Icon of the Seas and Adora Magic City: breathing new life into cruise interiors

Not only is Icon of the Seas the largest cruise ship in the world by gross tonnage, but it is a herald of change, ushering in Royal Caribbean’s new Icon class. As our in-depth feature on Icon of the Seas reveals, this ship and its 20 decked-out decks hit new heights when it comes to interior features. 

There are a whole host of jaw-dropping new designs and spaces. Tailor-made art on board includes a life-size bowhead whale hanging in the Pearl Cafe eatery, and a huge 3D art installation, the Kaos star, set in the dozens of metres between the ship’s funnels. Also new are the Overlook and Overlook Pods in the vessel’s AquaDome neighbourhood, consisting of an elevated lounge and ‘nooks at sea’. Indeed, the AquaDome is the largest single structure of glass and steel ever to be lifted onto a cruise ship.

Keeping with the theme of large cruise ships but shifting from the US to China, Carnival Corp and China State Shipbuilding Corp’s joint venture Adora Cruises’ first ship will no doubt lead the way for many more large cruise ships to be built in country and specifically to Chinese consumer tastes.

Its interior design undoubtedly outstrips cruise ships previously built in China. Lloyd’s Register, which classed the ship, commented, “Adora Magic City is likely to mark a new beginning for the Chinese cruise sector. It will provide an unprecedented cruise experience for customers, with significantly higher outfit standards, larger cabins, more space generally, as well as international components, Fincantieri-designed cabins, and so on.”

This cruise ship certainly has the power to unlock a cruise market in China that is ripe for the picking. The country’s growing middle classes have an appetite for travel.

And for a vessel interiors industry looking for signs of a reawakening in passenger shipbuilding, the launch of two super-sized vessels on separate sides of the globe is a good start to 2024.

Elsewhere, as our first newsletter for 2024 reveals, the ship refurbishment market is making continued progress, bounding back both in the cruise and ferry sectors. Viking Cinderella has undergone an exciting makeover, while Windstar Cruises’ trio of sailing cruise ships have undergone a multi-million-pound makeover.