Zaandam and Icon---butt view.

[Mosaic]

Pic from the Sailaway in Miami---size comparison! The smoke in front was a yacht having some issues.

[lcand1923]

There was an article about the Icon in the Sunday paper.  I just couldn’t visual the size of the vessel.  Your picture helped a lot.  Thanks for posting this.

 

[Zyc]

The picture definitely confirms that HAL's ships remain our first choice.  The Icon is a monster.

[Sir PMP]

The good, the bad and the ugly.

[OlsSalt]

I thought that was a picture of some shore-side condos, next to the Zaandam.

[JohnCoffield]

I've always said that size isn't everything...this picture really does confirm that we won't be moving from HAL anytime soon.

[CruiserBruce]

I would be curious to see the employee-pax ratio. Would seem to need more employees to maintain all those rides, etc.

[sunviking90]

Gosh, you could almost fit the Zaandam in one” cheek” on the Icon! 🤭 

[vicd1969]

It took me awhile to realize the ship on the top of the photo is not the Icon. I was thinking - that ship doesn't look so much bigger than the Zaandam - then realized those "apartment buildings" on the right was the true Icon 😁

[crystalspin]

23 minutes ago, vicd1969 said:

 those "apartment buildings" on the right was the true Icon 😁

Apartment buildings with the amusement park on their roofs.

[DCThunder]

Somewhere in that picture is a joke about "junk in the trunk", Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, butt implants, and videos of well-endowed ladies in micro-bikinis on yachts on the Miami River, but I'm not sure exactly what that joke is or if it could be told on this board. 🍹

[OlsSalt]

I guess HAL is picking up some extra cash,  offering to be a tender for the Icon.

[cruisemom42]

I've always tried to be one who "never says never" but I'm 99.99% sure that ship would get a hard pass from me.

[CNSJ]

I'll take the one on the left.  Sticking with HAL.  

[POA1]

9 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

I thought that was a picture of some shore-side condos, next to the Zaandam.

No. We live in some shoreside condos. They are nowhere near that big. 😁

[Hobar]

The largest ship I’ve sailed in the past 30 years had a max of 600 pax.  I can’t even imagine.

[iceman93]

I'm sure that the same picture in the RCCL boards would generate a lot of "you'd never catch me dead on that tiny, boring ship on the left" posts.  Which is fine--different strokes, and all that.  But yes, without ever having sailed on an ...of the Seas ship, I am quite content continuing to sail with HAL.

[GeezerCouple]

7 hours ago, crystalspin said:

Apartment buildings with the amusement park on their roofs.

 

Heh.

I was so focused on comparing the front ship with the smaller one behind it...

... "Okay, it's got a lot more decks, but I can't tell from this view how long the ship is"...

That I didn't even notice "what was on the shore".  😲

 

I'm 100% certain I wouldn't be on something as large as that Icon of Monstrosity, unless 

there was some sort of emergency.  Certainly *not* for a vacation!

But some of that also reflects the number of children that would probably be on board.  And that's fine.  If we are not traveling with the grands, then we'd prefer not to have hoards of children running into us.  (Yes, that happened the one time we went on "the wrong ship" at "the wrong time of year", and that's what we call "one trial learning"! 😱)

 

GC

[pmjnh]

Oh my gosh, I would never step foot on that monster of a ship. I remember our very first cruise on RCCL's tiny little Song of America...700 passengers.  Great photo!

[ROUS]

We were on the Zaandam as she passed.  We prefer ours to theirs.

[iowacruiser]

20 hours ago, JohnCoffield said:

I've always said that size isn't everything...this picture really does confirm that we won't be moving from HAL anytime soon.

Agreed... Dealing with a mass of humanity isn't my idea of a relaxing vacation.

[GeezerCouple]

How does Noordam compare to Zaandam?

Thus far, the Noordam is the only HAL ship we've been on, and we loved it.

(Of course, part of the love was felt towards the Lincoln Center music...)

 

The size of the ship was great for us (without any grands).

 

GC

[RedIguana]

22 hours ago, CruiserBruce said:

I would be curious to see the employee-pax ratio. Would seem to need more employees to maintain all those rides, etc.

Icon is listed as 5610 passengers double occupancy, and 7600 maximum capacity. Crew is listed as 2350. So 2.39:1 at double occupancy, up to 3.23:1 for maximum. From wiki.

Curiously double occupancy on Icon is less than Wonder of the seas (5734), and roughly the same as the other Oasis class ships. It is the maximum capacity that is greater by 500-600 passengers over the Oasis class.

The Oasis class added about 10k gross tons between Oasis and Wonder, and Wonder is only about 12k gross tons less than Icon, vs the 22k gross ton difference from Oasis.

These numbers and speculation is based on wikipedia.

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

Personally I love sailing on ships of all sizes since they each offer something different. The smaller ones can get into great ports and typically offer a much more relaxing vacation, but the bigger ones offer so much more to do for those that like to be active. I just debarked two very large ships and took part in things like the go carts, rope courses, and a super fun water vertical drop slide. All things which are perfect for adrenaline junkies like myself (I would have also ridden the roller coaster but it was broke lol).

 

These supersized girls like the Icon are truly engineering wonders and offer so much in terms of unique activities and entertainment! Unless you have mobility issues that prevent walking long distances, I can't think of a single reason not to enjoy them. The way that the neighborhoods are set up, these ships move passengers around better than most.

 

I also think it's important to note that space ratios indicate that the Icon will "Feel" less crowded than every ship sailing in the HAL line. I've sailed on several ships in the same size category and can attest that these ships do feel less crowded than most. The space ratio of the Icon is 44.32. Here are the space ratios of each of HAL's ships (the higher the number the better). As you can see, the Icon should 'feel' less crowded than the beloved much smaller Zaandam.

https://cruisefever.net/most-crowded-cruise-ships-by-passenger-space-ratio/

 

 

Of course, the massive ships can not get into most ports. But if/when doing the typical bus runs, I would gladly sail on any of the "behemoth of the seas".  When looking for more interesting itineraries you will have to look elsewhere. 

 

Getting on the Koningsdam next week. Compared to the industry, her space ratio is quite poor so I am prepared for her to feel much more crowded, but I know I'll have a wonderful time doing things more cerebral in nature and we are headed to Tahiti so what's not to love?

 

For me, there is a time and place for ships of all sizes and I appreciate each for the unique experience offered. 

 

PS: This is the 'vertical drop' waterslides on NCL away class. Soooo much fun (but obviously not for everyone).... This is not my video:

 

 

[Toofarfromthesea]

It's not a one size fits all world.