Chris Edwards
In January 2024, Royal Caribbean launched the world’s largest cruise ship, the Icon of the Seas. This new ship takes the title of the biggest cruise ship in the world from Royal Caribbean’s previous ship, Wonder of the Seas.
When this ship was first announced, rumors were that this new Icon class would be smaller than the current Oasis class. Then they started to release their “Making of an Icon” series on YouTube, which begin to reveal the size of this ship, and it was big! How big is the Icon of the Seas? Let’s look at how big this ship is and do an Icon of the Seas size comparison with Royal’s previous ships!
Check out all the fun things coming to Icon of the Seas!
How Big Is Icon of the Seas?
The Icon of the Seas size comes in at 250,800 gross tons and a length of 1,198 feet, which is larger in comparison with Wonder of the Seas at 235,600 gross tons and 1,188 feet in length. The Icon of the Seas’ width comes in at 213 feet, 2 feet more than Wonder of the Seas’ width.
Icon of the Seas is also taller than Royal’s other ships. How many decks does Icon of the Seas have? A towering 20 decks! For comparison, the Wonder of the Seas and other Oasis ships have only 18 decks. This makes Icon of the Seas the tallest ship at sea, as tall as the Eiffel Tower!
It will take you 4-5 minutes to walk from one end to the other end of the ship, that is if you can make it there without stopping at one of the many bars, restaurants, or activities spread across the deck. How many of these are there? Well, let’s dive into each section.
How many pools on Icon of the Seas?
You will never get too hot on the Icon of the Seas with all the pools on board. Icon of the Seas has 7 pools scattered across its decks, including several pools that go right up to the edge and a massive infinity pool at the back of the ship, giving you a 180-degree ocean view. This new ship also boasts the first swim-up bar at sea!
Unlike your traditional cruise ship, Icon of the Seas has reimagined pool and sun decks. This new layout goes beyond the standard pool in the middle of the deck, and instead creates multiple layers of decks and pools. There are plenty of places to layout and catch some sun, just don’t forget to add your sunscreen to your cruise packing list!
How many hot tubs are on Icon of the Seas?
In addition to the 7 pools, Icon of the Seas has 9 hot tubs! This should make it much easier to find a hot tub when you need some time to sit back and relax.
How many bars are on the Icon of the Seas?
The drinks will flow, and you will never go hungry with over 40 bars and restaurants onboard the Icon of the Seas. With 23 of these being completely new to Royal Caribbean.
Icon of the Seas Size Comparison to Other Large Royal Caribbean Ship Sizes
Royal Caribbean has some of the largests cruise ships in the world. The Icon of the Seas size makes this ship the world’s biggest, beating out all other Royal Caribbean ships. This chart below does a ship size comparison between Royal Caribbean’s largest ships to see how they stack up against Icon of the Seas’ incredible size.
| Icon of the Seas | Wonder of the Seas | Spectrum of the Seas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ship Class | Icon | Oasis | Quantum Ultra |
| Gross Tonnage | 250,800 | 236,857 | 169,379 |
| Length | 1,198 ft | 1,188 ft | 1,139 ft |
| Width | 213 ft | 211 ft | 136 ft |
| Decks | 20 | 18 | 16 |
| Cabins | 2,805 | 2,867 | 2,137 |
| Max Guests | 7,600 | 6,988 | 5,622 |
| Crew | 2,350 | 2,300 | 1,551 |
| Pools | 7 | 4 | 4 |
| Hot Tubs | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Large Water Slides | 6 | 3 | 0 |
Icon of the Seas vs Wonder of the Seas Size Comparison
The previous record holder for the world’s largest cruise ship was the Wonder of the Seas. Icon of the Seas comes in about 14,000 additional gross tonnages, 10 feet longer, 2 feet wider, and 2 decks taller. These ships are both massive and Royal Caribbean still holds the world’s largest cruise ships title between the Icon class and Oasis class of ships.
Check out this Icon of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas size comparison while they were both at CocoCay, docked next to each other.
Icon of the Seas Size Compared to Other Large Cruise Ships
Royal Caribbean is not the only cruise line to produce large cruise ships. While Royal Caribbean has held the title for the largest cruise ship with all 5 of their Oasis class ships, other lines have some pretty large cruise ship sizes as well. Below we compare Icon of the Seas size with other cruise ships from Carnival Cruise Line, Norwegian Cruise Line and Disney Cruise Line’s largest ships.
| Icon of the Seas | Carnival Celebration | Disney Wish | NCL Encore | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ship Class | Icon | Excel | Wish | Breakaway Plus |
| Gross Tonnage | 250,800 | 183,900 | 144,000 | 169,116 |
| Length | 1,198 ft | 1,130 ft | 1,119 ft | 1,094 |
| Width | 213 ft | 137 ft | 128 ft | 158 ft |
| Decks | 20 | 18 | 15 | 20 |
| Cabins | 2,805 | 2,687 | 1,254 | 2,043 |
| Max Guests | 7,600 | 5,206 | 4,000 | 4,903 |
| Crew | 2,350 | 1,762 | 1,555 | 1,735 |
| Pools | 7 | 5 | 6 | 3 |
| Hot Tubs | 9 | 5 | 3 | 9 |
| Large Water Slides | 6 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
While Icon of the Seas is the largest cruise ship, it does cause issues with the ports this ship can visit. Royal Caribbean has been limited in where they can sail with their Oasis class ships and will continue to run into difficulties with the size of Icon of the Seas when visiting ports.
With so many passengers onboard, these ships are not able to offer tender service and most ports are not big enough to service these ports. Be sure to check Icon of the Seas itineraries can compare them with other ship itineraries to determine if this is the right size ship for you.
Less Cabins but More Passenger Capacity
You may notice that Icon of the Seas max capacity is 612 more than Wonder of the Seas, despite it having 62 less cabins. Icon of the Seas has been built with families in mind. With that, many of the roms on Icon of the Seas are built to better accommodate families, making it easy to sail if you have 4 or even 5 that need to fit into one cabin.
Additional Questions Regarding Icon of the Seas Size
Is Icon of the Seas the biggest ship?
Icon of the Seas is the biggest ship in the world as of 2024. Coming in at 250,800 gross tons and a length of 1,198 feet and 213 feet in width, Icon is takes the title from the previous largest ship, Wonder of the Seas.
How many passengers will Icon of the Seas take?
Icon of the Seas has a max capacity of 7,600 passengers in 2,805 cabins. In addition to the passengers, Icon of the Seas has 2,350 international crew members on board.
Will Icon of the Seas be bigger than Wonder of the Seas?
Icon of the Seas is 14,000 tons bigger than Wonder of the Seas. In size, Icon is 10 feet longer, 2 feet wider and 2 decks taller than Wonder of the Seas.
How big is the Icon of the Seas compared to the Titanic?
Icon of the Seas is much larger than the Titanic. The Titanic was only 882 feet in length. Check out this article that compares Icon of the Seas vs Titanic for more interesting facts.
Will there be a bigger ship than Icon of the Seas?
Royal Caribbean is working on Star of the Sea, their next ship in the Icon class. They have not release many specs at the time of this writing, however, Royal Caribbean often likes to try and squeeze out just a slight increase, often by a foot or two to make their next ship “The Largest Ship in the World”. This is purely speculation.
Icon of the Seas Size Fact Sheet
