Royal Caribbean's new Anthem of the Seas is being launched bit by bit ...

It’s a complicated business building giant cruise ships, especially when you’ve got two twin sisters under construction at the same time.

The Meyer-Werft yard in Papenburg, Germany, is assembling Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas for Royal Caribbean. Work takes place under cover in a vast construction shed, but even that is not big enough to contain both vessels.

So one mega-block of Anthem has been floated outside into a basin connected to the River Ems. The 120-metre long section will remain there until Quantum emerges into the open air within the next few months.

It's a bit like launching a ship in separate sections. The block will return to the shed to complete the construction work.

Quantum is expected to visit Southampton in early November, en route to New York, from where it will cruise to the Caribbean during the winter before transferring to China.

Anthem, due to be launched in spring 2015, will be based in Southampton.

Both ships will have sky-diving simulators and a North Star observation capsule inspired by the London Eye.

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