Seaplex - Largest Indoor Active Space at Sea on Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas

Seaplex, said to be the largest indoor active space at sea, was a place I didn't quite explore on my first cruise onboard Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas! Hence, for this second cruise, I made sure to sign up for some activities, including the ever popular bumper car! 

Above would be the other activities that one could sign up for. Do note they were restrictions (e.g. 20-minutes, "two reservations per stateroom", which means a max of just two activities) although I am unsure if they had been changed given the upcoming easing of safe management measures in Singapore.

Given that they were capacity limits, spectators wouldn't be allowed entry. 

We signed up for table tennis and were given a bag consisting of sanitized (I assumed) table tennis bats and ping pong balls. To be frank, I am hesitant to play table tennis with Alex as he is super competitive and has played with national players. 

The "full-size basketball court" that has multi-purpose usage; it can be converted into a play area for bumper cars, or into courts for pickleball (what the heck is this?).

There's even a second level at the Seaplex, and that's where I am going to get thrashed in table tennis! Time to take the stairs. p.s. don't think there's a lift.

Passage with drop down curtains on one side for safety reason as the court below was transformed for the pickleball activity, which appeared quite interesting once I saw how it was played. 

Our assigned table tennis table.

I lasted played table tennis with Alex a long time ago; maybe about a decade ago and I knew for a fact he has improved over the years whereas I had not held a bat since then. The bat that was given by the cruise operator had a strange, plastic texture.

As expected, it was a humiliating defeat; I had to beg Alex to be slower in the ball delivery and absolutely no smacking! God knows how many times I had to pick up the balls within the 20-minute session.

Checking the rest of the space given the opportunity. The bumper cars were parked on level one, when not in used, and elevated to free up the space to accommodate more bumper cars. 

Pickle ball seemed like a cross between tennis and table tennis, played in a badminton court! I played tennis once with a friend and it was so tiring as the court was so big and my short legs found it hard to chase after the ball! 

Doghouse from level two - it's the place where you can get free flow hot dogs at no additional charge since it's covered as part of your cruise. Check out my review here.

The Xboxes which you can also reserved as part of the activity. Honestly, Alex and I are not so much into video consoles and prefer computer games like Overwatch, Diablo 3. 

Foosball is a game for my era although again; not really my cup of tea and it's really more fun when you have more friends playing the game. With just Alex and I, Xbox seemed more appealing.

Some arcade machines were placed here too! I thought they should belong to the Challenger's Arcade next to Seaplex. p.s. it's connected to Seaplex but access was blocked due to the need for segregation.

I don't mind laser hockey, also known as air hockey in Singapore but a bloody game cost $2.00. That's in US dollars by the way. Too stingy to pay for this when there are other options.

Whenever I was jogging along the track on deck 15 of the cruise ship, I always noticed cut-outs of a bear and a panda on glass windows on a higher deck. I finally found out their locations! 

Here're the panda, and the bear. 

Selfie time for both of them since I doubt I would have a chance to do so in the future since the Quantum of the Seas would be leaving Singapore for Alaska in April.

Sorry for the blurred photo; the above shows a list of sports activities which was for the first 28-signs up with registration starting only 15 minutes before the start time. As someone who is not into sports, it's fair to confirm I didn't sign up for any.

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To find out what more to do do at Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas, click here for the summary of my first cruise, which was taken in August 2021. Not much has changed actually, except for changes related to safe management measures.

A Game of Bumper Cars in Seaplex @ Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas

The failure to secure a spot for bumper cars at Seaplex, said to be the "largest indoor active space at sea", in my last cruise onboard Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas didn't affect me as I have never been a fan. 

But since it's a free activity, I took the opportunity to reserve for a session on the Royal Caribbean's app after I boarded the ship for my second cruise that took place last month. Do keep in mind the age and height restrictions, and the need to wear covered sports shoes.

Be prepared to queue! My session was at 6.00pm and this was the long line when I reached the entrance of Seaplex, five minutes before the allocated timing. 

It cleared pretty quickly though since reservation is a must and those who didn't reserve and happily line up would not be allowed entry. People would insist but I am glad the staff members were firm yet polite with such unreasonable requests. 

So cute to see all the bumper cars so neatly displayed! Do you know that this was the first time I am literally in Seaplex?! On my first cruise, the closest I had been was either at the counter or at the doghouse.

You are free to choose your own bumper car, be it color or number. I am not particular but I do the bright yellow shine bouncing of this number 19 car.

One person, one car, even though it can sit two persons. I seldom drive bumper car all by myself; the last time I did that, I was going in circles. Max embarrassment. p.s. benefit of not being tall; I fit in nicely. 

Done with the 'bumping'! Surprisingly, I did a pretty decent job in avoiding the rest of the cars although it helped that the activity area was large and there weren't that many cars, maybe due to the need to limit crowd. 

The dis-organized bumper cars after our session; as there would be a few sessions for the timing, the crew would sanitize the cars before inviting the next group of users. The Seaplex is a multi-purpose space and I shall be sharing more soon! 

Splashaway Café with Chargeable and Complimentary Options @ Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas

Back in August 2021 for the cruise to nowhere onboard Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas, I did notice that a few eateries were not "open for business"; one of which was Splashaway Café near the outdoor pools on deck 15.

I attributed the closure to likely the pandemic which has cut down manpower and also reduced the passenger load for each cruise. However, in my recent cruise in February 2022, I noticed a signboard stating the operating hours! 

And it was indeed operational. Frankly, I am a sucker for free food and didn't know if the food served within the Splashaway Café was complimentary or required an additional charge like those from the specialties restaurants.

Looks more like a takeaway counter like Seaplex Dog House although La Patisserie had a similar concept, yet items sold within were separately charged. 

Thankfully, there was a television screen that clearly spelt out items that were free and those that have a charge. Note that pricing, as always, is in US dollars. I did ask about the satay and it's US$2 for 2 sticks; for the price, the portion better be more generous than our typical satay found in hawker centres.

Ordered chicken tenders and their white chocolate chip cookie; mini hot dogs were unavailable. The cookie was the crumbly kind but pretty good; sadly, I am not that big of a cookie fan as I am a deep fried food fan. 

Chicken tenders were surprisingly good; the batter wasn't too thick, pretty crisp and the inside was filled with juicy meat that absolutely didn't feel like food that was frozen. p.s. of course, I had to admit that nowadays, frozen food may actually taste not bad. 

So, if you are doing to visit Quantum of the Seas before it departs to Alaska in April, do keep a lookout for the operating hours of Splashaway Café. Items on menu would be subject to change.

Interior Elevator Art on Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas (Cruise to Nowhere from Singapore)

I briefly mentioned about the numerous artworks located throughout Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas on my initial cruise back in August 2021; a collection worth US$5 million with the theme "“What Makes Life Worth Living".

One such art component was spread throughout the 10 interior elevators onboard the cruise ship. Designed by Ms Deming King Harriman, the images gave us a refreshing, anthropomorphistic take on animals. I didn't have time to take pictures with all ten of them back in 2021 but in my recent trip, I did! 

With the vain gorilla.

With the alcoholic ring tailed lemur.

With the cocky King penguin. 

With the suspicious owl.

With the sexy plains zebra.  

With the pretty African elephant.

With the funky masai giraffe.

With the fashionable canine.

With the studious, eh, llama?

Lastly, with the towering flamingo. Do look out for them if you are ever on Quantum of the Seas; let's see if you are able to take photographs with all of them! Now, that's a challenge!