Day 2 onboard the world’s newest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, has come and gone, but the “wows” keep on coming!
It was another sea day as we make our way to Port Canaveral, FL for no other reason than… well, I can’t really think of any. Anyone who knows that area knows there’s really nothing there other than the Kennedy Space Center, so for a cruise port destination, I don’t think it’s on anyone’s “must-visit” list. I will be getting off the ship for no other reason than a photo-op and to meet up with some friends I haven’t seen since TheFerretStore.com days.
Since we left port on Sunday, we’ve had strong winds and occasionally rough seas. That continued most of the day Monday and for the first time ever, I got hit with a brief bout of mal de mar. Normally I’m not bothered by rough seas unless I just watched the 70’s disaster flick Poseidon Adventure. But when I went for breakfast up on deck 15 aft, while I ate my scrambled eggs and about a pound of bacon, the rocking and bouncing at the tail end of the ship finally got to me.
To my left was an older husband and wife, who went from rosy red to pale white in about three minutes. As he put his napkin up to his mouth, I held my breath hoping his eggs Benedict were going to stay where he left them. At the same time, I had visions of my own breakfast making a return appearance while I turned ice cold and started sweating like the proverbial lady of the evening taking in mass at St. Peter’s Cathedral.
I made my way down to my cabin, popped a Bonine which I keep for those just-in-case moments, and headed for a lower deck, mid-ship. The motion of the ocean was still quite prevalent so I did my best to hold things together. I kept telling myself that a whoopsie bag was not part of my day planner, so after some more rocking and rolling, I needed to go back and change my sweat-drenched shirt, at which time I said, “screw it.” I laid down for a bit, watched a movie on Turner Classic Movies (the first ship I’ve been on with TCM as one of the channels, big plus there), and fell asleep.
One thing I loved about the Windjammer Cafe (buffet) on Quantum of the Seas was the addition of handwashing sinks at the entrances. In addition to hand sanitizers, actual sinks have been installed and someone is stationed at each entrance reminding guests to wash their hands. Excellent addition, although I do like the automatic hand washers I wrote about when I was on Holland America’s ms Veendam a few months ago.
Eventually, the Bonine kicked in and I was back to my seafaring self once again. I headed up for some soup and salad for lunch followed by some time up on the pool deck. Even though the weather was cloudy and dreary, the temperatures rose to a point where the shorts could be worn and you could actually enjoy the warmth. However, with the rough seas, the main pools and some of the hot tubs were drained due to the water sloshing out of them and entering areas of the ship not meant for swimming.
More exploring of the ship continued throughout the afternoon with a stop in Two70, a lounge and performance area equipped with robotic screens that put on a show and an acrobatic act. One of the ship’s evening shows, Starwater, is performed here where the entire venue is magically transformed into an entirely different space thanks to video mapping, robotics, and live performance artistry. The show itself is billed as something you won’t see anywhere else in the world. It’s on my reservation list for later this week.
One of the most talked-about and hyped features of the ship, the Bionic Bar, has been pretty much a bust. The bar, powered by Makr Shakr, uses robots to craft cocktails that guests order from iPads placed on tables around the bar. As the drinks are ordered, displays on each side of the bar tell you how long it will be before your particular libation will be ready and what Robot 1 and Robot 2 are currently working on.
However, the $5.5 million robots appear to be on strike. The only action going on at the Bionic Bar is that of technicians scrambling to fix the human equivalent of Harry the bartender. I’ve been told that the folks from Makr Shakr who were on board tweaking the robots disembarked on November 23rd and have headed back across the pond leaving the ship’s technicians scrambling to fix the bartending bots. This is one of the bugs that I’m sure will be worked out as time goes on, but I tried to do the math and figure out just how many martinis the robots need to sell at $12 a piece to make up the huge price tag for this non-functioning piece of technology, and just came to the conclusion that it’s not something the bean counters in Miami expect a return on investment from.
I asked one of the technicians trying to get the robots to work if the Bionic Bar would be on Anthem of the Seas, the second Quantum-class ship currently being built in Germany and he said, “I hope not.” I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Another bug that was plaguing guests was the inability to use the Royal iQ app to book shore excursions, and restaurant reservations and keep track of the daily activities. As I mentioned yesterday, the app was not functioning for the preview cruises and it just came online today, but with some quirks. I was told by one restaurant maitre’d, that “a lot” of reservations that people made through the app suddenly disappeared leading to people showing up at a dining venue, saying that had a reservation, but the host or hostess did not have a record of it in their handheld tablet they use. His suggestion is, “call to verify your reservations.”
One thing I wish the app had was the ability to see the full schedule of the day’s activities, this would eliminate the need to carry around the paper schedule that arrives in your stateroom each evening. Hopefully, that will come with an updated version.
Exploration of the ship continued, but I have not taken advantage of the free ride on the ship’s North Star. That’s the crane with an observation pod on the end of it that suspends guests 300 feet above sea level to give a birds-eye view of the world around you. The lines have been pretty long and my patience for such things is short.
Ripcord by iFly, the skydiving simulator has been busy as well, with people queued to make reservations. I haven’t been able to convince myself to try this one out yet, but who knows?
I headed over to SeaPlex to watch the first bumper cars at sea bang into each other in this multi-faceted play area. Nothing special here, but for the kids, it’s a diversion. The area also features the first food truck at sea, offering hot dogs for free as opposed to paying for them at the onboard Johnny Rockets.
Speaking of paying. A recurring theme has developed onboard Quantum of the Seas, and it revolves around onboard revenue. Like other lines, Royal Caribbean places a per-person surcharge on the more upscale restaurants on board such as their steakhouse, Chops. At $35 a head it’s not a bad deal and is on par with Holland America’s surcharge for the Pinnacle Grill.
As far as Johnny Rockets is concerned, on the other Royal Caribbean ships, eating there involves just a flat surcharge. On Quantum of the Seas, the surcharge has been replaced by an ala carte menu where you pay for each individual thing you order – even the hot dogs. Izumi, the ship’s sushi bar, also has an ala carte menu, as is the tapas menu from Jamie’s Italian that’s available in the ship’s wine bar, Vintages.
Cocktail prices are among the highest I’ve seen at sea. You are pretty much forced into buying a beverage package if you are going to drink more than 3 glasses of wine a day. The beverage package covers you for unlimited drinks up to $12 a piece. If you order something more than $12, you will be billed the difference. Wines are mostly $12 a glass and mixed drinks are priced similarly. The drink prices on board are more in line with land-based operations, while on Holland America the drinks are much less expensive.
The room service menu also has free and surcharge items on it. If you’re happy with a continental breakfast delivered to your room, it won’t cost you anything. However, if you prefer to have pancakes or bacon and eggs, you’re going to be charged $3.95. Hot breakfast on other lines, such as Holland America, remains free. These additional surcharges, such as $3 for hot nuts in Vintages, can add up quickly resulting in sticker shock when your onboard statement is delivered to your room on the last day.
More exploration continued around the ship and I stopped to take a photo of the giant purple bear that reportedly cost $6 million. As one crew member said when I asked him what he thought about the bear, “we are Royal Caribbean, if we want to put a purple bear on a ship, we can do it. I may not think it is pretty, but we can do it.” It does seem out of place way up there on the top deck of the ship on the jogging track, but it’s just another gimmick designed to make you say “wow.”
It was another day where not one announcement was made over the ship’s public address system. This is so refreshing and such a departure from cruise directors bombarding guests with announcements about the latest sale in the onboard shops, what the entertainment lineup was for the next hour, etc. I certainly hope this trend continues.
Since I was scheduled to see the broadway production of Mamma Mia!, I booked an early dinner in the ship’s Asian fusion restaurant, Silk. The menu was simple with only a few starters and a handful of entrees. In fact, the cocktail and wine menu was larger than the food menu. The restaurant itself was designed with plenty of black and red, which an older lady next to me said is “too much, all this red makes me angry.”
I started off with a Yuzu Bellini, a different take on a classic Sunday morning beverage. This time it featured Yuzu liqueur swirled with maraschino liqueur and lengthened with Chandon. After a few of those my appetizers arrived, first up as the Hot Ramen Noodle Soup, just as the name implies, it was a chicken broth-based soup, with a touch of spicy ginger and ramen noodles. Next came the Szechuan Pork Short Ribs which I found to be mostly fat with very little meat. What little meat there was, was flavorful and the tamarind glaze added a nice taste.
It’s been a while since I had duck so I opted for the Asian Style Duck for my main course. It came with wok-seared veggies, a scallion pancake, and traditional hoisin sauce. The duck was prepared perfectly and was very tender and wasn’t fatty or greasy. I wish the skin was crispy, but overall, this was a very well-prepared, tasty entree. Desert was their take on an old classic, strawberry pound cake, which was presented elegantly and wasn’t heavy.
Silk was a hit, but with a limited menu, it may not be right for everyone.
Off to the Royal Theatre to see the full production of Mamma Mia! The 2+ hour show was one of the best I’ve seen at sea. The cruise director introduced the show saying when the production was chosen, Royal Caribbean agreed to take it on using the original props, costumes, full-length script, and a live band with live vocals as opposed to soundtracks. While other cruise lines are cutting back on onboard entertainment, this production clearly raises the bar. Other Broadway shows on other Royal Caribbean ships include Chicago, which I’ve seen on Allure of the Seas.
The Royal Theatre itself was comfortable, although I picked a back row where my seat was the same height as the one in front of me making for an obstructed view of the stage. Note to self, don’t do that again. Bar service was offered before the performance as well as during the 15-minute intermission. Since you needed to reserve a spot ahead of time, the theater was not overcrowded and nobody was turned away because seats were all taken. In fact, there were empty seats thought the theatre, especially on the second level.
The show itself was indeed, long and my short attention span jitters kicked in right before intermission, but I stuck it out and stayed for the entire performance which was enjoyable. After all, who doesn’t like ABBA?
A quick stop at Vintages for a couple of champagne cocktails before bed and it was back to my room where for the first time a towel animal appeared on my bed, and for the second time, chocolate was not on my pillow. I guess pillow chocolates are no longer part of turn down service on Royal Caribbean.
Also of interest, a note in the daily program indicated that shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel would be provided by stateroom attendants by request (as well as ice). While my bathroom did have these bathroom essentials, I’ve heard from others that they had to ask for it. I find it kind of crazy that Royal Caribbean would expect guests to pack their own bathing essentials, but this is a sign of cutbacks I guess.
As I write this, I just finished breakfast up on deck 15 where once again the ship is rocking, but not as bad as it was. It’s cloudy outside with thunderstorms and rain in the forecast, making the outside decks devoid of human life at the moment, but there are people on the FlowRider. After all, they’re just going to get wet anyway.
Personal Day-By-Day Quantum of the Seas Cruise Review:
Photo Tour of the Quantum of the Seas:
No cruise vacation is complete without taking a ton of photos, and that’s exactly what I did on my Quantum of the Seas cruise. From the ship’s stunning interiors to its beautiful pool areas and my cozy stateroom, I captured it all on camera. You can check out my photo tour of the ship and see all of the pictures I took by visiting the links above for my day-by-day review of the cruise.