When the world’s largest cruise ship sets off on its maiden voyage from the 305 to the Caribbean this evening, thousands of passengers—and everyone with a social media feed—will finally see if the Icon of the Seas lives up to its name.

Five times heavier than the Titanic, Royal Caribbean’s new behemoth turned heads after its initial unveiling last summer: The 20-deck, ~1,200-foot-long ship has 40 restaurants, seven pools, eight “neighborhoods,” and unconventional amenities like an escape room and a carousel. No wonder most of its inaugural seven-day trip will be spent at sea, with only three half-day stops along the way.

Pop the bubbly. This week, Royal Caribbean became the main Inter Miami jersey sponsor, and team captain Lionel Messi rang in the partnership by christening the Icon of the Seas in Florida fashion: pressing a soccer ball to a button that sent a bottle of champagne ziplining into the ship’s bow.

Cruises are crushing right now

The ceremony was fitting for an industry that’s celebrating an explosive comeback. Now that passenger ships have recovered from their Covid-era cesspool image, cruise line bookings are surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

• Bookings in November 2023 for 2024 cruises were about 20% higher than bookings in November 2019 for 2020 cruises, one analyst told Reuters.
• Royal Caribbean has rebounded especially well, roughly quadrupling its stock price from a pandemic low and recording its “single largest booking day” ever when reservations opened for Icon of the Seas in October 2022.

Repeat customers and youngins are boosting business for the cruise industry.

• Eighty-five percent of cruise passengers say they’d go again, according to the Cruise Lines International Association.
• More than two-thirds of 18- to 24-year-olds are at least somewhat interested in taking a cruise, per the analytics platform CivicScience.

And even watching cruises is popular—on TikTok, posts about Royal Caribbean’s nine-month cruise have more than 350 million views.

It comes at a price. Cruise ship emissions are up 6% from before the pandemic, according to the Climate TRACE coalition.—ML

New year, time for a new TV series. And we think this one will have ya glued to your screen.

From the executive producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific, Apple TV+ brings you Masters of the Air, an action-packed WWII drama told over nine episodes. (Just nine? Yep, you’ll fly through these in no time.)

With an all-star cast led by Academy Award nominees Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, Masters of the Air follows the story of the airmen who risked their lives with the 100th Bomb Group during WWII, creating a brotherhood unlike any other.

History buffs and entertainment aficionados, grab your popcorn. Masters of the Air is now streaming.

Jury decides Trump must pay $83.3 million to E. Jean Carroll. Yesterday, a federal jury found that the former president must fork over hefty damages to the columnist for defamatory statements he made in 2019 that denied her claims that he had raped her decades earlier. Last May, a different federal jury found Trump liable for defamation and sexual abuse and awarded her $5 million (Trump is appealing). Because of that, the jury in this second trial was only called upon to decide what damages Carroll should receive. Trump called the verdict “absolutely ridiculous,” and his lawyer said they would lodge an appeal of the new verdict “immediately.”

UN court orders Israel to prevent genocide, but doesn’t call for cease-fire. The International Court of Justice ruled yesterday that Israel must “take all measures within its power” to prevent a genocide in Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid to Palestinians there, but stopped short of demanding that Israel halt its offensive in the territory. The court’s ruling comes as a preliminary step in South Africa’s closely watched case accusing Israel of genocide, and it did not rule on the merits of that claim—which will likely take the court years to decide.

Jamie Dimon shuffles JPMorgan execs in possible search for successor. We’re pretty sure it didn’t involve a game of Boar on the Floor, but Jamie Dimon did find a way to heat up the battle to succeed him as head of the world’s biggest bank by changing up some leaders’ roles. COO Daniel Pinto will step aside from running the corporate and investment bank while continuing on as Dimon’s right hand, leaving room for two new execs to take over that division. But no matter who might be in position to come after him, Dimon probably doesn’t plan to step down any time soon.

Uncle Sam is shelving plans to ship more natural gas abroad. The Biden administration announced yesterday that it would temporarily halt approving new liquefied natural gas (LNG) export projects.

The pause will not affect existing exports or already permitted projects, but it’ll give the Energy Department some time to study how LNG exports affect climate change, national security, the local environment, and energy prices in the US before signing off on more.

Biden’s move is seen as an election-season “I gotchu” to environmental activists unhappy with his approval of a massive oil drilling project on federal lands in Alaska.

Gas boom times

The US didn’t export LNG before 2016, but the expansion of fracking during the 2010s quickly made it a top exporter…

• Export capacity has tripled since 2018, per the US Energy Information Administration, and it’s projected to almost double again by 2030.
• European countries have relied on American LNG as they ditch Russian imports amid the war in Ukraine, while some Asian nations use it as a (somewhat) cleaner alternative to coal.

The gas and oil industry predictably lashed out at the decision to pause approvals, as multiple not-yet-permitted projects along the Gulf Coast—the heart of the LNG export industry—are now up in the air.

But it probably won’t create gas shortages…since ongoing projects are enough to satisfy demand, analysts predict. Plus, officials say they can lift the moratorium if needed on national security grounds.—SK

Oversharers, your skills are finally being celebrated. In a hard pivot from last year’s “quiet luxury” trend, young people are posting on TikTok about their new plans to “loud budget,” which basically means setting spending goals and telling their friends about it.

The first mention of loud budgeting came in a TikTok from New York-based comedian Lukas Battle in December, where he compares it to sneaking candy into a movie theater, saying, “It’s not ‘I don’t have enough,’ it’s, ‘I don’t want to spend.’” Since then, the video has amassed more than 1.4 million views, and creators in the personal finance sphere have glommed onto the idea, encouraging people to set budgets and get their social circle involved for accountability. Tips include…

• Asking your friends to trade expensive dinners or trips for potlucks or free activities.
• Being upfront about not being able to do something because it’s out of your budget for the month.

Why now? It’s the start of 2024, and everyone is reflecting and setting goals. Plus, people are finally looking at their credit card statements after the last two years of making up for lost pandemic travel and buying Taylor Swift and Beyoncé tickets. Rising consumer spending drove the GDP up in the last two quarters, but a Nobel Prize-winning economist told the Wall Street Journal that ideas like loud budgeting have the potential to tamp that down.—MM

Stat: It’s time for another entry into the genre of surprisingly poignant retirements for NASA’s equipment on Mars. This week, Ingenuity, NASA’s little helicopter that could, just couldn’t anymore: After 72 flights in its three years on Mars, the copter’s $85 million mission was declared finished because of damage to its rotor blades. But even though its flying days are over, Ingenuity went out an overachiever. Intended by the space agency to be a 30-day technology demonstration that made no more than five test flights, the craft ultimately flew more than 14 times farther than planned and exceeded two hours of total flight time.

Quote: “Actions that may feel sudden to some may seem long overdue to others.”

New York City’s American Museum of Natural History, which gets 4.5 million visitors annually to see the squid and the whale, closed two galleries as museums around the country work to comply with new federal regulations requiring them to get consent from tribes before displaying Native American objects. The museum’s president, Sean Decatur, told staff the two exhibits, which focus on the Eastern Woodlands and the Great Plains, were “artifacts of an era” when museums did not respect Indigenous peoples’ values and perspectives. He said some objects might go back on display, while others may not.

Read: Social media is obsessed with movies and might just save them—if it doesn’t kill them first. (The Hollywood Reporter)

Awww: The winners of a world’s cutest photos contest (yes, there are puppies).

Try Steven Soderbergh’s media diet: Everything the director read and watched last year.

Get it altered: How to find a good tailor.

Fly in style: A ranking of US airlines from best to worst.

TV takes flight: Masters of the Air is the brand-new WWII drama following the airmen who risked their lives with the 100th Bomb Group. Watch it on Apple TV+.*

^{*A message from our sponsor.}