Icon of the Seas | Wetravel2u's Weblog

Independence of the Seas in Southampton Photo Credit Spacejunkie2

How full are Royal Caribbean Group’s cruise ships?

The company reported on Friday that ships in its core deployment regions in the third quarter saw a load factor of 44 per cent occupancy.

Despite the low load factor, the company said that those ships were cash flow accretive excluding start-up costs.

Total revenue per passenger cruise day was up 12 per cent versus record levels seen in 2019 based on strong onboard revenue performance.

The company said in its third-quarter earnings release it hopes to ramp up to load factors of 65 to 70 per cent during the fourth quarter and expects ships in the fourth quarter will be cash flow accretive even when including start-up costs.

By the end of the year, the company expects that 50 out of 61 ships will have returned to service, representing almost 100% of core itinerary capacity and approximately 80% of worldwide capacity.

The remaining ships are expected to return by the spring of 2022 and return to historical load factors in the third quarter of 2022.

Royal Caribbean International has posted a video of the installation of the first of the two LNG fuel tanks that the new Icon of the Seas will boast.

The fuel tank – which Royal Caribbean brands are “game-changing” – weighs 307 tons and measures 90 feet (27 meters) in length. According to the cruise line, they are the largest LNG (liquefied natural gas) fuel tanks in the cruise industry.

The 5,000-passenger ship will be the cruise line’s first ship powered by LNG. Its construction is underway at Meyer Turku shipyard. The vessel is set to debut in fall 2023.

The cruise line said that LNG makes for “virtually zero sulfur dioxides and particulates” and a “significant reduction in nitrous oxides.” The ship will also use shore power connectivity to remove emissions while connected at the port, as well as advanced waste heat recovery systems that repurpose heat to be used as energy onboard.

The Icon of the Seas is the first ship in the cruise line’s new Icon Class. Royal Caribbean said that the vessel will “make waves” with a mix of innovations and adventures “cruising’s never seen before.”

The ship will be a significant milestone in the cruise line’s journey to becoming emission-free and building a “clean-energy future,” Royal Caribbean wrote.

“Decades of continuous improvement in energy efficiency and ocean conservation will be evident throughout the Icon,” the cruise line shared.