Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, succesfully floated out of Meyer Werft shipyard building after a few weather delays.
Check out our photo gallery below of the float out. Images are provided by and copyright Alamy Live News.
Our newest podcast episode is out to help give you a quick "audio escape" to a Royal Caribbean cruise!
Episode 54 is available for downloading and this week we are previewing a listener's upcoming cruise on Allure of the Seas.
Podcast listener Danielle Perry is going on her first Royal Caribbean cruise with her family on Allure of the Seas, so this week Matt is discussing her plans for the cruise. Matt is also answering lots of listener emails.
Here’s the podcast page for Episode 54. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast via RSS, Stitcher or on iTunes!
Take a listen and as always, let us know what you think! Please rate and review the podcast on iTunes and leave your comments below!
Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas will be floated out this morning at around midnight eastern.
Watch the live stream right here when it begins
Royal Caribbean announced today that its newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, will include a multi-million dollar art collection themed “What Makes Life Worth Living”.
It's hard to miss the 30-foot-tall magenta polar bear situated prominently on the exterior deck of the ship. The bear isa sculpture created by Denver-based artist Lawrence Argent. It's titled "From Afar" and is comprised of 1,340 stainless steel triangles, weighs approximately eight-tons and is intended to incite wonder among guests, encouraging them to admire the bear from afar, as well as interact with it on a more intimate, yet whimsical level.
Other works of art including a monumental installation called “Crossing” which encompasses a wall of 210 butterflies representing 30 species, each made of aluminum, stainless steel, acrylic and enamel by Paul Villinski. There's also a sprawling, undulating structure titled “Waves of Light,” which explores the light’s potential as a structural element by Soo Sunny Park.
Sister cruise ship Anthem of the Seas artwork will uncover the tangible aspects of the theme such as adventure, entertainment and nature.
Pieces by these artists and others span size, art forms and mediums, and can be enjoyed both inside and outside the ship.
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.
Cruisers love balconies on their Royal Caribbean cruise for the fantastic views but sometimes the price is just a little too high. Royal Caribbean came up with a way to bring the balcony experience to inside staterooms for a fraction of the cost of a real balcony stateroom.
Virtual balconies are inside staterooms with an 80-inch high definition LED screen attached to a wall that delivers views outside of the ship, just like a real balcony stateroom.
The screen stretches from floor to ceiling and will show you exactly what you would see if you had a real balcony. Using high definition cameras, these virtual balconies give you a glimpse of what's outside.
Guests can turn the virtual balcony off at any time, especially at night when sleeping but it's available anytime they want.
There's even natual sounds that are piped into your stateroom to provide as authentic an experience as possible.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!
Royal Caribbean is investing $2 million to help prevent Norovirus gastronomic illness from infecting their cruise ships.
Royal Caribbean has extended its contract with ByoPlanet International and added $2 million to fund the company's disinfectant technology that prevents Norovirus on ships.
Royal Caribbean bought 350 additional ByoPlanet sprayers to add to the existing 10-30 sprayers they have on each cruise ship.
The disinfectant works by spraying electrically charged disinfectants that wrap around surfaces to kill mold, odors, mildew, bedbugs, algae and parasites.
Royal Caribbean has been a partner of ByoPlanet since 2010.
Royal Caribbean is counting down the days until its brand new Quantum of the Seas debuts and as of today, there are 99 days until that happens, so for the next 99 days we will be posting something every day about this amazing new ship.
Royal Caribbean has been pushing the envelope for years in terms of what a cruise ship can include and North Star is another example of "they can put that on a cruise ship?".
Northstar is an observation pod that is attached to a giant arm on top of Quantum of the Seas. North Star will allow passengers to go up in the sky above the cruise ship 300 feet above the sea.
For the the first time ever, guests can get an amazing view around their cruise ship and take what is sure to become amazing photos of the scenery.
Imagine the view from North Star of the port you're in and the feeling of being able to see it all from the safety of North Star. What may have required an expensive helicopter ride before now allows for a complimentary experience that is found on no other cruise ship.
Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!
Royal Caribbean has 21 ships in service today along with another handful of ships on their way and each has a name that help make each ship unique. Did you know Royal Caribbean has had other names for ships that never got used?
When Royal Caribbean builds new cruise ships these days, they register for a trademark for many possible ship names but not all names get used for reasons we may never know. Searching through the Trademark Electronic Search System, we found a list of ship names Royal Caribbean registered that never used and it got us dreaming about the "what if's" with these names.
First up is Endeavour of the Seas, whcih was registered on September 17, 2004, which was the same day they registered for Freedom of the Seas.
In fact, Endeavour of the Seas was originally the name of the second Freedom-class ship before ultimately being named Liberty of the Seas. Even to this day, www.endeavoroftheseas.com redirects you to Royal Caribbean's web site.
Royal Caribbean registered the name Journey of the Seas back on February 16, 2001, which was also the same day it registered Jewel of the Seas.
Traveler of the Seas was also registered on February 16, 2001
In late 2012 Royal Caribbean applied for six trademarks for new cruise ship names but ultimately only used two of them (Quantum & Anthem) so the other four names appear to be abandonded as well.
Which ship name do you think Royal Caribbean should have used? Add your suggestion in the comments below!
Another week has come to an end and we've gone through and hand-picked some fun articles for you to take a look at in case you missed any of it.
Quantum of the Seas float out was scheduled to happen yesterday but the big step had to be delayed for a few more days due to poor weather.
Quantum of the Seas will now be floated out on August 12 at 4pm local time, which is a better time for Americans to see it than it's original time slot.
If all goes well, she will begin her thruster and stabilizer tests following the float out.
The fifty-third episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is available, previewing a listener's Jewel of the Seas cruise.
This week Matt invited listener Kris to preview his upcoming Jewel of the Seas cruise as well as discuss what there is for kids to do on a cruise.
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 COO Adam Goldstein shared business travel advice on LinkedIn.
Motley Fool is writing about how Royal Caribbean's massive internet upgrade is about getting more Millennials to cruise.
Seatrade Insider says Royal Caribbean China chief Zinan Liu will deliver the keynote Cruise Shipping Asia-Pacific speech.
Royal Caribbean tried to trademark the name "Broadway At Sea" for its onboard musical theater that it offers but its trademark registration was denied by the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
This week, Royal Caribbean filed an appeal with the TTAB.
Royal Caribbean believes that "Broadway" is traditionally used as a noun to refer to the street in New York City, whereas Royal Caribbean's name differs.
The trademark office attorney argued why Royal Caribbean's trademark request was descriptive, "Applicant is reminded that the question is not whether someone presented only with the mark could guess what the services are. In context with the identified services offered by applicant, potential consumers will immediately understand that the term 'Broadway' refers to Broadway-style shows."