Royal Caribbean says it's offering a 53-day voyage from the U.S. to China to inaugurate its newest giant luxury liner, the Quantum of the Seas, which is scheduled to begin cruises out of Shanghai next year.
The Quantum Global Odyssey cruise, set to begin May 2, 2015, will go by way of the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean, Suez Canal, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. Stops will include Barcelona; Dubai; Cochin, India; Muscat, Oman; Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong, the company announced on its website Monday. The cruise line will also sell shorter legs if the whole five-week voyage is too much.
The Quantum of the Seas, a 1,142-foot vessel, is reportedly 60 percent complete at Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard.
Breaking Travel News says: "Now the 1,700 shipyard workers at Meyer Werft are focusing their attention on the detail work of outfitting the ship as she gets closer to her launch in November."
"Quantum of the Seas is joining two other Royal Caribbean ships currently dedicated at least part of the year to the Chinese market, the 3,114-passenger Mariner of the Seas and 3,114-passenger Voyager of the Seas. The addition of Quantum of the Seas will boost the company's capacity in the region by 66%.
"The deployment comes as the world's biggest cruise companies increasingly look to Asia for growth. Among other lines shifting capacity to the region are Princess Cruises, which is expanding rapidly in Japan, and Costa Cruises."
Royal Caribbean is no doubt hoping to leave some of its recent troubles and more generally those of the entire cruise industry in its wake with the high-profile launch of the Quantum of the Seas.
While the company's Oasis-class vessels are slightly larger, the Quantum series is expected to outclass its rivals in luxury.
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