Royal Caribbean had initially planned to debut the ship in the UK before it sailed to the US, however president and chief executive Michael Bayley said plans had since changed.

Speaking at a showcase event for the ship in Miami, he explained: “If we can bring it into Southampton we will, we’ve made that commitment before, but times and schedules have changed and we’re still finalising all the details. If we can’t bring the ship to Southampton we’ll bring thousands [of UK] travel agents to Miami on a series of fam trips. We’re very excited to welcome them all onboard Icon." 

The line will take delivery of Icon at the end of October or early November 2023, ahead of its inaugural sailing from its homeport of Miami at the end of January 2024.

Bayley said: “When we take delivery of the first ship of a class there are a series of things we need to do to prepare it for operations, which usually takes six to eight weeks. So we’ll use that time to bring the ship into various ports to show it off to travel partners.” 

Vicki Freed, senior vice-president of sales and trade support and service, said the biggest challenge for agents will be understanding the 28 room categories across the ship, 14 of which are new. A new training course on the stateroom offering launches on Thursday (20 October) on the Royal Caribbean University for American agents, which will be made available to UK agents.