Tom Royal Caribbean Cruise’s Cruise to Nowhere remains to be one of the most viable options of travel amidst the ongoing pandemic. Even as we write, Omicron has spread to over 70 countries and parts of Europe have returned to the enforcement of lock-downs, dampening the mood for Vaccinated Travel Lanes (VTLs). Thankfully, we’re still able to have a getaway via cruises to nowhere and this time, we decided to revisit Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas to check out several new offerings that we didn’t get to do on our last cruise to nowhere with RCC.
Preparations for Royal Caribbean’s Cruise To Nowhere
For our cruise to nowhere this time round, we wanted to try out Royal Caribbean’s Deluxe Beverage Package. This would allow us to do two activities that we didn’t get to do during our last trip – bar hopping and wine tasting!
Unfortunately, we decided against VTL travel quite late and were only able to book a rather expensive trip during the December 2021 school holidays…
This was almost double the price that we paid for our last cruise to nowhere. Well, that’s the price to pay for travel during the peak period. We also added the Deluxe Drinks Package. Remember to make bookings during offers (such as Black Friday deals / 12.12 deals) and monitor the prices. If they do drop, you can call into RCC’s hotline to lock in the lower prices. We’ve discussed in depth, on how this is done in our Cruise To Nowhere Pre-Cruise Preparations post.
All in all, we paid a total of $2500, inclusive of the Deluxe Beverage Package for 2 pax. That works out to be about $600 per night, with food and drinks included. During this cruise to nowhere back with Quantum of the Seas, we also tried the Key as well as the Chef’s Table.
Royal Caribbean Cruise ART Test and Boarding Experience
If you have read our updates to Royal Caribbean’s ART Test at Raffles City, you’ll realise that there’s no longer a need for PCR test (which is good) but you do have to travel from Raffles City to Marina Bay Cruise Centre after your test. Thankfully, Royal Caribbean has ironed out the kinks from their first departure on 2 December 2021 and we had a really pleasant ART experience. We started our morning with a hearty breakfast of mee pok and mee kia (with extra vinegar of course), before heading to Raffles City Convention Centre for our test.
We decided to have local food as we had checked the menu onboard prior to our departure. If you do not already know, you can utilise the Royal App to access the Main Dining Room Menu (in advance prior to your cruise), simply by following these steps:
Step 1: Click on the Profile (Human Figure) on the top right hand side of the app
Step 2: Select an alternate sailing date by choosing Supported Ships. Click on Quantum of the Seas in this case.
Step 3: Choose the date closest to your sailing date. In our case, as we were sailing on 9 December, we looked at the 2 December sailing for a closer reference.
Note that only when the ship is sailing, then can you check out the actual menu. After our hearty breakfast, we headed to Raffles City Convention Centre for our pre-departure ART.
The timing that we booked via the Royal App was the arrival time at 1pm. According to the latest instructions, we would have to arrive at Raffles City at 12pm for our test. As kiasu Singaporeans, we arrived “slightly” earlier at 11:30am but were not allowed entry. In a sense, this was good. We circled around Raffles City, shopped a little and returned at 11:55am. This time, the signboard had changed to our arrival time and we could directly head in by showing our arrival time on the Royal App.
The entire process in the testing centre was smooth and efficient. We only took a grand total of 5 minutes from entry to verification to swab to exit. That was fast!
After completing our tests, we were told to hang around in Raffles City till our results are released. It took about 20 minutes before the results were made known to us. First, by repeatedly pressing the refresh button via the TraceTogether App. Then, the results also came in via SMS. Lastly, via email.
With the results, we took the MRT to Marina South Pier station. Surprisingly, we were the only ones heading over via MRT at that time!
The ride from City Hall MRT to Marina South Pier took less than 10 minutes and the walk from Marina South Pier MRT to Marina Bay Cruise Centre was about 10 minutes as well. By 12:45pm, we were able to enter into the Marina Bay Cruise Centre.
Upon entry, we just had to show our ART results, vaccination status, Setsail Pass (on Royal App) and do a final health declaration. Thereafter, we were allocated our coloured waiting zone, awaiting for our colour to be called. Do note that your Seapass Cards (room key cards) would not be issued at this time and would only be placed at your door at 2pm. Boarding started with the pink group (probably the suites), the Key programme, brown, silver, green, mustard (a really creative colour) before our turn for Orange.
While clearing immigrations using the automated lanes, remember to remove your mask and look straight at the camera. No need to smile. It would take about 10 seconds or so before the facial recognition is completed. Once aboard, we got down to business…
Bookings for Shows and Activities on Quantum of the Seas Cruise To Nowhere
Day 1 on Royal Caribbean’s Cruise to Nowhere is always a hectic affair. If you recall our last cruise to nowhere with Quantum of the Seas, we headed straight to Pool Bar, grabbed a drink and started booking all the slots that we had planned for. This time, after we boarded, we wanted to head to our room, grab our key card and head to a bar to grab a drink to do likewise. However, as we boarded at 1:45pm, passengers were not yet allowed to head to the rooms as yet. Thankfully, our Setsail Pass indicated “DX” (for Deluxe Package) and we were able to head to Harp and Horn for our first drinks, without the need for our Seapass Card! Awesome!
Though it’s a little disappointing that draft beers are not served aboard (unlike Dream Cruises), it was still nice to sit in the cosy Harp and Horn to start off our cruise to nowhere onboard Quantum of the Seas. As we did not have the Unlimited Dining Package this time, bookings were much simpler. We just had to book the shows and the bumper cars. Thereafter, we headed to Seaplex to physically make bookings for Xbox and Foosball. You can also make bookings for table tennis at Seaplex. As for swimming pool, hot tubs, FlowRider and Rockwall, they’re on a first-come-first-served basis. For the pool and hot tubs, during peak hours, you’ll be limited to a 10 minutes timing. The pros and cons will be discussed later in the post.
Show Timings
Day 1
Two70 Experience featuring Viktoria Stryzhak (8pm, 10pm)
Headliner at Royal Theatre Sequins & Feathers (8:15pm)
Day 2
Two70 Experience featuring Viktoria Stryzhak (5:15pm, 8pm, 10pm)
Headliner at Royal Theatre John Taylor (8:15pm, 10:15pm)
Day 3
Two70 Experience featuring Reuben Laurente (8pm, 10pm)
Headliner at Royal Theatre Sequins & Feathers (8:15pm, 10:15pm)
Day 4
Two70 Experience featuring Reuben Laurente (5:15pm, 8pm)
Headliner at Royal Theatre John Taylor (8:15pm)
The timings in bold were the bookings that we made. Through the app, we were able to make bookings for both the Royal Theatre. However, we were only able to book one of the 2 Two70 shows. This is due to a limitation in the app for only one Two70 show to be done via the Royal App. To overcome this problem, we headed to Guests Services and were able to make the final booking. In this way, we were able to book all the 4 shows for this cruise. Next, bookings for bumper car.
Due to the school holidays, bumper cars were only limited to 1 booking per room. This was unlike the last cruise where we were able to make multiple bookings for bumper cars. Thankfully, with The Key, we had a dedicated time slot where were able to go on the bumper cars several times.
Next, we went back to our stateroom to retrieve our Seapass cards before we checked out the Solarium, the venue where we would be spending alot of time at. Entry to Solarium is only allowed for those who are 16 years old and above. This gave us some nice respite from the crowds at the pools. Surprisingly, the crowd at Solarium was much thinner as compared to our last cruise. Some subtle differences between school holidays and non-school holidays sailings.
It was also here that we met our favourite bartender of the cruise – George! He gave us such great service, ensuring that we always had drinks and were able to try out the various cocktails that he concocted. This time, we started with Mojito, Pina Colada, water and George’s concoction of “Green Tea”…
After we had finished the first shot of “Green Tea” and still sipping on our cocktails, George brought the next cocktail shot – Kamikaze in quick succession! By this time, we had already started to be tipsy as we had yet to have any food after boarding the ship!
At this point, we knew that the wisest thing to do would be to head up to Windjammer (Deck 14 aft) to line our tummies with fried food…
The burger and spaghetti were really good while the char siew was a little dry with the fish & chips a little fishy. Otherwise, the meal was good enough to perk us up as we continued our exploration of the ship. For our next snack, we headed to Sorrento’s at deck 4 to try out the legendary pizzas of Quantum of the Seas. While at deck 4, we also had the freshly squeezed orange and vanilla latte from La Patisserie, which are also part of the Deluxe Drinks Package. Essentially, if the price of a drink is below $13USD, it can be ordered as part of the Deluxe Drinks Package. If you order a drink at $15USD, you’ll just have to pay the difference (i.e. $2USD) plus the 18% gratuity fee.
As always, Sorrento’s pizza was superb. Cheesy with a nice thin crust. Grab a beer from Harp and Horn together with a pizza from Sorrento’s, that’s always a great start to a vacation onboard Quantum of the Seas. While at deck 4, we also popped by Guest Services to grab the Cruise Compass (Royal Caribbean Cruise Program Sheet)…
Back in our room, we noticed that our Balcony state room was partially obstructed…
This was despite the fact that we chose the slightly more expensive option of “unobstructed” balcony state room. With the extension above us from deck 14, we were not able to have sky and full oceans views, unlike our last balcony state room…
Hence, we recommend that if you’re choosing your balcony state room, choose decks 12 and below. This would avoid the possibility of getting this “partially obstructed” balcony state room. Also, kids do run on deck 14. Hence, we do get some noise from running foot steps from time to time, which is not that pleasant. Choose wisely…
We also checked out the free on-demand movies and found that there were several free movies such as Space Jam (A New Legacy), Escape Room (Tournament of Champions) and Jungle Cruise. If you have not watched Old yet, it is quite a good show as well. We then went to Seaplex to make bookings for Xbox and Fussball at 9am on Day 4. Each game lasts for only 20 minutes. On the way, we also walked past this see-through platform that peeks all the way from Deck 14 to Deck 5. For those who have fear of heights, don’t look down!
After bookings were completed, we still had a little bit of time before dinner. Hence, we popped by North Star Bar for some pre-dinner drinks. This time, we ordered Long Island Tea and Mai Tai…
As we were still in harbour, we were not able to access all the selection of alcohol on the Deluxe Drinks Package. This is because, in harbour, we can only access the duty-paid alcohol. This means that premium alcohol like peach-flavoured alcohol and Patron Silver, can only be served at sea.
Quantum of the Seas Cruise To Nowhere Main Dining Room Dinner
For dinner, we dined at Main Dining Room – American Icon. Our favourite MDRs are American Icon (Deck 4) and Grande (Deck 5). However, guests are usually allocated according to the space availability of the venue. We did not have much say on which restaurant to go to. However, we did have good control of our time. While our allocated time was at 8:15pm, we didn’t have any problem getting a seat for all the times that we arrived before 8:15pm. Again, perhaps it was the school holidays, the preferred option for parents was probably Windjammer for meals. Here’s the dinner menu on our first night on the cruise to nowhere:
There were also other options such as Indian cuisine and Vegetarian options on the menu as well. For appetizers, we started with cured Salmon Gravlax
Crispy Coconut Shrimp. Breaded coconut shrimp with a pineapple-red-onion slaw and sweet chili dipping sauce.
Escargots a la Bourguignonne. Baked snails in garlic-parsley butter – a true French delicacy.
Artisan Cheese Plate. Assorted cheeses, fig and date chutney, dried fruit bread.
We were pleasantly surprised by the crispy coconut shrimp. The shrimp was succulent and the outer crust was crispy as advertised. As always, the escargots didn’t disappoint. Its fragrance was so enticing such that each dinner would definitely include escargots, even when we’re quite stuffed. As dinners serve cheese plates, guests with Deluxe Beverage Package can choose to have wines to go along with the cheeses. Also, we found out that MDR has more (and better) wine choices than Vintage wine bar. Hence, pre-dinner drinks with cheeses at MDR may not be such a bad option afterall.
For entrees, we had
Braised Lamb Shank. Served with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, bean ragout, sauteed spinach and rosemary-lamb jus.
Classic Fish & Chips. Deep fried tempura-battered atlantic cod served alongside thick-cut fried potatoes, coleslaw and tartar sauce.
Aged Prime Rib of Beef. Slow-roasted boneless beef ribeye with crispy potato croquette, broccoli and horseradish au jus.
Our waiter Arturo warned us that the beef was not so good, after feedbacks from the first seating. Nonetheless, we still went ahead to order it. True enough, it came up to be a little tough. Wonder if it was really “aged”. As for the Fish & Chips, there was no Atlantic Cod but was instead replaced with another white fish. While the batter was good, the fish itself was a little fishy. The highlight for dinner was definitely the braised lamb shank which was tender, moist and did not have any gamey taste at all. Well done!
To accompany the meal, we had Rose to go with the cheeses, cabernet sauvignon and sauvignon blanc to go with the red and white meats respectively. The Rose was quite good while the cabernet was full-bodied – enjoyed these two wines with the meal this evening. To end off the meal, we had these desserts:
Profiteroles. Puff pastries filled with sweet pastry cream, toasted almonds, chocolate glaze.
Royal Cheesecake. Velvety cheesecake garnished with glazed strawberries.
Both desserts were pretty good. Not too sweet. In particular, the cheesecake was surprisingly rich. Yum! Here’s a little tip for dining at Main Dining Room: If you enjoyed something on the menu, you can order as many rounds of the same item as you wish. Escargots are usually ordered with seconds and thirds for dinners at MDR…
After dinner, we headed to Two70 Theatre (Deck 5 aft) to watch Viktoria Stryzhak’s violin performance. With the Key, we were able to enter the premise earlier to snag some great seats. The performance was good. However, we still preferred the classics that she performed during our last cruise to nowhere…
Check out this video review of our 5D4N Cruise To Nowhere on Quantum of the Seas from Singapore!
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It was a beautiful first day at sea for our return to cruise to nowhere with Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas. Stay tuned as we continue more activities on day 2 of our cruise to nowhere!
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