Royal Caribbean's Executive Vice President, Global Sales and Marketing, Lisa Bauer, said passengers aboard the new Quantum of the Seas cruise ship would expect to be "wowed" when it enters service next year.

Bauer declined to reveal specific details about the ship but insisted that Quantum of the Seas will, "live up to its name."

Quantum of the Seas is scheduled to enter service in fall 2014 with its sister ship Anthem of the Seas coming online about six months later.

Bauer said the product remains a closely guarded secret.

"What I would say is that people should be prepared to be wowed. The Quantum class ships will live up to its name."

The prospect of a ski slope as one of the onboard features has been suggested. Bauer declined to confirm or deny any plans.

Ever since Royal Caribbean announced their new class of ships, originally called Project Sunshine and now officially called Quantum Class, there's been rampant speculation as to where these cruise ships would sail from.  Over the last two to three months, we've received a lot of tips from our readers that the new Quantum of the Seas or Anthem of the Seas will sail out of Port Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey.

We haven't had any solid proof other than second or third hand reports but today we found two interesting tidbits that could point to where one of these new cruise ships will sail from.

The port of St Maarten in the Eastern Caribbean publishes the schedule of cruise ships that will call on the island at any given time.  For its December 2014 schedule, it lists a stop on December 5 by a ship called "Sunshine", which many believe is a reference to Project Sunshine.  This is followed by other monthly or bi-monthly calls by a ship of the same name.

Moreover, a dedicated fan took the time to compare cruise schedules in St Maarten for the next three years between Explorer of the Seas (the current Royal Caribbean ship based out of New Jersey) and this mystery "Sunshine" ship.

Monday, May 6, 2013 12:15 - 20:00 Explorer of the Seas
Monday, May 20, 2013 12:15 - 20:00 Explorer of the Seas

Monday, May 12, 2014 12:15 - 20:00 Explorer of the Seas
Monday, May 26, 2014 12:15 - 20:00 Explorer of the Seas

Monday, May 11, 2015 12:15 - 20:00 Sunshine
Monday, May 25, 2015 12:15 - 20:00 Sunshine

Adding more fuel to the fire of this rumor is the fact the Royal Gazette, a newspaper in Bermuda, published an article detailing a proposed wharf expansion that would accommodate larger cruise ships. In particular, the paper mentioned, "to determine the docks’ capacities to accommodate the latest cruise ships in production by both the Norwegian Cruise Line and the Royal Caribbean Cruise Line."

Since Explorer of the Seas currently sails out of Port Liberty and offers cruises to Bermuda in addition to the Caribbean, this seems like another indication that Quantum of the Seas or Anthem of the Seas might be based out of New Jersey.

All of this is speculation and we have no "silver bullet" proof quite yet.  Royal Caribbean is still slowly announcing details about the two new cruise ships and we will post news immediately about these two ships as they are announced.

Wonder how Royal Caribbean named its two newest cruise ships, Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas?  Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein shared some insight into the process.

According to Goldstein, Royal Caribbean worked with a naming consultant that provided several different names to consider (probably the list looked a lot like these).  The names offered a few different takes on the ship name including experiential names, cosmopolitan names, leading edge names and more.  However, the name Quantum fit the tone Project Sunshine Steering Committee was looking for.

After each member of the team voted on paper, the consensus reached was almost unanimous to Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.

Goldstein feels that the names represent what the ships will hopefully offer guests, "The word anthem is defined as a song of praise and Anthem of the Seas is indicative of many of the best qualities and features of Royal Caribbean International. Quantum represents a step change in cruising and anthem is a song of praise for that step."