The world’s biggest cruise ship is specifically designed to give your friends FOMO

Social media has changed the way we holiday, there’s no doubt about it – from finding places to visit, to where we eat, sleep and explore.

But Royal Caribbean are well and truly leaning right into this, specially designing their newest – and biggest – cruise ship, Legend of the Seas, to specifically induce FOMO in your friends.

“There were real meetings and real conversations around the curation or the design of locations for people to take pictures at and to share,” Jason Liberty, CEO of Royal Caribbean Cruises, told nine.com.au.

“When you see this incredible thing in the centre of the ship, you see The Pearl, where thousands of pictures are taken on every voyage and sent to all your friends – you don’t see that it’s actually what holds up the centre structure of the ship.

“You don’t see that’s what actually [lets] the windows be three decks, four decks high. But when we saw that as a superstructure, we said, ‘what can we do to make it a FOMO moment?’

“We created and curated the space where people go and take pictures, and there’s places all around the ship.”

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And the father-of-four, who knows all too well the power of FOMO as a dad of teens who are guided by social media, is not joking.

The Pearl, which is the first thing you see when you walk onboard the icon class ship, weighs as much as a Boeing 747 and its primary task is to hold up the glass on the decks above it, with their aquadome the largest freestanding dome at sea.

But the number of people who stopped for photos at the multicoloured structure was constant across the four-night voyage.

There are beauty spots both for your own images and the ship’s many professional photographers.

They are placed all around and designed to sell you your holiday portraits like a ride at Disneyland would do.

But, if you don’t fancy your photo being taken at dinner in the dining room, there are a range of spots across the 18 decks and eight “neighbourhoods” of the ship that will get you snap happy.

From the aqua theatre, royal theatre and ice rink to the Surfside neighbourhood, dedicated to children’s enjoyment and filled with slides, a carousel and even its own sort of infinity pool.

There’s also an adults-only, Ibiza-inspired, The Hideaway. It’s a beach club style area with a bar, DJ and the first suspended infinity pool at sea, which is an impressive sight.

They’ve also got little touches on other parts of the ship to make you want to pull out the camera (or, let’s be real, phone).

There’s the very Instagramable Sushi & Ice Cream waffle cones in Central Park, which you’ll pay $US8 ($11.55) for, but it’s likely to become one of the things photographed onboard.

And they’ve ensured the cabin doors are metal, so guests can continue the long-standing cruise tradition of using magnets to decorate the door for anyone celebrating a special occasion.

It makes you smile as you walk along the corridors.

The Ship

The Finnish-built ship, which is only 4.5mm bigger than its predecessor Star of the Seas, is the first to have the hull designed by a computer and the design has made it more efficient – about 2 knots faster than other cruise ships, Captain Sindre Borsheim told media on board.

It’s intended to also provide extra comfort as it cuts the water differently, and I have to say when we first set sail out of Malaga en-route to Rome on a special media preview sailing, I actually couldn’t feel the ship move.

It was only when looking out from the balcony of our stateroom that I could tell we had moved away from land.

But winds and water are a fickle mistress and when they picked up during one of our sea days, you could definitely feel the bumps.

Although, during this time as all the decks were swiftly shut and passengers were ushered inside, the staff were great.

They also constantly advised people that sea sickness tablets were available from guest services if needed, which I wasn’t expecting.

Also, a reminder to be kind to the staff who, from this week’s maiden voyage in Europe, are setting off for seven months without a single day off.

The ship will cover Western Mediterranean routes for the Euro summer (until November), before moving to Florida in the US for Caribbean sailings out of Fort Lauderdale.

The Cabins

With the company realising that the cruising crowd now has more and more passengers on multi-generational holidays, the accommodation types reflect this.

The internal staterooms around the Surfside neighbourhood look into the kid’s paradise with their beds closer to the window. Other, larger rooms have bunk beds and a separate area for kids to stay and play.

But, for the more traditional, there are sea view balcony rooms also available.

In most cases, the sofa turns into a sofa bed, so one room can accommodate – though I wouldn’t say with much space to spare – two adults and two or three kids depending on their age and size (unless you can splash out on one of the suites).

The storage has been cleverly designed to even have a cupboard behind the mirror, and little shelves in otherwise unused corners of the room.

The bathroom has a ledge to make it easier to shower children and plenty of hanging space for wet swimsuits etc when the kids are done with the six waterslides on the top deck.

You will need to take your own conditioner and moisturisers (and sunscreen!) on board though, as the only amenities on offer in the bathroom are a 2-in-1 shower gel/shampoo and a bar of soap.

The Food

At maximum capacity, there can be up to 7600 guests (5610 guests at double occupancy) on board at any one time, this means – understandably – the food has to be prepared on a large scale.

For me, this was really apparent with fish and chicken dishes on different parts of the ship which were often “very well done”.

The buffet, named The Windjammer, is where this felt the most noticeable.

The included Dining Room, had a rotating menu with different dishes to choose each night, and they were largely very tasty, though you could tell it was all pre-prepared and ready to go.

My favourite grab-and-go spot was El Loco Fresh, which provided nachos, quesadillas, burritos and a make-it-yourself bar.

Where the food is beyond exception though, is the Hollywoodland Supper Club – on of the ship’s specialty restaurants, and a first for Royal Caribbean.

They provide a cocktail-paired eight-to-ten course degustation menu including langouste, lobster, caviar, as well as a choice of chicken cordon bleu, Wagyu filet or black cod for mains and more dessert than you can poke a stick at.

It’s all themed around the golden age of 1930s Hollywood with the menu moving from black and white to sepia and then technicolour, all while a jazz band plays paired music.

It’s not cheap – coming in at about $US236 ($340.60) including gratuities – but it’s well worth it if you can, especially if there’s a special occasion to celebrate.

If you’re wanting to splurge on just one speciality dining experience during your voyage but aren’t sure which of the 14 premium restaurants to choose from, most will have canape-style tasters in the middle of the day for you to sample, which can help you decide which one is best for you.

The Entertainment

The cruise ship’s design isn’t the only thing made to entice you to get snap happy and sharing on your socials, the entertainment’s a real treat for the senses as well.

But, I’d say don’t try to photograph it – I tried and failed to do it any justice, especially the ice dancing show Fusion and the aquatics themed show Shockwave.

I can admit defeat and would recommend just soaking it all in.

A condensed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical is a production worthy of the West End stage or Broadway and is well-worth catching.

It also features a child actor, the first time they’ve been able to do that, with young Oliver and Edward alternating a month each in the role to allow time for regular school and onboard tutoring. But their performances were exceptional.

And when the official shows are all wrapped up, there is one place I headed back to more than once and is definitely worth a visit – it’s the Duelling Pianos bar with Justin and Gina May keeping the place packed during our sailing.

This writer travelled as a guest of Royal Caribbean.