Royal Caribbean has taken delivery of Icon of the Seas during a handover ceremony at the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland following 900 days of construction.
The event, which comes ahead of the vessel’s debut in January 2024 in Miami, was attended by Royal Caribbean Group president and CEO Jason Liberty, Royal Caribbean International president and CEO Michael Bayley and Meyer Turku CEO Tim Meyer.
“Today, we are celebrating more than a new ship; it’s also the celebration of the culmination of more than 50 years of innovation and dreaming at Royal Caribbean to create the ultimate vacation experience,” said Liberty.
“Delivering Icon of the Seas represents all that can be accomplished with strong partnerships and a commitment to delivering memorable vacations responsibly, and we thank Meyer Turku and an incredible village of skilled partners for joining us on this journey.”
The handover also commemorated the series of never-before-seen feats accomplished during more than two years of construction, from the installation of the AquaDome, the single largest glass and steel structure to be lifted onto a cruise ship, to engineering more water on board than ever before across seven pools and six waterslides.
Welcoming Icon to Royal Caribbean ‘a remarkable accomplishment’
Icon will now sail from Turku to Cadiz, Spain, where Royal will start to put the finishing touches on the vessel before it heads to Miami.
“Welcoming Icon of the Seas to the Royal Caribbean family is a remarkable accomplishment years in the making for thousands of innovators, engineers, architects and designers,” added Bayley.
“Seven years ago, we had an ambitious idea to create the first vacation truly made for every type of family and adventurer; now, it’s in our hands, and in this final stretch, we’ll bring it all to life for the biggest debut in our history in January 2024.”