Royal Caribbean Post Round-Up: January 28, 2024

Happy weekend! We hope you are enjoying a wonderful and relaxing weekend and managing to stay warm. Now it is time to sit back with a cuppa tea or java, and check out the latest in Royal Caribbean cruise news.

Icon of the Seas has set sail on its first ever cruise, and it’s a big deal.

Photo by Leeann Cris

The world’s largest cruise ship departed Miami on Saturday with over 5,000 passengers and 2,300 crew members.

The 20-deck high ship has seven swimming pools, six waterslides, the largest ice arena at sea, 40 restaurants and bars, and a sprawling casino.

Royal Caribbean News

Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast

The 524th episode of the Royal Caribbean Blog Podcast is now available, with a preview of Matt’s cruise on Icon of the Seas.

Please feel free to subscribe via iTunes or RSS, and head over to rate and review the podcast on iTunes if you can! We’d appreciate it.

New RCB Video: Icon of the Seas walkthrough tour

Have you subscribed to the Royal Caribbean Blog YouTube Channel? We share some great videos there regularly, all about taking a Royal Caribbean cruise! This week, we are sharing our latest video — Icon of the Seas Cruise Ship Tour — and don’t forget to subscribe here.

Discovery Class: Royal Caribbean’s new smaller cruise ship project

Royal Caribbean has been cagey with details, but it’s clear that there is likely a new smaller class of cruise ships coming eventually.

How small? It’s still anyone’s guess, but the goal appears to be to replace the aging Vision and Radiance Class ships.

Referred to as the Discovery Class, we accrued all the information we know so far about this project.

Hideaway Beach adults-only section

There’s a new adults-only beach at Perfect Day at CocoCay, and it’s an impressive expansion.

Hideaway Beach includes a beach, infinity pool, new restaurants and more.  Plus, it’s an enclave for adults who want a break from the family activities elsewhere on the island.

Before you buy a pass, here’s what to expect and what you should know.

I designed 13 new bar menus for Icon of the Seas

Icon of the Seas has 13 new bar concepts, and that meant coming up with cocktails to offer in each one.

Alexandra Palmeri is Royal Caribbean’s Corporate Manager of Beverage Operations, and her team was tasked with coming up with drinks for each one.

One of the primary goals of creating new bar menus was offering something more than just the typical cruise ship beverage, and the result was 100 new cocktails (65 with alcohol).

Is the world’s largest cruise ship crowded? Not as much as you might fear

Icon of the Seas can handle almost 10,000 people when filled to the brim, but it’s far less crowded than you might expect.

There’s going to be a lot of people on any of its sailings, but Royal Caribbean has designed the ship to offer more activities and ways to keep people moving to mitigate crowding.

While the new ship won’t feel like a private yacht by any means, it’s also unlikely you will feel packed in as much as you might otherwise believe.