MIAMI — Dwarfing a lineup of older ships docked at PortMiami, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas certainly looked the part as it now holds the title of world’s largest cruise ship. The larger-than-life approach doesn’t quit on the inside, either.
During a media tour of the ship Thursday, the cruise line’s new class of ship that arrived to South Florida this week flexed its interior trappings, a combination of new offerings with familiar ones seen on the Oasis class, which are now just baby sisters to Icon.
Perhaps the most eye-catching is the first thing people will see once stepping on board is a massive sphere called the Pearl. It takes the place of the traditional atrium one might find on other cruise ships.
The three-deck space in the middle of the Royal Promenade features what Royal Caribbean’s chief product innovation officer Jay Schneider called a “jaw-dropping arrival experience” during a previous interview detailing the architectural approach to the new ship. That includes the floor-to-ceiling glass façade that acts as a massive window. It’s meant to hammer home the ship’s theme “to connect you to the ocean.”
“The experience and expanse you see as you walk onto the ship, as you come through [the gangway] you see the beauty of the Pearl, and so it serves a lot of different purposes,” he said. “It really is that mic drop moment as you walk onto the ship.”
The artist behind the centerpiece Pearl, who goes by the lone name Zolty, marvels at its stature within the space.
“It’s literally holding up the decks above it as well,” he said. “Structurally, the engineering, not just to make the artwork piece, but the structure is just mental.”
Working out of the Brooklyn, N.Y.-based studio named Breakfast, he has been toiling on what he called “the most complex artwork ever created” made up of more than 2 million parts for the last four years.
“When Royal came to us, they pretty much had their concept for the Pearl as a sphere and the shape of it but weren’t sure what to do with it as a thing,” he said.
Passengers climb the stairs through the Pearl laid in an inviting Spanish Steps approach. They venture within a globe of 3,000 small tiles in motion, each one with three linear actuator motors that when combined echo the sounds of holding a shell to one’s ear and hearing the ocean.
“Conceptually the whole piece is about bringing the water into the middle of the ship, this idea that you’re sort of floating, sort of following what the ship does as well,” he said.
It’s to be augmented by a soundscape and changing lighting effects throughout the day. As he was speaking it took on vivid red hues.
“It’s going to constantly change not just in terms of lighting, but how it moves at night. You’ll see shooting stars going down it and things like that,” he said. “Especially like late night, it gets sort of in the evening time. This all goes dark blue and it looks like large creatures are moving across the piece, and there’s whale sounds and other water sounds that kind of complement it.”
Some of the ship feels endless, like the 111 paces it takes to get from one end of the casino to the other. It’s like Royal Caribbean took a football field and filled it with shiny, beeping machines.
Other parts feel secluded with details tucked into corners that could make one forget they’re sharing space with as many as 7,599 other passengers.
That includes the Vitality Spa, now separated from the fitness center located several decks below to add even more serenity to the space, said massage therapist Alexandra Morgan.
That includes what she was was “the quietest place on board” — a lineup of thermal chairs between a pair of sensory showers nestled deep within the space. The array of calming offerings include a new-to-the-line quartz bed, filled with gold and amber-colored crystal grains.
“It’s like lying on warm sand,” she said. “We really learn it and experience ourselves so we know how to explain to you better. I know that I felt so Zen afterwards. Never felt a massage like it.”
Not everything on board was show-ready. An army of Royal contractors was out in force on board putting the final paint strokes in place before its first trip with paying customers on Jan. 27, although it’s already lining up its first preview sailings before then.
One of the most anticipated spaces on board is the new AquaDome neighborhood, within the massive glass-and-steel structure at the top of the ship. Now home to the AquaTheater, which has been housed on the lower decks at the aft of Oasis-class ships, production crews were working the sound system and tooling with mechanics on the stage that will be home to its diving, aerialist action show.
When not performing the stage is supposed to be home to a 55-foot-tall waterfall that was not flowing.
What was flowing, though, were soundwaves for some of the show’s music, so intense that you could see ripples across the froth of a cappuccino at new coffee and drink venue Rye & Bean adjacent the stage. And while the stage parts still looked like a deconstructed Lego set, the trappings around the other parts of AquaDome were sitting pretty in place allowing for many a seat to enjoy 220-degree exterior views.
The soundproofing quality amid adjacent spaces within the AquaDome held up, though, too, as it was just a small din through the glass of the neighborhood’s dining venues. That includes the AquaDome Market, a new space for the cruise line offering up free, quick-serve thematic cuisine dedicated to savory and sweet crêpes, a litany of mac ‘n cheese plates, sandwiches and salads, as well as Greek and Asian fare.
With the AquaTheater migrating several decks up the ship, Royal took a new approach to what was the Boardwalk space on Oasis ships. It’s now the colorful, family-friendly Surfside neighborhood. It’s still home to a carousel, but this one filled with whimsical rides ranging from a VW bus to a pink flamingo to a rainbow-horned narwhal.
With a climbing structure, splash pad, arcade, sweet shop, restaurants and even a bar, it’d be easy for those with younger passengers to spend all day in the space.
The other eye-catching outdoor space taking advantage of the larger ship template is called Thrill Island. The six-slide water park called Category 6 snakes around a massive portion of the upper deck space. A bit of Key West theming including its own version of the Southernmost Point marker adds to an inviting if not frenetic feel.
Two other new neighborhoods tout relaxation, including the many pools of Chill Island including the Swim & Tonic, the line’s first swim-up bar at sea and the vast infinity-edge Cove Pool. At the aft of the ship but towering above the hubbub nine decks below of Surfside and tucked behind the clatter of Thrill Island is The Hideaway, with a suspended infinity pool, whirlpools and its own bar.
Among the carryover neighborhoods also found on Oasis-class ships are Royal Promenade with its array of bars including the new Dueling Pianos venue; the Suite Neighborhood covering four decks including its own sun deck, pool and dining for suite guests; and the return of Central Park, the open-air green space in the center of the ship.
For Icon, though, Central Park debuts some new walk-up features including champagne-slinging Bubbles and the sushi window at Izumi in the Park. It’s also home to new music venue Lou’s Jazz ‘n Blues and a high-end dining concept called Empire Supper Club that draws on the look and feel of 1920s New York City.
It’s one of the many spaces on the ship that invites meandering and finding quiet around many corners of the 20-deck, 250,800-gross-ton ship.
Schneider said that despite the gargantuan size, the design approach always kept flow and space in mind so no one would ever feel crowded.
“You’ll find facades that are open for the first time, in a grand way. You’ll find connectivity between decks that we’ve never done before, and a lot of that design and ingenuity came from this notion of giving people more space, and as you kind of put the pieces and parts together, you suddenly find yourself with a fairly large footprint,” he said.
