Bookings on fire: Demand for Royal Caribbean’s new Icon of the Seas is like nothing the line has ever seen

Fascinated with reserving one of many first sailings of Royal Caribbean‘s soon-to-debut Icon of the Seas? You higher act quick. And produce a boatload of cash.

It is turning into one of many hottest tickets within the historical past of cruising.

“That ship actually has been the best-selling product within the historical past of our enterprise,” Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley mentioned Tuesday throughout a convention name with Wall Road analysts. “It has been completely excellent when it comes to the demand and the pricing that we’re producing.”

Whereas the debut of Icon of the Seas continues to be 11 months away — its first crusing will not happen till January 2024 — it is already reserving up at such a fast clip and at such sky-high costs that it is having a significant influence on your entire line’s outlook for subsequent 12 months, Bayley recommended.

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The 12 months 2024 is “wanting very wholesome, and an enormous driver of that’s Icon,” Bayley mentioned through the convention name, which got here after Royal Caribbean’s mum or dad firm, Royal Caribbean Group, reported fourth-quarter earnings.

Royal Caribbean followers have been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Icon of the Seas — at 250,600 tons, the most important cruise ship ever constructed — for years.

First introduced in 2016 and presently beneath development at a shipyard in Finland, the 20-deck-high vessel would be the first of a brand new class of ship at Royal Caribbean — the road’s first new class in practically a decade.

Thanks partially to the additional area from its greater dimension, it will even be chock-full of new-for-Royal Caribbean points of interest and venues, in addition to new kinds of cabins. That is obtained Royal Caribbean followers excited — and paying as much as be among the many first to attempt it.

Associated: TPG’s ultimate guide to Icon of the Seas attractions, venues and cabins

Bayley famous that one of many prime suites on Icon of the Seas, its three-floor-high Final Household Townhouse, is already 55% bought for all of 2024 at a median worth of $75,000 per week — or $10,714 a day.

It is an instance of what Bayley mentioned have been the “exceptional stats” the road has seen for the reason that ship went on sale — the form of pricing that solely the very prime suites on the highest-end luxurious ships usually command.

“You may simply get a really feel of the sort of demand that’s being generated” from these numbers, Bayley mentioned.

Royal Caribbean started taking bookings for the ship’s first sailings just some months in the past, in late October. As TPG wrote about again then, most of the cabins on its maiden voyage sold out within hours.

The primary crusing of Icon of the Seas, a seven-night voyage out of Miami to the Jap Caribbean, is scheduled for Jan. 27, 2024.

The ship will sail year-round out of Miami in 2024, alternating between Jap Caribbean and Western Caribbean itineraries, with 4 totally different routings accessible for departures between January 2024 and April 2025.

Associated: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean

When it is completed, Icon of the Seas could have two extra passenger decks than the present dimension chief within the cruise world, Royal Caribbean’s 10-month-old Wonder of the Seas.

It will even be longer than Marvel of the Seas, by a tad, measuring 1,198 toes lengthy — 10 toes longer than Marvel of the Seas.

However its largest distinction could also be within the variety of passengers it should maintain. Its most capability can be 7,600, about 7% increased than Marvel of the Seas’ most capability of seven,084 passengers.

The larger passenger capability is partially because of the ship’s larger concentrate on household vacationers. Icon of the Seas is being constructed with much more cabins which have further bunks to accommodate households with kids. It will even have extra facilities geared to households, together with a new-for-the-line outside household “neighborhood” referred to as Surfside.

Associated: Icon of the Seas will cater to families

Aimed toward households with youthful kids, Surfside will characteristic splash areas for infants and youngsters, swimming pools and lounge areas for folks, family-friendly eateries and retailers, and a bar with “mommy and me” matching mocktails for youths and cocktails for grownups.

Royal Caribbean is the world’s largest cruise line, with 26 ships that collectively have room for greater than 94,000 folks, based mostly on double occupancy per cabin. It has lengthy operated many of the world’s largest cruise vessels.

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