Early next year, the cruise ship Icon of the Seas will set off on its maiden voyage from Miami.
Construction of the world’s largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, has been completed at a shipyard in southwestern Finland. The Meyer Turku company handed over the ship to the American company Royal Caribbean International.
“After more than seven years of anticipation, 900 days of design and construction involving thousands of experts, Royal Caribbean International welcomes the long-awaited new ship Icon of the Seas into the family at a gala event at the Turku shipyard,” the statement reads. press release.
As Tim Meyer, executive director of Meyer Turku, told Yle, the completion of construction and delivery of the ship is a special moment in the shipbuilding industry.
“Icon of the Seas is the world’s largest, but above all the most modern cruise ship in the world. Together with Royal Caribbean, we have set the bar high in design, technology, safety, and energy efficiency. I am immensely proud of everyone involved in this project,” said Tim Meyer.
Icon of the Seas is the twentieth ship built for Royal Caribbean at the Turku shipyard since 1995. At the moment, two more ships are being built, one will be ready in 2025, the other in 2026. Representatives of the Turku shipyard did not share plans regarding possible new orders from Royal Caribbean. “The most important thing is that this ship goes sailing and is successful.”
The Icon of the Seas will sail under the flag of Panama. Its length is 365 meters, weight is 248,655 tons. The cruise ship will simultaneously accommodate 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members. For comparison: the Titanic, once the world’s largest passenger ship, was about 270 meters long, weighed 52,310 tons, and had a capacity of 2,439 passengers and 899 crew members.
Icon of the Seas has 20 decks with seven pools and six waterslides. The company claims that the ship has the highest waterfall (17 meters), the tallest water slide, the largest water park, and the first suspended swimming pool of any ship.