A 1992-built Sovereign-class ship — the one with the crown-and-anchor logo tiled into the pool deck — is now listed on a Miami brokerage for $40 million. That pencils out to about $541 per gross ton, roughly a fifteenth of what Icon of the Seas cost per ton. From here the two roads could hardly be further apart: a startup line's refit and a second life, or the breaker's beach in Aliaga, where both her sisters ended up.

"Code Alpha" and "Oscar, Oscar, Oscar" are crew-to-crew shorthand, not instructions for you — and they aren't even standardized from one line to the next. The one signal every passenger is actually trained to act on is seven short blasts followed by one long blast. We break down what the common codes reportedly mean and flag which ones are genuinely documented.

It comes down to price vs. breadth. Carnival runs lower 7-night fares and a louder, party-friendly vibe; Royal Caribbean typically costs 15–20% more but brings the biggest ships, more destinations, and Perfect Day at CocoCay. We go category by category — fares, dining, cabins, private islands — so you can pick the right line for your trip.