Icon of the Seas

Icon of the Seas is a cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean International and is the first ship of the Icon class. Entered service in 2024, the ship has a gross registered tonnage of 250,800 tons, making her the largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage.

Design

The Icon of the Seas uses fuel cell technology, supplied by ABB Group, and will be powered by liquefied natural gas, with a tonnage of 250,800 tons. It will contain other alternative energy features, such as the use of fuel cells to produce electricity and fresh water.

The ship will have a crew of 2,350 and a capacity of 5,610 passengers at double occupancy or 7,600 passengers at full capacity. It has 20 decks with seven pools and six waterslides. It claims to have the tallest waterfall, the tallest waterslide, the largest water park, and the first suspended infinity pool on any ship.

Construction

On October 10, 2016, Royal Caribbean and Meyer Turku announced an order to build two ships under the project name "Icon." The ships are expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2023 and in 2025. The ships will be classified by DNV. 

Royal Caribbean registered a trademark for Icon of the Seas in 2016, which at the time was suggested as an indication of the name of the first ship.

Steel cutting for Icon of the Seas began on June 14, 2021. On October 28, 2021, Royal Caribbean announced that the first LNG tank for the ship was installed at Neptun Werft in Rostock, Germany. In December 2021, the floating engine room unit, including the LNG tanks, was moved to Turku by a tugboat. The keel was laid on April 5, 2022.

In May 2022, Royal Caribbean confirmed that Icon of the Seas would be larger than the Oasis-class ships, the largest cruise ships in the world at the time.

On June 19, 2023, Icon of the Seas set sail for the first of her sea trials. She returned to the Meyer Turku shipyard on June 22. Final adjustments to the ship's systems will now be made, and the interior spaces will be completed and furnished during this phase. On November 27, 2023, Icon of the Seas was officially delivered to Royal Caribbean. Upon delivery, the cruise ship entered drydock at the Navantia shipyard in Cadiz for refurbishment of accommodations, restaurants, pools, and other amenities, as well as final adjustments to her propulsion system. 

On December 13, 2023, with the ship in the aforementioned Navantia dock, it was revealed that the Icon of the Seas was christened by soccer player Lionel Messi.
Operational history

On January 10, 2024, Icon of the Seas docked at the Port of Miami, with her official maiden voyage scheduled for January 27, 2024. Her official maiden voyage began on January 27 from the Port of Miami in the United States. 

On June 25, 2024, a fire was reported on board while docked in Costa Maya, Mexico. Power was briefly out, but the flames were quickly extinguished. 

On September 23, 2024, the ship experienced a technical issue that caused her to sail at reduced speed and was unable to make a port call in St. Thomas on September 25. After docking in Miami on September 28, Icon of the Seas sailed to Freeport, Bahamas, for maintenance. All cruises for the following weeks were canceled while Royal Caribbean repaired the fault.

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References

Category:Cruise ships