An interest titbit that most up us didn't know about Royal Caribbean's design goals for their new class of ships, for example, each new class of ship is designed to be 15% more efficient than the last and they achieve in many ways – hull form, air conditioning and lighting being just three of them.

On the subject of hull form, about 1,000 different bulbous bow designs were assessed before Royal Caribbean settled on that used in the “Quantum” class ships, of which Anthem of the Seas is the second to be delivered.

The “Quantum” class ships’ hulls have been fitted with advanced air lubrication systems that pump out compressed air at the forward end of the ship, creating a layer of bubbles that lessens the ship’s resistance through water. The system was first tested on the 2,850-berth Celebrity Reflection and showed an efficiency improvement of between 1% and 3%. The level of noise and vibration in the stern has also been reduced considerably.

Other efficiencies have been gained by reducing the pockets that house the stabilizers and fitting grates over the bow thruster tunnels to reduce drag.

Another area of high efficiency is the ship’s energy management system, covering areas such as engine performance, route optimization, trim and even lighting. And the galley management system ordered for these new ships will save about $1 million per ship per year.

Air conditioning, meanwhile, has been decentralized so that air is cooled where it is needed rather than having to be piped around the ship. Waste heat is also used wherever possible.

Two emission purification systems, or scrubbers, have been installed to meet the higher emission standards that have now been brought about by new Emission Control Areas in both Europe and North America.

Water is injected into the exhaust stream to remove about 98% of sulphur dioxide, 60 to 80% of particulate matter and also nitrogen oxides. Hundreds of tons of water pass through the cleaning towers, which can act in either open or closed loop, the latter used in port to avoid any discharge into harbor waters.

The biggest efficiency from the passengers’ point of view however is the ship’s high-speed Internet access. This has been arranged by working with O3b Networks, whose satellites orbit the Earth at much lower altitudes than others, thus allowing higher Internet speeds. O3b has eight satellites in operation and is introducing others, while the ship is able to switch from satellite to satellite as required.

The bandwidth supplied by Royal Caribbean is now more than that of every other cruise line combined. O3b’s launch of more satellites this year will allow Anthem of the Seas always to be able to take advantage of this technology when she is sailing out of Southampton.

Anthem of the Seas leaves on her maiden voyage on April 22, and will then be based in Southampton until October, sailing to the Mediterranean and Canaries before moving to her new base in New York in November.

From New York, she will sail to Bermuda, becoming the largest ship ever to serve that island destination, and will also sail to the Caribbean by winter and Canada by summer.

Her sisters Quantum and Ovation of the Seas, have been allocated to the emerging China market.