calvink669

Those are some big shoes to fill! I'm afraid, I'm neither as funny nor as witty as some of the OGs here. What I will say is (I think it was @SweetPeathat coined this) you might get a few cases of BUTI (Blogging under the Influence) on this trip

Can't miss night one filet in Coastal Kitchen!

We are down to 6 days to go and very excited! Weather so far in Miami looks to be good for departure day as it is currently forecast to be partly sunny and 82! Kelli has already begun organizing and packing I, on the other hand, will likely get packed up Friday morning before our flight to Miami lol We are flying United from Houston As mentioned before, we are staying at the JW Marriott Marquis in Miami. We really don't have anything planned other than dinner at the hotel Friday night. Our plan is to take a Lyft to the port around 10am and meet Marla around 10:15~10:30 once we drop our luggage at the star class banner and get escorted through security. Day one schedule from Marla: We may also have to sneak into the WJ and grab some lobster and shrimp if it's still available as well The plan after lunch is change into swimwear and head straight to the hideaway. We may explore a bit, but that is the plan at least. We always go into boarding day with a plan, which usually falls apart as we are easily distracted by shiny things. Sail away will either be at the hideaway or on our balcony, depending on how many cocktails we've had up to this point. Still curious to see what if any of the uncharges are for Star. I don't know why they are hesitant to just say what they are now, but we'll see soon! The next few days will likely be chaotic as always, my last day of work is Wednesday, but Kelli is working through Thursday. T-6 and counting!

@Lovetocruise2002Marla sent you a message in her email today. "Oh.. say hi back to Sabrina, she and her family were so kind and friendly towards me. I will always remember them " No other updates on the upcharges lol

Yeah, it's strange, I was very clear that it doesn't hurt my head either way, why not just tell me what the current policy is if it hasn't changed? This was my email verbatim: Hi Marla, I hope this email finds you well! We Had a couple of questions on Star class upcharges on the Icon that is also a burning question on a couple of star class forums. I know right after startup it was reported that there were upcharges for star class with Chops Iconic cuts, Izumi in the park, Deserted, basecamp, and food at the Trellis bar. I also know some folks complained and there have been some reports that things may have changed a bit, but I’ve seen nothing specifically that has been verified. It doesn’t hurt my head really either way, just curious if you could shed some light on where things stand now. Curious Star Class cruisers want to know LOL See you in less than two weeks!

Interesting response from Marla on this subject. "The Food & Beverage shoreside team is actively working on updates for those items that are/were upcharge onboard the Icon. We have addressed the concerns raised aiming to provide clarity before your upcoming cruise." So, the suspense builds until we board I guess.

Quick update on the Royal up bid: The RLS has now been gone for two days from inventory on cruiseplum so I think it I safe to say someone finally snatched it up. Like @Lovetocruise2002 said it is probably a blessing with the lower deck so close to the aft balcony. We are less than 2 weeks away now and my brain is already starting to shift into vacation mode I sent a note to Marla to ask the specifics around star upcharges and if there are any changes, so we'll see what she says.

We will scope it out for sure.

We have Daybed #8, We've had #9 previously and decided we like #8 better. You will love Paradise beach, the food is really good and the services is second to none. It's a bit more laid back than Mr Sanchos, but still a fun time if you want it to be a party! Will let you know how it goes this time!

I've been debating on whether to do a live blog for this cruise. I started one for Harmony a couple years ago, but we had a family emergency and didn't end up going. But, since I haven't seen anyone do a live Star blog on Icon yet, and we are now just 2 weeks out and fairly certain no emergencies are on the horizon, I figured I'd give it a whirl. Who's going: my Wife (Kelli) and I (Tim) Room: Icon Loft 17020 We are flying into Miami from Houston the day before and staying at the JW Marriott Marquis. We've stayed there before and I have a ton of Marriott points so its free! We got our survey way early on February 1st almost 90 days out! However, we didn't hear from our Genie (Marla Rivera) until just under 3 weeks out. (More on that in a minute.). Ironically we got another survey exactly 3 weeks out, which I thought was weird, but it turns out a tone of people got the survey that day. Even folks with sailings in July lol. Royal IT strikes again! Now back to the Genie e-mail; I kind of panicked when we didn't get contacted by the 21 day mark. (This is our 4th star class sailing and we've always gotten an email from the genie by at least day 28.). So, me having FOMO like you wouldn't believe, sent a message to Royal Caribbean International through Facebook messenger and asked them to please look into it the next morning. Imagine my surprise when I had an email from Marla Rivera by that afternoon. Apparently Sunil just left and the genie's have had to double up a bit which resulted in the delay. I've read nothing but great things about Marla as an OG Genie and so far she has lived up to the billing. I responded with our canned word document that includes our dining, snack, coffee, show, and beverage preferences. She had our entire schedule sent to us the next day with all of our requests! Since then, we have been back and forth a few times as we finalize our arrival in 2 weeks. Royal Up: So, the Royal loft suite had been available since we booked. It started out at 110K and has worked its way down to 60K this week and as of last night was still available, but it was gone this morning. (This has happened before as it would disappear from inventory as someone held it and then show back up a day later.) Of course I put a minimum bid on it just in case. We shall see what happens lol. The only place we are likely to get off the ship is Cozumel as we love Paradise Beach, so we have a reservation there with a day bed. We have a Casita reserved while we are in port in Roatan and we do have a reservation at the Empire Supper club which Marla confirmed we will be refunded and only charged $130 pp plus gratuities. Other Star Class up charges I will confirm if there have been any changes since Icon launch once we get on board (Chops Iconic cuts, Izumi in the park, basecamp, deserted) We are really excited and can't wait to get this started! More to come as we get closer

It is a Labrador named Rover.

They are removing the last of the building material and bringing a few more interior things onboard. They are also doing all of their coast guard safety drills, along with other safety and regulatory tests. Also the last of the crew will join and all crew will go through US customs. Finally the final shipyard workers are departing. They will stay there until the 6th and then they will leave and head to coco cay for the 8th, then will arrive in Miami at 07:00 ET on the 9th.

There is a staircase from Central Park to the promenade.

Next is Icon of the Seas on April 27th of 2024, then it will be back to back on Utopia on April 14th of 2025.

the original of that video shows the inside of the royal loft suite as well right around the 1 minute mark. https://www.facebook.com/henry.varha/videos/1278366239450329/