tiny260

YIPPEE !!!  So excited for you.  We never made it to the RLS and at this point, we probably never will.  Glad you are doing it while you can.
Everything is going great this week on OA so I have no doubt it will continue for you next week.  The weather has been awesome.
How is your dad doing ?

Not sure where the time went between getting off Icon inaugural and now.
The last few weeks have been filled with spending time with my parents, and prom dress shopping. I have no clue when high school prom turned into such a fancy event lol. D17 ended up with a beautiful lilac dress, which I cannot share here because the boyfriend is not supposed to see it until prom. Not that these teenagers want anything to do with reading my blog, but I don't want to be blamed for some 17 year old's catastrophe. Those of you who have been there know what I mean.
I am super behind in my packing this time. I only have my clothes packed and that is it. Today is major packing day.

Who’s Going?
Me, Hubby, D17, D15 (aka, the freeloaders)
Flight
Delta from DTW-MIA; booked through Air2Sea.
Flying in two days early again on the 8th. Flight pricing was also terrible for this sailing. Originally, when flights were first released, it was $943pp (economy) round trip! We did toss around the idea of driving but ditched that idea rather quickly. I saved a bit by moving our outbound flight to an afternoon flight (now slightly regretting it), and over time, was able to price this flight down a couple hundred per person before final payment. Still more than we usually pay for March break flights, but better than the original cost.
Pre-Cruise Stay
Well, we are flying to Miami, and cruising from Miami, so you all know where we are staying right?
Itinerary
08 MARCH Arrive Miami, FL
09 MARCH Miami, FL
10 MARCH Miami, FL (Cruise Day!)
11 MARCH Nassau, Bahamas
12 MARCH Perfect Day at CocoCay
13 MARCH At Sea
14 MARCH Labadee, Haiti
15 MARCH Falmouth, Jamaica
16 MARCH At Sea
17 MARCH Miami, Florida (Go home)
Cabin
I am sure you have a guess by now what this is as well lol

We will just photostop @SpeedNoodles in, I guess 😂

Aquadome area 
 

Just from remote observation, it does appear that the Aqua Theater is smaller in both actual size and seating capacity.  I haven't seen it for myself, but it seems like it's just smaller all the way around.  ....and what genius didn't realize that the front of the ship was going to have more motion than the rear ?  It seems like a questionable modification, TBH.

Hubby and I have discussed this in detail this past week. The question we posed was, “If pricing was not a factor, would you rather sail Icon Class or Oasis class?” I still cannot answer that. With pricing being a factor, I really don’t know if the new things justify the upcharge. I just priced out a GS for 4 of us next August on Icon. It is more than we paid for the majority of our star class cruises, pre and post pandemic restart. 

Day 4 - St. Kitts
We are in St. Kitts today. I don’t think that we are leaving the ship 🤦🏻‍♀️

Icon might be my favorite ship ever.

Thanks @CGTLH! 

In general, I am not a fan of the SL/CK set up here on Icon. Much too close together for my comfort and liking. Last night, we requested to be seated upstairs with a waiter that we know from past sailings, it was a much better experience on the upper level. Tables are not as close together and you don’t have the distraction of the people in the SL, or people walking by (and actually touching) your table to try to plaster their face on the glass to see the activities in the Aquadome below. 

Wizard of Oz was amazing! The feedback from others is correct; by far the best Royal Caribbean production to take the stage! After the show we thought about all the other shows that we have seen on Oasis/Quantum class and this one cannot be beat. It was 90 mins long, and retained pretty much the storyline from the original movie. Really talented cast as well. They asked for everyone to put away their recording devices so only this one curtain call photo 😉

Wizard of Oz tonight. Expectations are high, we have heard nothing but good things about this production. 

Dinner Night 2 in CK: 
Once again, the main menu was the same. But there was a new item that I have never seen before, lobster Mac n Cheese. 
 

It’s formal night! 

For me, I used to love the WJ in our early days of cruising. Now, I avoid the WJ like the plague for several reasons: 
- way to crowded
- like @Neesa said, wish they would serve because so many people don’t have proper buffet etiquette
- the food quality is no longer that good, and it’s very repetitive

Are those little pretzel nuggets ?  I love the pretzel bread at Chop's.

Like Wonder, you can view your ship photos on the app. You can also purchase digital packages on the app as well. 
 

I would sail in a shoebox..I'm the wrong person to ask 😂
I love the location, though.

Omg! Yes! I could not be happier that we were able to ditch tot town. Even Hubby agrees because I showed him where we would have been. I would not have been happy there at all. Your view is the activities on Surfside below you. 
 
The panoramic is basically a JS with no balcony. It is decent for 2. The bathroom is a bit narrow. I would not put 4 in here. Not enough storage space. We are struggling with how we can bring our girls on Icon and still cruise the way we like. That has been our discussion today. Hubby really likes this ship. I don’t think that we are one and done…..
I know the genies on board. None are new. In fact, @Neesa, I spoke to a few crew members earlier and they said there are zero new hires on board. Everyone on the start up crew is minimum 1-2 contracts in. Many are more than that. 
Cruise Director is Mike Szwajkowski. 

After Central Park, we wandered up the the Aquadome Marketplace. This is probably my favourite complimentary venue, with the crepe and Greek place being my favourite. We were stuffed and did not try the Mac n Cheese or noodles, but we will venture back here tomorrow to try it out. 
 

Welcome to Surfside Eatery..

Home of the beige food.

It's disorienting. We are used to sticking to the aft part of the ship..but everything for us is forward on this one. We didn't see anything of Central Park or Surfside yesterday 😂
It feels so big and spread out..every corridor and hallway ends at something new. 

Promenade around 11:50am on a sea day:

Day 2 swag