Royal Caribbean announces new “Quantum Class” & reveals names of first two ships

After months of speculation about “Project Sunshine”, Royal Caribbean have finally released the name of its new class of ships and the first two vessels in the class!

The new class will officially be called “Quantum Class”, and the first two ships in this class will be called “Quantum of the Seas” and “Anthem of the Seas.”

Cruise fans can expect to see the 158,000 gross ton ship Quantum of the Seas’ launch next year, while Anthem of the Seas will be ready sometime in 2015.  The ships are being built over in the Meyer Werft shipyard, Germany, where the first piece of steel for the Quantum class ships has already been cut.  You can hear Adam Goldstein, the President and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, talking about the significance of steal cutting in a video from the company, here.

The new Quantum class ships will be slightly larger than the Freedom Class trio of vessels that were built from 2006.  Freedom, Liberty and Independence of the Seas each approximately weigh 154,407 tons with a length of  1,112 feet and a maximum breadth of 183 feet.  They carry around 3,634 passengers double occupancy.   However, the new Quantum ships will be considerably smaller than the 225,282 gross ton Oasis Class vessels, which are currently the largest passenger ships in the world. Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas both carry 5,400 passengers double occupancy with a full berth maximum of 6,296 guests plus 2,165 crew.  A third “Oasis Class” ship is expected to be delivered in summer 2016.  This ship is currently being built at the St. Nazaire yards of STX France.

Speaking ahead of the announcement, Goldstein also expressed his excitement over the first ship in the Quantum Class being built:

“We are extremely excited to celebrate this important milestone for our first Project Sunshine ship. After three years of design and advance planning this is the first step of the construction of the ship and I look forward to seeing it all come together in the coming months.”

“The new ship will be such a leap forward in terms of vessel design and guest experiences that we thought the name Quantum of the Seas was perfectly appropriate.”

Richard D. Fain, the Chairman and CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises added:

“Throughout our history we have made huge strides in cruise ship design and innovation and the Quantum class will be no exception,” said . “We look forward to introducing consumers to Quantum cruising.”

How were the two new Quantum class ships named?

CEO of Royal Caribbean Adam Goldstein shared some insight into the naming process of the two new ships in a video released by the company.  He worked with a naming consultant who provided a list of different names to consider, offering a range of options – from experimental names to cosmopolitan names.  From leading edge names and more.  After each team voted on paper a consensus was reached and the names were chosen: Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas.

Goldstein agrees the two names are fitting for the new class of ships joining their fleet:

“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.”