We're still about 10 months away from the debut of Royal Caribbean's brand new cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas and like so many of our readers, I just can't wait to see everything this ship has to offer.  Royal Caribbean has been holding back some details about the ship to help build up the excitement so today we're going to list the top five things we're excited to finally hear about.

5. Floor plans

Royal Caribbean is launching new cabin configurations for Quantum of the Seas and many cruises are curious just what these new staterooms will look like.

Solo cabins, new superior grand suite and a new family suite are among the new cabin categories we can expect but have no information as to how these rooms are laid out.  

Luckily virtual balcony cabins will get the big reveal soon when Navigator of the Seas debuts them in February 2014.

4. Itineraries past April 2015

Since Royal Caribbean announced the initial cruise sailings for Quantum of the Seas, we haven't heard anything about any cruises beyond that set and already people want to plan their summer and winter 2015 cruises.

As many cruisers know, booking well in advance is a good way to lock in the best price as well as the stateroom location they want, so opening up the bookings is something many are looking forward to so they can get their taste of Quantum of the Seas.

3. Shows and other onboard entertainment

Royal Caribbean did announce the Mamma Mia is coming to Quantum of the Seas back in November but otherwise, there's been no word on onboard entertainment.  

We do know there will be a show in the evenings at Two70 and that it will be a Cirque du Soleil inspired show.  But little else is known about the entertainment onboard.  Many guests love the shows and events onboard their Royal Caribbean cruises, so this is something a lot of people are looking forward to hearing about.

From stage shows to comedians to magic shows, there's a lot going on and a hint at what we can expect to see and do each evening of our cruise is going to be a big draw.  After all, Royal Caribbean has been raising the bar in terms of onboard entertainment for many years now so I think cruisers are excited to see what's coming next to the stage.

2. Dining & Specialty Restaurants

It's all about food, isn't it?  The food onboard are a highlight of the overall cruise experience for a lot of people (myself included) so which specialty restaurants will be offered on Quantum of the Seas is a big deal.

Which existing Royal Caribbean specialty restaurants will make the cut and which new restaurants will be added?  We already know about Navigator of the Seas getting Sabor Modern Mexican, is this also destined for Quantum of the Seas?

Royal Caribbean has spent a lot of money over the years refining their dining experiences, paid and complimentary, so I think many of us have high expectations to be WOWed by what Quantum of the Seas can offer to eat.

1.  Other cool surprises

My gut feeling is that Royal Caribbean is far from done trying to WOW us with what to expect on Quantum of the Seas.  This is a company that is always looking to out do themselves, so I'm most excited to read about what amazing new innovations are also coming to Quantum of the Seas.

Perhaps some of these surprises will be covered in the questions asked earlier, but whatever surprises come our way will help shape the direction of Quantum of the Seas and help make this ship stand out in a very competitive market.

With so much of the ship still under wraps, I'm hoping Royal Caribbean has a few tricks up their sleeves to bring the WOW they are famous for and build the excitement even further.

There's a new Quantum of the Seas video today where Royal Caribbean designers explain how mock-ups of this brand new cruise ship help them ensure a seamless guest experience and a more efficient, cost effective building process.

A survey by Cruise Holidays says Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas is the most anticipated cruise ship of 2014.

Travel Weekly reported that of the 133 franchisees in the survey, the "overwhelming" response to which cruise ship they were ancitipating the most for the new year is Quantum of the Seas.

The other cruise ships that were included in the survey were the Costa Diadema, Regal Princess and Norwegian Getaway.

Simulation tests have proven that Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship that is currently under construction, Quantum of the Seas, is too big to be able to dock in Bermuda.  

The Bermuda Sun reports the tests revealed the existing North and South Channels were not big enough to safely accommodate the vessel, especially in high winds.  If Bermuda wants to be able to host Quantum of the Seas, then dredging will need to begin soon.

A Government spokesman told the Bermuda Sun: "The principle dimensions of the vessel, in particular, its predicted draft at 8.5M, was an early indication and evidence that modifications to either channel would be required to ensure safe transit of the vessel.

"The recently completed simulation exercise provided real-time information on the vessel’s performance, maneuvering and handling characteristics under various wind and speed conditions.

"The simulation exercise also provided critical data on channel depth and width requirement in specific areas.

"Technical officers from the Ministry of Public Works in consultation with the Department of Marine & Ports will analyze the simulation report and trial run data, and then provide recommendations that will be considered by Cabinet."

Royal Caribbean Quantum Experience Advisor Dhani Jones has released a second episode all about how he is working with Royal Caribbean to develop new and innovative fitness activities for Quantum of the Seas.

During the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade today, Royal Caribbean announced that the Broadway show Mamma Mia will play onboard its next cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean made the announcement as part of the Thanksgiving Day parade festivities in New York City.

The addition of Mamma Mia to Quantum of the Seas follows the trend of adding Broadway shows to cruise ships that Royal Caribbean started when it added Hairspray to Oasis of the Seas followed by Chicago to Allure of the Seas.  Royal Caribbean also offers Saturday Night Fever onboard Liberty of the Seas.

Quantum of the Seas will debut in November 2014 and be based out of Cape Liberty, New Jersey.

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.”

Royal Caribbean released a new photo of Quantum of the Seas progress today, showing a floor-level shot of the "blocks" that make up the ship being assembled together.  On a basic level, cruise ships are assembled by putting together blocks of pre-built units to create the ship's super-structure.

Quantum of the Seas is Royal Caribbean's next cruise ship that will be built and will have her first official cruise in November 2014.

Quantum of the Seas is in the midst of construction currently and already, there's a lot of anticipation for Royal Caribbean's newest class of cruise ship.  With any new ship, questions surrounding the design and architecture process pop up regarding what obstacles and challenges does Royal Caribbean face and how do they get around them.  

We had the chance to speak to Royal Caribbean Design Manager for New Builds Jodi Barozinsky, who is working on the design of Quantum of the Seas about how a Royal Caribbean ship is designed.  Barozinsky has been designing Royal Caribbean ships for a long time, starting with Vision class ships, followed by Radiance class, Voyager class and Oasis class.

Jodi started out working with Royal Caribbean as a design consultant in the 1990s and eventually was hired by Royal Caribbean to work exclusively for them.  Since her work on Oasis of the Seas, she has been working in the design department managing the various designers throughout the world that work on Royal Caribbean's ships.  

Her early work on Vision class, Radiance class and Voyager class was centered around the casino, the theater, kids  area and suites.  Starting with Oasis class and continuing to Quantum class, she's focused more on the overall design of the ship, primarily in the public areas and with the design consultants.

Looking at Quantum of the Seas, the biggest challenge Barozinsky identified was the sheer large span of time involved from when a project begins and when it ends and wanting to keep the design contemporary and relevant to what's hip when the ship launches.

"The period of time that we start and finish is a fairly long period. Sometimes three to four years. Staying up on top of what's current and what's cutting edge is always a challenge," Barozinsky said about how time factors in. "That deadline at the end, they're still delivering that ship in October of 2014.  So, trying to stay current and make sure the design is right for the day it gets delivered is a huge challenge."

As an example, Jodi mentions on Quantum of the Seas they had designed all of the dining rooms and about a year later the Operations team felt the design wasn't, "current" and had to be re-designed.  Thus, the dining rooms have been designed twice so far on Quantum of the Seas.

Another challenge is living up to Royal Caribbean's slogans of delivering the "WOW" to their guests and so with every new class of ship, the designers are tasked with coming up with that new "WOW" while staying within the budgetary confines of the project.

"To get those WOWs in there, it may mean compromising something else that's not as critical and deciding on what those compromises are to get the WOW."

The other consideration for coming up with these WOW ammenities is the small details, like with Oasis class what to do when a deluge of rain hits the ship and where does the water go considering there's a huge "hole" in the middle of the ship where Central Park is and prevent flooding.

Another challenge for Quantum of the Seas is that the designers are calling the ship, "the technology ship", which refers to how the team wants to bring in the newest cutting edge technology onto the ship.  This includes the way Royal Caribbean operates the ship, the signage, art work and so more much. 

When asked about what guests should look for in the design of a Royal Caribbean ship, Barozinsky thinks it's the small, overlooked details of basic design that are major considerations that many guests don't notice.  An example is at any bar, there cannot be anything over the top that may collect dust for health code concerns.  Moreover, what they do design needs to hold up so that something does not need to be torn out and redesigned later due to a health issue.

Also Barozinsky is rather proud of the lengths Royal Caribbean goes to in terms of guest accessibility.  She mentioned Royal Caribbean has its own special guidelines for the cruise line to follow and the result has been a lot of compliments from guests with special needs because they find the ships very accomodating.

So what's the most rewarding aspect of designing a Royal Caribbean cruise ship?  Jodi thinks it's seeing the interest that they get from the highest executive level for what they do and so their work is very imporant and knowing what they work in sails in ports all around the world.  

"Anyone you talk to, whether I'm travelling next to some stranger on a plane and they ask what you do and you get into a conversation.  They know that ship, they know about that room that you designed.  To me, it just feels good.  It made a difference and someone actually noticed something that you worked on.  You can really take pride in that."

If Jodi's work sounds really fun and interesting and you're perhaps a student in college looking to be a designer to, her advice to them is take college courses on ship design, which are already being offered these days.  

Barozinsky also mentioned that Royal Caribbean offers summer internships to interior design or architecture college students and would be a great avenue to take to get the right background to work on a Royal Caribbean team.  She also says you have to love it and you give it your all and be willing to work hard.  And the reward?  The cultural aspect of working with the foreign shipyards as well as the guests you are designing for that come from all over the world.