PortMiami reclaims its status as the world’s cruise capital with the grand debut of Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, epitomizing a new era of post-pandemic cruising. The $2 billion vessel, boasting unprecedented amenities and capacity, symbolizes a resurgence for both Royal Caribbean and the port, setting sail alongside a fleet of new ships and marking a pivotal moment in the industry’s recovery.
By Katelin Stecz
On January 27th, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, the largest cruise ship in the world, made its maiden voyage from PortMiami. Miami residents watched from land while passengers waved goodbye and then began exploring the 1,1197-foot-long ship, bound for a seven-day island-hopping cruise through the Eastern Caribbean.
With 20 decks, seven swimming pools, an ice rink, and more than 40 restaurants, bars, and lounges, Icon of the Seas is more like a small city than a ship; indeed, the ship’s population of 7,600 passengers and 2,350 crew members rivals that of many towns across the U.S. Guests can enjoy live music, comedy shows, theater productions, and casino gambling, while kids can glide down the largest onboard water slides in the world.
Costing $2 billion to build, Icon of the Seas is more than just a cruise ship. For both Royal Caribbean and PortMiami, it represents a new era of post-pandemic cruising. Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley calls the ship a “transition from being a traditional cruise vacation to being a world-class, multigenerational family option” on par with any land-based destination experience. For the port, it is the cherry on top of a resurgent pride of place as Cruise Capital of the World. PortMiami briefly lost that designation to Port Canaveral during the pandemic but recaptured it in fiscal 2023 with a record breaking 7.3 million passengers, its busiest year ever.
“The port continues to drive our economy forward,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said when the 2023 figures were released. “The port is an industry leader, which is future ready…” Combining its cruise and cargo capabilities, PortMiami contributes an estimated $43 billion to the local economy and supports more than 334,500 jobs. In addition to last year’s cruise passenger figures, the port also moved more than one million twenty-foot containers (TEUs) for the nineth consecutive year.
On the cruise side the growth is tangible. Royal’s Icon is just one of the eight new ships PortMiami welcomed for the 2023-2024 cruise season. Oceania Vista, Carnival Cruise Line Costa Venezia, Scenic Eclipse II, Crystal Cruises Serenity, MSC Cruises Explora I, Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian VIVA and Regent’s Seven Seas Grandeur all began voyaging from Miami in fiscal year 2024, which began October first.
The port has also opened three new cruise terminals since the pandemic, for Norwegian, Carnival, and Virgin Voyages, with another under construction for MSC. Royal Caribbean will be adding another new berth in 2027. Moving forward, PortMiami will finalize its shower power project this spring. The partnership between PortMiami, Florida Power & Light, and its cruise partners (Carnival Corporation, MSC Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean Group, and Virgin Voyages) will allow three cruise ships to simultaneously plug into shore power at five different cruise terminals, reducing air emissions.
For the moment, however, all eyes are on the Icon. Prior to setting sail, even Argentine soccer star Lionel Messi joined the excitement by christening the ship. “In comparison with previous first-in-class launches, Icon has knocked this just out of the park,” says Royal Caribbean’s Bayley. “We’ve never seen the response that we’ve seen with Icon. It’s been genuinely unbelievable from every single metric that you would want to look at.”
