Quantum of the Seas Alaksa 8/29 - 9/5; 9/5-9/12 Live Review

[DaKahuna]

I once again apologize for being absent for the last day or so but I did want to close out this review.

 

All in all we had a very wonderful cruise on the Quantum of the Seas.  It was our first sailing on a Quantum class ship and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  

 

The observations about drawer locations and the B2B or Consecutive Cruiser experience being the only real negatives.  

 

Service, food, and staff were absolutely wonderful.  Granted sailing in suite class is different than sailing in something other than a suite but even our experience outside of Coastal Kitchen and the Suite Lounge were wonderful.

 

 

 

From the time we left the ship until we arrived at the United Lounge was approximately one hour.  That was including the time waiting in line to go through customs and immigration.  There were only two agents checking passports at the terminal.  One would think that the number of passengers being unloaded would warrant more than two agents, but it does not appear to be the case.  It was interesting to watch people cutting in front of others, even when changing lines when they thought the other line was moving faster.  One would think that after a seven-day cruise people would be more relaxed but that did not seem to be the case. 

 

We had taken advantage of the Luggage Valet service offered by the port of Seattle to have our bags delivered to the airline directly, since our flight was not until after the 1200 cut off for Luggage Valet.  We did not see them from the time we set them outside our door Sunday night, until we pulled them off the conveyor belt at the airport.   One note, even if you are eligible for priority bag service, if you use Luggage Valet, they do not tag your bags for priority.  Also, for anyone who does not know, there are two different Clear terminals at SEA-TAC.  The one in the middle of the terminal is for non-TSA Pre.  The one for folks with Clear and TSA-Pre is at the far left.  We went to the wrong Clear terminal the first time and when they found out we were also Pre-Check they told us it would still be faster to go to the other Clear terminal, so we did.  

 

 

 

 

[librarylady19]

Thanks for your 2 week live review! We were on last week in a balcony cabin - and concur that it was a marvelous ship and crew! After a very disappointing Med cruise on Vision in June, I was very happy to enjoy the wonderful entertainment and amenities on Quantum. Our cabin - midship deck 8 - was fantastic with more storage than we’ve had on Royal, Viking or Celebrity. We saw whales from our balcony on 3 different days!!!

 

As for the customs lines, we saw a woman cut in the line about ten people ahead of us and when she was challenged, she pulled out pepper spray. Other cruisers called for security and when she denied her actions, she was loudly denounced. She was pulled out of line for about 20 minutes but was not arrested and smugly sailed through the line ☹️Pretty nervy to say the least. 

Edited September 14, 2022 by librarylady19

[taglovestocruise]

27 minutes ago, librarylady19 said:

As for the customs lines, we saw a woman cut in the line about ten people ahead of us and when she was challenged, she pulled out pepper spray. Other cruisers called for security and when she denied her actions, she was loudly denounced. She was pulled out of line for about 20 minutes but was not arrested and smugly sailed through the line ☹️Pretty nervy to say the least. 

One day KARMA will stand in her path..

[late2cruisin]

We enjoyed reading your review and were onboard this past week. Did you happen to see the show called Sonic Odyssey (I think it was night 6)?  We thought it was the best entertainment we saw all week! We also enjoyed the comedian (he did a show on the last night and also an R-rated late night show earlier in the week) and Peter at the piano bar in Schooner. Also Monique (Goddess). I'm sorry we didn't get to see the Las Vegas Tenors though, like you did the previous week.

 

On a less happy note, my husband started feeling sick on the last night of the cruise, came home and tested positive for Covid (I'm still negative as of yesterday)

This is our first Covid experience (and we were on 4 other cruises since the re-start). We wore masks everywhere, avoided crowds, didn't do any excursions, etc.etc. I guess no matter how careful you are, eventually your luck just runs out...

Anybody else come home with a case of Covid?

[bigmanpw]

Thank you DaKahuna, enjoyed your review, commentary, and of course your pictures over the past two weeks!

[DaKahuna]

On 9/14/2022 at 5:54 AM, late2cruisin said:

We enjoyed reading your review and were onboard this past week. Did you happen to see the show called Sonic Odyssey (I think it was night 6)?  We thought it was the best entertainment we saw all week! We also enjoyed the comedian (he did a show on the last night and also an R-rated late night show earlier in the week) and Peter at the piano bar in Schooner. Also Monique (Goddess). I'm sorry we didn't get to see the Las Vegas Tenors though, like you did the previous week.

 

 We saw Sonic Odyssey on our first cruise.  They did a special performance that was unannounced, until the day before.  We enjoyed it but would not say it was something that we would watch again. 

 

Goddess was wonderful as well.  We also saw that on our first cruise along with "Starwater".  All of those were well done. 

 

On 9/14/2022 at 5:54 AM, late2cruisin said:

On a less happy note, my husband started feeling sick on the last night of the cruise, came home and tested positive for Covid (I'm still negative as of yesterday)

This is our first Covid experience (and we were on 4 other cruises since the re-start). We wore masks everywhere, avoided crowds, didn't do any excursions, etc.etc. I guess no matter how careful you are, eventually your luck just runs out...

Anybody else come home with a case of Covid?

 

 Yours is the first that I have heard of.  I would not be surprised if there were more cases but no one saying anything about it. 

 

On 9/13/2022 at 8:48 PM, librarylady19 said:

Thanks for your 2 week live review! We were on last week in a balcony cabin - and concur that it was a marvelous ship and crew! After a very disappointing Med cruise on Vision in June, I was very happy to enjoy the wonderful entertainment and amenities on Quantum. Our cabin - midship deck 8 - was fantastic with more storage than we’ve had on Royal, Viking or Celebrity. We saw whales from our balcony on 3 different days!!!

 

 

  We saw whales on both of our sailings.  Mainly from the Suite Lounge (all the way aft on deck 12) and from Coastal Kitchen.  I overheard one person comment about how much they had paid for a whale watching trip and although they had seen lots of wildlife they did not see whales. 

 

On 9/13/2022 at 8:48 PM, librarylady19 said:

As for the customs lines, we saw a woman cut in the line about ten people ahead of us and when she was challenged, she pulled out pepper spray. Other cruisers called for security and when she denied her actions, she was loudly denounced. She was pulled out of line for about 20 minutes but was not arrested and smugly sailed through the line ☹️Pretty nervy to say the least. 

 

 Oh, how i wish i could have seen that.  

 

Our worse was a lady on one of those scooters who kept nudging forward around on between people when she saw the smallest gap.  No one confronter her though. 

 

[late2cruisin]

On 9/16/2022 at 8:31 AM, DaKahuna said:

 

 

 

 Yours is the first that I have heard of.  I would not be surprised if there were more cases but no one saying anything about it. 

 

 

  There are many more cases of Covid from our cruise. I know you don't do facebook, but if you did, you'd see many people on the Quantum Sept.5 group who have come home with Covid (or their travel companions have.)

 

 

[DaKahuna]

43 minutes ago, late2cruisin said:

 

That is news to me but seems to follow a pattern of a lot of recent cruises. 
 

[DaKahuna]

@Tulsacoker You will be happy to know that we did in fact get double cruise points for both cruises and we now happily set at 352 points !! 

 

I am going to contact C&A and ask for my crystal block !! 

 

[Tulsacoker]

Congrats ! our 4x points showed up this morning ... nowhere close to yours but 28 helps 😄  

[lizsoars]

Thank you so much for your review!  I am considering booking this exact trip for my family in May/early June.  My husband and I are in our 50s, and we have five boys ranging from age 21-28 that we are surprising with the trip.  I know that they will love the excursions and the adventures in the ports, but what do you think about the actual onboard ship time?  We may have a girlfriend or two along with the boys, but basically five 20somethings on a ship for seven days...would love to hear any of your thoughts!

[Mittens101]

On 8/30/2022 at 6:37 PM, DaKahuna said:

Now for the food porn from today’s Coastal Kitchen lunch.

 

Seafood Veloute

Lasagna (my wife started eating before  I could get a picture)

Steak Frits

Carrot Cake 

 

all were well prepared and flavorful.  The steak was not as tender as last night’s gilet but that was to be expected.

 

Tonight is prime rib, but as many have pointed out - it is listed as ribeye on the menu. 
 

 

Love the food porn 

[Biker19]

15 hours ago, lizsoars said:

but what do you think about the actual onboard ship time? 

Welcome to CC.

 

Q class ships have lots of things for young adults.

[Tulsacoker]

@lizsoars, as Biker19 said plenty to do on Q ships for young and older adults. Rock climbing, sports court (basketball, volly ball), XBox section, ping pong,  flow rider, Ifly, bumper cars etc...  

Edited September 20, 2022 by Tulsacoker

[DaKahuna]

@lizsoars As others have said, there are activities for people of all ages.  They even have meetings for single cruisers, although I have never been to one.

 

If your sons get bored I think it would be their own fault for not trying hard enough to find something to do.

 

[Sarah1974]

I've just caught up on your last 2 days on the cruise; thanks for your blog, a cruise to Alaska is definitely on my bucket list

[Tulsacoker]

41 minutes ago, Sarah1974 said:

I've just caught up on your last 2 days on the cruise; thanks for your blog, a cruise to Alaska is definitely on my bucket list

try and go in July.... September is a little dicey with the weather  

[DaKahuna]

We've been in early June, Early August, late August and early September.  We enjoyed all four but the weather for the early August cruise was the best.   As @Tulsacoker said, try going in July.  If you do not mind putting up with more young children aboard, that is a great time for Alaska. 

 

Being retired, we prefer t o sail in the "off season".  We find the cruises to be less crowded, quieter, and most of the time less expensive.