Icon of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International’s newest ship, debuted near Finland last week during open-water sea testing. Ship delivery is expected in October, and Miami debuts in January 2024. Icon of the Seas will sail seven-night Caribbean itineraries until April.
The ship will hold 5,610 guests and 2,350 employees. Icon of the Seas, a 1,200-foot-long, 250,800-ton cruise liner, will be the largest ever built.
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Even though it’s the world’s largest cruise ship, these seven little-known facts may surprise you.
1. Sustainable usage of LNG and fuel cells
Icon of the Seas, a sustainable model ship, is the first in the Royal Caribbean fleet to run on LNG and fuel cells. According to the cruise operator, this will result in a 30% reduction in carbon emissions and a nearly 100% decrease in sulfur emissions.
2. Icon of the Seas will have eight different neighborhoods.
The 20-story ship will house eight different districts: Central Park, Thrill Island, Chill Island, Royal Promenade, and The Hideaway. Providing guests with exceptional experiences is a common objective. The ship will eventually include six water slides and seven pools, making it the largest waterpark at sea.
3. In Finland, Royal Caribbean is opening a new company.
At the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland, the Bahamas-registered vessel Icon of the Seas is currently undergoing finalization. There is history between the two, as this shipyard has previously manufactured nine Royal Caribbean ships.
But it’s been 13 years since they last collaborated. That was in 2010, during the construction of Allure of the Seas. The latest Royal Caribbean ships were constructed in France or Germany.
4. Completed documents
With a maximum passenger capacity of 7,600, Wonder of the Seas would surpass the previous record set by the ship, which had a capacity of 6,988 people.
5. Missing reservation information
Royal Caribbean declared in October that it was the highest booking day ever for Icon of the Seas, shattering all previous records for reservations. The cruise line announced that it had made the greatest number of reservations in its 53-year existence, although it did not give exact figures. With fifteen months to go until launch, this was an impressive feat.
6. It required a $2 billion structure
Royal Caribbean would have to pay an additional $2 billion to create Icon of the Seas. To put that into perspective, the building of Royal Caribbean’s Allure of the Seas, the previous record holder, took roughly $1.43 billion. Consequently, Icon would go on to become one of the most expensive ships ever built.
7. A greater number of vessels
Royal Caribbean plans to launch three ships in the Icon class by 2030, the first of which will be Icon of the Seas. These ships will be constructed in Finland and will weigh more than 200,000 tons while running on LNG.
After leaving Miami, Icon of the Seas will cruise the Caribbean for seven nights, going east and west. At first, each must pay $1,800.
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