365 meters long, 40 restaurants, seven swimming pools… “Icon of the Seas”, the world’s largest ship, has set sail

A symbol of vastness, a hymn to excess, and to many an anti-environmental monstrosity. The world’s new largest cruise ship, TheA sign of the sea Royal Caribbean, departed the port of Miami (Florida) in the United States on Saturday, January 27, for her maiden voyage in the Caribbean.

With its 365 meters long, 20 decks, 2,805 cabins and 40 restaurants, this giant liner is the latest addition to the cruise sector in full recovery after the Covid years. l’A sign of the seaRegistered in the Bahamas, the ship is the American cruise giant’s first to be powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), a fossil fuel that the industry touts as a cleaner alternative to heavy fuel oil but which releases methane, a potent gas. greenhouse effect.

Royal Caribbean says the ship is equipped with a system that converts waste into energy and another that recycles water on board, thus promising to reduce the environmental impact of this type of ship, one of the most common criticisms of the cruise industry.

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Another icon, Lionel Messi, to name the boat

During her first trip to the Caribbean, she will visit Basseterre, capital of the state of St. Kitts and Nevis, before heading to Charlotte-Amelie in the US Virgin Islands, then to the private island of Coco Cay in the Bahamas. Return to Miami.

Icon of the Seas can accommodate 5,610 passengers and 2,350 crew members. Divided into eight different districts, it includes seven swimming pools, nine Jacuzzis and a 17-meter high waterfall. With a gross tonnage (ie its carrying capacity) of 250,800 tonnes, five times that of the Titanic – and almost 100 meters longer – it left the Turku shipyard in Finland.

The Miami-based company welcomed another icon and star of the city’s soccer club, Lionel Messi, to press a button at the ship’s christening on Tuesday that caused a champagne bottle to crash on the hull. Sign of the race of giants, TheA sign of the sea Replaces another ship of the same company Wonder of the SeasAs the world’s largest cruise ship.