Icon of the Seas, the next new Royal Caribbean International cruise ship is heading to North America in 2023.
Set for a fall delivery, the Icon of the Seas will be sailing in the Caribbean, according to Michael Bayley, Royal Caribbean International’s president and CEO.
Additional deployment details will be revealed at a later date, with itineraries going into sale 12 to 18 months before the ship’s first cruise, he added during a press conference in Miami Beach on Monday.
The company currently operates from all key Florida homeports including Miami, Port Everglades, Port Canaveral and Tampa.
First in a new class of LNG-powered cruise ships, the Icon of the Seas is currently under construction at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland.
In October, the vessel received its two 307-ton LNG fuel tank, which, according to Royal Caribbean, are the largest in the entire cruise industry. Royal Caribbean previously said that the 5,000-passenger ship will “make waves” with a mix of innovations and adventures “cruising’s never seen before.”
The 200,000-ton vessel will be followed by two yet-unnamed sister ships in 2025 and 2026.
Royal Caribbean’s latest newbuild, the Wonder of the Seas, also debuted in the Caribbean. After plans for an inaugural season in Asia were scrapped, the Oasis-class vessel entered service this past March, with a series of itineraries departing from Fort Lauderdale.
Initially designed for the Chinese-market, the Wonder will also be offering Western Mediterranean cruises during its debut season. Currently on its way to Europe, the vessel will sail a program of seven-night cruises to Spain, Italy and France from Barcelona and Civitavecchia.
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