Fairsky84

I'm still hoping Royal Caribbean will name a new ship "Song of the Seas" as a tribute to their first ship Song of Norway. 
 

From Royal Caribbean:
 

MIAMI, Oct. 5, 2023 – Drum roll, please: The next revolutionary vacation is on the horizon, and its name is Star of the Seas. Just shy of 100 days until the introduction of the first-of-its-kind combination of every vacation with the first in the Icon Class lineup, Icon of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International has revealed the name of the next Icon Class ship and its debut season – the summer of 2025.
 

The world’s largest cruise line will follow up Icon’s debut, the start of a new era of vacations, in the boldest way. With the combination of every kind of vacation that’s unique to Icon Class – from the beach retreat to the resort escape and the theme park adventure – the lineup of new experiences and favorites on Star will set the stage for even more ways for every type of family and adventurer to make memories without compromise. Currently under construction in Turku, Finland, the new ship and its features will soon be revealed.

“The idea of combining the best of every type of vacation into one ultimate adventure has created more excitement than ever anticipated, and Star of the Seas will be the next bold answer to the record-breaking consumer demand we’ve seen for nearly a year and counting with Icon of the Seas,” said Michael Bayley, president and CEO, Royal Caribbean International.
 

Disney Bliss

Disney Star 

Disney Delight

Disney Miracle (This name be may be appropriate given the crazy cheap price Disney paid to acquire the ship.)

Work is getting started to convert the Global Dream into Disney's largest cruise ship. Here's an update: https://www.seatrade-cruise.com/shipbuilding-refurb-equipment/global-dream-conversion-disney-begins-under-meyer-wismar

Also, the ship has been spotted with new paint, including a dark hull like other Disney ships. 

Finally, who wants to speculate about possible names for this ship? Given that the ship will sail year-round in Asia and will likely be designed for Asian passengers, I think Disney will probably avoid names like "Disney Adventure" or "Disney Imagination." Maybe they'll go with something easily translated into different languages like "Disney Star." 

 

1 hour ago, BecciBoo said:

No it's not, you weren't paying attention, they can project anything literally anything inside there hopefully.  My thoughts were get up of a morning, the day of the week is displayed along with the ocean if a sea day or the port of call etc.  Boarding day, vids of all of the activities on your cruise etc.

I don't think so. I see no indication that the interior of the Pearl is an LED screen or that images will be projected onto the moving panels. Instead, it only showed different mood lighting and various wave motions of the panels. Basically, it seems like a giant, walk-through, kinetic art installation that serves a structural purpose. It allowed them to widen the Royal Promenade and create glass walls on either side without big, ugly pillars in the middle of the space. It's a creative solution to an architectural problem. It's not a special venue or theatrical space. 

The Pearl is just a glitzy staircase. Seriously disappointing. 

Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley said the company is considering building a smaller class of ships to replace the Vision and Radiance-classes. Responding to an audience question about building ships smaller than Oasis and Icon classes while onboard Allure of the Seas, he said:
 

"It is something that's certainly deeply in our consideration and our planning at the moment that we have a lot of conceptual work going on....I think when we're ready we can we can announce steps that will take to to do just that."
 

Bayley mentioned that some smaller classes of ships are getting older, but he did not mention any Vision or Radiance-class ships by name. He continued:

"It's very much in the forefront of our minds. We understand that we need to think and act on this... But we're in no position to make any statements or comments about it for obvious reasons."

Here's hoping RCI announces a new class of ships smaller than the Quantum-class—perhaps in the 120,000 - 140,000 grt range—that are able to visit smaller ports on more exotic itineraries.

Without a replacement for the Vision and Radiance-class, RCI would be abandoning this segment of the market and force their customers who want such cruises to upgrade to Celebrity. Honestly, given the brand's reputation for megaships with "Wow!" features and the profitability of these vessels, I could see Royal Caribbean leaving the medium/smaller ship market to its other brands. Time will tell. 

Making Icon slightly less awkward and a bit more traditional looking…

 

The latest tracking data says she's done over 25 knots. That's pretty remarkable and I believe it's significantly faster than the Oasis-class. 

A new report says Disney will homeport the new ship in Singapore for 5 years beginning in 2025.

Also, the new rendering of the ship released with the Singapore news shows only 4 funnels, not 6. That makes more sense to me as 6 would use a lot of valuable deck space.

Six funnels!!!!!
 

4 hours ago, longhorn2004 said:

Looks like they are painting the bottom of the ship. So how do they paint the bottom of the ship sitting on blocks?

The exterior hull plates are painted before they are lowered into the dry dock and welded to the rest of the ship. It's also my understanding that each time a ship enters dry dock, the location of the keel blocks is changed so portions of the hull that were covered before are able to be painted. But there is no real way to paint the entire bottom of the ship during a single dry docking.

"Legend of the Seas" is a good name option. If we're drawing from RCI history, I would love to see them honor Song of Norway, their first ship, by naming Icon II "Song of the Seas."

There is something satisfying to me about all of the Icon-class ships having 4-letter names. Some options:

Song of the Seas

Opus of the Seas

Apex of the Seas

Idol of the Seas

Diva of the Seas

29 minutes ago, Tough as Leather said:

A nice shot of the funnels.

 

It's the first time I can recall a Royal Caribbean ship NOT having a white funnel. They are certainly doing some interesting new things with Icon's livery. I wonder if some of these colorful changes will make their way to other ships in the RCI fleet.

4 minutes ago, longhorn2004 said:

The bow looks cool and contemporary and nice adjustment to the livery in the rear.

Agreed. Icon has the best looking version of the vertical-bow trend so far, and it's FAR more attractive than the "parabolic ultra bow" on Celebrity's Edge-class ship. 

Here is B-Roll of the exterior of Icon. She definitely doesn't look like anything else in the cruise industry. Actually, a rather ugly duck IMO. But I'm afraid the era of elegant looking passenger ships is long past.

Newer reports about Disney buying Global Dream has made it sound like they will actually be buying Global Dream 2, which is not a complete hull, and not Global Dream 1 which is the nearly complete ship.

If Disney is purchasing the incomplete hull of Global Dream 2, then they could still make significant design changes to the bow, aft, and upper decks of the ship to make it fit better with the existing Disney fleet. 

Here's the partially built hull of Global Dream 2: 
 

Obviously, for this debut the marketing departing is heavily emphasizing families. I suspect in the coming months they'll have more photos and press releases to highlight features for adults—including more about the Pearl, undisclosed dining venues, bars, spa features, etc. 

I counted at least 10 unidentified restaurants, bars, and venues. So there's definitely more to come.

I have a very odd observation...

I don't see any satellite or radar domes on the upper decks of Icon. I believe I counted seven on Wonder. Where are they hiding on Icon, or have they just erased them from the renderings to make the pool decks look nicer?

15 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

• A swim up bar? I cant think of another line with one. What a zoo that area is going to be on sea days. 🙂

The original Star Princess from 1989 (later P&O's Arcadia, Pacific Pearl, and Columbus) had a swim up bar.

21 hours ago, raketoplan said:

Robotic bartender like on Quantum of the Seas and Anthem of the Seas is my guess.

What if this robotic arm is inside the Pearl? RCI may have one of the most immersive ride experiences at sea if that's the case.

1 hour ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

Global Dream is only the biggest by passenger capacity, not size. Oasis class is still bigger.

Correct. And I'm guessing if Disney buys the ship it will be reconfigured for less passenger density.

The funnels appear different from what was photographed in September:


Are these the same, just shot from another angle? Are they the tops of the funnels that will be added to what we see above? Am I missing something?

7 minutes ago, CarnivalShips480 said:

That looks amazing! Do you have any good name ideas?

Disney Imagination

Disney Inspiration 

Disney Charm

Disney Star

Disney Enchantment

Disney Joy