A Look Inside the World's Largest Cruise Ship, Launching January 2024

Table Of Content

• A look inside the Icon of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise ship, as it prepares for voyage
• What is largest cruise ship in the world?
• What is the largest cruise ship capacity?
• Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas
• The 1-item upgrade you need for a better cruise ship cabin experience (it’s already in your house)
• AIDAnova, AIDA Cruises

You, the reader of this essay, have a story, and yet you’re not inclined to jump on a cruise ship and, like Duck Necklace, tell your story to others at great pitch and volume. Maybe what they’re saying is that everybody on this ship wants to have a bigger, more coherent, more interesting story than the one they’ve been given. Maybe that’s why there’s so much signage on the doors around me attesting to marriages spent on the sea.

A look inside the Icon of the Seas, the world's biggest cruise ship, as it prepares for voyage

I may have failed to mention that all this time, the Icon of the Seas has not left port. As the fiery mango of the subtropical setting sun makes Miami’s condo skyline even more apocalyptic, the ship shoves off beneath a perfunctory display of fireworks. After the sun sets, in the far, dark distance, another circus-lit cruise ship ruptures the waves before us. We glance at it with pity, because it is by definition a smaller ship than our own. The four top cruise lines own much of the cruise line market, with their market share projected to grow to 87.6% by 2021.

What is largest cruise ship in the world?

The LNG-powered cruise ship is the flagship of the fleet and was constructed at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland. She’s almost identical to the Costa Smeralda, including gross tonnage and size. The only reason she is lower than her sister ship in the largest cruise ships in the world is that she entered service in 2021. In 2019, The Royal Caribbean cruise ship underwent a massive $165 million upgrade, which did not just add new water slides, but also The Ultimate Abyss aft slide, new dining venues, and a refreshed look. The amplification increased the ship’s gross tonnage, and she now overtakes sister ship Allure of the Seas in the list of the world’s top 10 largest cruise ships. Since being delivered from the shipyard to the cruise line in November 2023, Icon of the Seas overtook Wonder of the Seas as the world’s largest cruise ship.

What is the largest cruise ship capacity?

At long last, the world’s largest cruise ship is set to embark on its maiden voyage. MSC is not only a privately held shipping company, the largest in the world, they are also the maker of some of the largest cruise ships in the world. The World Europa, which took to the sea for the first time in 2022, is currently escorting passengers all over the Mediterranean, using one of the cleanest marine fuels to do so. It also features a carousel on a real boardwalk, a dry slide that twists down 10 decks, surfing simulators, a laser tag arena, an ice skating rink and a zip line that spans the interior width of the ship. It also has interior rooms with balconies that look out over the restaurant and a tree-lined neighborhood that looks like Central Park. Wonder of the Seas will soon lose its crown as the biggest cruise ship in the world, but it’ll never lose its ability to provide unique vacations thanks to affordable cruises for every kind of traveler.

P&O Cruises held its spot on the top ten list of largest cruise ships in the world with an aptly named ship. Arvia is Latin for “from the seashore.” Arvia was launched in 2022 and features 19 decks (15 passenger-accessible decks). Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, now the fifth-largest cruise ship in the world, was actually the largest cruise ship from 2016 to 2018. Onboard, passengers can find 16 guest decks, 2,747 staterooms and suites and 23 pools and whirlpools. MSC World Europa is the second largest cruise ship powered by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and takes the cruise line into a new era of sustainability, which it’s taking very seriously.

Royal Caribbean Icon of the Seas

Featuring 28-room types on board, layouts have been designed with for families in mind and can accommodate three, four, five guests in options like the Family Infinite Balcony and Surfside Family Suite. Later, I look him up, and it appears that on land, he’s a financial adviser in a crisp gray suit, probably a pillar of his North Chicago community. “They asked me three times if I needed medication,” he says of the security people who apparently interrogated him in full view of others having breakfast. As a coddled passenger with a suite, I feel like I am starting to understand what it means to have a rank and be constantly reminded of it. There are many espresso makers, I think as I look across the expanse of my officer-grade quarters before closing my eyes, but this one is mine. At the infinity pool on Deck 17, I spot some elderly women who could be ethnic and from my part of the world, and so I jump in.

Icon of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, arrives at PortMiami - NBC 6 South Florida

Icon of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship, arrives at PortMiami.

Posted: Wed, 10 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

The 7th world’s biggest cruise ship features more than 30 different dining venues and a new thrilling 250-foot Drop slide located aft of the ship. Icon of the Seas, like its two sister ships scheduled to launch in 2025 and 2026, is designed with five neighborhoods new to the fleet. The signature zone, if we have to choose just one, is AquaDome, named for the 363-ton apparatus made primarily of glass and steel. Here on decks 14 and 15 is a next-gen edition of the water and aerial show staged on Oasis-class ships, and it’s spectacular. ” makes the most of an amphitheater that is a marvel unto itself.

AIDAnova, AIDA Cruises

'Biggest, baddest ship on the planet': World's largest cruise ship stokes environmental concerns - CNBC

'Biggest, baddest ship on the planet': World's largest cruise ship stokes environmental concerns.

Posted: Mon, 29 Jan 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Italian line Costa Cruises’ newest ship, Costa Toscana, comes in at the eighth-largest cruise ship in the world. The Tuscan-inspired vessel features furnishings, fabrics, and accessories all made in Italy. Even the driftwood used to craft dining tables at Archipelago restaurant was harvested from the Italian shoreline by Guardians of the Coast. The 13th biggest cruise ship in the world is Carnival Cruise Line’s widely-anticipated Mardi Gras (currently the cruise line’s second-largest ship) which took her maiden voyage in July 2021. But MSC Seascape isn’t all glitz and glamour—the family-friendly ship offers 13 pools and water features and more than 140,000 square feet (13006 m²) of public outside space. Kids will love Pirates Cove Aquapark, a play space with slides, a rope bridge, and plenty of water sprayers and dumping buckets to beat the heat.

MSC Euribia

He segues into a Trump impression and then Biden falling asleep at the microphone, which gets the most laughs. As I fall asleep that night, I realize another connection I have failed to make, and one that may explain some of the diversity on this vessel—many of its passengers have served in the military. Pinnacles, it is explained to me over translucent cantaloupe, have sailed with Royal Caribbean for 700 ungodly nights. Pandemic Pinnacles took advantage of the two-for-one accrual rate of Pinnacle points during the pandemic, when sailing on a cruise ship was even more ill-advised, to catapult themselves into Pinnacle status.

At 250,800 gross registered tons and carrying up to 7,600 passengers (plus 2,350 crew members), it's a true behemoth. It boasts eight neighborhoods that feature everything from water slides, an indoor AquaTheater, a carousel and an adults-only sun deck to lavish suites, retail shops, thousands of live plants and more than two dozen bars and restaurants. MSC Seascape debuted in December 2022 easily making our list of the biggest cruise ships in the world.

There is no imposed order, no cogent thought, and, for those who do not harbor a totalitarian sense of gigantomania, no visual mercy. This is the biggest cruise ship ever built, and I have been tasked with witnessing its inaugural voyage. These watery areas of rest, relaxation and revelry will comfortably accommodate more than 1,000 guests at a time. Indoors, a 360-foot-long Mediterranean-style promenade is lined with myriad shops, along with some of the 20 bars and 10 restaurants found on the ship. It also features a domed LED screen that magically displays the sky and other animations throughout the day and night. Royal Caribbean's Symphony of the Seas slips to the fourth position this year, having been the biggest cruise ship in the world from 2018 to 2022.

An international crew of 1,678 works to deliver dream vacations for up to 6,600 passengers who will love to discover all there is to do, see and experience on board. Until Utopia of the Seas launches in 2024, Sun Princess will be among the twenty largest cruise ships afloat on the world’s oceans. The ship’s first cruise is set for February 2024, and will debut Princess Cruises' largest number of dining options, offering guests 29 choices.

This impressive ship has 20 decks with 2,270 staterooms in 12 different categories. The ship has its own unique experience called Robotron, the first robotic arm thrill ride on the sea. Seascape currently sails from Miami, and in 2025 will offer MSC cruises from Galveston for the first time. Besides taking on the mantle of largest cruise ship in the world, Icon of the Seas is yet another game changer for Royal Caribbean. Its launch in January 2024 heralds a new ship class loaded with new attractions and iconic spaces.

Allure of the Seas has 18 total decks, 16 of which are guest-accessible, and 2,742 staterooms (including 1,796 balcony suites). Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas is the flagship of the Oasis class. It made its maiden voyage in 2009, offering 18 total decks (16 guest decks) along with 2,801 staterooms, almost 2,000 of which have balconies. When MSC’s Meraviglia entered service in 2017, she was the sixth-largest cruise ship in the world—but has since fallen to #15, tied with her newer sister ship Bellissima. Arvia is the second Excel class cruise ship for British-based P&O Cruises.

The new-class Icon of the Seas is an impressive 250,800 gross tons and can hold 5,610 passengers at double occupancy. The giant ship that Meyer Turku built in Finland can also hold 2,350 crew members. There are also nearly two dozen whirlpool spas, a sauna, steam room and a hydrotherapy pool. A true wonder, the current biggest ship in the world delights guests every week with a feast of activities, shows, meals and memories.