Royal Caribbean International embarks on a major marketing campaign for the new class of ship, joining the fleet in Fall 2023. The Icon of the Seas is scheduled to go into service as the first ship in this series in the fall. Not much is known about the ship, but RCI is already promising “the best family vacation in the world”.

Royal Caribbean International is launching a major marketing campaign for Icon of the Seas, with a video series entitled making an Icon and Episode 1 Envisioning an Iconic Vacation.

RCI's CEO Michael Bayley describes the ship in the first video episode as "the best thing Royal Caribbean has built in the last 50 years". Jay Schneider, Chief Product Innovation Officer, speaks of the "best family vacation in the world". The video uses terms like “jaw-droppingly amazing”, “groundbreaking unparalleled” or “transformational vacation experience”. The Icon of the Seas will revolutionize the world of cruising.

However, the first video episode does not yet contain specific details about the new icon class, but it does contain interesting insights into the planning process for a new ship class and some pictures of the construction of the Icon of the Seas in Turku, Finland.

If you take a closer look at the video, you can at least see some details that have already been discussed by observers in recent months:

"Pearl": A spherical structure with an alleged diameter of around 15 meters is said to bear the name "Pearl". It is not yet known what lies behind this mysterious construction. It is clear that the pearl was delivered to the shipyard in one piece and positioned approximately in the middle of the ship.

"Aqua Dome": The name "Aqua Dome" has been publicly mentioned by Royal Caribbean before, but again it is unclear what exactly is behind it. Thought to be located above the bridge, so similar to the solarium on the Oasis and Quantum class ships, it could be a novel water theme park, especially as RCI announces great water activities for the Icon of the Seas.

Vertical stem: More and more new cruise ships now have a vertical stem and one can be seen in the video. So the bow shape of the Icon of the Seas will probably follow this trend.

What is officially known so far is that the Icon of the Seas will be powered by liquid gas (LNG) and that advanced environmental technology will be used. According to details from the shipping company's financial report, there should be room for around 5,600 passengers on the Icon of the Seas.

The Icon of the Seas will probably debut in Great Britain, but will then have Miami as its base port for the 2023/24-winter season.