Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas will be the next new cruise ship that is currently under construction. Quantum of the Seas will start sailing in Fall 2014 and her sister ship, Anthem of the Seas, will sail in 2015.

Royal Caribbean launches new menus on Quantum of the Seas complimentary restaurants

In:
22 Jan 2015

Last night Royal Caribbean rolled out new menus to four of its complimentary restaurants onboard.

Reports from cruisers aboard Quantum of the Seas this week say that new menus debuted at Chic, The Grande, Silk and American Icon Grill.

There's speculation that these menu changes are part of a new effort to improve the Dynamic Dining experience overall.  Just last week Royal Caribbean dropped the cover charge at Devinly Decadence to add more complimentary restaurant capacity.

Credit to Debra Hirsh and Daniel VanDam for the photos of the new menus.

Google's Street View maps Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas

In:
15 Jan 2015

Cruise fans can now explore Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas without leaving home thanks to Google's Street View.

By using Google Maps Business View, anyone can take a 360-degree tour of Royal Caribbean's newest ship, thanks to over 20,000 still images that were taken aboard the ship over the course of five days.

The virtual tour of Quantum of the Seas covers various spaces across the decks of the massive ship, including the SeaPlex, North Star, Gym, Solarium, all of the restaurants, kids clubs and even select staterooms.

This is the second Royal Caribbean ship to get the Google Street View coverage.  Royal Caribbean initially partnered with Google Maps Business View for Allure of the Seas back in July 2014.

You can tour Quantum of the Seas with Google Street View right here.

Royal Caribbean drops cover charge at Devinly Decadence

In:
13 Jan 2015

Royal Caribbean has dropped the cover charge for passengers who wish to dine at Devinly Decadence aboard Quantum of the Seas.

The move adds another complimentary restaurant to the options guests can choose from within the new Dynamic Dining program.  

Devinly Decadence is the restaurant created by "Biggest Loser" chef Devin Alexander, where all dishes in the restaurant are 500 calories are less.  It's located in the Solarium.

Prior to the change, Royal Caribbean charged cruisers $15 per person for lunch and $25 for dinner.

There's speculation that this change was done to increase available options for complimentary restaurants on Quantum of the Seas and hopefully reduce the waits across all complimentary restaurants, which have had reports of long lines during dinner time.

Photo tour of Grand Suite with Balcony on Quantum of the Seas

In:
12 Jan 2015

Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas has a lot of different staterooms to choose from and today, we will look at the Grand Suite with Balcony (GS) stateroom to give you an idea of what to expect if you book this category.

On our Quantum of the Seas cruise, we had a chance to see the Grand Suite while on a stateroom tour. Like all staterooms on Quantum of the Seas, entry to the room is by RFID scanner, which is above the door handle.

The Grand Suite is essentially two main rooms, a living room and a bedroom.  The Grand Suite measures 351 square feet in size and can sleep up to four people.

You will walk into the living room area, which has a full sized sofa and some chairs that are position perfectly to watch television. The sofa does open up to a double bed.

There's a small writing desk that features electrical and USB outlets too.

Connecting to the stateroom is the bedroom, with two twin beds that convert to a Royal King, measuring 72.5 inches wide by 82 inches long, and separate dressing area with entrance to bathroom.

Also in the bedroom is a closet.

The bathroom is much larger and fuller than other bathrooms in stateroom categories below the Grand Suite, and offers a tun, two sinks and a second entrance to the living room.

Marble and mosaics are a big decor motif for the bathroom and just like all suites, there's a lot more space to enjoy here.

Of course, no suite is complete without a balcony and the Grand Suite features a 109 square foot balcony with seating and private dining area.

Quantum of the Seas sets broadcast record for IP TV channels in HD

In:
05 Jan 2015

Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas has had a lot of firsts but not to be overlooked is the fact Royal Caribbean's newest ship has also set a benchmark in the broadcasting industry.

Royal Caribbean chose VSM by L-S-B Broadcast Technologies for all of the on-board digital broadcasting requirements of the ship, which is the first to feature 36 on-board IPTV-channels in HD, broadcasting from various locations on board.

Controlling all the broadcasts onboard Quantum of the Seas is the Broadcast Control Center.  This is where the incoming and outgoing signals are controlled, switched and processed. Signals stemming from 20 satellite receivers, from the event locations or self-produced footage are collected. Further control rooms are in use in the various event locations.

Ten to 15 of the IPTV channels will be reserved for self-produced content on-board the vessel and all audio, video and intercom signals are being distributed on the ship via a Riedel MediorNet network with 30 nodes – currently the biggest fixed MediorNet installation worldwide.

Photos from New Years Eve on Quantum of the Seas

In:
01 Jan 2015

Happy new year! Royal Caribbean celebrates the new year on all of its ships but this year was the first time the holiday was celebrated on its newest ship, Quantum of the Seas.

Quantum of the Seas offered free champagne, dance parties and even a live broadcast by CNN to show off what a fun time this ship was.

Friend of the blog Brian Altschul shared these photos from last night's festivities on the ship. Enjoy!