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.

Virtual balconies

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.

READ YESTERDAY'S POST ALL ABOUT NORTH STAR

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 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.

North Star

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's brand new Quantum of the Seas will have to wait a few days more for its float out from its Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany.

Quantum of the Seas will now be floated out on August 12, 2014 at 4pm local time.

It had previously been scheduled to float out on August 9 but a poor weather forecast forced Meyer Werft to delay.

If all goes well, she will begin her thruster and stabilizer tests following the float out.

Quantum Sports and Fitness Advisor Dhani Jones experiences an action-packed FlyWheel class on his quest to deliver new activities and fitness for Royal Caribbean's newest ship, Quantum of the Seas.

Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, will leave ship builder Meyer Werft's covered building for its official float out on Saturday, August 9, 2014.  The event will occur at 7:30am local time.

Quantum of the Seas, the third largest cruise ship in the world and will be docked alongside the yard's pier for one night, before being turned on August 10 for thruster and stabiliser tests.

Following float out, the remaining tasks will be tests and trials that will be carried out on board until the ship’s conveyance down the river Ems to the North Sea, which is scheduled for the middle of September.

We will have a live webcam feed right here on Royal Caribbean Blog of the float-out broadcast.

The brand new lifeboats for Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas are on their way to the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany for installation.

The lifeboats were constructed at the Fassmer shipyard in Motz on the Ems.  They are 12.5 meters long and 5.4 meters wide and are being shipped by barge.

Quantum of the Seas will debut in November 2014 and will be the first ship in the brand new Quantum-class of cruise ships for Royal Caribbean.

Go behind the scenes at Meyer Werft's cabin factory where Quantum of the Seas staterooms are constructed using a production line. From carpeting to art on the wall, this manufacturing process ensures the highest quality standards throughout.

Royal Caribbean is once again using technology to make business better for them.  This time, they have created wearable glasses to train agents on what its newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas will offer.

Travel Weekly is reporting Royal Caribbean partnered with Jason Bradbury, an expert in technology, to create a new video for agents which is built into a pair of glasses and shows them the facilities on board Quantum of the Seas as well as sister ship Anthem of the Seas.

Starting on July 10, Royal Caribbean sales teams will visit agents with the glasses to test out the glasses.