HtownHolly

We are sailing Icon on 3/8/2025, and I'm finding that hotel and booking sites don't go out that far yet. I'm kinda anxious about this because it's Miami at Spring Break. Am I missing some kind of "back door" for getting a room just the night before we sail?

Agreed. Gotta navigate to the specific port’s page, and then look for sailings from there. It works, but it’s not the most intuitive.

My fault, lol. I clicked on the >> That goes all the way to the oldest posts, rather than the next page… and didn’t notice these were from 2013, haha. Still a valid topic of discussion

A bit far out there, but that means more time to daydream and plan! This will be our second trip to Coco Cay, and our first to St Thomas and St Maarten Hope to meet other travelers!

Eastern. Or actually southern! Loved the ABC islands (kinda sad you don’t see Bonaire as much). Been to Mexico many times already, and Roatan twice. Offerings out of Galveston are limited. Looking forward to our first time to St Thomas and St Maarten out of Miami

Not any more than 15 months - which is the closest to first sailing we'll have ever been on. I don't think I've even see a second Icon class ship name announcement yet?

I just booked on Icon for spring break 2025 and am excited. We'll finally be getting away from the Western Caribbean/Mexico ports, and hitting a couple islands we haven't been to before (St Thomas and St Maarten). The last couple cruises we took a friend along for my teenage daughter to hang out with and that's been kind of stressful coordinating with another family, so this time it'll just be me, DH and daughter in a balcony. If others want to join us, they can get their own room, hah. Time to daydream and start looking at excursions - daughter wanted more good beach time, and this should do it (especially with Coco Cay on the itinerary). I just hope there are enough spots with shade because we are like whiter than white, lmao.

Not sure I buy this. Mattresses in homes are slept on every single night, and I bet they are not replaced as often as ones in a cruise ship. Also it’s not as though there are high enough ceilings in a cabin to like jump on the beds or abuse them in ways you wouldn’t at home (which might cause faster wear and tear aging). Personally, I 100% cannot sleep normally on a RC mattress. I’ve had to either prop up with lots of pillows in a semi-sitting up position, done the same on the couch in the cabin, or slept on the deck chair if we have a balcony. They are just awful, IMO. Would be nice if they had bendy beds

That’s fine - we will probably figure out in the next 2 months where to go next. And even if not, it was nice to not have to make a decision “now” about when and where to go next, because we are always trying to get other family & friends to join us, and it’s difficult to make those decisions if they aren’t already on the ship with us

I’m thinking in February or so, but can’t remember.

Been really good so far. It was mid 70s to mid 80s in Mexico. Smooth sailing on the seas and even though I the sailing is near capacity, it doesn’t feel crowded. The Neighborhoods concept does such a good job of breaking up the crowds. Even at the elevators! Allure looks good - not showing her age, IMO. Air conditioning in the room takes a bit to kick in … that’s the only negative I have. I saw the Aqua Theater show on Harmony 3 years ago and the one here is just great as well! Also, NextCruise has a new booking offer that I took advantage of (kiddo wants to sail Icon next… can’t blame her after seeing the docus onboard about it). Reduced ($200) deposit, and you don’t have to chose your sailing - booking can be delayed up to 12 months.

We are on Allure now and did not reserve parking. Had to park in Lot 14, but a shuttle takes you to the terminal. It was $108 for a 5-night cruise.

So we’ve been to Cozumel and Costa Maya a few times, and would like to try somewhere else next time. Grand Cayman looks great, but I don’t get the sense RCCL sails there often (or else it’s on the much older/smaller ships). What other Caribbean options would fit this bill? We’ve been to the ABCs, Labadee. Jamaica and Honduras, so bonus points for suggestions of new spots. Maybe revisiting Coco Cay is in order (were there 3 years ago). Are other southern/eastern islands ones with nice sandy shores?

Let's see... Navigator, Harmony, Independence and now Allure in a couple weeks.

Happy update on this! I got the Royal Up offer email today so thought "hmmm, maybe things are opened back up?" I still don't see the cruise listed on the website, but asked my TA to give it a go again, and he was able to make the change, which I can now see online. Hooray! And surprisingly enough, the shore excursions and drink package purchase transferred over to the replacement passenger as well. 11 days to set sail so this got a little close, but everyone is thrilled that it worked out finally. SHEW!