger vs. staff games, etc. In the end my gf and I were invited to the Capt's table for dinner (my first ever invite) and truthfully had a blast speaking with him! Great guy, had quite a bit if fun that night and I think he really enjoyed it too. The last 3 days of the cruise he was calling me by first name, pretty funny, loved it! He would come over to me when I didn't even see him just to come say hi and talk for a minute, then off he'd go. Such a cool guy.

 

All invitees were to meet at the forward elevators deck 12 (bridge deck) at 9:10am. I didn't have time for breakfast after my workout, but I did want my morning Macchiato, so this time I headed forward to the DL instead of aft to the CL. I opened the door to the DL and turned in towards the coffee machine, and there was the Capt, obviously making his rounds visiting people. He saw me right away, he pointed at me eyebrows up with a smile and came right over. Yep he recognized me right away but didn't remember my name obviously with everyone he meets and speaks with every week. Very awesome, we chatted a bit but he had to get ready to get up there for the bridge tours himself so he ensured he stop by for a small chat if he saw me in the CL during the cruise (which he did a couple of times).

 

On to the bridge tour... if someone can correct me please do, as I have forgotten both Sean's and Lauren's rank on the bridge. Sean in the foreground left is a fellow Vancouverite and I believe an equivalent to a 2nd in command? Lauren for Ontario is in the chair behind the desk, also a 2nd. Both are aspiring captains and it would be totally awesome to see these fellow Canadians over the years make their way up the ranks and become captains of a future RCL ship.

 

Sean ran this tour for us and was excellent, answering any questions and allowing us to move around for pictures and so forth. Here I can also thank the two security officers who followed us, I believe they were also being lenient in allowing us some freedom without being overly rigid, overall an excellent feeling up there. I am thankful for the opportunity, it was great.

 

 

 

 

Much of the tour was taken to the wing so that to leave Lauren and the other officers at the center controls alone in order to run the ship at their command. The azipod controls, radar... hell, everything was so interesting to see. You drive this ship with a joy stick! lol

 

 

 

 

The views out of the wings are also awesome, and obviously of great importance when pulling into or out of ports. Also note the view into the cabin balconies for those of you who have balcony cabins close to the front of the ship

 

 

 

There is also a glass floor immediately in front of the wing controls so that they can view the bow of the ship below.