LIVE from Quantum of the Seas! April 12th - April 24th

[jmrothermel]

Hello all! I've decided to do my first "Live from" thread - departing this Sunday on the beautiful Quantum of the Seas! I know another member of our roll call will be doing a live from as well, however, I believe we're probably going to have completely different views from the ship. Mine will be more family focused, traveling with the children, no late nights at the music hall or Vintages here :p. Without further delay......

 

MEET THE CAST:

I am traveling with myself, and my three of my children - Andrew (12), Paige (11), and Payton (4). Paige, myself, and Payton made it onto the sampler Quantum in November for a girls only cruise and we thought that was the last we were going to see this beautiful ship. However, this trip came to be because of my son Andrew, he recently had open heart surgery and was pretty critical for a period of time. He got to "Make a Wish" through the Make-A-Wish organization, and he had a hard time deciding between Quantum of the Seas and Hawaii. In the end, Hawaii won out and we had a beautiful time in the tropical paradise. However, long story short, with the help of an angel we were able to make his dream to go on Quantum a reality. So, here we are, departing in just six short days!

 

THE ITINERARY:

 

OUR STATEROOM:

We are staying in a D1 balcony stateroom on deck 13. It is one of the ones "on the hump" that appears (and been reported) to have the much larger than average balcony - room 648. We are excited to have the balcony space to sprawl out and relax!

 

OUR DINING RESERVATIONS:

We have reserved our dining for the entire trip. Our list is as follows:

Day 1 - The Grande

Day 2 - Silk

Day 3 - Devinly Decadence

Day 4 - Windjammer! (No time for sit down lol)

Day 5 - Silk

Day 6 - American Icon

Day 7 - Chic

Day 8 - The Grande

Day 9 - Devinly Decadence

Day 10 - American Icon

Day 11 - The Grande

Day 12 - Undecided

 

OUR PORT ACTIVITIES:

You'll find that many of our days in port will just be spent relaxing at the BEACH! Since the kids are young it's harder to do educational tours etc. But we have the following activities planned:

 

Labadee, Haiti: BEACH DAY! And hopefully score a cabana (?)

San Juan, Puerto Rico: We may or may not get off the ship in San Juan, we've been here quite a few times and we may enjoy the empty ship!

St Maarten: Day at the hotel beach - traveling with our roll call via the water taxi

Fort de France: Got our Euros in hand and we're going to attempt to take the ferry to Anse Mitan.

Barbados: Going to the Boatyard

St. Kitts: City tour and 4hrs at the beach with the monkeys :D

 

THE GEAR:

I'll be keeping the thread updated with the help of my equipment I lug everywhere! I'm picture OBSESSED lol, so know that going into this! I'm taking the following with me this time:

 

My WONDERFUL Canon 60D

 

I LOVE this camera! It makes a great all around camera, and really does everything I ask it to and then some. If I could get better at my photography skills, I can only imagine what it would do!

 

The GoPro Hero 3+

 

All the water pictures will be caught courtesy of this little gadget. Another must have for cruises. I have so many great pictures that we got with this!

 

And finally - my quick go to.....

 

]

 

My iPhone 6 Plus. I love this camera as well, and lets be honest it makes posting via Tapatalk super simple and easy!

[jmrothermel]

Here's a "meet the cast" selfie from today!

 

[DM_KidAtHeart]

Love it. And I might steak your format for the start of my own.

[jmrothermel]

Love it. And I might steak your format for the start of my own.

 

 

Go for it! I can't wait to follow all the Live From threads even though I'm on the same cruise! [emoji16]. I only made this because you inspired me. So get on making yours! [emoji6]

[jmrothermel]

Entertainment:

We prebooked all of our entertainment for the cruise. However this is definitely subject to change depending who the guest entertainers turn out to be! :)

 

Day 1 - Mamma Mia

Day 2 - iFly

Day 3 - Guest Entertainer

Day 4 - Starwater

Day 6 - Guest Entertainer

Day 7 - Guest Entertainer

Day 11 - Sonic Odyssey

 

Thinking about booking some Flowrider classes for Andrew in this as well, however we'll play that one by ear. I want to see how busy it is - I know the demographics for a longer cruise don't usually have many kids (so far I only know of one - a 2yr old LOL), but there may be others. I'm hoping maybe the lines won't be terrible!

[EDL]

I am following your live reports from Belfast, Northern Ireland ! We are on the maiden voyage of Anthem of the Seas later this month from Southampton, UK. Please enjoy your cruise first and blog when you get time.. Thanks in advance. Ed Larkin,

[rm1247]

Woohoo!! We are traveling with kids on Quantum on the TA and it has been hard to find out much info on the kids clubs, etc. I will be following!

 

Thanks!

[Nhsaltshaker]

Following.

[jmrothermel]

Thanks all! I can't wait for Sunday to get this "Live From" started!

 

Yesterday was mani/pedi day - I wanted to wait until just before we left, however my son had an appointment right next door so I figured why not. Today is going to be about laundry and finishing packing!

 

I just measured Payton, and it looks like she is EXACTLY 107cm (without shoes). When we were on in November she wasn't allowed to ride the North Star because she wasn't six years old, however the signage that has been posted on the boards recently shows 107cm to ride on the sign. So I'm hoping we will be able to go on this time! (If not I'm secretly hoping she'll stay at Adventure Ocean while the rest of us go lol).

 

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

[Just The 3 Of Us]

Jacqui - NICE!!!!!! I will be ON QUANTUM with you - WOOT WOOT - I look forward to reading the "live" reviews when we return - it will help with the PCD, for sure - hehehehehe....

 

Great job so far - adorable family :)

 

Barb

[Yorkvillain]

Looking forward to this. I'll be following along. Have fun.

[malackym]

Have a great cruise. Can't wait for your review, it will be like going all over again!

[shelling4life]

Following your great adventure.

[tomtoot]

Looking forward to your reviews, I,m going in a couple weeks on the Quantum with 11 people. Mixed. Kids and adults,should be good, can,t wait. Enjoy !

[jmrothermel]

I didn't get ANYTHING accomplished yesterday or today that I wanted to! It's terrible! I did have to go to the doctor today to follow up for this respiratory illness that I've had. He started me on steroids I hope that helps. Oh, and the warmer weather!

 

Well, I better get off and pack some more. 4 days until it's sailing time! [emoji16]

[SirWarwickHarrow]

Following along...from onboard the same cruise!

Edited April 9, 2015 by SirWarwickHarrow

[swsf99a]

We will be onboard right after your cruise ( the 24th). Please leave the ship clean and do not drink up all the booze!! Have fun!

[jmrothermel]

Thanks everyone! My adventure doesn't start until Sunday morning, as we are about 2 hours from port. So no pre-cruise to keep everyone entertained!

 

However, I'm STILL not packed yet - which is sooooooo not like me! So tomorrow will be a power packing spree - T minus 36 hours!

[jmrothermel]

 

I should be packing. Somehow we ended up here instead! [emoji23]

 

Oh well family time is important since I'll be gone so long.

[jmrothermel]

My reservation disappeared! [emoji33]

 

That's okay it means we leave tomorrow!

 

[jmrothermel]

And the adventure begins! GPS shows 11:22 arrival at the port. Will post an update soon!

[Dave85]

Bon voyage! Looking forward to following along with you.

[jmrothermel]

 

We've arrived! Waiting in traffic to drop off our bags [emoji4]

[jmrothermel]

Ugh, these tapatalk pictures are TERRIBLE! I'll have to find a better way to post from my iPhone.

 

Anyway, we're now having lunch in the Windjammer. My husband dropped us off, and besides a little attitude from the bag porter it was pretty uneventful. Checkin was painless, it was about 20 minutes from the time we walked in the door until we were on the ship. The windjammer is beyond crowded as usual on embarkation, but we were able to find a seat of someone who was leaving.

 

Depending what deck you're on the sign says either 12:30 or 1:00 for the staterooms - ours happens to be 1pm. We're going to head up there now, more in a bit!

Edited April 12, 2015 by jmrothermel

[jmrothermel]

We are Muster Station D1 - at the American Icon Grill. Waiting for the drill to start at 3:30. Will get on the computer and post pictures afterwards.

 

Royal IQ app isn't working for luggage delivery - says some was delivered and it wasn't lol.

Edited April 12, 2015 by jmrothermel