World’s biggest cruise ship five times the size of the Titanic prepares to sail
The world's largest ever cruise ship will be five times larger than the Titanic - and the final touches are being added ahead of its maiden voyage.
The enormous Icon of the Seas has taken to the waters for its first sea trials, ahead of the official launch in January 2024.
The floating city sailed hundreds of miles on the open sea before returning to the Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland, where work on the interior of the vessel will continue.
At 365m long and with a 250,800 gross tonnage, the ship is fractionally larger than its sister vessel, Royal Caribbean's Wonder of the Seas.
The upper deck of the ship boasts plenty of impressive features including water slides, a suspended infinity pool at sea and a three-storey family suite.
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The ship is packed full of record breaking slides (Royal Carribean)The video also captures some of the ship's livery as well as the large and well decked-out staff area, and cabins where the 2,350 employees onboard to keep the show going.
The 'staff neighbourhood' features a clubhouse with its own coffee shop, a pub, a crew market with items from their home countries, gaming room, gym, a karaoke room, and an outdoor spaces to take in the views and grab a drink.
Arguably the most exciting feature of the ship is the world's largest at sea waterpark, named Category 6, which will feature six record-breaking water slides, seven pools and nine whirlpools.
Among them are Pressure Drop' which has a 66-degree incline and is 'the industry's first open free-fall slide'; the 14m tall 'Frightening Bolt' which will be the the tallest drop slide at sea, and Storm Surge, the first family raft slides at sea.
Those lucky enough to find themselves on an Icon of the Seas cruise will have a huge amount to get stuck into, including more than 40 ways to dine, drink and be entertained.
The ship has 20 decks and eight 'neighbourhoods' to explore, with each designed to appeal to a different demographic. Some are aimed at young families, others are adult only spaces, and some are built around piano bars.
The ship is five times bigger than the Titanic (Royal Carribean)The ship is large enough that guests can really make themselves at home. The three-storey family suite comes complete with its own white picket fence and mailbox. The 'Surfside Family Suite' has an alcoves for kids so they can tuck themselves away from adults.
There are 28 different types of accommodations, with more types of family set-ups, more layouts with ocean views and more space for group travellers.
Parts of the ship will have spacey looking pods (Royal Carribean)The ship has been built at the Meyer Turku shipyard and will join the Royal Caribbean fleet at sea on October 26, ahead of its 2024 debut.
During the sea trial more than 450 specialists ran four days of preliminary tests on the first Icon Class ship’s technical areas, including the main engines, bow and propellers, as well as noise and vibration levels.
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The official launch date is in January (Royal Carribean)Icon of the Seas will have swim-up bar at sea called 'Swim & Tonic' and 'Royal Bay Pool', the 'largest pool at sea'.
The ship will turn into a large nightlife venue when the sun goes down, with a large number of restaurants, bars, and aqua shows to keep guests entertained into the small hours.
The ship is stacked with flumes and swimming facilities (Royal Carribean)Royal Caribbean International president and chief executive Michael Bayley said: “We are positioning it as the ultimate family vacation and when you step back and look at all the energy and time that has gone into creating this ship it is mind-blowing.
“During her first set of sea trials, Icon of the Seas travelled hundreds of miles, during which the main engines, hull, brake systems, steering, noise, and vibration levels were all tested,” the statement said. “Everything was done on time as outlined in the schedule, despite her departure being delayed due to wind conditions.”
Royal Caribbean hopes the ship can be a little more environmentally friendly than other cruise ships, being its first to be powered by liquefied natural gas and fuel cell technology.
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