PHOTO: The Ovation of the Seas, the third sister to Quantum of the Seas, pictured, will operate from China and Australia in 2016. (Courtesy of Royal Caribbean International)

Royal Caribbean International’s third Quantum-class ship, Ovation of the Seas, will head Down Under in winter 2016-17 after its inaugural season in China.

The 168,666-ton, 4,180-passenger ship will homeport in Sydney, Australia, joining three other Royal Caribbean ships — Voyager of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas and Radiance of the Seas. Plus, the Legend of the Seas will operate out of Brisbane that season. More details about the 2016-17 season will be announced in late April.

Royal Caribbean has offered cruises from Australia since 2007 and says Ovation of the Seas will be the largest ship ever based there.

“Today, we have completely changed the face of the cruise industry, making the single largest investment in Australia by any cruise line,” said Gavin Smith, regional vice president for Royal Caribbean-Asia Pacific. “Ovation of the Seas will completely redefine the idea of cruising in Australia, taking the industry to the next level by offering a host of incredible never-before-seen features and technologies. This demonstrates our belief in, and long-term commitment to, the Australian cruising market.”

Those features and technologies include a sky-diving simulator, a robotic arm bartender, a sports complex with bumper cars and a circus school, and North Star, an aerial observatory that rises more than 300 feet above the sea, which will be higher than the pylons of Sydney Harbour Bridge.

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