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When the Icon of the Seas sets sail early next year, it will take some time to disappear from the horizon. At 1,198 feet long and a gross tonnage of 250,800, it’s hard to miss.
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship will have 20 decks filled with more than 20 bars and restaurants, seven pools, nine hot tubs and six waterslides, plus mini golf, rock climbing and an arcade. It will carry up to 7,960 people – up to 5,610 guests and a crew of 2,350 to pour drinks, turn over blankets, clean decks and maintain the ship’s course.
Since Royal Caribbean announced the new ship last year, it has helped boost the company’s sales with strong demand for advance bookings.
He has also become an object of fascination (and contempt) on social media.
Some are eager to board, with rooms already selling out for the ship’s maiden voyage. But others criticized its size and bright colors, calling it “monstrosity.” One reviewer called an artist’s rendering “Candy Crush Version of the Dystopian Underworld” from the sci-fi series “Silo” on Apple TV+.
Some reviewers have even drawn comparisons to an ill-fated liner of yesteryear, noting that it is five times “larger and heavier than the Titanic», and about 300 feet more.
Royal Caribbean charges older wonder of the seas as the “largest ship in the world”. When the new one is ready, it will be 10 feet longer, heavier and carry more people, possibly earning it the bragging rights of being the tallest in the world.
Royal Caribbean said in a statement last month the Icon of Seas passed her first round of sea trials, traveling on the high seas for the first time near Turku, Finland. The ship will have another round of trials later this year before its debut in January, the company said.
Interest in the ship comes as the cruise industry attempts to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, when multiple outbreaks on board ships led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to chastise industry and ban cruises.
But now travel has resumed and holidaymakers have returned to the sea, even as the industry still grapples with health and environmental concerns.
This year, for example, the CDC recorded 13 norovirus outbreaks on cruise shipsincluding four on Royal Caribbean International cruises.
And conservationists like Marcie Keever, director of the oceans and ships program at Friends of the Earth in Washington, say cruise lines “keep building bigger ships that rely on fossil fuels, dump toxic sewage into our oceans and burden coastal communities with air, water and waste pollution.
Royal Caribbean on Tuesday returned a request for comment requesting more details about the ship to its website. The company said it could not comment on environmental concerns, citing a required silence period before its next earnings report.
However, the company touted the effect the Icon of the Seas is already showing on its bottom line, saying in a statement that advance bookings in the first quarter were “significantly higher” than in the first quarter of 2019.
Jason Liberty, president and chief executive of Royal Caribbean Group, said on an earnings call in May that the Icon of the Seas had been “significantly more booked” for its inaugural season “than any other ship launch. Royal Caribbean”.
Michael Bayley, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, said on the call that the ship was “the most successful new product launch we’ve ever had in the history of our business.”
“It’s really generating huge demand,” Mr Bayley said.
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