Royal Caribbean International has marked the initial milestone – the first cut of steel – for the second ship in the Icon Class.
In celebration of the next in the lineup, a steel-cutting ceremony was held at Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland.
The soon-to-be-named ship will set sail in 2025, following the debut of Icon of the Seas in January 2024, according to a press release.
The Royal Caribbean and Meyer Turku teams dedicated to building the second Icon Class ship were in attendance at the traditional ceremony.
The major milestone represents the official start of production, beginning a series of key moments in the design and construction that spans months and involves thousands of innovators across design, naval engineering, architecture and more.
“We’ve over-scaled the amount of lounge space for guests on the icon of the Seas versus any other ship. That is purposeful to give more space,” said Jay Schneider, senior vice president and chief product innovation officer for Royal Caribbean international.
“You’ll find more share and more deck chairs,” he added.
The 250,800-ton ship will have a capacity for over 5,600 guests at double occupancy, becoming the largest cruise ship in the world when it debuts in Miami in January 2024, sailing week-long cruises.
Guests will first be “wowed” by a massive multi-deck pearl structure when boarding the ship, which Schneider said would provide a jaw-dropping moment.
Royal Caribbean’s neighbourhood concept will also be back, with new five areas and returning favourites, plus some tweaks.
The popular Central Park will be lusher, said Schneider, with 20 per cent more greenery.
“Guests will also be able to see the ocean for the first time,” he said. Currently, on Oasis-class ships, Central Park sits in the middle of the superstructure, without ocean views.
Central Park will also feature a dedicated entertainment venue and Izumi, the company’s sushi and hibachi restaurant will be in its biggest-ever form in Izumi on the Park. Guests can dine in and there will also be a takeout window for a bento-box-style experience.
In addition, the cruise line has worked hard on passenger flow, Schneider said, really trying to eliminate dead ends.
“There are dead ends on every cruise ship,” he continued. “We’ve tried to solve that here. The upper deck six mezzanine of the promenade is a complete 360.”
When the Icon of the Seas launches service for Royal Caribbean International in early 2024, she will not only be the biggest cruise ship at sea but will be the result of a 12-to-15-year creative process that is essentially the culmination of building the most innovative cruise ships on the planet, said Jay Schneider, senior vice president and chief product innovation officer for the brand.
“It’s our first white paper ship in about 10 years,” he said, speaking to a group of media aboard the Allure of the Seas on its debut in Galveston, Texas.
It is not just a bigger brother or sister to the Oasis class, he stressed.
“When we started working on Icon it was smaller, and as we researched what people needed and wanted, it grew over time and we ended up with the largest ship in the world.”
Space has been “over-indexed,” he said, meaning more space per guest.
The new ship, which will be floated out in December at Meyer Turku, is a continued evolution of the Royal Caribbean brand, said Schneider, adding that guests are looking “for experiences, not things.”
The new class of ship was designed around five fundamentals, he said, including unrivalled water experiences (including pools, slides and more), adrenaline-pumping thrills, the ultimate family vacation, entertainment and food and beverage.
The popular neighbourhood concept from Oasis-class ships will be back, with some returning and expanded areas and also new concepts.
Schneider also said there will be over 40 food and beverage experiences on Icon, of which 23 will be completely new to the Royal Caribbean brand, plus an added emphasis on what he called “eatertainment,” blending entertainment and dining together.
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