Icon Of The Seas: World's Largest Cruise Ship Embarks On Maiden Voyage From Miami

The world’s largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, set sail from the Port of Miami in Flourida, the United States on Saturday. Stretching almost 365 meters from bow to stern, it’s equivalent to the size of nearly four city blocks. Onlookers gathered as left the Port of Miami to great fanfare.

Complete with eight “neighborhoods,” seven swimming pools, six waterslides and a total of 20 decks, the ship embarked on its inaugural cruise seeking to capitalize on surging travel demand. Remarkably, the ship is roughly five times the size of Titanic.

The ship — which is embarking on a seven-day island-hopping tour through the tropics — was officially christened on Tuesday with help from soccer star Lionel Messi and his Inter Miami teammates.

The Icon of the Seas was built over a period of 900 days at a shipyard in Turku, Finland. It comprises of 20 decks and can accommodate 7,600 passengers at maximum capacity and a crew of 2,350.

There will be 50 musicians and comedians as well as a 16-piece orchestra on board as the ship goes on its sold-out inaugural voyage.

The Icon of the Seas features the latest technology and, despite its gigantic size, claims to be more eco-friendly than some smaller cruise ships.

MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES - JANUARY 27: Fireworks explode as onlookers gather at South Pointe Park to watch Royal Caribbean's "Icon of the Seas", the world's largest cruise ship, as it sails from Port Miami on its maiden cruise, in Miami Beach, Florida on January 27, 2024. (Photo by Paul Hennessy/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Royal Caribbean’s “Icon of the Seas,” billed as the world’s largest cruise ship, sails from the Port of Miami in Miami, Florida, on its maiden cruise, January 27, 2024.

The Icon is powered by what the Royal Caribbean Group says is eco-friendly Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

Some experts, however, say LNG systems can leak damaging amounts of methane gas into the atmosphere.

It cost $2 billion to build, measures nearly 1,200 feet (365 meters) from bow to stern, and weighs 250,800 metric tons.

At a briefing earlier in the month, Royal Caribbean Group CEO Jason Liberty described the Icon of the Seas as the “biggest, baddest ship on the planet.”

“Icon of the Seas is the culmination of more than 50 years of dreaming, innovating and living our mission — to deliver the world’s best vacation experiences responsibly,” Royal Caribbean Group President and CEO Jason Liberty said in a statement earlier in the week.

“She is the ultimate multigenerational family vacation, forever changing the status quo in family travel and fulfilling vacation dreams for all ages on board.”

Environmental Concerns

The launch of the giant floating resort has sparked renewed concerns about the environmental impact of cruise tourism.

The ship is built to run on liquified natural gas, which burns more cleanly than other conventional marine fuels but contains high levels of methane.

Methane is about 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide when it comes to warming the atmosphere, and scientists have warned that methane emissions must be dramatically reduced to avoid the worst of what the climate crisis has in store.

“It’s a step in the wrong direction,” Bryan Comer, director of the Marine Program at the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), was quoted by Reuters as saying.

“We would estimate that using LNG as a marine fuel emits over 120% more life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions than marine gas oil,” he added.

The ICCT released a report last week warning that methane emissions from LNG-fueled ships were higher than current regulations assumed, noting the use of LNG as a marine fuel is “rapidly growing.”

Royal Caribbean International says that every kilowatt of energy used for the Icon of the Seas “is scrutinized for energy efficiencies and emission reductions.”