Just off of the Quantum

[FSUFAN]

So, we are back from our Alaskan sailing on the Quantum.  These are some of my observations.

The Really Great:

The ship is stunning. So many venues, places to eat or get a snack. The adult only solarium area is outstanding.  Café 270 was my morning coffee place and the Solarium Bistro was our favorite breakfast place.

The staff was friendly and really did the company proud. Room steward got me everything I needed including a small fan and feather pillow. The room had a tea kettle for Mrs Fan’s morning tea.

The big band orchestra was outstanding. There was a solo guitarist (Annistasia I think) and she was very good.

The ship was full but there were only a few times that it seemed crowded. Seats were always available in the venues like the Schooner Lounge and the Music Hall.

Embarkation was a snap. We were on the ship in less than 10 minutes. No lines, no waiting.

The new Wifi is so much better than the old offering.  We were never without service and it was a steady 8-9 Mbps. Plenty fast.

I did a Sushi making class with 2 of my grown kids and a son-in-law. We had fun, but it was a lot of sushi to eat (not enough to stop me from eating it all anyway. LOL).  Highly recommend this activity.

The bartenders at the Solarium Bar mix really good drinks.

The oatmeal raisin cookies are the best dessert that they offer. Warm, buttery, chewy goodness.  Mrs Fan said the tiramisu was very good - I somehow missed getting it.

The Good:

The Windjammer was good with lots of options (we ate there a few nights to escape the MDR – see The Awful below).  Any chicken that is served that is roasted, get it. Honey Garlic roasted chicken, herb roasted chicken, plain roasted chicken – it was all flavorful and fall off the bone tender (it belongs in the Really Great category). The mashed potatoes and brown gravy were what all comfort food should be, they were really good.  The Windjammer or the Solarium Bistro has better food than the MDR now.

The Promenade was nice, but I’m not a big fan of the overpriced stores and it was one of the places that felt crowded at times. Lines for specialty coffee were longer there compared to 270.

We played lots of trivia games and had a good time with that. The house band was good.

To me the desserts are hit and miss.  I called the New York Cheesecake, New Jersey Cheesecake – it’s close to New York, but it’s not New York style.  Any dessert that is sweetened with figs or dates or similar is just not to my liking. But that’s just me.

The Misses:

No more paper Cruise Compass but you get swamped with tons of other paper stuff. Art Auctions, jewelry sales, other stuff I have no interest in. I was throwing out 3-6 sheets of paper every day that was left by the room steward.  Just give me back my paper Cruise Compass and keep all the other stuff.

We went to the Horn and Harp tavern for Father’s Day to eat some “bar food” and have a few beers. We order multiple plates of appetizers (there were 8 of us). The server didn’t bring out any plates or silverware or even napkins.  We had to go back to the bar to ask for those, then he brought out 3 small plates, 1 knife, 1 fork, and no napkins. I know this is minor but read your table. 8 people sharing nachos, fried pickles and such, we needed 8 plates. We went back to the bar again and got some more. It was really the only place that missed the mark as far as service goes. The Pulled Pork Nachos were very good.

This is probably just me, but I had no idea what was being said on ship wide announcements. The speakers are too tinny/garbled and the accents from the person making the announcement are too much for me to understand.

IMHO - The phone App just stinks.  Every time I logged in, it gave me a system error. Didn’t have information about port times of what floor the gangway was on for each port. It was too general, and it could be more interactive or customized for the cruise. They could have done this with a text blast to all on board.

The Awful:

The new menus are bad.  The MDR is now bad.  Steaks were overcooked. I just asked for rare steak hoping to get at least a medium cooked steak. The theme meals are bad. I’m a guy who eats anything and there were nights I left the MDR hungry because I just could not eat what was served.

I had breakfast in the MDR with my daughter and the Bloody Mary was the worst. Like ketchup and water mixed with vodka. Got one the next day at the Solarium bar and it was outstanding.

Mrs Fan ordered the stuffed portobello one of the nights and could not eat more a few bites.

The “Kill it with Fire” Awful:

Anything with noodles in the MDR. I order Pad Thai on Asian night. It was the worst thing. Our waiter brought out extra sauce and it was still awful. 3 of us ordered it and none of us had more than a single bite.  Same with the Seafood Linguini. The noodles were like paste.  It was the worst thing until I got the Pad Thai the next night. Again, the Pad Thai was an abomination.

Finally:

Would I sail her again. Absolutely!  The ship and Alaska are a great combo.

 

[Xaa]

Thanks for the rundown @FSUFAN.  I'm a real fan of quantum class.  Love the venues and the vibe of the ship.  Sorry the MDR was a miss for you.

I think you can ask for a paper compass from your steward and/or at guest services and still get one.

[Ampurp85]

Good review.

Doesn't Quantum have an esplanade and not a promenade? I believe that's why it often feels congested

[FSUFAN]

5 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Good review.

Doesn't Quantum have an esplanade and not a promenade? I believe that's why it often feels congested

I guess seeing the "Promenade Cafe" made me call it the Promenade. Honestly, I don't know the difference. The only thing I know is that the ship was full and most areas did not feel crowded except the inside area around the shops.  The elevators were crowded a lot, but not too bad.

 

[Linda R]

3 hours ago, FSUFAN said:

So, we are back from our Alaskan sailing on the Quantum.  These are some of my observations.

The Really Great:

The ship is stunning. So many venues, places to eat or get a snack. The adult only solarium area is outstanding.  Café 270 was my morning coffee place and the Solarium Bistro was our favorite breakfast place.

The staff was friendly and really did the company proud. Room steward got me everything I needed including a small fan and feather pillow. The room had a tea kettle for Mrs Fan’s morning tea.

The big band orchestra was outstanding. There was a solo guitarist (Annistasia I think) and she was very good.

The ship was full but there were only a few times that it seemed crowded. Seats were always available in the venues like the Schooner Lounge and the Music Hall.

Embarkation was a snap. We were on the ship in less than 10 minutes. No lines, no waiting.

The new Wifi is so much better than the old offering.  We were never without service and it was a steady 8-9 Mbps. Plenty fast.

I did a Sushi making class with 2 of my grown kids and a son-in-law. We had fun, but it was a lot of sushi to eat (not enough to stop me from eating it all anyway. LOL).  Highly recommend this activity.

The bartenders at the Solarium Bar mix really good drinks.

The oatmeal raisin cookies are the best dessert that they offer. Warm, buttery, chewy goodness.  Mrs Fan said the tiramisu was very good - I somehow missed getting it.

The Good:

The Windjammer was good with lots of options (we ate there a few nights to escape the MDR – see The Awful below).  Any chicken that is served that is roasted, get it. Honey Garlic roasted chicken, herb roasted chicken, plain roasted chicken – it was all flavorful and fall off the bone tender (it belongs in the Really Great category). The mashed potatoes and brown gravy were what all comfort food should be, they were really good.  The Windjammer or the Solarium Bistro has better food than the MDR now.

The Promenade was nice, but I’m not a big fan of the overpriced stores and it was one of the places that felt crowded at times. Lines for specialty coffee were longer there compared to 270.

We played lots of trivia games and had a good time with that. The house band was good.

To me the desserts are hit and miss.  I called the New York Cheesecake, New Jersey Cheesecake – it’s close to New York, but it’s not New York style.  Any dessert that is sweetened with figs or dates or similar is just not to my liking. But that’s just me.

The Misses:

No more paper Cruise Compass but you get swamped with tons of other paper stuff. Art Auctions, jewelry sales, other stuff I have no interest in. I was throwing out 3-6 sheets of paper every day that was left by the room steward.  Just give me back my paper Cruise Compass and keep all the other stuff.

We went to the Horn and Harp tavern for Father’s Day to eat some “bar food” and have a few beers. We order multiple plates of appetizers (there were 8 of us). The server didn’t bring out any plates or silverware or even napkins.  We had to go back to the bar to ask for those, then he brought out 3 small plates, 1 knife, 1 fork, and no napkins. I know this is minor but read your table. 8 people sharing nachos, fried pickles and such, we needed 8 plates. We went back to the bar again and got some more. It was really the only place that missed the mark as far as service goes. The Pulled Pork Nachos were very good.

This is probably just me, but I had no idea what was being said on ship wide announcements. The speakers are too tinny/garbled and the accents from the person making the announcement are too much for me to understand.

IMHO - The phone App just stinks.  Every time I logged in, it gave me a system error. Didn’t have information about port times of what floor the gangway was on for each port. It was too general, and it could be more interactive or customized for the cruise. They could have done this with a text blast to all on board.

The Awful:

The new menus are bad.  The MDR is now bad.  Steaks were overcooked. I just asked for rare steak hoping to get at least a medium cooked steak. The theme meals are bad. I’m a guy who eats anything and there were nights I left the MDR hungry because I just could not eat what was served.

I had breakfast in the MDR with my daughter and the Bloody Mary was the worst. Like ketchup and water mixed with vodka. Got one the next day at the Solarium bar and it was outstanding.

Mrs Fan ordered the stuffed portobello one of the nights and could not eat more a few bites.

The “Kill it with Fire” Awful:

Anything with noodles in the MDR. I order Pad Thai on Asian night. It was the worst thing. Our waiter brought out extra sauce and it was still awful. 3 of us ordered it and none of us had more than a single bite.  Same with the Seafood Linguini. The noodles were like paste.  It was the worst thing until I got the Pad Thai the next night. Again, the Pad Thai was an abomination.

Finally:

Would I sail her again. Absolutely!  The ship and Alaska are a great combo.

 

I enjoyed reading your post.  And agree with about all of it.   The MDR is awful now.  The past 2 cruises I have not eaten at the MDR.   Except for a breakfast here and there.    I also don't understand having all the flyers in your cabin all the time and they all get thrown out.  Especially the big colorful one about the art auction.  Bring back the paper Compass please.   I do use the App, but really also like a paper Compass.  Much easier to read at-a-glance.

[GatorCruiser]

Well the consensus it seems from aggregate reviews across multiple ships is that the MDR blows chunks nowadays. Bummer for sure. Post Covid has been a tough scene in some areas for Royal. 

[FloatyBoaty]

The MDR was really great on Liberty when we were on June 1-10. Way, way, way better than when I was on Quantum in March. Liberty had tender, perfectly-cooked chicken, hot food. Very good overall. Biggest criticism was way too much cheese that was not broiled enough on the French Onion Soup - and if that's the biggest problem, I'll take it!  

[Ampurp85]

The MDR was very good on Freedom in April, it was casino comp that I got 44 days before sailing, and I am normally a UDP/3N dining package person. I rarely eat in the MDR, but I ate there every night. So, it looks like it is ship dependent on whether the food is bad. I always think the WJ is bad, didn't even try it on Freedom but selection seemed good.

[Mr. K]

Excellent recap. Looking forward to doing the Alaska sailing in 2026 on one of the Quantum ships. Thank you.