Video: TPG's exclusive look at Icon of the Seas under construction will blow your mind
Royal Caribbean fans, get ready to be wowed.
TPG's video team got exclusive access in May to Royal Caribbean's much-awaited, still-under-construction Icon of the Seas — and, well ... you just need to watch the video they posted from the visit to see why we think you're going to be floored. You can find it on TPG's YouTube Channel and in this story.
As our video producer Marc Ramos saw during two days of rambling around the vessel with Royal Caribbean guides, the ship's marquee features are even more amazing in person than in the artist's drawings that the line has been circulating.
The ship's record-size water park area, in particular, is a site to behold — even in its current, unfinished state. As you'll see in the video, one of Royal Caribbean's construction leads took Marc walking into the interior of one of the (record-for-a-cruise-ship) six slides in the area to show him the hand-painted, ultraviolet light-lit murals that line its interiors. They were stunning.
Just think how big those slides are, given that Marc could walk inside the tubes with a hard hat on and all his camera gear, to boot!
At 250,800 gross tons, Icon of the Seas will be the biggest cruise ship in the world when it debuts in 2024. But it's not just its giant size — about 6% bigger than the next biggest cruise ship — that is exciting cruise fans.
The 20-deck-high vessel will boast some of the most innovative features ever conceived for a cruise ship, starting with the massive water park (there's never been one so big) and a giant glass dome that covers an entire entertainment and living zone at the front of the ship.
The latter feature is the sort of thing that's hard to get your head around until you see it in person — or on a video. It's like a more fun version of that glass-enclosed structure in Arizona that eight science-y types lived in for two years in the 1990s.
I accompanied Marc for part of his ship tour in May (as did our short-form video lead Colby Kirkpatrick —stay tuned for more videos of the ship on social media sites from him), and I kept thinking to myself, "When the dystopian end of the world arrives, the one you see in the movies where the air outside is no longer safe to breathe, this dome will be the place to be."
Watch the video, and you'll see what I mean.
As I wrote after the visit to the ship last month, there's never been anything like what you're going to see on Icon of the Seas.
You can read more about Icon of the Seas at TPG's growing array of guides to the ship and Royal Caribbean:
- The ultimate Icon of the Seas guide: Pricing, itineraries and what to expect
- Royal Caribbean just announced another cool new feature for Icon of the Seas
- Demand for Icon of the Seas is through the roof
- The 6 types of Royal Caribbean ships, explained
- The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean
- Every Royal Caribbean ship from newest to oldest
- The 5 best destinations you can visit on a Royal Caribbean ship
Icon of the Seas will debut in January 2024, operating seven-night sailings to the Caribbean out of Miami.