The next largest cruise ship in the world, the Icon of the Seas from Royal Caribbean, has now set sail for the first time, with its debut slated for January 2024.
Intended to take vacationers to the Carribeans, this gigantic cruise ship has just completed its first in-water test, being tugged by four tugboats, with its brakes, steering, noise, and vibration levels assessed.
This is a huge boat. The ship is 365 metres long and has 20 decks, 2,805 staterooms and can accommodate up to 5,610 guests.
The biggest boat in the world is Seawise Giant oil tanker, at 458 metres. The largest cruise ship in the world (at the moment, before the Icon of the Seas takes over) is the Wonder of the Seas, at 362 metres.
The Icon of the Seas has seven pools, a… Christ, a 55-foot indoor waterfall, and boasts the “largest waterpark at sea”, according to Royal Caribbean.
For some reason, too, it’s been listed on Zillow, a U.S. app for buying and selling real estate (we’ve reported on weird Zillow listings before). Can you afford it? Probably not, considering it’s listed at $US10 billion (that’s about $16 billion in Australian dollars).
Here’s the largest, most expensive property we’ve ever seen. Known as the “Icon of the Seas”. 3,329,831 sq ft, 2805 bd, 2807 ba. Currently listed for $10,000,000,000.
🛳https://t.co/oiFx7ZT9aM pic.twitter.com/2sA670yGFL
— Zillow Gone Wild 🏡 (@zillowgonewild) October 24, 2022
From the front, it looks marvellous, with a glass roof and a pointed observation deck. Here’s a construction update the cruise company issued.
And here’s a ‘first look’ video, containing a bunch of test renders.
At the back, things get a bit goofy. There are some pools, some slippery slides, several relaxation decks and a number of suites.
The ship hasn’t been fully completed yet and won’t be finished until sometime next year, before its first voyage in January, 2024.
Before we end this article, I just want to appreciate a joke on the Zillow listing. On the ‘nearby schools’ section, Royal Caribbean has listed six photos of schools of fish. Well played.
A second round of sea trials will be completed in late 2023.
Voyages will commence in January 2024 out of Miami. We love big boats and hopefully, this one won’t be scrapped.
This article has been updated since it was originally published.