Looking for your next big family holiday? These floating theme parks might float your boat!
This Saturday the world’s biggest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas – which has 7,600 guests, seven swimming pools and 22 restaurants – is finally due to set sail from Miami.
Weighing 250,800 tonnes, the huge vessel is even longer than The Shard is tall, with 2,350 crew members patrolling its 20 fun-filled docks.
From an ice arena to a sunken private ship, every inch of the Royal Caribbean liner is packed with treasures to explore.
Central Recorder’s travel expert Lisa Minot hopped on board this week to navigate its eight distinct neighbourhoods – including Thrill Island, which boasts a terrifying walk-the-plank adventure where you step out 16 decks above the ocean.
For the real high-spenders, the £59,000-a-week Ultimate Family Townhouse is a theme park in itself, featuring a helter-skelter slide, a whirlpool and even a karaoke room.
So, how do the ship’s amazing features compare to some of the world’s other biggest cruise liners?
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Harmony of the Seas, Royal Caribbean
Capacity: 6,780
Fairground carousels, zip lines, and surf simulators… this is a boat that truly rocks.
Harmony of the Seas is one of Royal Caribbean’s Oasis-class ships, meaning it packs a city’s worth of shops and restaurants, as well as the iconic Ultimate Abyss slide, which plunges over 10 storeys.
It was also the first ship to feature the ‘Perfect Storm’ trio of slides, which includes a ‘champagne bowl’-style water ride over three floors. For dads who fancy themselves as suave-Bond style gamblers, there’s the Casino Royale in the evening, which offers table games including Blackjack, roulette, craps, and Caribbean Stud Poker.
MSC Virtuosa, MSC Cruises
Capacity: 6,334
There’s two F1 simulators and bowling alleys on this high-tech ship, which also has the longest LED ceiling at sea running through its central promenade. But budding space explorers need to visit the Starship Club for a true glimpse of the future.
Alongside visions of 3D holograms, visitors can be served cocktails by a humanoid robotic bartender named Rob.He can even give Star Wars’ C-3PO a run for his money – speaking English, Italian, Spanish, French, German, Brazilian Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese.
Panorama, Carnival Cruise Line
Capacity: 5,146
Fancy a cycle on this cruise liner? You best have a head for heights. The Panorama’s SkyRide lets two daredevils zoom around a bike course suspended high above the waves in a pedal-powered go-mobile.
For those preferring to keep it (a little) more on the ground, the 3,000sq ft SkyZone has an incredible indoor trampoline park where the kids can play gravity-defying basketball or dodgeball games. And grown-ups can brush up on their sushi-rolling and BBQ skills in cooking masterclasses, which are even run by celebrity chefs like Emeril Lagasse.
Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Cruise Line
Capacity: 4,903
The Beatles fans can Come Together on the Norwegian Bliss, where a tribute band plays all the hits from the Cavern Club in the evenings. But the real thrills come from its impressive electric car race track, which is the largest of its kind at sea.
Running almost 1,000ft across two decks, you can unleash your inner boy racer on a vehicle that reaches up to 50km/h.
If that doesn’t sate your need for speed, whizz down the Ocean Loops waterslide, which features two loops and hangsover the SIDE of the ship.
Disney Wish, Disney Cruise Line
Capacity: 4,000
Welcome to Disney World at sea!
The Disney Wish is the biggest ship in the Disney Cruise Line fleet and will keep kids entertained all holiday long with attractions like AquaMouse, a water coaster ride with Mickey and Minnie.
For the little Elsas, Arendelle: A Frozen Dining Adventure brings the hit film to life in 360 degrees around a central stage, while the windows flare with the dancing lights of the Aurora Borealis.
Parents will at least be entertained to by the Nordic-inspired dishes on offer – alternatively, the 1923 restaurant (celebrating the year Disney was founded) offers Californian-inspired gourmet grub and wines.
MSC Seashore, MSC Cruises
Passengers: 5,632
They’re often called floating cities, but the MSC Seashore really does bring New York to you. An astonishing lobby is lit up with Times Square billboards and four-storey high images of the city’s skyline, while a mini Statue of Liberty looms over the bar.
The theme extends outside too, with the Long Island pool overlooking a huge cinema screen – and connected to an aquapark with an elaborate Pirates Cove. The exclusive Yacht Club also includes a 24-hour concierge and butler service, with access to a private panoramic indoor-outdoor lounge, two private restaurants and two private pools. But you’ll have to pay up!
Arvia, P&O Cruises
Capacity: 5,200
This mega-ship, which launched at the end of 2022, will suit golf enthusiasts down to a tee. There’s a nine-hole mini-golf course on the top deck, above which towers a high-ropes course for those who fancy dangling around 177 feet above sea-level. The three-storey Grand Atrium is a perfect spot to watch astonishing aerial displays from daredevil performers, alongside magicians and ‘buskers’. It also boasts the first ever escape room at sea, set on board the fictional submarine Arvia II, where guests can encounter sunken cities and underwater creatures in a dazzling 3D experience.
The ten-deck Ultimate Abyss slide isn’t for the faint-hearted and Icon of the Seas is almost as long as the Empire State Building.