Could this finally be the week Royal Caribbean finally pulls back the curtain on its next new cruise ship?
Guests on at least one cruise ship got a tease that Royal Caribbean will provide more information about Icon of the Seas.
Betty Lou posted in an unofficial Icon of the Seas Facebook group a photo of the Monday edition of the Cruise Compass from Anthem of the Seas that indicates more information will be available in just a few days.
"Introducing Icon of the Seas in 3 days" is what the graphic says. Since this is the Monday edition of the Cruise Compass, that would indicate Thursday could be the day.
To be clear, the Cruise Compass makes no promises of anything. It simply teases some sort of information coming in three more days.
There is also a QR code, which brings users to www.royalcaribbean.com/icon.
Visiting the website, Royal Caribbean says, "On Thursday, October 20th, we’re unveiling our newest class of ship and the world’s greatest vacation — Icon of the Seas".
From here, guests can sign up for an email update when more information is available.
If you look closely, you can also see what appears to be a rendering of the aft of Icon of the Seas in the background of the image.
It's also worth noting the web page's metadata contains the text, "Presenting the largest cruise ship to ever touch water, Icon of the Seas".
While we don't yet know by which metrics Icon will be the largest, Royal Caribbean has hinted Icon could be larger than the Oasis Class.
Royal Caribbean also posted a new video teaser with new looks at icon of the Seas renderings.
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No matter what is announced later this week, it seems Royal Caribbean is going to share more information of some kind.
Icon: a big secret
To say Royal Caribbean has been tight-lipped about Icon of the Seas would be an understatement.
With the ship set to debut likely little more than a year from now (late 2023 is the target date), Royal Caribbean has provided little details about the ship.
There's been no reveal of what the ship even looks like, let alone what features it will have. There's no official word where the ship will sail from, itineraries, or any other pertinent information.
Royal Caribbean has been keeping the entire project as secretive as possible up to now in order to maintain a competitive edge, as well as to likely drum up intrigue among cruise fans eager to know more.
Icon of the Seas is the first of its kind for Royal Caribbean and the first of a new class of ships. Royal Caribbean has not released a new ship class in over a decade; instead, the company has continued to expand its Oasis-class and Quantum-class ships, including Wonder of the Seas in 2022 and Odyssey of the Seas in 2021.
When does Icon of the Seas launch?
Icon of the Seas is set to debut in late 2023.
There's about 3,000 people working on the ship every day. At its current pace, Icon of the Seas will be 80% complete in December from a construction perspective.
Icon of the Seas will become the cruise line’s first LNG powered ship in its fleet.
LNG powered cruise ships feature dual engines that utilize liquified natural gas to propel the ship. This makes the ships more efficient and environmentally friendly.
