World's Biggest Cruise Ship Makes Rescue

UPDATE Mar 7, 2024 5:25 PM CST

The crew of the world's largest cruise ship has pulled 14 people clinging to a tiny boat to safety. The new Icon of the Seas was on a Miami-Honduras run when the small craft, with a white flag being waved from it, was spotted on Sunday, the AP reports, apparently adrift. A rescue boat was dispatched, and the 14 people were picked up. "The crew provided them with medical attention," Royal Caribbean said in a statement on Thursday. A passenger reported that the Icon's captain said the group had been stranded for eight days.

Nov 30, 2023 9:09 AM CST

It's almost here—the world's largest cruise ship is complete, and ready to set sail in the new year. CNN Travel reports that Royal Caribbean now has in its possession the Icon of the Seas, a 1,198-foot, 275,000-ton vessel that was delivered to the cruise line on Monday by Finland's Meyer Turku shipyard. Per an RC release, the 20-deck ship took 900 days to build (2 1/2 years or so) and can hold 7,600 guests and 2,350 crew members, or about 10,000 people in total.

"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," Royal Caribbean International CEO Michael Bayley said, noting the concept for the ship began seven years ago, per an RC blog post. The ship is said to hold more than three dozen restaurants and bars, as well as eight distinct "neighborhoods" to explore, including Thrill Island, which features a golf course, wave simulator, and the world's largest water park at sea, among other attractions.

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Grown-ups looking for a little peace and quiet, in the meantime, will enjoy the Chill Island section, a "three-deck slice of paradise" featuring four pools and an adults-only hangout. As for accommodations, guests can choose from nearly 30 different types of cabins, including a three-level townhouse option. Icon of the Seas, which is now headed to Spain for some final detailing work, will see its maiden voyage on Jan. 27, leaving from Miami and heading down to the Caribbean for seven days. The ship displaces RC's 1,188-foot, 18-deck Wonder of the Seas as the world's biggest cruise liner. (More Royal Caribbean stories.)