At her time of delivery in 2014, Quantum of the Seas was the third largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage.

[9][10][11] On 11 February 2011, Royal Caribbean announced that it had ordered the first of a new class of ships from the Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg, Germany, scheduled to be delivered by Fall 2014.

[18][19] Quantum of the Seas was delivered to Royal Caribbean on 28 October 2014, at a cost of US$935 million (equivalent to $1,203,382,064 in 2023).

[2][20][21] The ship was christened by Kristin Chenoweth on 14 November 2014 at Cape Liberty Cruise Port in Bayonne, New Jersey, U.S.[22][23] Quantum of the Seas spent her inaugural 2014–2015 season sailing from Cape Liberty on 7-to-12-night itineraries to the Caribbean and Bahamas before she was re-deployed to China.

[26][27] However, in March 2020, Royal Caribbean announced a re-deployment of Quantum of the Seas to Alaska for summer 2021, sailing week-long itineraries from Seattle, marking her debut in the Western United States.