Royal Caribbean Is Going BIG With Its Cruise Ships

If you were in the waterways around New York City last week, then you probably saw an impressive sight: one of the largest cruise ships in the world. And it’s just the start for Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, as it sails into the future with a whole line of gigantic & high-tech ships.

On Wednesday, the massive HS Anthem of the Sea arrived at the Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, N.J. (a stone’s throw from Manhattan), which will be the ship’s new permanent base as it sails year-round to the Bahamas, Caribbean, and Bermuda. The 168,666-ton vessel is Royal Caribbean’s latest addition, part of its Quantum Class ships, and was first launched in April. It’s the third largest cruise ship ever built and until now it’s been operating in Europe.

Across 16 public decks, the Anthem has enough rooms for nearly 5,000 passengers. Instead of eating in a single main dining room, passengers can chose to dine in five restaurants (four of which are open to all passengers) and imbibe in numerous bars and lounges, including one with robot bartenders and a gastropub that serves craft beer.  For features and amenities there’s: a huge indoor gym/activity center that can convert to allow bumper cars, roller-skating, a flying trapeze school, or just a dance floor; a crane ride that can take groups of passenger up to 300 feet high; a live escape room puzzle; a skydiving simulator; several pools (including one that’s for adults only); a two-deck-high multi-purpose entertainment/lounge space; a Broadway style theater; and plenty of other features.

If you think the Anthem sounds amazing, then you should know it’s not the only ship like it. The Anthem’s sister ship and the first addition to the Quantum Class, the HS Quantum of the Seas debuted last November (five months ahead of Anthem) and is the same size and features many of the same amenities as the Anthem. It’s currently sailing out of Shanghai.

And there are more megaships coming. Royal Caribbean just announced that they’ve made an agreement with German shipbuilders to create another megaship that’ll hit the waters in 2020. That’s on top of the two OTHER gargantuan vessels that are in progress now, the already-named Ovation of the Seas (setting sail sometime next year) and other still unnamed boat that is scheduled to begin cruising in 2019.

So if you’re a fan of cruises, it’s time to set sail.