Fairsky84

I think RCI has two goals that exist in tension with each other: 1. Replace the aging ships in the fleet with new tonnage that can still service smaller homeports (Tampa, Jacksonville, Baltimore, etc) and more exotic itineraries (Asia, Mid-East, world cruises, etc.). 2. Make these new ships as large as possible to provide more signature "wow" features, increase revenues, and maximize the economies of scale. I'm guessing the balance of these two goals will result in the Discovery-class being about 130,000 to 150,000 tons... or about Voyager size. I seriously doubt RCI will ever build another ship for the Royal Caribbean brand that is under 100,000 tons.

Sure. But not every Disney ship's name is completely original. For example... Disney Magic - Carnival Magic Disney Dream - Carnival Dream Disney Wonder - Wonder of the Seas Disney Adventure - Adventure of the Seas Disney Fantasy - Carnival Fantasy The only original names in the fleet are Wish and Treasure. So, if they aren't totally unique at least have names that are associated with the Disney brand and its values. Destiny doesn't really fit that criteria, IMO.

A few more unique, Disneyesque names... Disney Joy Disney Happiness Disney Enchantment Disney Frontier Disney Charm Disney Whimsy Disney Inspiration Disney Imagination Disney Miracle Disney Legend Disney Cheer Disney Glee

I thought the Disney Adventure (formerly the Global Dream) might have been named Disney Star. As in..."When you WISH upon a STAR all of your DREAMs come true." There are already two other ships' names in that lyric. Of course, "star" is a very common cruise ship name as well.

Disney just announced the sister to Disney Wish and Disney Treasure will be named Disney Destiny. It's ok. Nothing really unique or special. I was hoping for something more like... Disney Miracle or Disney Imagination

I like the name LEGEND OF THE SEAS, but Royal has no history of recycling names from old ships. So, I doubt that will be the name of Icon 3. A search of trademarks registered by Royal Caribbean revealed some interesting options. Keep in mind that cruise lines often register possible future ship names that are never ultimately used. Here's a list of both "Live" and "Dead" (expired) trademarks registered by Royal Caribbean. The live names are potential Icon 3 names, the dead names are not. (All names below are "____ of the Seas." LIVE TRADEMARKS Hero Nova Idol Sun Fun Marquee DEAD TRADEMARKS Passion Joy Apex Pulse Valhalla Endeavor Vibrance Aria Intrigue Melody Emblem Phenom Eon Aura Awe Illumination Grace Unity Nirvana Divine Eternity Paradise Spectrum Journey Given this list, I'd put my $ on Icon 3 being named IDOL OF THE SEAS. One last intriguing detail. Royal has allowed the trademarks for their former ships' names to expire. However, they have kept the trademark for "Legend of the Seas" alive. Hmm...

Surprising how much darker the blue hull looks on Icon. I thought RCI would maintain the same livery color on all of their new ships. Or is the Wonder's hull just faded after a year in the sun.

Just found this image of the Icon in the Cadiz drydock. Can anyone identify what the bump is under the hull behind the bulbous bow? I don't think I've ever seen that feature on a ship's hull before.

At the 0:43 mark in the video you can see the support beams coming out of the top of the Pearl. Still, I'm underwhelmed by the Pearl also. Was hoping for much more than a glorified staircase.

Yes, Icon has retractable funnels.

I always thought painting Magic Carpet orange made it look like scaffolding or construction equipment on the side of the ship. Yes, it catches the eye but not in a good way.

I always hoped the Edge-class ships would follow a 4-letter naming pattern: Celebrity Edge Celebrity Apex Celebrity Luxe Celebrity Opus Celebrity Icon (BTW, Celebrity filed trademarks for "Opus" and "Luxe" back in 2018 but never used the names.) But "Xcel" is beyond stupid. It's not a real word. It's a commonly used Microsoft program. And it doesn't match the premium, classy reputation the Celebrity brand has been attempting to build for years. It feels down-market and corny. Overall, I've been disappointed with how Celebrity has been moving in recent years. This new name/logo just confirms my suspicions.

Terrible logo. Even more terrible ship name. Possibly the dumbest name in the industry. What is Celebrity thinking?

That enclosed slide launch room is much higher, and probably even larger, than the original Viking Crown Lounge on Song of Norway which was also only accessible by stairs.

Right. Carnival and RCI have been doing this for decades, but I think RCI was much better at differentiating their ships for each brand. For example, the Radiance-class for Royal Caribbean and the Millennium-class for Celebrity were engineered with the same mechanicals and hull, but you’d never know that from looking at the ships or their deck plans. Carnival, however, just built identical ships and changed the funnels and decor. Glad to see they’re trying a bit harder with these new LNG classes.