ScooterScott22

And KFC = Kentucky Fried Chicken
 
?Sorry

Agree, or the definition of no socks for “going commando” is really stretching the meaning.

Agree, or the definition of no socks for “going commando” is really stretching the meaning.

UPDATE:
Since receiving the Pre Cruise questionnaire we, as a family, have been talking about this cruise constantly.  It's become a running joke between the kids and I, bc every third or fourth convo we have, I start with "Do you wanna talk about the cruise?"  
We leave Sydney March 21; we sent our surveys back to our Genie within a week of receipt (four separate surveys, which I've no doubt makes the Genie's hair curl).  Can't you just send one???!!
We checked in tfor our cruise on February 18th.
On February 20th, we received our Introductory email from our Genie.  Seems we have hit the jackpot, with Mr. Luciano Santos as our grand Poobah.  I have read wonderful things about this gentleman, and am really looking forward to meeting him!
Aside from self-booking spa and shore excursions, it seems he wants to hear from us about our dining and entertainment preferences.
There are no menus or anything attached to this email.  From what I've readi here and on Facebook, this can be an inclusion, so perhaps that's still coming....
 

If real gold could be obtained by simply panning in a river, a mining company would be all over it.
On the flip side, very few miners actually found gold in the 1898 gold rush.  Most of them lost their life savings in pursuit of a media exaggerated event.  So from that perspective panning for gold today will yield a realistic lifelike experience.   

My guess is the space those large characters took up in the promenades will be replaced with more SALE tables of junk from china that people go bonkers over.... 
/end sarcasm 

No problem with the questions.....happy to help.  Chefs table.....I am trying to raise a couple of great home chefs, so originally planned to take the kids, but a fellow star class cruiser said "they'll be bored silly......send them to CK".  We followed her advice and I'm glad I did.  The kids would have been bored by the length of the service, and as entertaining as Andrej was, it wouldn't have been enuf for my two.  Plus, I think their presence might (ok, likely) would detract from the experience for my fellow diners, some of whom paid some pretty big dineros to sit at that table.  
you know what would be fun?  A kids chefs table!  I don't mean the standard kids menu fare, but a great menu with very entertaining service and a kids-level introduction to each of their courses.......how awesome would that be for kids?  I think I'll make that suggestion to someone.....

If you want to spend that kind of money Disney is just a click away. 

This is Eva of Ripcord......my kid is now saying when he grows up, he wants to do Eva's job on this ship......
sigh. The other day he was going to be an astronaut.....

@twangster shared a link to a periscope from the Ovation on another thread.  As the video went past that area of the Solarium, there appeared to be some guests standing in that area.  It does appear to be accessible based on that video.  Hopefully he add that item, or if I can find it i I’ll copy the link here.
 
ETA - link - https://www.pscp.tv/w/1BRJjXPMbjdKw?t=15m28s
Thanks to twangster for posting the link earlier and to Cindy for sharing.  The bridge wing is visible about 10:36.

Quantum class has two bridge wings, one starboard and one port accessed from the Solarium.  They are small and will fill up quickly arriving in a port or other scenic area.
The Solarium itself is two level and the lower level has great views looking forward.  
This is Anthem but same idea on Ovation:

This level of the Solarium is on deck 13 and there are doors into the cabin hallways for deck 13 forward that would make this area accessible.  It's also the level that has access to the outdoor bridge wings much like Harmony or Symphony.

There is no helipad on Quantum class.  There is a "winch pad" but it is not open to the public.  

Our son was about that age for his first cruise.  I can not say enough about having an inside stateroom.  It was so dark and quiet that napping for him and us was perfect.  The cruise was more about all of us recharging a little.  
Routine was breakfast, play or just explore the ship during the morning, short break before lunch, Lunch, then EVERYONE nap, a little playtime in the afternoon, dinner and then bed.  Playtime could be splash pad/pool, briefly exploring port or one of the ships activities.  We did put him in the babysitting/club for one adult dinner.  
ETA - that was our one an only inside stateroom and it worked for that cruise.

Thanks for the info and the pics, very nice.  Does this also mean that “THE Twangster” will be on the May 13, 2019 sailing?  Wow, we will be cruising with a celebrity.

Our son was about that age for his first cruise.  I can not say enough about having an inside stateroom.  It was so dark and quiet that napping for him and us was perfect.  The cruise was more about all of us recharging a little.  
Routine was breakfast, play or just explore the ship during the morning, short break before lunch, Lunch, then EVERYONE nap, a little playtime in the afternoon, dinner and then bed.  Playtime could be splash pad/pool, briefly exploring port or one of the ships activities.  We did put him in the babysitting/club for one adult dinner.  
ETA - that was our one an only inside stateroom and it worked for that cruise.

With the suite lounge being directly above our room that means double the distance.  One trip from the room at the A$$ end of the ship to the stairs to go up to twelve and then another trip all the way back to the lounge.   So I’ll get two trips, for 10 calories total, and then back to the room for a grand total of 20, which means seafood tower every night!  
Or the other option could be to make our own shortcut.  We could cut through the ceiling of the bedroom to have instant access or bring some climbing gear and a glass cutter to acces the lounge from the veranda.

With the suite lounge being directly above our room that means double the distance.  One trip from the room at the A$$ end of the ship to the stairs to go up to twelve and then another trip all the way back to the lounge.   So I’ll get two trips, for 10 calories total, and then back to the room for a grand total of 20, which means seafood tower every night!  
Or the other option could be to make our own shortcut.  We could cut through the ceiling of the bedroom to have instant access or bring some climbing gear and a glass cutter to acces the lounge from the veranda.

With the suite lounge being directly above our room that means double the distance.  One trip from the room at the A$$ end of the ship to the stairs to go up to twelve and then another trip all the way back to the lounge.   So I’ll get two trips, for 10 calories total, and then back to the room for a grand total of 20, which means seafood tower every night!  
Or the other option could be to make our own shortcut.  We could cut through the ceiling of the bedroom to have instant access or bring some climbing gear and a glass cutter to acces the lounge from the veranda.

So what did we think of Star Class overall?
Well, if you have not picked up on it yet, we simply loved it!  And I knew it and you all knew it, I am most definitely spoiled for all other cruises from this point onwards.
I am completely in love with not only SC, but Deck 17 itself. I need to find my way back the the “gated community” somehow. There is something indescribable about these lofts, the high ceilings, the two bathrooms, the open and airy feel of the room, these are the things I love about the loft.  The location to CK and the SL for these rooms is also so convenient.  Nothing beats that!  And the hallways are extra wide up here.
Hopefully a few months in dry dock will condition us for our JS on Anthem GC in July. 
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this blog, there are many types of cruisers and you have to know which category you fall under. We know what “type” we are and what is important to us. For us, the perks of SC are worth it, given the right price. The room is also worth it because we spend a lot of time in our cabin. 
What did we get the most use of from our perks?  
Specialty dining for sure. We tried almost everything that we possibly could. I am afraid to step on the scale Monday morning. The kids also made very good use of the in-room specialty dining. They only ate with us 3 out of the 7 nights. The rest, they ordered in from specialty.  Also, as I stated before, the reserved seating is a big deal for us because we are show people. The girls are too. So having that perk was awesome. Only once did we get questioned about why “those seats” were saved for us.  Araceli had a great explanation for them and she explained it ever so kindly. We also could not resist putting our two cents in. 
We lucked out big time with Araceli. She is so personable and kind. Her smile does not ever fade. We have exchanged well over 100 emails back and forth since her first contact. She is amazing with communicating!  Never did a dinner go by where she did not come in to check on us. During the day, she would either come to find us or email me to check in if we needed anything. So thankful too that we have had the opportunity to sit down with her for some conversations and get to know her as a person. She is simply wonderful!  Going to miss her for sure! 
Early start for us tomorrow so I will end off here.  I will update from the airport to comment on the walk off.  

In the Bahamas, you can get your passport stamped. Whenever we travel internationally, I almost always ask where we can get our passports stamped. I just saw people doing it last month on ouB2B, and was wishing I had asked for our cruises.

Insert obvious “science fiction loner in the basement” comment here.

I finally got a picture of @Lovetocruise2002!!!

Insert obvious “science fiction loner in the basement” comment here.

Don’t feel sorry.  I admit this is a “guilty” pleasure since I do not know their exact circumstance.  Since it is actually pretty hard to get left behind I am comfortable that 99% of the time it is likely due to the persons negligence or arrogance.  

I have to say I am very disappointed in this thread, as it had no video or link to dock runners.  That is one of my favorite pastimes.  We always look forward to departure time and plan for a good viewing spot about 15 minutes before departure time.  Still sometimes we have to get our fix from YouTube videos.  Thanks to @twangster for at least the screenshots!  (Even if it wasn’t the actual couple.). 
 
Edit To add - for those couple of new cruisers posting, the ship has multiple avenues that they will inform you of departure time.  It will be posted in a number of places near gangways and tenders, in the cruise compass and  stated over the daily announcements and at other locations, sometimes even the night before at certain venues.  Yes sometimes things happen but it really is pretty hard to not know.  There are plenty of times this happens and there are plenty of “close” calls that never make it to YouTube because the ships do try to wait at least a reasonable amount of time.  Since the ship can get charges for staying in port extra and they have a schedule to keep they can’t wait too long.

As they enter the one end of the solarium, a stop watch will be started.  they have precisely 45 seconds from that point to traverse the length of the solarium IN ABSOLUTE SILENCE (Their time will be docked for every spoken word). Should they fail to reach the exit before the horn sounds they will be forced to consume an extra ration of vegetables with their evening meal!
 
 
 
JUST KIDDING!  They will be fine!