Royal Caribbean's next new cruise ship is under construction in a shipyard in Finland, and we have a new look at what it looks like now.
Because Royal Caribbean has not shared what Icon of the Seas will look like when complete, cruise fans can only guess what the final product will entail, including features onboard.
The cruise line is likely to reveal more details about Icon of the Seas soon, but there remains significant intrigue surrounding the ship.
In an effort to keep our readers up to date, RoyalCaribbeanBlog commissioned its own aerial drone photos to share what we can see so far from the shipyard.
Since these are exclusive photos, please do not redistribute these photos. Feel free to share a link to this article instead.
These photos were taken on September 19, 2022 with an eye at the progress being made.
Icon of the Seas is being built at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, and has been under construction since June 2021.
Compared to construction photos from last month, there has been noticeable progress made in the ship's height, with new decks added.
The aft section on the starboard side is reminiscent of the aft AquaTheater decks found on the Oasis Class ships with the rounded ends.
More progress has been made just behind the ship on what could be a part of the ship's front, which theoretically would be hoisted and installed later to the front.
Looking at the top of the deck, we see what look like support columns towards the rear. Perhaps supports for a water slide?
Elevated photos reveal a cavernous middle to the ship, which is an area likely to be similar to the Central Park neighborhood found on Oasis Class ships.
Moving to the front of the ship, there appears to be stadium-style seating in the middle. Traditionally, Royal Caribbean places its theaters in the front of the ship, but this appears to be on a much higher deck than where the Royal Theater is located.
Since Royal Caribbean has not announced new features for Icon of the Seas, we can only speculate as to what things might be.
This aerial photo shows the bow nose piece has been installed.
Icon will be the first Royal Caribbean ship to feature a parabolic bow design.
A parabolic bow is a functional design element that creates a curved indentation in the bottom of the vessel’s hull. This new bow design helps increase overall stability of the vessel by shifting the center of gravity forward. In addition, parabolic bows allow the ship to be less likely to capsize or heel. This is due to the bow creating an area of low pressure beneath the ship’s hull.
Icon of the Seas is scheduled to start sailing in late 2023.
Royal Caribbean's series of video updates has promised a new video update sometime this month, but the September update has not been shared yet.
