In the past few days, Royal Caribbean released an updated Quantum of the Seas cutaway and also announced its art collection for the ship.  Putting both together, we can now get a better idea of what to expect on the ship.

Blog reader Victor Sacal analyzed the new cutaway to look for what's new and the art work featured in the cutaway stood out.

In total, there are 10 art pieces you can now spot in the Quantum of the Seas cutaway.

1. Head (Via corridor)
2. "Waves of Light" (Via Rotunda)
3. Crossing (Aft elevator lobby wall)
4. Photography (American Icon Grill)
5. Photography (American Icon Grill)
6. Photography (American Icon Grill)
7. Andy Warhol Self Portrait (Aft stairs)
8. Diver (Aft Stairs)
9. From Afar (Outside SeaPlex)
10. Painting on oil (Vintages)

The Via Corridor, and The Via Rotunda is the space between the Aft elevators and two70.

Hope you had a great week (maybe one week closer to your next Royal Caribbean cruise?) and you had a chance to keep up with what's new with Royal Caribbean this week. But if not, here's a roundup of this week's news.

The big news this week was all about Quantum of the Seas and her float out that took place a few days ago.

After a few days delay due to poor weather, Quantum finally made her way out of the Meyer Werft shipyard dry dock and is now one step closer to launching.

With Quantum of the Seas succesully floated out, the ship will begin functionality tests.  Royal Caribbean also announced a countdown of less than 100 days until her official debut.

Royal Caribbean News

• Royal Caribbean kicked off a 5-day WOW sale yesterday that offers onboard credit and reduced deposits.
• Royal Caribbean posted an updated Quantum of the Seas cutaway that reveals a lot more of the ship.
• Anthem of the Seas is now back in dry dock now that sister Quantum left.
• Royal Caribbean unveiled its $5 million art collection on Quantum of the Seas, including a giant pink polar bear.
• Royal Caribbean is investing $2 million to prevent Norovirus on its cruise ships.
• First time cruisers, don't miss our guide to disemberkation day on your Royal Caribbean cruise.
• Did you know about these lost Royal Caribbean ship names?

99 Days of Quantum

To celebrate the countdown until Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas debuts, we kicked off a brand new blog series, 99 Days of Quantum, that looks at what makes this new ship so amazing.  Each day we are posting a new blog post all about Quantum of the Seas so here's what you might have missed this week.

• North Star
• Virtual Balconies
• Wonderland
• Beautiful float out photos of Quantum of the Seas
• Sonic Odyssey
• Royal Loft Suite

Stay tuned to Royal Caribbean Blog each day for a brand new post all about Quantum of the Seas untils he debuts (93 more days!).

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The fifty-fourth episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available and we're previewing a podcast listener's upcoming cruise on Allure of the Seas.

In this episode, Matt invites podcast listener Danielle Perry to discuss her family's first Royal Caribbean cruise and why she chose to cruise on Royal Caribbean as well as why they picked Allure of the Seas.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

Royal Caribbean Around the Internet

Royal Caribbean posted an article about what happens if there is a hurricane during your cruise.

CruiseInd has started up its Quantum of the Seas live blog that will track the new ship's progress.

Royal Caribbean explores Quantum of the Seas' art theme.

Travel Weekly posted a new service for cruise visitors to Bermuda that allows easier access to Horseshoe Bay.

Royal Caribbean has updated its Quantum of the Seas ship cutaway, which shows off many venues on the ship and gives a good indication of where everything is relative to ship.

Thanks to Victor Sacal for sending us a copy of this.  Among other new things the giant magenta bear has been added so this cutaway is as up-to-date as we have.

The full cutout is 8 megabytes (!) in size so you can download it here if you wish to see it in all its glory.

There's less than 99 days until Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas debuts so we're counting down each day with a brand new blog post all about Quantum of the Seas. Read our blog each day for a new post all about this amazing cruise ship.

Royal Loft Suite

The suite category of staterooms has always been about splurging and with Quantum of the Seas, we get a brand new category of suite that is sure to impress anyone with a few extra dollars to spend.

The Royal Loft Suite is a two-deck high stateroom that offers panoramic views of the ocean.  It's a one bedroom, two bathroom cabin that sleeps up to 6 on the aft of the ship. 

READ YESTERDAY'S POST ALL ABOUT SONIC ODYSSEY

The main level of the Royal Loft Suite has a living room and dining room with a dry bar and sofa that can also open up to a queen bed. There's also a full bath with shower.

Gong upstairs, you will find the master bedroom with two twin beds that convert to a Royal King.  There's a master bath with a soaking tub, shower, two sinks, bidet and private balcony with dual whirlpool tub.

Of course, there's a large balcony with whirlpool and dining area so you never have to go back inside.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

We're counting down the days until Quantum of the Seas debuts later this year with our 99 days of Quantum blog series. Each day we will post something about Quantum of the Seas to share with all of you!

Sonic Odyssey

Royal Caribbean's onboard entertainment has always been a strength and on Quantum of the Seas we will get a brand new show called Sonic Odyssey that will be unlike anything else we've ever seen at sea.

Set in the Royal Theater, the show is inspired by William Close, an amazing musician and innovator who is best known for his many one-of-a-kind instruments.  There's the Drum Cloud, Violin Dress and Royal Gong just to name a few of these new creations.

READ YESTERDAY'S POST ALL ABOUT WONDERLAND

Sonic Odyssey is centered around an Earth Harp, which is the largest stringed instrument on the planet.  The body of the instrument rests on the stage and the strings travel out over the audience attaching to the back of the theater, turning the theater into the instrument.

The show itself will include a nine-piece orchestra, singers, dancers, aerialists and gymnasts to perform in and around the audience. Royal Caribbean designed Sonic Odyssey to not be conventional but instead be something special guests have likely never experienced before.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

This week's batch of beautiful Royal Caribbean photos is here and it's always fun to share with all of you the great photos our readers take while on their cruise vacation.

The photos we have to show this week are fun and of course anyone can send us their Royal Caribbean photos to use as well!

First up is this photo from Rina from Allure of the Seas.  It's an aft view facing the Boardwalk and reminds me just how massive this ship is.

John Siegmund sent in this photo of the sunset sailing home from Key West on Majesty of the Seas.  I love sunset photos!

Next we have this photo of Vision of the Seas by Dana and Patricia Hall.  It was taken while Vision of the Seas docked in downtown Oslo, Norway during a transatlantic cruise.  Need to add this to my bucket list.

Matt Smith sent this photo from a Radiance of the Seas cruise, in Juneau Alaska, Mt Roberts Tram. You can see Rhapsody of the Seas , Radiance of the Seas and the Zamdaam from Holland America line.

Lastly we have this photo of Explorer of the Seas docked in Phillipsburg, St. Marteen last week. This photo was taken on a hill top that our tour guide Leo Brown suggested. Love Leo and love the color of the water!

Do you have Royal Caribbean photos that you want to share?  We'd love to feature them so send them in by using our nifty submission form and maybe your photos will show up in next week's edition!

Royal Caribbean will kick off a five-day WOW sale starting August 16, 2014 that will run through August 20.  The sale offers up to $200 onboard credit and 50% off deposits.

The WOW sale is valid on all sailings except Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.

The onboard credit breakdown is as follows

• 5 nights or less
  • $50 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit
• 6-9 nights
  • $100 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit
• 10 nights or longer
  • $200 onboard credit (per stateroom) & 50% reduced deposit

LISTEN TO OUR ADVICE ON WOW SALES AND IF THEY ARE A GOOD DEAL

Offer is combinable with standard/full fare rates and restricted rates (for example, Seniors, Residents, Military, BOGO, Kids Sail Free, ChoiceAir Specials, etc.)

Offer is not combinable with any other offer or promotion, including, but not limited to, Interline, Travel Agent, Travel Agent Friends and Family, weekly Sales Events, Net Rates, Crown & Anchor Discount programs or rates, Shareholder Benefits or Next Cruise offers, promotions, or benefits.

What is a WOW Sale? Are WOW Sales good deals?  Read our Cruise 101: WOW Sale post to get information on what this deal is all about.

We're counting down the days until Royal Caribbean's next cruise ship debuts, Quantum of the Seas, with our 99 days of Quantum countdown.  Each day we will post something about this amazing new ship.

Float out photos

Yesterday Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship floated out of its Meyer Werft shipyard and already we found a lot of really beautiful photos of this new ship and wanted to share them.

We scoured the Internets for the best shots we could find. Enjoy!

Photos included here are copyright Heiner Lohmann, Papenburg - Zu Besuch bei den Ozeanriesen & Alamy Live News.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

Following the successful float out of Quantum of the Seas yesterday, Meyer Werft shipyard returned the blocks that will eventually make up Anthem of the Seas back to dry dock to finish construction.

Photo by Christoph Assies

Anthem of the Seas' blocks had to be floated out first to make way for Quantum of the Seas since they were position in front of Quantum.  

The first block had been moved out of the shipyard in June and the second block was moved Tuesday evening.

Three tugs helped maneuver the blocks back into the dock.  

Photo by Christoph Assies

Shipyard spokesman Guenther Kolbe says Anthem of the Seas' shell will be completed with the next two months.

Anthem of the Seas is the second Quantum-class cruise ship and will debut in spring 2015 for Royal Caribbean.

To countdown the launch of Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, we're blogging about one aspect of the ship each day for 99 days. Check back each day for something exciting to read about this new ship.

Wonderland specialty restaurant

Most people were expecting some new restaurants for Quantum of the Seas but I'm not sure anyone was fully prepared for Wonderland.

Royal Caribbean describes Wonderland as, "an elaborate feast for the senses in a setting where Royal Caribbean chefs twist their culinary kaleidoscopes to invent a dreamscape of never-before-seen fare".  When I try to describe Wonderland to someone, I basically say take everything you know about a restaurant and turn it upside down because Wonderland bends the realities of what a restaurant is.

READ YESTERDAY'S POST ALL ABOUT VIRTUAL BALCONIES

Wonderland is named after the place Alice visits from the tale of Alice in Wonderland.  Just like in the book, guests enter a place where nothing is what it seems and the chefs have taken time to create a gastronomic experience that is inventive and elaborate.

The creativity with Wonderland is what caught my eye during a Quantum of the Seas dining event in New York City earlier this year.  Royal Caribbean has really tried to create something completely unique and the result was a restaurant I cannot wait to visit over and over again.

Before you even sample a morsel of food, you will be dazzled by the room itself.  It's odd in an eccentric kind of way but the experience of eating here is an adventure in itself.  Royal Caribbean is using color, sclae and reflection to really create something original.

In terms of food, it's bleeding-edge modern cooking that is categorized by theme rather than course.  Wonderland features a variety of flavors, textures, temperatures and portion sizes, each presented in a non-traditional, progressive and creative fashion.  Did I mention this place is different?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!