Sky-high demand for brand spanking new world’s largest cruise ship results in report bookings at Royal Caribbean

It appears like Royal Caribbean has a winner on its arms.

As we reported earlier this week, the primary crusing of the road’s soon-to-debut Icon of the Seas — the world’s largest cruise ship — offered out inside hours of opening for bookings on Monday. And now Royal Caribbean is saying the opening of bookings for the ship additionally drove complete bookings throughout the road’s fleet this week to the best stage in 53-year historical past.

The road instructed TPG on Thursday that the corporate set an all-time, single-day reserving report within the 24 hours after Icon of the Seas itineraries grew to become out there to guide on the road’s web site.

The much-awaited new ship, which is about to debut in January 2024, opened for bookings for the primary time on Monday to members of Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society. Most of the people might guide beginning Tuesday morning.

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“The keenness and pleasure for Icon are simple in additional methods than one,” Royal Caribbean president and CEO Michael Bayley stated in an announcement despatched to TPG. “The unimaginable response we have now obtained from our loyal company, vacationers new to cruising, crew members and journey companions continues to return in.”

The frenzy to guide Icon of the Seas is maybe to be anticipated, provided that the ship would be the first of an all-new collection of vessels at Royal Caribbean. That is the road’s first new collection because the debut of its smaller Quantum class ships a decade in the past.

Icon of the Seas additionally will break new floor in cruising on a number of ranges.

Associated: Icon of the Seas will set new measurement information

At 250,600 tons, Icon of the Seas shall be greater than 6% bigger than the present measurement chief amongst cruise ships, Royal Caribbean’s 7-month-old Surprise of the Seas. It will additionally have the ability to maintain as much as 7,600 passengers — a brand new report for a passenger ship.

The larger passenger capability is partially as a result of ship’s larger concentrate on household vacationers. Notably, Icon of the Seas may have many extra cabins which have loads of additional bunks to accommodate households with many kids. It will even have extra facilities geared towards households, together with a new-for-the-line out of doors “neighborhood” referred to as Surfside devoted to households with younger kids.

Associated: Icon of the Seas will cater to households

As introduced final week, Surfside will function splash areas for infants and youngsters, swimming pools and lounge areas for folks, family-friendly eateries and retailers, and a bar with “mommy and me” matching drinks (mocktails for teenagers and cocktails for grownups).

Icon of the Seas will even function the biggest water park ever constructed on a cruise ship, with a report six decktop waterslides.

In all, the ship will embody eight neighborhoods — what Royal Caribbean calls the distinct areas of its larger ships themed round particular actions. 5 shall be new to Icon and three will return from the road’s final collection of large ships, the five-vessel Oasis class. The present measurement chief within the cruise world, Surprise of the Seas, is a part of the Oasis class.

As beforehand introduced, the primary sailings of Icon of the Seas shall be seven-night voyages to the Caribbean out of Miami, beginning on Jan. 27, 2024. The ship will alternate between Japanese Caribbean and Western Caribbean itineraries.

Associated: The 6 kinds of Royal Caribbean ships, defined

On Monday, Royal Caribbean opened all the ship’s departures by means of April 2025 to bookings.

It’s at the moment below building on the large Meyer Turku shipyard in Turku, Finland. Icon of the Seas was ordered earlier than the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic introduced a downturn in cruise bookings. It has been below building since June 2021.

The ship is simply the primary of three sister ships Royal Caribbean has on order for supply by 2026 that may make up its new Icon class.

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