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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
It’s quadruplets! The world’s biggest cruise ship gets three
super-sized sister ships
By Maureen O'Hare, CNN
Updated:
2:00 AM EDT, Sat September 13, 2025
Source: CNN
In our travel roundup this week: the European capital with an
underwater labyrinth beneath its streets, why an Abu Dhabi surf company
believes it’s found “the perfect wave,” plus the rise and rise of
XXL cruise ships.
You’re going to need a bigger boat
The world’s largest cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, has been the
biggest hit Royal Caribbean has ever introduced, the CEO told Terry
Ward, reporting for CNN earlier this year. Now the Icon Class family is
expanding, with three equally hefty sister ships.
Star of the Seas entered service in August with Eastern and Western
Caribbean itineraries, which call at Royal Caribbean’s private
island, Perfect Day at CocoCay.
Legend of the Seas, which will be home to Category 6, the largest
waterpark at sea, was floated out for the first time at the start of
this month, ahead of its August 2026 debut.
The fourth member of the Icon Class gang, a yet-to-be-named mega-ship
which, like the others, will be more than 1,000 feet long and have a
capacity of around 5,610 passengers, officially started construction on
September 8. A keel-laying ceremony took place at Meyer Turku shipyard
in Finland, two years ahead of its 2027 debut.
More than 37 million passengers are expected to take a cruise in 2025
and, a Cruise Lines International Association spokesperson told CNN,
there appears to be on order than ever before.
Unique travel experiences, where the ship is as much a draw as the
destination, are how the bigger providers are making sure they stand
out in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Super-sized vessels
that can function as “cities at sea,” with endless restaurants,
bars, cinemas and waterslides to explore, are proving a lucrative way
to do this.
Norwegian Cruise Line’s newest ship, Norwegian Aqua, began cruising
out of Florida’s Port Canaveral this April with a passenger capacity
of 3,600. The cruise line has ordered four even bigger ships, carrying
5,000 passengers each, for delivery starting in 2030.
That same month, MSC Cruises debuted the 6,762-passenger MSC World
America, which sails on Caribbean itineraries out of the MSC Miami
Cruise Terminal, the largest cruise terminal in North America.
Carnival Cruise Line is also adopting a “go big or go home” ethos.
It plans to launch its most gargantuan cruise ship class ever in 2029,
when it takes delivery of the first of three ships with maximum
capacity for nearly 8,000 guests.
Riding waves is a state of mind
Surfers have been chasing the idea of the “perfect wave” since at
least the 1960s, but at premium watersport destination, they believe
they’ve found a version of it.
Using technology dreamed up by Kelly Slater, the most successful
professional surfer in history, the center is home to the longest
artificial wave in the world — but riding it does not come cheap. A
pool session with six waves costs $950, or a little over $150 per wave.
Elsewhere in sun-scorched Abu Dhabi, people are and hitting the beach
for night swims. It’s a way of maintaining fitness when summer
temperatures climb above 40 degrees Celsius, or 104 Fahrenheit.
The global surf tourism industry reaped $68.3 billion in 2024, and is
projected to hit $95.93 billion by 2030. , the “surf capital of the
Philippines,” is hoping to ride that wave. The island already has a
winning blend of natural beauty, community and adventure, but now a
cruise terminal, airport expansions and larger resort developments are
on the way.
You can be my wingman anytime
Amran is from a small town in Minnesota and had never flown on a plane
before. Then a free program dropped her and nine others into Times
Square. The American Exchange Project aims to give kids a whole new
perspective on just how much Americans really have in common.
In case you missed it
A luxury superyacht sank off the coast of Turkey, minutes after
launching.
Everyone on board was safely rescued. Watch the here.
The European capital with an hidden beneath its streets.
Plus it’s heated by geothermal springs.
How San Francisco’s Castro district became the .
It first earned the crown 60 years ago.
It was the scene of the world’s .
Now it’s a gateway for tourists.
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