Elation Lighting Replay on Royal Caribbean's "Anthem of the Seas"

	"Anthem of the Seas" Royal Theatre production of We Will Rock You with Elation Professional

Following the successful launch of "Quantum of the Seas" in November of last year with Elation lighting and video systems onboard, the second luxury cruise liner in Royal Caribbean's Quantum class of smartships, "Anthem of the Seas," set sail in April, also brimming with a full complement of energy-efficient Elation Professional products. The third in the class, "Ovation of the Seas," is planned for 2016.

As a sister-ship to "Quantum of the Seas," "Anthem of the Seas" boasts the same lighting and video package template. "The ships mirror each other as far as entertainment lighting," says Christopher Vlassopulos, superintendent SLVR & architectural lighting for Royal Caribbean International, who coordinated the design and specification for all the entertainment equipment in the ship's public spaces, including the ship's entertainment lighting systems. "There was actually one exception and that was in Two70 where we took out some non-Elation ground row and ceiling row lighting fixtures and replaced them with Elation ELAR Quad Bars, which are brighter than the previous fixtures, much better, and were less expensive."

Vlassopulos specified and designed lighting for the entertainment spaces on "Anthem of the Seas" together with Benjamin Couling of Tristwell Solutions, the company responsible for installation and commissioning. Built at Germany's Meyer Werft shipyard, media and entertainment system integration for many of the public areas was provided by Amptown System Company (ASC), including system engineering, supply, installation, and commissioning.

Like "Quantum of the Seas," "Anthem of the Seas" is an environmentally friendly smartship that sets new standards in terms of energy-efficient entertainment lighting systems onboard. The large number of Elation LED lighting and video products fit the smartship ethos perfectly with significant savings in power and dollars. "By switching from incandescent to LED, Royal Caribbean will realize millions of dollars in savings over the lifetime of Royal Caribbean ships. The fact alone that there are no lamp changes to make is a big savings. In fact, if we still had the old system on "Quantum of the Seas" there would already have been two lamp changes by now," says Vlassopulos, who recently visited "Quantum of the Seas" and reports that the Elation systems are holding up well with no problems. As the second ship in the class, "Anthem of the Seas" was more straight-forward, Vlassopulos says, and everything is as it should be. "That is important as now we can move our attention to "Ovation of the Seas" to make sure that it also gets off to a smooth start."

Elation lighting and video systems onboard "Anthem" adorn the same areas as on "Quantum of the Seas," visually enhancing the ship's main entertainment and relaxation areas. In Two70, the ship's multifunctional multi-story entertainment space that features stage shows performed before a huge floor-to-ceiling Vistarama video projection screen, an Elation lighting rig of Platinum Wash ZFX Pro, Satura Spot LED Pro, Platinum Spot LED Pro II and Platinum Beam 5R Extreme moving heads light "Starwater," a highly visual production with lighting design by Alex Picotte, and "The Virtual Concert," an all-virtual show with lighting design by Susan Rose.

Royal Caribbean International is the first cruise line to feature fully licensed, Tony Award-winning Broadway productions, and "Anthem of the Seas" hosts a production of the Queen-themed West End musical We Will Rock You in the state-of-the-art 1,300-seat Royal Theatre. The adapted production features a professional rig of LED-based Elation Platinum Wash ZFX Pro and Satura Spot LED Pro moving heads, Platinum Beam 5R Extreme and Platinum Spot 35R Pro moving heads, Design Brick 70 II RGBWA color battens, and ELED QA Strips. The Royal Theatre also uses three 20mm pixel pitch Elation EPV20 LED screens for displaying a variety of on-screen graphics, one large 5.8m by 11.5m screen positioned upstage as a dynamic backdrop with smaller 5.8m x 1.9m screens positioned at each side. The Elation rig is also used on a cabaret show as well as an original production for Royal Caribbean called The Gift.

Elation lighting features in another of the ship's entertainment spaces, Music Hall, a two-story multi-use venue where guests can enjoy a range of activities, day or night, including live performances and shows. Accommodating around 400 guests, an Elation rig of Platinum Spot LED Pro II and Platinum Wash ZFX Pro moving heads along with Design Brick 70 II is capable of accommodating any and all events.

In the Royal Esplanade, a multi-level thoroughfare lined with boutiques, clubs, restaurants, and bars that runs along the length of the ship, Platinum Wash LED Zoom and Platinum Spot LED Pro II fixtures painted white to blend in with the décor provide mood lighting effects and are used each night for shows and special events. And in one of the ship's more popular active areas, SeaPlex, a sports and entertainment space used for everything from bumper cars and basketball to parties and other events, Elation Design Wash LED Pro and Platinum Spot LED Pro II moving heads provide color and pattern while a high-resolution 6mm pixel pitch Elation EPV6 video wall displays graphics for both sporting and entertainment events.

Specialty architectural effect lighting has been incorporated into several of the ship's outdoor areas including the pool, crew and sports decks where, in the evening hours, Elation ELAR 108 PAR RGBW fixtures light up the decks in vibrant color.

"Anthem of the Seas" is sailing her inaugural spring and summer season from a homeport in Southampton, UK and will make New York her permanent home from the fall. The third Quantum-class cruise ship, "Ovation of the Seas," planned for 2016, will also feature an Elation lighting and video package.