MS Anthem of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International (RCI). She is the second ship of the Quantum class, which surpasses the earlier Freedom-class ships by over 14,000 GT, becoming the second largest class of passenger ships behind RCI's Oasis class ships on a gross tonnage basis
Anthem of the Seas was delivered to Royal Caribbean on April 10, 2015, and christened on April 20, 2015.
Anthem of the Seas was delivered to Royal Caribbean on April 10, 2015. She arrived at her first homeport, Southampton (near London, England), on April 15, 2015, to prepare for her maiden European summer season. At a ceremony held in Southampton on April 20, 2015, she was christened by Emma Wilby, a British travel agent chosen after a search for a travel agent who could sing, and also because she exemplified "grace, beauty, a social conscious (sic) and a sense of adventure." In addition to being a travel agent, Ms Wilby is a military wife who sings in the Military Wives Choir in Kinloss, Scotland.
The christening ceremony took place in the vessel’s Royal Theatre in front of 1,300 guests. It began with a procession, followed by performances by the Reading Scottish Pipe Band, and Only Boys Aloud, a boys’ choir from Wales. Ms Wilby then sang Katy Perry's hit song "Firework", after which she pushed a button to send a very large bottle ofPerrier-Jouët champagne down a zipline on the ship's top deck, from the North Star gondola thrill ride into a wall bearing the ship's name.
Anthem of the Seas departed from Southampton on her maiden voyage, an eight-night cruise to France and Spain, on April 22, 2015. She will spend her maiden European season cruising from Southampton to the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, and the Canary Islands. Beginning in November 2015, she will operate seven- to twelve-night itineraries to the Caribbean and Bahamas from Cape Liberty in Bayonne, New Jersey, United States. In 2016, Anthem of the Seas will sail year-round out of New Jersey, sailing to the Caribbean, Bermuda, and Canada/New England. Anthem of the Seas will become the largest ship ever to cruise Canadian waters