2nd Icon Class Cruise Ship

[ApexoftheSeas]

When will news about the second Icon class ship be revealed? Where do you think it will sail from?

[steverk]

No telling on when,  but my money is on Galveston homeport. 

[Rackham]

Unless the Asian market has a stronger demand than I think it would for an Icon-class, another bet on Galveston, but going to do a side bet on Port Canaveral. Sailing Icon-2 from Texas has the potential to encourage bookings from mid-America from people who want to drive instead of fly to the port and people who think flying to Miami is too far versus Galveston. The Galveston terminal shouldn't have any issues handling that many passengers on turn around day and was designed to handle the ship class too. Placing an Icon class ship in Galveston also would help marketing with making people aware that Royal sails from the port; even if they don't book Icon part deux, the awareness could increase bookings there on other Royal ships.

Port Canaveral has the luxury of location nearby Orlando. While Utopia can capture the short cruise market, Icon-2 could capture the families looking for a short stay in O-town and a week aboard a ship. 

[crazy4disney]

Living 30 miles from Galveston, these speculations make me a very happy cruiser!   Would love to see a ship like that be home-ported here!

 

[OCSC Mike]

23 minutes ago, crazy4disney said:

Living 30 miles from Galveston, these speculations make me a very happy cruiser!   Would love to see a ship like that be home-ported here!

 

As a loyal PC patron who isn’t particularly interested in Icon & fears one of them is coming here… I’ll be rooting for you!

[steverk]

1 hour ago, Rackham said:

Unless the Asian market has a stronger demand than I think it would for an Icon-class, another bet on Galveston, but going to do a side bet on Port Canaveral. Sailing Icon-2 from Texas has the potential to encourage bookings from mid-America from people who want to drive instead of fly to the port and people who think flying to Miami is too far versus Galveston. The Galveston terminal shouldn't have any issues handling that many passengers on turn around day and was designed to handle the ship class too. Placing an Icon class ship in Galveston also would help marketing with making people aware that Royal sails from the port; even if they don't book Icon part deux, the awareness could increase bookings there on other Royal ships.

Port Canaveral has the luxury of location nearby Orlando. While Utopia can capture the short cruise market, Icon-2 could capture the families looking for a short stay in O-town and a week aboard a ship. 

And don't forget that Galveston is especially well located to provide LNG fuel.

[BB1]

I certainly am not one who can predict the future but it is interesting that  Carnival and Norwegian are both putting their newest and largest ships in Galveston.  It would be reasonable to see an Icon ship there in the not too distant future. It would also be nice if they could put a Celebrity ship there too. 

[ApexoftheSeas]

Do you think that Royal Caribbean could order more Icon class ships and/or a new class anytime soon?

[cruisellama]

16 hours ago, BB1 said:

I certainly am not one who can predict the future but it is interesting that  Carnival and Norwegian are both putting their newest and largest ships in Galveston.  It would be reasonable to see an Icon ship there in the not too distant future. It would also be nice if they could put a Celebrity ship there too. 

I noticed that too which had me scratching my head when Allure was sent first, and Galveston is gateway to lots of families in the central part of TX and surrounding drivable  region (OK, LA, MS, AR, MO)    Allure doesn't have enough "kid" stuff compared to the competition. Harmony is coming (updated version), but Icon would be a real draw.

[twangster]

It would be refreshing to see Royal not make icon 2 another Miami debut.  Galveston would be a good choice.  

[smokeybandit]

With all the rain we've gotten the last 8 weeks, I'm hoping Icon2 will debut in Denver.

[Rackham]

3 hours ago, ApexoftheSeas said:

Do you think that Royal Caribbean could order more Icon class ships and/or a new class anytime soon?

Expected deliveries in 2025 and 2026 based on price and tonnage. 

https://cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-ship-orderbook/

Edit: Interestingly enough, missed the part until after posting about class, 2027 would be the 30th birthday for half of Vision-class. Would be a good year to introduce "The Ultimate Family Adventure" based on their current marketing speak.

[steverk]

11 hours ago, ApexoftheSeas said:

Do you think that Royal Caribbean could order more Icon class ships and/or a new class anytime soon?

Yes I do.

Royal needs just under 1 ship per year to keep the fleet less than 30 years old.

There's a lot of debate about what size/classes they will be, but it is inconceivable to me that Royal will allow the ships to get much older than 30 years.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Honestly, I think they would have already gotten rid of some of the older ships (they’ve already tried to ditch Grandeur twice) if there was any market for old cruise ships….but apparently there is no such market.  Sadly, I think they will hold onto the Vision class ships until they finally just send them to the breakers.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Honestly, I think they would have already gotten rid of some of the older ships (they’ve already tried to ditch Grandeur twice) if there was any market for old cruise ships….but apparently there is no such market.  Sadly, I think they will hold onto the Vision class ships until they finally just send them to the breakers.

Given how robust cruising has become recently I wouldn't be surprised to learn of something like a reborn Pullmantur rising from the ashes with a new name.  

Royal has to be careful not to sell off a ship only to have it come back and compete in their backyard.  An arms length but partially invested company can be controlled and used as a place to send old ships out to pasture.  

[Mike.s]

14 hours ago, twangster said:

Given how robust cruising has become recently I wouldn't be surprised to learn of something like a reborn Pullmantur rising from the ashes with a new name.  

Royal has to be careful not to sell off a ship only to have it come back and compete in their backyard.  An arms length but partially invested company can be controlled and used as a place to send old ships out to pasture.  

So perhaps more ships coming TUI/Marella's way here in Europe. Not sure if they have any ownership of Marella (it's part of the TUI group) but TUI Cruises is a joint venture and Marella is currently sailing with 5 x Celebrity/Royal ships.

[steverk]

43 minutes ago, Mike.s said:

So perhaps more ships coming TUI/Marella's way here in Europe. Not sure if they have any ownership of Marella (it's part of the TUI group) but TUI Cruises is a joint venture and Marella is currently sailing with 5 x Celebrity/Royal ships.

It's my understanding that Royal Caribbean Group owns 50% of TUI Cruises, which owns 100% of Marella.  Therefore, RCG has a 50% ownership of Marella, but would have to go through TUI to exert any influence.

There was another recent thread discussing how/if Royal will continue servicing ports that can only take smaller ships.  Baltimore and Tampa were specifically mentioned.  Perhaps, Royal will sell the smaller ships to Marella and allow them to sail from these smaller ports.  Or perhaps not. @twangster has made a great point about not allowing these ships to compete in Royal's backyard.

[Matt]

I don't expect to see Icon 2 news until after Icon 1 launches

[ApexoftheSeas]

Since they already started construction on Icon 2 shouldn't they at least tell us the name?

[Xaa]

9 hours ago, ApexoftheSeas said:

Since they already started construction on Icon 2 shouldn't they at least tell us the name?

We started construction on our children almost a year before we named them.

[HeWhoWaits]

1 hour ago, Xaa said:

We started construction on our children almost a year before we named them.

But some people name their children before they start construction. 

[smokeybandit]

1 hour ago, HeWhoWaits said:

But some people name their children before they start construction. 

And ship builders always know when ships will be delivered. People sometimes don't even know they placed the order

[TravisMA81]

On 6/26/2023 at 6:40 PM, WAAAYTOOO said:

Honestly, I think they would have already gotten rid of some of the older ships (they’ve already tried to ditch Grandeur twice) if there was any market for old cruise ships….but apparently there is no such market.  Sadly, I think they will hold onto the Vision class ships until they finally just send them to the breakers.

I wouldn't mind if they took a couple of those smaller ships and made them adults only.  They could updated some of the venues and style.  They might find a new interest in those older ships.  I would never go on one of them now, but I might if they were updated and adults only.

[smokeybandit]

Those older ships are sailing full. No need to try to drum up new interest 

[Thumper44]

12 hours ago, TravisMA81 said:

I wouldn't mind if they took a couple of those smaller ships and made them adults only.  They could updated some of the venues and style.  They might find a new interest in those older ships.  I would never go on one of them now, but I might if they were updated and adults only.

I have thought exactly this same thing, when Virgin Voyages announced they were going adult only.  Amplify the oldest ships, make them adult only and get another 10 years out of them!

[Rackham]

I can't see Royal introducing adult only sailings. Royal's niche isn't adult only; it's multigenerational families and people looking for that style of resort. It's like asking Virgin to allow kids on some of their ships when that's not where they're placing themselves in the market.

[TravisMA81]

1 hour ago, Rackham said:

I can't see Royal introducing adult only sailings. Royal's niche isn't adult only; it's multigenerational families and people looking for that style of resort. It's like asking Virgin to allow kids on some of their ships when that's not where they're placing themselves in the market.

That's true, but how many families with kids are on the older ships compared to the Oasis class ones?  If those ships are 80% kid free, it really wouldn't hurt their attendance.   

[twangster]

It's the stigma for a family cruise line to announce something anti-family.  

Even HAL which is entirely geared to older clientele doesn't ban children.

Plus if certain ships are already not attractive to families with kids there isn't a problem that needs to be fixed.

Royal is a family based cruise line.  Period.

[Thumper44]

Interesting arguments, especially about being true to the family friendly brand that Royal has created.  Good points

[smokeybandit]

There are plenty of families on smaller ships. Not everyone cares about sailing on a floating amusement park

[twangster]

A couple of decades ago the small ships were mega ships and families sailed them.  They had wonderful family vacations without all the whizbang new stuff on new ships.  The emphasis was on quality time.  

Nothing has changed.  The same quality family vacation is available on the now small ships.  

Don't get me wrong, the whizbang stuff is very cool.  Bumper cars, skydiving, zip lines, etc.  However all that isn't required to have a great family vacation.  Families go on land vacations to places like the Grand Canyon without doing zip lines or bumper cars and they have great family vacations.  

[RCIfan1912]

Well interesting question, how many home ports can even accommodate an Icon size ship? Cape Liberty NJ can't, I think Oasis size ship is max under the bridge. Miami of course, Port Canaveral can right? Where else? Is it mostly Florida that can? 

[smokeybandit]

Icon isn't really any bigger than oasis based on length/width. Height may be an issue for height limited ports

[RCIfan1912]

7 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Icon isn't really any bigger than oasis based on length/width. Height may be an issue for height limited ports

That's what would prevent one from being based here in NJ which would be awesome. 

[ApexoftheSeas]

Galveston can fit an icon class. I wonder if an icon class will go to Europe.

[Rackham]

2 hours ago, ApexoftheSeas said:

Galveston can fit an icon class. I wonder if an icon class will go to Europe.

I might be misunderstanding the European market for Royal, but I doubt an Icon-class will be positioned there for at least the first three ships. Europe is like Alaska in that it's port of call focused for the most part. The ship is less of the destination, versus in the Caribbean, so it doesn't make sense to run a ship class on these itineraries designed to draw people in due to the ship's resort amenities. Plus, Royal's going to want to run Icon-class where cruising and private island days are equal or greater than number of port days to maximize revenue capture too.

My bet is on Miami, Port Canaveral, and Galveston receiving the first three Icon-class ships.

[ApexoftheSeas]

How much bigger do you think icon 2 will be than icon 1? What new and different stuff would you like to see?

[BrianB]

Oasis just barely squeezes under the Verrazano Narrows bridge coming out of New York Harbor from Port Liberty.

That’s with her smoke stacks retracted.

So Icon is a no-go to Bayonne…

 

[RCIfan1912]

 

Oasis just barely squeezes under the Verrazano Narrows bridge coming out of New York Harbor from Port Liberty.

That’s with her smoke stacks retracted.

So Icon is a no-go to Bayonne…

 

Yeah unfortunately I agree. I reluctantly agree as I would love to see one up here.

[ScottD]

 

You will sleep much better if you stay in a hotel. The Hyatt is literally inside the airport so I recommend that for sure. 

 

 

How much bigger do you think icon 2 will be than icon 1? What new and different stuff would you like to see?

Just like the Oasis class ships... I doubt the next one will be any bigger than the first one... maybe a foot or two, just like they did with oasis- each one was a few feet bigger just to keep pinning the "largest ship" title on the newest ship.