The world’s largest cruise ship has everything from an ice-skating rink to a zipline court and is like a “floating theme park”, says travel writer Jo Kessel.
Royal Caribbean’s brand new Icon of the Seas, the world’s largest cruise ship, is currently on its maiden voyage from Miami, Florida, to the Bahamas.
The 20-deck ship is 365m-long, longer than the Eiffel Tower. It has seven pools, 40 restaurants and is divided up into eight “neighbourhoods” to make navigation easier.
It has the company’s first swim-up bar, six record-breaking waterslides, including a freefall – the first of its kind on a cruise ship, a zipline course, the largest pool on a ship and an al-fresco park with living trees.
The ship’s poshest “neighbourhood” is the Grove, for guests with cabins, with a pool terrace, spa pool and restaurants.
Ms Kessel described the ship as a place where it is “impossible to get bored”, with a carousel, a climbing wall, a theatre, an ice-skating rink and an indoor waterfall.
She added: “To describe Icon as a floating theme park or Las Vegas would be doing it a disservice.
“It has elements of these, but is much classier and tasteful, wrapped up in a colourful bow of pizzazz.”
Writing in the New Zealand Herald, the travel writer said the cabins were “chic” and had “real flair”, with “splashes of colour, great beds and smart bathrooms”.
She added that other passengers are commenting on how much everyone is walking, with her clocking an average of 10,000 steps a day while wandering around.
Passengers get to travel to lush jungle in Roatan and Mayan ruins in Cozumel on the seven-day journey leaving from Miami on the ship which has a capacity of 7,600.
