Quantum of the Seas - 4th April 2023 8 Night South Pacific Cruise

[F1guynz]

Today we have embarked on our 8-night pacific cruise departing from Brisbane International Cruise Terminal.

For this voyage we are staying in the Royal Loft Suite which is our first star class experience with the amazing Hailey Park as our royal genie. As the cruise falls over Easter the ship is full and there are over 1300 kids on board, and it definitely feels busier than our last cruise on Ovation in October last year.

How did we end up booking the royal loft suite? Well, when cruising was shut down during the Covid years and Royal Caribbean was offering 125% cruise credit for cancelled cruises I booked a cruise and paid in full, waited for the cruise to be cancelled and the 125% cruise credit to be issued. I then booked another cruise and repeated the process until we had accumulated enough cruise credit to book the RLS. As an added bonus it was cheaper than usual as people were weary of booking cruises at that time. Also, as this cruise was booked during the double points promotion, we are getting 4 points for each night sailed.

Sailing on this cruise are Anita and I in the RLS, my parents in a junior suite and Anita's mum and sister in a balcony cabin.

With the royal suite class boarding was a breeze, we were walked all the way through customs and security by a pier genie and we were on board within 15 minutes of arriving at the terminal where we were greeted by Hailey, our royal genie for this cruise, for the first time. She took us straight to our muster station where we completed the e-muster drill requirements.

I had not told Anita we had the RLS booked but I thought she would cotton on when we were boarding bypassing all the normal delays, however while we were waiting at Vintages for our cabin to be ready Anita said to me that our concierge was almost like a royal genie with the personal experience we had received. I realised at this point that Anita still did not know we had a star class cabin booked and the surprise was yet to be revealed.

We were on board the ship by around 11:15am and our cabin was ready at around 11:30am.

Hailey came to collect us and take us to our cabin and even as we took the long walk down the 8th floor corridor to the back of the ship and still Anita had no idea where she was going and what was awaiting her at the end of the corridor.

Hailey handed us our swipe cards and we took our first steps into another world. The cabin was immense and there are no words that can describe the stunning cabin in front of us, from the 8-seat dining table, the expansive balcony with the hot water spa pool, the massive windows for taking in the scenery, the living room and all the space it offers, the media room and second bathroom Then you head upstairs and cross the gantry overlooking the space below to the impressive bedroom, a massive bathroom with a free-standing bath and huge walk-in shower next to it with another small balcony and small jacuzzi.

After having our minds blown Hailey sat down with us and went through the plans for the next eight days and then left us to explore our cabin further and just take in its beauty.

We were just thinking about going to get some lunch when the doorbell rang and there were 4 crew outside bringing us enough food to keep us happy, there was a plate of sushi from Izumi and various snacks for us to indulge in.

By this time the rest of the family were on board (they could have boarded with us, but they had already made their own plans) and they were just as blown away as we were.

We spent an hour or so together in our cabin before they left to go and see their own cabins.

We had organised with Hailey for all 6 of us to go to have a go on the bumper cards. She met us up in the Seaplex and took us to a seated area where we were next to get a turn. Anita and I have done them before, but it was a first for Anita's sister and my dad. They had a great time and while we could have gone again, we decided to save it for another day.

After this everyone retired to their cabins to complete their unpacking and reconvene at 7pm for dinner in the Solarium Bistro which Hailey had booked for us.

Before dinner Anita and I headed to the suite lounge which is in the same location as our cabin but 4 floors up. As there are no lifts towards the aft of the ship there is a bit of a hike going places, especially the suite lounge as you have to walk to midship, go up four levels and then walk back to the rear of the ship again which tends to take 4-5 minutes, but we don't mind. however, If you were less mobile, I can see this being a bit of an issue, likewise the stairs up to the second level in our cabin.

The suite lounge was far less busy than we are accustomed to at 6pm with less than a dozen people in there. We got our drinks and stayed for a short time before heading off for our dinner reservations.  As we were there such a short time, we didn't get to meet the suite concierge during this visit.

We met Hailey outside the Solarium, and she took us through to a table in a more private area of the bistro which we ended up having to ourselves for the night.

The food was nice without being spectacular, but we all enjoyed ourselves and look forward to trying different dining venues during the rest of the cruise.

Hailey had reserved seats for all of us in the Royal Theatre for the comedian who was the entertainment for the first night. Even though we had reserved seats it didn't really matter as the theatre was not very full and we could have found plenty of seats together.

The comedian was just okay, a few funny lines but generally underwhelming, normally he does the adults only show and he seemed to struggle a bit with a family show.

After the show we all felt rather tired and so each went our separate ways so we could catch some zzz's

We are both still on a high from the experience today and look forward to the new few days full of excitement and anticipation. As I get time I will try and add more posts detailing our experiences onboard Quantum.

Thanks for taking the time to read my post, I will definitely post some pictures of the cabin tomorrow once my phone has charged up.

[JohnK6404]

Have an amazing time!

[MLH]

What a great surprise!

[WAAAYTOOO]

So excited for you !  When did Anita actually realize she was in Star Class ?  What does she think ?  What do YOU think ?  It sounds like Hailey is including everyone in the SC experience, which is what I would have expected.  Happy to see that.

I totally agree about the hike getting to the SL.  We rarely ever visit the SL on Q class ships for that reason.

Have an awesome, awesome time !

[twangster]

Enjoy your cruise!

Curious on your thoughts about cruising from Brisbane.

[F1guynz]

Hello everyone, sorry still haven’t posted any photos due to the atrocious internet speed. It has been like this most of the day.

it has been a quiet day today, we got up and headed to the Coastal Kitchen about 8:30. It was reasonably busy but there still plenty of tables. Chao was our server and he gave us great service. He wants us to request his section when we dine there for dinner tomorrow night.

Leaving the CK the queue to get into Windjammerwas all the way back to the lifts so it was nice to be able to avoid that by having a suite. The ship is full and with lots of kids as it is school holidays for Easter. I guess that is the premium time for going to the WJ and If we didn’t have a suite I think I would try my luck at the Solarium or Cafe270 instead. Even once you got into WJ I imagine it would be a hard job finding a table.

After breakfast it was off to the gym to work off some of the calories from the previous day. The gym was clean and the equipment was all in good condition. I had planned to stream either a Netflix or Amazon Prime show but the Internet was too slow and the programmes would not stream without buffering for ages, so I had to skip watching them and settle for the sea views instead, a nice substitute.

After the gym we returned to the suite and I tried out the jacuzzi hot tub on the deck. The water was nearly cold which was a relief as it is getting very hot in the sun as we head towards the islands. I don’t think all Quantum class ships have this jacuzzi, which if true is a mistake as I loved being to relax in the tub taking in the wake views.

I had a quick shower and it off to our next appointment, a trip up in the North Star, this is complementary for Star class guests but $19 for anyone else. This is the extended ride which lasts about 15 minutes and gives you the side to side movement and a chance to see into people’s cabins. . It is free on port days but only goes up and down without the sideways views.

I wish they had built the pods with anti reflective glass and maybe cleaned the glass more regularly as it gets pretty dirty. It is hard to take good photos but the glass at the bottom of the pod is much cleaner.

After the ride we returned to the suite, I had asked Hailey if it was possible to get some light snacks for the family at lunch time. She did an amazing job  getting just the right amount of food including sliders, cucumber and salmon sandwiches, fresh fruit, spring rolls and chicken wings followed by 3 flavours of ice cream for all of us.

After another quick dip in the jacuzzi it was off to try the escape room. Hailey had arranged access for 4 of us but in the end only 3 of us did it. We teamed up with the other people booked and we solved it in record time (for this cruise) It isn’t a purpose built escape room, it is the teen club used at night by the teens so isn’t as good as the one on Independence but we still had a great time. I think it is normally a fee paying activity (it was on Independence) but it did not cost anything for us or the rest of the family.

We headed up to the suite lounge at 6:30pm and it was even less busy than the previous day with only 6 other people there. I asked Hailey to join us and we had a great conversation getting to know her better. She was just back from holiday and only had our suite and one other to look after as Royal prioritises the RLS.  As our first experience with a genie we could not wish for anyone better. She has done so much to include the rest of our family even though they are not Star class guests, I can’t speak highly enough about her.

I have not seen one pinnacle in the suite lounge even though I would suspect there must be quite a few on board for the crossing which is the next cruise.

Next up was dinner at Chops organised by Hailey. Food was great again and we were certainly full again after the fabulous meal. I’m glad we went to the gym today but I think we will have to up our hours to outstrip the number of calories being consumed.

The evening was rounded out by seeing the show in the Royal Theatre. Hailey had reserved seats for the whole family again and we enjoyed Mercury Rising, a Freddie Mercury tribute act which was entertaining.

Back in the cabin it is now nearly time for bed as the time goes forward one hour tonight as we move on to Island time

[F1guynz]

Hi, now that the Internet speed has improved I have uploaded a few photos of the trip so far.

 

[F1guynz]

Hi @WAAAYTOOO, lovely to hear from you.

I actually wrote a long response to last night but with the poor Internet response it just disappeared into the ether as it was saving so I will do my best to reconstruct it.

Anita didn’t actually realise until Hailey opened the door to the suite, as when she saw the RLS sign on the door Anita thought Hailey had brought us to the wrong cabin. Her look once we got inside priceless.We have been simply blown away by the experience, it is difficult to put into words how much a genie adds to the cruise experience, we normally book suites and have access to a concierge and have never had a bad one, but a genie’s attention to detail is beyond comparison.

Anita struggles more with the genie concept more than I do as she does not like to put anyone to any trouble but Hailey is just so friendly and non intrusive, I can’t speak highly enough of her.

Hailey has also been incredible with the rest of the family, even though they are not in suites, she has managed to include them in most of the activities we have undertaken.

I guess most genies do this but Hailey is our only benchmark and to us she is she an incredible genie, but not only that, she is the most lovely person you could ever wish to meet. I am sure we will keep in contact after the cruise and in bad news for Royal Caribbean I think we have also convinced her to come and live in New Zealand.

You may have also come across our loft attendant, Rohan, who has been with Royal for 36 years. He is heading off to his next contract on Harmony soon. He is also a lovely person, so friendly and just a joy to be around.

the experience has been so amazing I just wish that it would never end. We will just have to make the most of everyday .

[WAAAYTOOO]

I’m so excited for all of you.  I know just how that first Star Class experience is….and to be in the RLS the first time !  WOW !

I have not met Hailey and to my knowledge, I don’t know Rohan either.  It sounds like you have a top notch crew !  I couldn’t be happier for you.  It’s awesome that Hailey is including the rest of the family with your plans but this doesn’t surprise me.  This has been our experience as well.  They do not advertise the inclusion of other non- SC passengers (in fact, just the opposite) but we have never had the Genie fail to include everyone, once the fun begins.

I sympathize with the disappearance of your discourse.  I’ve had my brilliant and witty posts disappear into cyberspace any number of times and it’s so frustrating !  Thank you for taking the time to reconstruct it !

BTW, I also agree that it’s nearly impossible to fully relay the benefits that a Genie provides.  The words just aren’t sufficient.  Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy !

[F1guynz]

Hi @twangster,

this is our first time cruising from the new passenger terminal is Brisbane. We stayed out near the airport at the Novotel as it only a 10 minute Uber ride to the port terminal and cost about $15AUD. There is no public transport to the port so a taxi or other ride share is the best option for getting there.

There is parking that locals can pre-book.

Because we had the Star class boarding experience it is a bit hard to judge what the actual boarding experience is like. There seemed to be a bit of a queue in customs and security but they don’t adhere to boarding times so all the people who were early had started boarding.

As the terminal is new the facilities are modern and fresh. The gangway to the ship is very long compared to Sydney as the ships are docked out further out in the bay where the water is deeper.

Leaving from Brisbane does not have the same spectacular scenery as Sydney and overlooks a working port but it is okay.

We are leaving from Brisbane next March when we are doing a cruise up the Queensland coast.

I don’t mind where we leave from as boarding any ship means it’s time for a holiday.

[twangster]

Thanks for the feedback on Brisbane.  It's hard to beat the Sydney boarding experience.  Such a beautiful area with iconic structures like the Opera house.   

I suspect your Voom challenges are directly related to the issues that Starlink is having getting their next-gen satellites in orbit.  Those were supposed to be operational last year but they aren't yet.  As a result they are struggling to provide a reliable service especially when more distant from land or the nearest gateway they have.

When I've had sketchy Voom and lost posts I've learned to copy my post content before trying to post so if it fails I can paste in the verbiage for another attempt.  CTRL A, CTRL-C is your friend.   

[F1guynz]

1 hour ago, twangster said:

When I've had sketchy Voom and lost posts I've learned to copy my post content before trying to post

Luckily I did this for my first post but for the 2nd one it was 1am and I clicked submit before thinking I should have saved this to Notes on my iPad. I am out of practice writing blog posts as I had this happen in the past. It’s a pity they don’t save as drafts if they do not submit successfully.

The Internet has been much better today but I think that is due to the fact we have reached Vanuatu now and the coverage is better. I find it annoying that Royal doesn’t ever acknowledge any poor performance even if they can’t do anything about it. 

I think I would be much more forgiving if it was communicated and apologised for.

[twangster]

29 minutes ago, F1guynz said:

Luckily I did this for my first post but for the 2nd one it was 1am and I clicked submit before thinking I should have saved this to Notes on my iPad. I am out of practice writing blog posts as I had this happen in the past. It’s a pity they don’t save as drafts if they do not submit successfully.

The Internet has been much better today but I think that is due to the fact we have reached Vanuatu now and the coverage is better. I find it annoying that Royal doesn’t ever acknowledge any poor performance even if they can’t do anything about it. 

I think I would be much more forgiving if it was communicated and apologised for.

Agreed but that isn't something Royal is known for.  Drink packages went up in price during the restart despite supplier challenges that limited or randomized the brands available.  Royal hoped no one would notice and left it to ship personnel to explain supply chain issues. 

Pretty much the same here.  Supplier issue being left to ship personnel to explain.  Some of their explanations are priceless too!   

[F1guynz]

Day - 4 - Mystery Island

Today is the first of our 2 visits to Mystery Island, we are back in 2 days as our original Port Vila stop was cancelled due to a recent tropical cyclone.

Coastal Kitchen was open from 7am to 9am today so we got up at 7:30 and headed up there for breakfast. It was not to busy and our regular server Chao gave us great service.

After breakfast we met up with Hailey who came, her hands full,of towels, for our time on the Island. She got us straight onto the tender where we waited for others to board. Close to the ship the water was very choppy so it was a bit of a mission getting everyone on as the gap between the tender and the ship was highly variable. The sea was much calmer once we headed towards the dock. Disembarking the tender was easy and we were soon ready to start exploring.

Mystery Island itself is a small uninhabited island, the locals come over from the mainland when ships are scheduled. It is mainly a beach day although there is a small market and a grass runway built by the Americans during WWII. There is only one place to eat so most people go back to the ship at lunch time.

The locals accepts Australian and US currency as well as their own. The island does not have power so do not expect to see an ATM.

When we landed we were greeted by some locals singing a John Denver classic near the markets. We wandered through the markets but did not purchase anything. I think because it was Good Friday not all the stalls were open. The market consisted of the usual products, brightly coloured shirts and dresses, hair braiding which was popular with children, pictures with small lizards, and various small decorative jewellery items.

There were also plenty of local tours available, mainly with trips to the mainland for snorkelling, glass bottom boats and chances to see turtles.

Before heading to the beach, we opted to have our picture taken in the cannibal pot for fun. In NZ during these woke times this kind of self mockery would be frowned upon, but to us it was just silly fun.

The beach waters were crystal clear and we spend about an hour there before we decided to head back to the ship.

As it was around lunch time the queue for the tender was long but it moved relatively quickly and within 20 minutes we were back on a tender. It was certainly easier getting off the tender than it was getting on. While waiting in the queue we heard John Denver again and it seems like they do the same 5 songs on repeat.

Back in the suite, as usual Hailey had organised lunch for us but also organised a wonderful surprise. As we were recently married she had organised some decorations as well as a lovely cake. Hailey is just so thoughtful, we love her to bits.

While in our cabin my Dad also had a bit of a turn and ended up being sick. This is where having her around made so much of a difference. She organised the bathroom cleanup, a wheelchair to get him back to his cabin as it is such a long walk from our cabin. Later on she rang my Mum in her cabin to make sure everything was okay and showed genuine concern for my Dad. (He is okay again now). Just having that one point of contact make a stressful situation so much easier to handle. Special shout to Rohan and Reynan as well.

Once the situation with my Dad was sorted Hailey had organised for us and Anita’s family to see Starwater in the 270 lounge. She organised the best seats in the house and had drinks waiting for us at our seats.

The show was fantastic and we had blast and will try and do it again with my parents.

After the show we had dinner at Jamie’s Italian where we had first time waiter Melvyn (Sexy Melvyn) who was such great fun. He will be an hit with all the guests served by him.

After that it was time to call it a night.

Tomorrow is another port day, this time Noumea.

 

 

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Congratulations on the recent marriage !  What a wonderful way to honeymoon.  Thanks for the Noel on Mystery Island.  I had no idea it was completely uninhabited !  Ugh different from what I hah envisioned.

[F1guynz]

Day 5 - Noumea

This is the 3 or 4 time we have visited Noumea so we didn’t have any specific plans for the day. Noumea is the largest city and capital of french speaking New Caledonia.

We started the day with a Starbucks coffee and breakfast in the Windjammer. Hailey noticed we had the coffee and from now on it will be delivered to our cabin in the morning prior to us going to the CK.

After breakfast we headed to my parents cabin and confirmed that Dad was okay after yesterday’s episode. My parents decided not to get off the ship so had a free day. We had Chef’s table planned for the evening so Hailey organised for them to have dinner in CK tonight.

Noumea is docked so we met Hailey and she escorted us off the ship. Just down from the gangway were the buses waiting to take us into the centre of town. The bus ride is about a 5 minute journey and inside the drop off point is a small market.

We had a wander around the market and bought a few small souvenirs. We then headed back outside and purchased tickets for the hop on/hop off bus. There were also other options to see the local sites such as the Tchou Tchou Train, but we have been to Noumea before so just wanted a quick and simple option.

Popular local sites to visit include Amedee Island and the aquarium. There are some nice beaches as well but while we were there the beaches were closed to swimming due to recent shark attacks.

The first stop the HOHO made was to the local outdoor markets but we skipped these as they close at 12pm so we wouldn’t have had much time before they closed.

We got off at the next stop which was Lemon Bay. We took a stroll down alongside the bay and while looking out into the water in the bay we saw a lone turtle swimming and coming up for air every 10 minutes or so. We hung around here for a while until I got a decent picture.

We then wandered along through the restaurants that were around here and decided to buy a gelato ice cream. The queue was quite long as they only accept the South Pacific franc or credit cards, and not USD or AUD, and some people had ordered and then found they couldn’t pay.

Eventually, I got my gelato and it was definitely well worth the wait.

After consuming our ice creams we waited for the next HOHO, Unfortunately it was full so we had to wait another 15 minutes for the next one. The next stop for HOHO was the aquarium which we skipped after deciding to head back to the ship.

One of the other stops for the HOHO was McDonalds for all of you whose holiday is not complete without a Big Mac in another country.

Once back on the ship we stopped to grab some lunch at Cafe Two70 before returning to our cabin for a rest.

We had Chef’s table scheduled for 6:30pm tonight. It is part of the Star Class inclusions, with no extra charge if wine is not included and $25 USD for wine with the meal. I don’t drink so I just had cocktails and an alcohol free expresso martini which was fine with me.

In all there were 10 people attending and a fun laughter filled night was had by all.

After dinner it was back to our cabin for a sleep before waking up for our return trip to Mystery Island, which is no longer a mystery.

 

 

[F1guynz]

On 4/9/2023 at 9:36 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Congratulations on the recent marriage

Thanks very much, we are both enjoying Star Class life, so much so that we booked a GLS with Hailey again next year.

[F1guynz]

Today we are returning to Mystery Island, originally we were scheduled to visit Port Vila in Vanuatu but due to a recent cyclone this visit was cancelled.

We started the day as usual in Coastal Kitchen before meeting up with Hailey to escort us to the tender. The tenders were much less busy today as most passengers had elected to stay on the ship, boarding was also much quicker as the seas were calmer. Hailey said 3100 passengers had stayed on board this time, it was also Easter Sunday so some of the locals would have gone to church rather than work on the Sunday.

The island was definitely quieter than our last visit 2 days ago. The market was open again but there were far less stalls open.we decided we wanted to to one of the local tours so we booked a boat trip to see some turtles. If you booked the tour at the stalls right on the pier it was $50 AUD but if you walked to the beach on the far side of the island you could book for $35 AUD.

We made our booking which consisted on writing our names in a notebook. The next available boat didn’t leave for another hour or so so we decided to go for a walk around the island. There is a sandy pathway around the perimeter that takes about 40 minutes to complete, a pleasant way to pass some time.

While walking around the island we came across some covered beach huts you could hire for 3 hours. The huts could hold two people and included a massage and two drinks for $159 AUD. The huts were fairly basic so don’t expect a 5 star experience.

We returned to the booking hut for our turtle tour and the lady took us to a waiting area by one of the beaches. Here things when downhill as there was no organisation and there were lots of people waiting around not knowing what was happening. Our tour was booked for 12:30pm but by 1:10pm we did not appear to be any closer to getting on a boat. It was very difficult to find anyone who knew what was going on. Anita and I returned to where we had originally booked but there was nobody there. After a few minutes somebody finally turned out. Apparently one of the 5 boats they use had broken down so there were only 4 running. They could not give us an indication of when our tour might leave so we opted for a refund which they did without issue.

We had the North Star booked at 3:45pm so we opted to return to the ship and have a spot of lunch. When we got back to the cabin we had a nice surprise as Hailey had left some Easter surprises for us.

We went our separate ways until it was time to meet for the North Star.Hailey had organised the basic experience for us all in the capsule by ourselves. We have been in the North Star a few times but it was a first for the rest of the family. Hailey came with us and we got some lovely pictures of her with us.

After the North Star we went back to our cabin to relax prior to dinner in the CK.

We were meeting my parents to go to Starwater in the Two70 lounge as they had missed the performance the first time.

Hailey had secured front row seats again and my parents were thrilled with the show so I am glad they got to see it. I get the feeling they won’t be doing much cruising after this as it is getting quite hard for my Mum to look after my Dad.

After that it was time for bed as we began the trip back home to Brisbane.

[WAAAYTOOO]

4 hours ago, F1guynz said:

 

This sign (blue one)  made me chuckle.  I wonder, "...what did this say before the wrote over it with "elderly"?"  LOL

What a shame that you didn't get to do the turtle tour.  I would have been mad (excited !!) about doing this one !!

I can completely understand about your mom worrying about taking care of your dad.  ...but what a blessing it is that you were able to provide this awesome opportunity for all of you to have so much fun - even if this is the last time (hopefully it won't be) !

Hailey sounds like a really great Genie. So glad you have a great one for your first experience.

[SweetPea]

I'm going out on a limb to guess it was "old" before "elderly."

And i think i can say that because it's the tour I'd take!

Thanks for your review of the RLS! Sounds like you're having an amazing time!

[F1guynz]

Today is the first of two full sea days as we head back to Brisbane so we do not have much planned.

We started with our usual breakfast in the Coastal Kitchen followed by an appointment with Next Cruise. We booked an open ended cruise as the new itineraries are due to be released in the 1st week of May, this also entitled us to $100 USD on board credit for this cruise.

We have loved star class so much that we wanted to upgrade our cabin to a Grand Loft Suite for the cruise we have booked next March on Quantum.

This is where I Royal so annoying, Next Cruise are unable to amend existing bookings so could not upgrade our cabin to a higher category. I find this so frustrating as a few years ago you could even do this on the website but now the only way to do it is to cancel the existing booking, lose your deposit and create a new booking. I’m sorry Royal but I am trying to upgrade and spend more money with you, stop making it so difficult to change existing bookings.

To get around this limitation we booked a new cruise in a Grand Loft Suite for the week prior to our existing booking and we will change the sail date of the original booking when the new cruises become available. Hailey will still be with Quantum in March as genies have to commit to a ship for 3 years so we will be able to request her again.

As star class guests we were booked on the bridge tour. We have done it a few times and  even though there is nothing new to see we continue to do it so that it doesn’t get cancelled due to lack of interest. The first officer was entertaining so it was one of the better ones we have done. In this region you still need to wear a mask when doing these types of tours but we got a nice Royal branded one.

Soon it was time for lunch, over the course of the cruise we have got better at estimating the amount of food to be delivered to the cabin so there is far less left over. Lunch today consisted of some wraps, mini burgers, pigs in a blanket and some sliced fruit.

After lunch Hailey had organised 3 flavours of ice cream to be delivered and on a warm day like today it was a perfect end to lunch.

We spent the rest of the afternoon just chilling.

We are going to the production show tonight but as the suite lounge was not busy (around 8 people tonight) we were allowed to bring the rest of the family for drinks prior to the show. They just had to remove their sea pass cards so that nobody would get upset.

After drinks we headed off to the show, Sonic Odyssey, where we all had front row seats.

The show was incredible and was definitely in my top 3 from the cruises we have done. There is a giant harp that stretched from the stage to the balcony and it just such a slick production. We will be back for this one next time we are on Quantum.

 

We had dinner booked at Wonderland at 7;30pm but the show did not finish until 8pm. No worries though, we just messaged Hailey through WhatsApp and she to take our time, I love this part of the genie experience.

Dinner was nice, although slightly different from Ovation where the chef normally picks the menu for you. On Quantum you are not given that option you pick your main, I decided on the beef, It was a good choice and the meat was beautifully tender. We finished off at Wonderland with “the world” dessert and as I have a very sweet tooth I always love this one.

After dinner it was off to the casino but it was not my night so it was off to bed.

Last day at sea tomorrow.

[SweetPea]

Is it so difficult to upgrade your reservation because of where you're located? In the US, definitely not an issue. You might pay dearly because the rate is the current rate, not the rate you booked, but definitely no problem. 

9 hours ago, F1guynz said:

We are going to the production show tonight but as the suite lounge was not busy (around 8 people tonight) we were allowed to bring the rest of the family for drinks prior to the show. They just had to remove their sea pass cards so that nobody would get upset.

I had to laugh at this. If you've ever sailed in the Norwegian Haven, you know there is always self-appointed "Haven police" who have a fit when they see a cruise card that is not the requisite gold color. So that was probably a good call.

[mk-ultra]

On 4/5/2023 at 1:25 PM, F1guynz said:

Hello everyone, sorry still haven’t posted any photos due to the atrocious internet speed. It has been like this most of the day.

 

Ugh.  Thank you for the Speedtest.  I wasn't sure if Quantum had been converted yet.  My experiences so far have been pretty disappointing.

[F1guynz]

14 hours ago, mk-ultra said:

Ugh.  Thank you for the Speedtest.  I wasn't sure if Quantum had been converted yet.  My experiences so far have been pretty disappointing.

Hi, apart from this one day the Internet was actually okay for us. I was able to stream without problems so maybe this day was just an an anomaly.

I think that every ship has now converted to Starlink, I think I saw an announcement about this.

[F1guynz]

16 hours ago, SweetPea said:

Is it so difficult to upgrade your reservation because of where you're located

Probably due to the region, we have always had to cancel the existing booking to upgrade, the only exception is when Royal changes your booking to another ship or similar.

[SteveK]

 

Outstanding write up, I felt like I was on the journey with you!

Thanks for taking the time to write up and share your experience (in detail) with the rest of us 

[F1guynz]

Well, sadly we have arrived at the last sea day of our cruise before we return to Brisbane tomorrow morning.

I am sure it will come as no surprise that after the Starbucks coffee was delivered we headed up to the Coastal Kitchen for breakfast.

Chao was there to greet us with his usual bubbly enthusiasm. Chao is from China and has been wonderful to us since the very first day of the cruise, he will be getting a glowing review from us in the post cruise survey.

My parents had dinner in CK last night as it was lobster night, Chao took care of my Dad and made sure he got two portions of lobster instead of the usual one. He has been great in making sure they get spoilt each time they eat there.

We returned to our cabin where we met up with our loft attendants Rohan and Reynan to get a photo. Both guys have been amazing on this cruise and we can’t thank them enough. Rohan has been with Royal Caribbean since 1987, and although I didn’t ask, I am sure he would have many more nights than Super Mario, if only the crew also got pinnacle badges, he would probably be in the top 3 at least. I wonder if when crew retire after many years service whether they get any perks like a free cruise once a year for life. They certainly deserve it.

Captains Corner was scheduled at 10:30am in the Two70 lounge but we could only stay for a few minutes before we had to leave for the galley tour scheduled at 10:50am. The Captains Corner was packed and it was standing room only.

We have seen the galley in the past as part of the all access tour so we knew what to expect. The tour started and ended in the Icon Grill, and as you would expect, masks were required. Hailey said it would last about 20 minutes but in truth the tour was actually more like 50 minutes. It was a bit underwhelming as the kitchens we were being shown were not preparing lunch (two other restaurants are responsible for lunch and we would have been in the way) and so there was not a lot going on. By the end of the tour I think most people had had enough.

We returned to our cabin for lunch and we were nearly spot on with the amount of food ordered for the 6 of us, if only we had just one more day we could have nailed it.

Once the the daily ice cream had been delivered and eaten we headed down to the casino to try our luck. Should have stayed in the cabin.

We completed most of our packing ready for departure the following morning and then went to the stuntman talk at 4pm in the theatre. This talk was given by our cruise director, John Grantham, who detailed his life as a Hollywood stuntman prior to beginning his new life as a cruise director in 2007. It was very entertaining and well worth our time.

The family was allowed in the suite lounge again tonight so we stopped by for 30 minutes or so before heading to the top deck to take some photographs of the final sunset of the cruise.

We decided to have dinner in our cabin tonight so we discussed our requirements with Hailey. We had pizzas, meat planks, lasagne and pasta from Jamie’s Italian delivered.

It was the perfect way to end the cruise.

We had been given Star Class luggage tags for the rest of the family so they brought their bags down to our cabin and we put them outside with ours.

Not long to go now until the end of the cruise, but we were not getting off until 9:20am so at least the morning won’t be rushed. The rest of the family had to be out of their cabins by 8am so they will come down and wait with us until Hailey escorts us all off the ship.

 

Tomorrow disembarking and final thoughts.

[FireFishII]

Beautiful colors on your sunset picture.

[F1guynz]

Well, the day has arrived when we have to say goodbye to Quantum and our amazing genie, Hailey.

We headed up for breakfast one last time in Coastal Kitchen. We went with my parents as I didn’t think it would be an issue for the manager on the last morning of the cruise. The wait staff were short staffed and very busy, and unfortunately Chao had already left the ship to begin his trip home.  The CK manager kindly organised for one of the other Chinese waiters transfer our tip into his account for us.

After breakfast we returned to the Royal Loft Suite for the last time to wait for Hailey to escort us off the ship. The rest of the family were already there waiting for us. While waiting Rohan and Reynan stopped by to wish us a safe journey home.

Not long after Hailey arrived and we began the final trek between the cabin and the lifts, I have become used to this long walk and will miss it, and it certainly helped to keep my step count up.

Getting off the ship was really easy and Hailey soon had us at the customs checkpoint where she would have to leave us. We gave her small gift we had brought from New Zealand of some Māori art painted on a heart. There were long hugs goodbye and promises to keep in touch.

A lady from customs then escorted us through to collect our bags and out into the main terminal building.

Our cruise maybe over but it has been the most wonderful experience for both us and for the rest of the family so thank you to everyone on board who made it so special, and very special thanks to Hailey, the best genie we could have hoped for.

We look forward to coming back next year and doing it all again.

But before that, we have Brilliance coming in in November this year.

 

Stray Observations

A couple of differences I noticed between Quantum and Ovation, Jamie’s Italian does not have an outdoor dining area like Ovation does. The second thing I noticed is on Ovation there is a place where you can buy ice cream inside the entrance of Windjammer that is not there on Quantum.

 

Reflections on Star Class

Star Class is definitely worth the extra money you pay but it works best if you are travelling with family or friends, or it your first time on a ship and you want to make the most of all it offers. It is difficult to put into words the high quality of service and pampering you receive while on board but you do feel like royalty.

We have booked Star next year on Quantum, but as we have seen all the shows and we will travelling by ourselves it will be a different experience again. We have already told Hailey she will have to do the laser tag with us.

 

Thanks to all those who followed along and taken the time to read my posts.

Until next time.