Quantum of the Seas Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We had an outstanding cruise!! The food was some of the best we have eaten on a ship. It was excellent!

Our family of four (my wife and I, and two teenage kids) just got back from our Alaskan Cruise aboard The Quantum of the Seas (May 2022). This was our third RCCL cruise and our second Alaskan cruise (we sailed with Princess in 2016). It’s a bit unfair to compare the two Alaskan experiences as our previous Princess cruise was a 7-day inside passage cruise with a four day land package taking the train to Denali National Park. This RCCL cruise was a 7-day round trip from Seattle. If you’ve never been to Alaska, the inside passage one-way trip is the far better itinerary, but includes more expensive travel (flights). Aside from the different itineraries, it’s hard not to compare and contrast our Alaskan cruise experiences a bit. The cruise lines have slightly different vibes. The RCCL cruise was a fun family cruise that happened to be in Alaska. RCCL ships are more decked out with activities and amenities to keep families entertained. Our previous Princess cruise had more of an Alaska destination-focus with on-board programs about the fauna and flora you could expect to see, cultural history of Alaska, they brought Park rangers aboard the ship in Glacier Bay, etc. It just depends on what you want out of your vacation. The Quantum is a great ship! The north star observation pod gave us nice views on the glacier day (more on that later), lots to do: bumper cars, solarium, good entertainment, etc. The staff on the Quantum was great- we had great waiters, cabin stewards, cruise director, entertainers (across the board). The food was mediocre if I’m being generous, and I’m not a critic. The windjammer is great for breakfast, but that’s about it. We ate premium dining twice- Jamie’s Italian was the best meal on the ship, Chops: my steak was great, my wife’s fish was over cooked and dry. On the third night of the cruise, when we ate at Chops, 2 of the 3 Cabernets by the glass on the menu weren’t available (hard to believe). Just not what I’d expect, based on previous experiences. Everything having to do with pre-cruise planning/customer service is a nightmare with Royal. I spent at least 3 times on the phone on hold over an hour (sometimes 2 hours)for simple matters, which brings me to my primary frustration. When you book with RCCL, it is clear they expect you to work for them. As soon as the excursion portal opened up, everything was immediately sold out. There were ports (Icy Straight Point) where there was literally nothing available. I spent hours on the phone trying to book something, only to be told to contact the shore excursion e-mail, which despite promises of 24-36 hour response, contacted me only after our cruise was over. That’s a customer-service deal killer for me. BTW- We eventually got our desired excursion…but.. as the vacation planner in the family, I like spending my vacation enjoying my vacation, not standing in long lines while I’m supposed to be enjoying myself. Princess was far, far better in this regard. Everything with RCCL pre-cruise planning was a hassle and we weren’t trying to do anything special (changing a dining preference, booking an excursion, getting clarity on covid testing that wasn’t on the web site). Again the ship and crew were great, but pre-cruise support was non-existent. The other annoyance with RCCL is the constant, unrelenting upcharging of absolutely everything. Example: one of the cooler features of the Quantum is the North Star observation pod. They don’t share this with you until you sail, but it is only available by reservation. Reservations aren’t available until you board. Once you board, you see that it’s completely sold out, but they have plenty of the non-complimentary tickets available. The limited “complimentary-reservation-offerings” are typically when you’re in port (when you’re likely sightseeing), but for desirable times it’s either $39/person or $69/person. We paid the $69x4 to ride the North Star during our morning in the glacier, but we never saw the glacier because we were told there was too much ice in the water for the ship to traverse so they turned around. Again, we went right up to the glaciers on previous cruise with Princess so it’s hard not to compare our vacation experiences. I’m not questioning their judgement when it comes to safety matters, but they didn’t offer any refunds either. Maybe if I hadn’t paid $280 for my premium 20 minute glacier view on the North Star, it wouldn’t have been quite as annoying. Passengers were understandably irritated as we had beautiful sunny weather and many consider the glacier day as the highlight of an Alaskan cruise. We’ve also paid for premium dining with RCCL before and I don’t have an issue paying premium prices for premium product, but the food on RCCL has taken a nose dive. Our last night was in Victoria- there was barely enough time to get off the ship to have dinner, but most places in the inner harbor were fully booked and full. 5-9pm on the last night isn’t enough port time and is frankly the wrong time when you have to leave your luggage out the night before disembarking-really not an ideal itinerary. We had much better times in port on our previous Alaskan cruise. Disembarkation was pleasantly and surprisingly easy, embarkation was chaotic, frantic, unorganized, and behind schedule. The ship was clean and in great shape, the crew friendly, great gym, the food mediocre, the pre-cruise phone and e-mail support terrible, RCCL shore excursion help inexcusable, entertainment was great (Las Vegas Tenors were outstanding), cabins were nice, cabin steward excellent, ship amenities are amazing and fun for people of all ages. That’s about it. Wildly inconsistent review of a wildly inconsistent experience. We were bound and determined to have a great time and we did, but RCCL has some work to do.

This was a wonderful experience. Granted it was the third week of the Alaskan Cruise season and with a full ship, but the crew went out of their way to please guests. Was everything perfect, no; however, everyone is learning a new normal.

Loved this cruise. Staff made it all perfect. Would certainly do another one

Thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. Staff so friendly and helpful and everywhere so clean

Great cruise! Great selection at the windjammer Cafe. Ship caters to a very international market.

Quantum of the Seas was everything I dreamed of it being. On this 7 day cruise I only saw I line that was when we waiting in Malacca for the tender boats to take us from land to shore. That was very disorganised. But we were informed this was the first time such a large ship has tendered to this city and may not have prepared themselves. Note: your Star or Sky or Key class will assist you with the tender boats. You will need to stay in line.

Was good but thing we prefer the smaller ships as they are more personal and friendly

We did the 7 night spice of south east asia. The ship had a lot of Australians, English and other European/UK places. Not too many Chinese as per other reviews. We were really happy with it, enjoyed the onboard activities like the bumper cars and evening shows. Everything was clean and constantly kept clean. Drinks were a bit hit and miss depending on the bar you went to. It was our first RCI cruise and we'd do another.

Wasn't really sure what to expect after reading some less than stellar reviews. We ended up having the most fabulous time! Everyone was so nice and helped make our cruise extra special. Maybe it helps that we're very laid back and just looking to have a fun time. We would definitely go again if we're able.

Overall an enjoyable cruise. Will be taking again in april next year.

Overall, I had a great time on the cruise. I probably will pick Royal Caribbean cruise again in the future

The cruise was spoilt for a lot of us as we were not allowed into China to enjoy the whole cruise, the resturants definatly need to shape up as they let the cruise down, I was realy disapointed with RCCL showing on this cruise

Really enjoyed this cruise, great food, great staff and very relaxing

Holiday from hell!!! I do like RCI, but the standards well well below!!! No where near what so ever!!!

Would not recommend this cruise to non Chinese peope. Fukuoka was beautiful but short but the only highlight. Also did a behind the scenes tour which was excellent. The rest was either mediocre or terrible

Great port of calls. Love the destinations. Most of the ports had free shuttle into town.

We knew this would be a Chinese Cultural Experience but with over 2000 British and Australian passengers onboard the dining was geared to the Chinese passengers. The service and quality of food was terrible and we had to pay to dine in the Speciality restaurants, only Chops Grill was any good

This was my 7th rccl cruise and the worst. Food was poor, the service slow. I know we were sailing out of China but the ship seamed to be geared up to accommodate the Chinese at the expense of the other nationalities.

Not worthy of the Royal Caribbean brand. Ran terribly from a management prospective, the staff were lovely and did do their best. Many things that are normally included have an additional charge. Inedible food and no formal nights.