We're in Awe of This Comically Gigantic Luxury Cruise Ship

Who decided this "monstrosity" was a good idea?

Absolute Unit

As if hulking luxury cruise ships weren't big enough already, Royal Caribbean International's Icon of the Seas is here to break all records — and all we can summon is awe of this absolute unit.

The vessel, which is set to become the world's largest cruise vessel, recently finished construction at a Finnish shipyard and is set to make its maiden voyage early next year.

Its scale is truly staggering. It's almost 1,200 feet long, weighs a quarter million tons — that's five times as heavy as the Titanic — and can carry 5,610 passengers and 2,350 crew members across 20 decks. It'll also feature six water slides, seven pools — one of which will be the "largest pool at sea" — and nine whirlpools. A "Central Park" will also feature "thousands of real plants," according to the company's website.

In short, it's an entire opulent municipality that can journey across the ocean — like a polluting, capitalistic wet dream.

Cruise Colossus

Even computer renders of the behemoth didn't sit well with social media pundits. One graphic shows the vessel in dizzying detail, with oversaturated colors giving it a hyperrealistic and almost nauseating feel.

"This feels like the setting Pixar would use for a movie anthropomorphizing all the nasty stuff that lives in your gut," quipped one Twitter user.

Others called it a "monstrosity," while some pointed out that trapping thousands of people on a single vessel could easily spread disease, a hallmark feature of an industry that led to plenty of COVID-19 outbreaks during the pandemic. Just today, CNN reported that norovirus outbreaks are again surging on cruise ships, despite years of decline in interest.

And it's not just its propensity to spread disease. The cruise ship industry is still a heavy polluter and a huge contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. According to a recent study, a large cruise ship has more of a CO2 emissions footprint than 12,000 cars.

Hopefully, the Icon of the Seas will fare better than the previous record holder for the largest cruise ship — which headed straight from shipyard to junkyard last year.

More on cruise ships: World's Largest Cruise Ship Headed Straight From Shipyard to Junkyard