Royal Caribbean Receives World’s Biggest Cruise Ship

The world’s largest cruise ship, the Icon of the Seas, was officially handed over to Royal Caribbean Group during a ceremony at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. This massive ship, the first of three on order, has been seven years in the making and is now beginning the final two months of fitting out before her first commercial trip in late January 2024 from Miami to the Caribbean.

After the delivery ceremony, the ship will sail to Cadiz, Spain for final finishing touches before arriving in Florida in mid-January. The Icon of the Seas has a gross tonnage of 248,663 and will have a normal occupancy of 5,610 passengers and a maximum capacity of 7,600, along with 2,350 crew members.

The ship features a range of outdoor amusements for passengers and is the first LNG-fueled cruise ship for Royal Caribbean International. It also boasts a waste-to-energy plant, heat capture system, fuel cell, and air lubrication for the hull, making it 24 percent more energy efficient than the IMO standard. The ship’s construction included several unique accomplishments, including the largest glass and steel structure above the bridge, known as the AquaDome.

Assembly has already begun on the next ship of the class, Star of the Seas, due to launch in the summer of 2025, with a third sister ship due for delivery in 2026.

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