QUANTUM OF THE SEAS We traveled on Quantum of the Seas from the 12th-17th November,2018. We boarded in Shanghai and cruised to Fukuoka and Nagasaki in Japan before returning back to Shanghai to fly to Australia. Embarcation was good. The tourist guide dropped us at the Cruise Terminal and made sure we were at the right spot. The desembarcation was even better. There was a Free Shuttle bus to the Train Station and from there we caught the train to HONGQI Airport, for ¥6 each (AU$1.20~) I know of people that paid AU$45 to get to the airport by taxi. A China cruise is very different to any other cruise. There were more than 4.000 Chinese passengers and less than 200 International passengers, most of them had a horrible time, getting on long queues, didn’t like the food or activities. On the contrary, we had a great time!!! Probably because we were Diamond tier. Our concierges were excellent helping us in any way, breakfast was at the Solarium Bistro, so no queues and the food was OK. Also we could use the Solarium for the use of Jacuzzi, happy hour,etc. I like getting involved in lots of activities, so I made friends with lots of Chinese people (I like practicing my Chinese as well,he,he). We like dancing so we did so and the Asians liked us participating as well. I went to the Ladies Pamper Party and it was excellent : cleansing, exfoliation, mask, eye treatment, serum and moisturiser. (Most Ships don’t do Exfoliation or Masks). My husband said that this was his best trip ever (we have done 35 cruises so far). For me I still like Celebrity , or P&O Arcadia as my best trip. Read Less

I chose this cruise as a package including 8 days of touring cities in China. It was offered by Cruise 1st at a good price and fitted in with my plans. My wife and I are Diamond level and everyone was very nice and accommodating for the entire cruise. There were over 4,000 Chinese on board but this wasn't a problem. They seemed to enjoy our joining in with competitions and activities. The entertainment staff were all very nice and enthusiastic. Dining in the Windjammer looked very chaotic so we were lucky enough to be able to have our daily breakfast and lunch at the Solarium Bistro and our evening meals in one of the Dining rooms. I found the Quantum of the Seas to be a beautiful ship throughout. Our cabin was only an Inside but it was the best cabin layout I have seen and we had a 'virtual balcony' which I found great. I loved everything about this cruise but as I said my wife and I did have some advantages being Diamond level. All up we have done 35 cruises on various ships. Read Less

We had a good time but many western guests will find this cruise difficult. The Chinese guests all like to do the same thing at the same time which causes poblems on a 5000 guest ship. To have the best time, we learned to adjust our schedule accordingly. There are lots of reviews about difficulties at boarding do we boarded late at 1:45. No line and got right on. The Chinese like to eat meals right when the dinning halls open so we either got there 10 minutes early to grab a table before they or filled up or waited until 2 hours after the buffet opened. If you try to go in between it is very hard to get a table. Our kids loved the activities. Rock climbing, bumper cars, roller skating, glow rider, trapeze. All crew speak English well. Komomoto and Fukuoka were not the most interesting cities. One of the other itineraries would be better. Disembarkation took a while. You can stay in your room until 9am. I would wait in a common area until about 10 and then get off to avoid the line. Read Less

We wanted to see Japan and this cruise appeared to tick the box. Like most western passengers we too had a very disappointing cruise. As Diamond members, we had express boarding. Over 2 hours we queued, Royal Carribean can't really be blamed for this. However in the high humidity, water should have been available. While RCI, where not to blame for the boarding, they are to blame for everything else that was wrong with cruise. To reiterate, what other passengers have said the food was geared to the Chinese passengers. Even the emailed survey from RCI asked how authentic was the Chinese food. Why ask me I'm from Scotland. First night in the restaurant, not Windjammer, we waited an hour before our first course arrived. Next day in the same restaurant it took 44 minutes ( I timed it) to get me cold poached eggs. At that point I complained to the Head waiter, no visible improvement. Service The bars had no waiters until about day 4. This did not improve service, the computer system for billing took the staff longer to enter the details than it did to pour the drinks. The first night I got a $244 bill, quite a shock as I had a drink package. At $244 a stomach pump would have been required. At a Diamond event I complained to the Captain, with again little noticeable improvement, a theme is developing. When home I gave negative feedback on the RCI emailed questionnaire, no contact from RCI Finally I emailed RCI customer services outlining the issues we experienced , theme continues, no contact from RCI. Either they don't care or they are overwhelmed by the number of complaints. RCI are in danger of losing their loyal customer base. While I understand the Chinese market could be a lucrative one, they should only offer these cruises to that market sector. If you are from the Western world do not book this cruise. Read Less

This was one of the worst cruise I have been on with Royal Caribbean. From the time we arrived at the port. We had to stand for a long period of time in the hot sun before we got to immigration. when it was eventually our turn after about 2 hours waiting, there seemed to be a problem with the visa we were told to get via email from royal Caribbean from the Chinese embassy and no one at the desk seemed to know what they were doing. After about three quarters of an hour we were finished, only to be met with the same problem a little way down the line. I felt no one knew what they were doing. Cabin was really nice at was the stateroom attendant. (best part of this cruise). We went to the Windjammer this was a bad idea to many people and nowhere to sit. food was cold and they seemed to have the same menu every time we went in. A lot of the food was Asian so if you didn't like Asian food there was very little choice. We went to the dinning room service was slow and when we did eventually get our food it was cold. We did not go to breakfast on a few occasions as it was not worth the hassle to try and find a table to sit at. When we did order room service they forgot half the food. Could not book some of the tours as they were booked out. the two tours we did book we spent much of the time on a coach and then in a shopping area. You also had to reserve your shows we saw no shows as again they were booked out. Only available if you paid for them. entertainment was not very good with the exception of two shows. Needless to say I would not do this cruise again and i would definitely not recommend it to anyone. Read Less

We wanted to see china and japan ,this was the easy option. it took two hours thirty minutes to get on ship ,as people where jumping queues and removing barriers,we where literally pushed out of way, food was rubbish ,we eat off classic menu every night for eight days. windjammer was a no go area ,as chinese would again push you out of the way ,tables not cleared ,nowhere at all to sit. coughing up phlegm was a everyday scenario , with some even spitting on carpeted floors. smoking on balconies and throwing cigarette buts into sea a norm , casino was a no go area i have never seen so much smoke ,the smell was unbelievable using toilets and not washing hands was also a norm entertainment was also rubbish if you could not understand chinese embarkation was also a free for all,with barriers being moved,and a mad dash for free shuttle buses ,amazed nobody got hurt in the rush. overall this was the worst cruise we have ever been on in last twenty years,spoilt by bad mannered ,people with disgusting habits,bad service ,bad food,bad entertainment.and even the CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP calling for calm and asking people to respect each other . and other races on board.. Read Less

Quantum of the Seas from Shanghai September 2018 We booked a six night tour of China, followed by an eight night cruise to Japan on Quantum of the Seas. The first part of the tour with Wendy Wu Tours was excellent. The problems with the cruise started even before boarding the ship. I don't like to be negative, but there are things about this holiday that shouldn't be overlooked, if you are thinking of cruising with Royal Caribbean from Shanghai. This is not a vacation for the faint hearted! After a very busy week in China, we were all looking forward to a relaxing cruise, with two restful days at sea. How wrong could we be?! Embarkation took over three hours. It was extremely hot, everyone was pushing and shoving, as we needed to keep changing queues for some unknown reason. Once we boarded, we found our cabin, which was absolutely fine, and decided to go and find food. I can only describe the Windjammer Restaurant, as bedlam, with far too many people, all pushing and shoving, and nowhere to sit. I had read negative reviews, but thought other people were being over critical. After all, you can't expect to get on a ship in Shanghai, where most of the passengers are Chinese, and be served roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. However, a lot of the food was alien to us and had a strange overall taste. On the first day, all that we recognised, was pizza, hot dogs and burgers. The strange overall taste was the same every day in The Windjammer. My partner and I are open to eating different cuisine, but this was just a step too far. We changed our early dinner sitting for the latest, at 7-7.45pm, still early for us. The first night, we sat with two Australian guests, who were aware that there was a classic menu, which hadn't been offered to us, which was the same all week, as well as the Chinese one, that changed every day. We ordered a bottle of wine, which took an hour to arrive, the starter arrived shortly after, as we had asked where it was. We waited another half hour for the main course. All the hot food was cool, and not at all like the standard we've come to expect from Royal Caribbean. The steaks, usually excellent, were inedible. I had to ask for vegetables, but no potato or carbohydrate was served. The meal took almost three hours, so the first show was missed. At breakfast next morning, we tried a different restaurant, but the situation didn't change. We sat with a couple who were Diamond members, we are Platinum. Ordered breakfast. After an hour, we asked where it was. It arrived, stone cold. The Diamond member was furious, extremely annoyed that he'd missed the quiz that he was looking forward to, and stormed off. Staff were upset they'd annoyed a Diamond member, they completely ignored us and left us with inedible food. Eventually, my partner, found the head waiter, who was very apologetic, and advised he would personally arrange for him to have a slice of toast with a hot poached egg. Instead, a cool full breakfast was delivered. Very poor quality, with what looked like pieces of grey bacon, and again, inedible. We queued an hour to complain on the first morning, we certainly weren't the only people complaining, only to have to join the same queue for another 45mins to get tickets for the show! By now, we've decided to get by on pieces of melon, and Royal Caribbean cookies, which are still excellent by the way, and order continental breakfast to the room. Sometimes we got what we ordered, sometimes we didn't. The staff didn't seem to understand, you need milk with cereal. Royal Caribbean have built their reputation on providing excellent food which we have always enjoyed and one of the main reasons for travelling with them. We object to the word complimentary food being used in the daily cruise newsletter, we had actually paid for food in the price of the cruise and would expect the food to be of the high standard Royal Caribbean have set, without having to use other restaurants on the ship that are to be paid extra for. Later in the week, when queuing at Customer Services, to try and rearrange our 4pm collection from the ship, when it needed to be 10am, (not Royal Caribbean’s fault), they asked if we were happy with the cruise. We advised them of our problems with the restaurant. Another Head Waiter, was summoned. He was very helpful, advised they were aware of the problem, the chef wasn't used to cooking for Westerners. He said to ask for him in the restaurant that evening, and he would make sure our food was good and cooked properly. He, and his staff, bent over backwards for us, so much so, that it was embarrassing at times, but there were many other guests in our position, and the food improved. However, we had no choice, and were given, what the Head Waiter described, as a 'surprise' for our main course, whether we wanted lamb chops/steak or not. The food was the worst cruise ship food we have ever experienced, and certainly don't expect this from Royal Caribbean. The entertainment was badly timed, and we missed quite a few shows. Many people thought the entertainment wasn't up to the usual standard. The worst, being a Taiwanese magician, whose best trick was making the audience disappear in their droves! Be aware, that the Chinese use this cruise as a shopping trip to Japan. It felt very much like the booze cruise over to France, that we British used to do in the 80's, but without the booze. Nobody dresses up for dinner or acts as if they're on holiday. We didn't fill in a health questionnaire when boarding the ship, sanitiser was not always available when returning, and when it was, we saw gold and silver members going to front of the queues, and not sanitising their hands. No wonder so many people were really ill with a flu type virus, one of our party was diagnosed with pneumonia by the ship's doctor, and my partner became ill on his return home. The response I have received from Royal Caribbean seems to be a list of humble apologies and blame on members of staff. I think they are doing their best in an impossible situation. They also stated that they look forward to us joining them again in the near future!! They have clearly not read and understood our e-mails. If Royal Caribbean can't cope with this number of passengers from different cultures, then they shouldn't be taking the bookings. Read Less

We arrived in Shanghai for 3 nights before the cruise,we were aware that the biggest percentage of guests would be Chinese,what we didn’t expect from royal Caribbean was the food /entertainment and everything else were definitely aimed for the Chinese market only,the food was by far the worst food We have ever had on any cruise ship we have been on,the entertainment was an absolute joke,they had a magician on one night and he was that good nearly the whole audience disappeared in the first 2 minutes and never returned,Chinese karaoke was the final straw for evening entertainment,the customer services desk was also by far the worst we have ever experienced mostly Chinese and couldn’t understand a word of English and no help at all,the bar staff were the same they have not a clue how to make drinks cocktails we had to tell them,Hadi in the solarium was excellent really nice guy very pleasant and helpful nothing was to much trouble,we mostly ate in the coastal kitchen ,the waiter Jonnie was also very good,the embarkation and disembarkation was a disgrace they have not got a clue,it took 3 hrs queuing to get on to the ship,they are going to be putting the new spectrum of the seas over there what a waste of a ship,again we don’t think this cruise should be sold to any one outside of China.we spoke with a lot of people on the ship from Australia and the United States and uk ,every one was of the same mindset and most said they would not sail royal Caribbean again. Read Less

We chose this cruise to tick off another bucket list destination, Japan. After booking this cruise I then read all the reviews about how bad it was with so many of the cruisers being Chinese etc. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised, the embarkation was not so much chaotic as it was interesting. Obviously with 4800 passengers it wasn't going to be a quick process but still was in the most part well done. There were a few line jumpers that were pulled back and some that got thru. For those yet to do this cruise just expect a slower than usual embarkation but only by 1/2 an hour. Being an Aussie, we are not great at being in a queue but if you just relax watch some of the antics and be ready for a slightly slower embarkation its fine. I had more trouble listening to some of the English/Aussies that were already prepared to whinge and carry on in the line, they were unhappy about how many Chinese were aboard even though they were advised it was a culturally enriching cruise. If you go straight to the lift after a show it will be crowded regardless if its in China, Australia or Europe. The food, the shows, the crew onboarded were top notch. The cabin and balcony was clean. I cant say enough about the crew, especially the Diamond lounge people, all were friendly, happy and always ready to help. Great cruise again RCCL, thank you. Read Less

Pre-Cruise: We spent 3 nights in Shanghai at Les Suites Orient on the Bund. Great hotel, and amazing views of the Bund from the 20th floor. If you stay there, I recommend a high-floor, Bund view Deluxe room. Shanghai is an amazing city. Very clean. Super modern. No horns honking ($30 fine). Chinese food and drink surprisingly poor with some exceptions, but we had a fantastic time. Did some private tours that really made the experience enjoyable. Transportation: I recommend that you get around by taxi. We took a taxi to the port and it was maybe $25-$30 USD and a similar price from the port back to the airport. You'll probably want to have instructions in Chinese, as most drivers don't speak/read English, but this was convenient and the price was quite fair for the distances involved. Embarkation: Kind of a disaster, really. No porter (we don't travel light), very hot, sweated like crazy, which is not the way I want to start my cruise. Huge lines and the staff outside of the port spoke very little English. They initially directed me to the "foreign passengers" line, which was so long and moved so slowly. Then I saw a line for suites and Jr. suites, so they directed me there, but sent me to the Golden suites line, then shuffled me around some more. A slow, long, hot, uncomfortable and unpleasant experience. Highly disorganized and needs substantial improvement. The Ship: Very clean and modern. Not "elegant" like some of MSC's newer ships, but nice with a lot of technology. Maintenance was quite good. I didn't love the layout of the ship, and maybe it needed more than 2 elevator banks. I only used the ship's Wi-Fi for a day, but it was fast and fairly priced. There was a lot of focus on upsetting, which got pretty annoying. Sanitation was a focal point, which I appreciated. Activities: They offered things like indoor skydiving and Northstar, but with an extra cost, which I didn't love. Otherwise, there weren't a lot of things to do that we were interested in. Entertainment: Limited and not the best. We attended a high-tech show at Two70 which started off bad, but was good in the end. The sound and special effects were as good as I've seen. Quality of performers was good but not great. Overall, not as many quality entertainment offerings as I'd like to see. Passengers: Mostly Chinese, but more Americans, Aussies and Brits than normal. The menu and experience was definitely geared towards the Chinese passengers. Food: Mixed and mostly not in a good way. We had dinner in the Suite restaurant Coastal Kitchen every night. Most of the food was pretty good, but I'd still say below my expectations. The rack of lamb was quite good. Veggies and such, basic and so-so. The same for desserts. They did not often rotate the menu. For example, they used the same menu the first 3 nights and then switched back to it. Sirloin steak mediocre. Ahi Salad had maybe 3 tiny cubes of ahi surrounded by iceberg lettuce. While there's no lobster night (bummer) we ordered it at an extra cost and it was quite good. The food in the main dining rooms was poor. We only ate there for breakfast and lunch, but offerings were quite basic and really outshined by the Windjammer Cafe buffet, which was a surprise. Not only was the food not great, but again, the menu often was not rotated. While we had a nice time, I think it's fair to say the food was below expectations, especially in terms of lunch and breakfast. Lines in the main dining rooms were very long and very slow and all of this wait for a rather mediocre offering without proper menu rotation. Needs improvement. I might also add that there was no coffee in the room. Only 2 bags of Green Tea and sugar. $7.95 charge for room service, which I didn't love. Ports: Only 1 or zero shore excursions offered for most ports. We hired 2 private guides and did the Osaka ship's tour, which we enjoyed a lot. Hard to figure out why they didn't offer many tours. The ports themselves were quite good. We got a hotel and spent the night in Tokyo. But getting off the ship in the first port, Osaka, was a bit of a nightmare, as you have to clear Japanese Immigration, which is quite slow. My suggestions is to try to do the ship's tour on the first Japan stop, as you'll get your immigration clearances done and you'll be the first off the ship. Also, bring a clear copy of your passport because you'll need it. Also, I recommend that you get your cash (Yen) at the 7-11 shops, which are everywhere. Staff: Super friendly and super nice. Great experience with the crew. They have some good people working on this ship. Disembarkation: Far better than embarkation. Waits were reasonable, and fairly well organized, although the taxi situation was a bit disorganized. Overall: We really had a lot of fun. While I've shared some criticisms, I think we got a nice cabin at a fair price and we enjoyed the heck out of ourselves. This cruise truly is a cultural experience. It's not the typical cruise where you go to the Caribbean and pound down rum drinks, but I learned a lot and had a super time. Read Less