After years of construction, preperations and touch-ups, Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship is ready to welcome its first guests onboard for a trans-Atlantic cruise to its homeport of Cape Liberty, New Jersey.

Quantum of the Seas is docked in Southampton, UK where the first paying passengers are boarding and ready to experience her first-hand on an eight-night cruise west. 

Officially, Royal Caribbean has designated her inaugural voyage to be on November 18 but this is one of many pre-inaugural cruises scheduled over the next two weeks.

Quantum of the Seas photo galleries

As many of our readers know, Quantum of the Seas is filled to the brim with new innovations, activities and onboard offerings.  High-speed internet, robot bartenders, a Broadway show and observational pod are just a few of the new additions to Quantum of the Seas.

Quantum of the Seas is the first Quantum-class cruise ship by Royal Caribbean and will be followed by sister ships Anthem of the Seas in spring 2015 and Ovation of the Seas in mid-2016.

With Quantum of the Seas almost ready for her first cruise, Royal Caribbean is pumping out new photos from all over the new ship and we've created easy to navigate photo galleries.

The Solarium, Royal Loft Suite, Windjammer and more photo galleries are available for you to browse and see what this brand new cruise ship looks like.

We will be posting more photos throughout the next few days, so keep checking back for more galleries. Enjoy!

Royal Caribbean is using these final hours before Quantum of the Seas welcomes its first guests onboard to get the ship ready with final touches.Get a behind-the-scenes look at buzz of activity taking place to deliver a wow experience.

Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas is in Southampton, UK where she is getting ready to welcome her first guests for a trans-Atlantic voyage to Cape Liberty, New Jersey.

Royal Caribbean has released the first batch of official photos showcasing many new areas of Quantum of the Seas.

The new ship is being unveiled to the public and media in the United Kingdom today and this is the beginning of a media push to show off this amazing new ship.

Check out our photo gallery below with all the new photos!

There's less than 99 days until Royal Caribbean's brand new Quantum of the Seas debuts and we're counting down each day with a brand new blog post all about this amazing ship. Check into the blog every day for something new to read about Quantum of the Seas.

Quantum of the Seas Infographic

With Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, launching very soon, we're counting down each day with a brand new blog post all about this amazing cruise ship.

Photos of Quantum of the Seas arriving in Southampton

Yesterday Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas arrived in Southampton, England to prepare for its trans-Atlantic ocean voyage.  As you might imagine, a lot of people were excited about Quantum's arrival.

We scoured Twitter to find the better photos out there to share with everyone of Quantum of the Seas arrival. Enjoy!

Light fading, weather crap but I managed my trademark @ABPSouthampton shot! @MyRoyalUK #QuantumoftheSeas pic.twitter.com/O4At3ctRAE

— Patricia Dempsey (@linerlovers) October 29, 2014

NorthStar observation pod on @MyRoyalUK #QuantumoftheSeas was reaching for the clouds as ship arrived in Southampton pic.twitter.com/Y17T4HEuYS

— John Honeywell (@CaptGreybeard) October 29, 2014

All lit up, and almost docked. #QuantumoftheSeas pic.twitter.com/u1B7IUIRlH

— Royal Caribbean UK (@MyRoyalUK) October 29, 2014

#QuantumoftheSeas brightens up #Southampton @MyRoyalUK @RoyalCaribbean #royalcaribbean @ABPSouthampton pic.twitter.com/zMhQnEk1C1

— Royal Caribbean Fans (@RCI_fans) October 29, 2014

A photo posted by Jose Ferreira (@arcocreativeuk) on Oct 10, 2014 at 11:08am PDT

A photo posted by lyan10 (@lyan10) on Oct 10, 2014 at 9:58am PDT

#QuantumoftheSeas arrives in Southampton - @MyRoyalUK pic.twitter.com/WJtzjS3wHd

— Onboard Celebrity (@ade_rob) October 29, 2014

#QuantumoftheSeas pic.twitter.com/RuUGKn60jt

— Stuart Leven (@stuleven) October 29, 2014

In case you missed it all 168,000 GT of the Quantum of the Seas arrived in Southampton this evening - pic.twitter.com/E4ZXPHSYeo

— Southampton Events (@SotonEvents) October 29, 2014

A photo posted by K a i R e i n e c k e (@kaireinecke) on Oct 10, 2014 at 3:20pm PDT

All lit up, and almost docked. #QuantumoftheSeas pic.twitter.com/u1B7IUIRlH

— Royal Caribbean UK (@MyRoyalUK) October 29, 2014

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

We're counting down the days until Quantum of the Seas debuts later this year with our 99 days of Quantum blog series. Each day we will post something about Quantum of the Seas to share with all of you!

FlowRider champ tests out FlowRider on Quantum of the Seas

Everything on Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas needs to be tested and that includes the FlowRider surf simulator.  FlowRider employee and flowboarding legend Sean Silveira, who is a five time world champion, went aboard to put the final touches on the ride and train the sport staff on the wave.

“It was fun training with the sport staff; they are a great group of individuals who were stoked on riding,” Silveira said.

Royal Caribbean has had a long-term relationship with FlowRider, having brought the simulators onboard its cruise ships since the Freedom class of ships. 

“Customer Intimacy is is not just two words – it is a mindset throughout our organization and one concept that we live day in and day out” explained FlowRider COO Marshall Myrman. “We want to create the best experience for not only our customers, but also our clients customers, and everyone else associated with our value chain” added Myrman.

"Having Sean onboard the ship provided a great opportunity for their staff to get excellent hands on training and catch a glimpse of world class riding. It is important for the attraction staff to be knowledgeable and experience the thrill of the wave, so they can better relay the experience to guests."

Quantum of the Seas will feature the FlowRider Double, which is the most popular FlowRider.

We're counting down to the 99 days until Royal Caribbean's newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, launches with a brand new blog post every day. Be sure to check back for something new everyday here.

Royal Esplanade

You've probably heard by now Royal Caribbean has opted to offer a Royal Esplanade instead of a Royal Promenade on Quantum of the Seas, but this new innovation will offer a brand new experience that is not to be missed.

So what is the difference between the Royal Esplanade versus the Royal Promenade.  Personally, I think of the Royal Esplanade as more of a shopping and entertainment district onboard the ship than the cavernous strip that the Royal Promenade is.  

The Royal Esplanade runs the length of deck 4 with a mezzanine level on deck 5 both of which offer shopping, a variety of restaurants, pubs and the brand new Music Hall.

The Royal Esplanade is a combination of shops, luxury boutiques, restaurants and lounges.  The Via is part of the Esplanade and will offer luxury boutiques whereas the main part of the Esplanade will offer other shops, including a new collection of logo items that will be available in 2015 in a new boutique called "The Shop".

Just like the Royal Promenade, there will be entertainment offered throughout each cruise on the Royal Esplanade.  

You will also find Michael's Genuine Pub and Wonderland specialty restaurants as well as Vintages, Chops Grille, Izumi, Cafe Promenade, Sorrentos and more.

You may also notice the incredible art work in the Royal Esplanade, including digital and traditional sculpture and artwork.

From the sounds of it, the Royal Esplanade will be the kind of place you will be spending a lot of time onboard Quantum of the Seas with everything going on.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post as we celebrate 99 days of Quantum!

Royal Caribbean accepted delivery today of its newest cruise ship, Quantum of the Seas, from ship builder Meyer Werft.

The ceremonial exchange occured at Bremerhaven, Germany where officials from Royal Caribbean met with Meyer Werft officials to officially welcome Quantum of the Seas into Royal Caribbean's fleet.

Quantum of the Seas will depart from Bremerhaven to Southampton, England later today, October 28, 2014.  Once she reaches Southampton, she will set off to her Atlantic crossing on November 2nd.

Royal Caribbean has scheduled her official maiden voyage for November 23 from Cape Liberty, New Jersey to the Bahamas.

Royal Caribbean Chairman and CEO Richard D. Fain (pictured right) and Meyer Werft Yard’s Managing Partner Bernard Meyer (pictured left) attended the official signing ceremony in Bremerhaven, Germany.)