It was a busy week for Royal Caribbean, culminating with news that the second ship in the Quantum-class, Anthem of the Seas, will be based in Southampton, UK when she debuts in spring 2015.

Royal Caribbean made the big announcement at a special event in London on Thursday, signaling its intentions to up the stakes in the competition for the British cruise market.

While Anthem of the Seas will spend her summers in England, she will head back to Fort Lauderdale for the winter months.  Royal Caribbean also said Anthem of the Seas will replace Independence of the Seas, although itineraries for both ships are still to be announced.

We can expect itineraries to go on sale in early 2014, along with more announcements about entertainment onboard.

Royal Caribbean News

• There's the possibility Quantum of the Seas could be too big for Bermuda's dock.
• Anthem of the Seas had her first block put in place.
• Royal Caribbean has a new television commercial out.  What do you think of it?
• We got a sneek peak at Royal Caribbean's new Thanksgiving Day Parade float.
• Royal Caribbean's first ship, Song of Norway, was sold for scrap metal.

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

Have you checked out the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast yet? Our newest episode is out previewing Quantum of the Seas!

Royal Caribbean's next cruise ship is already getting people excited over what's in store, so this week Matt lists everything we know about the ship as well as a few rumors of things we think are coming too.

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

Cruise And Ferry asked Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein about Anthem of the Seas' entertainment options.

Travel Weekly confirmed trade relations inspired Royal Caribbean's decision to put Anthem of the Seas in England.

South Florida Parenting thinks Vision of the Seas' revitalization have expanded family offerings onboard.

Royal Caribbean has a new television commerical that is all about promoting that no one does the Caribbean like Royal Caribbean does.

The 30 seconds commercial features upbeat music and shows a number of ships, islands, restaurants and activities that emphasize the "WOW" factor Royal Caribbean promotes are part of its cruise experience.

What do you think of the new spot?

Happy Friday! And because it is Friday, we're going to share some great Royal Caribbean cruise photos that our readers have sent in. We want your photos too, so send us your best Royal Caribbean photos to share with the world.

Our first photo this week comes to us from Connor and it's of a life preserver from Oasis of the Seas.  Oh and there's a pretty sunset in there too.  

Mike Klugo sent in this photo of Allure of the Seas in Cozumel. He writes, "After waiting over 4 years to go on my dream ship, I was finally able to spend a week on this amazing behemoth! This was taken by me in Cozumel, Mexico near Señor Frogs."  I think Allure of the Seas was worth the wait Mike!

Next photo is from Eddy Ong, who took this artsy photo of Freedom of the Seas on October 2013.  I never get tired of looking up at these magnificent cruise ships when you're standing next to them.

Harry A. Yerikyan has our next photo from Oasis of the Seas (seems to be an Oasis-class filled blog post this week) looking to the Aqua Theater from the Boardwalk.  Looks great to me!

Thank you to everyone that sent in their photos this week and if you have Royal Caribbean photos, well, we want to see them!  You can use this form to send us your photos and we will feature them on an upcoming Friday Photos blog post!

Royal Caribbean announced today that Anthem of the Seas, the second cruise ship in the brand new Quantum-class, will be home ported in Southampton, England in April 2015.

The new Quantum-class ship news was announced from the UK trade and press at a special event in London this afternoon.

Anthem of the Seas will spend its time between Southampton, offering Mediterranean cruises and Fort Lauderdale, Florida, offering Caribbean cruises during the winter months.

The move is a play by Royal Caribbean to get a bigger piece of the £2.5 billion pie that Brits spend on cruising each year.

The 4,180-passenger Anthem of the Seas is being built in Papenberg, Germany.

UPDATE 12:50pm: Royal Caribbean did confirm that itineraries for Anthem of the Seas will go on sale in early 2014, along with more announcements about entertainemnt onboard.

Royal Caribbean is adding a brand new float to the 87th Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade next week and we've got a sneak peek of what the float will look like.

Photo copyright NorthJersey.com

The new float is called, "A World at Sea from Royal Caribbean" and is meant to be 3-D postcards from a cruise, the revolving scene changes from rock climbing to surfing to flying through the sky on a zip line.

Photo copyright Royal Caribbean International

Quantum of the Seas godmother Kristin Chenoweth will be on the float for the parade.

The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade will be televised at 9:00am eastern time on November 28.  Check local listings for channel.

Wednesday means it's podcast day and we have a brand new Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast to share with everyone!

Episode 16 is now available for downloading and we're previewing the brand new Quantum of the Seas cruise ship this week.

In this episode, Matt shares everything we know about Quantum of the Seas as well as look into some rumors about the new ship. There's a lot of exciting new features onboard and it's an opportunity to discuss what makes this brand new class of ships so exciting.

We are also answering more listener emails this week all about Royal Caribbean cruising.

Here’s the podcast page for Episode 16. 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 next cruise ship that is under construction, Quantum of the Seas, has plans to go to Bermuda in 2015 but simulations looking at if the new mega-ship can dock there have raised some questions.

The Bermuda Sun reports simulation tests to determine whether Quantum of the Seas will be able negotiate Bermuda’s channels have been undertaken in Baltimore.

Modifications may have to be made to the North Channel in order to accommodate Quantum of the Seas, which has a bigger draft than the next largest ship to dock in Bermuda, the Norwegian Breakaway.

Officials in the Bermuda government have indicated to the Bermuda Sun that despite Royal Caribbean's published plans to send the new ship to Bermuda, a final decision had not been made yet to approve the itinerary.

A spokesman for the Bermuda Ministry of Transport and Tourism told the Bermuda Sun: “A decision on the Quantum of the Seas sailing to Bermuda for the 2015 season has not yet been made.

“However, the Bermuda Government continues to work very closely with Royal Caribbean International principals and technical officers and a decision will be made in due course.

“The Quantum of the Seas vessel simulation exercise was completed by the Department of Marine & Ports Senior Branch Pilots on November 13 and 14 at the MITAG facility located in Baltimore.

“The information and data obtained from simulation exercises will assist in determining if modifications are required to our channels to ensure safe transit of the vessel. Once the report is presented a decision will be made based on the channel modification requirements and the associated timelines to complete.”

Anthem of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's second Quantum-class cruise ship that is under construction, had her keel-laying ceremony today in Meyer Werft shipyard.

The first block for Anthem of the Seas put in place and marks the official start of construction of Anthem of the Seas.

Anthem of the Seas will be ready for service sometime in Spring 2015.

The Song of Norway, Royal Caribbean's first ever cruise ship, has been sold for scrap metal according to a report by Maritime Matters.

Song of Norway was retired from Royal Caribbean's fleet in 1996 when she was sold to AirTours but prior to that, she was the pride of Royal Caribbean's young fleet.  She was built in 1970 and revolutionized cruising, becoming one of the first ships to be widened.

The ship's owner, ISP, was using the ship for private charters in recent years bit was sold to the scrap yard, which will result in the ship being broken up in China sometime in 2014.

It's a sad day to see part of Royal Caribbean's history go.

Royal Caribbean announced today it is partnering with NetDimensions Interactive to create online, self-paced learning modules for its new shipboard property management software.

This new software will eventually be rolled out to all of the cruise ships in Royal Caribbean's fleet, along with sister brands Celebrity Cruisse Line and Azamara Club Cruises. The first ship crew will access their software simulation training this December for a January ship launch, with staggered rollouts on additional ships in February and March 2014.

The online training for the new property management software will support an enterprise-wide initiative that will streamline existing guest and crew handling processes, and help automate the loading of guest reservation information to the fleet in a more real-time manner. Uniform, online employee training on the software will enable Royal Caribbean operations to provide a higher level of customer service, improve business results, standardize the fleet, and simplify the operational environment.