The Cruise to Nowhere Showdown: Royal Caribbean vs Dream Cruises

Before COVID happened, I never thought I’d be someone who actually enjoyed going on cruises. But after a Cruise to Nowhere on Royal Caribbean, I can proudly say that I’ve joined the ranks of cruise-lovers, and we’ll definitely be going on more cruises in the future – whether to nowhere or to a real destination.

TLDR; we think the Cruise to Nowhere on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas beats Dream Cruises’ World Dream hands down.

Category	Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas	Dream Cruises’ World Dream	Winner
Accommodation	– Bigger balcony – TV is right in front of the bed	– Smaller balcony – TV is adjacent to the front of the bed	Quantum of the Seas
Food	– Good quality is consistent across all the dishes we tried – More variety	Hit and miss for some dishes	Quantum of the Seas
Attractions & Entertainment	– Rock climbing – Bumper cars – Flowrider	– Rope course – VR games – Water slides	It’s a tie!
Service	Noticeably better than the service on Dream Cruises in restaurants	The cruise seemed understaffed in the restaurants, even though it wasn’t at full capacity	Quantum of the Seas
Ambience	– Relaxing vibe – All the shows and some attractions can be booked through the app, and meal timeslots can be chosen first so you’re guaranteed a seat when you arrive	Feels more “hectic”, especially with all the long queues to get into the restaurants during meal times	Quantum of the Seas

Accommodation

We booked the balcony room for both cruises, so the comparison is pretty fair. And being a Cruise to Nowhere, accommodation is extra important as we spent more time in the room than if we had been on a trip that let us touch down on foreign land.

The balcony in Quantum of the Seas is much bigger and we’re able to stretch our legs out on the deck chairs provided. We’re only able to sit upright on the balcony in World Dream. There also seemed to be more space in the Quantum of the Seas room as compared to the World Dream.

If you’re like us and love watching TV in bed, then the Quantum of the Seas would be a better fit with the TV directly in front of the bed. The one in the World Dream is adjacent to the bed, so while it’s not a major concern, you’ll have to shift your head while rolling in bed to watch TV.

The toilets in both the cruises are quite similar and very clean and new-looking.

Winner: Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas

Food

The food on the Quantum of the Seas was much better than we expected for a cruise, especially in the Main Dining Room where it felt like we were at a classy restaurant. We also loved eating the pizza and cookies at Sorrento’s every night for supper!

We also enjoyed the very authentic Indian food at the Windjammer (buffet).

While the food was quite good onboard World Dream, the quality wasn’t very consistent. The western fare we had for lunch on the first day at the Dream Dining Room was subpar. The Malay food at The Lido (buffet) was great though.

We also had supper every night outside The Lido with different dishes each night. There were curry puffs, sandwiches, bread rolls, fried rice, buns, and more.

Winner: Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas

Attractions

Both the Quantum of the Seas and the World Dream have great attractions and fun classes.

Onboard Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas, we went for a few dance classes, played bumper cars, and had our first taste of surfing at the Flowrider. Turns out, it’s really hard to keep our balance with water gushing at us! My swim shorts almost came off when I fell off the board. Time to get ones that fit better!

The rock climbing wall was also really fun! As I’ve only done rock climbing with manual belayers, I was quite scared when I rang the bell at the top and it was time for me to let go and trust the auto-belayer to lower me down. I didn’t want to let go because I couldn’t feel any tension in the ropes holding on to me!

We also enjoyed relaxing in the Jacuzzis, especially in the serene Solarium.

Onboard Dream Cruises’ World Dream, we signed up for a salsa dance class and a kick-boxing class, tried to win at Bingo but failed, and watched the shows. We also tried our hand at the VR games they offered (priced from $4 to $20 per game).

The rock climbing wall was really short, so we decided to give it a miss. And we went on for the rope course which was just next to it – way more fun. Especially the short, but exhilarating, flying fox over the sea at the end!

Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to book a slot to swim or use the jacuzzis as the slots were all snatched up very quickly. There were long queues to book slots the very first afternoon after we checked in!

Winner: It’s a tie between Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas and Dream Cruises’ World Dream

Service

Even though it wasn’t at full capacity, Dream Cruise’s Dream Dining Room restaurant seemed understaffed in the restaurants, especially for lunch on the first day. We were left on our own for a long while trying to get someone’s attention to order next to a table with dirty dishes piling up.

Conversely, in Quantum of the Seas’ Main Dining Room, the service was impeccable with your waiter explaining the different dishes of the day (or night) to you. The service was more personal and was definitely of a higher level.

Aside from the restaurants, the service we received from both cruises was similarly great. The cruise staff were all pretty friendly and helpful.

Winner: Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas

Ambience

It was so easy booking shows and some of the attractions, like bumper cars, through the Royal Caribbean app. We didn’t have to physically queue for most things, except for the jacuzzis (if there were already 5 people inside), surfing, and rock climbing. And we could also choose our preferred time slots for our lunch and dinner prior to checking in, so we were guaranteed a table during mealtimes.

We didn’t realise how important this was until we had to join snaking queues to get into the restaurants on World Dream. And because the waiting lists were full by the time we went down to eat, we mostly had to eat at The Lido (buffet) after joining the long queue. This distracted us from the relaxing mood we wanted to be in during our cruise.

Winner: Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas

Ending Off

If you’re concerned about the cleanliness of your room and the ship in general, both the Quantum of the Seas and the World Dream were pretty clean. There were hand sanitisers everywhere, and it was mandatory for everyone who passed by a checkpoint to sanitise their hands and tap their room cards for contact tracing.

We think the Cruise to Nowhere on Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas won Dream Cruises’ World Dream by a landslide. If both cruises are of a similar price during the same dates, we’ll definitely pick Quantum of the Seas!

But if your main intention for going on a cruise is to gamble, then maybe Dream Cruises’ World Dream would suit you better.