Icon of the Seas Itinerary & Home Port: Where Will It Sail?

The Icon of the Seas is making waves (sorry) for its amazing onboard features. As the biggest ship in the world, it is packed with things to see and do, as well as plenty of shops, restaurants, bars and more.

But despite everything there is to do on board, a cruise is about the experience as well as the ship. What matters just as much, for many people, is where the ship is sailing to, and where it departs from as well. So, let’s take a look…

Where Will Icon of the Seas Sail To?

Icon of the Seas will sail to the Eastern and Western Caribbean. Itineraries will almost always include a visit to Perfect Day at CocoCay – the private resort owned by Royal Caribbean, with a new adults-only beach opening for the ship’s launch.

While the itineraries will vary throughout the year, CocoCay will be almost ever-present on the Icon of the Seas route.

Guests will be able to enjoy everything that the island has to offer, including the Thrill waterpark with its 13 water slides, including the tallest in North America (although with Icon featuring six amazing water slides of her own, you might be all waterslided-out).

There’s also the Coco Beach Club, which has the first over-water cabanas in the Bahamas, although expect demand for these to be high – try to book early if you can. If you want the best views, you’ll want to book on the Up, Up & Away excursion with a helium balloon adventure.

CocoCay will also open the new Hideaway Beach when Icon of the Seas debuts. This will be an adults-only oasis and will include its own large pool, and private cabanas with their own pools too. Again, expect this to be very popular.

One itinerary doesn’t sail to CocoCay, but instead sails to Labadee, which is Royal Caribbean’s private Haitian resort.

There are seven Icon of the Seas itinerary 2024 & 2025 options that will be offered:

Unless you have a specific port of these that you really want to visit, the experiences at the Icon of the Seas destinations will be relatively similar – expect a vibrant and welcoming culture, plenty of great bars, expansive beaches that are great for the kids and some unique gift shops. 

Obviously, each does have some unique excursions and cultural landmarks, so it’s worth researching the ports first if you can’t decide on a specific date.

Where Will Icon of the Seas Sail From?

Icon of the Seas will sail from Miami year-round. Most of Royal Caribbean’s larger ships tend to offer winter seasons around North America, and summer seasons in Europe, but Icon will be based in Miami permanently, at least initially.

The Icon of the Seas home port will be Port Miami. The ship will sail from Terminal A, which is the largest cruise terminal in the USA and is perfectly suited to host the largest cruise ship in the world.

There’s always the chance that plans could change – that’s the beauty of cruise ships, they can be moved. Royal Caribbean may shake things up and bring Icon of the Seas to Europe or Asia in future. But initially, the ship will call Miami its home for the entire year.

Miami is already the busiest cruise port in the world, so it’s no surprise that the largest ship in the world will also choose this city as its home port. Just bear in mind how many people may be travelling to the port on your departure day, and allow enough time to get there.

When Will Icon of the Seas Sail?

Icon of the Seas will sail all year round, starting in January 2024. There won’t be any downtime – guests can book a cruise from Miami to the Caribbean at any time of the year, including over Christmas.

You should be aware that the Caribbean does have a hurricane season that runs from early June to late October. This could impact your itinerary, if you decide to cruise on Icon of the Seas during these months.

You’ll be perfectly safe – all modern cruise ships are equipped with advanced tech to help them avoid storms. But it could mean that some days in port have to be cancelled, or your itinerary re-arranged, if the weather blocks the ship from docking.

Read more: What Happens If There Is A Hurricane While On A Cruise?

Of course, there isn’t a better ship in the world for this to happen on – it’s not like you’ll be bored having to spend another day on Icon!

Even if you miss CocoCay, you still get an incredible resort experience on your ship. You might just have to make do with 6 waterslides instead of the 13 on the island.

Icon of the Seas’ Maiden Voyage

The inaugural sailing of Icon of the Seas takes place on 27th January, 2024 from Miami. Before this, she will sail across the Atlantic Ocean from the Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland with delivery of the ship due in late 2023.

There may be some initial sailings before the initial inaugural cruise – these won’t be open to paying customers, but will be for PR purposes and will include press visitors and celebrities. Details of these haven’t yet been made public but may be nearer the time.

Expect the early sailings to be extremely popular. People love to be one of the first to cruise on any ship – never mind the fact that it’s a Royal Caribbean ship, which is always a popular choice, and it’s the biggest in the world.

If you don’t book early, you might find that the ship sells out fast for the first couple of months, even with the capacity for 7,600 guests. But if you do want to sail on Icon of the Seas, you hopefully won’t have to wait too long to find a date that works for you.

To Conclude

Choosing to base Icon of the Seas in the Caribbean all year round is not a huge surprise from Royal Caribbean, especially with the money that’s been invested in turning CocoCay into the amazing resort that it is.

If you’re looking to book a cruise on Icon of the Seas, you know that you’ve got one home port to contend with, and it’s mostly about finding a date that works for you – unless you have a specific Mexican or Caribbean destination you want to tick off your list.

And if you were hoping to sail in Europe on Icon of the Seas, there’s always the second and third Icon-class ships yet to be revealed – there’s a good chance one of those will be stationed on the eastern side of the Atlantic, at least for part of the year.

Related Posts:

• What Can You Do For Free at CocoCay?
• Icon of the Seas Vs Titanic
• What is Icon Class on Royal Caribbean?