Welcome to the Royal Caribbean blog podcast, a weekly look into the world of Royal Caribbean cruising.

I'm your host, Matt Hodgeberg, and this is episode number 168.

Royal Caribbean has built a reputation in the cruise industry for offering new game-changing innovations over the years.

From adding a rock climbing wall to offering balcony rooms that do not face the ocean, to robots that serve drinks,

Royal Caribbean has been at the forefront of altering their concept of what's possible on a cruise ship.

This week, we learned Royal Crimin is doing it all again with the Project Icon-class ships,

which have been announced as the next class of cruise ships that will revolutionize the way cruise ships are powered.

Let's discuss in this episode what we know about these new ships,

share the details of what to expect, and consider what the future may hold when these

brand new ships finally arrive. Here we go. Royal Caribbean has a history of pushing the envelope

and being an innovator in the cruise industry. There are plenty of great examples like

Sovereign of the Seas becoming the first mega ship in the cruise ship to redefining how big a cruise ship

could be with the Oasis class and even offering true high-speed internet with VOOM. And just last

week, Royal Caribbean did it again with the announcement of its project icon cruise ships. This

new class ships promises a lot, including a revolutionary approach to how ships can be powered.

And so this week, I wanted to look at this big announcement and discuss what this means for

real Caribbean fans and the cruise industry as a whole.

And to talk about big news, I'm turning to a man who gets just as excited about new ships.

And let's be honest, anything that everything that comes out of Royal Caribbean these days,

it's Michael Poole.

Michael, welcome back to the podcast.

Hi, Matt.

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