Cling on off the starboard bow!

DAVE MONK FINDS HIMSELF SUSPENDED OVER THE SIDE OF THE WORLD'S BIGGEST CRUISE SHIP ON A THRILLING VOYAGE

MY legs were trembling and my heart racing, but I gingerly stepped over the side of the biggest cruise ship in the world and was sent flying 154ft above the ocean.

Thankfully, I was securely strapped into a harness on an overhead track, so I spent only seconds swinging over the waves before circling back safely to the top deck of Icon of the Seas.

The new thrill ride is called Crown's Edge and involves walking out on a series of shapes, including crosses, before waiting for the platform below to give way and release you into the void.

I may have had all the grace of Boris Johnson on zip wire but I'm glad I pushed myself to do it, especially after signing the waiver which contained the word "DEATH" several times.

It was even scarier than riding the tallest drop slide at sea, which I had done earlier in the day. Arms and legs crossed in a transparent cylinder, I stoor na trap door 48ft above the deck watching water cascading below me. Suddenly I was free-falling down a 282ft-long tube, ending up in a pool gasping for air. Quite literally breathtaking.

After all this excitement I relaxed in the evening by watching the first production at sea of The Wizard of Oz - as good as anything you'd see in the West End including an endearingly animated puppet of Toto and the spectacle of Dorothy flying in a bed way up high above the audience during the cyclone.

These were the highlights of just one day on a preview cruise on Icon of the Seas, which is so big it's like a moving island rather than a cruise ship.

With 2,350 crew, it can carry up to 7,600 passengers. Crammed into its 18 passenger decks are eight separate "neighbourhoods", plus more than 40 restaurants, bars and lounges, as well as seven pools.

I'm used to big ships, having sailed on most of Royal Caribbean's enormous Oasis-class vessels. Even so, as I boarded in Miami I was still overwhelmed by Icon's size.