sammy79

Couldn't help but notice as I'm scrolling thru these reply's an ad for "cheap Carnival cruises" with a picture of the whale tail. I'm thinking of clicking on it 😀

For fun, I priced out what it would be for 3 of us March 2026 in a Sky Junior. The price is more than I pay normally for some star sailings! That's why I am out. Told the kids that Icon is out for now. Like others, I might be one and done after the inaugural, hopefully I don't have to cancel that one.

After I booked our SC cruise for 12-7-24 there were 4 Icon Loft suites remaining.  There are STILL 4 Icon Loft suites available. I made that booking on 11-2-22 so over the past 10 months not a single Icon Loft for this sailing has been sold.  So while some Icon sailings are booking well, not all of them are. And OBTW, the price on that sailing for the Icon Loft has gone up 38% since we booked.
The real surprise is that the 12-6-25 equivalent sailing a year later is actually lower than the current price of the 12-7-24 sailing.  The '25 price is 16% lower than the current '24 price !  So if you are thinking about booking an Icon loft for December, it will be cheaper to do 2025 than it is to do 2024 at the current price. 

I think the early release is to get out ahead of the inaugural and the flow of reviews and footage from the ship.  I think she's going to be great, but the marketing for her has really got everyone ginned up good.  Come Jan/Feb we're going to see that while a great ship, the real experience is quite similar.  By then many will be NRD into 25/26.
Smart move by them.
I'm certainly looking forward to my May 2024 trip but I expect I'll leave with the feeling "That was really great, but probably not worth 2 times around on Oasis..."  I expect that to be a theme on youtube this spring.

It is definitely disturbing where the pricing is for Icon in 2025 and 2026. 
I priced out for fun what is probably my kids' Spring Break in 2026 and for 2 adjacent balcony rooms, it's $12,823. That's the kind of cost I'd expect to pay for a suite.
As so many others pointed out, someone's paying those prices and I have no doubt this is an effort by the line to push the boundaries.  
Up until today, Icon hasn't just been selling well. It's been selling at record levels at every step of the way. So I get why they're trying to see what the market will bear.
What I'm truly interested in seeing is what the rest of the 2025/2026 deployment looks like. I have no doubt it will be at higher prices than last year, but are we talking 10% higher or significantly more. It's one thing to pay a premium to go on Icon, it's another to go on Independence.
I'm simply surprised at how high the prices are out of the gate for a ship that will be up to 2 years old, and will have 1 or 2 newer sibling ships in operation by this point too.

So no live blog from Icon 2025? 😢

Maybe those prices will drop after they see the decline in bookings…….I hope.

I checked out the Utlimate Family Townhouse for just me in January 2026. $96K. I kid you not. I laughed and laughed, and then said "we're just going to do a Voyager class ship instead!"

I looked at Feb 2026 and was curious about suite prices.   🤣 COME ON NOW!!!
 

Royal is running a sale this week to see Icon for free starting in January 2024. 
Viewing location is South Pointe park Saturday late afternoon. 

Not likely. You want to know the sad thing? When I had some dates priced out last night, that was before I could access the prices myself. Anyway, this morning, I checked prices for Icon from May 2025-April 2026 and sorted them by lowest price. Even the lowest price sail date (September 2025) is priced much higher than what we booked the inaugural for when it was released. I am really praying that I don't have to cancel this Icon inaugural sailing because if I do, it will be a long time before I can justify sailing Icon.
^^^This^^^

So no live blog from Icon 2025? 😢

So no live blog from Icon 2025? 😢

Seriously. Can they really expect people to pay these fares going forward?  It would be interesting to see how fast the new sailings get booked

Yeah, I got a few dates and options priced out for me last night, and that’s what I said, “I’m out!” 😂
It’s truly gone insane. Even if it was within my budget, I cannot justify that pricing. 

More power to those who book cruises on Icon.  I have no issues with people spending their money as they see fit.  I never want to be told how I can spend my money. 
 
However, at $4000 (US) for two in a GTY Inside and up to $87k+ for a high end suite (7-night in January’26), we’re going to pass.  Our wants as an empty nest, early to mid-50s couple are different. 

But come on RCI... you can't be serious???
*disclaimer this is AUD.. but still 4K+ for an interior? this is getting beyond a joke

 

The Space Needle was so much more impressive than I was picturing! I basically knew it was a nice view from the top of the tower but I didn’t know how cool the space is. The top level observation deck has angled glass walls looking down at the city with an open air top and the lower level has a rotating base and a glass floor! The view from here was amazing and we spotted Quantum again up at Smith Cove at Pier 91! 


I spy Mt Rainier!


The first of many Christmas ornaments bought in each port! 

From there we walked back to the hotel to grab our bags and check out. The Uber to the pier took about 15 minutes and embarkation was a breeze. 




Currently writing to you from my THIRD wait in the Guest Services line today; first because we only had one card on the door on arrival, second because then my husband’s new card didn't actually charge anything, back again because now our TWO cards don’t work and we were charged our most recent drinks despite having two drink packages! Please hope this is our last venture here! SHIP is BEAAAUTIFUL otherwise! 




Found a mini duck!!!!


 

Had to go down to the promenade on an errand. Stopped to listen to a rousing rendition of “When The Saints Go Marching In.”  My errand was to see the internet specialist. My IPHONE would connect but only for short periods and then would drop. I explained all of that to the late 20 something fellow in an officer’s uniform. He then said “Let’s have a look.”  He gently turned my phone around and with 4 swipes of his expert fingers turned on some feature.  Then he turned the phone back to face me….and pointed to the feature while his mouth said “You have to turn THIS on” while his smile and caring eyes were saying “Just go back to your room grandpa, if you can find it, and watch the news.”  

They had one minute of silence this morning to remember the victims of 9/11.  Pretty amazing to witness a vibrant cruise ship with 6000 people fall silent. I painted this end zone about 10 years ago for the high school where I worked

If you are on deck 8 or 9 then 12 would probably be doable...but some may have to stand.  Frankly, you end up standing most of the time anyway (except for the lucky 3 that get the bar stool seating) b/c the lounge chairs are too low and you end up looking through the glass....so as long as people don't mind standing up you will probably have no problem with 12.  Deck 10 might be a bit crowded b/c the balconies get smaller as you go higher.
I have not been in an A1 or A2 on Wonder but on the other O class ships I have had very large crowds on my ATS balconies and never had any issues.  Be sure and ask the Genie to provide some treats for the group !!

I find it offensive to use the term slave wages as in slaves do/did not get paid. 

They will take home 1.5X-2X the average annual income of their home country on each contract.  That's a pretty great wage 

Absolutely.  
There is much more to it.  There are elements of less government regulation and less government in our lives in general.   
At the end of the day it's also about total compensation but also motivating people to work.  If I am guaranteed a wage from society regardless how much effort I put forth why would I desire to work hard?  Socialism is a fine concept on paper until you bring the human into the equation.  America is more about individual freedom which goes hand in hand with capitalism.  To your point it is largely the overall culture.  We enjoy a lot of freedom, especially from government, but that includes not having government dictate things like wages for every position and every citizen.  There are ripple effects to less government that changes the landscape of so much more.   That is our culture.  
 
Tipping and cruise ship salaries are very different topics that are unrelated. 
The cruise industry as we know it exists largely due to inexpensive labor from less developed countries.  If that bothers you, you shouldn't cruise.  
In those source countries where most cruise ship labor comes from the wages offered by the cruise industry is very appealing and often much higher than anything available for the same people who are drawn to work in the cruise industry in their home countries.  On top of that they get to see the world while not paying for room or food.   In exchange they have to work and work hard they do.  That seems like a fair deal to me.  
It's not for everyone and some who give it a shot don't enjoy it.  Yet there are many who have embraced it and are putting their children into private schools in countries where public schools are a disaster.   Then they put their children in higher education so that their children have opportunities that are unavailable to the masses back home.  In the end they sacrifice a lot so that their families have better lives in the long run.  They do all this through many years of working on cruise ships.  I respect them for doing so.
They are not forced to pick this industry.  They work relatively short contracts measured in months.  If they didn't want to work in the industry they would soon have an opportunity to find something else.  There is no such thing as a multi-year contract, most are 5 - 7 months long with a few that are 9 - 10 months long.  Once that month's long contract is over they are free to choose a different industry to work in.  Yet so many come back and they sign up for another contract, and another contract.  That is a choice they make.  That is freedom.  
 

There's a reason cruise ship employees work the hours they do, because it is a good living compared to other options in their home countries.