The Chase for the ‘Largest Cruise Ship in the World’
Royal Caribbean International announced on October, 20th 2022 the construction and concept for their largest ship yet, the Icon of the Seas. Headquartered in Miami, FL, Royal Caribbean has been leading the cruise ship industry with technological innovation, record-breaking tonnage, and the endless optimization of their onboard entertainment and vacation itinerary.
RCCL has been making ‘the world’s largest cruise ships’ for decades, and has dominated the list with ships such as:
These titanic Cruise ships are essentially floating cities; each with the ability to hold, feed, house, and entertain nearly 7,000 guests at a time. RCCL has been breaking its own records for largest cruise ship without much interference from other corporations, only with slight competition from MSC’s World Europa cruise which holds 6,762 passengers.
The Icon of the Seas
The Icon of the Seas will yet again, put another RCCL ship at the front of the chase for largest cruise ship, a joust Royal Caribbean has been winning for years. The Icon of the Seas is expected to finish construction in 2024, and is equipped with some jaw dropping features. For starters, the Icon of the Seas will have the self-proclaimed largest waterpark at sea, with six ‘record-breaking’ slides and seven pools throughout the ship. In addition to water activities, the ship will also have eight entire neighborhoods, for families, bachelors, and other guests spread throughout the vessel.
The Icon of the Seas is being marketed as a ship large enough to provide everybody with the vacation they want. Opening the gates to all kinds of vacation-seekers, the Icon of the Seas, upon announcement, saw RCCL’s “single largest booking day in its 53-year history when reservations opened.”
The Icon of the Seas will be separated into eight distinct ‘islands’. These Islands are:
Each of these sections provide distinct diversions with their own unique charm and service. With a high end Sushi restaurant, 3 story tall family townhouses, and the first suspended infinity pool onboard a cruise ship, Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas is accomplishing many unprecedented marvels for the passenger travel industry that will disrupt how cruise ships will look and function in the coming decades.
The Reality with Larger Ships:
The greater the capacity of a ship, the more RCCL can increase profits. This pursuit of increased profit, however, leads to increased negligence and endangerment for the passengers on board their ships. With ships as large as cities, passengers, isolated at sea, are subject to the same dangers that general urban living provides but on a much more concentrated level. Thousands of passengers every year sustain Injuries on cruise ships, regardless of the cruise line or the destination. What happens once you are injured, however, is largely dependent on which ship you chose to take.
If you have been Injured on board an RCCL ship, your lawsuit claim must be filed in Federal Court in Miami, no matter where around the world you fell.
This unknown fact places many unfortunate passengers who were victims of RCCL’s negligence in a whirlwind of confusing paperwork and misunderstandings which require an experienced maritime attorney to help solve.
What To Do If You Get Injured on a Royal Caribbean Cruise:
The very first step you should do if you are injured on board a cruise is make sure you receive the proper medical attention you need. Oftentimes, shipboard medical doctors misdiagnose injuries, so it is important that, when possible, you seek a second opinion on your injury immediately. If you are injured on board a RCCL Cruise, you, or somebody close to you, should also try and take photos of the location where you were injured, and make sure you do not wear the same shoes if you slipped as they might be admitted as evidence. Royal Caribbean International, like many other cruise companies, make their passengers sign contracts and documents that might interfere with the necessary legal course of action that follows a negligent injury, so make sure you do not sign anything without speaking with a lawyer first.
The next step you should take is speak with us. Many passengers frequently doubt the severity of their claim, and can either undermine or overestimate the value of their lawsuit. This is one major reason why you should always speak with a lawyer to find out how much you might be entitled to, and whether your claim is worth pursuing.
Suing cruise ships is no easy task; federal court poses a set of unique legal challenges distinct to Maritime Law which forces both the plaintiff and defense attorneys into a state of focus and litigation. You need experienced lawyers to sue cruise lines, and our office has over 60 combined years of representing injured passengers from around the world. Contact us today if you, or somebody you know, has been injured on an RCCL – or other- Cruise Line.
