Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, a Norwegian-American cruise company based in Miami, USA, has announced details of its new ship, Quantum of the Seas, which the company’s chairman and CEO says will ‘boggle our guests’ minds.’
Two experience-oriented features of the new ship are claimed to be firsts for the cruise industry. These are a skydiving simulator, the RipCord by iFly, which will allow the ship’s passengers to sample the effects of skydiving in a safe and controlled environment, and North Star, a glass cabin that is similar to the cars on the London eye, which will extend on a gantry for over 300 feet, across and above the waves below to give passengers inside it a 360 degree panoramic view.
In addition, the 4,180 passengers that the ship can accommodate will have the use of an indoor sports and entertainment complex complete with a roller skating rink, a bumper car arena, a circus school with a flying trapeze, a full-size basketball court and a dance floor. Parents will be able to escape to an adults-only Solarium, while their children are entertained at the H20 Zone children’s aqua park, or in the Royal Babies and Tots Nursery for the very young.
Cabin accommodation comes in a range of imaginative formats, including three connected cabins for travelling families, studio cabins for solo guests, and larger internal cabins fitted with ‘virtual balconies’ that screen the exterior seascapes and destinations in real time.
Passengers can book 7- and 14-night Caribbean cruises on Quantum of the Seas from June 4 this year, with the first passenger sailings scheduled for the autumn of 2014. Cruises will be based from the ship’s homeport, Cape Liberty, New Jersey.
