If you couldn't tell I was excited for today based on yesterday's blog post, then let me tell you that I am indeed very, very, very excited to be going on Quantum of the Seas today.
Despite my best intentions of getting a good night sleep in, I slept rather poorly last night. The hotel was fine, I think I was suffering from the day-before-my-Royal-Caribbean-cruise-excitement jitters. At any rate, my alarm did wake me up as expected and got myself ready to go.
I did scope out the complimentary breakfast at SpringHill Suites. It featured scrambled eggs and sausage, plenty of cereals, juices, milk, and an assortment of fruit and cold cuts. I just grabbed some orange juice because I'm not hungry in the morning and I like to make the Windjammer my first meal of the day. If absence makes the heart grow fonder, then hunger makes the first cruise day more fulfilling.
I left the hotel around 9:30 and made my way to Cape Liberty. With the aid of GPS, I was able to get here in about 20 minutes. It was as I was pulling into the port that I realized I had forgotten my Set Sail Pass back in the hotel.
I parked the car and checked my luggage via the porters and the new RFID tags. Luggage works exactly the same but with the RFID tracking, you get a receipt (just like you do when checking luggage at airport) and you can tie the luggage receipt numbers to your Royal iQ app for tracking.
Checking in was easy even without my Set Sail Pass. The port workers all were equipped with those new Microsoft Surface tablets to make check-in easy. You could tell it was their first day but even with a few questions, it moved quite smoothly. Had I not forgotten my Set Sail Pass, I do believe I could have easily made it from curb to ready to board in 10 minutes.
For those keeping track, the health questionaire they asked you orally did have two questions about Ebola.
After a little waiting, I was onboard Quantum of the Seas. I was so excited to be able to experience this new ship. As I walked onto the Royal Esplanade, it really hit me how impressive this ship is.
If I can sum up Quantum of the Seas quickly, it's like this: Quantum is not your father's Royal Caribean ship.
Walking around the ship and exploring, it felt like a Royal Caribbean ship but not one I had ever been on before. Quantum is unlike Freedom ans Oasis class in that it is not a new generation of Voyager class. It's something completely different. And that's not a bad thing.
I ate a quick lunch at the Windjammer, which is tradition. The venue is massive and it offered just as much food as other Windjammers. I did not find the traditional Honey Stung Chicken but the make your own shwarma buffet made up for it.
After eating, I went to check out my stateroom. I have a D8 balcony stateroom (6244) and it's a good stateroom for two people but not any more. It's long and narrow and offers a nice sized balcony.
The bathroom is quite beautiful and has a great shower with adjustable shower head. Gone is the white plastic we typically found in Royal Caribbean bathrooms and instead, lots of wood and glass.
There's also more closet space than I'm used to having in a stateroom. There's a number of fairly good sized closets and I think the room maximizes its space quite well.
My luggage showed up around this time and the RFID tracking worked just perfectly.
I spent the day checking out as much of the ship as I can. I'm going to swtich from narrative to a "quick hits" section as I describe some areas I explored and share my thoughts:
- Royal Esplanade: Love the feel of this area. It feels more like a neighborhood and they really packed a lot in here. I felt like this is the "heart" of the ship and where you will be drawn to consistantly.
- Bionic Bar: There's no doubt this just as cool in person as you thought watching the videos. The robots are impressive to watch and it's a great example of Royal Caribbean trying to offer you something you can't find anywhere else. It always had a crowd here and for good reason.
- Two70: Great area and what I love about it is there's always something going on here. Royal Caribbean wants guests to spend time here more than just once per day. It's a beautiful room and really comes alive at night.
- WOWbands: Work as expected. No issues yet and I've just left my SeaPass card in the room. This is so much more convenient.
- North Star: I didn't think it would be as cool an experience as it was. I was really stunned how great the view is and we only went up to 75 degrees instead of the usual 90.
For dinner, I decided to try a walk up at American Icon Grill. I wanted to test how it would work, especially given on our cruise all the specialty restaurants are closed.
I was able to be seated immediately and the restaurant was about half full. I'd say this is a good sign for those worried about capacity and having to wait.
The meal itself was great and I tried the New England Clam Chowder, Reueben turnover and dry-aged steak burger, Good choices and I enjoyed it all. I'll have a more in-depth review of the food later on but I could definitely eat here again.
After dinner I made my way to Two70 for Starwater. How do I describe Starwater? Well, it's a visually stunning show with super high defintion screens along with roboscreens and of course human performers.
It's a mix of music, performance art and visuals. I'll admit I'm not sophisticated enough to really understand it all but there's no doubting its an impressive show that is something definitely worth seeing.
Now it was time for my second dinner at The Grande. I had dressed up for it and had no problem going, although I had a reservation here.
I'll be saving my final thoughts for another post but so far I'm pretty impressed. I'm also willing to accept this new style of Royal Caribbean. I think being able to be open to big changes is key to Quantum-class enjoyment. I'm really enjoying what I find here because it feels like the next evolution of Royal Caribbean.
Alright, time to do some more "research" at the various lounges. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it!
