On its website, the shipping company promotes, among other things, the water park found on the Icon of the Seas ship, which is said to be the largest water park at sea.
The world’s largest cruise ship Icon of the Seas, manufactured in Finland, has set off on its maiden voyage.
The ship left its home port in Miami, Florida, USA, early Sunday night Finnish time. The ship will spend a week in the Caribbean before returning to its home port.
The shipyard company Meyer Turku described on its Facebook page on Saturday that the company built the ship piece by piece and that it is looking forward to when the ship will be in its element in the Caribbean.
Icon of the Seas, operated by the Royal Caribbean International shipping company, is 365 meters long and can accommodate a maximum of 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members. In total, the ship can accommodate almost 10,000 people.
An indoor waterfall and a record-breaking water park
On its website, the shipping company promotes, among other things, the water park found on the ship, which is said to be the largest water park at sea. There are a total of seven pools in the water park, and one of them, Royal Bay, is, according to the shipping company, the largest moving swimming pool at sea. The water park also has the first free-fall slide found on a cruise ship.
In addition, the ship has, among other things, the largest ice arena in the seas.
According to the Independent magazine, a nearly 17-meter-high waterfall has also been built into the interior of the ship, and the platform is compared to the Eiffel Tower, which Icon of the Seas wins in height.
Due to its length, the ship built in Turku took the title of largest cruise ship from Royal Caribbean’s slightly smaller Wonder of the Seas.
Messi hit the mammoth with a bottle of champagne
Icon of the Seas, which cost a total of two billion dollars, was christened on Tuesday.
The Argentine soccer superstar currently representing Inter Miami, which plays in the North American MLS league Lionel Messi had the honor of pushing the button that sent the champagne bottle on a collision course with the bow of the ship.
Despite the strong international criticism, Icon of the Seas has also raised concerns. The company has said that despite its huge size, the cruiser would be more environmentally friendly than some smaller cruise ships. According to the company, among other things, the platform is powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), which is described as environmentally friendly.
However, the non-governmental organization Friends of the Earth has listed Royal Caribbean among the most polluting major cruise companies in 2022. Activists have accused Royal Caribbean of greenwashing.