“Huzzah!” shout the children,dashing off to draw up a Mars mission module which will cost $300 trillion and hold the total population of China.

Not everyone is a fan of such huge ships,of course. Recent comments on a friend’s Facebook post about the launch of Icon elicited such disparaging gems as “That’s what they call human lasagne” and “I thought it was a cake”.

Well,you can’t please everyone but someone must like it because the first fare-paying sailing (as opposed to us freeloading media types) has already sold out and the rest of 2024 is filling up fast. When bookings first opened,way back in October 2022,Royal Caribbean reported its single largest booking day in its 53-year history. Not bad for a ship that can take 7600 passengers at a pinch (plus 2350 crew).

With Miami as its home base,Icon of the Seas will be calling in at ports in either the eastern or western Caribbean,with every week-long trip calling in at Perfect Day at CocoCay,Royal Caribbean’s private island in the Bahamas. Guests and media departed Sunday for a preview cruise. The first cruise with paying passengers will leave on January 27. Prices start from $A3014 per person.

The writer travelled as a guest of Royal Caribbean.