Topline
The Icon of the Seas—what will be the world’s largest cruise ship to date with 20 decks, seven pools and a waterpark—is preparing for more trial runs after passing its first in June, six months ahead of its first scheduled voyage when it will carry almost 8,000 workers and passengers in January 2024.
The Icon of the Seas—what will be the world’s largest cruise ship—will be able to carry nearly 8,000 … [+] passengers and workers and is set to take its first voyage in January 2024.
Key Facts
Tickets for the first trips aboard the Icon of the Sea first opened in October 2022, started around $1,537 a person, and led to Royal Caribbean having its “single largest booking day in the company’s 53-year history,” according to CBS.
Now, a ticket for one of the seven-day voyages to either the western or eastern Caribbean runs a bit pricier: the least expensive voyage, taking off in September 2024, costs about $1,851 a person for an interior room; most passenger prices for an interior rooms in other months run between $2,000 and $3,300.
For a seven-night trip to the eastern Caribbean, rooms with an exterior view start at $2,061 for a September voyage and go up to $4,119 for a March voyage; rooms with a balcony start at $2,249 in September and increase to $5,245 in March.
The ship will be nearly 1,200 feet long and is projected to weigh 250,800 tonnes; among its features are a 55-foot waterfall, a five-deck tall open-air Central Park with living plant walls, both a “chill island” and a “thrill island” offering different pool and waterpark features and an infinity pool, along with a number of restaurants and entertainment options.
The least expensive voyage scheduled for the Icon of the Seas, taking off in September 2024, costs … [+] about $1,851 a person for an interior room; most passenger prices for an interior rooms in other months run between $2,000 and $3,300.
Big Number
$10,864. That’s about how much it costs—per person—for a spot in the Sunset Suite aboard some voyages on the Icon of the Seas.
In June, the Icon of the Seas successfully completed its initial round of sea trials and sailed the … [+] open ocean for the first time.
Key Background
Royal Caribbean already boasts having the world’s largest cruise ship—the Wonder of the Seas—so the Icon of the Seas will be breaking the cruise company’s own record. The Wonder of the Seas took its first voyage in 2022 and is only about a dozen feet shorter than the Icon. It can carry 7,084 people total, about 1,300 of whom are workers, and has 18 decks, two fewer than the Icon. Royal Caribbean started construction of the Icon in 2021 at a ship building facility in Finland, the same place the ship passed its first sea trials last month. The trials included four days of preliminary tests on the ship’s technologies and equipment and, according to a press release, the ship “successfully sailed the open ocean.”
Further Reading
NytimesRoyal Caribbean Bets on a Giant Candy-Colored Cruise ShipCbsnewsWorld’s largest cruise ship that’s 5 times larger than the Titanic set to make its debut
