We were excited to be on the Quantum, our biggest and newest RC cruise yet, but had read about the culturally immersive experience on board and were prepared to face unending crowds, crazy elevator situations, and pushy behavior. I am happy to report that the ship is stunningly beautiful, the crew are extremely professional, and the cross-cultural experience was a great learning opportunity. However, our experience was based on having Diamond RCL Crown and Anchor status as well as being in a Golden Suites stateroom (Royal Family Suite), and those factors seemed to make a big difference.

Embarkation was as smooth as could be expected in one of the busiest ports in the world. Our tagged luggage was handled swiftly as they had a special place for Golden Suites luggage. Check-in was done quickly, again in the Golden Suites section, but then "border control" slowed the pace. I think given the small number of Crown and Anchor Society (Silver, Gold, Emerald, etc.) members, we were placed in the same line as all the other Golden Suites passengers and that slowed things down considerably while passports, SeaPass cards, etc. were checked numerous times. Be sure to have at least one copy of each passport (one passport per page) before you arrive so you don't have to wait for them to make a copy for you. You will surrender your passport before you board the ship, and that passport copy is your only way to enter Japan.

Once we boarded the ship, we decided to jump right in and headed straight to Windjammer. Yes, the tables were crowded, but we found that people like to be near the food so the tables at the back of the ship were more readily available. The Windjammer staff were very quick to respond to our requests to clear recently vacated tables and they did a good job keeping things clean overall considering the volume of diners and the quantity of food being consumed. We braced ourselves and went in to the food stations, where the food selection was of course aimed towards the Chinese majority, which was fine -- the salad bar was bright and clean, "live noodles" was fun, and we found tasty and interesting things to try every day. Yes, there were a lot of people and many were unaccustomed to the concept of standing in line, but singing along to the 80's background music and smiling regardless of how others were behaving made it a fun adventure. I found that extending a courtesy by making eye contact with anyone who wanted to budge in line and saying perhaps a bit loudly, "Please, do go ahead of me" startled some people into backing off or at least pausing before rushing in to grab bean sprouts or whatever. By day 3 of the cruise, we all understood that the food would not run out so it was sort of okay for everyone to stand in line. Going during off peak hours was also a way to avoid the crowds. Read more