05/16/22 - Day 01 - Embarkation Day

 

We booked this last minute trip on the Quantum of the Seas after finding a great deal for a balcony cabin on a ship we've never sailed on.  We used our regular travel agent, CostcoTravel.com and received $50 shipboard credit, one specialty dining experience, two unlimited  soda packages, a spa experience, and a $70 Costco shop card. All of this was done at the same fare as booking it on the RCCL website directly. This ship is normally used in the Chinese market, but because of the pandemic, it was moved to home port in Seattle for the Alaska cruise season.

 

All the booking is done on the Royal Caribbean app with one important exception:  I could only print luggage tags by going to the RCCL website.  Be sure to print your luggage tags before arriving at the terminal to save a long wait before even joining the queue to board the ship.

 

We were assigned a check in time of 2-2:30pm.  We arrived at 1:30pm and there were at least 1,000 people in line already.  There were 7 separate queues and it took 1.5 hours to get on board.  We were not asked for our ArrivCan QR code and all of the rest of our check in was done online or on the APP.  Once onboard we were directed to our muster station in the Music Hall.  We had previous viewed the rest of the muster on the APP.

 

Our stateroom is wonderful!  It's spacious with lots of storage. The bed is quite firm but was comfortable.  There was only one 110v outlet at the bed and no USB outlets there.  At the desk there are 2 110v outlets and one 220v outlet plus 2 USB ports.  

 

Since we hadn't eaten all day and the buffet was closed, we went to Sorrento's for pizza.  It was the best pizza we've had on a cruise ship.  The accompanying Greek seasoned veggies were outstanding.  They included eggplant, olives, cheeses, peppers, and a wonderful dressing.

 

The jogging track up on deck 15 is terrific, and quite long, but I miss the promenade deck on HAL ships that is closer to the water.  There are all sorts of sports activities on this deck including surfing, rock climbing, bumper cars, the spa, and more.  Right below are several swimming pools and hot tubs.  

 

RCCL pre-reserved us dinner in the SILK main dining room but the table was for 9 persons which I won't sit at because it's too hard to converse.  We were re-assigned a table up on deck 4 with two couples from El Paso, TX and we had a really nice dinner with them.  The escargot and wild mushroom soup were excellent and my prime rib was the best I've had in a very long time.  Unlike HAL's main dining room which is a pretty large open area, the Quantum's main dining room is split into two main sections and those sections are further divided into smaller sections.  Service was a little slow, but we were still able to make the 8pm show in the Royal Theater.  Tomorrow is formal night and we'll likely eat in the buffet.

 

The cruise director, Mike, introduced the comedian, Steve McGrew who was very funny with clean humor.  His appearance was like a southern rock star with very long hair and a beard, and he used that to his advantage. Like I said, he was really funny.

 

And so ended day one.  The ship is very stable with little to no vibrations.

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