My Quantum of the Seas experience

How did you spend your weekend? I spent mine viewing the ocean from a pod in the sky 300ft above sea level, eating gourmet food, drinking cocktails, dancing A LOT and best of all, flying (actually flying) in the air. And it was all on a cruise ship.

As a Royal Mum I couldn’t wait to get on board Royal Caribbean’s new ‘Smart Ship’, Quantum of the Seas, on a two day ‘cruise to nowhere’ from Southampton. We’d heard so much about it and had to see for ourselves whether it lived up to the hype. And boy, does it ever. From the moment you see the giant 30ft tall pink polar bear created by artist Lawrence Argent waving to you from the top deck you know this is going to be a cruise ship like no other, and I think I may have used the word ‘wow’ at least 50 times during our stay on board. Possibly more.

 

 

 

 

 

The ship’s atrium and public areas feel incredibly light and spacious, really contemporary with lots of impressive art work dotted around, like this rather beautiful sculpture…

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and my personal favourite, a stunning wall of 3-D butterflies (it’s not blurred, that’s the effect, promise).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I loved my stateroom – a superior ocean view stateroom (you can watch a video here), which was decorated in shades of blue, chocolate and cream, with a luxurious carpet and fittings. I particularly liked the big sparkly mirror, very glam, and the fact there was so much room; it would easily sleep a family of four.

 

 

 

And then it was up (and up) on The North Star.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m not really a fan of heights but the North Star is like one of the pods you get on the London Eye (as you can see it was a really glorious day, all of the photos in this review are #nofilter).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The North Star glides through the air very smoothly and slowly, giving you a fabulous view of the ship below, and the ocean…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My top tip is to go at sunset, like we did, because then you get a view like this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also had a good look around the pool deck – this is the main pool…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and as you can see it also has a giant movie screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That night I ate in Izumi, which is one of the speciality restaurants on board (so there’s a cover charge). It’s Japanese, my favourite kind of food (and No 1 Son’s, don’t tell him I ate there) and the sushi was really superb…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As was the gyoza…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quantum of the Seas is the first Royal Caribbean ship to embrace the ‘dynamic dining’ concept; there are actually 18 restaurants on board, which gives you heaps to choose from, and there are four really gorgeous complimentary restaurants as well as the two main dining restaurants, so you’re definitely spoiled for choice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then after dinner I joined my fellow Royal Mums at Mamma Mia, which was a proper West End-quality production (the entire audience had a good dance and sing-a-long at the end)…

…and after that we hit the Music Hall, which is a bar/dance venue on two levels. There was a fantastic live band playing, and lots of cocktails, and then it all got a bit messy *cough*…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…the next morning after breakfast in the Windjammer (carbs and protein are the best hangover cure, right?) I joined a food tour led by well known chef and Director of Culinary Operations for Royal Caribbean Cornelius Gallagher, who I’d met before at the launch of Jamie’s Italian at sea. There was all kinds of delicious food to try en route, including the famous planks at Jamie’s…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and we also went to see the galley, which like all ship galleys was absolutely spotless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Along the way we also learned a bit more about the Bionic Bar, which is staffed by electronic robots. They are so cool – the idea is you can choose any drink you want and they’ll mix it; even your own concoctions. The big USP of Quantum of the Seas is the Smart Ship concept – so there’s a lot of interactivity on board, you can choose which restaurants you want to eat in and activities online, all restaurant orders are taken on iPad, you’re given a special watch to wear which basically acts as a control pad for your cruise experience, and so on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After lunch at Johnny Rockets (which was actually a bit disappointing as it was cold so we had to take it back – I’m sure this was just a teething problem though as the one on Liberty of the Seas was excellent) I headed off to the solarium for a little rest…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and checked out all the fabulous things on offer at the SeaPlex, the largest indoor active space at sea, including the FlowRider, climbing wall and bumper cars (aren’t they gorgeous? So shiny). I can imagine the SeaPlex will be very popular on a gorgeous hot sea day in the Caribbean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…I also got close to the polar bear. LOVE him.

And then came one of the absolute highlights of the weekend; the chance to fly – actually fly – in the Ripcord by iFly skydiving simulator that’s on board. I’m going to do a whole separate post on this, because it was, frankly, one of the best things I’ve ever done on a ship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way back (hair slightly more dishevelled and in need of a nap) I ran into Miss Gloria from Dreamworks Madagascar and we did a selfie together. Isn’t she cute? Bless.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner that evening was with the Royal Mums at Wonderland (that’s a sentence I never thought I’d write), which is designed to look like something out of the Mad Hatter’s tea party and is absolutely stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The whole experience was very theatrical. Our wonderful waitress advised us to let her choose a selection of delicacies to bring us, and we were only too happy to go with it.

The menu is based on Wind, Fire, Ice, Water and Dreams (those are the desserts) and while some of it was slightly weird (I wasn’t overly keen on the liquid lobster) much of it was absolutely delicious, particularly the  crispy tempura kim chee leaves…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…the pork shank (I have never eaten pork shank before, and as I don’t eat lamb this is the perfect find for me – so tender, the meat basically melts in your mouth)…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and excellent desserts, including these key lime pie lollipops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But another really big attraction at Wonderland is the cocktails, created by a former mixologist from The Bellagio in Las Vegas; and after trying a Watermelon and Cucumber cocktail I decided to try a Cotton Candytini. Oh. My. God. Basically they bring you a glass full of candy floss…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

…and then they pour on the alcohol and the candy floss melts away. It’s DELICIOUS. Needless to say we all had several of those *cough*. Wonderland was quite simply the piece de resistance of our time on Quantum of the Seas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that we went to see the slightly bizarre show StarWater at the Two70 club. Visually it’s absolutely stunning, although if anyone can tell me why this lady was wearing a big white dress that kept rising up in the air I’d appreciate it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then it was back to the Music Hall for more dancing, singing, cocktails and cackling. It was an absolutely perfect finish to a completely awesome weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quantum of the Seas really is the most amazing ship; it’s elegant, stylish and chic, with lots of glamour and wonder, plenty to keep kids happy and LOTS for adults to do. I can’t wait to go back on. And have another go on the iFly, followed by another Cotton Candytini *sighs wistfully*. Sister ship Anthem of the Seas starts sailing from the UK next spring. I am SO there.

You can watch my video of what Quantum of the Seas has to offer families below 🙂