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ShipsRoyal CaribbeanFirst Impressions of Royal Caribbean's Newest Cruise Ship, Spectrum of the Seas

First Impressions of Royal Caribbean’s Newest Cruise Ship, Spectrum of the Seas

Spectrum of the Seas is Royal Caribbean’s first Quantum Ultra class cruise ship. The ship debuted just a few weeks ago and I hopped on for a three night roundtrip cruise out of Singapore.

When I saw that Royal Caribbean was offering a short cruise out of Singapore on the ship’s way to China, I knew I had to book it and check out the cruise line’s newest vessel. Two weeks ago, prices dropped so I was able to upgrade into one of Royal Caribbean’s new Golden Suites for just a few dollars more. However, I will have more about these new suites and the perks with come with it after I get home. So stay tuned for more on them including photos of the new outdoor area and lounge just for these guests.

After being on board for a little over 24 hours, here are my first impressions of Royal Caribbean’s Spectrum of the Seas.

Embarkation: Three months ago, I took another Royal Caribbean cruise out of Singapore (Voyager of the Seas) and embarkation couldn’t have gone any smoother. This embarkation didn’t go quite as smooth but that mostly had to do with the way the port handles things. Check-in was a breeze but customs moved extremely slow. Yes, you have to go through customs before you board a ship in Singapore since you are leaving the country.

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They only had one agent screening and fingerprinting those with non-Singaporean passports. Right when I got to the front of the line, four more agents came over to help so those behind me ended up with a shorter wait.

On the gangway, I turned in my passport and I was on the ship. From the time they called our group (I was in the first group since I was booked in a Golden Suite) to the time I was on the ship was around 30 minutes. Yes, everyone turns in their passports to the ship. This helps expedite disembarkation as they are stamped during your cruise. We’ll pick up our passports on the last day of the cruise, it’s super efficient and works well.

Ship: Spectrum of the Seas is the first Quantum Ultra class ship. I forgot how much I loved Quantum class ships since it has been four years since I have been on one. The ship has a sky diving simulator, Flowrider, Sky Pad, and the SeaPlex that has everything from bumper cars to laser tag. The ship is gorgeous and highlights the new cruise ship class of 2019.

The ship was custom built for the Chinese market but the ship is not that different than Quantum. Yes, Royal Caribbean said the ship was built for the Chinese market but that really only applies to specialty restaurants and more table games in the casino. (There’s also a VIP casino) The ship has all of Royal Caribbean’s main specialty restaurants including Chops, Jamie’s, and Wonderland. There are a few specialty restaurants like Sichuan Red and Leaf and Bean that offer Chinese favorites.

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Everything on board is in English, along with Chinese. If you want to take a cruise on the ship out of Shanghai, you’ll have no issues at all. All money on board is also in USD. I’m actually looking into taking one of the cruises out of China.

The ship also never feels crowded, it’s been really nice.

Cabin: My Golden Jr. Suite is located on Deck 16, above the Solarium. The cabin offers more room than the standard balcony cabin. I would estimate it has around 50% more room than regular cabins with a nice sized balcony. The bathroom is split. In one you have a tub, sink, and shower. In the other is a toilet and sink. After taking nearly 50 cruises on 11 cruise lines, this is my favorite cruise ship bathroom I’ve ever had.

The Golden Suites also come with a ton of extra perks including free room service (includes the full main dining room menu), free WiFi, access to the Golden Lounge and Golden Restaurant, priority disembarkation, and more. I will have more on these perks in a separate article when I get back from my cruise.

Crew: What can I say? The crew on board has been offering the spectacular service I’ve learned to expect from cruises on Royal Caribbean. They have been great and probably the best Royal Caribbean crew I’ve had in my seven cruises with the cruise line.

Odds and Ends: When entering Windjammer Buffet, there are sinks for you to wash your hands and it’s not exactly optional. A staff member is directing everyone to the sinks (a queue is set up) to wash their hands. All I can say is, THANK YOU ROYAL CARIBBEAN. Every cruise line and ship should do this and make it mandatory. It would do wonders to help prevent the spreading of illness on board ships.

One thing I love about Quantum class ships is that they are perfect for when weather isn’t all that great. The Solarium is completely enclosed and there’s an indoor pool. Add in the multi-functional SeaPlex, and bad weather doesn’t stop fun on these awesome ships.

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I also lost my wallet somewhere on the ship on embarkation day. Hopefully someone will do the right thing and turn it in to Guest Services since I’m headed to Bangkok and Hong Kong when the cruise is over.

UPDATE: Thank you to whoever turned in my wallet to Guest Services when they found it in SeaPlex.

Since this is just a three night cruise and the ship offers so much, I am going to end this and enjoy Spectrum of the Seas. I will have more about the ship when I get home.

However, I will be posting photos and video of Spectrum of the Seas on a few social media channels. You can follow Cruise Fever on Instagram and Twitter to see more of the ship.

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Ben Souza
Ben Souza
Ben is a world traveler who has visited 40+ countries, taken over 70 cruises, and flown nearly one million miles. He is one of USA TODAY's experts for their 10Best Readers' Choice Awards. His writings have appeared and been cited in various media outlets such as Yahoo News, MSN, NPR, Drudge Report, CNN, Fox, and ABC News. Ben currently resides in Cincinnati, Ohio. Follow Ben on Instagram. Visit Ben Souza on Linkedin. You may email Ben at [email protected].
ShipsRoyal CaribbeanFirst Impressions of Royal Caribbean's Newest Cruise Ship, Spectrum of the Seas

1 COMMENT

  1. Ben, I guess as their travel agent with a premiums suit they may have treated you with a different standard knowing that you are going to write a review like this. I, however, paid my own way and was on the cruise from Dubai to Singapore ( second passengers on the ship since it launched ) The crew had no issues, food was acceptable. but nothing spectacular. The Winder jammer had tendencies to over salt everything. Seemed like it was their favorite spice! I have seen better entertainment lineups in many other ships. The specialty restaurants sure were WAY overrated with the exception of Jamie Oliver’s !! Did like most of the activities but the shops were selling the same things as any other ship. The Gym was a JOKE!! the Pharmacy only sold Costco sized packages of 3 of each item and not to mention NO labels in ENGLISH !! I only wish i had known this ship was meant strictly for the Chinese. Did run into chines people who also thought it should be more universal. From what I could see the ship still was not ready as you can see the panels in the elevators still had wallpaper on them as some were on the wrong side or something. I had booked my cruise in August 2018 for the Spice rout and 3 days before I received a message from the ship Royal Caribbean that my cabin has been changed to equal or better. I thought to myself WOW, the only thing better than was I had would be a suite as i had booked a large balcony at the back on the ship in Deck 13. I can tell you that I was NOT happy with what I ended up getting and it sure was NOT an upgrade or even equal to what I had booked and paid for 6 months prior! Had I known what this would happen, I would have NEVER booked with Royal Caribbean. This was meant to be an anniversary cruise for us and usually, they acknowledge your special day. SURPRISE Not on this one ! First they told me the whole ship was booked which was NOT the case. FYI, I found out that I was not the only one that went through the same issue. I was very disappointed to say the least. They did give me a discount (50% based n what I paid) on the future cruise. Why would anyone be Loyal to Royal as their slogan goes! I had spent about $13K for the whole trip including the hotel, air etc. and their offer was for $1600. Put that into perspective and tell me why anyone would be “Loyal to Royal” when they treat their customers like this. I spoke to several people in Menial as the calls get re routed to the cheapest play they can find. When I finally spoke to manager Beth in guest services in the HO, I was hoping that I would reach a more amicable compromise with Beth but that was NOT the case. I asked her to just debit my credit card for the $1600 so I do not have to deal with Royal Caribbean again. Beth’s reply was adding insult to injury as She said that she would have the cut the credit further in half as well down to about $800.
    I would NEVER recommend this cruise line especially this ship to anyone. Take your money and spend it with a company who actually appreciates your business. I would like to read your blog maybe next time when you are paying your own way and see how would rate them or any other cruise line for that matter !!

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