Why this viral photo of the world’s largest cruise ship is polarizing opinion

By Jacopo Prisco, CNN

(CNN) — The world’s largest cruise ship hasn’t welcomed a single passenger aboard yet, but it’s already set the internet on fire.

The Icon of the Seas — which recently completed its first set of sea trials in preparation for its maiden voyage in January 2024 — has amazing credentials: 1,198 feet long (316 feet longer than the Titanic), 159 feet wide, 20 total decks and a maximum capacity of almost 10,000 people including all passengers and crew.

But when an image of its stern section went viral in July, it polarized opinions, eliciting passionate reactions on all sides. The artist’s impression depicted the fully laden ship in vibrant colors, emphasizing its massive water park — featuring record-breaking water slides — and conveying the ship’s extraordinary size and density.

Not everyone interpreted it as a delightful vision of lavish fun and relaxation at sea. It got billed as a “monstrosity,” a “pile of decadence,” and one user suggested a better name for it would be “Icon of Disease.” It was called “intricately tacky and vulgar” and compared to “being stuck on a floating Walmart” or “a barely balanced stack of full plates of food; chaotic, messy, possibly precarious.”

Many juxtaposed it to visions of hell, with one commenter suggesting a parallel with Hieronymus Bosch, a Dutch Renaissance artist known for his intricate infernal landscapes. Another gave a more contemporary cultural reference, saying the ship looks like the Candy Crush version of the dystopian underground world in “Silo,” a TV show in which humanity survives the apocalypse by retreating to a subterranean city, hundreds of levels deep.

But what is it about the image that provokes such strong emotions?

A trick of perspective?

“I found the rendering oddly unusual as well,” Tom Davis, a professor of psychology at the University of Alabama, tells CNN. “After looking a bit more closely, I think I find the unsettling nature an interesting combination of the artistic perspective chosen and post-pandemic personal space/social distance training that’s been drilled into all of us.”

Davis says the fact that this is a rendering, not an actual photograph, plays a crucial role. “It almost gives the impression of a short, over-tall, stacked vessel that is on choppy seas, but in reality this may be a trick of perspective, as the actual vessel is apparently three to four times longer than the idea I get by looking downward at the rendering. The images I’ve seen that are more in profile add a more reasonable, I think, sense of the height in context to the overall length.”

He adds that the reaction may be down to a lot of variables, including personal anxieties and phobias as well as personal experiences with resorts and cruises. “For some, a vessel this size with so much packed on it likely represents a lot of fun with ongoing activities and freedom from boredom. For others, they may have never been on a cruise and think this is too much to take in all at once,” he says.

“The choice will come down to one’s own experiences and personal makeup — are fears of social situations, the open water, small spaces a problem? Then this picture will trigger memories of everything from news stories of viruses to movies like ‘Jaws,’ ‘The Poseidon Adventure’ and ‘Titanic.’

“For others, their experiences with cruises and the numerous successful trips provide corrective information that leads them to view the situation differently.”

According to Adam Cox, a psychologist and phobia expert, the common description of the Icon of the Seas as “five times larger” than the Titanic may suggest the idea of a potentially larger disaster: “Even more so after the recent tragedy with the Titanic submarine,” he says. “This provokes a protective desire to prevent a similar tragedy.”

The levels on the ship also create a feeling of claustrophobia in some people, he continues, as they will perceive the ship to be a place where thousands are trapped, rather than enjoying a cruise holiday. “And for others, the candy colors make the ship seem like a toy, creating questions over safety that wouldn’t be there if the ship were in more neutral colors,” he adds.

Money maker

Jonathan Abramowitz, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, thinks the image comes across as quite harried and confusing: “Maybe it’s the idea of so much going on at once and the fact that it’s all taking place at sea, with nowhere to go if there was any sort of emergency.”

But Ross Klein, a sociologist at the Memorial University of Newfoundland and a cruise expert, says the ship’s design is a natural progression for Royal Caribbean, the Miami-based cruise line that owns the ship. “It is a bit comic-like, something with a mystical overtone. But it’s an extension of where they have been going in the past 25 years with their ship design.”

He believes the reactions are mostly based on previous experience with cruises. “I think the Royal Caribbean enthusiasts are going to look at this and go ‘Wow, something new! This is pretty exciting, I can’t wait to get out and see what’s going on there!,” he says.

“But the people who don’t cruise, or people who perhaps like a different style of cruising, such as smaller ships, ultra-luxury ships or the even something in between, they will see this as just a monstrosity and go, ‘Why would you ever do that?’”

Cruise expert Stewart Chiron agrees. “Images of Royal Caribbean’s ships have often elicited strong responses,” he tells CNN. “The negative responses to Icon of the Sea are evidently from non-cruisers. The current image is quite colorful and depicts a ship with lots of options. The positive responses far outweigh the others.”

A Royal Caribbean spokesperson, when contacted by CNN, did not comment on the feedback to this specific image, but said that since the Icon of the Seas was revealed in October 2022 there has been an “incredible reaction,” which has led to the highest volume booking week in the company’s history when sales opened.

With some sailings already sold out — and prices starting at around $2,000 per person for a seven-day cruise — the ship is likely to become a money-maker, according to Ross Klein. “Royal Caribbean is notable for exceeding 100% capacity on their ships. And part of that is they give people something to want to come on board for, and spend lots of money once they’re there,” he says.

“That ship’s gonna take in $10 million a week.”

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