Quantum & Ovation Plus - 30 Day Live (hopefully)

[DaniDanielle]

WOW is all I can say!

[akcruz]

Agree, beautiful pictures.  We haven't been to Hawaii for almost 35 years, keep talking about it then life gets in the way.  Need to seriously work on getting there.  Thanks for wonderful infirmation, pictures and videos.

[bobmacliberty]

14 hours ago, Momof3gurlz said:

You pictures and videos are just breathtaking Bob.  What an amazing trip.  Now how am I ever going to decide between Maui and Kauai as our second island when we do Hawaii next year?!

 

Difficult decision.  Maui is our first love but Kauai is just beautiful.  Micheline and I are talking about bringing our daughters and their significant others on a family trip to Hawaii (don't tell the kids 🤫).  We asked ourselves...would we take them to Maui or Kauai?  Our daughters have been to Maui twice but neither of their boyfriends have been to Hawaii at all.  Maui is more built up and I want to say that there's more to do there, but there's plenty to do on Kauai, so I'm not sure that's true.  You can't lose either way.

[Sea Dog]

Photos are fantastic. When I get home I want re read your whole trip and make notes. I want to go to some of these places.

[bobmacliberty]

OK...Let's wrap this thing up for real with some final thoughts.

 

Seattle - We greatly enjoyed the Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, and Chihuly Glass & Garden.  Those areas of the city, along with the waterfront, were very busy.  Our hotel was downtown by the Westlake Center and that area was a bit depressing.  There were several closed stores.  Across the street from our hotel was the huge Bon Marche Building...One of those 7 or 8 story tall buildings that covers an entire city block.  There's a big Macy's sign on the building that makes me think all or most of the building was a Macy's Department store at one point.  Now, it's almost completely empty and boarded up.  I think there's one coffee shop on one corner of the building.  Several other buildings were similarly boarded up.  There were a lot of homeless people living near the entrance to stores.  We were told that the police department is very understaffed because many cops have chosen to leave.  They are underpaid and have been told not to arrest people in certain parts of the city.  I'm not sure how true that is, but downtown Seattle is not in great shape right now.  

 

Vancouver - Vancouver on the other hand was great.  We didn't get to do as much as we wanted to and we definitely want to go back.  It's a gorgeous setting (the area around Seattle is also beautiful) with the mountains and the water.  

 

Alaska - It didn't feel like we gave Alaska a fair chance.  We really enjoyed Ketchikan and the weather there was perfect, but things started going downhill from there.  Part of that was weather related as it rained, part of that was the itinerary changes that we had, and part was Micheline hurting her back.  If we do Alaska again, we'll probably do a 1 week northbound or southbound and spend more time on a land trip there...maybe combined with Vancouver.  Although we've been loyal to Royal, we would definitely look at other lines that specialize in Alaska...possibly even smaller ships that don't have as many bells and whistles but do a lot of port stops and have great food.

 

Cruise Ships - I'll lump Quantum and Ovation together because they are sisters.  Service was hit or miss on both ships.  Sometimes, service was outstanding...other times it left a lot to be desired.  I'm guessing this is not specific to Royal and is just a sign of the times post Covid.  There were a few things about this class of ship that we really like.  The Two70 lounge with the Cafe and shows there was spectacular.  The theater technology was really impressive and the views were amazing.  We also really liked Music Hall and found ourselves hanging out there more than the Schooner Bar, which is our typical hangout on other ships.  I really don't like the long, skinny layout of Dazzles on Oasis Class that is supposed to serve the same function.  We still prefer the Royal Promenade over the Royal Esplanade.  Although they are very similar, the Esplanade just seems more broken up.  We only ate at Izumi (specialty restaurants) but we did not like the location at all.  We waited in Wonderland for the suite walkoff and the Oasis Class Wonderland seems like a much better room/location.  There were a few other minor annoyances with the Quantum Class.  There's a half wall on the outside of the mezzanine level stair in the Royal Theater such that you can only access the center section.  Why?  Our Grand Suite was perfectly fine but seemed to have been designed more for form than for function.  There was no power outlet on my side of the bed.  There was a useless telephone in the bathroom.  Coastal Kitchen had some advantages being larger and with nice views out the port side of the ship.  But the Suite Lounge felt very disconnected.  I like the Oasis Class deck 17 better. We did like the Quantum Class art scattered around the ship which was more digital and interactive. Overall, we'll still chose an Oasis Class ship over a Quantum Class ship.

 

Hawaii - In case it wasn't obvious, Hawaii was the highlight of our trip.  Lahaina/Maui felt like home and Kauai was absolutely beautiful.  It was nice getting off the cruise ship and already having your body clock adjusted to Hawaii time.  That said, there were too many sea days in a row on the Vancouver to Hawaii cruise and we were a little bit bored.  We agreed that next time, we'd rather fly to Hawaii, deal with the jet lag, and have more time on the islands.  As Dani said, heaven on earth.

 

That's all folks!  Any final questions that I can answer?

[bobmacliberty]

14 minutes ago, Sea Dog said:

Photos are fantastic. When I get home I want re read your whole trip and make notes. I want to go to some of these places.

 

Happy to answer any questions that you may have Greg.  We haven't done the Big Island yet but have experience with Oahu, Maui, and now Kauai.

[bobmacliberty]

One other thought about the Schooner Bar on both Quantum and Ovation.  The piano players on both ships were very talented but played what I'll call background listening music.  I'm used to the Schooner Bar piano being upbeat, sing along music with the piano as the centerpiece of the bar.  Maybe that's just a function of who the piano players were on our cruises, rather than an intentional change in the Schooner Bar vibe on the Quantum Class.  I did mention that Kelly Goodrich was supposed to be on the Quantum crossing, and he's one of our favorite sing along piano players.  

[dani negreanu]

On 10/17/2022 at 11:53 PM, Momof3gurlz said:

You pictures and videos are just breathtaking Bob.  What an amazing trip.  Now how am I ever going to decide between Maui and Kauai as our second island when we do Hawaii next year?!

 

 My two cents -- Kauai. Breathtaking beauty overload.

 

Speaking of which, Bob -- I was riveted to all your pictures, mainly the helicopter ones, which afforded me to see other views of this beautiful island.

 

We were lucky to see many sights of the Waimea Canyon, up until the Pu'u O Kila Lookout, which, by the time we got there, was the "whiteish" version of pea soup. No amount of blowing air could move the thick fog... [here my cousin is disappointed, whereas her hubby is taking it in a stride].

 

 

 

At least we saw this amazing view at the chickens' "domain" 😉 

 

 

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

  We also really liked Music Hall and found ourselves hanging out there more than the Schooner Bar, which is our typical hangout on other ships.  I really don't like the long, skinny layout of Dazzles on Oasis Class that is supposed to serve the same function. 

 Our Grand Suite was perfectly fine but seemed to have been designed more for form than for function.  There was no power outlet on my side of the bed.  There was a useless telephone in the bathroom. 

 

Coastal Kitchen had some advantages being larger and with nice views out the port side of the ship.  But the Suite Lounge felt very disconnected.  I like the Oasis Class deck 17 better. We did like the Quantum Class art scattered around the ship which was more digital and interactive. Overall, we'll still chose an Oasis Class ship over a Quantum Class ship.

 

 

 A couple of comments based on our recent Quantum cruise 

 

1.  I agree with you about Dazzles but we spent almost no time in the Music Hall.  We hung out in the Schooner bar and really enjoyed a lot of upbeat music.  While there was one classical pianist there were more performances that included tributes to Elton John, Billy Joel, and Neil Diamond. 

 

2.  I could not agree more about the configuration of the Grand Suites on Quantum.  The lack of storage areas, especially around the sinks in the bathroom, did not go well with my wife.  There were very few drawers in the bedroom area as well. 

 

3. Is Coastal Kitchen in a different location on Ovation?  The Coastal Kitchen on Quantum was on the starboard side of the ship.  

4.  I am torn on my opinion of the Suite Lounge on Quantum vs Oasis.  Our favorite staterooms are those at the aft of the ship and my wife and I spent a lot of time during the day just sitting and relaxing in the Suite Lounge on Quantum.  We found it a very nice , peaceful and relaxing place to simply hang out.  Our experience on Oasis and Allure, all pre-COVID, was that the Suite Lounge was almost always crowded because of the bar being open 1100-2300.  Also give then choice of a view of the wake versus a view of the children's pool/play area -- I'll take the wake view every time. 

 

I really enjoyed your review and pictures and what to say thank you for allowing me to follow along on your journey. 

 

 

 

[bobmacliberty]

8 minutes ago, DaKahuna said:

 

 A couple of comments based on our recent Quantum cruise 

 

1.  I agree with you about Dazzles but we spent almost no time in the Music Hall.  We hung out in the Schooner bar and really enjoyed a lot of upbeat music.  While there was one classical pianist there were more performances that included tributes to Elton John, Billy Joel, and Neil Diamond. 

 

2.  I could not agree more about the configuration of the Grand Suites on Quantum.  The lack of storage areas, especially around the sinks in the bathroom, did not go well with my wife.  There were very few drawers in the bedroom area as well. 

 

3. Is Coastal Kitchen in a different location on Ovation?  The Coastal Kitchen on Quantum was on the starboard side of the ship.  

4.  I am torn on my opinion of the Suite Lounge on Quantum vs Oasis.  Our favorite staterooms are those at the aft of the ship and my wife and I spent a lot of time during the day just sitting and relaxing in the Suite Lounge on Quantum.  We found it a very nice , peaceful and relaxing place to simply hang out.  Our experience on Oasis and Allure, all pre-COVID, was that the Suite Lounge was almost always crowded because of the bar being open 1100-2300.  Also give then choice of a view of the wake versus a view of the children's pool/play area -- I'll take the wake view every time. 

 

I really enjoyed your review and pictures and what to say thank you for allowing me to follow along on your journey. 

 

 

 

 

My mistake.  CK was definitely starboard side on Ovation.  Same layout as Quantum.  I do agree that the SL view from Quantum Class is much better than Oasis Class.

 

I was so happy to follow your review before we started our trip.  It got us so pumped up!

[LATTELOVE]

2 hours ago, bobmacliberty said:

OK...Let's wrap this thing up for real with some final thoughts.

 

Seattle - We greatly enjoyed the Pike Place Market, the Space Needle, and Chihuly Glass & Garden.  Those areas of the city, along with the waterfront, were very busy.  Our hotel was downtown by the Westlake Center and that area was a bit depressing.  There were several closed stores.  Across the street from our hotel was the huge Bon Marche Building...One of those 7 or 8 story tall buildings that covers an entire city block.  There's a big Macy's sign on the building that makes me think all or most of the building was a Macy's Department store at one point.  Now, it's almost completely empty and boarded up.  I think there's one coffee shop on one corner of the building.  Several other buildings were similarly boarded up.  There were a lot of homeless people living near the entrance to stores.  We were told that the police department is very understaffed because many cops have chosen to leave.  They are underpaid and have been told not to arrest people in certain parts of the city.  I'm not sure how true that is, but downtown Seattle is not in great shape right now.  

 

Vancouver - Vancouver on the other hand was great.  We didn't get to do as much as we wanted to and we definitely want to go back.  It's a gorgeous setting (the area around Seattle is also beautiful) with the mountains and the water.  

 

Alaska - It didn't feel like we gave Alaska a fair chance.  We really enjoyed Ketchikan and the weather there was perfect, but things started going downhill from there.  Part of that was weather related as it rained, part of that was the itinerary changes that we had, and part was Micheline hurting her back.  If we do Alaska again, we'll probably do a 1 week northbound or southbound and spend more time on a land trip there...maybe combined with Vancouver.  Although we've been loyal to Royal, we would definitely look at other lines that specialize in Alaska...possibly even smaller ships that don't have as many bells and whistles but do a lot of port stops and have great food.

 

Cruise Ships - I'll lump Quantum and Ovation together because they are sisters.  Service was hit or miss on both ships.  Sometimes, service was outstanding...other times it left a lot to be desired.  I'm guessing this is not specific to Royal and is just a sign of the times post Covid.  There were a few things about this class of ship that we really like.  The Two70 lounge with the Cafe and shows there was spectacular.  The theater technology was really impressive and the views were amazing.  We also really liked Music Hall and found ourselves hanging out there more than the Schooner Bar, which is our typical hangout on other ships.  I really don't like the long, skinny layout of Dazzles on Oasis Class that is supposed to serve the same function.  We still prefer the Royal Promenade over the Royal Esplanade.  Although they are very similar, the Esplanade just seems more broken up.  We only ate at Izumi (specialty restaurants) but we did not like the location at all.  We waited in Wonderland for the suite walkoff and the Oasis Class Wonderland seems like a much better room/location.  There were a few other minor annoyances with the Quantum Class.  There's a half wall on the outside of the mezzanine level stair in the Royal Theater such that you can only access the center section.  Why?  Our Grand Suite was perfectly fine but seemed to have been designed more for form than for function.  There was no power outlet on my side of the bed.  There was a useless telephone in the bathroom.  Coastal Kitchen had some advantages being larger and with nice views out the port side of the ship.  But the Suite Lounge felt very disconnected.  I like the Oasis Class deck 17 better. We did like the Quantum Class art scattered around the ship which was more digital and interactive. Overall, we'll still chose an Oasis Class ship over a Quantum Class ship.

 

Hawaii - In case it wasn't obvious, Hawaii was the highlight of our trip.  Lahaina/Maui felt like home and Kauai was absolutely beautiful.  It was nice getting off the cruise ship and already having your body clock adjusted to Hawaii time.  That said, there were too many sea days in a row on the Vancouver to Hawaii cruise and we were a little bit bored.  We agreed that next time, we'd rather fly to Hawaii, deal with the jet lag, and have more time on the islands.  As Dani said, heaven on earth.

 

That's all folks!  Any final questions that I can answer?

Thank you for taking us along.

You did a fantastic job.

[DaKahuna]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

My mistake.  CK was definitely starboard side on Ovation.  Same layout as Quantum.  I do agree that the SL view from Quantum Class is much better than Oasis Class.

 

I was so happy to follow your review before we started our trip.  It got us so pumped up!

 

No big deal, I was just curious since Coastal Kitchen on Harmony is on the opposite side of where it is on Oasis and Allure.  

That was my first Royal Caribbean live review.  My previous ones had been for sailings on Celebrity.  

I am hoping to do a live review on our February cruise on Harmony.  

 

[h20skibum]

Bob, thanks for the great review and great pictures, especially those from Hawaii.  Brings back some good memories.

 

I think that one picture you posted of the beach with the arch along the Nāpali coast, is the same beach they set us down on, on our helicopter tour. 
 

Thanks for taking us along. 

[Sydney24]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:54 AM, bobmacliberty said:

So…sea days. Lots of them. We generally are not big sea day fans.  We prefer going to ports and seeing/doing something. We are fortunate to live walking distance from the beach in Florida and belong to a club with a nice beach/pool/ocean clubhouse area with great food and drink. We can have a nice beach/pool day almost any time for most of the year. We don’t cruise for that type

of experience. I know that many people love sea days. The world would be a boring place if we were all the same. Our biggest concern about doing an ocean crossing is what we would do all day for many days in a row. 
 

So far, it’s been a little boring, but not as bad as we expected. Don’t get me wrong…there is a lot to do on the ship. Every morning is filled with various stretching/yoga/exercise type classes. We don’t do that on vacation (and barely do that enough at home). There are trivia events several times a day. We’ve done a few of those. They’re a good way to enjoy 30 minutes, but we can only

take so much trivia. There are constant health and fitness type seminars, design to sell spa services (IMO), constant jewelry seminars, designed to sell jewelry (IMO), and constant art seminars, designed to sell art (you guessed it…IMO). I’m sure many of these seminars are educational and not really just a sales pitch, but they haven’t really attracted us. There’s Bingo most days, which we might eventually try, but $50 for a bunch of bingo cards isn’t my kind of gambling. I’d rather go to a craps table, which we also haven’t yet done but likely will. 
 

We’ve gone to a couple of interesting lecture from a woman named Louis Riofrio. She’s an astrophysicist and former NASA scientist who lives on the Big Island. Her talks are an interesting mix of volcanoes, black holes, Hawaiian history, and things to do in Hawaii.
 

Yesterday, we went to a cake decorating contest between the Hotel Director and the F&B Director. Each had a passenger helping them. The F&B Director’s helper was a woman with some sort

of degree in cooking who has a catering business that specializes in cake decorating. 😳. The F&B Director took a more serious route and designed a pretty nice looking cake. The HD took a more comical route and designed a pretty outrageous looking cake. There was some fun interplay between the officers stealing each other’s toppings and the CD did a good job of narrating and keeping things funny. It was an enjoyable event. 
 

For the most part during the day, we’ve just relaxed and read our books. Micheline has several books loaded into her Nook, and I have the same for the Nook app on my iPad mini  (which makes for a great ebook). I just finished reading a good Brad Meltzer book called The Escape Artist, and started reading the latest Jack Reacher book called Better Off Dead. 
 

Evenings are filled with various shows, musical artists, and occasional passenger competitions. We’ve had no problem filling our evenings with fun activities. 
 

I can’t remember who asked, but Northstar has been running the entire cruise. Same for RipCord

by iFly. 

Hi I’m enjoying reading about your travels. We are new to RC and will be on Ovation in March 2023. Are you able to tell us what the booking system is for the NorthStar, Ripcord and the other activities onboard? We are cruising with friends who are very keen to try the indoor skydiving! Thanks. Anne

[bobmacliberty]

3 hours ago, Sydney24 said:

Hi I’m enjoying reading about your travels. We are new to RC and will be on Ovation in March 2023. Are you able to tell us what the booking system is for the NorthStar, Ripcord and the other activities onboard? We are cruising with friends who are very keen to try the indoor skydiving! Thanks. Anne

 

For both Ripcord and North Star, some days/times were free and some you had to pay.  I think Ripcord was free on the first day as an enticement, but was pay all other days.  North Star was listed something like basic (free) and extended (pay), with the basic going up but not swinging out to the side. I think North Star was free while in port. 

 

I was able to book a free Ripcord session on day 1 using the Royal app right after we boarded.  The app told us to see Guest Services for a Ripcord pay session or any North Star session.  You can book at each activity's check-in desk or there's a desk in the Seaplex where we booked our free North Star session.  All other activities that I can think of can be booked on the app.  We didn't do bumper cars or roller skating, so I'm not positive that those can be booked on the app.

[Sydney24]

11 minutes ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

For both Ripcord and North Star, some days/times were free and some you had to pay.  I think Ripcord was free on the first day as an enticement, but was pay all other days.  North Star was listed something like basic (free) and extended (pay), with the basic going up but not swinging out to the side. I think North Star was free while in port. 

 

I was able to book a free Ripcord session on day 1 using the Royal app right after we boarded.  The app told us to see Guest Services for a Ripcord pay session or any North Star session.  You can book at each activity's check-in desk or there's a desk in the Seaplex where we booked our free North Star session.  All other activities that I can think of can be booked on the app.  We didn't do bumper cars or roller skating, so I'm not positive that those can be booked on the app.

Thank you so much for the information. We are looking forward to our cruise on Ovation.

[bobmacliberty]

6 hours ago, Sydney24 said:

Thank you so much for the information. We are looking forward to our cruise on Ovation.

 

I would check immediately after boarding to see how to book things.  It's possible that we had a different process for the crossing.  Have a great cruise!

[Sea Dog]

Fantastic review and I am going to re-read when I get home to take notes on everything. Did 30 days feel good? Too long, too short? I’m sure going back to everyday life will be a little bit of a let down. You had some amazing pictures. I figured  Hawaii would be your favorite. By the looks of things I think it will be my favorite too when we go. Thanks again for all your hard work letting us tag along.

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, Sea Dog said:

Fantastic review and I am going to re-read when I get home to take notes on everything. Did 30 days feel good? Too long, too short? I’m sure going back to everyday life will be a little bit of a let down. You had some amazing pictures. I figured  Hawaii would be your favorite. By the looks of things I think it will be my favorite too when we go. Thanks again for all your hard work letting us tag along.

 

Thanks Greg and same to you for both of your current/recent cruises.  I'm really enjoying them.  30 days was starting to feel a bit long, although we didn't want to leave Kauai.  It did feel good to be home.  We are pretty active on vacation and end up eating/drinking more than we normally would (sounds like you're similar), so it felt good in a way to get back to a normal life. The whole vacation from vacation thing.  We love living where we do, which makes if much easier to go back to a normal life.

 

We're already planning our next big trip...likely Scotland and other parts of the UK.  @FromSeaToShiningSea's great Italy photos though have me wondering if we should resurrect our Italy/Greek Isles cruise trip that got cancelled by Covid instead.  We love travel and I firmly believe that you should always have at least one vacation in the planning stages, if not booked.  Something to look forward to.

[bobmacliberty]

1 hour ago, bobmacliberty said:

 

Thanks Greg and same to you for both of your current/recent cruises.  I'm really enjoying them.  30 days was starting to feel a bit long, although we didn't want to leave Kauai.  It did feel good to be home.  We are pretty active on vacation and end up eating/drinking more than we normally would (sounds like you're similar), so it felt good in a way to get back to a normal life. The whole vacation from vacation thing.  We love living where we do, which makes if much easier to go back to a normal life.

 

We're already planning our next big trip...likely Scotland and other parts of the UK.  @FromSeaToShiningSea's great Italy photos though have me wondering if we should resurrect our Italy/Greek Isles cruise trip that got cancelled by Covid instead.  We love travel and I firmly believe that you should always have at least one vacation in the planning stages, if not booked.  Something to look forward to.

 

Oops.  Just realized that I picked the wrong From Sea To Shining Sea CC member.  It's @FromSea2ShiningSea that is posting the great Italy pictures on Dani's thread.

[The Fun Researcher]

Fantastic review thank you!

 

One question.  Getting ready to book 6 cabins on the Quantum for summer of 2023.  Which side of the ship do you recommend for a balcony cabin?  I was thinking Starboard?

 

Our itinerary is slightly different than yours.  See below.  It looks like the northernmost point is Skagway, and then I'm guessing we would turn around and head back south to get to Endicott Arm, Juneau, etc...?  Is there an advantage of port vs Starboard?

 

Also, does the Quantum go through the Inside Passage on these itineraries?

 

Thanks, Dan

 

[DaKahuna]

10 hours ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 

Also, does the Quantum go through the Inside Passage on these itineraries?

 

 No Quantum does not go through the Inside Passage.  

The map of the itinerary posted in the thread you started shows her sailing on the Pacific side of Vancouver Island.