LIVE from Alaska on the Quantum of the Seas

[Sunshine3601]

On 6/5/2022 at 4:07 AM, BirdTravels said:

The dog ate my homework.

 

Goodnight

Adorable😃

[TeachUF352]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Getting to the airport. 
 

The Bird always choose the RCCL bus transfer. As soon as a bus is full, it leaves for the airport. $29.95 per person ($60 total for 2 of us). 
 

Comparable Uber and Lyft prices at the time we left the terminal (remember to add 18%-20% tip to the prices below). We normally book a XL because of our luggage. 
 

 

 

How do you sign up for RCCL transfer to The airport?

[WeMissSeaView]

23 minutes ago, TeachUF352 said:

How do you sign up for RCCL transfer to The airport?

If you are on the ship, go to the Customer Service desk.  You can also call Royal ahead of time before the cruise and purchase transfers.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, TeachUF352 said:

How do you sign up for RCCL transfer to The airport?

Call the general reservations number and ask them to add it. They require your flight to be after noon. We just tell them 12:15 (even if it isn’t). Guest services onboard will do it too (but why stand in that line). 

[cruz_happy]

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

That’s a wrap. Happy that some of you could sail along with The Bird to Alaska on the Quantum of the Seas. 

You did a great job.  Thank you so much.  We are on this one in August and your reporting was helpful.  Hope you had an uneventful flight home.  Thank you again. 

[DaKahuna]

10 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

That’s a wrap. Happy that some of you could sail along with The Bird to Alaska on the Quantum of the Seas. 

Thank you for a very informative review. 
 

[BirdTravels]

1 hour ago, cruz_happy said:

You did a great job.  Thank you so much.  We are on this one in August and your reporting was helpful.  Hope you had an uneventful flight home.  Thank you again. 

Thank you. The flight home was uneventful and we’re unpacking with fond memories of our Alaskan adventure. 

[TeachUF352]

5 hours ago, cruz_happy said:

You did a great job.  Thank you so much.  We are on this one in August and your reporting was helpful.  Hope you had an uneventful flight home.  Thank you again. 

Thank you for the information. I really enjoyed this review. I will be on the Quantum for the July 4th cruise.

 

I appreciate you responding to all the questions everyone asked. 

[PennyNC]

Thank you so much for taking precious vacation time to give us all this great information.  It is very helpful!  We are also on the July 4 Quantum cruise as a family trip for the first time since Covid.....so looking forward to it!

[johnstewarth]

Hi Bird,

 

Thank you so much for your efforts in documenting your cruise. It was so much fun to follow you and anticipate our cruise on the same itinerary beginning on the 13th. I've heard rumors about significant Covid transmission on Alaska cruises. What impression did you have of the situation on your cruise?

[Biker19]

3 hours ago, johnstewarth said:

I've heard rumors about significant Covid transmission on Alaska cruises.

Welcome to CC.

 

The entire US sailing RCI fleet is in Orange status with the CDC (at least .3% COVID cases) - not sure it matters where you are sailing, there'll be cases. "Significant" is very subjective. If you want to get someone's attention, you should either quote their post or use the @BirdTravels callout.

Edited June 7, 2022 by Biker19

[reallyitsmema]

4 hours ago, johnstewarth said:

Hi Bird,

 

Thank you so much for your efforts in documenting your cruise. It was so much fun to follow you and anticipate our cruise on the same itinerary beginning on the 13th. I've heard rumors about significant Covid transmission on Alaska cruises. What impression did you have of the situation on your cruise?

 

You can't believe everything you read.  Just because someone is saying all Alaska sailings so far have had "loads" of covid cases, doesn't make it true.  There are four Royal Caribbean ships sailing in Alaska right now.  Yes, there have been lots of cases of covid on Quantum so far this season, where are all the reports from the other ships?  

[johnstewarth]

50 minutes ago, reallyitsmema said:

 

You can't believe everything you read.  Just because someone is saying all Alaska sailings so far have had "loads" of covid cases, doesn't make it true.  There are four Royal Caribbean ships sailing in Alaska right now.  Yes, there have been lots of cases of covid on Quantum so far this season, where are all the reports from the other ships?  

 

I don't think I used the word "loads." I said I'd heard rumors of "significant" transmission. Since I am going on the Quantum next Monday, I didn't think it was inappropriate to ask someone who had recently sailed on the same ship for her impression of the situation. I apologize if I came across as ignorant or offensive.

[reallyitsmema]

7 minutes ago, johnstewarth said:

 

I don't think I used the word "loads." I said I'd heard rumors of "significant" transmission. Since I am going on the Quantum next Monday, I didn't think it was inappropriate to ask someone who had recently sailed on the same ship for her impression of the situation. I apologize if I came across as ignorant or offensive.

 

I was referring to another poster who is saying there are "loads" of cases on all the Alaska sailings so far this season and it just is not the case.  Quantum had cases on both the May 9th and May 16th sailings.  I was one of the covid cases on the May 16th sailing.  Many did not report on the ship and that is not helping to control the cases.  I am sorry you misunderstood my post.  As someone who is sailing soon, I think it is absolutely appropriate to try to find out what is going on.  I know I did not see the level of cleaning that I would have expected happening on Quantum.  They are fogging overnight, but I would have expected constant wiping of surfaces as I have seen on other ships in the past and that was not the case on Quantum.

 

It is a beautiful ship and Alaska was gorgeous but I know I would be wearing a KN95 if I were to sail that ship in the near future.

[miraflores]

Mike Hunnerup is an AWESOME DJ.  I wonder if he plays for the guests on QN?

[miraflores]

On 6/5/2022 at 12:28 PM, Around_the_globe said:

Hello all.

 

Apologies if this has been asked/answered previously, who is the Hotel Director currently on the Quantum? We are sailing in August and it's always good to know. 

 

Thanks!

It's Phillip Ashcroft. Great HD...he used to work on "The World".

[mchel210]

12 hours ago, johnstewarth said:

Hi Bird,

 

Thank you so much for your efforts in documenting your cruise. It was so much fun to follow you and anticipate our cruise on the same itinerary beginning on the 13th. I've heard rumors about significant Covid transmission on Alaska cruises. What impression did you have of the situation on your cruise?

We also just got off the Quantum yesterday. The staff did say it was very high Covid. They do test the staff every day if they are exposed which is great. There are very few cruisers using masks. There are tons of guests being tested in the medical area. (Now I must add…the flight back had so many people coughing it was horrible! And no one has a mask…i didn’t really see many coughing on board…a few at the end of the cruise)
 

Many excursions got canceled last minute which left us hunting for things to do. We heard others complaining about that.  The glacier stop in the morning was there and leaving before 9! I would suggest you get up early because it wasn’t there till 10…around 6-7 you start seeing tons of icebergs in the water which is pretty cool with seals.
 

 The ship didn’t have a lot of planned activities which left many super crowded. The staff was lacking in service and the food was just ok but I think that they are still trying to recover after being closed for all that time. The ship has a lot of areas to just relax. Maybe pack some games to play on deck. ( I saw a few families playing long play games that looked fun. ) if you want to do bumper cars, rock wall, North Star, skating, basketball, pickle ball  etc just search the times. Those are open like a few hours at a time very scattered. I think the kids club probably is very organized but we didn’t have any kids this cruise. I saw the kids running around doing hunts and such. They separate the kids on deck 11 and there’s not much else there so you don’t see a bunch of kids. Even though it’s said almost 800 kids onboard! 
 

we had big issues the first night with the dining room not being able to accommodate allergies even though they had been pre registered. I feel like the waiters had too many tables assigned (but that could be due to illness amongst staff)  We got switched to another table and it was night and day! Our new dining staff we had was amazing and cooked gluten free every morning and dinner in the main dining. They will cook lunch I believe in the main dining if you ask. Our head server found us every breakfast to ensure my daughter has her gluten free meals and desserts! The sorrentos pizza place WILL bake any pizza gluten free with whatever toppings you want. It was wonderful. 

 

overall this was a wonderful cruise. The whirlpools in the front always has space and the area was very warm. The seas were very Rocky on sea days so plan for Dramamine if you need. The sea days you need a sweater/jacket on deck but port days were hot! You can walk around in shorts at all the stops except Seattle and Victoria. I believe in the ship any outfit works, it’s very comfortable temperature. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by mchel210
Added content

[QueenWiggler]

12 minutes ago, mchel210 said:

Many excursions got canceled last minute which left us hunting for things to do. We heard others complaining about that.  The glacier stop in the morning was there and leaving before 9! I would suggest you get up early because it wasn’t there till 10…around 6-7 you start seeing tons of icebergs in the water which is pretty cool with seals.
 

 

What excursions were being cancelled, if you don't mind?

[mchel210]

9 minutes ago, QueenWiggler said:

What excursions were being cancelled, if you don't mind?

Ours was adventure park and zip line in icy straits (wasn’t built so I think that’s why it was canceled…which they knew months ahead and should haven’t booked)  the zip line was opened but not available to us because they just canceled that whole thing. They did atv instead last minute. But I could only get 3 spots for our group of 5.  The wilderness kayaking in Skagway was canceled the night before due to “an issue with the horses” ???? Not sure where the horses came involved?? We had to book off ship since nothing was available. There was a tour company M&m that had tons available if you get off early.

 

 The people all in guest service line were asking each other what got canceled. kind of comical but not really. 

Edited June 8, 2022 by mchel210

[J0Y0US]

6 minutes ago, mchel210 said:

Ours was adventure park and zip line in icy straits (wasn’t built so I think that’s why it was canceled…which they knew months ahead and should haven’t booked)

 

What? Did they tear it down? Was there last September and while not open looked like it was fully setup. 

 

Glad I didn't put much thought in to booking it then. 

[mchel210]

11 minutes ago, J0Y0US said:

 

What? Did they tear it down? Was there last September and while not open looked like it was fully setup. 

 

Glad I didn't put much thought in to booking it then. 

I think it got damaged over the winter. There were lots of parts missing. 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, mchel210 said:

Ours was adventure park and zip line in icy straits (wasn’t built so I think that’s why it was canceled…which they knew months ahead and should haven’t booked)  the zip line was opened but not available to us because they just canceled that whole thing. They did atv instead last minute. But I could only get 3 spots for our group of 5.  The wilderness kayaking in Skagway was canceled the night before due to “an issue with the horses” ???? Not sure where the horses came involved?? We had to book off ship since nothing was available. There was a tour company M&m that had tons available if you get off early.

 

 The people all in guest service line were asking each other what got canceled. kind of comical but not really. 

The zip line was up and running for those with zip line reservations. The park area suffers  from lack of staff to operate it safely. That is down to the company running the attraction and has nothing to do with RCCL. 

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, mchel210 said:

The glacier stop in the morning was there and leaving before 9! I would suggest you get up early because it wasn’t there till 10…around 6-7 you start seeing tons of icebergs in the water which is pretty cool with seals. 

I thought it was very clear that the ship would arrive at the glacier at 7 am. There was a lot of ice in the water at 5 am (the time folks were advised to be out on deck). 

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, johnstewarth said:

I don't think I used the word "loads." I said I'd heard rumors of "significant" transmission.

There is COVID on every cruise. Just as there is COVID in every airport and on most flights. Most of the crew had KN95 and N95 masks on, especially those who had to interact with passengers. 

[BirdTravels]

16 hours ago, PennyNC said:

Thank you so much for taking precious vacation time to give us all this great information.  It is very helpful!  We are also on the July 4 Quantum cruise as a family trip for the first time since Covid.....so looking forward to it!

The Bird has sailed many times since Royal restarted cruising in North America in June 2021. Each has been a unique experience as more and more activities are added to cruise. We sail eyes wide open that COVID is still around resulting in some restrictions and shortages.  We have no unrealistic expectations that cruising will be back to "normal" any time soon (just as it is not "normal" in any other vacation location).