Episode 2 of Royal Caribbean International’s “Making an Icon” video series has been released. This second installment offers eager viewers and cruise fans further insights into the groundbreaking new ship, with tantalizing glimpses of onboard features and behind-the-scenes construction footage.
Icon of the Seas Making Great Construction Progress
The second episode in the behind-the-scenes “Making an Icon” is appropriately entitled “Shaping an Icon” and through the slightly more than seven minutes of video footage, viewers do indeed see Icon of the Seas beginning to come into shape at the Meyer Turku shipyard in southwestern Finland.
From the first steel-cutting for the ship to the keel-laying and coin ceremony in April 2022, the highly anticipated new vessel for Royal Caribbean International is coming together, on what the video claims is “the most ambitious timeline ever seen.”
In fact, the ship is now more than 50% complete, just over a year into its construction from the initial steel cutting on June 14, 2021.
“Shaping an Icon” offers even more insights about the ship’s design and construction stages, as well as hints of what it may offer to guests when the ship debuts in fall 2023.
As the various blocks of the ship are moved into place and further details are added, 3,000 construction team members are working on the ship every day. This gives cruise fans a sense of scale of the vessel, which will surpass Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships to be the largest cruise ship in the world.
Innovations to Come
The ship has already been teased and hinted at for its innovations and unique design, which Royal Caribbean claims will once again revolutionize the cruise industry, as the Oasis-class vessels did when Oasis of the Seas debuted in 2009.
“Icon will follow very much in the footsteps of some of the great ships that this company has built,” said Richard Fain, chairman of the Royal Caribbean Group. “It’s so innovative, it’s so special.”
The first innovation installed on the ship was the liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanks, the cleanest currently available fuel option for cruise ships. Each tank weighs more than 338 tons, and the video shows the tanks from design to installation in Icon‘s hull.
Even as the ship’s construction continues, many of the final design details are still being confirmed. Colors, themes, and other interior details are still being decided through Royal Caribbean’s Innovation Lab with the use of 3-D modeling, life-size mockups, artistic renditions, and more.
“By December, Icon will be about 80 percent done from a construction perspective,” said Jennifer Goswami, director of product development for Royal Caribbean. “We are really working heavily with our operational partners now and refining all the details.”
Those details, hinted at throughout the video, include the mysterious sphere, the purpose of which has not yet been revealed, as well as new water features, lighting, and structures visible but as yet unexplained.
While there is no date announced for when the next video in the “Making an Icon” series may debut, the first episode was released in mid-August, so it is likely the third episode will be unveiled in October.
That episode promises to reveal “something you have to see to believe” such as moving huge pieces of superstructure, and how and where more water will be added to the ship – hinting at the aquatheater shows Royal Caribbean International’s largest ships have become famous for.
“Up next in Making an Icon you’ll finally see all that’s in store when Icon of the Seas is revealed,” the video concludes.
Stay tuned to Cruise Hive for further updates on what promises to be a truly iconic new ship in the cruise industry.
