Who needs dryland with liners like this?
Skydiving, surfing, discos and dodgems, this liner hhas it all… it even cured Philip Nolan’s fear of heights
The weirdest thing has happened to me this year. Ever since I was in my mid-teens, I’ve been terrified of heights. As in gibbering, cold-sweaty, dizzy panic. The fear developed literally overnight and, because of it, sightseeing occasionally became a nuisance. I made it to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro only by sticking Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto on an old walkman and inducing a mildly catatonic trance.
I love rollercoasters, but the lift hill has always been a problem, so I breathe deeply, close my eyes and open them only when the speed kicks in on the first drop.
I was coerced onto the London Eye once and a quarter of the way into the circuit, I made a beeline for the bench in the middle of the capsule and, immune to the charms of the city from an aerial viewpoint, instead examined, in some detail, my shoes. For 35 minutes.
Then this year, and again overnight, the fear evaporated. Pffft. Gone. Which is why I’m now 300 feet up in the air looking down on Quantum Of The Seas, the newest behemoth from Royal Caribbean that brings a host of firsts to shipboard entertainment.
The North Star is a capsule not unlike the pods on the London Eye. Attached to a hydraulic arm, it raises you far above the top deck and then swings out over the side, offering amazing views not only of the port but also of the ship itself.
That’s not all there is to keep you amused. On the Ripcord iFly, you can skydive in a tall glass canister (this one was banned for me, I’m afraid, thanks to abdominal surgery I am still recovering from, but those who tried it said it was great fun). You can also surf on the FlowRider, but I passed on that too, given that my sense of balance is a little too errant for comfort.
Downstairs, Seaplex is a con- vertible space that’s a full-size basketball court or five-a-side football pitch. Within minutes, it’s a roller disco. Later, it’s a dodgemcar track.
As is the case on all Royal Caribbean ships, you’ll also find a climbing wall, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, Jacuzzis, saunas and steam rooms. There are bars inside and out and, joy of joys, no vast communal restaurant where you might get stuck at a table with strangers who redefine the concept of boredom. Instead, you can choose from four à la carte restaurants, seven other food outlets and seven speciality restaurants for an added charge, among them the first branch of Jamie’s Italian afloat.
Nightly entertainment comes at Two70, a vast bar with exotic multimedia floor shows, and in the theatre, where an enthusiastic cast performs the Abba musi- cal, Mamma Mia! You can bring drinks with you into the theatre, so it’s a given you’ll be on your feet for the Dancing Queen encore.
From there, everyone gravitates to Music Hall, where live bands and DJs keep the party going until the wee small hours – unless, of course, you fancy a flutter at the casino, which is also the only place indoors where smokers can indulge their habit.
The staterooms – it’s a fancy word for cabins – come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, of which the coveted Loft suites with a ground floor and a mezzanine bedroom are the best. If your budget stretches only to an interior stateroom, there’s another dazzling innovation on offer. Each has a ‘virtual balcony’, a fulllength 80-inch LED video panel that shows a live stream from a camera outside, offering a very convincing illusion of a window. It’s really very clever and ideal if you want to save money but usually are a little claustrophobic.
Then there’s the Bionic Bar, where your drinks are mixed and poured by robots. They were having a few problems on the inaugural weekend – I suspect the robots had been tasting their own handiwork – but it looked impressive in the videos. Also not fully functioning was the wi-fi, promised to be the fastest at sea. It transpired that a new satellite, due to launch in April, will remedy that.
All in all, it’s a pretty amazing ship. I’ve heard it dismissed as a theme park at sea, but what’s wrong with that? There’s so much to do, I reckon days in port would become a bit of a nuisance.
After we disembarked, Quantum sailed for her home port of Cape Liberty in New Jersey, where she will spend the winter sailing down to the Caribbean and back. The good news, though, is that her sister ship, Allure Of The Seas, arrives next year and will be based in Europe. Next time I go on the North Star, I want it to be in Barcelona or Malta – and not Southampton.