Travel Maven Blog ...... David Molyneaux posts from TheTravelMavens.com

Cruising on Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas

Royal Caribbean’s revolutionary new Quantum of the Seas, now cruising out of New York City, is billed as the first “smart ship.”

Quantum of the Seas as seen from the North Star capsule ride

Quantum, the world’s third largest cruise ship behind Royal Caribbean’s sisters, Oasis and Allure, carries 4,180 passengers and offers a bunch of “firsts at sea.” I found these firsts great fun on a two-day cruise out of Bayonne, New Jersey, in mid-November.

When lunch at a cruise port is a welcome excursion

When you are planning a port day for an upcoming cruise, and are looking to step away from the typical tour paths, consider lunch.

One way to get a feel of a port is to taste it. I look for casual spots that attract locals, have reasonable prices, and menus with regional specialties.

 

Lobster soup in Iceland (Photos by David G. Molyneaux, TheTravelMavens.com)

For cruisers, most meals ashore are lunches, as ships tend to leave port before dinner, though some smaller cruise lines, such as Azamara and Windstar, stay into the evening.

Lunch might not be your focus on an initial port visit, but you may find that such a meal ashore is your best opportunity to meet local residents, to soak in an unfamiliar atmosphere, and perhaps to manage a food order in a foreign language. Yes, you could go back to your ship for a free lunch; there’s always a burger aboard. But where is the travel adventure in that?

Here are recommendations for a special experience at some of my favorite cruise port stops:

Cruising guest stars on Regal Princess' Love Boat

As we get ready to sail from Fort Lauderdale on Princess Cruises, I feel like a guest star on the old TV show, “The Love Boat.”

My ship, of course, is not the Pacific Princess, the vessel I first cruised on, in 1983, between Acapulco and Los Angeles, during filming with actors Gavin MacLeod as Captain Stubing, Bernie Kopell as the doctor, Ted Lange as bartender Isaac, Fred Grandy as Gopher the purser, and Lauren Tewes as cruise director Julie.

That ship has been scrapped. But the old crew has not.

The “Love Boat” cast, invited back as godparents for the naming ceremony Wednesday on the newest Love Boat, Regal Princess, is here in Fort Lauderdale.