History of Icon of the Seas in Timeline

2016

Royal Caribbean applied to register a trademark for "Icon of the Seas" in 2016.

October 2016

In October 2016, Royal Caribbean and Finnish shipbuilder Meyer Turku announced an order to build two ships under the project name "Icon". The ships were expected to be delivered in the third quarter of 2023 and in 2025 and would be classified by DNV.

June 2021

Steel-cutting for Icon of the Seas began in June 2021. In October 2021, Royal Caribbean announced that the first LNG tank for the ship was installed at the Neptun Werft in Rostock, Germany. In December 2021, the floating engine room unit, including the LNG tanks, was towed to Turku in Finland by tug. The keel was laid in April 2022. The ship was launched 9 December 2022. In May 2022, Royal Caribbean confirmed that Icon of the Seas would be bigger than the Oasis class.

June 2023

On 19 June 2023, Icon of the Seas sailed for the first of her sea trials. She returned to the Meyer Turku shipyard on 22 June for adjustments to her systems, and to have interior spaces completed and furnished.

November 2023

On 27 November 2023, the ship was handed over to Royal Caribbean. The ship retracted her funnel to pass under the Great Belt Bridge in Denmark, and docked at the Navantia Shipyard in Cádiz, Spain, for final outfitting work. She departed Cadiz on 23 December for Puerto Rico and on 10 January 2024 arrived at her home port, PortMiami.

January 2024

Icon of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International and is the lead ship of the Icon class. She entered service on 27 January 2024 out of the Port of Miami in the United States. At 248,663 gross tonnage (GT), Icon of the Seas and her sister ships, built by Meyer Turku in Finland, are the largest cruise ships in the world.

January 2024

On 23 January 2024, the naming ceremony was held and Icon of the Seas was christened by soccer player Lionel Messi. Her maiden voyage began on 27 January out of PortMiami.

May 2024

In May 2024, a passenger reportedly jumped from Icon of the Seas. He was recovered by a rescue boat from the cruise ship and later pronounced dead.

June 2024

On 25 June 2024, a fire was reported onboard while docked at Costa Maya, Mexico. Electrical power was lost for a while but the flames were quickly extinguished, with the damage being "minimal" according to the cruise line.

September 2024

On 23 September 2024, Icon of the Seas suffered a technical issue which resulted in sailing at reduced speed and a missed port call in St Thomas on 25 September. After docking in Miami on 28 September, she sailed to Freeport in the Bahamas for maintenance. The entirety of the following week's cruise was cancelled while Royal Caribbean fixed the fault.

July 2025

On 25 July 2025, a crew member, a 35-year-old South African man, allegedly stabbed a 28-year-old South African woman multiple times onboard the Icon of the Seas cruise ship. The man then fled the scene and jumped off the ship, according to police. He was later found dead by onboard medical staff.