Sky Diving, Aerial Viewing Stations And Robot Bartenders, On A Cruise Ship?!

I'll be honest, a couple of weeks ago, the thought of cruise ships would have made me wince.

I'd locked them away in a dark corner of my brain, along with West End musicals, "chick lit", cheese-in-a-can and anything else soulless and tacky.

I definitely never expected to be running around, cocktail in hand, trying out all sorts of exciting futuristic things and generally having the time of my life aboard such a seafaring vessel.

What Are You Talking About?

So a week ago I was invited by Royal Caribbean to join them for a little pre-inaugural voyage on their latest and greatest mega-ship: Quantum of the Seas.

Wary that cruise ships, for me, signified perma-tanned performers singing show-tunes and wrinkly pensioners sitting around in gloomy on-board casinos, I balked at the idea.

But something about this trip caught my eye.

Firstly, the ship's name made it sound like something out of a James Bond movie.

Instant brownie points.

Secondly, the invitation mentioned sky diving, aerial viewing stations and robot bartenders, among other things.

Erm, was this a cruise into the future?!

I took the bait - I told my other half to throw some trunks and a blazer into a bag and off we headed in a seawards direction.

The Vibe

It was hard to really get a feel for what the atmosphere would be like on future voyages, as those sharing our trip were largely invited by PR teams, rather than regular customers, but it was certainly easy to understand the market Royal Caribbean is trying to target.

And that is an altogether MUCH younger, more active crowd.

As well as inviting travel agents, bigger press outlets and travel columnists, Royal Caribbean's PR teams had cleverly also lured in a young blogging crowd.

We found ourselves sharing the boat with beauty blogger Fleur De Force, as well as blogger and hubby to Tanya Burr Mr Jim Chapman, among others.

The Age Range

There were provisions for families - staff-run play areas for younger children, separate pools with fun water features for kids, teenage "hang outs" with widescreens, magazines and massive bean bags and even a rink with the potential for roller skating and bumper cars.

But a lot of consideration had clearly also gone into making the ship a fun place to be for young adults without children.

The aerial viewing station - called the North Star - ressembled a pod from the London Eye and allowed a 360 degree view from 300 feet above sea level.

There was also a rock climbing wall and running track, not to mention the endless, ENDLESS bars, serving up lashings of fruity cocktails.

Seriously, there were so many bars we're not even sure we managed to visit all of them over our three days on board the ship and we really, really tried.

The Perks

When we weren't drinking (it's not all we did, honestly), we were taking refuge in our quiet cabin or trying out some of the fun activities.

The cabin won big with Duncan, who'd assumed we'd be squashed into a cramped corner with a pull down bed and a toilet-shower.

In fact - we lucked out incredibly, with a big cosy double bed, couch and desk area AND EVEN a sea-view private balcony.

Idyllic.

The "sky diving" turned out to be something called Ripcord, by iFly.

Not quite a simulator, but equally not quite jumping out of a plane at 13,000 ft.

BUT - I can honestly say it was incredibly fun and we both walked down the stairs at the end with giant grins on our faces.

Ripcord involves suiting up like a parachuter and stepping into a high-velocity wind chamber.

Depending on your body position, you can either hover a metre above the metal grate or swirl around and around, high above everyone's heads.

Brilliant!

The Place To Be

Despite endless choice for places to hang out, we decided the place to be was The Sunshine Bar, on the 14th deck.

Located inside a beautiful solarium at the front of the boat, it was a calm, peaceful space with stunning views.

The Technology

Designed for the ultra-modern consumer, the "smart ship" has technology like you wouldn't believe.

We wore wristbands all weekend, which alleviated the need to carry around a wallet and keys.

A chip in the band acted as a room key, electric door trigger AND it also served as a contactless payment device for food, entertainment and yes, more drinks.

The Fail

One of the headline attractions aboard Quantum of the Seas is reportedly the "bionic bartender."

Particularly enthusiastic about the idea of a robot serving us a gin and tonic, it was one of the first pit stops on our day-one tour.

Unfortunately, we stood around with a bemused crowd, giggling while the thoroughly confused cyborg panicked and messed up over and over again, serving a constant catastrophe of green sludge and watery whiskey.

It was entertaining though, that's for sure.

And Overall?

We did actually genuinely love the whole weekend.

So much so that Duncan has been racing around telling anyone who'll listen that "Old people have been hiding cruises from us!"

If, next time, we were to consider boarding one of the voyages to the actual Caribbean, I don't think I'd take much convincing!

The only reservation I have is that we spent a relatively child-free few days on the ship.

As a young couple, very far away from popping out any sprouts and very uninterested in anyone else's, I'm not sure how our experience would have differed if we'd found ourselves at sea with a boat full of nippers.

Overall, though, Royal Caribbean has definitely altered our view of cruising!

For more information about what Royal Caribbean has to offer, check out THEIR WEBSITE HERE.

Click below for a full gallery of our trip!