‘Six floors down would have been a great spot to have the Adults Only Area and had the little kids area right behind the waterslides where the Hideaway adults area is now. That would have made much more sense.
We were a group of 15 on Icon in February…….. 8 adults and 7 kids. All the kids except 1 were 11 to 14. The other 1 was 4, it was a HUGE INCONVENIENCE that for the 4 year old to use the kid’s pool area, 1 or both of her parents had to be 6 floors below the rest of the group and their older kid.
I totally agree …….. putting the little kids pool area down there was the most stupid idea ever.
The new MDR menus lines up with the Windjammer menu and tastes exactly the same as in the Windjammer ………. Whatever the Windjammer is serving that night, the MDR is serving the exact same thing ……….. the only difference between the 2 is that the Windjammer has a bigger selection of food choices than the MDR menu and gets your out faster LOL
The only decent dinner food anymore is at Specialty Dining or in the Coastal Kitchen (if you’re in a suite)
Join the club! I have very little interest in Icon class myself and I love Wonder (though I'd happily sail any Oasis class ship).
Hope you still had a good time on Icon even if you don't plan to sail it again.
We had a great time, it’s a beautiful ship ….. but there are just so many things about the Icon class that are a downgrade in your experience as compared to Oasis Class. We didn’t even mention to the kids that we didn’t care for the ship, and they all said totally on their own that they’d rather stick with oasis class from now on.
Possibly b/c once you have access to the Diamond Lounge you get completely free coffee, espresso, cappuccino, lattes, etc. almost 24/7? This has always been one of my favorite perks as I have multiple cappuccinos every morning to go with my "pre-breakfast." I drink cheap coffee at home, I'm no coffee snob, but I still enjoy the machine very much.
We had a great time, it’s a beautiful ship ….. but there are just so many things about the Icon class that are a downgrade in your experience as compared to Oasis Class. We didn’t even mention to the kids that we didn’t care for the ship, and they all said totally on their own that they’d rather stick with oasis class from now on.
I wish they weren’t replacing Wonder in PCN with Star for the 7 night trips. We were on the 2/10-17 sailing of Icon and much prefer Oasis class ships. Our group of 15 (8 adults and 7 kids from 12 to 17) were unanimous in that we would rather not sail on an Icon class ship again.
We had a great time, it’s a beautiful ship ….. but there are just so many things about the Icon class that are a downgrade in your experience as compared to Oasis Class. We didn’t even mention to the kids that we didn’t care for the ship, and they all said totally on their own that they’d rather stick with oasis class from now on.
I wish they weren’t replacing Wonder in PCN with Star for the 7 night trips. We were on the 2/10-17 sailing of Icon and much prefer Oasis class ships. Our group of 15 (8 adults and 7 kids from 12 to 17) were unanimous in that we would rather not sail on an Icon class ship again.
To maximize how your points are awarded for the connecting rooms scenario, book one adult solo and the other adult with the kids in the adjoining room. Always book the same parent as the solo to accumulate double points on a single account. Cost of cruise is slightly more this way as you'll pay four full price and one reduced fare (as opposed to four full price) but it's a great way to accumulate double points if you're booking two rooms anyway.
Duhhhh, but my traveling companions want to go for dinner, and I want a sandwich! Not that crazy. If I’m willing to pay $43.99 for a chicken sandwich, that’s my prerogative. lol
Why would you want to pay dinner prices for food off the lunch menu? if they do make it for you, you’ll still have to pay the dinner flat fee pricing. Just go there for lunch lol
Mrs Bow Tie spent a couple hours yesterday pricing Princess and was much happier with their model. Her parents, decades-long LTR cruisers, have started doing the same. Can’t say for certain we’ll be booking with them next because Royal has the kid activities we want, but I believe RCCL is going to see a large number of cruisers start to calculate how much those diamond drinks are really costing them. As with Disney parks, the question for corporate will just be whether the higher prices and new passengers make up for the lost passengers.
They reached to us on Sunday morning, for a Saturday sailing. Some others on the sailing received their welcome email Saturday evening, some Monday morning. This was for the inaugural sailing.
I was shocked at the cost for sailing on Enchantment. I have friends who are sailing on her 6-22-24 and I thought about going along but 7 nights on that crap ship was over $5K (JS) ! ...even more once you added in grats. No f'ing way !
Good Day everyone... AOS REVIEW...
I am a Diamond Member on RCCL, Elite on Celebrity, Platinum on Carnival, and Platinum on NCL...
At the minimum I book a balcony room but we usually opt for suite level rooms
So, in 2023 we took 2 cruises on RCCL and honestly was very disappointed with the food on both ships. We travelled on Symphony of the Seas doing the Barcelona, Italy and France circle and over NYE we did a 6 day on Adventure of the seas. On both ships we did purchase the key and would probably get it again. The key was beneficial in getting seats for the shows you wanted and when you wanted without making reservations or staying in lines. The "free" meal for Chops was average at best. It was not bad but i really expected better. Anyways below is my review of the food on AOS. I will preface that in my years of cruising we have only ever had 1 meal that was an upcharge and that was Mexican on the Norwegian Dawn. My wife and I feel that hey we already paid for our food why do we want to pay more for food. Yes it is to be better and a nice experience but being served is good enough for us.
Chops - We boarded the ship and a sign pointed us to the left and we were able to leave our carry on with the dining room staff as part of "THE KEY" Program. with the Key Program we get to have a Chops type meal for lunch. However the menu is quite limited. Unfortunately, we all had the filet and were quite disappointed. We all ordered our steaks to be medium rare but they were all medium well to well done. The steaks did not even have grill lines on them or any type of sear. We sent them all back and again they came back as being overcooked. Our waiter and head waiter agreed that they were all overcooked and so we had them cooked for a 3rd time. This time they were completed properly however the steaks were very tough and were only choice steaks. We did find out from the waiter that all the steaks were pre cooked and sitting in warmers which was a total let down. The steaks were also very stringy, chewy and really not prime quality. If I had to guess, the meat was not a solid piece of meat and had transglutaminase in it/ I know this because I used to be a butcher and know my cuts of meat and the tricks of the trade. If this is the kind of food that is served in Chops in the evening, I would not recommend going here especially since the dining is an upcharge. Now we usually do not do upgraded restaurants. We did it one time on NCL on the Dawn and had mexican years ago and it was very good. Anyways I digress. The food we received for our welcome aboard lunch just was not good enough to warrant spending extra money for the Chops dining room. What I did like about the dining room for lunch was the fact the windjammer was PACKED with people getting their food and so it was nice to eat without trying to find a seat in the windjammer.
Giovanni's - So after that disappointing meal, we walked around the ship a bit, checked into our room and unpacked. We had our luggage and our carry on by 3 pm. The Key really did spead things up with regards to our luggage. We then decided to go for a drink and while sipping on my jack and coke, and my wife with her glass of wine, we were approached in the schooner bar at approx 4 pm ( which was my favorite bar) ... a waiter came up to us and said they had plenty of seats/opening that night in Giovanni's that night for 2 for 1 pricing. We agreed to try this. There were 7 of us who tried it. We asked for 745 pm reservations and it was granted for us. We received a piece of paper ( looked like a menu order card confirming the reservation). We arrived at the restaurant at 7:40 and there was a very long line in front of us. Now unfortunately it appears they overbooked the restaurant. We were finally seated at 8:45 pm the food was plain and had very little flavor in fact It was like the food was not seasoned. Now we are Italian and we do make our own food, pasta and sauce but we were not comparing the food to ours. The Branzino was decent. However the risotto was not fully cooked and was sent back. The Pasta Bolognase was also minimally flavored - it did not taste Italian. It seemed to be missing oregano and basil. Weird I know but it just seemed bland. Anyways, all 7 of us ordered one of these 3 meals. Desert was pretty good but I found the Cannoli to be weird in flavor as the ricotta was lemon and tutti frutti flavored. Not what I expected from a true Italian Cannoli. I think they tried to make the meal too fancy instead of trying to keep the food more Italian traditional.
Izumi - For the 7 of us we spent approximately $200 but it was our best meal for the cruise. Now when eating here everything is a la carte. For example the signature rolls were about $13-17 each, Miso was $3 and Wonton $7. Everything was perfection. From the sushi to the vegetable fried rice and the sashimi and teriyaki they were all very good. I would recommend one consider eating here if you enjoy this kind of food. Just do a search for Izumi menu rccl and you should see images and pricing on the menu.
Dining Room - The food in the dining room was just what I would call sub par. The food was warm at best it was never hot but we were sitting on the opposite side of the kitchen by the entrance. The French Onion Soup was great as was the shrimp cocktail. Service was generally slow, then again we were the table farthest from the kitchen as we were at the entrance to the dining room on the 4th floor. The menu did not appeal to me at all. There was nothing really special about the menu's and my teenage girls actually thought the food at Johnny Rockets was better and they would rather eat there than in the dining room. The girls were 16 and 17. Kind of says a lot for the food that was being served. Also, I wish they would bring back the different types of buns / bread every night instead of the same rolls every night. We are all diamond members and I have a been a cruiser since the 1970's. We all know that RCCL and all the cruise lines in general have cut back on the quantity and quality of food being offered to its guests but I think its getting to be cut back too much.
Windjammer - I did enjoy my breakfast here every day as well as my lunch here but we never had dinner in the WJ. My favorite lunch item was the fried chicken. There were 2 omelette stations and what was nice was that you placed your order and then you were given a pager. Never had to wait more than 10 min for my omelette. I truly hope that RCCL will not take this away from their cruisers or do an upcharge. One new item that was for sale in the WJ was fresh cotton candy for $2.99 if I recall ( available at lunch 11 -2 or so). The AOS only got the machine on our cruise and i was the 3rd in line for the new offering. The kids did enjoy it but the sugar melts quickly in that hot humid air. I did like that they came around in the mornings and refilled our coffees and teas and water. I also really enjoyed the wide variety of breakfast options. I am sure there is something there for everyone even the pickiest of eaters.
Diamond Lounge - My wife and I went here a few times up on deck 14 I think it was. Loved the coffee / latte machine there and loved the canapes they had both times we were there. Enjoyed the view sailing from port with a drink in our hands and a snack before heading to dinner. It was small but right next door was the Viking Crown Lounge and Blue Moon. I definitely enjoy the time we spent here. There was very little ambiant noise and people were generally talking at almost whisper levels. It was a nice place to go where the noise was left behind.
The Free Pizza/Deserts/Starbucks - So on deck 5 the AOS has a few options for food and drink. We all know about the free pizza and sandwiches as well as deserts, the ship coffee and tea as well at the ice tea and of course Starbucks and the ice cream which I think was Ben and Jerrys ( don't shoot me if I am wrong) So, I heard a rumor that RCCL was thinking of charging its guests $2 for the pizza/sandwich/desert but that was met with swift and fierce criticism. I did try the pizza and it was ehhh palatable lol... I don't really want to be a debbie downer here and put down the food continuously but i just have to speak what i feel is honest feedback. The sandwiches were better and actually i usually grabbed one on my way back from my excursion. The Starbucks was like any other Starbucks. I don't think RCCL can really change anything here without Starbucks agreeing and I don't think that will happen so you can be guaranteed the same quality there as you do an any other Starbucks. The premium ice cream was so much better than the free soft serve ice cream on deck 12. It was definitely a treat and I think it was $3 a scoop.
Wishing you all Smooth Sailing
Tom
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