Cruising with Theme Park Review! Quantum of the Seas!

[cfc]

I'm intrigued by the "Terroir Beef."

 

[robbalvey]

Here is the full 18-page report!

 

http://www.themeparkreview.com/parks/photo.php?pageid=570&linkid=14488

[DougMJr]

Finally got around to reading this report. Having only cruised on Allure, I was extremely excited when Quantum was announced. SeaPlex and iFly are pretty tempting, but my overall impression is that I would still enjoy Allure or Oasis slightly more.

 

I certainly hope SeaPlex and iFly find a place on the next Oasis class ship. I wonder if the choice of Ship Manufacturer has any effect on these elements finding their way to those ships?

[coasterer22]

I'm intrigued by the "Terroir Beef."

 

The "Liquid Lobster" seems equally intriguing. All the food options on the ship seem excellent, and Jamie's looks especially delicious.

 

Love the look and feel of the ship!

[robbalvey]

Finally got around to reading this report. Having only cruised on Allure, I was extremely excited when Quantum was announced. SeaPlex and iFly are pretty tempting, but my overall impression is that I would still enjoy Allure or Oasis slightly more.

I think it's going to be awfully hard to beat Oasis or Allure. They pretty much are the "Tokyo Disney" of cruise ships. The question really is more choosing between a ship in the Quantum, Freedom, or Radiance class. I feel those three classes are all comparable with different things appealing to different people. Either way, though, I think any of them are a great option.

[bert425]

Looks like y'all had an awesome time, thanks for sharing.

 

I may have missed it looking at all the pictures, but did y'all stop at any ports?

 

I'd imagine if I were on this ship, I'd likely stay aboard while in port and do all the fun stuff!

[SharkTums]

^LOL! Good question!

 

The itinerary was Port Canaveral, Nassau, Coco Key.

 

Port Canaveral is 55 minutes from our house so some friends picked us up and we went to lunch before heading back to the ship.

 

Nassau we got off the boat for roughly 23.5 minutes and were quickly reminded why we normally never get off the boat here.

 

Coco Key we missed for the third out of fourth time visited. The island is a tender port and in any sort of wind or bad weather you usually don't go.

 

Some people were upset with an eight day cruise with only two ports but it was GREAT for us! Most of the time when we cruise we cruise for the ship and NOT the destination.

[bert425]

hehe

 

we're the opposite, we like stopping at a lot of ports and don't tend to do much on the ship (for example, we just went to the Caribbean on Holland America. . not much at all to do on the ship, but we spent almost all the docked time enjoying the ports).

 

 

Then again, we've never been on a ship as big as Quantum is, and have never seen anything like these onboard amenities. So I'd guess I WOULD spend more time on board if we were on this ship (or one of a similar size).

 

thanks again for sharing, and it looks like y'all had an absolute blast!

 

(we have an iFly less than 2 miles from us in Austin, and I'm dying to try it. . it looks like FUN)

[Xmeister]

I have family members who think it's stupid to base your choice of cruise on what ship you'll be on. This is the reason we've sailed Carnival more than any other line.

 

Truth is, on most cruises you spend the majority of your time on the ship and for me sea days are my favorite part of the whole experience. Besides, once you've cruised the Caribbean a couple of times the ports start to feel really similar for the most part. The only Caribbean port I have really loved was St. Thomas. Last cruise we stopped at Progreso and besides it being the place to access one of the bigger Mayan Pyramid sites, I have no idea what the reason is for stopping there. It was one of the shadiest places I've ever been.

 

We ended up in a cab with a driver who demanded more money than the initial agreed upon amount or else he wasn't going to take us back to the ship.

 

Thank you for sharing your trip with us, I think I'll use these photos as well as your photos of the Oasis class to try to change my family's mind next time they want to sail Carnival.

[SharkTums]

Yeah, the Caribbean is pretty boring. I understand choosing an itinerary that's interesting over the ships but if you're doing the Caribbean, Bahamas, even Baja choose based on SHIP by far over itinerary.

[bert425]

Yeah, the Caribbean is pretty boring. I understand choosing an itinerary that's interesting over the ships but if you're doing the Caribbean, Bahamas, even Baja choose based on SHIP by far over itinerary.

 

it being our first time, we had a blast on Curacao, and we really enjoyed the Dominican Republic even (we took an excursion that brought us out of the terrible city and into the rest of the island - it looked like Hawaii).

 

but agreed, the Islands were very similar, and if we were to go back, it would maybe only be sure to include Aruba & Curacao among the new ports.

 

TRUST me, I would have rather not been on Holland America, it was a gifted cruise from my Parents and they insisted on that line.

(I WILL eventually get a report up, just been super busy since we got back)

 

I must admit tho, the age range on the ship was better than I expected. Guessing, I'd say the breakout was:

40% - 85+

40% - 65-85

15% - 40-65

5% - 40 & under

 

The main older group (85+, most with walkers, wheelchairs, scooters) we almost NEVER saw in MDR (we had late seating), and rarely saw anywhere on the ship (except for Lido! -- Lido was always PACKED with wheelchairs when we cut thru) and maybe a couple of excursions. But I can't recall ever getting behind someone exiting the ship in this age range.

 

what was disappointing tho, that despite this age mix?. . the programming on the ship was 90% targeted towards the oldest group.

 

seriously, on the sea days, some of the options were: "Bridge Group" "Needlepoint Group" or "Meet and Discuss the News"

 

whoopie!

 

 

Then again, many of the upper 60's folks on our ship had just come across the Trans-Atlanatic crossing (I think they were mainly dutch), and I've never seen so many older folks in Speedos and Bikinis (good for them, but .. . shudder).

 

[GCI Wooden]

"Meet and Discuss the News"

 

That sounds riveting.

[805Andrew]

I'm intrigued by the "Terroir Beef."

 

The "Liquid Lobster" seems equally intriguing. All the food options on the ship seem excellent, and Jamie's looks especially delicious.

 

Love the look and feel of the ship!

 

I'd want to try this restaurant if I was onboard. I'm intrigued by the Tempura Caviar.

 

Overall this ship looks awesome with all its great restaurants, unique attractions, and it's aesthetically pleasing design. I have yet to try a cruise but when I do it will be with Royal Carribean or Disney Cruise Line. Thanks for all the great pictures as always!

[cfc]

^All the desserts sound great to me, too--especially the "Boston Cream Pie Maze."

[Philrad71]

Great report, thank you for sharing!

 

I just read an article in today's Buffalo News where they were raving about Quantum of the Seas. I agree that with everything to do on the ship, who would ever need to port?

 

I am curious (and I apologize if I missed this) about disliking Nassau. I have heard from people that I work with say that it was way overpriced, they close the beaches and water park too soon and that they tend to cater more to gamblers than families. Is this true? Or are there other reasons (IE: trashy, over-commercialized, rude/pushy staff, dirty, etc)?

 

I have always wanted to do a Caribbean cruise, but I have heard mixed reports about some of the ports. Based on the fact that we are most likely going to Aruba in 2016 (not on a cruise), we are thinking of saving our money and doing a Viking river cruise in Europe next year instead.

 

On another note, the food options look absolutely amazing although I don't know how I would like my veggies with a side of "soil & pebbles". What do they do, just pull the vegetables out of the ground, throw them on a plate and call it good?

 

The sriracha yogurt sounds like it could be an interesting combination - either really good or horribly disgusting!

Wow...can't believe that they have my local beer on a cruise ship!

 

Unearthly is undoubtedly my favorite of all the Southern Tier beers, but be forewarned...one 22 oz bottle will most likely rock your world if you are not a seasoned beer drinker. I have a bottle of this in my fridge, but think I might wait until the holidays when I won't have to worry about driving anywhere!