Could the Icon start sailing before Jan?

[volk904]

I read that the Icon was going to do sea trials in mid June.  I know that after that even if there is no issues there is still a lot of work to co finish out the ship but unless  problems develop could the ship be ready sooner? I know that built in extra pad to allow for any unknown issues with the new design.  Just seems like sea trials are usually not 7 months out from the first cruise.  

[PhillyFan33579]

No. 
 

[Ourusualbeach]

2 hours ago, volk904 said:

I read that the Icon was going to do sea trials in mid June.  I know that after that even if there is no issues there is still a lot of work to co finish out the ship but unless  problems develop could the ship be ready sooner? I know that built in extra pad to allow for any unknown issues with the new design.  Just seems like sea trials are usually not 7 months out from the first cruise.  

I've heard talk of some December sailings possibly being added to her schedule. 

[sowhat]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I've heard talk of some December sailings possibly being added to her schedule. 

If that's  the case,  Micheal Bailey  should  stick  to his word  when he promised  the ship to have a trade sailing  in Southampton UK

[ReneeFLL]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I've heard talk of some December sailings possibly being added to her schedule. 

So that means I won’t be on the inaugural cruise? 😫

[molly361]

22 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

So that means I won’t be on the inaugural cruise? 😫

I seem to remember that happening with one ship years ago. Lots of people thinking they were going on the inaugural sailing and the ship started earlier  Bummer

Edited May 7, 2023 by molly361

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, ReneeFLL said:

So that means I won’t be on the inaugural cruise? 😫

They will still treat it as the inaugural with all the givevaways, it just may not be the first revenue sailing.

[Billy Baltic]

3 hours ago, sowhat said:

If that's  the case,  Micheal Bailey  should  stick  to his word  when he promised  the ship to have a trade sailing  in Southampton UK

Sailing an Oasis class ship out of Southampton in December? The board would be asking for sanity checks on Bailey. 

[sowhat]

13 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

Sailing an Oasis class ship out of Southampton in December? The board would be asking for sanity checks on Bailey. 

Icon of the the Seas is not a Oasis  class of ship

[molly361]

Never mind 

Edited May 7, 2023 by molly361

[shof515]

it can be normal for a brand new ship, and/or brand new first in the class to do a few travel agent/invited guest sailings before the first official inaugural cruise that is open to the general public

[Billy Baltic]

38 minutes ago, sowhat said:

Icon of the the Seas is not a Oasis  class of ship

True. I stand corrected but the point is still valid. Icon is designed for warm weather. It would be wasted in the UK in winter and very uncomfortable with everyone indoors. 

[sowhat]

47 minutes ago, Billy Baltic said:

True. I stand corrected but the point is still valid. Icon is designed for warm weather. It would be wasted in the UK in winter and very uncomfortable with everyone indoors. 

Michael Bayley described the 5,000-passenger Icon of the Seas – which will the first new class of ship for Royal Caribbean since 2014 – as the line’s “newest class of genuinely game changing ships”, which he said the line had spent five years designing.

He stressed the importance of the UK market which he said had been significant to the line “almost since the beginning of the company”.

“I don’t see that ever changing,” he added. “In fact, it’s so important that I promise you will bring Icon of the Seas into Southampton. The UK will be the first country and market that we will bring this incredible ship.

“We’ll do a huge trade event in the UK and Ireland – we’ll invite all of our travel partners to see the biggest, best, most stunning exciting product on the planet. I can’t commit on the date,” he said.

[smokeybandit]

This is a brand new design. They will find issues during sea trials.

[twangster]

If they find themselves with an opportunity to squeeze in a few pre-inaugural revenue "shakedown" cruises they will.   Remember Symphony?

 

Plus there will be media cruises before the inaugural.  

[CruisingWalter]

On 5/6/2023 at 11:26 PM, volk904 said:

Just seems like sea trials are usually not 7 months out from the first cruise.  

 

Wonder of the Seas sea trials were August 2021. Inaugural sailing was March 2022.  7 months almost to the day.  Sea Trials are held rather early in the finishing process and before much of the inside is completed. This is due to the vibration and noise checks throughout the ship before all the finishings are added. Captain Kate documented a lot of the noise and vibration testing during the sea trials of Celebrity Beyond and it's clear, the ship is still basically a skeleton inside during the trials. Sensors were placed on the raw steel to measure the vibration transfer and noise throughout the ship. That could only be done before the flooring and other finishing went in.  7 months from sea trials to finish seems about right for the first in a brand new class of ship. They will probably discover some unexpected issues when she gets out to sea for the first time. 

[Oceansaway17]

RCI just has to make sure that they not repeat what happened when Harmony OTS went first to UK and ship was not really ready.