 by just 11ft – a small but important margin, which guarantees its arrival will be greeted with maximum fanfare. But make no mistake, it's a behemoth. With space for 7,600 passengers – or 18 jumbo jets' worth – its scale is hard to fathom, eclipsing most mega resorts on land. To help passengers navigate the 20 decks, the ship will be split into eight themed neighbourhoods, including Thrill Island, which will be home to the largest waterpark at sea and a bungee jump which dangles daredevils 154ft above the waves, plus the leafy 'Central Park' which will be scattered with New York-inspired restaurants (the ship will have more than 40 dining outlets in total) and winding paths. This is a ship that deals in superlatives. It will boast the largest swimming pool at sea, the first suspended infinity pool (plus 14 others) and the tallest water slide, plus the line's largest ice rink and its first frozen cocktail bar. Rooms, meanwhile, span 28 categories, the most expansive of which will be a three-storey family 'townhouse' complete with its own postbox and white picket fence – harking back to a simpler time when cruise ships didn't resemble floating cities. Still, for all its bluster, the decision to launch this mega-ship now – though admittedly it's been in the works for five years – jars with the noise from elsewhere in the industry, which has attempted to shake off a bad environmental reputation and win over cruise snobs with a focus on sma){kind=link}
Economic turmoil and environmental fears should mean the end of big, bombastic leisure projects. But the cruise industry has other ideas
In a world battered and bruised by a pandemic, economic turmoil and increasing environmental fears, it would follow that the age of big, bombastic leisure projects is over. Supersize just feels a bit unfashionable in the current climate. The cruise industry, however, has other ideas and Royal Caribbean has just unveiled what will be the world’s largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, which is due to set sail at the start of 2024.
The ship will snatch the crown from its sibling Wonder of the Seas (which itself only debuted in February) by just 11ft – a small but important margin, which guarantees its arrival will be greeted with maximum fanfare. But make no mistake, it’s a behemoth. With space for 7,600 passengers – or 18 jumbo jets’ worth – its scale is hard to fathom, eclipsing most mega resorts on land.
To help passengers navigate the 20 decks, the ship will be split into eight themed neighbourhoods, including Thrill Island, which will be home to the largest waterpark at sea and a bungee jump which dangles daredevils 154ft above the waves, plus the leafy ‘Central Park’ which will be scattered with New York-inspired restaurants (the ship will have more than 40 dining outlets in total) and winding paths.
This is a ship that deals in superlatives. It will boast the largest swimming pool at sea, the first suspended infinity pool (plus 14 others) and the tallest water slide, plus the line’s largest ice rink and its first frozen cocktail bar. Rooms, meanwhile, span 28 categories, the most expansive of which will be a three-storey family ‘townhouse’ complete with its own postbox and white picket fence – harking back to a simpler time when cruise ships didn’t resemble floating cities.